Magic Will Find a Way
By: Ryu Katanna
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Chapter Eleven
"Have you heard anything from them?" Owen asked after breakfast as he tied his boots; getting ready to head to work.
"No. Not in a few days." Harry replied with a small shake of his head and a sigh of worry.
"I'm sure you will soon." Owen replied as he stood to grab his wallet, phone, and keys.
It had been a busy month since Harry had confided his suspicions of having been potioned to Owen. They had searched through all of Harry's books that night; staying up later than usual as they looked for answers. They had found little that could be of any use to them with the limited information available.
The one thing they did find was a book that told about the different services the Goblins at Gringotts offered. It was a book Harry had purchased out of idle curiosity at the time. He had known about his vault at the bank and had wanted to know more about Gringotts itself as well as the other services they offered. He had wanted to know more about the goblins outside of the Goblin Wars that Professor Binns always droned on about.
Harry could never have known then just how valuable that information would turn out to be.
It was thanks to that book that Owen and Harry were able to make plans and had convinced Remus and Sirius to sneak away to Gringotts with the mirror so Harry could speak with his account manager. The two hadn't known until they'd gotten there about Harry and Owen's suspicions until Harry had requested that Sirius and Remus be tested for potions and spells by Gringotts. They had protested at first until Harry told them that he now suspected he had been potioned since just before starting school. They had finally agreed to be tested just to prove him wrong.
Only, Harry's concerns were to be proven right when they had both tested positive for both potions and spells themselves.
It had been a roller coaster of emotion after that as Harry requested the cleansing services Gringotts offered, and Sirius and Remus were shown out while the mirror had been left with HookClaw. Through mirror communication, Owen and Harry had managed to sort out Harry's vaults. Yes, vaults. As in plural.
That had been a mess on its own as Harry was still underaged. It had taken some explaining as they told HookClaw about the blood adoption that magic had performed. Through testing, it was found that Harry could withdraw or deposit more than just money through his bank bag. It had taken several exchanges of paperwork and two vials with blood samples from both Harry and Owen to validate the adoption in the eyes of the bank, but the paperwork was now official.
The magic of this world had been thorough indeed.
The tests that Gringotts ran showed Owen to be Harry's biological father alongside James Potter; unusual as Owen should have shown up on the test as a blood-adopted parent. Even his adopted name of Hadrian James Grady had been made his true name by the decree of magic itself. It was because of this that Owen was able to act in the capacity he now did as Harry's parent with the bank and get the Potter accounts audited to find several discrepancies that were quickly traced back to one Albus Dumbledore. Owen had been quick to take action in locking down those withdrawals and opening an investigation much to HookClaw's obvious pleasure. Gringotts would be handling the legal side from there as was their right.
It was about that time that a storm-faced Sirius Black and growling Remus Lupin had been shown back into the room.
Things had further devolved from there as it was discovered that the Wills of James and Lily Potter had been sealed under the authorization of the Supreme Mugwump; namely Albus Dumbledore. Harry would have had to wait until he was seventeen otherwise, but because the blood tests showed Owen as his biological father as well the man had been able to override this to have them unsealed. Oh, how they all cursed Dumbledore's name into the grave that day.
The wills both contained the proof they needed as both James and Lily Potter had named Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper. His mother had even stated that he wasn't to go to her sister if anything were to have happened to them. She had even listed Snape as a better alternative for a guardian. The writing of the wills had been signed by Albus Dumbledore as a witness.
The man had known everything all along.
"I'm sure they're alright. We'll just have to wait to hear from them. They've been making good progress." Owen said reassuringly as he clapped Harry on the shoulder comfortingly.
"I know. I'm just worried. We haven't heard anything in over two weeks." Harry replied as he clenched his fists.
There had been no sign from Voldemort or his Death Eaters since the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, so they had been focusing on what they could do. Sirius had ejected and barred Dumbledore and the Order of the Pheonix from his family home. It was with the help of Gringotts and Amelia Bones that Sirius had gotten a trial with the unsealed wills as proof and was a free man now. Since then, Sirius had been gathering evidence and started levying charges against both Dumbledore and the Ministry.
He had started making waves within the British Wizarding World, and Dumbledore's claiming Voldemort's return with seemingly no proof had done nothing but help the old man's case. The Headmaster's reputation was in tatters at the moment, and Sirius and Remus were ensuring the manipulative old man had little breathing room. There had already been talk of a vote of 'No Confidence called that saw Dumbledore forced to step down from his seat on the Wizenmont as well as him being forced to retire from his position on the ICW.
