Chapter 22
Actions and Consequences.
10:42 pm 21st December, Law's Household.
It had been a whole month since Sirius had told him that just because he could didn't meant he should, he had also considered the man's take on filial piety but as it was neither of them were right or wrong, while he understood the phrase he didn't understood how it was applicable for their current situation, and Sirius had not been been forthcoming with any more information, so Harry dived back into the books, between his academic responsibilities, missions, and time with the girl, what little time he could've allotted to contemplate his godfather's deeper message was instead spent on the surface one, trying to come up with an alternative where his being, soul and body alike, wouldn't be damaged in any form so that he could get the required information from Sirius.
Now that he was free from the academic part of his schedule he had, by chance once again stumbled onto the phrase his godfather had used and began contemplating on it, Judy had been reprimanding two of the toddlers in house for apparently abusing their recently acquired Doberman companion by riding him akin a horse would be by a cowboy, an idea they got from the telly, while instructing the kids how to treat the canine properly she had used the same words as Sirius.
So now here he was knocking on her bedroom's door, past the bed time so that he could talk to her in regards to it, soon the door was opened and he was greeted by Judy who was dressed in her nightie and a robe over it, while from his position he could see Richard seated on their bed looking over him, with raised eyebrows, he simply wrote into his notebook "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Judy nodded as soon as she read what he wrote, she too went and took a seat on the bed while Harry followed her and kept standing in front of her, then she spoke up, "Harry, what is it that you want to talk about? Please don't hesitate and feel free to tell us what you want to."
Richard thought it was absurd of his wife to worry about the boy being hesitant, despite his anti-social tendencies and mutism the boy was more blunt than a baseball bat to the head, but he simply chose to remain silent, after all, the boy has approached his wife and whatever it is he wants to talk about, he probably believes only she has an answer to it.
Soon Harry jotted down his queries on the notebook before passing it to Judy, and it was "Why did you use the phrase "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.", what does it mean? How is it applicable in real life situations and decision making?"
It took Judy a second to remember where she had used those words, today morning when she was talking with Raymond and Dell after their little stunt with poor Castiel, she stared at the boy in front of her wondering how to answer his query, It wasn't like he was asking a tough question, instead the question was so simple she was having a hard time wondering why he was even asking it in the first place? But then she reconsidered her own question given who it was she was referring to, the boy was a genius, he took in information like a sponge, when he saw Alex and Richard doing the maintenance work on her car he learned from them and in turn, a few days later gave them better tips on how to improve the cars performance by small tweaks here and there, and he also learned about quite a few other things pretty fast, but that also equally didn't meant that he had to be good at everything, so calmly she began, "Well on the surface the phrase means just what it sounds like, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, on a deeper scrutiny it's meant to enforce people to be aware of consequences of their actions, for Instance when Dell and Ray rode upon Castiel their actions were terrible but the consequences could have been horrible, they could've hurt the poor thing critically, could've broken his spine or even possibly killed him, not to mention they could've hurt themselves in so many ways that I can't even put it into words."
She watched as the boy tilted his head towards the right, mulling over the words she had spoken, and then just abruptly he had approached them; he gave her a small bow and left going in the direction of his room. She couldn't help but sigh wondering if she actually helped out the boy with whatever he was dealing with or actually made things worse.
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01:42 am 23rd November, DADA Professors quarters, Hogwarts.
Remus stared at the papers in front of him, a part of his mind mused as he stared at the recognizable writing, how miss Granger's research was thorough as expected of her, his mind a terrible mess in ways that couldn't be described, doubt running through his body faster than his blood, his world had just been flipped upside-down, so many things that he had buried crawled out of their makeshift graves.
