Chapter 18 –The fit hits the shan
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Why me? I could ask that about my entire life. Thanatos was of course correct, after a month or relative quiet all heck broke loose. Using the word 'hell' seemed over the top with Thanatos being an acquaintance and god only knew who was listening. Suddenly the Dailey Profit has declared me a new Dark Lord and that I was responsible for all the damage to the village as a diversion to get Minister Scrimgeour killed. The lightning bolt didn't killed Voldemort but Harry Potter who was a Dark Lord and who was taking Voldemorts place. After a short media blitz on how I am evil, dark and down right unlikable, an arrest warrant was issued by the new Minister to account for all the accusations of dark magic that was made in the Dailey Profit.
About a week later Thicknesse decided to hold a trial of Lord Potter, a trial in absentia. Seems that no one knew where Lord Potter was hiding. The Dailey Profit was having a profitable smear campaign while its owners were probably lining their pockets from Ministry Galleons. Why all this was going on was the major question in my mind.
"Harry, Ragnok stopped by my office today and was asking if you have any ideas on why they currently want your blood. He is already getting requests from the Ministry to seal your vaults." Cheryl stated.
"Tell him I have no idea why I am so popular with the Ministry but I will let him know if I come up with anything. How about a dip in the pool, I can always enjoy a good look at your stunning body." That took care of the rest of our evening.
/Scene Break/
Loosing my spirit status and becoming mortal had lost me a few capabilities and this mortal body came with some problems. I now needed exercise to stay in fighting form, which took two hours every morning. 'Fading and being invisible at a thought was now history. On the plus side I had retained my wand-less magic and Thanatos book had allowed me to learn how to 'teleport' and had a spell to turn me invisible. That brought me to the same place I always ended up at, my stupid upbringing. Nine years in a cupboard under the stairs and with my excellent education at Hogwarts under Dumbledore and people thought I was a well-educated powerful Lord or a dangerous dark lord. The spiders in the cupboard of course taught me which fork to use when eating cake at a formal dinners. Dumbledore meticulously explaining what was going on, never kept me in the dark nor let me walk into dangerous situations produced a knowledgeably student. I had problems before and more so now. The question was where did I turn to and who did I trust? There was now a problem that I hoped Gringotts could help me with.
I 'teleported' to just outside Ragnok's massive office doors and was immediately attacked by the two guards. The Klaxons were sounding and Goblins with axes and swords were rushing at me. The massive doors opened and a voice rang out, "HOLD". Ragnok had spoken.
I had to hand back the weapons I got from the door guard and quietly slipped into Ragnok's office.
"Has no one told you that 'apperartion' and port-keys are forbidden in Gringotts unless they are provided by Gringotts?"
"Err no; I just popped in to ask for a favor. Sorry for the troubles."
"And what would that favor be Lord Potter?"
I knew he was not happy but I needed to know.
"I was wondering if your people could determine a person's power or magical abilities I seem to be having a bit of difficulties."
"And what might those difficulties be?"
"Well you see I was running some drills the other day in my exercise program and the combat dummy sent a cutting curse at me. I just threw up a marble wall and moved on to the next combat dummy. The problem is the wall is still there and the books say that conjured stuff is only temporary."
'So you want a power check?"
"Yea, something is not right, before I could explain my power levels but now my levels seem stronger. I thought that they would get weaker as I was no longer a pile of condensed magic."
"Gringotts does provide a service that can check that but it costs one-hundred Galleons. Goblins can't use magic like your Madam Pomfrey can in determining core strength but we do have a way to do the test."
"Not a problem lets do it now if you have the time."
Oh they had the time, a Goblin parchment and a needle. I was more interested in the drop of blood that appeared than what appeared on the parchment.
Ragnok's chuckling got my attention. "Harry do you ever do anything that's normal?"
"Why what's the problem?" My curiosity was now at full alert and on the parchment.
"First off your power level is around twice that of Dumbledore's. Second you have another line that you are the heir to and "last of the line". Seems you mother was adopted so her name wasn't Evans."
"Are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going tell me Voldemort is my father?"
