The moment Harry entered Gryffindor Tower, an obviously furious weasel stomped towards him. Harry didn't even need to use Legilimency to read Ronald's thoughts; he was furious that Harry didn't back him up for the two fights occurred earlier that day, but Harry did use a Legilimency probe to send the weasel away from him before the weasel was able to say a single word.
Harry had sent the red-headed weasel to bother Malfoy again, despite it was nearly curfew. They both knew how to find the Slytherin Dungeon, and Harry was hoping the weasel would start banging on the entrance and suffer the wrath of the Slytherin students as well as Snape. An almost sadistic part of Harry was really enjoying setting his enemies against each other; but really, it was a very useful strategy, a strategy Harry had used and would carry on using for a long time.
Harry acknowledged a few of his house-mates and headed towards the dormitory; he still had much to do that night.
Harry came out from his deep meditation at exactly two o'clock in the morning, and got ready for his midnight activities. His battle suit wasn't ready yet, and despite having perfected his wandless invisibility charm, Harry wasn't one to rely on his magical abilities nor would he rely on magical artefacts. So Harry opted for a black non-descriptive cloak very similar to the one he wore just before he stepped through the Veil; it was made during one of his project periods. The cloak would allow Harry to keep his anonymity, even if the notice-me-not runes failed somehow.
The first stop was Azkaban, as Harry didn't want his godfather to stay in that hell-hole for a minute longer. Harry also didn't want to risk his godfather trying to escape again; just because he was successful in the previous timeline, it didn't mean he could pull it off again with his life intact.
After he activated the privacy wards around his bed, Harry transformed into a six-foot long black wolf. It used to be even bigger; Harry assumed that was because with him returning to his twelve-year-old body, his animagus forms also reverted back to their respective adolescent sizes.
This was one of Harry's most aggressive animagus forms; it was also one of his two animal spirits with shadow elemental abilities. Harry first discovered this form while serving with the Special Air Service (SAS) of the British Army after he got promoted to lead a team of his own. It was rather fitting as he and his team were specialised at operating in the shadows, and hunting their targets behind the enemy lines; just like his form, who was an alpha of the pack, able to stalk his enemies using the shadows.
Harry chose this form for two reasons: one, the Dementors had a natural fear/respect towards shadow elementals, and Harry wasn't about to expose his identity by casting Patronuses; two, it would make Sirius happy that his godson was also a canine animagus.
Azkaban Prison,
11 May, 1993
Sirius Black curled against a wall in his cell as Padfoot. What was the date? And was the time? Sirius didn't know. He had long ago lost the track of time he had spent in this hell on earth.
Sirius still mourned the death of his best friend James Potter and his wife Lily. He regretted ever trusting Peter which led to his best friend's death; he regretted going after Peter in a blind rage which led to him being set up to be thrown in prison without a trial; but most of all, Sirius regretted not being there for his godson.
Sirius loved Harry as his own; even with all the mischief he got up to, his happiest memory was still being named Harry's godfather. It was that memory which had kept him relatively sane in this hell-hole, but it was also that memory, and knowing that he had let James, Lily and most importantly, his pup down made Sirius feel that he deserved to be punished.
Another Dementor drifted by and Padfoot shivered. For the millionth time, Sirius thanked his friendship with Remus; he was the reason Sirius had become an animagus, which helped him to stave off the worst effects of the Dementors. But still, even as Padfoot, being close to a Dementor was never pleasant.
Just as Padfoot was about to drift off to sleep, a large and clearly well-built black wolf appeared out of nowhere; it surveyed him carefully for a moment, and let out a long howl.
The howl lasted for nearly a minute, sending fear down the spines of the prisoners and the guards alike; even the Dementors tripped over themselves to clear away from the cell.
Padfoot thought he had finally lost his sanity and was backing as far into the corner as he could in fear. That was when the wolf turned its attention to him again, and Padfoot's demeanor changed gradually from fear to curiosity, to recognition and finally, to joy.