A part of him had been cursing himself that a gaggle of kids had more brains than he did, but then he reminded himself that self incrimination wouldn't exactly help him here, and then when he and his friends were at this very age that Neville and his friends are, what they managed to achieve was quite spectacular, and lastly but not the least he had been - and still is- too close to this, and the kids had been objective, they hadn't drowned in an ocean of grief, thus managed to not overlook quite some facts like how they had only found Peter's pinky finger,or not only the sketchy circumstances under which Sirius had been arrested but also the highly illegal lack of trial for him, since every other suspected death eater had been put on specially since it made the government look good, and he couldn't think of a better publicity stunt to put Voldemort's right hand man on a very public trial.
Then there were also other things to consider, the information the children didn't have, for one, they thought there weren't any spells that could do what everyone thinks happened to Peter all those years ago, when in fact he could count a score - one more or less - off the top of his head, spells that were horrible and destructive in ways that few knew, but there were again limitations, the only people he could think of capable of using them could be counted on his right hand alone, with fingers to spare, and they too could only exclusively use only one of those spells in a single fight, so it got more complicated.
And with these heavy thoughts still weighing down on his mind he went to his bed.
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01:42 am 24rd December, Kazan, Russia.
The two Necromancers stared at each other, both comfortable in the spell of silence afforded to them by their economical use of words, then the older one wilfully broke it, "So what exactly is it you want to ask me?" the posed question was blunt and to the point, exactly how he knew the young man in front of him is, he knew that their young team mate wasn't one to make social calls, if he even had a life, the first time he laid eyes on the child he knew he was too broken to be normal, warped in ways one couldn't imagine, but also not evil, just lost searching for answers, just as he was once.
The boy brought out his writing pad and wrote, "Why is attempting to revive people frowned upon and discouraged?"
He knew that the question posed to him wasn't one that was philosophical in nature but one that would need a scientific or empirical answer, but before he could answer it he needed some more context, so he questioned back, "What prompted this question?"
And the answer to that was a simple "Someone told me Just because I can, doesn't mean I should."
He mulled upon it, trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in place, it took him all of 5 seconds to do that, he didn't even try to point out that reanimating a corpse wasn't reviving the people, the boy probably knew as much about necromancy as he did if not more, he knew who exactly the young man was behind the whole secret identity, one he hadn't even bothered to create till Poseidon advised him to, as such he had a mostly sure idea whom the boy was trying to revive, so he began, "That is some good advice, take it, the reason it's frowned upon is because not only do people generally fail at it, and probably end up dead, those who succeed live a miserable life, it's a gross violation of nature, the dead are meant to stay dead, every being born is destined to die one day, but there's also other factors to consider, like Butterfly effect."
Harry tilts his head towards the right, which the older man aptly takes as his cue to elaborate, "Once you revive whoever it is you want to, how do you think you're going to deal with it? I won't mince my words, but despite whatever you may read, whatever you may try, you aren't a psychologist, you cannot help them cope with the trauma, then there's the other people, they'll question how did you revive them? There'll be people who'll want your secrets, people who'll want to study them like specimens, strap them to a table and dissect them, both metaphorically and literally, you'll have to run, and live a life on run and keep hiding, that's not a life, it's a state worse than death."
He stands up and marches towards his kitchen while Harry contemplates what he's been told, trying to mentally work through those scenarios, trying to find a solution, and soon the older man returns with a bottle of soft drink and two glasses, pouring them both one he resumes, "and that's not to mention the danger you'll be putting them under, not only when the world realizes you can revive people they would hunt you down to get the method from you, and if it turns out to be an ability exclusive to you they'll try to use them and their continued safety and existence as a bargaining chip against you, they'll be effectively held as hostages by the whole world, after all who doesn't want their loved ones back from the dead?"
He observes as the young man absorbs the information given to him, there's a lot more he could have said, that would have been counterproductive, the boy doesn't need a spoon fed solution, he needs one he achieves from his own actions and realizations, and for that he can but only pray… slowly Harry gets up from his seat and leaves the home as the older man watches the younger disappear, praying that he doesn't learn this lesson the same way he did as he eyes the grave of his sister in his backyard, the second grave of his sister, one he had to dig after his successful attempt at reanimating her… the tombstone that simply reads To the dearly departed Trisha Elric, beloved sister of Hughes Elric..
