Chapter 11

The floo flared with green flames and a man strode through the fireplace. He didn't even stumble when he got out of the flames. With an expert wave of the wand, he cleaned himself off the accumulated soot. He spared a lazy glance around the room before he walked straight out and toward the back door.

He waited for a couple of seconds for the doorknob to recognize his magic and let him pass. To someone not added to the wards, it would only lead them to an empty backyard. But to the people in the know, well, they will be seemingly transported to a different world.

He nodded his head at the slight magical jolt he felt in his palm, the ward allowed him the entrance and he turned the doorknob, opening the back door of the house to exit, but only to enter a magical place. It was called Eden, and just like it was written for the famed garden of heaven, this place boasted the same beauty and a sense of tranquillity.

He found the residents of the house to be sitting on deck chairs in front of a unicorn enclosure with lap desks. The husband was writing furiously on parchment in between consulting with a large tome opened before him, while the wife was searching for something in an equally large tome. None of them paid any mind to the newcomer, the man thought they weren't even aware of his presence. Which was odd since the wards of the house would've alerted them of his arrival.

He cleared his throat to get a rouse out of them.

But to his disappointment, the man only answered with a hum.

Exasperatedly, he asked, "What is going on?"

"Unicorns are herd animals. It was proven. But what we never knew is the fact that they have quite an intriguing herd dynamic. Did you know that whenever a new foal is born, the herd leader was in charge of its wellbeing instead of its parents? Unicorns believe that it was the duty of the leader, or herd elder as they call it, to teach the newly born about herd life. The mother nurses the foal for the first two weeks or so but after that, it comes under the charges of herd elder."

The man was confused, he didn't expect to receive a lecture on unicorns (even if it was quite interesting, much to his chagrin) when he asked what he thought was an innocent question. He decided to try the woman next.

"Ahem…"

"That doesn't even cover how bratty can a foal be," The woman answered irritably, she appeared quite frazzled, "since they don't have names in the human sense, they can be quite choosy if they are bestowed by a human name. And if it is a female unicorn who is alone with her high-praising mother, then all bets are off."

The man stood there bemusedly, he was thinking if he should leave or not when he heard a raised voice from ahead and looked up. He didn't spot the young boy at first, but now, he was quite visible as he was apparently scolding a golden-coated unicorn foal. An adult unicorn that he assumed was the mother, was standing nearby and looking calmly at the duo. The boy threw up his hands in the air in frustration and stomped towards the gate. The foal followed him quite happily it seemed. Nearing the gate, the boy stopped and spun around.

"I told you before that you are not to cross the gate." He raised a finger threateningly. "I mean it, Mira- Er, Grace, no more apples if you dare to come after me, not even a single sugar cube will be in your future."

The man kept watching with a slacked jaw as the boy stomped near muttering about pushy little unicorns.

"Marie says that the herd elder has to look after the security of the herd. She never saw it but she heard that one such elder has lost his life when he tried to face an attacker that was hunting after his herd. I think I know what she is talking about." The boy had his eyes on the ground, "Oh, and ma'am, Emily was rejected. She has gone back to Miranda but cannot make up her mind between it and Grace. She laughed at my face when I suggested Hermione – Oh!" He had finally spotted the man standing behind the couple.

"What is it, Harry?" The woman, Tina, asked and turned her head. Her face lit up when she saw the man.

"When did you arrive?" She asked with a smile as she nudged her husband, "Newt, he's here."

Startled, Newt Scamander fumbled with the tome he was leafing through and it fell on the ground with a muted thud. He cursed as he leapt up and send off the lap desk flying in the process. The boy, Harry, scrambled to gather the flyaway parchments. Newt looked morosely at the mess he had just made before turning around.

"Theo, it is nice to see you."

Theseus Hermes Reginald Scamander, celebrated Auror, war hero and master duellist, stood with his mouth open. He couldn't think of an answer as he looked at the three – two and a half – people before him. Harry had managed to corral the parchments and was standing a little behind with a curious look on his face. Newt was giving him an abashed smile. Tina shrunk the tome she was searching through and banished the furniture she was using. It was her to approach him first.

Theseus was broken out of his thoughts as Tina pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around the shoulders of his sister-in-law with a smile.

"Tina, you appear even lovelier than before. How are you?" He kissed her on the cheek.

Newt also slowly made his way to him.

"Theo."

"Newt."

The brothers stood in front of each other measuring their reaction, then they smiled and in unison, threw their arms around each other.

"How are you, little brother? You don't visit, you don't write. Are you avoiding me?"

