Disclaimer: The rights of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. I am making no financial gain from this story whatsoever. Superman belongs to DC comics and Warner Bros.
A/N: The chapter title may be meaningless to most of you. But I borrowed it from the upcoming film "Superman: Returns". I won't spoil what it means in the movie.
Allow me to thank each and every one of you who's reviewed. There aren't words to describe how it feels knowing some people out there appreciates your work.
Chapter 10
Why the World Doesn't Need Harry Potter
Micheal Gratian was an extremely busy man. Running Great Britain and dealing with the magical menace ensured this. Few days would he return before his wife and children slept. Today would be no different.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in," said the Prime Minister, seated at the head of a long table. Every seat at the table was taken, surrounding the Prime Minister with his Cabinet and other trusted colleagues.
His secretary entered.
"The head of the MI5 magical branch is here," she said.
"Let him in," ordered the Prime Minister.
"Sir," said the red-haired man when he entered the room. The Prime Minister offered no seat, so he remained standing.
"You may begin, Thomson," said the Prime Minister.
"As some of may know," Thomson began, "Some years ago, branches in the MI5 and MI6 were built to gain knowledge from the magical community in Britain and the rest of the world."
"Who authorised such a move?" asked someone at the table.
"The Cabinet at the time," was the reply. "We've tried to get muggle-borns to help us out, using the racism preached by a certain wizard," he looked at his notes, "Lord Voldemort was his name. We recently found out that he real name was Tom Riddle. It isn't helpful now, though, as he's bee defeated, and all official records of him are non-existent after he turned eleven years of age."
"Perhaps," said the Prime Minister, "we can deal with matters pertaining to the present?"
"Yes, sir. We have few informants around, as our knowledge of wizards is very limited. But we have been successful in getting a couple in the wizarding government."
"In what departments?"
"Purely beauracratic ones. We've been unable to even contact their law enforcement, the Aurors. And we don't even know a single person from their possible spy department, the Department of Mysteries."
"What have you learned?" asked the Prime Minister.
"Well, sir," said Thomson, flipping a few pages in his folder. "The United Kingdom has just come through a war. Voldemort made an extremely powerful attack on both the magical and our worlds. He was defeated by a certain Harry Potter, a wizard with experience in our world.
"They're rebuilding, structurally and the society. However, a more hostile government has come to power, and a wizard by the name of Polanar has been causing trouble."
"How did you find out about Polanar?"
"The wizarding government contacts told us. All hush-hush, though. Still, if they're telling us, it means he's causing more than just a few problems."
"Excellent," said the Prime Minister, standing up. "Find out what you can, and report back. The meeting is finished."
The Cabinet and the others left the room. Thomson, however, remained behind.
"What did you want to tell me?" asked the Prime Minister.
"We fear that the magic government has some contacts of their own in our leadership," replied Thomson.
"I see," said the Prime Minister, unsurprised. "I suspected as much. There were a few things I wanted to get more details on."
"Such as?" asked Thomson.
"How many contacts do you really have in the magical government?"
"Not a lot. Far more than just a couple, of course. What else?"
"I was told Voldemort was extremely powerful," said the Prime Minister, confused as he looked through a file identical to the one Thomson carried. "But this Harry Potter's a very young man. He would've been..."
"Nineteen years old," filled in Thomson.
"... when Voldemort was defeated," finished the Prime Minister. "How?"
"I don't know," said Thomson. "Some important aspects of the war were quite secretive, even from the magical government. There was a group, called the Phoenix, that spear-headed the defence against Voldemort. We did play a part, though."
"How?" asked the Prime Minister.
"In the summer of 1996 or 1997 (records are lost)," replied Thomson, "the Prime Minister, along with the Minister of Magic, decided that Britain was too dangerous for Potter. There happens to be private schools in different European cities. Potter agreed to leave Britain, and study there. It is believed that he studied in Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, France, Spain and Portugal, amongst a few other places."
"Why so many places?"
"He studied under experts in different fields of magical and normal fighting, and the best happened to be from different countries," replied Thomson. "Plus, he had an added advantage of keeping his whereabouts secret if he kept moving. Voldemort was searching for him."