It was its eyes that caused Padfoot's change; he would recognize Lily's and Harry's eyes anywhere. Padfoot wasn't sure what was going on, he was just happy to see something familiar in this cold and dark cell he had been living in for Merlin-knows-how-long; he didn't care if those eyes were Lily's or Harry's, he didn't care if he had finally lost it or he had met his maker, all he cared was seeing the emotions in those emerald-coloured eyes that reminded him of home.
Padfoot noticed the wolf had gently put a paw on his shoulder, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on something much warmer and much more comfortable with soothing songs being sung. Immediately Padfoot was put at ease and drifted off to sleep.
Harry was still silently seething as he cared for his godfather. Padfoot was in a worse state than Harry had ever seen him in his past life; it had invoked such rage in him, his HUD had red-lined for a moment. Luckily, his Occlumency was able to stave off his worst impulses, which were to hunt down and maim every single bastard responsible for his godfather's imprisonment; some of his shadow wolf's instincts still took over though as he howled in anguish as a promise to the pain to come.
Harry had Shadow-Walked Padfoot immediately to the Room of Requirement, where his beautiful White Phoenix Hedwig had instantly stopped preening her new feathers and started singing soothing songs for both himself and Padfoot with Fawkes joining in.
Harry had not finished constructing a Sorcerer's Stone of his own yet, but he already had a healing potion made with his own Phoenix tears ready. He gently fed the potent healing potion to the sleeping dog form of Sirius, and then carefully levitated the Grim to a warm bath provided by the Room.
After an hour in time compression, Harry finally tucked a freshly bathed Padfoot in on a fluffy dog bed.
Harry still needed someone to look after Padfoot for when he left for the rest of his missions tonight; while he trusted Cassie completely, she wasn't equipped to cook for and clean after Sirius. Luckily, Harry's next mission would provide the best man suited for that job.
Harry cast a monitoring charm in Padfoot's room, sound-proofed it, and left the Phoenixes still singing soothing songs in the room. He then asked the Room to expand into a much bigger room.
Harry called out, "Elves of House Potter, this is Harry James Potter, report to my location, please."
Instantly, dozens and dozens of house-elves Popped into the Room and started to chant 'Master Harry!' It took two minutes before elves stopped Popping in, and Harry waited for another minute in case any other odd elves got left behind.
Harry observed the elves, his AIs immediately did a head count and displayed the total number of elves on his HUD. 328, there were a lot more elves than he expected.
Flashback
Harry learned of the existence of his family manors after mastering Occlumency in the time compression chamber and regained the memories of his childhood before that fateful Halloween night. But he didn't have time to deal with it as Harry was worried about Hermione.
After hunting down the Weasleys, Harry devoted himself to finishing the Third Wizarding War. It took another two years for Harry to hunt down the new dark lord, Erik Gelinger, who was a high ranking officer in Grindelwald's army and was sent to England to lead a sleeper cell of Magical SS operatives.
Gelinger used Voldemort's Death Eaters as front-runner/cannon fodder for the war, and secretly gathered all that was left of Grindelwald's army, who were much better trained, to do the real work. It was this group, especially the operatives of the Magical SS, who gave Harry the most trouble.
By the time Harry killed Gelinger, it was already late 2007, and Harry finally had some time to look into his own affairs.
The first order of business was to visit his family properties, but the problem was that Harry didn't know where they were, and he still couldn't visit Gringotts in fear of retribution for his break-in nearly a decade ago.
Therefore, Harry called out for any Potter elves, hoping they were able to take him to his family properties.
Harry was surprised by the appearance of nearly a hundred elves; apparently, Harry's mother learned of the abuse many house-elves had suffered and made James acquire as many house-elves as he could so Lily could ensure they were all treated like family.
Harry also learned there were even more Potter elves before, but many had died due to the lack of bond with a master or a mistress for such a long time; the 96 left only survived due their bond to House Potter, the ambient magic in the properties and because they were the youngest; and even then, they were barely hanging on.