Sirius wasn't stopping there. Oh, no. Taking up the mantle of Lord Black he was determined to ruin the man for what he'd done to them. Sirius was a busy man at the moment as he worked on tearing down any influence the old man may still have had around him. Dumbledore was lucky he was still Headmaster of Hogwarts, from what Harry had been told the last time he'd spoken to Sirius and Remus.
"Did you get your homework started?" Owen asked, drawing Harry away from his thoughts on everything going on in the other world.
"I finished it." Harry told him as he stood to take care of the dishes from breakfast.
"Already?" Owen asked in surprise as he had expected the teen to take longer given how much work had been assigned just three days before.
"Yeah. I found all the answers I needed in my notes. I was thinking about starting the next segment." Harry replied with a careless shrug.
"Why don't you take a break for today? You've been working hard lately. I don't want you to burn yourself out, and it is your birthday tomorrow." Owen said knowing the teen hadn't really taken time for himself since he had started his online classes, and was already ahead in the ones he was taking.
It was like finding out about Dumbledore's betrayal had lit a fire in the teen to prove himself to be better.
Harry had added to his training regimen in the mornings and taken to it with a determination that had surprised Owen at first. Owen didn't have to wake the teen in the mornings anymore. No, more often than not, Harry was already up and working on his stretches by the time Owen stepped outside. His stamina and strength had both improved since he had first started, and Owen had started training the teen in hand-to-hand combat. He was also planning on teaching him how to properly hold and fire different firearms. A skill he was determined the teen learned in case it was ever needed.
After Owen headed off to work was when Harry would start on whatever he was working on that particular day. Throughout the week Harry would work on his muggle schooling for his online courses. Most mornings were spent in online lectures until Owen got home for lunch before starting on bookwork and assignments until dinner. After dinner was spent reading whatever classwork had been assigned as Owen and Harry talked about their days. Harry spoke about what he was studying that day and Owen telling him what had happened with the girls.
Weekends, instead of being a time to relax for Harry, had been set for even further studying and training as the teen worked on his magical education. He had tried his hand at a potion or two, but after he had almost blown out the connecting wall between his room and the living area of the bungalow, Owen had put a stop to it until he could see about Sirius or Remus finding someone to teach him privately through the mirror. Potion mishap aside, Harry was getting better with his wandless spell casting. He had started getting a good grasp on his control and how much power to focus into each spell, and was now getting into third and fourth-year spells. He had only blown every light in the bungalow out three times as he had been getting the hang of it too.
Needless to say, Owen had made sure to pick up replacements to put away for the next time it happened and had started keeping a stock in the linen cabinet.
Owen's days off had been more geared toward Harry's education during this time. When they weren't stopping to eat or stock up on necessities, they had been visiting a few of the enclosures where Harry studied their behavior and took notes of his observations. Owen knew that he would be keeping those notes for later use as he compiled a thesis to present for publishing.
Now it was the thirtieth of July, and Harry would be turning fifteen the next day. Owen could only hope he would take the time to relax and decompress. Though that was looking more unlikely as Harry shook his head.
"I looked over everything that I'll need to graduate early. I need a total of twenty-one credits to graduate and have it look good for college. If I work on three courses a day for six weeks at a time then it'll only take me forty-two weeks to finish and have all twenty-one credits. I'll be able to graduate before I turn sixteen then." Harry said as he got up to wash their breakfast dishes.
"Are you sure you don't want to take your time, Harry? Most kids don't graduate until they turn eighteen. I like that you're challenging yourself, but I also don't want you to push yourself too hard just to graduate early." Owen replied with some concern as he paused by the small fridge.
"I really just want to get it over with. I'm having a better time remembering the material than I did after I started Hogwarts. I figure that at least this way I'll be able to finish my general education sooner and then I can take my time with my college courses. At least that way I'm studying for the career I want. Maybe even apply for some work on the island that would look good on a college application once I turn sixteen." Harry said as he rinsed the two plates and their utensils before placing them in the drying rack.
"Have you decided what you want to study for in college?" Owen asked while Harry dried his hands with a dishtowel.
"I'm thinking about studying to be a wildlife biologist though I'm not sure about any specializations yet." Harry replied' putting the dishtowel to dry on the door handle of the small oven.
"Alright. I won't try to convince you to slow down, but if I see you getting overworked then we will be having a conversation." Owen said sternly, and Harry smiled.
"Okay. You'd better go or you'll be late." Harry said as he shooed the man toward the door.
"I'll see you at lunchtime." Owen replied as he checked the time before quickly walking out the door.