"How did we play a part?"
"We were in charge of his security," answered Thomson. "MI6 agents stayed with him every day and night. Voldemort, in is hatred of us, would never think Potter would use us to hide him."
"How successful was it?"
"To a degree. Problems did arise, though."
"So," said the Prime Minister, "Is Potter the most powerful wizard in England?"
"Potter?" asked Thomson. "It doesn't seem to be the case. There is something called 'magical potential', which can be studied in the Department of Mysteries. Our contact there told us that while it isn't very precise, if there is a wizard far more powerful than the rest of society, it'll be picked up. Records there says that the most powerful wizard was clearly Voldemort after the death of a certain," checks notes, "Albus Dumbledore.
"Now, however, it isn't so clear who's the most powerful," said Thomson. "While Potter has been the most powerful force in the British Isles, making history single-handedly, we can be sure that Potter is not one of the most powerful wizards when looking at their magical potential. The Department of Mysteries records show that there are a few, and who comes out in top can't be found using their methods."
"And who are they?" asked the Prime Minister.
"We could only find a couple, even the Department only knows around five. There's a Scottish wizard named William Sutherland. Coincidentally, he's a close friend of Potter's. They met when they both had to go to Europe for further studies. They haven't met in the past four years, though, so Sutherland's present duties are mysterious. Polanar is the other."
"So this Polanar could turn out to be another Voldemort?" queried the Prime Minister.
"Unfortunately," said Thomson, rubbing his eyes, "he could. We can be consoled, though, by the fact that not all potential necessarily translates into other forms of energy, as we learn in basic Physics. Potter is living proof of this."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You ask what may be the outcome of us, the few, fighting the muggles, the many," roared Didius Quinrian, leader of the Protection of the Magical Way party, and Head Minister of Magic.
"I'll tell you," he continued. "We're defending our rights, our survival. Are we not a peaceful people?"
"Yes!" shouted the crowd.
"Are we not good people?" Quinrian boomed, with a Sonorus charm in effect.
"Yes!" screamed the crowd.
"Who is in the right in this conflict?"
"WE ARE!"
"Idiots, aren't they?" someone whispered in Harry's ear.
Harry stood at the back of the crowd, watching with them the magical leader on a podium. He was wrapped in a cloak, his features hidden.
"And you are?" asked Harry, without even looking back.
"A friend, Harry," was the reply.
Harry turned quickly, shocked that someone recognised him. He saw a stranger, with red hair. Red hair...
"Pol..." he began.
"Shush!" chastised the man, annoyed. "Not here. Follow me."
Harry was bemused by all this. He was being treated as if they knew one another. He shrugged, and decided to go along, trusting in his talent to get out of trouble. They went down Diagon Alley until they reached an empty spot.
"Here catch," said Polanar, throwing an object at him.
Harry wasn't fooled, and knew that it was a portkey. As it soared through the air, he checked the destination it was to send him. Looks safe, he thought. He grabbed the object, which turned out to be a rusted key, and felt the tug at his navel.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Scotland?" asked Harry with a raised eyebrow. They were standing on a cliff, with the sea ahead of him. A beautiful view of the waves crashing on the rocks, but Harry couldn't let himself be distracted.
"Harry, it's been a while," said Polanar warmly. "How have you been?"
Harry was puzzled. He knew Polanar? The world was downright crazy.
"I'm sorry?" asked Harry.
"Well, when we avoided one another after... after last time," remarked Polanar. "I didn't want that to last."
"Last time?" asked Harry.
"You remember, our argument." Polanar looked concerned. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"What? Oh," said Harry racking his brains. "I was teaching the students this morning, and one of them hit me with some unknown memory charm. Pieces of my memory have been lost. Wasn't permanent, thankfully."
"Idiots, the lot of these Hogwarts students," observed Polanar. "With the single exception standing before me, of course."
"So I don't remember our argument," explained Harry. "Could you clarify?"
"Can't we wait until you get your memory back?" asked Polanar.
"I've got all the time in the world," assured Harry. "And I'm quite curious."