After bonding with the elves and being taken to the Potter elves' gravesite, Harry had personally built a monument for all the elves who died serving House Potter.
The elves also explained how they, for some reason, couldn't find him unless he called out to them, so they had tried both 4 Privet Drive and Hogwarts. But both places seemed to have wards specifically designed to prevent house-elves employed by House Potter from getting in; they had only given up after twenty years of trying and failing.
Flashback Ends
Harry was still mourning for Hermione when he built that monument for Potter elves, he didn't pay much attention to how many elves were lost; he was expecting somewhere between fifty to a hundred, definitely not over two hundred as he now realised; those were another 232 lives lost he could blame on the manipulative old bastard.
Harry was initially worried that the ward put in place by the MOB would keep his family elves out, but evidently, he shouldn't be, as the Room of Requirement would grant the elves access as he required.
Harry silently observed his family elves while they got over their excitement on seeing 'Master Harry' again. They were all dressed in uniform with the Potter Family Crest just like he remembered; they all spoke in a clear and correct form of English reminding Harry of the school Lily had set up for the elves on the family ground in Wales; really, Harry shouldn't have expected any less from his brilliant mother.
However, while they carried themselves in a confident and respectable manner, Harry's Occlumency alerted him to the subtle signs indicating the elves' weakened state.
Eventually, Harry raised his right hand, and the elves quieted down immediately. Harry asked, "Is that all of you?"
"Yes, Master Harry," replied the elves in unison.
Harry had learned his lesson after trying and failing to get his elves to call him 'Harry' for decades. So he smiled warmly at the elves and continued his inquiry. "Who is the head elf?"
An elderly looking male elf stepped forward, and answered, "My name is Eddie, I am the Potter Family's head elf, Sir."
Harry knelt down to the little elf's level to address Eddie, which was much harder to do with his increased height. Harry noticed in the corner of his eyes that his first action was already causing the elves to swoon, and it took a considerable amount of his Occlumency for Harry to not roll his eyes; all he wanted to do was to treat his family like, well, family.
"How are you, Eddie?" asked Harry.
"I am good, Master Harry," answered Eddie who was bouncing up and down. "Master Harry is as great as Mistress Lily, always asking us elves how we are."
In the corner of his eyes, Harry noticed all the elves were nodding their heads rapidly in agreement. "Why shouldn't we ask? You are family after all," Harry carried on before the elves got excited again. "I can tell all of you are weakened somewhat, shouldn't mum and dad's magic prevent that?"
"Master Harry knew about Master James and Mistress Lily?" asked Eddie with hope in his eyes; and in his excitable state, he forgot to answer Harry's question.
"Yes, I do," answered Harry. "I only learned that they are still alive yesterday."
"Then I should take Master Harry to Master James and Mistress Lily, so you can revive them!"
Harry shook his head sadly, he really wanted to do just what Eddie had suggested, but he knew it wasn't the right time yet. "Not yet, Eddie. I need to get everything in place before doing that to prevent the Ministry from prosecuting our family for practicing Necromancy." Seeing the elves' disappointed expressions, Harry continued. "It shouldn't take more than two weeks for me to get everything in place. Meanwhile, you haven't answered my question. Why are you all weakened?"
"Our bond with Master James and Mistress Lily kept us grounded for a long time, but their magic is in stasis just like their bodies. We can tell the magic that keeps them alive is from another source, and there was just enough magic to keep Master James, Mistress Lily and the little ones alive, so we tried to draw as little magic as possible from them.
"But the source of that magic suddenly became much stronger yesterday, and the excess is allowing us to recover from nearly eleven years of not enough magic, and we have not finished recovering yet. But with you returning to the family, we should recover in no time."
Hearing Eddie's explanation, Harry made the speculation that the source of magic was likely himself. Harry immediately hugged the little elf, and said in gratitude. "Thank you all for doing everything you could to keep my parents and sisters alive, I am forever in your debt. If anyone of you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask. We haven't lost anyone since mum and dad were put in stasis, have we?"
Eddie answered, "No, we haven't, Master Harry!"
