"So, how do we do this old man?" Harry asked. The sun had set, but a gorgeous orange glow remained on the horizon.
"Do you know what the single most powerful object in the world is, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.
"The person (Dumbledore started shaking his head back and forth) or persons who had developed the ability to manipulate the magical forces held within the largest planet in the universe, or on a more realistic level, the earth." Harry said nonchalantly.
Dumbledore turned to him.
"The earth was the correct answer." Dumbledore said as they continued walking across the field in front of Hogwarts.
"I disagree. The earth cannot be a powerful object by our definitions because by our definition of power, the earth has no power. The earth only has energy, which an individual or group has to grasp. Once the energy is grasped and manipulated, they, in essence, become the most powerful magical objects. Luckily, Voldemort thinks that part of Merlin's Secrets of true Power is crap and doesn't believe a word of it. Arrogance will be his downfall." Harry said. Dumbledore nodded in all the right places.
"It's reassuring to know you've thought this through" Dumbledore said with a trace of sarcasm.
"Yes, but as my goal is to become the most power wizard in the world, I have to know this shit" Harry said with his voice full of ridicule. "So how do we do this?" Harry went back to his original question as they neared the forbidden forest from the Quidditch pitch.
"I charge it using the earth. You will have to do it every few years, for magic does not last forever, and dissipates. But it will fill your staff enough to be used effectively. One advantage of a staff is that not only can you lean on it when you are as old as I, but if you feel weak, you can use a small amount of magic, to do powerful spells by placing your staff in the ground and using the earth as your magic source and not yourself. However, wielding your staff is a bit slower an clumsier than using a wand. You should always use the method you are most comfortable with." Before Harry could respond, Dumbledore raised the staff in the air and started muttering in latin. Harry translated it to understand what was going on. Wood of the earth, meet your giver and accept the power into your veins. Be strong and accept all that is provided. Dumbledore slammed the foot of the staff deep into the soft ground, and there was a subtle shaking of the ground as the staff began to glow red. Slowly the color turned to orange, then yellow, then green, blue and purple. Finally, there was a flash of white light, not unlike a camera, and all was still and quiet. "There you are Harry. I would recommend training with it a while, so that you know it well enough to use it. I must attend a meeting now. Be safe, and do not try anything too difficult on it. Staff magic is hard to control, and I do not want to see you injured."
"I know," Harry said, "I'll behave, I promise." Harry said with a very artificial innocent face. Dumbledore shook his head and started walking back to the castle. Harry pocketed his staff, and with a soft pop, disappeared.
/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/
"Stop whimpering, dammit!" the young man yelled. It really was pathetic that these supposed top-notch guys couldn't take a bit of a the game. "I may not kill you, I just want some information. You can give me information. If you don't, than I'm afraid you leave me NO OTHER OPTION!!!" He screamed as he kicked the man in the back. The man got back into the kneeling position. Physically ready to be executed, but not emotionally. He was crying aloud now.
"Fine, you had your chance. If you don't tell me in six seconds, you will suffer more than even your leaders can claim to. I will force the pain. I won't stop until your dead." The man's eyes went wide in shock. "Yes, that's bloody right. I won't stop when you're insane with it. Nope, I'll go all the fucking way. This is your final chance, tell me where the book is, and I possibly spare your life." He could see the man's barriers breaking down. It wouldn't be long now.
"B-but he'll kill me if I tell you." He whimpered.
"I can protect you. You see that despite his workings I am still alive. I have knowledge and power beyond his conception. Tell me and you will be safe. I may even take your family too. You would like to have them near you, right?" The man nodded. "But if you don't tell me, they will share your fate." The young man said.
"You sick, psychotic bastard!" The man shouted as he tried to stand. A sharp kick to the back of the knee and he was kneeling once again, and whimpering.