"Well," began Polanar, "we were arguing on how best to proceed. The magical and muggle governments were going ever too close to wars, and we knew the magical society would come off second best. They outnumbered us, and we didn't know how to deal with guns and missiles."
"I see."
"You advocated a wait-and-see policy," said Polanar. "We couldn't attack the muggles, you said. The vast majority were innocent bystanders, like the magical people. But I stressed that as wizards, our concern is our own. I ordered an attack on a muggle bus that had over half of the seats occupied by thugs who had murdered a magical family in Bristol. You became furious at that."
"Obviously," said Harry. "You took the law into your own hands, and killed without authority. The best thing to do would've been to apprehend them and send them to the magical or muggle law enforcement. Not to mention that less than half the bus were innocent, and yet they were killed."
"That's the exact words you used the last time," replied Polanar. "We don't have the luxury of hesitating, pondering moral implications of every decision we make. We are fighting a world on two fronts, fighting two governments. Our own has taken the rights of our people, and the other wants to take our existence."
"We must always think before we act," replied Harry, eyes flashing.
"The risk is we'll miss opportunities by such hesitation."
"The risk to your thinking is that we'll end up a Dark Lords. Our own Voldemorts."
"That's low, Harry," snapped Polanar. "I had no choice but to join him. The world was about to collapse in his favour. It was inevitable."
"Inevitable?" asked Harry increduously. "Who's standing? Me or him?"
"No-one really believed you'll win."
"All who laid their lives thought we'd win. The cowards ran off, or joined the other side. You killed wizards and muggles. You're a muggle-born, for the love of everything good! You thought Voldemort would spare you?"
"I never did," admitted Polanar, "but it was short-term survival. As long as I was the most important wizard, or one of them, he could rely on, I would live. He respected power that much."
"And when you spent your usefullness," said Harry. "Voldemort would've tortured you and then killed you."
"We were never going to be friends, but we've worked together for 2 years," said Polanar. "What happens now?"
"I've had it," Harry said. This was too much.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone's at fault in this situation, it seems," Harry snarled. "You, both governments, and the worst, the general public, the magical and muggle. By allowing, pushing for all this, they have only themselves to blame. There is no Dark Lord here. No evil man running the show. Nope, the evil is within all of them and you. They've embraced this tension. They lust for war.
"The world has decided that conflict is inevitable. I've tried to work around this, to prevent this, but alas! You are all stubborn. To hell with the lot of you. I'm not going to play any hand in this. Let what they ask for, occur."
"Harry," Polanar said, shocked. "What's all this about?"
"I've done far more for Britain than any other individual can claim, since Dumbledore. I've done my duty. I will not enter this madness. What will occur, will occur."
Before he apparated away, he had one more thing to say.
"Never contact me again, or it will be to your peril."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Harry?" asked Hermione at the door to his office.
"Yes?" replied Harry, going through the papers on his desk.
"I was heading to town to see the Halloween treats," she said. "Want to tag along?"
"We aren't to take care of the kids," remarked Harry puzzled. "It's our turn next time."
"We aren't," Hermione said, smiling broadly.
"Excellent," Harry grinned back. "Give me five minutes."
They made their way through Hogsmeade, and then stopped at "The Three Broomsticks".
"What'll you have?" asked Harry.
"Never mind that," said Hermione. "Let me order for a change. What'll you have?"
"Orange juice will be fine with me," said Harry. "I never told you, but I stopped..."
"Drinking?" Hermione finished. "I know. You told us."
She returned with the drinks, a butterbeer for her.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Harry asked after they dispensed with the pleasantries.
"Harry, you've been away some days," Hermione began.
"Away?" asked Harry.
"Yes, missing, absent, can't be found, etc..." Hermione said. "I know you. I know when you're doing something. You've been fine for many years, but now you're having meetings with important people, and limping around. I want to know what's going on."
Harry thought that Hermione wasn't that observant, or he became really good at hiding things, because even Ron and her didn't know that he was in cahoots with Polanar.
"You want to know what's going on?" Harry asked. "Let me tell you. I've been looking around, meeting certain people, and doing some dangerous jobs, that is true."
