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INTERLUDE
THE HOLLOWS AND THE SECOND PURIFICATION WAR OF 1997
The Hollows.
In normal eyes, the word itself — when not used as a name — really doesn't mean much. It most often represents a state of emptiness within any form of chamber. Applied to geography, it is a term applied to a river valley shaped like a "V"…or to a low wooded area, akin to a corpse of trees. When used as a name, it often forms the noun element of a place designation for a location which implies either geographical term noted above, such as the Somerset town of Godric's Hollow.
In magical eyes, however — when the term is said in plural format and capitalized — it implies something that no sane wizard or witch ever wants to encounter.
Which strikes those who know the truth of the Hollows of Gonebren quite odd.
That is because one of the most famous magicals in British history had been the one who created the magic-sucking, soul-raping wraiths in the first place!
That person was Salazar Slytherin of Kyme Eau, one of the founders of Hogwarts.
Of course, pureblood traditionalists in the United Kingdom venomously deny ANY connection between the man who had become their patron saint over the years and the inhabitants of the most foreboding piece of real estate in the British Isles…especially when one acknowledges that the Hollows are, to the last, the undying spirits of muggles who had either been slain or permanently damaged by magicals.
Given their ability to tear a person's very SOUL to pieces with only a short time of direct exposure, the belief that the Hollows loath ALL magicals gained much credence before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was passed in 1689; it was around that time that research done by the Unspeakables had discovered a more "humane" form of imprisoning criminals on an isolated island near the Shetlands named Azkaban.
Ever since the official "closure" of Gonebren Prison in 1705, the many dark myths concerning the Maze Among the Rocks and its inhabitants persisted.
It was only a privileged few who knew the truth about that place…
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Sunday 30 March 1997, breakfast…
"Well done, Harry-kun."
Hearing that accented voice, Albus Dumbledore shuddered before he gazed towards the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to see the person who had become the bane of his existence standing close to the young man whose very life and future was intertwined with the survival of wizarding Britain. And who had, for many months, completely ignored anything the Defeater of Grindelwald told him about what had to be done in his upcoming confrontation with Voldemort. It wasn't because Albus himself wanted to see Harry Potter die, of course; no true teacher wanted to see something ghastly like that happen to a beloved student, especially when said student was the surviving son of two other beloved students. And it certainly wasn't because Albus had wanted to recapture the fame that had been dumped on his head after he had taken his former lover down at the Battle of the Gates of Nurmengard in 1945. The Romans had long known — and wisely always remembered to advise their heroes, magical and non-magical alike — that all fame was fleeting. That had been a lesson Albus Dumbledore learned long before he became a social lightning rod in the wake of his defeat of Gellert Grindelwald, especially in the last few years when the forces allied to Voldemort began flexing their political and economic muscles in hopes of softening up wizarding Britain for a very violent take-over.
Ever since his first suspicions of Harry being made an accidental horcrux thanks to Voldemort in the autumn of 1981 appeared in his mind, Albus knew that the ONLY way to see the man born Tom Riddle finally struck down forever was to destroy the horcrux in Harry's head. It had been fortunate that Lily Potter's sacrifice that awful Hallowe'en evening almost sixteen years ago created an unbreakable blood-based magical shield around her son — invoking the most powerful forms of sorcery known to man — to keep him alive, much less keep him free of any overt influence from the soul fragment lodged in the curse scar burned into Harry's head. Not even Tom's use of Harry's blood almost two years ago at the end of the Triwizard Tournament had done anything to strip Harry of the protections his late mother gave up her life to bestow him even if being close to Voldemort always caused Harry pain. Magic was ultimately about intent…and given Tom's total LACK of understanding concerning love — the "power he knows not" element of the prophecy Sybill Trelawney had spoken in 1980 that had started all this, Albus knew — and his mad desire to avenge himself on the boy that had somehow vanquished him, he could NEVER use the blood he had taken from Harry to try to breach the blood-wards surrounding 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging even AFTER Tom had been given a new body to use.