Newt grimaced, "Not at all. I just can't find the time with looking after my charges."

Theo raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't stop Tina. I know for a fact that she is equally involved with your 'charges'. Yet she finds the time to visit bi-monthly. And a letter a month."

"I hate writing."

"I just saw you writing not even five minutes ago."

"That was different."

"How was it different than taking up a damned quill and writing a few sentences to your own brother?"

Tina loudly cleared her throat, "Boys, please not the old argument again." Both the brothers looked away with matching red cheeks.

"Newt, aren't you forgetting something?"

Newt frowned, "What?" Tina nodded towards Harry who was watching the brothers interact with confusion.

"Oh, of course. Harry! Come here, let me introduce you to my brother," he turned around with a big green, "brother, this is Harry Potter, my apprentice." He clapped a hand on his shoulder. "And Harry, this is my older brother, retired Master Auror Theseus Scamander."

Harry took a step forward and stumbled. Theo reached out and steadied him by gripping his shoulder.

"Easy there, son."

The boy blushed. He offered his hand to the older man, "Um… it is nice to meet you, sir."

Theo smiled and shook his hand. He noticed the strong grip the boy had, but his attention was on his face. Harry was looking at him with a huge smile on his face, and… why was he growing a beard at an amazing rate?

Newt spoke to him softly, "Harry, you need to calm down. Remember your chant?"

His eyes bugged out. With a hastily mumbled excuse, he hurried back to the unicorn enclosure, all the while muttering something under his breath.

"Was it something I said?" Theo asked.

Tina chuckled, "Apparently, both of the Scamander brothers are his heroes. He is a little starstruck meeting you."

Newt muttered to himself, "I didn't know that he knows about Theo, I thought it was just me."

Theo smirked, "Feeling a little jealous there, are we, little brother?"

"No, not at all." Newt tried to deny it. But he saw the matching smirks that Tina and Theo had on their faces. He scowled.

"Well, joking aside," Theo turned serious, "what in Merlin's name is going on here? Since when do you take in apprentices, Newt? And what was that with the unicorns?"

Newt gave him the widest smile ever.

"Well, Theo, let me just give you an overview. I will explain in detail after Harry goes to sleep." He turned his head to look at the boy. "You see, it all started when I went to Flourish and Blotts searching for a book…"

[TUP]

The three Scamanders were sitting quietly late that night. Tina and Theo both had thoughtful looks on their faces. Theo was leaning back in his armchair looking up at the ceiling while Tina was seating forward in hers with his elbows resting on her knees and her eyes trained at the glowing embers of the fireplace. Newt had a small smile on his face as he altered between looking at his wife and his brother. They had just finished watching his memories of the day's events.

"What the bloody hell was Dumbledore thinking?" Theo broke the silence.

"He wasn't thinking, as usual." Tina supplied. She looked up to see the brothers were giving her questioning looks, "What, you Brits are way too enamoured with the man. Granted he is a great scholar and was an inspiring teacher when he was in the classroom. But you can't deny that as a leader of men, he is a failure. And since he casts such a large shadow in his wake, his mistakes also tend to be on a grander scale. Case in point, his dealings with Harry."

Newt coughed, "Yes he dropped the quaffle in his dealings with Harry. But Tina, you can't just denounce Dumbledore like that."

Tina rolled her eyes, "Fine, I will try to refrain myself from disparaging your precious headmaster. But I reserve the right to mock you for your worshipful behaviour of the man at a later date."

Theo snorted, "Please, I am the last person to praise the ground Dumbledore walks upon, but I do agree with Newt in this case if no other, that man has been an inspiration for generations of British witches and wizards for a reason."

Newt sighed and sat forward, "Putting the headmaster aside, for the time being, I would like to hear your thoughts on Harry."

Tine sighed as she massaged her brow, "I was right when I thought that he didn't have a proper home. Dumbledore left him there to be tortured for a decade."

Newt nodded, "Yes, it was proven by those memories of his. But it didn't show his retaliations, and from what I observed from his behaviours, he took the pleasure of turning their spells back to them by some subtle pranks or some other passive-aggressive deeds. He is snarky and sarcastic enough to certainly get away with it if one is not paying attention. The glint of mischief in his eyes also directs towards numerous pranks which have been employed in revenge."

"Well, he is a survivor, and the sneakiness he may have inherited from either of his parents. But one thing is for sure from what I have learned talking to him earlier, he craves affection. He attached himself with Rubeus Hagrid because he was the first adult who focused solely on him and not his cousin, as opposed to the behaviours he generally saw. His friends, the Weasley boy and that Granger girl were the first children his age who didn't shy away from him or tried to get him in trouble. They accepted him as just a normal boy and their friend, and in return for that, he will fight tooth and nail for them."

