Summary: After running away from the Dursleys at a young age, he learned to survive on his own. Faced by the cruelties of a harsh world, he fought for his freedom. Challenged by those above him, he killed for his power. Discovered by the world that betrayed him, he was forced to accept his destiny. But a person can change a lot over eleven years, and Harry Potter has become something they would never expect.
Acerbus Angelus: Dark Angel
Trained instincts took over immediately, and Harry dove to the side, firing a Stunner from each wand as he did. The old man merely swatted them away with a lazy flick of his wand, sending the powerful beams into the stone floor. Harry wasn't really surprised, as he didn't expect any less from Albus Dumbledore. Rolling onto his feet, he pivoted, both wands aimed at Lord Grindelwald's defeater.
He sure could pick 'em.
"I mean you no harm, Mr. Potter," the old man said, watching Harry closely from behind half-moon spectacles. "I merely wish to talk."
"Is that right?" Harry asked cooly, wands still trained on the old man's heart. "And what makes you think I wish the same?"
Piercing blue eyes evaluated him, and Harry raised his Occlumency shields just in case.
"Answers, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said softly, his own wand held loosely at his side. "I have no doubt that it was answers which brought you here tonight."
"Oh?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what gives you that idea?"
The Headmaster sighed heavily, making him look much older than he had moments before.
"Its been nearly fifteen years, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, a hint of regret in his voice. "Fifteen years of not knowing what you truly are. . . . . . .or why you were separated from your sister. . . . . why you were left in your Aunt's care."
Emerald eyes narrowed dangerously when Dumbledore mentioned the Dursleys, and a cold look passed over Harry's face. The Headmaster did not miss the sudden change, and the odd twinkle vanished from his aquamarine eyes.
"And I suppose you can provide me with those answers?" Harry growled, knuckles turning white as his grip tightened on the wands. The old man merely looked at him, paying no mind to the wands that could quickly end his life.
"You were left at your Aunt's house for a reason, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore began. What that reason was though, Harry would never know. For at that moment, the previously sealed door burst open and several people ran through, led by the man with silver-streaked hair.
The group immediately saw Harry, and ignoring Dumbledore's voice, made the mistake of raising their wands against him.
They got no further.
"Flipendo!" Harry yelled, knocking them back through the doorway with a jet of blue light.
Turning quickly, he ran for the door at the other side of the chamber, sending hexes at Dumbledore from over his shoulder. He hurtled the stone benches two at a time, and blasted the nearest door apart with a beam of raw power. Diving through the opening, he narrowly avoided the Stunners that came from behind.
The room he came upon contained the floating brains, and paying them no mind, Harry walked briskly toward the door on the opposite wall. That door in turn led to a familiar circular room, and the wall started rotating the moment he entered. Blue flames flickered from their mounted torches, and Harry stood still, waiting for the ride to stop.
The wall eventually came to a halt with a loud rumbling sound, and Harry hissed an expletive in Parseltongue, mentally cursing the Unspeakables and their security measures. The fiery X's he used earlier had now faded, leaving all the doors identical.
"Where's the exit?" he asked hopefully, not really expecting the room to come through. Surprisingly enough, the door behind him flew open, and the corridor to the lifts stretched out ahead of him, torch-lit and empty.
"Okay. . . . ." Harry said slowly, pondering what just happened. Not one to complain about good fortune, he gave a mental shrug and ran down the passageway. Maneuvering through the shadows, his basilisk hide boots were soundless on the stone floor. He rounded the nearest corner, and immediately pushed the button to call the lift.
So far so good.
Unfortunately, the lift jangled and banged as it lowered, causing Harry to wince as he mentally cursed the loud contraption. It was making enough noise to alert the entire ministry of his presence, which would only hinder his chances of getting out.
But then again, Harry reminded himself, he did escape from Novgorod. This was child's play compared to the archaic city.
Forcing the golden gates open when the lift reached the top, he was pleasantly surprised to find the Atrium completely empty. Perhaps his famous luck was holding up. Right as Harry went to disapparate though, and unwelcome voice came from behind, causing him to freeze in his tracks.
"Going somewhere, Mr. Potter?"