"I know what I am, and I will do everything it takes. Where is the book located? You can tell me, and this can all end. I will crucify you otherwise. Life, or the death of your entire family. Don't make me include your nieces and nephews, and your other extended family. Hell I'll even take out your wife's family, but before I kill anyone, I will explain, in detail, why you caused them all to die. Is that what you want?" The young man said as he circled his victim slowly. He saw that the man kept glancing at the he was holding to his head.
"Fine. Fine. You sick son-of-a-bitch. I'll tell you. But… but you have to protect my family. He'll come after them. The things he- he would do to my little girl…" the man broke down in sobs. "It's in the underground cavern, north-east of hull. It's his personal library. We go there sometime to get things for him. It's unprotected, because only three of us know about it. There are no wards I know of. I don't know where exactly the book is, but it would probably be in the back shelf. That's where most of the rare books are. That's all I know, I swear it. Please don't kill me. Please." The man begged. He watched as his captor stopped suddenly and took out a small plastic door from one of those muggle toy building sets. He enlarged it, and opened it, revealing a cobblestone street with modest buildings on either side. Despite the darkness outside, in the door it was daytime.
"In." The young man said.
"Where- Where is that?" he asked.
"It is a prison. I think you will enjoy it. You'll get your wand back in about eighty hours. Your wife and children will be there momentarily. Trust me when I say that I was never going to kill you, nor was I going to torture you. I am not going to make you suffer, only contain you. You can still lead a productive life here, with your family. There is a lot to do, so you won't be bored and locked up. In a couple hours two men will come to see you. They will copy your body, so I can set you up as being dead. That way, he won't come looking for you. You'll be safe here. I am the only one who can get in, so don't worry yourself. You'll forget about it in a few days anyway. Just go in, and I won't have to force you. You'll enjoy it a lot more if you do it on your own." He watched as the man made it to his feet and stared at him nervously. He took a deep breath, more of a sigh, really, and walked through the door. He turned to look out, expecting it to close sharply, locking. But the young man on the other side politely slid the door closed, and with a soft click it disappeared into the wall he had just walked out of. His feet began moving, and out of shame and exhaustion, he let them go.
/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/
Harry sighed as the door closed. He hoped the guy would like the prison. It was a bit of a far fetched concept, but he hoped the guy turned around. He did give him the information. Now all he had to do was pick up the guy's family. Not too difficult, and then he had to get the book. He wondered what other books Voldemort would have in his collection. This one was of particular importance though. He had assumed that Voldemort had stolen it the seventeen years ago, and he had assumed right. Who else would break into the Ministry to get The Secrets of True Power written by Merlin himself. It was too obvious. POP
Harry regained his composure and looked around again after apperating. He had made it to the poor bastard's house. He tip-toed up the stairs and opened the door to the master bedroom. In the bed was the petite form of a woman, about thirty. She was sleeping by the sound of her breathing. Harry checked the net door. He knew he had the right room when he noticed the pick walls. He checked the bed and saw a little girl sleeping. She was snoring softly, and it was the funniest sound he'd ever heard. Guessing that they would want a few of their things with them, Harry decided to box a few things. The mirror in the hallway. The portrait at the top of the stairs. The teapot collection in the living room. The furniture. By the time Harry finished his rough calculation of what he would take for them, he realized he could take the whole bloody house. He would end up with half of it anyhow.
Harry apperated outside, and coated the walls, roof, and foundation with a magical field. He walked in to check just to make sure they were still sleeping. He took a deep breath and was ready to start.
"'s that you, Jake?" came the voice from the bedroom. He kicked himself for breathing too loudly. He tried desperately to thin of a way out of it. "Jake, Honey?" the voice said again. Harry didn't move, still trying to figure out what to do. He heard a sigh, and the rustling of the sheets. Then the breathing continued, and in a few minutes he guessed she had returned to sleep. Harry moved back down to the first floor, and said the words. He felt the house mold around his energy, and he opened and passed through the door. He set the house down on a vacant lot, and transported the guy to his own bed. He had hoped the guy was asleep but, he was sitting up with bloodshot eyes when Harry made him appear on the bed.
"W- What!?!?" the guy yelled as he found himself in a new place.
