Chapter 13 – Over the years

.
Entry 1

Since many an attempt to locate young Harry has failed, I have decided to start a journal on my efforts to find the boy. To sort my thoughts and to be able to keep notes.

My instruments to monitor Harry have all stopped working, indicating his death. Yet, when I went to look for his corpse where Dursley's memory show it should be, I was only able to find a remnant of the boy's accidental magic. Did he manage to apparrate to safety using accidental magic, somehow breaking his monitoring charms in the process? Or is he in a place warded well enough to cause this effect? Or… is he really dead and I was just unable to find him?

I have thus far used 3 methods to try and locate Harry, should he still be alive.

1)…

.
"So, how was your lesson today, Leo?", Verde asked as he and his grandson were walking to the training room.

Leo had only used a month to be able to call up his flames consciously, to his pride. Both of them.

Leo luckily had the same affinity as him, maybe even stronger than his own, unlike his mother who was a Storm. That thought filled him with pride and heartache in equal measure every time it occurred to him. His secondary flames turned out to be Cloud flames, much to Viper's secret disappointment.

"Bree and I finished building my mind palace, grandpa! We put all of Tom's memories into a room and locked them up! She said once I set up some traps and riddles and such that she needs 10 minutes to get through I can go to the library! I can't wait, I heard so much about it, it's gonna be amazing!"

Verde smiled in approval.

"How about Teemor?"

"You know he doesn't like to say much one way or another, but I think I'm doing well, especially in Arithmancy. He didn't seem grumpy about the test last time at least, even though I didn't get it back yet."

"You did do well then. I'm proud of you, Leo!"

"Haha, thank you grandpa!", Leo blushed shyly but still grinned brightly at his grandfather, happy to be praised.

"Now let's see how well you remember my last lesson, shall we?"

"Yes!"

.
Entry 2

Today, another method of finding the boy has failed. I have located a vial of his father's blood, which, along with his own was used in a ritual to forge a connection between the boy and a special compass procured in the Alley for similar purposes.

However, the connection did not take.

.
"Somehow, I don't want to go anymore", Leo mumbled nervously, the hand Verde was holding clammy and cold.

He was dressed in his new school uniform, which consisted of a short black kimono, a black hakama, and a pink haori embroidered with the school motto and crest. The color of the haori would change as he grew more accomplished in his studies.

It was surprisingly easy to move in while looking professional and traditional.

"Leo, weren't you looking forward to it just yesterday?"

"Yea but… it's different today", he stared at his toes, not daring to look at his grandpa or the other families waiting at the top of the tower to be picked up by one of their teachers. This was a temporary meeting spot so new students could get acquainted with one another and their dedicated storm petrel. Starting tomorrow, every student's petrel would come to fetch them from home.

"Look at me", Verde said finally.

"You can do this Leo. Just think of it as an adventure. I'll be looking forward to hearing all about it later."

"I don't know…"

"Don't you wanna learn magic anymore?"

"I do! I do, but… I'm scared, grandpa."

"Didn't you look forward to meeting some friends as well?"

"Well, yea…", Leo fidgeted next to him, uncertain of what or how to express his inhibitions.

A bit out of his depth, Verde looked around the area one more time, and being the genius that he is, gestured toward one of the other children.

"Look over there, see that girl? She looks just as scared as you. How about going over to say hello? If you have a friend it's gonna be way less scary, trust me."

"Really?", Leo looked up at him dubiously.

"Really. If you don't believe me, just give it a try!"

"Then… Ok, I'll try at least but… what if everyone hates me there?"

"If that's really the case, then we'll look for another solution."

"Ok. Thank you, grandpa, you're the best!"

With that, his grandson took a deep breath and headed over to the girl he'd just shown him. Yes, he was off to a great start.

In the end, it turned out everyone did not hate him.

.
Entry 3:

Severus' efforts in the muggle world have borne some fruit. It paints a grim picture. Apparently, the abuse I had worked hard to cover up has been discovered and the corpse of the boy was found and cremated.

A visit to the muggle Aurors who were tasked with Harry's case allowed me to retrieve memories of the process. It would seem to the boy is really dead, but without having seen the body myself I am hesitating to believe it, considering the prophecy. Severus has strongly condemned my actions and will not continue to investigate in the muggle world for the time being.

Maybe once I find evidence of the boy's survival, he will once more assist me willingly.

.
"Careful now… there's still a right nasty curse on that thing. Keep on occluding well!"

Ever so slowly Verde raised the closed surgical thongs in his hands towards the small, warded box they'd prepared just for this purpose, Viper literally hovering worriedly in the background. The inconspicuous ring with a black stone embedded inside smoothly landed in the correct location, confirmed by the quiet click as Verde gently pressed the thongs atop it to properly secure the object.

Quickly but carefully, he then took out a thick rune-inscribed cover from his briefcase and sealed the top shut.

He couldn't help the quiet sigh of relief that left him as he relaxed his high-strung muscles and allowed himself to wipe his sweat.

He really didn't know how Leo had cajoled him into doing this. Into giving the murderer of his daughter a chance. Oh wait, he believed it was the talk about using one enemy to fight another… He grumbled silently, still not happy with his past self for agreeing.

Shaking his head to get rid of that train of thought, he put away the box and looked around at the devastation around him. He didn't think he'd ever found this many curses, traps, and traps inside traps in one place… ever, really.

"We're never doing this again", he declared grumpily.

"… we may have to."

"Dammit."

He hated that Viper was right. This was only the first Horcrux they'd managed to locate after all. If this piece didn't contain at least a quarter of Tom Riddle's soul… it would not be enough for the ritual they'd managed to locate to create a lasting body for the man. Well… better not dwell on that thought for now.