Harry sighed in relief and released Eddie from his hug. "That's good. I would like to get to know the each of you individually sometime in the future, but now I would like to do something for you."
Harry stepped back and called out. "Cassie!"
Cassie immediately appeared in front of her daddy and hugged him tightly. Harry hugged her back before asking her. "Could you bring all the Hogwarts elves here, please? And could you then change the Room for the ritual we talked about?"
"Of course, Daddy!" was Cassie's reply.
Moments later, another 435 house-elves Popped into the Room and the Room changed all around them. Sirius' room was moved to a corner, and there was an observation room Cassie had created for herself and the Founders; they didn't want to miss the opportunity to witness this historical event.
There were runes etched all around the room; most prominently, there was a large rune circle enclosing 766 identical smaller rune circles, and a unique rune circle at the very centre where Harry was standing. Harry asked all of the elves to find a small ritual circle for themselves and stand at the centre of their respective circles.
There was one empty circle left in front of Harry and he called out. "Dobby!"
A small elf wearing a pillowcase appeared in front of Harry who immediately hugged Dobby for all he was worth; tears dropped out from Harry's eyes as he remembered how Dobby sacrificed himself to save him.
A minute later, Harry released a somewhat shocked Dobby and placed him in the center of the empty circle. "I will explain everything to you later, Dobby. For now, could you please stay here for me while I perform a ritual?"
Dobby nodded numbly, but still answered, "Anything for the Great Harry Potter, Sir!"
Harry stepped back into his own circle and started chanting in the High Elven tongue while the elves watched in awe; they couldn't believe they were hearing the ancient and lost language of High Elves.
During his time studying with the High Elves, they had helped Harry to find a way to break the curse that had enslaved the House-Elves; it was one of many things he did in memory of his Hermione.
Harry had found out that the House-Elves were related to the High Elves, and were a race created to serve. They used to be just over four-feet tall with much greater control of their magic before the enslavement, which had also affected their mentality.
While the House-Elves before the enslavement still needed to bond to a magical user, they could choose to break the bond and retreat to a safe haven where they could survive without a bond while looking for a new family to serve. The bond was like a contract between the master or mistress and the elf; it ensured the elves would keep their past and present employer's secrets unless the master or mistress broke the contract by mistreating the elf.
After being freed from their enslavement, Harry found the elves' mentality had changed. They no longer wanted to punish themselves, and they no longer saw themselves as inferior beings, but they still wanted to do a good job serving their family, and they still couldn't stay idle for long.
It was said that almost all rituals have a price. This was the case because most rituals were used to gain something such as power and abilities, thus magic asked payments for these kinds of rituals. However, both the ritual Harry was performing now, and the core unbinding ritual Harry performed earlier were both used to free magic in one sense or another. Therefore, there wasn't any long-term price to be paid, just enough magic to power the ritual.
Harry had been chanting for nearly half an hour as the runes were gradually charged. Suddenly, a very powerful magical backlash washed across the room and powered up every single rune array in the Room of Requirement; Harry had just released another binding on his magical core and used the magical backlash to activate the ritual.
A bright golden dome surrounded each of the 766 house-elves in the room. Another fifteen minutes later, the domes started to fade, leaving behind taller and healthier-looking elves behind.
The elves were inspecting their new bodies in awe; to be fair, it had been nearly two millennia since the house-elves were first enslaved.
It was Dobby who broke out of his daze first and gushed, as he realised his contract with the House of Malfoy was broken. "Oh, I always knew the Great Harry Potter, Sir is the greatest wizard ever. Dobby is free from the bad masters! Dobby is free from the bad masters!" He then rushed forward to hug Harry, which had become slightly harder: he still wasn't tall enough to hug Harry properly, but he was also no longer so short that he could comfortably hug Harry's leg. Harry took pity on the excitable little elf, got on one knee, and gave Dobby a proper hug.
Harry released Dobby but stayed on his knee, and he asked, "Dobby, would you like to become my personal elf?" Harry asked because he had figured out this was what Dobby had wanted in the previous timeline.