"Jake! What is it?" His wife said, waking up, and clumsily sitting up. Harry turned on the lights and stood at the foot of their bed.
"That's all. I'm about to go and kill you off, so have a nice time. I'll stop in a see you every once in a while. You haven't slept, so have you had a chance to look around?" Harry said, ignoring the woman who seemed very disoriented and confused.
"Yes, I stopped at the all night café. I got a coffee, and went to the apartment you gave me. Thank you for my family…and my life" He said very emotionally. Harry nodded in return.
"Well, I have to get the book, and you probably have some explaining to do…" Harry said as he glanced at the woman, "…so sleep well. I'll check on you tomorrow just to make sure you're comfortable. Good night."
"Good night" the man said. Harry smiled and apperated. Maybe the Jake would turn it around anyway. Harry sighed and shook the sleep away from his head. He had one more stop tonight.
Harry appeared in a very dark and earthly place. He used his wand to created light enough for him to find and ignite the torches. He saw the back case, and walked over to it immediately. He knew some of these books would have tracking charms on them. Harry scanned the bindings until he came across it. It was a large book, even by Hermione's standards. He smiled as he thought about himself no longer being her friend. It made life easier when you had no one to please but yourself.
Harry withdrew a yellow orb from his cloak and set it down on a desk. He placed his wand against it and muttered softly. The orb lit up and despite glowing yellow, sent a green light around the room. Harry walked around it in a circle to make sure that the light wasn't shadowed by him. After about three minutes he was getting bored with the damn walking around the orb. It was supposed to work. Harry knew he could only stay so long before he was found out. Being found out by Voldemort would not put him in a healthy situation. Getting frustrated Harry sat on the very desk the orb was on. He could practice his wandless magic. The orb hovered above the desk, and Harry sent it in a circular path around himself. He accelerated the orb, not because it quickened the pace of it's work, but because it forced him to focus more on the path of the orb, hence making it a lot easier to do. He noticed after a few more minutes, a few of the books were turning green, and even fewer red. Others were just purple. It was too vague to tell for sure, so Harry continued swinging the orb. Another ten minutes passed. About one third of the books were glowing now. Greenish-blue, red, or purple. He knew that the green were the books which were being traced. Not actively, but had tracing charms on them. Those would be easy to take care of. Then the red ones had trigger mechanisms on them. Again, easy. It was the purple ones which would pose a slight challenge. Both traced and triggered. Harry noted that all of Merlin's work acquired by Voldemort was glowing green. He must have valued them. A bunch in the Salazar Slytherin section was red. The purples were few and far between. A reassuring thought.
Harry decided to take all the spells off. It would make all his work easier. "Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem, Finite Incantem," Harry took a few breaths. He still had a ways to go. There were so many books that it had looked easy to de-magic them all, but he had neglected to calculate the total number of books he had to address. It was a relatively small number, but overall, the number was great. He had very precious time, so Harry pocketed The Secrets of Power just in case he had to make a fast getaway.
He resumed work, and shortly he was damp with sweat and had slowed from fatigue. He finished the last book and sat down. He felt a soft vibration in the floor and placed his hand on the desk. The room was shaking softly, and suddenly stopped. He was tired, but he tried it anyway. He closed his eyes and made a mental reconstruction of the room. He 'felt' his surroundings and mapped every uniqueness of every shelf, every stone on the floor, even the dirt ceiling. He opened his eyes as he found it. A doorway behind one of the bookcases, with nothing on the other side. In this world. Harry walked over to the bookcase and recognized it as the one with the most triggered books. He had deactivated all of them, and threw the books down carelessly. If he learned anything while working at the bookstore, it was that most books could go through a nuclear holocaust and survive. They weren't nearly as fragile as people made them out to be. He saw behind shelves the outline of the door and tore the shelves off the frame of the case. He grabbed the handle, and holding his breath he opened the door and stepped in the stone cave which appeared in front of him. He looked around. On the walls were maps. There was a large table in the middle of the room which had a map of the world on it. There were pictures of all sorts of vile creatures, and photographs of famous people, including himself. It looked like a headquarters.
