A/n: Right, so this took some doing... I opted to stick with just population and bombs being spelled out for the shock factor. Enjoy!
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Harry looked around the truly massive rough hewn hall with glowing runes and spellwork creating a rainbow of colors scattered across the stone of the walls and ceiling. He was seated off to one side with Severus while Voldemort joined the mixed group of Aurors and Unspeakables as they set up the presentation, correcting a few things here and there. Harry could only guess that the Dark Lord had been invited to help by the note he had received when they had arrived. It was the only reason he could come up with that had the unstable wizard directing them to a protected seating area and then leaving them there.
"Let us begin," the announcer person stated. What followed was Voldemort outlining the fact that his entire campaign had been both a wake up call and a test to see if the magical world could handle the abrupt collapse of the Statute of Secrecy.
"As informative as this is," a voice rumbled from one of the Vampire representatives. "Why, exactly, did you feel the need to even start this... test? Also why did you call all of us here?"
"Because of the threat the muggles as a whole present," Madame Bones informed them all white faced. "Some, if not all, of you have heard of the raid and stand off at Hogsmeade where in the Dark Lord took custody of Potions Master Severus Snape and his student Harry Potter. At that time the initial reason for the raid was derailed when young Mr. Potter offered a deal to ensure the safety of those captured. The deal was struck and magically witnessed."
"The deal was also performed in Parseltongue and became even stronger as a result of being agreed upon using a magical language to negotiate," Voldemort added. "After both of them entered my custody certain things came to light which have perforce placed them under my permanent guardianship and protection as certified by the Gringotts Nation. At the time of the raid, as a courtesy for not making things worse than they had to be, I directed Madam Bones to the information on the muggles that had sparked the reason for my test of our community. Simply put? Muggles have a population of over 7 billion where as, counting all intelligent magical species, we only have a population of perhaps 1% which equates to roughly 70 million sentient magicals of all known species. If we limit the numbers to just humans... its closer to a 10,000 to 1 ratio. It is also a large part of the reason why my attacks against the muggle population were largely ignored despite their and our media picking up on it. There are too many of them to kill but our abilities will immediately be seen as a threat as they were during the days of the witch burnings. This to say nothing of their current ability to destroy entire cities with bombs. I would like to direct your attention to the results in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, Swansea, Birmingham, Belfast, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield during the blitz of the war with Grindelwald. I would also direct you to the devastation of the nuclear incident at Chernobyl as well as the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. These happened during the war with Grindlewald which the muggle world calls the Second World War."
The pictures projected magically into the air of the various locations, many of them from muggle history books or library archives showed the devastation and loss of life.
"What?!" the Gringotts Bank director croaked out into the shocked silences several seconds later.
"My fellow magicals, I lived through the London Blitz every summer during my Hogwarts schooling, always denied a place of safety simply because I was an orphan. This devastation among our peoples is what I am trying to prevent!" Voldemort announced harshly. "Yes, I attacked our peoples but I first tried to warn you. Instead I was blocked and banned for 'being dark' to the point that I could only get a job in a run down shop off of Knockturn Alley. It was at that point, when no one would listen that I turned to find alternate ways to make the threat at least visible so that we had half a chance at surviving what will come. It was made clear to me that the only way to get you to see the threat was effectively a couple of stinging hexes to various rear ends. During the process of applying those hexes several rituals I had performed over the years came back and bit me on the arse. As such by the time I went after the Potters I was utterly insane. Some of the damage has been repaired but as you can see from my appearance the healing is as yet incomplete. One of the things I requested at the end of the Hogsmeade raid was a chance to present my evidence to, at the very least, the Wizengamot. I limited myself to asking for the Wizengamot because I honestly thought that I couldn't get an entire conclave convened to hear about the threat we now face."
"Of the techniques we have found that the muggles now have the Statute is barely holding. As it is more to do with the fact that the highest levels of their government are helping us that we have not been exposed," Madam Bones said bluntly. "We are exposed and have been for some time. It is only the general public which is unaware of us. Something which has been allowed to continue to avoid mass panic."
"A gun can kill faster than a wand can be drawn. This has been a fact since I was a child and their weapons have only improved as have their detection ability and security measures," Voldemort told them all flatly.