Dobby bobbed his head up and down rapidly, and answered, "Yes, Dobby will be the Great Harry Potter's elf! Dobby will be the bestest elf for the Great Harry Potter, Sir!" He then proceeded to try to strangle Harry with a hug, forgetting his new strength.
Harry's years of training allowed him to reflexively tuck his chin in to avoid being choked by Dobby. A small silver flash appeared for a second, signifying the new bond. Dobby instantly looked slightly stronger due to Harry's powerful magic.
Eventually, Dobby released Harry allowing him to speak. "I am going to speak to the rest of the elves now. I will speak to you later, ok?"
"Of course! Master Harry Potter, Sir!" answered Dobby.
Harry chuckled. "Harry would be fine, Dobby. You are my friend. By the way, don't worry about Lucy Malfoy's plan, it has already been dealt with."
Harry stood up and saw all 766 elves had their attention on him with clear awe-struck expressions on their faces. Harry groaned internally, he hoped the elves would not build another giant statue of him like they did in the previous timeline in the safe haven Harry had built for them, but Harry doubted he could stop them.
Harry started speaking and the elves immediately quieted down. "I am sure you have figured out what I just did. The curse that had enslaved the house-elves has been broken. The ritual I performed will allow this 'cure' to spread from one elf to the next just by skin contact; any elf with the 'cure' could free any elf still under enslavement. This cure will stay with you until magic recognizes that all house-elves are free from enslavement.
"There is a copy of the original version of House-Elf Laws in this room, also known to you as the Come and Go Room; it describes how this affects you. Eddie, I will also make a copy for you to put in the school."
"Yes, Master Harry!"
Harry continued, "No one deserves to be treated like slaves, and no one deserves to be abused. So please spread the cure to the other elves, but please don't let anyone other than elves find out it was me who broke the curse. If you find any elves without a family to serve or who want to leave an abusive family, I would be happy for them to join the Potter Family until they find a new family to serve or decide to stay with the Potters permanently.
"I am sorry to say the Safe Haven is now forever lost, but I am creating a new safe haven for any elves who wish to find a new family to serve; the new safe haven should be ready in less than two months.
"Now do any of you have any questions?" asked Harry.
A Potter elf spoke up timidly. "Master Harry, was that the High Elven tongue you were chanting? We though they were lost in time. How come you can speak the noble language?"
Harry recognized her as one of the elves who survived in the previous timeline. "Tippy, right?" asked Harry gently.
Tippy nodded with a slight blush, she was surprised this clearly great wizard knew her by name.
"Yes, that was the High Elven tongue; again, this secret should be kept among the elves. The High Elves still live in their self-imposed exile. I found them and they were the ones who helped me to find the way to break the enslavement curse cast on your race. However, I cannot expose their location to you without their consent."
To Harry's frustration, that information only made the elves to become more awe-struck. But Harry also realized these house-elves would never betray him.
Harry was worried for an instant if he was doing the same thing Dumbledore did to Hagrid, but he reminded himself that the MOB manipulated things so Hagrid and others needed to be rescued in the first place; whereas he only did the rescuing without any ulterior motive, and it was just by chance he got something in return for doing a good deed.
When there were no more questions, Harry sent the now free house-elves back to their work, except for Dobby, Eddie, and Rory, who was the Hogwarts' head elf. Harry knelt down again to speak to the three elves.
"Eddie, could you get Dobby a uniform ready and arrange elf schooling for him? He will be my personal elf from now on," requested Harry.
"Yes, Master Harry!" was Eddie's reply.
"Could you also help Rory design a uniform for the Hogwarts elves? Use the vault mum arranged for Potter elves for now to make the uniforms. I will replenish the vaults when I next visit Gringotts."
"Yes, Master Harry!"
"Thank you, Eddie. Both you and Rory can go now, I will get everything arranged for mum and dad's revival as soon as I can." With that, Rory and Eddie Popped away.