"Bloody world domination assholes" Harry muttered. He watched as the map on the table turned into a globe and floated up to the ceiling, revealing a step by step list of how to conquer the world. It was odd looking at Voldemort's to do list. '1. Recruit followers; create a current of domination in the underworld counter-culture. Use followers to draw attention away from self. Make Dumbledore appear foolish and unbelievable. 2. Attacks on key individuals of power. Scare into service, manipulate, and destroy. Instill fear of a silent killer going through magical world. Include evidence leading to dark rule in china. 3. Have follower instilled into Minister position. Cut resources in auror training, and evil prevention in general. Make sure Potter and Dumbledore know you are behind it. Nothing weakens resolve like fear and guilt. 4. Come to full power through arcane therapy as described in the words of Merlin, the mud-blood loving fool himself. 5. Abduct students close to Potter. Torment them and return them to Hogwarts. Give Potter fear, and Dumbledore desperation. The old fool cares too much for his pupils, it is his greatest weakness. 6. Lure Potter away from protection at residence in Surrey, or Hogwarts. Capture and torture. Kill nearly immediately, do not provide opportunity for escape. Kill him while in pensieve on his parents dying, completing what was started. After end of Potter, display corpse in Ministry Lobby. 7. While in mourning, attack Dumbledore at funeral. Dispose of Professors. Acquire school, and destroy ministry from inside. Resistance will be minimal, result of learned helplessness described by Povlov. One of few brilliant muggles.
Harry sighed. He wondered why it said he lived in Surrey. His house there had been destroyed months ago. Harry examined some of the artifacts in the room. So this was headquarters for "mission world domination" Harry said. The globe turned into a map and covered the table once more. Harry decided immediately that he had to do everything in his power to slow the process, to give Dumbledore a chance. The books appeared to be the key to Voldemort's knowledge, so the books had to go. But would burning them be a destruction of precious knowledge? Perhaps, but confiscating them would both stop him, and give you some much needed information. Harry pulled out a trunk and returned to the library. He was glad that he researched spells which would come in useful while working at Flourish and Blotts, because this would same him ages. He opened the trunk and made the inside the size of a small bedroom. He waved his wand and bellowed his voice, and every single book flew off the shelves and went into the trunk. Harry kicked it closed. He shrunk the trunk and slipped it into his pocket. He took one last look around. The shelves on the ground, the door to the office opened, the orb on the desk. Harry decided to leave it. At least it would confuse the hell out of Voldemort. Of course it would be obvious to what Harry did, but the fact that it was left behind would create an obsessive doubt in the crazy bastard. A paranoia which Harry hoped would eat away at him for a while. Taking in a deep breath and feeling slightly noble and moral, Harry whipped his wand around, and with a soft pop, the room became empty.
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The man walked in and quickly assessed who was present and not. He checked his watch. Fifteen seconds before the meeting officially began. As the last seconds ticked away the missing individuals all appeared. They immediately found their seats and became silent as the clock struck. He began.
"What is going on?" He asked. He didn't have time for small issues. This was the important shit, pardon his French.
"We have twelve individual attacks. Seven confirmed. Total of forty eight confirmed deaths, all from a lone wandman. Angered, cruel, merciless. Witnesses described the man as a snake, with a split tongue."
"Thank you number six. Do we know the cause?" He continued.
"No." said 1.
"No." said 2.
"No." said 3.
"No." said 4.
"Yes" said 5, "Yesterday, very late at night or extremely early this morning his personal library was breached. His entire collection was stolen. Every single book. They knew which ones would set off alarms and de-activated them. They destroyed all of the trace signals. They even went into his central command. There were only three living people who knew the location other than himself. Of them, one has been found dead. He and his family burned, alive it seems, in their own house. It's a dead end and he was furious. He's taking it out on the muggles."
