Harry and Merope to the Rescue - Chapter 19
Disclaimer:
I don't own the HP universe, unfortunately.
Thursday, December 10, 1981
Hogwarts, Morning:
It was after breakfast and Dumbledore had just returned back to his office, once again being unable to taste anything of the meal that was served. Was this a prank that required renewal or was it the same one that hadn't dissipated yet? Not only that, the letter that was delivered to him at breakfast was enough to add to the frustration of being unable to enjoy the flavor of his food, though he supposed he should at least be grateful that he was still able to enjoy a full stomach and that he was not left to also starve, regardless of the lack of taste.
Dumbledore balled up the letter in frustration. He had received it from his old student, Cornelius Fudge. It seems Walburga Black had come out of hiding and made a spectacle at the Ministry demanding Sirius Black have a trial. Now Dumbledore was forced to decide how to handle the information. If Sirius Black was freed, he would certainly make demands to have his godson returned to him. Dumbledore did not have his godson to return to him, even if he were so inclined to do so. He needed to figure out how he could turn this around for his benefit.
Perhaps he could convince Sirius that he had placed his godson with a family that had sworn a binding oath to relocate with the child and never disclose their location. In order to keep him safe, not even he could now locate the child until it was time for his Hogwarts letter to be sent out. Yes, Dumbledore thought to himself, that would probably work. He could apologize to Sirius for doubting his innocence, but that based on the evidence available at the time and that he couldn't risk allowing the Ministry to place the child in an inappropriate home, he had to make the best decision he could make under the known circumstances.
Sirius may balk and rage at him for a short time, but he was a trusting young man and he would eventually see this as the best thing for young Harry. Dumbledore nodded to himself. That story should at least buy him some time in which to track down the child from wherever he was now living.
Something started tickling his mind about the Potter that he had met in Diagon Alley. He was still seething at the humiliation he had experienced that day. Glancing at the pensieve, he thought he should review his memory. He popped a lemon drop in his mouth as he thought, so thankful that he could at least still enjoy the flavor of them, he had started making his way towards his pensieve when his stomach started cramping. Oh no! Reviewing memories would have to wait, he needed to get to a bathroom pronto!
Island:
The wards were all complete and Moony had a large section of the overgrown jungle on the island to be able to run around free and unable to cause harm to himself or the other occupants of the island.
All of the structures that they were able to locate on the island appeared to have been built before wizarding carpentry was well-known or used, so none of the structures were salvageable in any way. Upon discovering that, Harry toyed with the idea that they could build a permanent home and other structures in the trees like in The Swiss Family Robinson, there was just something about the thought of living in a treehouse that was intriguing to him.
He was beginning to think of the island as a family vacationing spot, rather than a permanent residence though. While Little Harry would be well protected here, there were no other residents on the island, except for their small family. Little Harry needed to grow up as normally as he could, make friends as a normal child should, and experience all he could of the different cultures, so he could have a better understanding of the people of the world, be they muggle or magical.
Harry intended to speak to Merope about it, but he thought she would probably agree with him. He would turn this island into a getaway, with the treehouses and all, and perhaps they would spend the summers here. But after Sirius was released, as Harry was sure would be the outcome, they would find another residence outside of Britain. They would enroll Little Harry in muggle school, when he is old enough, and homeschool him in his magical gifts until it was time for him to be enrolled in a magical school.
At this point, Harry was sure that they would not be sending him to Hogwarts, at least not while Dumbledore was the headmaster there, which meant that unless something drastic were to happen, they needed to look into other schools. Durmstrang would be out of the question. Beauxbatons would be a possibility. Harry was thinking Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in America would be the most ideal school to enroll him in.
Harry thought he remembered seeing a Potter property on the list that was located in America, but even if they didn't currently own one, as much as he would like to raise Little Harry in a Potter Family Residence, they could still buy a residence in America and add it to the Potter properties. There would be plenty of opportunities to take Little Harry to visit the other properties as he grew up. It would be further away from the bigotry in Britain, and it would be further removed from the myth of the Boy-Who-Lived, giving Little Harry more anonymity, even though he wouldn't be claiming to be the BWL.
It was just after lunch and the family were all gathered outside around the beach, relaxing in conjured lawn chairs. Little Harry was quietly playing in the sand while the family discussed the upcoming meeting that Harry had scheduled with Walburga soon. They were interrupted mid-discussion when an owl arrived bearing a Gringotts' seal.
The owl landed on the arm of Harry's chair and held out a leg. Harry removed the letter and summoned some owl treats for the post owl. Seeing the owl didn't immediately fly off, Harry took it to mean that the owl was instructed to wait for a reply. So Harry opened the letter and read it quietly to himself.