"No it's worse than that. Your most notable ancestor was Richard the Lionheart who it appears had an affair along the way before 1199. The offspring weaved around through a few other branches to the Hawkingwood line where he was a famous medieval mercenary and somewhere before 1390 was made a mundane Lord before 1380 and you are the last of that line also."
"And that is important how?"
"Other than you can call your self Lord Hawkingwood at the Queens Balls not a whole lot but in the magical world you are still a Lord Potter and a Lord Hawkingwood."
"Still not seeing…"
"Harry the Minister has an arrest warrant out for you and will give you a one-way ticket to prison as Lord Potter. Once you are convicted they can confiscate the Potter vaults. But if the vaults were given your name of Hawkingwood and you opened a newer empty vault in the name of Potter we at Gringotts would be obliged to turn over only the Potter vault to the Ministry when asked."
"I see where you guys get your rep and I must say that it is well deserved, let's do the switch." I still didn't think I had an answer to my power increase unless it came from my heirs. I decided to work on more serious things like my suntan.
/Scene Break/
The trial was held in absentia and I was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for effectively killing Voldemort and all the Deatheater that were with him that faithful day. With all the witnesses that day it should have been simple but so was the thinking of the sheep and the Ministry. I was happy in Dun-Potter in Scotland and since I was free of work or school I could leave England. The Ministry wasted no time and confiscated the Potter vault. The Dailey Profit never mentioned the contents of that vault which was twenty pieces of silver.
Ragnok was apparently having a blast upholding what the wizards thought of Goblins. After checking with me Ragnok released that since PJ&H was a Potter enterprise no one should expect further funding as the Ministry had confiscated all its funding capabilities with the Potter vault. Three things happened the next morning. First off hundreds of Hogwarts students along with their families stormed the Ministry and the Minister's office. Who was going to pay for their tuition that was coming due this year? I seemed that PJ&H had been helping kid that could not afford to go to Hogwarts the funding to do so. Secondly a number of shop owners were there to ensure that with further violence on the horizon that they would continue to receive funds for restoration of their shops. The third thing might have been the second thing as there was a Deatheater attack that morning causing great damage. The attack had not yet made it to the Headlines in the Dailey Profit but a number of shop owners knew first hand of the damage. Dumbledore and his faithful apprentice, the new savior of the wizard world, had arrived in the nick of time was prominently displayed in the paper. There was a footnote that Lord Longbottom, a student, was injured in the attack and was still in the Hogwarts Hospital wing.
The Ministry effectively told the students and their families to go jump in the lake. Thicknesse was now very interested in collecting the interest and the return of the loans principle from all the store owners. He was now getting one of those headaches, that seemed to never go away, when messing with Harry Potter. Not only did he find that the store owners had received grants from PJ&H but there was no interest coming to the Ministry and now Dumbledore 'floed' in to tell Thicknesse that no tuitions coming in meant that Hogwarts was bankrupt. Hogwarts had committed to the purchase of food and other supplies and with the loss of hundreds of students it was just catastrophic. The head of tax collection informed him that many shops would now be closing down and how the taxes paid from the Potter vaults had been lost as well. The students he had told to get loss were now having a sit-in in the Atrium and chanting for his resignation.
Ragnok was happy to entertain Thicknesse and his request for a loan for the Ministry to cover all the new costs. The interest rates were of course in favor of Gringotts.
/Scene Break/
"I can't believe this! Would you look at the front page and tell me who those two Deatheaters are behind those masks?" I was just a little upset, were they all blind?
"Well if I couldn't tell from the blond hair on the tall one and the Hand-of-Glory in the shorter one's hand I would never tell it was Lucius and Draco Malfoy." Luna tried to be facetious.
"What's the older Malfoy got in his hand?" Cheryl asked.
"The paper says "The Hand of Darkness". I grumbled.
"Well it's not hard to figure out who the two standing behind Draco are just as the two behind Lucius." Luna stated.
"Crab and Goyle" Luna and I said together.
"I wonder what they will call themselves, Lord Arrogant and the Sniveling Son." Cheryl chuckled.
"Well it's not our problem let ThickMess handle the idiots."