The note had appeared sometime during dinner. How? She couldn't exactly say. All she knew was that when she left the Great Hall there was a folded piece of parchment in her pocket, where before there wasn't.
Melissa -
Please report to my office after dinner. Come alone and make sure you're not followed. Remus will be there to explain everything.
- Albus Dumbledore
It was short and to the point. And as often was the case when the eccentric Headmaster was concerned, it raised more questions than it answered.
Damn riddles, Melissa thought irritably. Was the man cryptic by nature?
Leaving her friends with a with a quick devised excuse, she made her way through the stone corridors, throwing a glance over her shoulder as she went. It wouldn't do to be spotted by Umbridge, who still suspected her of defying ministry decrees. And rightly so, Melissa thought with no small sense of pride. The D.A. had flourished right beneath the High Inquisitor's very noise, despite her best efforts to discover and prevent it.
The bitch.
Shefrequented the Headmaster's office often enough to know the password, and the stone gargoyle leapt aside, allowing her access to the spiral staircase. The stone steps began to rise as she stepped onto the magical escalator, and she was soon standing before a handsome oak door.
Which was effectively flung open before she could grasp the knocker.
"Moony?" she asked hesitantly upon seeing her Godfather. The werewolf appeared uncharacteristically excited, practically bouncing on his feet as he dragged her into the Headmaster's office.
"What's going?" Melissa asked, frowning as the man shoved a blackened teapot into her hands. She dearly hoped it was a Portkey; if not, then Remus really was losing it like Sirius so often joked.
The whole thing was rather fishy, and her analytical Ravenclaw mind didn't appreciate it one bit. Her frown deepened as a large smile spread across her guardian's face, and the greying man activated the Portkey with a muttered, "Portus."
"We found Harry," was the last thing Melissa heard before the familiar tug appeared behind her navel.
For what seemed like the hundredth time in recent memory, Harry spun on his heel, raising both wands as he mentally cursed persistent Headmasters.
"Can't you take a hint?" he groaned, taking a step back to distance himself from the old man.
"I did say we have matters which to discuss, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly. "And don't bother trying to disapparate, I put the appropriate wards in place."
Harry merely frowned at the Headmaster and tried anyway, giving another groan when the Anti-Disapparating wards prevented him. That effectively eliminated one of his main dueling tactics.
"I did warn you," the old man said, for some reason looking amused.
"How thoughtful," Harry said sarcastically, before snapping off a series of Stunners. Needless to say, Dumbledore deflected them all, before flicking his wand and sending his own at Harry. The power behind it caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end, and Harry dove to the side, narrowly missing the one that followed.
Apparently the man's old age did not hinder his dueling skill.
"Matrian," Harry muttered, pointing his right hand wand at Dumbledore. A yellow orb sped toward the old man, causing the air to crackle with magic. Dumbledore merely waved his wand toward the fountain in the middle of the Atrium, and the stone centaur galloped forward. It took the curse right in the chest, and shattered into a hundred pieces.
Using his knack at improvising, Harry flicked his wand, banishing the largest debris strait toward the Headmaster. Dumbledore quickly muttered an incantation, and a bright yellow dome surrounded him, pulverizing the pieces of stone as they hit.
"Arvado Telia!" the old man said, flicking his wand sharply. A pure white beam shot across the hall, forcing Harry to conjure a silver shield out of thin air. The spell, which he didn't recognize, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like note echoed across the Atrium when it hit.
"You're skilled at Transfiguration, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore commented, eyes twinkling for some reason. "Few are powerful enough to manipulate silver."
"I try," Harry muttered dryly, ducking in time to avoid Dumbledore's next Stunner. Taking a page out of the Mugwumps's book, he waved his left hand wand at the atrocious fountain in the middle of the Atrium. The stone wizard sprung to life and leapt from its plinth, landing next to Dumbledore and kicking the old man in the shin. The elder wizard, caught by surprise, winced as the stone foot hit. Flicking his wand in a slightly annoyed gesture, Dumbledore blasted the statue apart, sending the pieces clear across the Atrium.