"Thank you Severus. So this is bloody random, but it is him. Do we know who caused it?" 1 said as he looked around the room. "Anyone?" No one responded. "Anyone have any ideas on who might have been involved?" Again the silence.
"Life-Bathers?" said number 2.
"It's a long run." Said 1.
"Well, think about it. They are anti-deatheaters. They could have found the guy, tortured him into telling them where the library was. Killed him and his family, gone and stolen the books, and left without anyone knowing. It sounds as ruthless as they are." Said 2.
"Does anyone else feel like there is something being left out?" said 1.
"Yes, according to this there was no mark." said 4.
"Mark?" asked 3.
"The life-bathers leave a mark. A waterfall cascading off of a dead snake. There was no mark. I don't think it was them." Said 4.
"I have to agree." Said 1. "Any other ideas?" There was a long silence. "Anyone who we've seen fighting the death eaters?"
"Harry Potter!" said six. This was rebuked by many a laugh. Even 1 was chuckling. Six was laughing as well.
"Well, there seems to be nothing we can do. If you come across anything come to me, and keep thinking about it. Thoughts can be stimulated by the oddest of occurrences. Have a nice week." 1 turned around and started through the door as everyone apperated away but number five. He began following and soon caught up to 1.
"Albus, what Black said may have some merit to it. What if it was Potter? What if he found the bastard and got him to talk. What if he made it to the library and broke the traps. He may not be a genius, but he is no fool and appears to know how to prepare himself if he needs to."
"Severus, how could a boy of such an age move so many books so quickly without setting off one alarm?"
"I didn't want to say it, but a detectionary orb was used. And you of all people know Potter worked how long in a bookstore. He naturally would have researched how to magically move books quickly and quietly. (Albus stopped walking.) The more I think about it, the more of a perfect candidate he is for the mission. I just couldn't see him killing the man's family. That's why I didn't say anything."
"Maybe they're not dead." Dumbledore said.
"Despite being burned almost beyond recognition, Voldemort had all the tests done. No tampering with the bodies could be found." Severus stated.
"True, magic to change one's features is detectable and reversible. But if it is engaged, and the body is severely damaged…" Dumbledore said.
"As in being burned?" Severus asked.
"Yes, then the changed features will become the features of the body, or in this instance, I think they were corpses. All he had to do was change them and burn them. He probably got the bodies from a graveyard." Dumbledore said pensively.
"But then where are they now? Three people cannot just disappear, especially from Him." Snape remarked. "And how would Potter know to do half of this?"
"All summer while he was working he was reading free books from Flourish and Blotts. He is still underaged, and me his legal protector, so I see all of his bank records. His book sales have increased ten fold since he left his job. He is reading, studying, faster than Miss Granger ever has. He is becoming a wealth of knowledge, for what purposes no one, not even I, know. He is a smart boy. You do remember how brilliant his father was?"
"Unfortunately."
"Yes, well lets just say the son of the only man ever to escape being a prisoner of Voldemort has a son whose IQ is slightly higher than his own. Only now has Harry learned to use it, an his progress is incredible." Dumbledore claimed.
"How do you know?" Snape asked.
"A month ago he bought Basic Training in the Dark Arts. Five days ago he bought Theoretic Magic." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.
"So?"
"Volume six. He has made it to Volume six. That is two farther than I have gotten, four farther than you, one farther than Remus, three farther than Sirius, two farther than Voldemort himself. Five farther than Miss Granger." Dumbledore said mildly.
"Are you saying he's smarter than all of us, including Granger?" Snape asked incredulously.
"Yes. Tell me, Severus. Has the boy ever asked any questions in your class?"
"Of course Albus."
"Describe the situations."
"When everyone was confused, even Granger."
"Did he appear to really ask the question, did he pay attention to the answers?"
"He looked at everyone else when I explained it, to make sure that he wasn't the only one confused." Snape said.
"Or was it to make sure that he clarified it for everyone else. You must remember that this is a boy who hates to stand out. If he appears smarter than everyone else, then he'll hate it. It is easy for him to play stupid. He has Mr. Weasley to look up to for that." Dumbledore said. Slowly the realization came across Snape's face.