But now…!
Albus tried not to shudder as a new flash of pain surged up his right arm, a reminder that his time in this life was coming to an end. As he found himself regretting once more that he had not been open with Harry before that awful tragedy in the Department of Mysteries last June saw him accept Yomigawa Tsukiko's offer of apprenticeship with open arms, he tried not to scream out in frustration on noting what the Dark Lady of the Orient HAD been doing to the Boy-Who-Lived and the members of the Defence Association since she and her apprentices invaded Hogwarts at the start of the school year. It wasn't just intensive battle magic practice without the use of wands or spoken incantations — including the use of the Unforgivable Curses even if they only were meant to be employed on a Death Eater's Dark Mark, which couldn't be outlawed since the warped protean charm was simply a magical construct and not a sentient being! — in the Room of Requirement…which Albus DID approve of since such would ensure Harry and his friends would survive a confrontation with Voldemort and his people. But all the OTHER things Tsukiko — not to mention Nekane Springfield, the niece of the famous Thousand Master and a classmate of Harry's sister Rose and her friends from Meridiana — were bringing into it sent chills down the old headmaster's back as he recalled the many stories of the War of Liberation and what Tsukuyomi's army had done to those who earned their ire…which had been the vast majority of Europeans living in the colonies back in those days.
The most horrible part of it all in Albus' mind was that Tsukiko and her apprentices were teaching Harry and his friends martial arts like kendō and iaidō, not to mention aikidō, t'ae kwon-do and tàijíquán. And while that had come to hone bodies to a state where the boys of the D.A. resembled teenage versions of Martin Larsden and the girls seemed to be reflections of Dean Raeburn herself, the idea of using "muggle" fighting techniques would have the pureblood traditionalists — even those who hadn't joined Voldemort — howling in outrage! Atop that, there were special magical history classes mixed with military tactics, drawing on the experiences of many across the ages, from Sūn Wǔ to George Patton…not to mention masters of unconventional warfare like Switzerland's Hans von Dach, Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito, South Africa's Jan Smuts, Mexico's Emiliano Zapata and Vietnam's Võ Nguyên Giáp. When Albus heard that Tsukiko was teaching the D.A. THAT, he knew that any conflict with the Death Eaters would see Voldemort's people getting a heavy dose of their own medicine…which could possibly wipe out whole families if Harry didn't go easy on them and give them an honourable way out to preserve those selfsame families for the Greater Good! Even more, there were classes in meditation and learning to protect one's mind from any form of Legilimency…which annoyed Albus even if such was an excellent tactic against Voldemort; it ALSO ensured that whatever ELSE Tsukiko, Nekane and the others were teaching Harry and his friends would remain a secret from the headmaster's passive probes…which, given Tsukiko's experience, could mean ANYTHING!
So what was THIS all about…?
"It wasn't too hard, Sensei," Harry replied; the room had gone totally quiet when the Dark Lady of the Orient had come to join them from wherever she had been staying, so the younger man's reply had echoed loud and clear in the Great Hall. Of course, since it was the start of the Easter holidays, over half of the school's population was missing, taking their spring break before the final term of classes would start in a couple of weeks. "I was glad that I could get it done so quickly. All the clues were there."
"Once you looked for them," Hermione Granger stated.
"Splendid," Tsukiko stated before walking over to the Ravenclaw table. "What of you and your group, Lisa-chan? Any success in your quest?"
"We found it, Sensei," Lisa Turpin stated as the others in her house beamed with delight. "I only just wish we had found the Diadem as well," she then lamented.
"Oh, I'm sure it's somewhere," the nigh-ageless Japanese sorceress mused as she gazed with narrowed eyes at the Grey Lady, who — with the other house ghosts and the other spirits of the castle — were in the Great Hall. As the spirit of the woman born Helena Ravenclaw ducked her head from that knowing look, Tsukiko moved on to the Hufflepuff table. "What of you and yours, Hannah-chan? Did you have some luck?"