"You need to return Mr. Potter to his family," Dumbledore announced. "The rest of this is nothing but scare tactics. The muggles have nothing to fear from us. They will welcome our return with open arms. "Look at the families of the muggleborn! They are delighted to have magical children! We must continue to trust in the integrity and understanding shown by these muggle families. Even Mr. Potter's loving family show that we have nothing to fear from being open with muggles."
The incredulous looks aimed at the Headmaster for his open delusion.
Harry, observing all of this critically, decided to take a little revenge. It wasn't like they didn't need to know about this any way but he knew telling these people this was going to emotionally hurt him. So the only way he could, for now, rationalize sharing it without having ever discussed it with anyone else was teenage revenge even if that little voice in the back of his head said he really just wanted answers.
"If they were so loving then why did I spend the first ten years under there care stuffed in a cupboard? Treated like a House Elf with barely a cup of soup or a slice of bread each day?" Harry's question to Dumbledore rang out across the hall, silencing the hall in an instant. "Explain to me how you can condone the beatings, the refusal to even allow me a name? Explain to me why I have been used a toy, a thing rather than a living being? Explain to me why, as your supposedly favorite student, I am denied medical treatment when something happens until you have dragged every scrap of information on it out of me!"
Severus couldn't wait, he literally couldn't help himself, he gathered Harry into his arms. Glaring at the rest of the room he brought his son back into the protection of his arms. His magic, answering an unheard call, flowed into a shimmering shield that wrapped protectively around the pair. Even if he hadn't known the imp would say something the content was disturbing enough that he was willfully indulging the new parent bond with his brat. The fireworks, after all, were about to start.
"A CUPBOARD?!" Voldemort's voice carried his fury clearly across the hall. It was clear in his tone that he wasn't just referring to the cupboard but to all of it with cupboard being a representative of it all. The open fury had Harry immediately clutching at his scar from the pain flowing down the link even as he let Severus drag him to a slightly safer location in the room yet within easy reach for the Dark Lord. The former Spy's magic never faltered as it fueled the shield around them.
Severus, on the other hand, was remembering even as they moved that he had bypassed the pink bitch yesterday who had also hurt his brat. He couldn't understand why he had forgotten being shown the blood quill marks during the raid and then the listing of it on the healer's report. The earlier urgency to get Harry to a Healer was understandable and helped avert a bloodbath. Severus could only consider the missed opportunity as a bit of a disappointment. Although he knew that by the time the Dark Lord remembered about the vicious bitch her death would be assured despite being in Ministry custody simply because of the damage she had done to Harry. The abuse and the cupboard was something that could be handled later...
Dragging his wandering mind back to the issue and task at hand Severus stared looking for a better spot to keep his son protected in if a battle broke out. He was, however, surprised by the open fury on many of the faces in the room. It seemed that his son was getting extra support from his little outburst.
"I am not a be-damned blade!" Harry was shouting at the old man. "I am not a weapon to be forged and sharpened!"
Severus realized that he must have missed something important. Well his imp always did have a way of getting under people's skin so no surprise there. He would just have to review his memory of the event later, when they were back safely behind a great many powerful wards.
"Placing you there was for the greater good and they are your family," Dumbledore said soothingly.
"I suppose that you think repeatedly sending me back to the orphanage in the middle of the London Blitz with no recourse to go elsewhere was also for the greater good?" Voldemort sneered. "Never mind that the staff and nearby priests had repeatedly tried to kill me, had me exorcised as a demon, and that the only way I had any kind of safety in that blasted place was to terrify the other orphans into leaving me alone! To say nothing of the utter destruction of the bombs falling all across the city or the lack of funding to even feed and clothe us."
"Was it for the greater good that you kept sending me back to my father who would frequently try to beat the magic out of me? Was it for the greater good that you allowed Black to set a werewolf under the influence of the full moon with no potion on me in fifth year? Was it for the greater good that you encouraged those four to literally torture me all throughout my school years?!" Severus growled in fury. It was only his arms still wrapped around Harry that kept him grounded in his rage at that moment. He had to protect his imp. Revenge could come later once his temper was down to a simmer rather than at a dangerous boil and ready to explode if the old goat answered wrongly.