Harry, not one to waste an opportunity, had already muttered a long incantation in Chinese. Thrusting his wand forward in a sharp motion, a long, serpentine dragon erupted from the end of it. Made of red flames, it distorted the air as it flew toward Dumbledore
"Gertral Aquataris!" Dumbledore intoned, calmly pointing his wand at the magically-made dragon. A water-born Phoenix flew out of the slender piece of wood, effectively drenching the fiery reptile and filling the Atrium with billows of steam.
Trying to end the duel before he had to resort to lethality, Harry used the clouds of vapor to his advantage.
"Ventosus!" A powerful gust of wind blew from each wand, sending the steam into Dumbledore's and obscuring his vision. With a wave of his wand though, the old man parted the mist, banishing it away. He drew his wand back in one fluid motion, and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long, thin flame flew from the tip, and Harry barely had time to conjure a dark green shield before it wrapped around him. Hissing a counter-curse in Parseltongue, the fiery rope turned into a serpent, which relinquished its hold on Harry immediately, and turned to face the Hogwarts Headmaster.
"Disable him!" Harry hissed once more in the serpent tongue. The giant snake reared its head and slithered toward Dumbledore, who set aside his shock long enough to banish it in a cloud of dark smoke. The cobra had succeeded in distracting him though, and the old man failed to notice the attack coming from his flank. With a flick of Harry's wand, the stone house elf and goblin charged toward him from the now destroyed fountain, and Dumbledore didn't have time to react.
"Reducto!" two voices bellowed from near the lifts. The statues were blown apart by the powerful Reductors, and the Atrium was showered with bits of stone.
Mentally cursing the intruders, Harry turned and sent a volley of Stunners at them from each wand. The greying man and the girl with dark red hair were forced to dive to the side, temporarily taking themselves out of the fight.
"Stupefy! Mutatio Panthera!" Harry said, sending a Stunner toward the Mugwump with one wand, while waving the other at the remains of the goblin statue. The biggest piece of stone morphed into a large cat, which leapt toward Dumbledore, distracting him long enough for Harry to make a run toward the red telephone box.
The folding door sprung open with a flick of his wrist, and Harry threw himself into the booth, slamming the door shut behind him. The floor slowly rose from beneath him, shuttering under the impact of Dumbledore's desperate spells. Rolling his eyes at the Headmaster's persistence, Harry left the old man with a one fingered salute, and the Atrium disappeared from sight.
Melissa sat quietly as the emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix began later that night. The kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld Place was nearly full, with only a few members left to arrive. Made-Eye, Kingsley, Lysander Thayne, and several Unspeakables sat in the corner, Madame Pomfrey tending to their injuries.
The irony of the situation was not lost on Melissa. Mere hours ago she was finishing her O.W.L. exams, and now she was attending her first Order meeting, the Headmaster allowing her to sit-in due to the circumstances. Several of the members eyed her curiously as they walked in, many not having met her before. Some even protested to her presence at the meeting; Molly Weasley being the most vocal about the young Ravenclaw's inclusion.
They protested, that is, until Remus threatened to rip them apart limb by limb. The werewolf could be rather. . . . . . intimidating. . . . . . when necessary.
And a tad overprotective at times.
"You okay?" a familiar voice asked from beside her. Melissa turned and looked into the amber eyes of her godfather. He looked slightly concerned, though his face retained its usual calm demeanor. Unlike a few hours ago in Dumbledore's office; Melissa had never seen the former Defense professor that excited.
"Fine," she murmured, holding back a yawn. It had been a rather long day, and only the zest of the current situation was keeping her awake. Sirius, on the other hand, was practically bouncing in his chair next to them, a large grin plastered across his face.
Remus merely rolled his eyes at the convict's behavior.
"What?" Sirius asked indignantly.
"Oh nothing," the werewolf said, shaking his head. "I would think that one would be rather subdued just after regaining consciousness."
"Bah," Sirius responded, waving his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "It was all a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?" Melissa asked, amusement shining in her emerald eyes. "Dumbledore had to use Ennervate on you three times before you came around. I would hardly call that a misunderstanding. I doubt Harry stunned you by accident."
"Nonsense," the Animagus said, dismissing the very idea. "I'm positive that were I simply to have introduced myself, this all would have been avoided."