"We found it, Sensei," Hannah Abbott said with a delighted smile. "It's just like Harry and 'Mione said; once you had the clues, all you had to do was connect the dots."
"Wonderful! And you and yours, Pansy-chan?"
Pansy Parkinson looked embarrassed. "We didn't have much luck, Sensei," she admitted. "We scoured the whole of the Chamber of Secrets and found clues, but it didn't lead us to Master Salazar's grave site." As those in the Great Hall who had NOT known about this odd quest the D.A. had engaged in all gasped on hearing that — Albus Dumbledore being one of them! — Pansy shrugged. "It points to a place called 'Goon Brènn,' but that doesn't show up anywhere on an atlas of Britain! Or Ireland for that matter!"
"That's Cornish!"
Eyes locked on a wide-eyed Hufflepuff fifth year student, Michelle Truman; her older brother Gabriel had graduated from Hogwarts with excellent marks in 1994. She was also a native of Tinworth on the English Channel coast of Cornwall near Fowey. "Michelle-chan, what can you tell us of what that name means?" Tsukiko then bade.
"Well, that's the Cornish name for Bodmin Moor, Sensei," Michelle answered…before her eyes widened as something came to her. "Wait…'Goon Brènn'…?"
"That sounds awfully close to 'Gonebren.'"
Horrified gasps echoed through the Great Hall in the wake of Hermione saying the name of That Place. Before someone could shout out to not speak the accursed name of the Maze Among the Rocks, Ron Weasley then nodded. "So the rumours ARE true!" he called out. "Master Salazar DID live at Gonebren after he left Hogwarts!" Ignoring a chorus of indignant cries from some students at all the tables — all pureblood traditionalists, the youngest Weasley son knew, with half of them bearing the Dark Mark on their arms; no doubt, they had been told by Voldemort to remain at the school to watch over Harry and his allies — he calmly cut open a bun before buttering it. "I wonder if the other rumour's true, too."
"What other rumour, Ronald?" Horace Slughorn wondered from his place at the head table.
"That Master Salazar created the Hollows, Professor Slughorn."
"THAT'S A LIE!"
Eyes locked on Charlie Vaisey, who had bolted to his feet from the head of the Slytherin table to point his wand at Ron. "Put that wand away, Mister Vaisey!" Minerva McGonagall snapped from her place beside Tsukiko. "That's fifty points from Slytherin for conduct unbecoming a prefect! I'll leave the detentions to Professor Snape," she added with a polite nod to Severus Snape at the head table, who nodded in return.
"You will see me tonight in my office after supper, Mister Vaisey," the current DADA professor stated with a cold voice. "Do not be late."
Charlie gargled before he sank in defeat back into his chair; ever since this school year started, it seemed as if all the staff had turned against the Slytherins who had once been able to get away with next to anything in Hogwarts. "Since the subject's been now raised, let's talk about that," Tsukiko then bade. "Anyone from Slytherin: Did any of your investigations into Salazar-dono's past reveal any connections with Gonebren?"
"We may have discovered several of them, Sensei."
Eyes locked on Daphne Greengrass. "Continue, Miss Greengrass," Severus bade.
Daphne smiled. "If, as Michelle just said now, 'Goon Brènn' is actually Gonebren…" — she ignored frightened hisses from many in the hall — "…and Master Salazar did go there after leaving Hogwarts in the wake of his so-called 'feud' with Master Godric — which, by the way, was not a real feud but a simple disagreement about how muggleborns were to be treated at the school! — he clearly encountered something at that place which he found SO fascinating that he spent the rest of his life researching it to understand more about it. How that resulted in the Hollows, I can't say."
"Well done, Daphne-chan," Tsukiko declared with a clap of her hands. "And yes, that IS the truth about Salazar-dono and Gonebren. Minerva-dono, Pomona-dono, Filius-dono, Severus-dono, I do believe some rewards are required at this time."