Harry heard the revving of Owen's motorcycle before the sound started growing fainter as he left. He took a moment to wipe down the table before grabbing his sweaty clothes from that morning from the bathroom and taking them to his room to dump them in the laundry basket. The basket was getting rather full, but he ignored it in favor of going to his computer.
He hadn't told Owen, but he only had one more segment to finish for the three classes he was taking before he would be done with them a week early. He didn't want to worry the man that he was overworking himself, but he didn't know what else he could do other than his classwork. Barry had mentioned something about there being something called a chat room online where he could find other teenagers to talk to, but he was still a little unsure about looking any of them up. He was getting better with the technology, but he was still learning. Though he did think he would need to figure it out as he couldn't help but wish for someone his own age to talk to while he was home alone.
Maybe later.
123
Owen sighed in exasperation as he looked up at the shocked look on the newbie's face as his son just sauntered happily passed the security gate with a swipe of his ID at the card reader before calling for the girls and sticking his arms through the secondary gate for them to inspect him. The newbie, a man by the name of Darrel Groger, had started just two weeks before. Due to Harry's heavy study and training schedule, he had not been to visit since before Darrel had started here, and so the man knew nothing about him.
"Hey, kid! That's dangerous!" Darrel shouted at the teen as Harry waited for Blue before letting her inspect him.
This did not go over well with the pack of raptors as they hissed around Harry at Darrel's perceived aggression toward the teen. Owen had found himself having to grab the man's arm and haul him sharply away from the outer security gate to pull him around and out of sight of the raptors. The man struggled against him, but Owen's grip wasn't so easily broken. Darrel rounded on him as so as they were out of sight of the pack, who even now he could faintly hear Harry hissing reassurances to, before he let the other man go.
"What do you think you're doing? That kid is gonna get torn apart!" Darrel exclaimed as he moved to push past him, but Owen stood his grown.
"You need to calm down now. You are highly emotional and the raptors can sense it. You will just aggravate them until you calm down." Owen spoke calmly but firmly as he heard rushed footsteps approach them; glancing over to see Barry.
"What happened? Hadrian is trying to calm the girls. I've never seen them this aggravated when he was here." Barry said with some concern as he looked over at Darrel.
"A misunderstanding. Darrel here thought he was in danger and started yelling at him to get away from the bars." Owen replied to Darrel's spluttering.
"A misunderstanding?! The kid is gonna get eaten! How can you be so calm?! We need to get him out of there!" The man rebuked harshly, and Barry just shook his head.
"Hadrian is one of theirs. They won't hurt him." Barry replied before looking back at Owen and continuing.
"I will speak to him. You go help Hadrian settle them. They will not calm without their Alpha. Not when there is a threat to their hatchling." Barry said using the term hatchling as he had taken to teasing the teen with it.
"Thanks, Barry. We'll have to see how the girls react to Darrel's presence after this. If you're locked as a threat then you'll need to be transferred somewhere else." Owen said before turning away while the man spluttered angrily while Barry tried to calm him down enough to explain what he had seen.
Honestly, Owen was happy that Barry had decided to be the one to talk to the man. Darrel had been working there for two weeks but had already tried to act like he was in charge. The fact that Harry's ID had given him access to the interior gate, something Darrell didn't even have clearance for, should have told the man something. Hell, Harry had higher clearance access than most people in the park when it came to the animals.
"Everything alright?" He asked Harry as he swiped his ID and the gate unlocked.
"Yeah. I got them to calm down a bit after you pulled that guy away. Who is he?" Harry asked as Echo chittered in pleasure under his touch as he found an itchy spot.
"Darrell Groger. He started here about two weeks ago. I don't think he'll be here for much longer." Owen replied as he approached the teen who was giving Echo skritches with one hand and patting Blue with the other.
He could see the moment the girl's attention shifted to him, only giving a screech which he knew wasn't one of aggression, but more of a greeting before shifting their attention back to Harry.
"Come on. Let's get them their breakfast." Owen said once he'd seen Barry walking by the gate; knowing that he must have finished his chat with Groger.
"Okay." Harry said before pulling back from the bars; the girls watching them as they left.
"Surprise!"
123456
I'm finally done with this chapter. I have been stuck on this for what feels like forever, and then I started on Future of House Black and got distracted. Well, here it is. Hopefully, I can get another update out more quickly than this last one took me. I'll try, but there are never any guarantees with me.
I've had a few people leave reviews asking if this fic is discontinued or if they can have it. The answer to both is no. This fic is an active WIP though it's taking me some time to get the chapters out. I do have a couple of stories that have been discontinued and are up for adoption, but those are marked as being so in their summaries.
Until next time,
Ryu