"Holy mother of god." Snape whispered.
"My reaction exactly. You have class in about ten minutes. I'll leave you here. I expect you'll want to talk later, so I'll be available. Don't hesitate to come by." Dumbledore said as he stepped through the door to his office leaving Snape alone and in shock in the hallway.
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"Your homework for tonight. I want a fifteen inch essay describing why using a tail scale and a neck scale of a dragon have different effects. You are dismissed. Ms. Granger, may I speak with you for a minute." She froze and he saw her gulp. He knew he was disliked, but this was excessive.
"Sit, Granger." He commanded as Neville went through the door, the last to exit the classroom. "What are your thoughts on Mr. Potter's intelligence." She looked at him queerly, and he realized how odd he must have sounded.
"Um. He's smart enough to take care of himself. He knows enough magic to protect himself." She said quickly.
"Right, tell me something I don't know. I was thinking more along the line of… You are the known know-it-all of your class, so naturally whenever anyone has questions or they need help, they come to you, no doubt." She nodded. "Did Mr. Potter ever come to you for assistance?"
"Once or twice. When we did our homework together we would discuss it and he would ask things." She said. He was encouraged that she was very awkward.
"Did he ever appear like he was acting, or holding back. That he knew something but didn't want to say it?" Snape asked.
"No." She said.
"Think about it." Snape pressed, and she did.
"Well, back in third year when you made us write that essay on werewolves, Harry practically begged to see my essay, but at the time he had written more than me. He was writing smaller, so it looked like it was less. I thought that that was odd." Hermione said.
"Good, anything else?" Snape asked.
"Last year, when Harry was training for the third task, I saw him a few times up a lot later practicing his spells, but the next day when we went over them, he wasn't nearly as good as he was the night before. I attributed it to sleepiness at the time. And then in the second year when Harry talked to the snake in the dueling class, when we took him out n the hall, he seemed like he was acting surprised but not really, like he had known he could do it. And in first year when we got to the potions to decide if he could go forward or not, as soon as I read the riddle, I saw him look meaningfully at one of the vials, and when I used logic to figure it out, that was the one. I thought that he had detected it magically, or that he had just known. But this all can't be true. It has to be coincidence." Hermione said, now very bewildered.
"Yes, I know Ms. Granger. You may go to your next class. It is all a coincidence, however I have other matters to go and speak with the headmaster for. Good Bye." Snape said. He stood up and swiftly left the room. Hermione shook her head and made a not to think about this later. Hell, she would have to take next class to think about this too.
Thank you all for reading and staying with the story for so long and so far. Thank you again to all of my cherished reviewers. They are my motivation.
Hermionelover- When Harry and Hedwig are high, you will know about it, I assure you. Because Harry and Ron haven't talked recently, Harry doesn't know their reaction. So we don't either. We will get to Fred and George later. I have something lined up for them.
The Star Angel- When will Harry and Hermione get together? Well, lets see. Harry has to go foreign, go dark, go very dark, go cynical, go protective, go fighting, go concludingly, and then he gets with Hermione. No, you do make a lot of sense, there is meant to be a lot of confusion, it gives me the oppurtunity to go either way depending on which I feel is better as the story progresses.
Ethan- I know my spelling isn't perfect, nor are my tenses and verb use and sentence structure. My english teacher would assassinate me if she read this. But oh well, I do use spell check, but because of my cough-less than legal copy of Word- cough, it has it's mistakes. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Hpangel- You mentioned that Harry said two words no one wants to hear from a loved one. What is really going to blow you mind is why he said those words.
reanne080- I'm glad you mentioned fudge. I want to punish him somehow, but just killing him off doesn't fit well. If yo have any ideas, let me hear 'em. Fudge does deserve a good whooping.
Special thanks to everyone who reviewed. I read them all and appreciate your voice. Have a happy St. Patricks day, and don't get (too) drunk.