"And he did, if his adventure down at the Chamber of Secret is of any indication. He went alone inside despite knowing there was a basilisk there only because Weasley's sister was there and the snake had hurt Granger. Truthfully, I am quite worried about his self-sacrificing tendencies."

Tina turned towards the other man who remained quiet.

"Theo, anything to add?"

Theo tore his gaze from the ceiling and looked at his brother and sister-in-law.

"Did you two notice his disarming hex at the shade?"

Newt and Tina exchanged a glance between them.

"Yes, we did. And it did nothing to the shade."

Theo looked incredulously at the two, "Did you not see what the hex did after?"

"Er… no?"

Theo swiftly leaned forward with his eyes glinting, "It scorched the wall behind when it splashed there. If the hex was fired against someone with a body, and if they failed to move or block it, they would have blasted off of their feet, ending up with serious injuries. How many twelve-year-olds do you know to pack that kind of power?"

Newt looked contemplative, "Well, he did produce some wisps at his first try in casting a Patronus…"

Theo pointed, "That is exactly what I am talking about. Despite two years of schooling, he has not learned control. From what we have seen in those memories, his Defence teachers were jokes; Transfiguration and Charms were taught to him as if he was brought up in the Wizarding World, without a solid base of background information, he is as good as never receiving any lessons on those branches of magic. If this is how they teach at Hogwarts in wanded subjects nowadays, I shudder to think about subtle arts like Potion or Enchanting.

He is a disaster waiting to explode. He is powerful, one of the reasons for that is because of those wards Dumbledore erected around his home. Without any other magical source around, who do you think the wards latched onto to sustain themselves?"

Tina frowned, "That is along with Lily's Blessing we saw in those memories. It worked tirelessly to keep the boy healthy."

Theo nodded, "Yes, altogether, it means that Harry Potter has been working his magic like an adult wizard does since he was about two years old. That continuous usage has made his magic incredibly potent but way wilder to tame than any other young wizard's magic. He is yet to reach adulthood and magical maturity. If he is this strong now, can you imagine what his power level will be when he is an adult?

Then there are his self-doubts that Newt pointed out. No matter how maturely he has conducted himself with those muggles, it did leave its mark on him. Somewhere, deep in his mind, he believes all those disparaging remarks his relatives may have made about him. And thus, he craves for chances to prove them wrong. He jumps at every chance to help those he thinks as his own."

Tina agreed with him, "Yes, he told me about how he helped Hagrid by smuggling a dragon hatchling out of Hogwarts."

"And how he went after the Philosopher's Stone; to keep the school, but more than that, his friends, safe. How he went into the Forbidden forest to again help Hagrid. How he went into the Chamber to help the Weasley girl and for revenge for the Granger girl."

Theo turns towards Newt, "You said he has a rudimentary Occlumency shield?"

"Yes, he chants 'Harry the Human' to himself to keep from changing. When he is agitated or excited, he is either sporting feathers, furs, or scales so far. Much like a Metamorphmagus."

"His magic is unrestrained, wild. It caused a powerful magical vortex to endanger the muggles he was leaving with because he was agitated by their remarks on his parents. What happens when one of his friends is injured in a schoolyard scuffle? Or he sees a powerful animal such as a tiger or lion and in his emotional state he turns? He will be a danger to himself and all those around him if his magic doesn't do the deed first, and when, not if, they do get hurt, he will blame himself and turn his magic inside. Either he will fry himself from inside out or he will cause an implosion of great magical energy."

Newt smiled sadly at his brother, "One of the reasons why I offered him apprenticeship so readily. I think I can help him. I… well, it was more Pickett, but we did manage to calm him down when he was angry at Dumbledore. He has a… kind of sixth sense with animals, and that is excluding his beast speech. I kept a close eye on him. The entire time he was with Pick, he didn't show even a little sign of change. The only time after getting acquainted with Pick and the unicorns I saw him losing control was when he met you. He was in sort of heaven when he was playing with the crup puppies."

Tina agreed, "He was very happy with the unicorns. He may have grumbled quite a lot, but I could see the truth in his eyes."

Newt smiled and reached out for his wife, she grasped his hand and smiled in return.

"So you are going with this plan of having him as your apprentice?" Theo asked his brother who nodded. He turned towards the woman, "And you, Tina?"