"What was the purpose of all this?" Hermione queried.
"Isn't it obvious? I was trying to stop the violence before it got out of hand."
Rarely did Harry see Hermione get so happy. The smile that appeared looked like it was going to split her face. Oh, he was going to regret what he was about to do.
"However," he continued. "It seems that this is beyond what I could do. Before, it was dealing with just Voldemort. Infinitely difficult, true, but nothing compared to dealing with the thoughts and feelings of an entire nation."
"What do you mean?" Hermione face fell as she asked this.
"I can't enter this conflict," Harry explained.
"What?" Hermione hissed. "But I thought you were."
"And I thought I was," Harry agreed. "But it's too complex. It isn't the case of finding Horcruxes, destroying said Horcruxes, and then killing a man. This requires one to see the truth. And as Dumbledore told us that day, he didn't have the power to make people see the truth. Neither do I."
"You can try!" Hermione exclaimed, and then lowered her voice, realising they were in a public place.
"To what end?" Harry asked. "What can I do that others can't?"
"The people love you," Hermione stated angrily. "You are a symbol of all they look up to. You defeated Voldemort, alone."
"I know what I did," snapped Harry, angry, too. "I remember being alone to fight an almost insurmountable evil, with a few friends with me. Why? Because most people don't have the courage to defend themselves. They cowered in their houses, unable to even speak his name.
"I remember being slammed by the public, to be made their scapegoat again and again. They quickly forgot what I did for them, and then when things turned out better, they acted like I was a hero again. As if nothing had happened. No apologies. The muggles are the same. They may not have had any role to play, but they think the same.
"The average individual is too scared to state what is right, just to conform to society. The ones with the stones to, and how few they are, get insulted and turned out. They scream for war, drowning out the logical statements with they're idiotic screams.
"They want war?" spat Harry. "Many do not even know what they ask for. Most of the muggles are too young to remember how they suffered sixty years ago. And the magical society has quickly forgotten both Voldemort's wars. They've forgotten how they were too scared to even mention his name. They've forgotten the terror they felt. Only a few were brave to stand up, with an incompetent government."
Harry looked at Hermione, and his anger vanished, his voice broke upon seeing her crushed face. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, on her red face. Her shoulders were shaking, the depressed sobs breaking out of her.
"You know all this," Harry said. "You were one of the few. You wish to help? Admirable. Not for me. I've given all that I could."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, wiping her eyes.
"I'm exhausted of this life. I've given my family, my childhood, my friends, and six years of my life. In return for nothing. They rush to war, not knowing what they ask for. Perhaps once the horrors hits them, they will realise their folly."
"By then it could be too late," argued Hermione.
"Perhaps."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A week has passed.
"Hello, Kingsley," said Harry from the darkness.
"Seriously, we should meet in better places," said Kingsley Shacklebolt, once again ambushed outside his office building. "What should I call you anyways?"
"You can call me the Tooth Fairy for all I care," replied Harry, with a smile that Kingsley couldn't see. "Fine. Call me Clark."
"Clark? Why?"
"No reason. If you want, you could call me Bill, or Richard."
"Enough," said Kingsley, rubbing his head. "You're giving me a headache. Very well, Clark. Why are you here?"
"I want to know if there's anything you picked up," Harry said.
"Not much really," said Kingsley thoughtfully. "Ah, there is one thing..."
"Yes?" asked Harry.
"Well, it depends if I trust you," explained Kingsley warily.
"It's up to you," Harry said. "If it's important, I might need to know it."
"I'll tell you what I can," Kingsley decided after a while. "There are some of us resisting the governments, and trying to avoid conflict. We've made an underground network of sorts."
"How effective are they?" Harry asked, surprised. He had no idea of their existence.
"Not very at the moment," Kingsley admitted. "Our main concern now is secrecy."
"Our? You're with them?"
"Yep," confirmed Kingsley. "We have a way of contacting one another. Send information and things the governments try to cover up. Some of it is to keep morale high. That we can play a part."
"And?" Harry asked, wondering the point of all this.