"But of course," Dumbledore said, looking at him as if he were stupid and disappointed by that stupidity. The rumbles of shock from the assembled people were ignored by those involved in the discussion
"You are insane," Harry said with incredulity. "I was very pointedly told that I should have died with my parents and that everyone with magic should be killed by my relatives! The only reason I even made it to Hogwarts alive is because of my magic and some letter you sent them! I would have been dead any way without my magic even though they tried to beat it out of me!"
"You are exaggerating. I am very disappointed in you for lying to these important people young man," Dumbledore rebuked him. Harry flinched backward into Severus' arms. The low growl of fury from the former Spy the only thing helping him stand tall and glare right back into the eyes of the man who had made himself out to be his protector and savior.
"How many of us have you sent back into danger?!" Voldemort demanded harshly. "How many students never returned because you sent them back to their abusers or sent them into other danger?! I know from my own memories that at least 30 of my own classmates never returned from London because of the Blitz. You have led the magical peoples astray and now we face potential extinction because of your policies and actions!"
"~As a distraction from this mess so that we don't loose out tempers... do you want to know how I became able to speak the tongue of snakes?~" Severus offered his charge. Allowing the hissing language to echo across the hall and visibly startle the old goat as he stared in open shock at his former Potions Master.
"~Yes please,~" Harry agreed quickly. "~I need a distraction or I will try to kill him.~"
"~Believe me, the feeling is mutual,~" Voldemort agreed as he opted to join the pair and force his temper back under control.
"Now see here! That language just proves your evilness!" Dumbledore exclaimed in outrage. "At least Mr. Potter is young enough to be led away from such foulness! I demand that you unhand him at once and return him to my custody as his magical guardian!"
"You are no guardian of mine!" Harry snarled at him. There was a distinctive snapping sensation as whatever unknown magic bound Harry to the old man broke in front of the entire assembly. The flare of Harry's magic rose, coaxing out the magic of his fellow Parselmouths and twining with them before subsiding, displaying the recently formed family bond to briefly shine undeniably across the hall.
"You bound his MAGIC?! Are you bloody well insane?! It would have eventually killed him!" Severus bellowed. Handing Harry off to the Dark Lord he stalked towards his employer, drawing his wand in an open rage.
"It was necessary and for the greater good!" Dumbledore declared piously as Severus was grabbed by his new family and held back while the trio glared at the old man. Severus, not wanting to hurt his son or his Lord, refrained from forcing himself free to continue his attack. Opting to let them pull him back into the safety of their arms and the magic shield he had instinctively created earlier to protect Harry. The shield had a calming influence on all three of them, helping them to avoid attacking the old man over the revealed wrongs done to them.
"Right, Gringotts has heard enough from the insane one. His actions have harmed the nation and as such all assets will be seized in recompense. I recommend to this body that the insane one, born Albus Brian Dumbledore, be executed for attempted assassination of all magical peoples," the goblin representative declared. "We refrain from acting and simply killing him now out of the warrior respect for this body and those various clans and peoples they represent. Wizarding Dark Lord we of Gringotts would be happy to review your raids and a full listing of your original goals with the eye to an alliance in keeping our peoples protected. We will be contacting the local muggle leaders with a similar offer to begin talks in an attempt to avoid an unwinnable war as well as possibly arrange for our young warriors to be blooded on the battle field or at least in a decent arena match against some of their own. We do however request a full accounting of the Hogwarts incidents from Mr. Potter to properly accord him his warrior ranking and a time to judge his combat skill. Wand Warrior and Charms Master Flitwick has never been able to gain a proper accounting for us due to the insane one's interference. We also would like to offer the young warrior a chance to speak to our combat recovery experts that they may aid in healing any mind injury that occurred from those combat incidents."
Dumbledore looked around at those assembled belatedly remembering where he was only to see various looks of horror, disgust, and fury aimed at him. He decided to retreat with what dignity he retained and never saw the stunner hit him from behind. A stone faced Amelia Bones followed her attending Aurors as they first knocked out and arrested the Defeater of Grindelwald.
"You are hereby arrested for child endangerment and child abuse by proxy," Amelia Bones informed the unconscious man with open fury. "If I didn't think it would violate my oath of office to uphold our laws I would kill you right now."
"Why?" one of the representatives asked, reminding her of her own audience.