"From what I have seen today, he is a good boy, Theo. He is an innocent victim of circumstances others put him into. I want to help him in any way I can. Blame it on my maternal instinct, but I am starting to form an attachment with him only after a day."

"We are going to need your help in helping him, brother."

Theo sighed and leaned back in his seat, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Please consider it, Theo."

With another sigh, the man looked into his brother's eyes, "What do you want me to do?"

Newt didn't dare to show his triumphant smirk, "You said he needed to learn control. Who is better than you to train him in that? You can teach him to control his power, along with the mind magics."

"Dumbledore said he is a child of prophecy?"

"Yes, he did."

Theo grimaced, "Which means, the war will start anew. I thought we were done with that nonsense thanks to the boy. I didn't want to have anything with that lot after I retired."

"If you don't mind me asking, Theo," Tina prodded, "why didn't you take part in the war? We were out of the country for nearly a decade helping the Chinese. But why weren't you out there? They would have surely wanted a man with your expertise around at that time."

Theo sneered and turned his face away. "I was asked to accept my retirement from the Auror force."

Newt looked at his brother gobsmacked, "They asked you, a war hero and Master Auror, to go on in retirement when there was civil unrest in the country? Who took your post afterwards?"

"Alastor Moody."

Newt scrunched his face, "Well, Moody is a tough old bastard, I'll give you that. But it doesn't explain why you were let go."

Theo was still looking away, "At first there was a talk about me taking up the mantle as the Head of DMLE. Bagnold all but outright said so. So when the actual talk about my active retirement from the field was brought up, I accepted. Because I could have done so much as the Head of DMLE. But I was summarily dismissed instead. They patted me on the back and thanked me for my services to the Ministry before showing me the door. Bagnold's Undersecretary, Bartimaeus Crouch was appointed as Head of DMLE instead and Moody was promoted from one of the Head Aurors to Master Auror."

Theo chuckled darkly, "You know what is amusing? Barty Crouch did the exact things I would have done. He fought fire with fire, so to speak. Quite interestingly, after things have quietened down, two simultaneous eyewitness confessions placed Crouch's son, Barty Crouch Jr. in the thick of things. I mean there were prisoners before, they were interrogated and named their comrades. But Crouch Jr's name never came up. Although the eyewitness accounts were so that he couldn't be overlooked. That information was leaked right when Bagnold was about to be ousted and Crouch Sr was touted to become the next minister."

"How do you know about this?" Newt asked.

Theo snorted, "I may be retired and live in seclusion, brother, but I keep up with the current affairs and maintain my old connections regularly."

Tina impatiently said, "But why were you let go?"

Theo looked at her dead in the eyes, "Alastor Moody is one of Dumbledore's allies, the man who succeeded Bagnold, and had no actual chance to run for the office against Crouch Sr, is also quite depending on the headmaster."

Newt frowned, "You mean to say Dumbledore made you leave the Auror force?"

Theo shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine, brother."

"He is not evil, you know?"

Theo shook his head, "I never said he is evil. But he has an obsession with controlling people. As the DMLE Head, I wouldn't have listened to his 'suggestions'. Thus, he took a gamble with Crouch but that backfired on him. Later, when he had the chance to rectify his mistake by getting evidence of Crouch Jr's deeds, he let the story leak out at an opportune moment, removing Crouch from gaining a more powerful position. But since he couldn't have all, he let Fudge become the minister and Bones the DMLE Head. Moody is too jaded to be in an executive position, but he could still be of some help to Dumbledore."

"You are making him sound like a dark lord, brother." Newt grimaced.

"Once again, Newt, I am not saying he is evil. But he is controlling. He has his own agendas and he would see them to the end by any means necessary. We both saw how much of an opportunistic bastard he can be in the Grindelwald war. I hope you remember Aberforth. And if nothing else, look what he did to Harry.

As Tina said earlier, his mistakes are on a grander scale because he is very important to the British Wizarding World. If he knew Harry is a child of prophecy then why did he, instead of keeping him secured, let him be abused for over a decade? He knew that the boy had a horcrux in him, but instead of trying to cure him or being brave enough to end the child's life to prevent a future catastrophe, he put him in a situation that is quite the nurturing ground for developing a dark wizard. What do you think would have happened if Harry turned out to be less resilient than he is?"

Tina agreed, "Face it, Newt. Dumbledore had some plan. In my opinion, he would have made Harry go through a sacrificial play by stoking his emotion. That boy wears his heart on his sleeve. Would it have been too hard for the headmaster to create a situation where Harry would gladly slit his own throat for the sake of his friends?"