"There was an interesting article from someone with us. It was sent to all of us."
"Why are you revealing this to me?" Harry asked.
"It's a major shift in the war," Kingsley explained, "and as such, will leak out for sure."
"Okay, what is it?"
Kingsley searched his pockets, and took out a blank parchment. He whispered a word, and writings appeared.
Harry frowned. Something was off.
"Go ahead and read," Kingsley offered. "I'll need the parchment back, though, so don't vanish."
It seemed to be an article. Harry read it once, and then quickly replicated the words, with Kingsley's permission. He'd need to study this article.
"Potter's friend Granger is with you," Harry said simply. He knew she was up to something. Those shifty looks and arguments meant nothing if she wasn't doing something about it. Hermione was many things, but hypocrite was not one of them.
"Wha-?" stammered Kingsley. "How'd you tell from that?"
"I knew about this, and Potter told a few people, and one of them told me," he lied, "Hermione's the only one who would've joined you.
"Anyways, I must leave," said Harry. "You have been most helpful."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Harry was back at Hogwarts, seated at the couch in his room. He had the copied article in a parchment held tightly in his hand. Strange, no matter how many times he read it, it didn't change. He read it one more time, to make sure. He let the parchment flutter down to the ground after he was finished. He shut his eyes, trying to push out the pain he felt.
Why the World Doesn't Need Harry Potter
by Silver Fire
Many of us in the resistance harbour a hope. A secret one. While we have seen no evidence to the contrary, we hope against all logic, that Harry Potter will swoop in and save the world again.
Why? He has done nothing these past few years. Kept silent when his words could've calmed an angry magical nation, and did nothing when his actions alone could've stood against the whole Ministry.
Yet we still persist in this 'hope'. I ask again, why? I'll tell you why. Because the last time we faced such darkness, it seemed like Potter was doing nothing. Only after Voldemort was defeated, did we realise that he was always pushing, with those close to him, within the shadows of secrecy, and fighting Voldemort. To this day, most people are oblivious of the many dangers they faced to remove the threat of Voldemort. The number of books it would fill...
After this, we are reluctant to think that Potter is doing nothing, sitting idly by while Great Britain falls apart. No, we've convinced ourselves that he's somehow veiled himself within the shadows again. That one day, somehow, sometime, we will wake up and hear, like they said that fateful day when Voldemort fell, "It's all over. Harry Potter has saved us all!"
Guess what? It's different this time. I have it on good authority that Harry Potter has been playing no role in helping us. He has left us on our own. He has rightly noticed that this is a far different problem we face. He has, quite rightly too, realised that the people are causing as much a problem as possible. Instead of fighting back, he has decided that he cannot make others see the truth, and has given up.
Why? You are baffled I'm sure, as I was. That is his wish. I confess to being as clueless to his reasoning as you are. It is a shame that a wizard who has done so much, sacrificed so much, should turn away now. When there are a few tendrils of light around, desperately pushing back against the overwhelming darkness that seeks to consume it.
But know this. We will not fall because of the absence of one soul. We will not wither simply because the ranks of the run-aways, the people who fear to struggle against the wrong, has increased by one. We will fall only if we allow it to.
Dumbledore died in the Second War. Others, most notably Potter himself, filled in his massive void. Potter has too, in a way, died. The rest of us will fill in his massive void. We can. We will. We must. The fate of this island rests on our resolve.
It is a shame Potter has refused to help, but we don't need him. Sure we want him, we desire his presence. But need means that it's the only option to you. That there is nothing else that will do. Potter has never, and will never, be the only option to us. Potter was never, and will never, be needed. The world does not need Potter.
It's also a shame, after all that he's done, he may be remembered as the man who turned his back on us when we all wanted him. When I needed him.
A/N: This chapter was tough to write. I tried to convey the emotions right, display the difficulties they face as best as I can do. Comments on my writing style will be most appreciated. The idea of the article came from 'Superman: Returns', too.
Now that I've revealed Polanar as a muggle-born, how many of you noticed his reference to James Bond in Chapter 3 and thought it weird that a Death Eater said it?
Please review.