Dear Mr. Potter,
The item in which we spoke of was indeed located where you suspected and it has been thoroughly cleansed.
There is however, another matter has come to our attention that we feel it best to speak to you about in person. We entreat you to respond to this letter with a date and time that would be convenient for you to come and see us as soon as possible, so that we might discuss the matter in a more private and secure location.
Sincerely,
Kruglast of Gringotts
Potter Account Manager
Harry was intrigued. He could think of absolutely nothing that should have come up that would make the goblins request his urgent presence, even though they had requested it as politely as possible. Checking the time and seeing that it was nearing half-one, he quickly conjured parchment, ink, and quill. One would think after all these years he would just settle for carrying around a notebook and ink pen, but he found that parchment, ink, and quill were simple to conjure and more expected in this part of the magical world, so he saved the muggle supplies for use in the muggle world.
Harry quickly composed a response:
Dear Kruglast,
Thank you for the information. I have since destroyed the other remaining items thatI mentioned previously.
I have a prior appointment scheduled for this afternoon that I feel would be impossible for me to reschedule. I will, however, be available immediately following breakfast tomorrow morning, and look forward to meeting with you to discuss whatever matter it is that has come about.
Sincerely,
Hardrian Evans Potter
After finishing the letter, Harry tied it to the owl's leg and sent it on its way. Then he turned back to the rest of the family, who had been watching him in curiosity and he explained the letter and his response. Then, after checking the time again, Harry announced that he needed to get cleaned up, so that he would be able to arrive at Grimmauld Place at the proper time. Upon his return to the group, Harry kissed Merope and Little Harry goodbye and nodded to Remus, then he apparated to Grimmauld Place.
Grimmauld Place:
Harry arrived on the front step, having decided that it would be much more polite for him to arrive there. He didn't want to potentially lose Walburga as an ally by showing he could come and go from her home at any time he pleases and she would have no say in it. After making sure that it was exactly 2:00 p.m., he knocked on the front door.
Immediately, Kreacher opened the front door, greeted Harry with a bow, and allowed him entrance into the manor. "Thank you, Kreacher. I hope you are doing well."
Kreacher blushed, not having become used to Harry's politeness to house elves, and said, "Kreacher is being most well, Master Harry. Kreacher is being ordered to take you directly to Mistress when you is being arrived. Mistress is being waiting in the sitting room." Then Kreacher abruptly turned and led the way to the sitting room.
Harry absently took a glance at the wall that he had previously known to have held Walburga Black's portrait and noticed the same haughty looking witch in its place, she turned her nose up at him as he passed, but she did not speak, considering Walburga was still alive, he wasn't expecting her portrait to speak though. Something else seemed a bit off about the painting, but he couldn't quite tell what without stopping to study it. As he was on his way to meet the lady in person, Harry chose not to dwell on the painting, but perhaps would look more into it before he left.
They arrived at the sitting room after a short walk down the hallway, when they walked inside the room Harry saw Walburga was standing patiently facing the front of the fireplace, as if the fire that was burning was the most fascinating thing in the world at that moment. Outwardly, she was exuding confidence as was befitting a rich pureblood, but he could still make out the telltale signs that she was more nervous than she appeared. Like the way her hand gave a twitch every now and then, as if she was forcing herself not to smooth down her skirts to make sure they were wrinkle free. And like the way she seemed to be trying to keep her hands firmly by her sides and not fold them into each other to rub them together.
Harry had just a couple of seconds time to observe before Kreacher spoke. "Mistress, Master Harry is being here to see you."
Harry noticed her shoulders stiffened just slightly as she braced herself and turned to greet him. Harry walked slowly toward her with a polite smile and bowed over her outstretched hand in greeting and said, "Madam Black, it's a pleasure to meet you in person."
"Mr. Hardrian Potter, I presume?" Walburga asked.
"That would be me. Please feel free to call me Harry, that's what my friends all call me." Harry said. "I am hoping that we will be able to form a sort of friendship, as we will be working together on Sirius's case."
Walburga inclined her head in agreement. "In that case, Harry, please call me Walburga." Harry smiled and nodded. "Then Walburga directed him towards the chairs by the fire and said, "Please come have a seat. I'll have Kreacher bring us some tea, and then we can speak more thoroughly on the plans that you have for Sirius' trial."
"Of course," Harry responded.