"Dobby, can you look after my godfather for me, please? I just broke him out of Azkaban, he doesn't look too good," asked Harry solemnly; he was still feeling the anguish at seeing Padfoot's condition.
Dobby nodded, "Dobby will look after the Great Master Harry Potter, Sir's dogfather!"
Harry nearly-face palmed; he hoped Dobby's title for him would not get any longer than it was already. "Thank you, Dobby. I will show you to his room."
After showing Dobby to Sirius' room, Harry gave Dobby a list of instructions and left for his next mission.
Harry had only spent a minute in real time caring for his godfather and dealing with the elves; with his godfather in good hands, Harry was now ready to move on to his other missions for the night.
Harry conjured a mannequin, transfigured it to look like Sirius in filthy prisoner robes and added a few animation charms to it; this time staying in his human form, Harry Shadow-Walked the Sirius-mannequin back into his cell, and left the decoy there to delay the news of Sirius' escape. It wouldn't do to draw Dumbledore's attention to Harry yet.
Harry Shifted into the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries at quarter past two. The room was deserted at this time of the night; the objective of Harry's visit was resting on the shelves inside a large glass-fronted case standing against the wall at the far end of the main chamber: the time turners.
In his previous timeline, Harry had never retired as an Unspeakable; in fact, he had taken over as the Head of the Department of Mysteries in the 2050s and had kept that position until he walked through the Veil.
During all that time, Harry had learned many secrets of the Department. For instance, Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic was only the official headquarters of the Department; the real headquarters was only accessible to employees of the Department, and its location was only known to the Head of the Department as well as his two deputies. A charm not unlike the Fidelius Charm was used so that the existence of the Department outside Level Nine of the Ministry of Magic couldn't be told to anyone not working for the Department.
The work they did on Level Nine was still real, mostly to maintain appearance, but also because the other departments in the Ministry of Magic may have required the assistance of the Department of Mysteries from time to time; for instance, the use of the Veil of Death for execution, a more favoured method for execution until Fudge came into office.
The security on Level Nine wasn't as tight; still, the only reason Harry and his friends managed to get in was because of the manipulations on both Dumbledore's and Rookwood's parts; it wouldn't stop a trained wizard/witch though. However, none of the artifacts they had on Level Nine were really dangerous, and each of the artifacts there had a special tracking charm that couldn't be dispelled by any means other than the destruction of said artifact.
However, the substance contained by some of the artifacts could not be tracked, as the magical properties of said substance could react badly with other magic. One of these substances was the sand in the time turners; luckily for Harry, that was all he needed, he knew how to make the rest of the time turner better and more efficient.
Harry transferred a portion of sand from some of the time turners on display into an unbreakable jar he had conjured; the portions were small enough that it wouldn't affect the function of those time turners on display. When Harry saw that he had enough for what he needed, he left the rest of the timer turners alone.
Harry shrunk the jar and stored it in one of his inside pockets. He then Shifted to his next destination.
At half past two, Harry Shifted to a secluded corner in the Department of Magical Education. After making sure there wasn't anyone in the office, Harry set off to search for the records office.
Harry Shadow-Walked into the record office, and summoned the academic records of the past seven decades; they contained more than enough evidence to show the decline in the standards of magical education since the MOB started teaching at Hogwarts.
He spent nearly half an hour making certified copies of the records he needed. These records were supposed to be public in the first place, not locked inside a cabinet; well, Harry would make sure they did find their way to the Daily Prophet, and the MOB would have a lot of fires to put out while Harry was getting his ducks in a row.
When he was done, a simple wave sent all the originals back to where they came from. Harry then Shifted away.
Harry would never invade his friends' privacy; however, he had no problem spying on his enemies. It was called intelligence gathering.
That being said, Harry Shifted into the middle of the Minister's office, and planted two bugs that were directly monitored by one of his AIs in his Mind World; the AI would notify him of anything important.