"Let's go and prepare for the ritual. I promised Leo to help with this idea, as bad as it is. Best get it over with as soon as possible. And hope he was right about the man, if not we get to kill him once at least."

Viper smirked below their hood. Verde would never admit it, but he couldn't say no if his grandson truly wanted something. If it was in any form reasonable at least.

The child wasn't spoiled by any means, but he did not often have no way of getting what he wanted. He'd have to work hard for it a lot of the time though.

The little hellion of a genius had grown up well in the time they'd taken to find this ring and had long surpassed his grandfather when he was at that age, much to the man's pride and joy.

His Occlumency was as strong as the average goblin's and growing stronger every day, he had successfully separated himself from Tom's memories without sealing them away or being influenced by them and his other studies were going beyond splendidly. He had even skipped a few grades.

And along the way, the boy had never stopped trying to convince his grandfather to help Tom Riddle. Even though the Sky bond between them had been broken, having been bonded since God knew when had truly left its mark on the child. He only hoped agreeing to do this wasn't going to come back to bite them.

Neither Verde nor Viper wanted to risk magical travel, what with their volatile cargo, thus they made their way to the airport by car. At least the flight from Britain to Italy didn't take all that long.

A few hours of reading later, they were back on familiar soil and headed straight to the ritual room.

Viper slowly and steadily prepared the runic circle, while he carefully prepared the required components and placed them around the room properly.

They worked quietly, having gone over the details multiple times no words were needed. Finally, the box with the ring was placed at the very center and opened so the Horcrux could be accessed.

With one last check of the security and containment runes, they nodded at each other.

All was done.

It was time to return Tom Riddle to the land of the living.

.
Entry 7:

Today I found and performed a ritual designed to ascertain if an individual - Harry James Potter - was alive. The result was inconclusive. How very peculiar. Maybe the result can be used to my advantage, however.

.
Tom slowly uncurled and sat up inside the bathtub-like cauldron that had been used for the ritual to reunite him with the other soul pieces they'd gathered over the last few months, murky liquid sloshing about as he moved.

Finally, Tom Riddle was nearly whole once more. Sane and able to think properly. No voices at the back of his head, no weird urges that wouldn't be denied, nothing but himself.

Only one last soul piece, the crazy 'original' was left, currently in an unknown location. He'd have to find a way to make sure he didn't end up like that again. And cleanse that soul piece properly before integrating it as well.

"Thank you for your help", he sincerely thanked the child and his two shrunken companions in front of him as he got dressed.

"You're welcome, Tom! Stay whole this time, OK?", Leo cheekily reminded him.

"I'll do my utmost to."

"Awesome, then does that mean you can tell me all about your time at Hogwarts? My mom and dad went there but I've never been so…"

"It would be my pleasure"

But first, he really needed an actual bath

.
Entry 12:

I have decided to retrieve Sirius from prison and have him assist me instead. Maybe the boy's passion can now be utilized and steered in the right direction. For now, he seems lucid but cowed enough to be used in the search. He still believes in me despite his incarceration. My new plan is feasible.

.
"I don't think there's any more I can really do to prepare further", Tom sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, placing the book he had been reading back onto the table in front of him.

He had been taking advantage of Leo and Verde's hospitality for over 2 years now, laying as low as he possibly could – meaning not going out at all and meeting nobody but the people in the base - researching and trying to build up any possible defense and precaution he possibly could.

Of course, he was aware it was still far from perfect but… for how long was he going to keep hiding?

The clock was ticking on either Dumbledore or his other self finding out the Horcruxes were missing. The longer he took the warier they'd potentially be.

He was sure he wasn't ready for any kind of open war for now but… did that even have to be the way to go about it?

Why not go about it the legal way?

Why not go the political route?

His reason previously was that Dumbledore was too strong politically but… was that really the case?

From what he'd been able to see over the course of his stay, Dumbledore was only strong politically in Britain.

So… what if he started somewhere else?

It would be challenging to 'intrude' into British politics as an 'outsider' if he did so but…. It would provide him with a certain amount of protection at the same time.

Protection he was in dire need of.

It was worth looking into at least.

After all, if he started in Britain, Dumbledore would be alert from the very beginning. If he started in Italy or another country on the other hand… chances were he would only be noticed when it was too late to get rid of him.

Yes, not reactivating the Dark Marks had been the right call. He should keep it that way.

-t-

.
"You're really leaving?", Leo asked, gaze lowered.

"Yes. It's time."

He wasn't sure he could ever repay the family for what they'd done for him. Not only had they saved him, restored his body and soul, and taken him in afterward… they had also helped him in his research and had given him something like a family.

He couldn't express just how glad he was to have met them.

Considering that, the looming threat of Dumbledore and his schemes made him all the more determined to get rid of the man. He didn't want Leo and his family to be dragged into this mess any more than he already had.

"Thanks for everything, Leo."

"Thank you as well, Tom. I am really happy that you're part of my family… You're going to come and visit, aren't you?"

"Of course"

While their bond hadn't renewed after the man regained his body, they had formed a different kind of bond over his stay.

Leo would miss him.

.
Entry 20:

In my desperation, I have finally looked into Lily's family. Apparently, her line wasn't purely muggle as I had assumed. Through a stroke of luck, I have found the paperwork for her adoption. Her biological father is still alive and magical at that.

Perhaps the man knows something, or perhaps they didn't have any contact at all. In any case, it's as good an avenue as any to investigate. It may be the last hope of finding the child alive.

.
Author's Note:

A bit different from my usual format of time skip but hey, gotta try sometime.