I don't own Harry Potter n shit, neither do I own the Madness Combat series by Krinkels.
Chapter 11
James sat numbly on one of his unbroken chairs in his ruined, but still opulent family manor. He couldn't understand what was happening to him at this moment. That bastard Jebediah Christoff had not only just made off with his wife to some ungodly place, probably You-Know-Who's lair, but he had also somehow tricked the ward scheme into thinking that he was Harry Potter, the child that he and the rest of his family had said died. There was simply no way that the man could be his son Harry in James's mind. He looked far too old, and there was no way that he had learned magic and became a dark wizard, Voldemort's servant.
No, James rationalized that it all had to be some kind of trick. Perhaps he used some kind of dark disguise to fool the wards or some other unknown devilish magecraft. His first order of business was to inform Dumbledore and Bellatrix about what had just happened. He had to start the hunt to find his beautiful wife and stop the madman Jebediah.
With a new purpose in his step, James rose from his ruined living room, stomping angrily over to the floo and with a shout of, "Ministry of Magic!"
He was gone in a flash of green flames.
When he exited the fireplace, he briskly walked to the the Head Auror's office, only stopping for a security check that had been put in place by Bellatrix to avoid things like Polyjuice, etc.
He slammed the door open to Bellatrix's office and saw the gorgeous black-haired woman look up at him sharply with annoyance from her paperwork.
"Senior Auror Potter, is there a reason that you barged into my office so rudely this morning?" she asked crossly with a raised eyebrow.
James grit his teeth before responding.
"It's that yankee bastard, Jebediah Christoff! He was a spy all along Bellatrix, I told you! He attacked my home last night, took Lily to Merlin knows where! You have to place a bounty on his head and start a manhunt!" he growled, his eyes shining madly in rage.
As he ranted, he did not notice Bellatrix discreetly weaving silencing wards around the general vicinity. As his tirade came to a close, he was breathing heavily and looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to give the go-ahead for his desires.
What he did not expect, however, was for the Head Auror to whip out her wand blindingly fast and hit him right between his eyes with a stunner.
"Stupefy!" she cried, forcing more magic into the spell than necessary, causing James to literally lift off the ground and crumple against the magically-reinforced doorway. His unconscious body fell to the ground with a dull thud and Bellatrix took a shaky breath.
She looked to a corner of the room to see the shadows solidify into the shape of who she now knew was Harry Potter as well as her friend Lily.
The Potter matriarch did not look well put together at the moment. She was too pale, her hair was a mess, and her eyes were still puffy from crying. Harry stood uncomfortably next to her, yet his face showed nothing.
"We got him. Tell Amelia to call the emergency Wizengamot session," Lily sneered hatefully, looking at the unconscious form of her "husband" with nothing but contempt in her baleful emerald eyes.
Bellatrix only shook her head reluctantly to Lily's dismay.
"We can't yet. Amelia and I talked about it while you were indisposed. If we bring it up now, especially with Jebediah's involvement, Dumbledore will think it some kind of ploy to weaken his powerbase for sure and do his best to reject any sentence or questioning for James Potter here," Bellatrix explained regretfully.
"No, we have to take it to that old goat first and convince him of Potter's guilt so he doesn't think it's some kind of powerplay. If he doesn't do anything even after that, then we'll see what we can do after that," she continued.
Lily's eyes just stared blankly at Bellatrix's explanation.
"NO! WE HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM NOW, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE HE'S CAPABLE OF, WE DON'T-" she began to rant hysterically, only to stop when Harry put a hand on her shoulder. She froze up and her body tensed as if she wanted to bolt away. Still, she relaxed when Harry did his best to give her a reassuring look from under his sunglasses. It really didn't look reassuring at all, but because it was from Harry, it calmed her anyway.
"Sorry, sorry... you're right Bellatrix, I just can't stand the thought that he might go free, even after all this..." she murmured listlessly.
Bellatrix gave Harry a glance with appreciation in her eyes. Truth be told, she felt incredibly off-kilter when Jeb had revealed his true identity as the long-thought dead Harry Potter. But, she had gotten the short version of the story about how he had actually been thrown into a muggle family due to his squib status after You-Know-Who's attack for his protection. Then, apparently he had been abandoned by that muggle family and had somehow become the person he was today.
In the end though, it didn't matter. No, in Bellatrix's mind, it didn't matter what he called himself, all that mattered was who he was. He was still the same person Bellatrix would absolutely give up her own life for, someone who had inspired her to be better and be more. Still though, she was going to have a talk with him later. It made her uncomfortable that he didn't trust her with his secret.
Unbeknownst to herself, Bellatrix's gaze on Harry turned softer and more affectionate as her thoughts went through her head, something that Lily noticed with a twinge of jealousy. She frowned at how Harry and Bellatrix held each other's gazes meaningfully.