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07:42 am 23rd November, Great Hall, Hogwarts.
The early rising students had just stepped within the aptly named hall, and behind them was a stumbling Remus, sleep etched on his face, and that got majority of the staff to raise their eyebrows, Remus, while every bit as infamous as the rest of Marauders, was also a disciplinary, he was always the first to show up at breakfast and was always tidy; the day after a full moon being the only understandable exception.
But they also remembered the last time he had shown up in the great hall in such a state, in fact everyone who had witnessed the sight probably remembered it, the smug grin on the usually shy boy's face was beaming as his three friends quietly followed him with their….. heads ducked and staring at their shoes, they had been quite visibly hexed within an inch of their life, James' ears looked like a goblin's while his eyes were a mismatched combination of fluorescent yellow and slytherin silver for right and left respectively, his lips were puffed up to the point that it looked like they were subjected to an overpowered engorgio charm, then there was Sirius, missing his trademark silky and shiny black hair (courtesy of the Sleakeazy shampoo created by one Fleamont Potter as he'd often chortle, much to James' chagrin) now replaced by a greasy yet blindingly bright pink mohawk, and poor little Peter looked but only slightly better than the other two, his once dirty blonde hair was now mere patches on his head and his nose looked more like a giant wart, but it seems of the three he was the only one who had been shown some degree of mercy, as no one missed how uncomfortably they were walking, and for once since the quartet stepped within hogwarts there was a silent breakfast in the hall.
Alas that was the past, a time of merriment, a time unmarred by Voldemort and his servants, both of whom had costed all of them people they dearly loved, and unlike before not only did Remus not have any reason to have stayed up late night, but also his grin of satisfaction was replaced by a grim expression of grit and determination, as he made his way towards the staff table he silently took his seat not even bothering to greet the rest of the staff something that was unsettling and unnerving in ways that even Severus thought it better to not agitate the usually calm werewolf, though it may have had something to do with a combination Remus' reaction and Dumbledore's talk with him afterwards.
As the Hall filled out appropriately the food appeared on the tables, courtesy of the hogwarts elves and chatter started on both the student and the staff tables, chatters on topics ranging from nothing to everything, meanwhile Remus who had been robotically consuming the food placed in front of him, only partly aware of what he was eating, took a look at the student body, more importantly at the Gryffindor table, and his heart which had been trashing with agonizing doubt and guilt till now, ceased and went deathly still for a few moments as he couldn't spot Harry anywhere in the horde of red and gold dressed children, which was typical as everyone knew that boy never entered the Great Hall after his own sorting night, never, but the slight hope of seeing the only reason he had managed to survive the war after his night was the motivation which he had used to drag himself from his quarters to the Hall and just as it was turning to dust, he heard something.. more like someone, Hagrid, who said something, not to him but something that caught his attention, so turning to the Care of Magical Creatures professor, he said "Hagrid what did you just said?"
The gentle giant was sporting a - as muggles would put it, deer looking in the headlight - expression and started blinking owlishly, he had at first tried to talk to the latest DADA professor but was discreetly held back from doing so by the diminutive Charms teacher, he didn't understand why Flitwick had done so but took the offered cue and started talking about the foals of Thesterals that had just graced Hogwarts with their presence, till he was now interrupted by Remus and he froze wondering what to do, then a few seconds later he sputtered, "huh, whatt'd ya mean Remus, I wa' jus' talkin abou' the Thestrals, the foals that just arrived last week and about how the keep trying to enter the castle despite being repeatedly told not to."
In response Remus blinked once, and then blinked again, then got up and gave the Giant a quick hug, or at least tried to, and then excusing himself immediately left much to the confusion of the staff and students alike.
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07:42 am 23rd December, The Burrow, Devon.