All four heads of house quickly awarded fifty points each for the research work done by the Defence Association. Once that was done, Luna Lovegood asked, "How did you find out, Sensei?"
"Find out what, Luna-chan?"
"The connection between Master Salazar and Gonebren?"
A mirthless chuckle escaped the Dark Lady of the Orient. "Luna-chan, I actually VISITED Gonebren back in 1927 and paid my respects at Salazar-dono's grave."
Shocked gasps echoed through the Great Hall. "Forgive me for interrupting this, Lady Tsukiko, but may I ask HOW?!" Filius Flitwick demanded from the head table. "That place…!"
"I had — at the time — never done harm to any non-magical native to this land, thus I never had cause to earn the ire of the Hollows," Tsukiko answered. "Besides, I never entered the prison itself; only those who possess the Key of Gonebren can do that. However, I DID locate Salazar-dono's grave. He was interred in a grotto next to the Circle of Justice, the amphitheatre located just to the east of the prison gates that was once used by the Wizard's Council in the early days of its existence as the place of judgment when they sentenced delinquents to a spell within Gonebren's halls to entertain the Hollows. After praying for the continued happiness of the Hollows — as they are true Kami in my eyes and deserve such for what they suffered when they were mortal — I offered my prayers to Salazar-dono. Some of the Hollows came to visit me when I was doing that and I had a wonderful conversation with them."
More gasps. "Aren't they sealed within the prison itself, Sensei?" Hermione asked.
"The Circle of Justice is within the overall grounds of Gonebren, 'Mione," Raven Malfoy answered. "The Hollows stay within the ward stones that seal Gonebren off from the outside world, but they can go to the Circle of Justice. I found that out when I went there after I graduated from Meridiana in '95 and became Sensei's apprentice."
People gaped at Draco Malfoy's sister. Ever since Raven had come to Hogwarts, her brother had venomously denied that Raven WAS his sister, even going so far to threaten Voldemort's wrath on anyone who dared tried to relay such to the Daily Prophet or the Wizarding Wireless Network. The members of the D.A. eventually learned Draco HAD cancelled his family's subscription to the magical broadsheet just after his father's incarceration in Azkaban to ensure his mother would never learn of her lost child; Draco also threatened to buy out the majority of the shares in WWN to keep them silent. When Raven herself had been asked about it by Ron on a Hogsmeade weekend, she explained that since she had lived pretty much on her own since her rebirth, it would feel odd to welcome a mother she had never known into her life. Since Narcissa deferred to the pureblood radicals who fought under Voldemort even if she wasn't marked like Cassiopeia Lestrange's parents were, Raven was unsure if she would welcome her mother with open arms…or slit her throat.
"Oh, my! You actually talked to the Hollows?!" Luna asked, her eyes wide with awe as she gazed on Raven. "How did they get to be that way?!"
"Well, to answer the million yen question, it WAS Master Salazar who created the ward stones that help allow the spirits of normals to become Hollows," Raven stated, ignoring the hiss from many in the hall, before she added, "But that was because the first generation of Hollows — who, when they were mortal, befriended the kind wizard who had come to live with them after he retired from Hogwarts — were the first non-magical metahumans to possibly arise anywhere on Earth since the Immortals first began appearing millennia ago!"
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"What type o' metas were they, Raven?" Rubeus Hagrid asked; even if he hated Draco and the other traditionalists, the half-giant just adored Draco's sister.