"Ok, let's get him to Hogwarts then," Lily spoke up suddenly, breaking the brief moment between Harry and Bellatrix.
The black-haired witch blinked before saying, "Of course," and quickly raised her wand to levitate the still unconscious body of James Potter.
Dumbledore was poring over an old tome in his office when his fireplace burst into flames, to reveal the forms of Lily Potter, Bellatrix Black, and... Jebediah Christoff? He furrowed his eyes in suspicion at the black haired man who wore sunglasses. Ever since the battle of Diagon Alley, the ancient wizard had been leery and suspicious of MACUSA's liaison.
Something that Dumbledore didn't advertise was his mage sight, an ability to literally see the flow of magic around him. He had found a ritual for it during a visit to Egypt where he had happened upon an old Egyptian necromancer's tomb. What had truly unnerved Dumbledore was that he had witnessed what Jebediah had been doing at Diagon Alley and saw absolutely no magic involved.
To his knowledge, muggle science was nowhere near anything that Jebediah Christoff could do and so Dumbledore could only conclude that he could somehow elude his nigh-unknown mage sight abilities.
Not to toot his own horn or anything, but Dumbledore was probably the most knowledgeable and experienced wizard in the last four centuries or so. It concerned him greatly that there was even a possibility of someone having a greater breadth of knowledge regarding magic than him. Tom Riddle was one such example.
"Dumbledore, we have a situation that we should let you know about, since it pretty much involves you anyways," Bellatrix stated curtly and the old headmaster only looked on in curiosity and slight apprehension at Jebediah.
Bellatrix cancelled the charms she had thrown over James's unconscious body and Dumbledore stood up angrily.
"Explain yourself Ms. Black," Dumbledore said quietly, not belying any of the rage that he could feel bubbling up from within at the sight of one of his close allies and friends unconscious clearly due to their doing.
Lily carefully slipped out a vial filled with silvery, light liquid from out of her robe, slowly handing it over to Dumbledore.
"Take out your pensieve and take a look at these memories headmaster," Lily said blankly, slightly hissing at her address to the old wizard. Dumbledore almost unnoticeably flinched at the cold way Lily had said headmaster and took the vial of memories out of her tight grip.
"And may I ask whose memories are these?" he asked with a raised silver eyebrow.
"James's," Bellatrix replied easily, surprising Dumbledore. He had expected it to be some kind of memory of how James had ended up in his current position from the perspective of one of the three in his office in the present moment.
With a huff, Dumbledore bustled away to bring out a large dark colored basin that had glowing, pale blue runic inscriptions seared onto the surface of its bowl. He carefully poured out the silvery liquid before dipping his face in to see what exactly the Head Auror of the DMLE wanted to show him.
When he emerged from the memories Bellatrix had extracted out of the Lord Potter's head, Dumbledore's face had gone white in distress, the lines of age ever more pronounced.
She had made sure to get all those incriminating memories of how he had struck a deal with Borgin and Burkes to be the only customer for one of their groundbreaking mind manipulation potions, something infinitely more subtle than something like the Imperius or Amortentia. It had also been James Potter's duty to end this potion's research before it could be completed. But, in the end, after yet another rejection from Lily Evans and his memories of the notes about the potion, James sought out the shady men from Knockturn.
"H-How could this be..." the wizened headmaster murmured to himself. He had considered himself an incredible judge of character, considering his many years of life. He had to be with his Order of the Phoenix's operations and all the political traps and the such he had to navigate through. Never would he have thought that James Potter, the ever noble head of house Potter, would sink to such depths over a school crush.
In fact, it was so outrageous that he immediately began to think that it had to be some kind of trick. Was Bellatrix trying to make some kind of political play here to get rid of one of the light-sided faction's most influential figureheads? What did Lily gain from all this, she loved James, did she not? Perhaps she was being manipulated and putting the blame on James? But, who could do all of these things, Lily was extremely competent and wouldn't easily fall for any trick. Dumbledore doubted anyone short of Voldemort could've manipulated such things so well.
Of course! It had to be this unknown, Jebediah Christoff. He already knew the man could somehow deceive some of his esoteric abilities. He also knew he was most likely just as dangerous as Tom, considering he had driven him and his death eaters away at Malfoy Manor. Yes, it all had to be some kind of trick.
With that, Dumbledore whipped out his wand, aiming straight at Jebediah's chest.
"You! Who are you, really?!" he growled uncharacteristically, the tip of his wand glowing a bright blue.
As if a flip had been switched, suddenly Lily and Bellatrix were a whirlwind of action, both drawing their wands in a blur and cast curses and spells at the old, venerated wizard. They knew very well that they were outmatched and outclassed in literally every way and shape, yet still, they both cared for the man in front of them who was now being threatened.