"Oh yes," Remus commented, showing a rare bit of sarcasm. "I have no doubt your godson would have surrendered willingly, if only you had told him you were Sirius Orion Black, the great and all knowing Sirius Orion Black."
"The wise and powerful," Melissa chipped in.
"Righteous and moral," Remus added.
"Mangy and dog-like."
"Ill-tempered and foul-smelling."
They were both forced to duck at that point, due to the numerous hexes sent their way by the angry con.
"Worry not, Padfoot old friend," Remus quickly informed him, laughing as he held up his hands in mock surrender. "You don't smell like shit all the time."
"Of course not," Melissa added innocently. "As long as you remember to lick your - "
"Hem, hem!" a voice coughed from the head of the table, causing all three to jump in their seats. It would seem, that during their minor dispute, the rest of the Order members had arrived. Said members were currently watching Melissa and the others with avid attention, though a few looked rather scandalized at the exchange. Snape on the other hand, was watching Sirius get teased with a wicked smirk on his face, while the eyes of Albus Dumbledore were twinkling madly.
"Perhaps you could save your discussion for later, Miss Potter? Hmm?" the Headmaster asked serenely, mouth twitching beneath his snowy white beard. Melissa blushed, nodding her head fervently in response.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore beamed, clapping his hands once. "Now, as you all have no doubt heard, a minor incident took place earlier today in the Department of Mysteries."
At the word 'minor', many of the Order members raised their eyebrows, no doubt wondering what their leader meant. Alastor and Kingsley were two of the best duelists in the Order, and both had to be 'repaired' by Madame Pompfrey. Not to mention five Unspeakables who had been seriously injured, including the Deputy Director himself. And to top it off, they had nothing to show for the fight.
Minor indeed.
"Nymphadora was on guard duty at the time," Dumbledore continued, earning a glare from the young Auror when he used her first name. "She managed to call for help before being - "
"If you could get to the point, Albus," Moody growled, interrupting the Headmaster as he took a swig from his flask. The paranoid ex-Auror seemed rather surly after having broken four ribs.
Impatient too.
"But of course, Alastor" Dumbledore replied cheerfully, earning a twisted scowl from his old comrade. "We were able to identify the one who did it, and. . . . . well. . . . .ah. . . . . take a look."
With a wave of his hand, the Headmaster conjured an image of a raven haired young man. Melissa leaned forward in her seat, looking intently at the illusion of her brother. Her brief view of him at the ministry had been from a distance, and she had been forced to find cover rather quickly.
Which made the image, effectively, the first close-up she had ever seen of her twin.
Dark hair fell to his shoulders, nearly as long as her own. Surprisingly, Harry didn't look like their father, or at least not like the pictures Melissa had of James Potter. He didn't have glasses for one, and appeared slightly taller than the elder Potter had been, with a lithe but well muscled physique. His wand was raised in the image, with a large, yellow orb exploding from the end. It appeared as though an invisible wind was blowing through his long hair. The famous lightening bolt was above his right eye, and if Melissa looked closely, she thought she could see a smaller scar on his chin.
Apparently she wasn't the only one who noticed the legendary scar, for many of the Order members gasped, staring at the illusion with open shock. Snape showed no such reaction though, but scowled heavily instead, his upper lip curling a bit when he realized it was another Potter. Dumbledore merely watched the whole affair from the head of the table, his blue eyes still twinkling madly.
Out of the various people present that night though, it was the reaction of Mundungus Fletcher which drew the most attention. Upon seeing the illusion of Harry Potter, the ginger haired thief nearly swallowed his grimy pipe, causing clouds of greenish smoke to billow into the air. Mundungus paid no mind as several members started coughing, but stared at the image of the dark haired young man as if he had seen a ghost. Bloodshot eyes dawned with recognition, and one word escaped the old smuggler's mouth.
"Letifer."
Another chapter in the books. I originally finished this one about a week ago, before I decided it was crap and re-wrote the whole damn thing. Needless to say, I think this version is much better. The next chapter though, is where the action really starts. Which means it will take me a while to write. I have to go work on 'Of Blood and Power' now, and that should be updated by the third or fifth of July.
Next Chapter: Platform Chaos
Until then, cheers!