"And as a child of prophecy, why isn't he being trained as he should?" Theo asked again.

"Dumbledore said he was giving Harry a chance to enjoy his childhood."

Theo gave a sarcastic smile, "Is that so? Tell me brother, which child fights a dark lord at the age of eleven? And a thousand years old basilisk at the age of twelve? That is such a Dumbledorish evasive answer if any."

Newt surrendered finally, "Alright, fine. I accept that Dumbledore has some Machiavellian plans for the boy. What do we do to help him? How do we proceed from here?"

Theo stroked his chin in thought, "We somehow managed to stay out of war the first time. Now, you put us all in the frontline in a manner, Newt." He smiled deviously, "Very well, let us see if we can throw an expired ingredient in Dumbledore's potion. You will teach him about animals as his apprenticeship demands. Since he finds peace among them like you, you are the perfect man to help him keep his mind. Tina will help you, but I think it would be better if she puts her past expertise in practice again and teaches the boy about the proper usage of offensive and defensive magic."

"And you?" Newt hoped that Theo would be around to lend a hand with Harry. Because, for all intents and purposes, they were raising a child to fight in a war. And Newt would do anything to help the boy come out alive in the end.

"I will be teaching him control, meditation and mind magic in between teaching him what he should've learned about Charms, Transfiguration, Enchanting and a dash of Runic magtic. We will see how disciplined he is before I train him in duelling. He is famous, too famous for his own good, we need to make that fame work for him, not against him. If he shows an aptitude for it, I will promote him in duelling tournaments. Somebody very carefully created the persona of the Boy-Who-Lived." He raised his hand to stop Newt's protest, "and I didn't say it was Dumbledore, although he does fit the bill. Anyhow, people think Harry to be some mythical figure, and his absence from the wizarding world had blown that expectation way out of proportion. Let us give them what they want to see. Let us give them a Harry Potter who could be an awe-inspiring figure."

"Won't that be painting a bigger target on his back?" Tina fretted.

"It will," Theo agreed, "but it will also set the boy apart from his myth. The more he interacts with the general public, the more he will create a genuine image of himself, rather than everyone forming their own opinion about him. But we need to be very careful, we will be pushing him, but to a certain limit. It is his power level that makes him very volatile, always remember that."

Newt and Tina nodded. They waited for Theo to say something more but the man was lost in his thoughts.

"Um, Theo?" Newt called.

"What happened to the basilisk fang?" Theo asked abruptly.

"Eh?" Newt was confused.

"The basilisk fang that Harry pulled out from his forearm to stab that horcrux. What happened to it?" Theo clarified.

"I don't know. I think it's in the Chamber. Why?"

"Harry bled to slay the beast. His magic quite literally overcome the beast's by blood, sweat and deeds. That fang is a mark of that conquest. It could be a great aide in channelling his magic."

"You want to make a wand out of that fang?"

"No, his wand is very well matched with his magic. I simply want to add to it."

"Dual-cored wands are a myth, Theo."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Newt." Theo glared at his brother, but the said brother smirked at him unrepentantly. "I want to commission a wand handle out of that fang. Harry's wild magic plus a phoenix's fiery nature…" He shivered a little, "The basilisk fang will help balance that out, a sort of filter for his magic, if you will. The wood of holly only acts as a conduit for him, and it's a wonder that the wand hasn't burst into flame yet. Using the fang as a handle for his wand will help refine his magic the more he uses it. Plus, with his blood being absorbed by the fang, it will be easier to attune it to his wand and stabilize the opposing magics of a phoenix and a basilisk. We need to get that fang, Newt."

Newt nodded thoughtfully, "I do need to visit Hogwarts again in a week. That is when I plan to introduce the two unicorns to the herd there in the Forbidden Forest. We will need to take Harry along. Not only Marie and Miranda – the unicorns, think of him as a herd elder, he will be needed to open the Chamber."

"That is a week to get the fang, and at least a week for Olivander to create the handle. We will have less than a month to get the boy used to his readjusted wand. Thankfully, Dumbledore's blunder in giving Harry a proper education will be helpful to us in this situation." Theo cast a Tempus charm and jumped to his feet. "It has gotten very late. I need to leave now. Oh and Tina, would you mind terribly if I take up residence here for the foreseeable future?"

Tina smiled widely, "You are always welcome to stay here for as long as you want, Theo."

"Shouldn't you be asking the master of the house?" Newt grumbled.

"I did." Theo winked at him before leaving.

A.N. - The story has two more chapters already posted at Patr30n. Search for /lamonserga.