The bugs were heavily modified from the Extendable Ears using inspirations from the mundane intelligence services, and only Harry had the knowledge at the current time on how to detect them; the decades he had worked with Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) hand-in-hand as an Unspeakable had taught him more than he could imagine.
After making sure the bugs were active and concealed, Harry Shifted back to Hogwarts.
After storing the items he'd acquired from the Ministry in a safe place, Harry left Hogwarts again. One last mission for tonight.
Harry's extensive experience with war had taught him the importance of psychological warfare (PSYOP); now, he was going to use it to make the old goat sweat a little as well as take some revenge for himself. But first, he needed to find the MOB.
Using his knowledge from the previous timeline, Harry knew about the nine Potter properties that had been warded against Potter elves; three of them were located on the British Isles. Harry had realized that the MOB had been using his properties for years while denying him what was rightfully his. Given the cheapest Potter property was much more luxurious than anything owned by the Ancient House of Dumbledore, it wasn't hard for Harry to speculate where the MOB was staying during his temporary, but soon-to-be permanent exile from the magnificent Castle of Hogwarts.
Harry decided to check the property in England first, and bingo; looked like it was his lucky day. Tightening down his Occlumency, Harry prepared for his first confrontation with the man who ruined his life and many others' for centuries.
It was just before four o'clock in the morning, still pitch black outside. In an estate fifty miles north of Cambridge, an old wizard was sleeping under a set of colorful duvets that matched his equally colorful robes, dead to the world; that was until a loud bang broke the peaceful silence surrounding the remote estate.
The old wizard shot up faster than it should have been possible for someone his age, and reached for his wand. Despite presenting himself as a peace-loving grandfatherly person, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore knew he had made his fair share of enemies, and had taken Mad-Eye's teaching of 'Constant Vigilance' to heart.
He didn't know who could breach the impressive number of wards he had set up around this property as well as 'his' bedroom, but he would shoot first and ask questions later.
Well, that was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the Greatest Wizard since Merlin's intent; but one did not always get what he wanted: for the moment his hand touched his faithful Elder Wand, to the old goat's shock, the Deathstick flew away from him into the hand of a figure in the room, a figure the so-called 'Greatest Wizard since Merlin' just noticed.
The figure's appearance came into focus without the aid of his glasses, something the figure took note of discreetly. The old goat was shocked to the core by the figure's appearance, he forgot to reach for his backup wand; in fact, he forgot to speak completely as the color drained from his face.
The figure made a show of observing the room before a young feminine voice came out. "After all these years, Albus, you are still as selfish as I remember."
After a moment silence, the figure continued, "But even I didn't know you could sink so low, manipulating a young boy to be abused while you are enjoying what is rightfully his, you disgust me."
The old goat finally found his voice. "Ariana?"
The brown eyes of the girl known as Ariana glared at him with the utmost loathing. "Glad to see you still remember the sister YOU killed."
The old wizard cringed at that, and refuted venomously, "No, no, no, it was Gellert, it wasn't me. It was his spell that killed you."
To Dumbledore's surprise, Ariana started laughing, and she didn't stop for a minute. "Oh, Albus. Was that what you kept telling yourself? That wasn't the story you told the others; well, not that you told many others in the first place. So I guess the version 'I-don't-know-which-one-of-us-fired-the-killing-spell' is to preach your 'forgive-and-forget' agenda.
"You were more delusional than I thought. IT WAS YOU, ALBUS WULFRIC DUMBLEDORE!" Ariana suddenly raised her voice, making Dumbledore shuffle back in fear. "IT WAS YOU, who harboured unreturned romantic feelings towards Gellert; IT WAS YOU, who was jealous that Gellert showed more interest in me than your Greater Good; IT WAS YOU, who started firing curses at us in a jealous rage; IT WAS YOU, who through pure luck, managed to get a spell through Gellert's and Abe's shields and KILLED ME; and IT WAS YOU, who modified Abe's memory to make him believe that he was partially responsible for my death."
Seeing the old goat wasn't going to respond, Ariana continued, "I guess you lied to yourself so often to ease your own conscience that you started believing in your own lies. I wonder how often you did that for your so-called Greater Good.