"High-order telepaths who also learned how to master ki, Professor," Raven answered. "They had the ability to project their souls out of their bodies — 'astral forms' as we'd call it at Meridiana — after a period of meditation, plus use their powers to scan through a person's mind. And if necessary, burn that mind out with their power." She then shrugged. "At first, Master Salazar believed he was with a group of Meridiana graduates setting up their own community. But he didn't sense any magic beyond the power of the ley lines that intersected under their village, so he knew something odd was going on there. They weren't immortals, daywalker vampires or any sort of other being he was aware of who could possess even a tithe of such abilities…and there wasn't a scent of mesonium anywhere that indicated that Freiherr von Taserich or Master Hosan — or any 'children' of the Freiherr's — had been by. So he went off to China to discuss how this could have happened with ki masters he met in his youthful travels before he got together with Master Godric. When he got back to Gonebren, he then discovered a burned out village…and all the inhabitants slain to the last, even the children."
Gasps echoed through the hall on hearing that. "Who did it?!" Minerva demanded.
"Students from Hogwarts, Lady Minerva," a strange, echoing voice then answered. "All of them were former apprentices of Master Godric and Mistress Rowena."
Eyes spun up to gaze upon the Bloody Baron, who had floated over to hover close to Raven. "Ælfweard-dono, what do you know of that story?" Tsukiko asked.
The spirit of the man born Ælfweard Cerdic of Ethandun — a member of the Royal House of Wessex who had become Salazar Slytherin's first adult apprentice after Hogwarts' founding in 990 C.E. — politely smiled. While he was not as much of a conversationalist as some of the school ghosts, he had found this visiting arch-mage from the Land of the Wa to be a delightful person to spend time with. "All of those creatures were incensed that my master 'abandoned' his post as co-Headmaster of Hogwarts because of his disagreement with the others concerning the welcoming of normal-borns into the school. It wasn't because Master Salazar loathed normal-borns; that is the farthest from the truth!" As the traditionalists gasped in shock — to say that Salazar Slytherin was NOT against muggleborns was practically a heresy in their minds — the Baron smiled. "What he had no patience for was the fact that normal-borns were almost always illiterate and had no sense at all about personal hygiene. The Dark Ages had reigned over Europe ever since the fall of Rome centuries earlier and too many were afraid of the followers of the Prophet Muḥammad to accept the knowledge the Muslims were saving as they moved to spread their faith." He shook his head. "When both Master Godric and Mistress Rowena found out what had happened to my master's friends, they were grief-struck. Both gladly offered to help my master seek justice for his lost friends of Gonebren; my master had always kept his friends — AND THEY ALWAYS WERE HIS FRIENDS! — appraised of what he found!"
"But Uncle Salazar waved off such an offer from Mother and Uncle Godric," the Grey Lady then added, causing everyone in the hall to gasp in disbelief; she never talked at ALL to anyone…and very few in Hogwarts had ever known this woman was the child of one of the Founders in the first place! "He couldn't ask his friends to strike down their students; he knew how much they loved them even after they committed such a heinous crime against people who wished them no ill will. So he took knowledge he gained while in the Orient and used the ley lines of Gonebren to call back the spirits of his lost friends. He tied their souls to special ward stones given to him by the Immortal Master — who was in China at the time of Uncle Salazar's last visit there — and helped them learn how to track down those who had slain them."
"And the Hollows were unleashed," the Baron finished for his would-be wife.
People in the Great Hall shuddered on hearing that dire statement from the Slytherin house ghost. "After the fools who slew his friends were done away with, Salazar-dono decided there had to be a check on those magicals who would abuse their gifts when with the normals, much less those who would develop non-magical metahuman powers in the future. He realized that if it happened once, it could happen again. So he spent the rest of his life dedicating himself to prepare the ward stones of Gonebren to allow new Hollows to arise from the spirits of any normal in Britain who was wronged IN ANY WAY by magicals! And in his will, Salazar-dono — with the agreement of the Hollows — gifted Gonebren and what lay within unto the Crown of England in the person of King Edward the Confessor to ensure that the magicals of the land did not abuse their gifts of Magic," Tsukiko finished.
"That's a LIE!"