It wasn't handled and the Malfoy's were not identified, no it was Lord Dark Potter that was behind the attacks. The Ministry was bragging that they had kept Hogwarts open and the students enrolled and come September 1st everyone was happy. Of course Hogwarts was advertising for a DADA instructor once more.
/Scene Break/
"Dam ThickMess and his idiocy, why can't he leave me and mine in peace." I shouted. Now he is harassing Luna at the Quibbler and the Goblins over Cheryl.
Not long after that my tirade Luna quit going in to work and the Goblins offered Cheryl a transfer or she would have to quit, she quit. Rather than fume and yell we decided to go on vacation. We had no sooner relaxed on the beaches of France when Fawkes flamed in with a letter from Dumbledore.
"The old fool wants me to come to…Oh I like this. My loves we are headed to Hogwarts with a chat with my old friend Dumbledore."
A picture should have been taken of the faces of my wives when I made that statement.
/Scene Break/
On the appointed day at the appointed time I 'teleported' us directly to Dumbledore's office. That's another time we could have used a camera and that gave me a super idea. I'm sure Dumbledore had ideas of me arriving at the fount gate and being cloaked to make the long walk to his office where we would wait as he hadn't provided a password. We appeared in front of this desk where I waved my phony wand to make a love seat for the three of us. Amy 'flashed' in and joined Fawkes on his perch. "So Headmaster just what kind of joke are you up to now?"
"Harry, right on time I see. Yes, I thought that I would offer you a job here at Hogwarts."
"That's what your letter said so why don't you add a little more information to your miniscule information in that letter."
I felt that Dumbledore was still a little confused at what he found in fount of himself since he last saw me. No one had seen me since I got the lightning strike except Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. Even before that, as a spirit, I had upgraded my body so I wasn't that thin sickly looking boy with black hair that stuck-up in every direction. All the books showing the adventures of Harry Potter had drawings of me as a bespeckled messy haired boy with a prominent scar on his forehead. I was now without my scar with long hair straight hair that was still black but with a reddish black appearance, the white streaks added a mature look. You didn't get hit by a ka-zillion volts of electricity and not have some side effects. I also had no glasses and looked like an eighteen year old young man. Take away the starved kid look and dark spikey hair, I seriously didn't think anyone would recognize me as Harry Potter anymore, especially with blue contact lenses.
"Harry I need help with the DADA class and you came to mind."
"So you need a Dark Lord to teach DADA?" I couldn't help sticking it to the old goat.
"Yes, well, I was hoping to work on that later but right now I need a teaching assistant for Professor Lupin."
I almost had a yelling fit. This jerk wanted me the Boy who did in Voldemort to be a teaching assistant. A teaching assistant to my father's best friend who hasn't attempted to contact me and be big buddies with in all these years. Yep Dumbledore is up to his old tricks and there are plans brewing for me. At least I would see Minerva again.
"What do you think girls, does Lord Hawkingwood take this pathetic position and work under my fathers best of friends? What was his name again Albus?"
"Harry my boy there are dark time coming. Voldemort has his Horcruxes and will return. Even now the Deatheaters are active and the dark mark is getting stronger."
"Well Mrs. Harkingwood and you Mrs. Harkingwood I think I favor the idea as a part-time teaching assistant, what are your opinions on this stupidity? You know you will have to wear glamour charms as "The" Harkingwood's wives."
"I wouldn't mind returning to the Dark Lords Quarters, there are such memories to relive there." Cheryl sighed. "I am not happy about the glamour charms we must wear while in Hogwarts. With the new status and name it will let us walk down Diagon alley unmolested by the Ministry."
"And all the Crumple horned Dingles that are around Hogwarts. We would have great fun hunting." Luna was giving that spaced out look again for Dumbledore.
"Sure Albus I'll take the job, I can't wait to see Snape's face when he has to call me Professor in public." It was almost not noticeable but Dumbledore flinched.
"You will only be helping students in the first two years. On full moons you will of course have all the classes."
"That's fine Albus I'm sure we all will have a howling success in DADA."
"Come on girls lets see if Minerva still remembers me?"