Ginny groaned loudly as she sprawled down on the ground tired and drenched in sweat, she had just completed the physical portion of her winter assignment, a 20 km run followed by 200 push ups, situps, and squats, followed by a twenty minute plank and twenty minutes of high speed somersaults and other dodging maneuvers. It was tiring, and not a little frustrating, but when she had asked her teacher why she'd have to do all this he as usual gave her a small and simple answer, her body contained her magic the more fit she was the more efficient she would be, not to mention aside from the more physical aspects of fighting; having more stamina than your enemy always helped.
Enemies, she realized with not a little weariness how real the word sounded to her, after…. Everything, while she hadn't actually had acquired any practical combat experience, yet, she had had an enemy The bloody diary of Tom Buggering Riddle, and the nightmares it gifter her as they parted, and she supposed that becoming powerful might help her defeat it.
Or she hoped so at least.
With another groan she got up and went inside her home to take a hot shower before breakfast, which would be followed by her theoretical and magical training.
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03:42 pm 15th December, Shrieking Shack, Hogwarts.
It had been three weeks - nearly four - since Remus had almost caught him here, when he had informed Harry of these events the boy disappeared after nodding to him only to return the next morning before breakfast, with two necklaces, each sporting a steel dog tag, something Lily had introduced them to after she had found out about their animagi forms, and informed him that these necklaces would mask their presence to the utmost possible degree, but only worked while they were at Hogwarts, more specifically grounds that are covered by its wards, even a centimeter outside the wards would disable the cloaking, hence making them a moot point, he also emphasised that these could potentially hide them from the dementors too, but not to the same degree, and doing something that would bring attention to them would yet again render the cloaking moot; at least until they can somehow manage to shake off the attention from themselves.
And then it had been three weeks since the good ol' werewolf started coming to the Shrieking Shack and just lounging around vigilantly, he can sense something is wrong, something is different, there's a palpable tension oozing from the werewolf, there's a tightening of muscles he had seen only a few times, like the time Harry was born, he was worried, undeniably tense, and not a little indecisive as if unsure if what he was doing was a good idea or not, he remembered how the man had confided his self doubts whether it was a good idea for him to be around Harry, worried that he would somehow inflict the baby with his affliction, while normally Sirius wouldn't allow the man to indulge in his pity party, this time he didn't bother trying to pull him out of it, simply handed the man some money and ordered him to meet him back at their apartment with tons of fire whiskey, unfortunately for the werewolf the dog man went behind his back and informed the parents of the aforementioned child of Remus' current dilemma, and the incredulity filled chewing out Lily gave to the werewolf was just epic in all conceivable forms.
This time though there was no reason for the man's odd behavior, at least none he could think up of, until last week when he rambled to the still cloaked Sirius that he was sure that he had seen him last month and after that he had somehow stumbled across a bit of information which led him to believe that there was more to their situation than what met the eyes, so all he wanted was a chance, to speak, to clear the fog that muddled his thoughts, and purge the sludge of doubt that had replaced all of his blood.
Now a week after thinking it over, he came to a conclusion, and after placing a hand on the werewolf's shoulder he softly murmured "Hey Remmy".
A/n : I know I'm a terrible writer and given how I had pretty much abandoned the story everyone must be angry and for that I can but apologize, but to my own defence I would like to state there were some major health issues I had to deal with, and now that that's out of the way updates should be somewhat frequent.
Also to those who didn't catch on I purposely made every scene start at 42 minutes. It comes from the famous quote that the answer to life and everything is just that; 42, which can be translated to death in japanese when both the numbers are read separately.
And yes Hughes Elric is Baba Yaga, also a tribute to one of my favorite series, The FMA:Brotherhood, also to the sharp minded ones a way to answer a reviewer's question which was "Is Harry a golem?"
Also to those who are unhappy with the story's overall format, It is my first time writing and I suppose that is a tip I will take, something I will keep in mind for any other storyI write up but for this one I will continue with the pattern, so your choice read or don't.