Harry waited until Walburga had taken her seat before he had taken his own. Then Kreacher arrived with the tea, which was already fixed just the way they each liked it. "Thank you Kreacher," Harry said, causing Kreacher to blush and Walburga to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"Master Harry is being welcome," Kreacher responded shyly. And then he gave a bow and popped out to give them some privacy.
With a curious tone, Walburga said, "I have never seen Kreacher behave in such a manner."
Harry said, "Yes, well. It took him a long time to accept any form of thanks from me, when I became his master in the future. He had been shut up in this house for so long, with nothing but the dark artifacts and your portrait as his only company, that he had slowly started going insane. It was many years before he was able to behave as he is now."
Walburga looked at Harry thoughtfully and asked, "Will you tell me your story?"
Harry tilted his head and studied her quietly, she fought not to squirm under his scrutiny. "I may tell you my story one day, but I really don't have enough time to tell you my whole story this afternoon. You know I'm a time traveler, and my full story is very long. What I will tell you is that in my original timeline, you died while Sirius was in Azkaban. Sirius never received a trial and finally escaped after 12 years, when he saw the real culprit's picture in the paper that the Minister of that time taunted him with. The culprit was posing as a pet rat, with a family that was closely associated with me." Harry stopped when it appeared that Walburga wanted to say something.
"I died while he was incarcerated and he stayed there for 12 years without a trial?" Walburga asked angrily. "Was there no one else who could have gotten him a trial?" Then she was quiet for a moment and she said softly, blinking back tears, "We never reconciled."
Harry shook his head sadly and said, "Now, keep in mind that some of what I'm going to say now is purely speculation, but Dumbledore could have fought for him to have a trial, but didn't. Even after Sirius escaped and was able to prove to myself, my friends, and Dumbledore that he was innocent, he didn't fight the Minister's decision to order him be kissed by a dementor as punishment for his escape — even though he never had a trial and was convicted.
"Dumbledore was the Chief Warlock. He was (is) a highly respected wizard, whom many people would listen to. Albus Dumbledore chose to not fight the Minister's order, but instead encouraged me and one of my close friends to use a time turner to ensure Sirius escaped. Because helping Sirius escape caused him to remain a fugitive, Dumbledore was able to force me to return to the muggle relatives he placed me with, and I was unable to live with my godfather, who was Sirius."
"Dumbledore could have fought for my son to have a trial and has so far refused." It wasn't a question, but Harry nodded in response anyway. "Sirius was your godfather and would have raised you, if he had not been stuck in Azkaban." Again, Harry nodded. Walburga's eyes widened, "You are the Boy-Who-Lived."
Harry looked at Walburga in contemplation and nodded, "I was once."
Walburga was thoughtful for a moment, sipped her tea, and then asked, "What did Dumbledore stand to gain by preventing Sirius from receiving a trial?"
Harry thought very carefully about what he would say, finally he said, "Dumbledore wanted to retain control of his weapon, because he would need it if Voldemort ever came back. He also received access to my Gringotts vaults, because he appointed himself as my guardian. If I had been raised by my godfather, I might not have done everything that Dumbledore wanted me to do at the exact moment that Dumbledore wanted me to. Sirius' life was a sacrifice he was willing to make, if it meant that Dumbledore would have complete control of me. Where I lived and when I could visit my friends in the summer were just a couple ways of how he controlled me. I was so brainwashed that I was still obeying his orders even after he died."
There was silence for a time and then Walburga asked, "How did you come to be in this time?"
Harry smiled and said, "That is a question that comes with a complicated answer, which we don't currently have time for. My wife and I didn't arrive in this time period on purpose, instead we felt a sort of call and allowed that call to direct us where we were needed." Walburga was listening intently and Harry continued, "We arrived at the moment that Death Eaters were attacking the muggle home where the Harry Potter of this time was placed by Dumbledore.
"Long story short. We have adopted Little Harry. My wife and I are here posing as distant Potter relatives who have moved back to Britain. Little Harry will pass as our son, who was named after me and only coincidentally shares the name of the Boy-Who-Lived.
"I can't say for sure how long we intend to stay in Britain after we have Sirius legally freed, because I refuse to send Little Harry to Hogwarts while Dumbledore remains Headmaster."
Walburga nodded in understanding and said, "I look forward to hearing your whole story one day, just this small glimpse seems fascinating."
Harry inclined his head in acknowledgment and said, "Well, I do believe we should move on and discuss our plans for Sirius' trial. Walburga acknowledges that with a nod and then earnestly discussed and made plans, discussed different strategies, and discussed how to handle Dumbledore.
Finally, it was nearing supper time and Harry excused himself to return home to his family for supper and promised to keep in touch.