Dumbledore hastily threw up a weak Protego and disapparated a few feet away when the shield shattered, disregarding Hogwarts's wards as the headmaster of the school.
His face was one of shock and dread as he gazed upon the deadly visage of both Bellatrix Black and Lily Potter, both had their wands pointed directly at him.
"Why... Lily can you not see that this man is trying to turn you against me?! And you Bellatrix, why must you always start conflict with me? I am doing everything for a better future, for the Greater Good!" He spat in a rare emotional outburst at the unexpected attack from someone he viewed as a surrogate daughter and the ever frigid Head Auror of the DMLE.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Lily uttered coldly with such contempt in her voice that Dumbledore visibly flinched at her tone.
Jebediah had been quietly and stoically watching, his stance loose and almost lazy.
"Are you blind, old man. James Potter had always had the seeds of corruption as he grew up. His bullying of other students was well-known, even outside of Hogwarts," Jebediah stated plainly.
Dumbledore glared at the man who seemed so at ease. It incensed him to hear one of his prized pupils be slandered right in front of him, and by this... powerful unknown no less!
"And who are you to speak of his character? I see through your lies. I know not of how you managed to trick Lily but I will force the truth out of you," Dumbledore muttered coldly, his eyes gaining a dangerous look of determination as well as resignation.
Suddenly, it felt as if a pressure had fallen over the whole room and an aura of authority and power surrounded the three that opposed the old wizard. Lily felt her knees buckle slightly as she broke into a sweat before she regained her composure and Bellatrix seemed to only look more apprehensive.
Jebediah himself looked as if nothing had happened and continued to stare impassively while the atmosphere became more and more tense.
"Who am I?" the sunglasses-wearing killer questioned with a raised eyebrow, "I'm Harry Potter, the child you dumped on the doorstep of people who hated him and wanted him gone," he answered, his voice betraying absolutely nothing.
Dumbledore froze at the admission, as did the two witches. They did not actually expect Harry to reveal his identity to the headmaster and he had specifically asked Bellatrix to not include the memories of James finding out the possible connection between Jebediah and his lost son.
In that moment of indecision, Harry whipped out his trusty revolver from a white flame and fired off a few shots.
Dumbledore reacted with a graceful swish of his wand that conjured a wall of clear material that cracked under the power of Harry's gun. It shattered after two more bullets and Dumbledore disapparated out of his office and onto Hogwarts's grounds as one of the bullets shattered the glass window of the headmaster's office.
Bellatrix and Lily both prepared to chase after the old wizard, but were stopped by Harry.
"No, both of you have to take James to Amelia. You have to explain what has happened to her and try to have James imprisoned or killed if he can't be," he said with a concerned frown on his face.
Both of the stunning women looked absolutely indignant at his words but before they could get out another word, Harry lowered his sunglasses and in a rare show of vulnerability, said, "Please, for me. You two do not deserve to suffer for my problems. Dumbledore clearly thinks that I have you two tricked, fighting him now will probably make him charitable to you. I'm fairly confident I can hold him off long enough for you two to get something done,"
Instead of reassuring Lily, it had the opposite effect.
"NO! I will not leave you to fend yourself against Dumbledore!" she yelled at him, her eyes alight with defiance.
In response, Harry put a hand on her cheek and stared deeply into her eyes.
"You have to. This is the only way to punish James for us. We have no way of convincing Dumbledore any longer. Bellatrix has allies within the Wizengamot and so do you. I'll do my best to incapacitate the old man so he can't speak out against you two," he said seriously.
The fiery red-headed witch could only open and close her mouth silently. She knew he was right and yet it pained her more than she could ever admit to see Harry look to face Dumbledore on his own.
"Promise me. Promise me you'll be safe," she stated tearfully.
"I promise," he responded dutifully and softly.
He looked to Bellatrix who was staring at him with blatant concern.
She too was scared. She already knew of his prowess at killing and had already seen him drive off Dumbledore, yet still she feared for him. She was in turmoil and decided to hell with décor and propriety. She leaned in and stole Harry's lips right in front of Lily.
She wrapped her arms around the black-haired man's neck in passion and he wrapped his arms around her midsection, all the while Lily stared in shock and a slight bit of jealousy at the two's closeness.
When the two broke apart, Bellatrix could only say, "You better come back to me," in a threatening tone as she took the stony Lily's hand and went to the floo while levitating James's unconscious body.
When the two witches finally disappeared from the fireplace, Harry descended down from the shattered windows in a wreath of shadowy fire in front of the old headmaster, who was visibly glowing with magic, his eyes actually shining blue.
It seemed it was time for him to test his mettle against the reputed second coming of Merlin.
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End of Chapter 11
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A/N: College started. Now I'm busy as shit. I was never too motivated in writing and I really just wanted a way to let some of my ideas to flow because just thinking about them ain't enough but I'll try my best to update this whenever I can