Disclaimer: Duh, I don't own Harry, because if I did, I wouldn't be writing fan fics... duh.
I figured that was a good stopping point on the last chapter. I'm hoping that I can continually update. I write mostly at night, because that's when I can concentrate. Tell me if you think the conversations are believable... I've always had problems with writing dialog. I'll try to keep the updates coming though.
Henriette: don't worry, I didn't say Draco was dead... the ministry (and everyone else) just assumed....
jpthug12: thanks, that's where the story is heading... Gunblade!!!! (sorta)
hots4harry73: thanks for the support... I usually email reviewers directly, but yours wasn't in your fanfiction profile.
Aberforth Dumbledore: I agree, romance in harry potter just don't mix. The worst are harry/ginny and harry/Hermione...
A/N: the answer to my last question... harry stayed in room 11 of the leaky caldron in prisoner of Azkaban after he ran from the dursleys house. Thus it was an allusion to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Chapter 3: Preparations
Harry woke early that morning. He looked out his window and noticed the first stirrings of life down in Diagon Alley. He would have to go down there eventually to get potions supplies, and a new caldron. He would need to prepare certain potions before he would be able to leave for Japan. But, first he would need money.
This was a problem even Harry was having trouble figuring out. How was he, probably the second most wanted criminal in the wizarding world, going to get into his Gringotts vault? Of course, it was possible, but it was going to be quite difficult, and would probably involve Harry breaking into his own vault and stealing his own gold. He doubted that he would be able to enter his vault just by nicely asking a Goblin. His account had probably been frozen anyways.
So, it had been decided. He would break into his account. Perhaps, but no, he wouldn't. Or, would he? He could use the Nexus Finite curse to trap the wizards and Goblins in Gringotts. Then return them all as he was leaving. This knowledge of the nature of the Nexus Finite curse is what made Harry's imprisonment even worse. He knew that Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Lee, and Colin Creevy hadn't died. He knew they were trapped in a secret realm where they aged normally, and were under an enchanted slumber so they wouldn't remember what had happened or when. He alone knew the counter curse, having developed it while imprisoned, and would soon be freeing the people he had been accused of murdering. But, first he had to deal with Voldemort, and for that he came back to needing money.
He decided he would use Nexus Finite to temporarily trap the Gringotts Goblins, and would break into his vault and take as much gold as he could. Then, he would shop by Owl post. Thinking of this reminded him that Hedwig was probably still at Hogwarts. Apparently he would not be able to avoid going there, and he might as well get Godric's sword, and see if Dumbledore had his wand and invisibility cloak while he was there.
But, first he would rob Gringotts. Harry disapparated from his room and apparated in the lobby of Gringotts at the other end of Diagon Alley. He concentrated for a second to gather energy, and then shouted Nexus Finite. Everybody in the lobby vanished, except for one Goblin. Harry quickly scanned his mind and found out the physical location of his vault, then stunned the Goblin before he could react to what had happened. Harry then apparated inside his vault, where he took a large sack off his back and began to shove handfuls of gold into it.
Once he felt he had a satisfactory amount of gold, he apparated back to the lobby, once there, he muttered Enervate and woke the stunned Goblin. Immediately following this he cast Obliviate on the Goblin, and made it not remember Harry ever being there. Then he muttered Nexus Nox, and all the Goblins in the lobby returned as though nothing had happened, and they also did not realize Harry was there before he disapparated back to his room in the Leaky Caldron.
"Well, that was simple enough," Harry said aloud in his room. He set his bag of gold down in his trunk, and decided to get some breakfast. He apparated downstairs, once again in his hooded cloak, "Have eggs, bacon, toast, and black coffee sent up to room eleven," Harry told the bar keep.
"Yes, sir, that will be two Galleons," replied the bar keep.
Harry handed him the two Galleons, and asked, "Do you have any copies of The Daily Prophet?"
"Yes, sir, there will be a complementary one waiting for you in your room," replied the bar keep.
"Thank you."
With that, Harry apparated back up to his room, and found his breakfast already waiting for him, The Daily Prophet folded neatly next to it. He began to dig in and looked at the front page of his Daily Prophet and found he had made the headlines once again, for the first time in more than three years.
Harry Potter Escapes Azkaban, Destroys Dementors
Harry Potter considered the most dangerous criminal housed in
Azkaban prison, escaped sometime last night, and using an
unknown spell destroyed the Dementors guarding the prison.
Fortunately, the Ministry was able to get Aurors to the prison
to prevent the escape of any other inmates. It is believed that
Potter's first action as a free man was mass murder, and is
currently wanted for the murders of three muggles that he lived
with as a child. Potter was convicted of the murder of four
class mates and one former class mate during his sixth year at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and was sentenced to
a life term in Azkaban prison. He is currently at large and they
have no leads as to where he is currently hiding. Most believe
that he has taken residence with his godfather and fellow
convicted mass murderer, Sirius Black. It is also believed by
most that their objective is to locate He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
and return him to his former power. Harry Potter is armed,
though he has no wand, and is considered extremely dangerous.
The Ministry is urging people who spot Potter or Black to avoid
confronting them and report it to a Ministry official
immediately.
So, they believed he was with Sirius did they. Well, that was good, as it would throw them off his real trail. And, just as he had suspected, the Ministry believed he was responsible for the deaths of the Dursleys. Well, it could be worse; at least they hadn't put a price on his head yet.
Now, he needed his owl back, and he would visit Dumbledore. Of course Dumbledore would attempt to capture him, but he could easily handle that old fool. Harry finished his breakfast, drained the last of his coffee from his cup, and prepared the necessary amount of energy to apparate inside Dumbledore's office.