That was Charlie Vaisey, who had an outraged look on his face. "How can it be a lie, Vaisey?!" Marcus Belby, the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect and a member of the Slug Club, snapped; he was one of many who had joined the D.A. this year as well. "Why would your own house ghost lie about his former master?! Or my house ghost lie about her mother?! THEY WERE THERE! They all saw it happen! It's not their fault that arrogant people like you and your friends twisted those stories because of idiot beliefs in the superiority of purebloods over half-bloods and mug-…!" He sputtered before shaking his head. "Ah, sod it! Like normal-borns! They should damn hell make the word 'muggle' a bloody Taboo!" As people gaped at him, Marcus smirked as he crossed his arms and gave Charlie a knowing smile. "How many squibs does YOUR family have, huh?"
"HOW DARE YOU…?!"
Charlie gasped on seeing Marcus' normally-hazel eyes suddenly glow the sickly green of a Killing Curse. "How dare I?" the Ravenclaw calmly wondered as the Slytherin sank into his chair, his face as pale as a sheet as he tried not to soil himself. "The facts are out there, Vaisey. I can see why the Schwarze Mädchen came up with the term leicheblut schweinhund to describe people like…!"
"Mister Belby, that's enough!" Albus snapped. "That's…!"
"Oh, do be quiet, Mister Dumbledore!" Marcus snapped back as he glared intently at the headmaster, his eyes still glowing. "You had YEARS to clean up this mess! You knew from the start that lying bastard child that became Voldemort would be trouble! But you never listened to a THING Major Raeburn taught you before you took Grindelwald down in '45 about appeasement and how that caused World War Two, BOTH in Europe and in Asia! Thanks to that, WE have to deal with this mess! Since your way would get us all KILLED, we'll do it in the way that's been proven to work! So sit down and kindly be quiet while more learned people speak!" He shook his head as his eyes turned back to normal. "And to believe you used to be a Gryffindor. I'd think Master Godric would be ASHAMED of you!"
As Albus sputtered in shock, Marcus then gazed on Tsukiko. "Sensei, I'm sure that you'll be happy to escort our friends from Slytherin to Gonebren sometime this week so they could pay their proper respects at Master Salazar's grave. Would it be alright if those of us from the other houses come along? It's high time that this stupid inter-house rivalry that's been perpetuated because of LIES is brought to a final end!"
"I think all of Hufflepuff will gladly join you on that, Mark," the seventh year Hufflepuff girl's prefect, Maxine O'Flaherty, added. "This schism must end."
"Oh, indeed it must, Maxine," Luna stated. "While we're there, we can go look for the hidden keys to Gonebren." As many people in the room gasped on hearing such a ghastly proposal, she added, "I'm sure Master Salazar made a set of back-up keys just in case the main ones were lost or stolen from Buckingham Palace. They would be nice to have around just in case so that Mister Who and his silly followers will behave themselves from now on. After all, it's been fifty-one years since the Hollows snacked on the souls of evil wizards and witches. They must be quite hungry now."
Many of the traditionalists in the room choked on their breaths as they stared wide-eyed at the silvery-blonde Ravenclaw fifth year who was both one of the "Ministry Six" and one of Harry Potter's closest friends. "'Mister Who?'" Ginny Weasley teased.
"Well, it would be rude to call him 'You Know,' Ginny," Luna said with a wink.
Roaring laughter filled the room in answer to that…
Of course, there were no hidden keys to the Maze Among the Rocks.
The Crown had been given all magical tools needed to access the place in 1705 by then-Minister for Magic Eldritch Diggory after the opening of Azkaban Prison. It was for quite understandable reasons; the grounds of Gonebren had been Crown Land for seven centuries and the prison that had been raised in the moors of Cornwall had been run by the Wizard's Council there ONLY with the permission of the Sovereign. Once Azkaban was opened — the island had then been under the ownership of a Norwegian wizard who dabbled from time to time in necromancy, thus making it part of the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway; the transfer of national title to the island was arranged between the Ministry of Magic and their counterparts in Copenhagen thanks to a private agreement between Queen Anne of the United Kingdom and King Christian VI of Denmark-Norway — and the prisoners were transferred, a Magical Royal Proclamation was issued to give Eldritch Diggory's government the full right to administer Azkaban without Crown oversight while Gonebren would remain in the Crown's hands, closed for regular use…though held "in readiness for the service of Our Crown should a threat to the safety of Our Realm" arise that would require the need for the Maze Among the Rocks to be reopened.