"Give it up, Albus. Confess to your crimes. Or I will haunt you for the rest of your short and miserable life."
With that said, Ariana stepped back and slowly faded into the shadows; before she faded completely, she waved the Elder Wand at the old goat, and said, "Oh, Death wanted me to keep this as a souvenir."
When Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore came out from his shock, he realised he had lost his faithful Elder Wand. He slumped back down to the bed, and started to worry about his Greater Good. Twiddling with his original wand, the old wizard was lost at what to do; his own wand just didn't feel the same after using the Deathstick for so long. How am I supposed to conquer the world for the Greater Good now?
Ariana came out of a shadow in the Room of Requirement with a satisfied grin on her face. A moment later, her glamour was dropped to reveal the features of a well-built Harry Potter.
The Grand Battle Mage had achieved much in this mission: he had acquired the Elder Wand, which would be stored in a safe location; he had planted a Trojan horse in the old goat's mind during his panicked state; he had learned the old goat didn't need his glasses to see, which meant the glasses were most likely charmed to function like Moody's magical eye; and finally, he had rattled the old goat's cage enough to affect his mind-set – the old goat would likely become more paranoid and start to second guess his every move, slowing himself down further as Harry would create more fires for him to put out.
But Harry knew from staying behind in the Shadow Realm, passively reading the old goat's mind, the MOB wasn't anywhere near giving up his Greater Good. Well, 'Ariana' would be happy to visit her least favorite brother every now and then.
Harry had no idea what really happened in that duel; maybe one day he would find out from Grindelwald. While he wouldn't lie to the public, despite concealing a lot of the truth, Harry had no problem using lies to mess with the old goat's mind. And as the saying went, 'seeing is believing'; Harry had tasked one of his AIs to construct a detailed scenario where Ariana was killed by the old goat in a jealous rage.
Having safely stored the Deathstick, Harry started his daily three-hour mental and physical exercises, as he firmly believed that there would always be room for improvement. He would visit Hermione right after that; it had been a while in his perspective since he last visited her.
It took only a fraction of a minute in real time for Harry to complete his daily exercises in the Room of Requirement. He was now setting up privacy wards around Hermione's bed, still disguised in his malnourished body with glasses.
This was the first time he saw Hermione since his first transformation to the Royal Phoenix in this life, thus this was the first time he saw her with a natural mage sight gifted by his Royal Phoenix. Harry used it to check over Hermione, and was relieved that the only foreign magic on her was from the Basilisk's gaze and a couple of memory charms with Dumbledore's magic signature; however, it looked like neither the MOB nor the red-headed weasel had gotten around to potion her yet. Harry knew the memory charms would dissolve themselves as Hermione's Occlumency training progressed.
Getting comfortable on a conjured chair, Harry took hold of one of Hermione's petrified hands. He spoke softly, "Hey, Hermione. How are you? How is your Occlumency training coming along? I missed you so much and I can't wait to hear your voice again."
After a moment of silence, Harry continued, "I have decided to speed up the timetable on waking you up to tomorrow at the latest. I have arranged to purchase the necessary ingredients, and have a certified Potion Master to brew the draughts for everyone."
Harry didn't let on that he was the certified Potion Master; it was one of the many Masteries he had acquired during his four centuries of life. However, Potions was still one of his least favorite subjects. He would have to get re-certified again sometime.
"There are a couple reasons for this new plan, the main one being that I missed you terribly and I can't wait to see your smile again; I will explain the second reason when you wake up.
"I am sure you already have a long list of questions you want to ask me, and you most likely will have more when you wake up, but please only ask me when we find somewhere private. I would like to apologize that I won't be able to answer all of your questions until you are able to protect my secrets, but I refuse to ever to lie to you. So please bear with me, and trust me that I will tell you everything as soon as it is safe to do so."
After a moment of silence, Harry got up and kissed her gently on the forehead. He whispered, "I love you, my beautiful bookworm."