This made Harry chuckle as he remembered his old friend, Hermione, exasperatedly explaining to him and Ron that it was impossible to apparate or disapparate inside Hogwarts. He chuckled aloud at how foolish she was. Of course, you can apparate and disapparate in Hogwarts; all other wizards were just too weak to do it. Just as it was said to be impossible to disapparate from the heavily enchanted island that Azkaban sat on, it just required a higher magical level than most wizards could achieve.
At that thought, Harry arrived at the required energy to apparate into Dumbledore's office. At first it appeared to be empty. He couldn't sense anyone, but he knew Dumbledore was the best Occlumense in the world, other than himself. He walked over the shelf that held the glass case under which the sword of Gryffindor sat. He lifted the glass case, and grabbed the sword by the hilt, and stuck it into his pack.
"Ahh, Harry Potter. I was wondering if you would come here," said Dumbledore. "Apparently you have some Dark use for Godric Gryffindor's sword, but I am afraid I cannot allow you to take it."
"What are you going to do, Dumbledore, duel with me," said Harry. "I have no wish to destroy you. But if you force my hand, I will."
"Harry, I don't believe that you do not want to kill me. You've obviously joined the ranks of Voldemort."
"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME OF VOLDEMORT!" thundered Harry. "He is weaker than you, and I will destroy him soon. But I need my wand, and Godric's sword to do so," Harry continued. "I have powers of light and dark the likes of which fools like you and Tom Riddle can only dream of. I do not wish to destroy you, just as I did not destroy the five students I was convicted of killing. If you people only understood the nature of the spell used by Wormtail, as indeed it was him. Now, kindly inform me of the location of my wand and Invisibility Cloak."
"Harry, you know I do not have your wand. The Ministry confiscated it, and had it destroyed. I do however have your invisibility cloak. I will gladly hand it over to you if you can tell me the nature of the curse used to kill you class mates three years ago," replied Dumbledore.
"It didn't kill them. In fact, I just used it today to get money from my vault at Gringotts. The Goblins are all still alive, and don't remember what happened, but trust me, they wouldn't have let me enter my vault had they had a choice," Harry said. "The problem is, even though I worked out a counter curse, I would need to use Wormtail's wand to bring them back-"
"Back from where?" interjected Dumbledore.
"Do not interrupt me. I am now your superior, and you will treat me as such," growled Harry, his suppressed rage shaking the very castle. "They are sent to a hidden realm. They sleep there and age normally, but do not remember anything that happened after being sent there."
"I see," said Dumbledore, "how do you know such things?"
"Well, when you have three years to meditate, you begin to realize thing. I am the direct descendant of Godric Gryffindor. That is why I am fated to either kill or be killed by Voldemort, he being the direct descendent of Salazar Slytherin. We were fated to finish the struggle that developed between the two founders of this school that began more than a millennia ago.
"For this reason, I must use Godric's sword to destroy Tom Riddle. I must fuse it with the core of my wand. It would be best if I had my actual wand, but just a tail feather from Fawkes would suffice."
"I have you wand Harry. I told the Ministry that it had been lost, but I kept it. I figured it could be useful to have a wand that produced Priori Incantatem when used against Voldemort. It saved you once. I also have you Invisibility cloak, both of which I will now give to you," Dumbledore said as he reached into his cabinet and fished out the two items. "Harry, I now believe you are innocent of the crimes you were charged with three years ago. But, before I give you back your wand and Invisibility cloak, you must answer me this. Did you kill the Dursleys?"
"No, I'm guessing it was Death Eaters attempting to frame me once again. I found them dead when I went there to get me old trunk."
"Where are you staying?"
"Room 11 of the Leaky Caldron."
"You cannot stay there, it is far too dangerous. I am aware of your tremendous power, as you apparated into my office, a feat once thought impossible, but I do not wish you to have to harm Ministry officials if they are to find you there. I offer you a place to stay here. I shall inform the staff of your presence and of the fact that you are in fact innocent. You have access to all of our facilities that is until the new school year starts."
"Thank you very much. I am glad to have you back on my side. And, don't worry, I will have cleared my name in a week's time so, I won't burden you for long."
"Actually Harry, once you have cleared your name, you will need a job I daresay. The old Defense Against the Dark Arts job is open. I do believe you are quite qualified, and will probably have the fortitude to keep it for more than one year."
At this Harry laughed. A true, mirthful laugh, the likes of which Harry had not done in more than three years. It appeared Dumbledore was having trouble keeping the job filled still. Well, they did always say it was cursed.
"I accept. I do think the world would benefit from me passing a small portion of my knowledge onto a younger generation. A generation that won't live in fear of a man named Tom Riddle, a wizard so evil, that they fear to speak his name.
"I do have a question though. Are there any new staff members I should be aware of?"
"Just one, Hermione Granger now teaches History of Magic, Binns said he had enough of the 'beastly little students that never paid attention.'"
"I see, so Snape still teaches Potions. I believe he is possibly the greatest teacher in these halls. My knowledge of potion making is immense, but his is still probably better. I have need of some rather complex potions, and I do believe he will be very helpful."
"Of course, he will. I will go and inform the staff that you are here. And, I will inform Severus that you will need help in making a potion. I must ask you to remain in my office until I return, so as to not raise any unnecessary alarm."
"Well, actually, I am going to check out of my room at the Leaky Caldron and get my things out of the room. But I will be back in minutes."
"Very well, I will go inform the staff now."
"Thank you, Dumbledore."
A/N: I didn't really want to end the chapter there, but it was beginning to run extremely long. Harry didn't expect to be believed by Dumbledore, and I didn't really either. It just sort of happened that way. We are approaching the showdown with Voldemort soon. Possibly 1 or 2 chapters away. I know I'm excited.