"If he did this to Mr. Potter, Master Snape, and the Dark Lord - probably causing him to become the Dark Lord - then the stories my niece brought home, no matter how incomplete, of Mr. Potter's exploits take on a far more dangerous tone. I will need copies of Mr. Potter's memories for the same evaluation as the goblins but also to bring formal charges against any who have risked the lives of our children," Madam Bones informed them. "The only reason I don't officially request them now is that I don't want them to be thrown out. I will have a subpoena shortly for official copies of the involved memories and testimony just as soon as I can get a judge to sign off on it."
"Get one for my memories as well... birth name Tom Marvolo Riddle," Voldemort offered with a grimace over his birth name. "I may no longer be at risk of being charged due to the rebirth ritual which largely returned my sanity but you deserve to be able to officially close any open cases that I have answers for."
"You have my thanks," Madam Bones inclined her head stiffly. She would never like the man who had ordered the death of her brother and sister-in-law but she could respect him and his attempts to sort out the mess of his campaign while protecting their world. The results of his insanity were unfortunate but it was clear that he was trying to fix or at least heal the damage done. She would give him a chance and pray that she didn't regret it.
"Are there any plans to deal with this? Obviously discounting anything Dumbledore came up with?" Lord Lucius Malfoy, attending as the Head of House Malfoy, asked. The sneer aimed in the direction of the downed Headmaster was accompanied by many and varied glares across the hall.
"I submitted a number of possible plans to Madam Bones when I sent her the health certificate for Potions Master Snape and Mr. Potter as well as my own sanity certificate. I wanted no possible mistakes so the healer that checked us came from Gringotts," Voldemort announced. He hadn't really wanted to admit that his sanity had been checked but it gave weight to his previous condition of insanity and a good reason why he was suddenly far more reasonable.
"I thought Nagini called the healer?" Harry pondered aloud. Voldemort twitched at that pronouncement and proceeded to ignore the comment. Those wizarding family heads who also happened to be his followers noted his reaction and lack of response with great interest. It seemed to them that Nagini had a greater amount of influence with their lord than they had guessed and that both Potter and Snape's position had changed within the Dark Faction.
"In the coming days messages will be sent out to inform all of you as to what the new potential emergency protocols will be. We will also entertain suggestions from those assembled here which do not include 'kill all the muggles' or similar," Madam Bones announced. "A packet of techniques and weapons used by muggles will be created and distributed along with the finalized emergency plans. This will be created with the aid of muggleborns, who have lived with muggles their entire life, and the Dark Lord as well as a selection of Lords. Should any of the other races represented here wish to also participate we would welcome their involvement. Until this crisis is solved or at least the risk reduced to something manageable all other over riding ministry business will likely take a backseat. We can fight about the current laws and the like after the risk of us all dying is reduced or eliminated. Thank you for attending this emergency Conclave and I apologize for Dumbledore's insanity as he has probably managed to hide it for a very long time. We should have caught it long before now."
"Gringotts accepts the Ministry apology but will expect better understanding between the goblin nation and the British Ministry in the future to avoid this happening again. You get one chance to prove you were not planning the deaths of our people as a whole," the goblin representative warned firmly.
"The Vampire Covens also accept the apology with the same caveat," the Vampire representative added.
"As do the Centaur Herds," the centaur representative announced. This lead to the Leprechauns, Dwarves, Dryads, Merpeople, Sirens, Harpies, Veela, and various foreign representatives to make similar comments.
Voldemort and his two panthers didn't stay long after that as the meeting officially ended. He had to get them in proper clothes laced with protective enchantments after all. They could keep using his own wardrobe for only so long. He was completely unaware of Rita Skeeter's presence at the meeting and thus would receive a nasty shock from the next morning's paper along with the rest of the wizarding world.
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A/n: Okay, that was a rough chapter to write... I think going light next chapter might be a good idea... Shopping anyone? Or should we go with a review of Harry's yearly adventures? How about setting people after the Dursleys? Or should we wait on that until Gringotts at least gets copies of Harry's memories? Should we have Voldy be stubborn and start his soul healing early?
Other ideas are very welcome! I'm editing/posting this while tired so I might have missed an idea route...
Also for those who found the messed up version of this chapter... its fixed?