That had happened many more times than most magicals in Britain believed.
After all, since right after the Separation Act was made law in 1692, there were those regardless of blood status who remembered the eternal bound of loyalty to the Crown written in the Preamble to that act and would gladly — once summoned by the reigning monarch to Windsor Castle and later Buckingham Palace — go forth to do the Crown's bidding, usually with the Key of Gonebren in hand to ensure justice was done.
The person known throughout the normal world as "Jack the Ripper" was one such target of the Crown to experience the power of the Hollows in the wake of Gonebren's "closure" in 1705. An investigation of the Whitechapel murders of 1888 revealed to John Hickney, a normal-born graduate of Hogwarts and alumnus of Hufflepuff then working for the Metropolitan Police, that said killer was a pureblood fanatic who believed the prostitutes were actually "mudbloods"; the fatal wounds were done in a manner that hearkened to ancient sacrifices done by the druids of old. Before he could contact friends in the Ministry of Magic to alert them about this, John was summoned to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with Queen Victoria, given a certain key, then ordered to "find the villain and ensure he or she will never threaten Our Realm again." With the ancient power of the Hollows — now joined by the vengeful ghosts of the Whitechapel victims — helping him, John quickly tracked down the culprit.
Much to his surprise, "Jack" was actually a WOMAN, a Gryffindor alumnus named Bogeria Lestrange, who — after being turned over to the Hollows — was revealed to have gone mad because she had been rejected by the man she wanted to marry…with him actually marrying a normal-born of all things! After the Hollows turned Bogeria's mind to mulch, John retrieved the comatose witch with the Key of Gonebren, then secretly dumped her in the foyer of the Lestrange mansion outside London before reporting his mission done to the Queen.
No matter how much Bogeria's father howled to then-Minister for Magic Faris Spavin to find the monsters responsible for the brutal mind-rape of his child — Bogeria would die in St. Mungo's despite all attempts by the healers to restore her mind; none of them had ever suspected the dark inhabitants of That Place had been involved — John Hickney kept silent about his mission for Queen Victoria right to the day he died.
John DID ask the Queen about the fact that his mission to track down the "Ripper" had been done without involving the Ministry of Magic…who — as he understood it — were, by the rule of the law, supposed to deal with such things! After a moment's contemplation, she replied, "There are times I wonder if separating you magicals from the rest of the country in King William's time was the wisest thing, Master John. All this time, those of us who wear the Crown have heard of inexcusable behaviour by the 'purebloods' who view themselves far above the other living beings who call Britain home. And because they hold such sway over the Ministry and the magical economy, attempts by honest people to deal with those who break the law sometimes fail. That is what this is for in the end." Here, she pointed to the Key. "Thanks so much to Headmaster Slytherin, I — and those who came before me and those who will follow me — have the means to ensure that such miscreants who believe themselves above the law will answer for their crimes."
Only when Grindelwald's War ended did the whole of wizarding Britain finally remember that Gonebren and the Hollows were still out there…and could be unlocked ONLY at the command of the ruling monarch of the United Kingdom, a person almost all — save those raised in normal society — at the time believed to have utterly no relevance in the day-to-day life of British wand magicals. When that shocking revelation — made in late 1945 when warriors of the Magische Reichsarmee were taken out of Gonebren by the Québec-born member of the War Hawks, First Officer Heather Thompkins of the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, when she went to the Maze Among the Rocks with King George VI's warrant to release the prisoners so they could be repatriated to their homelands — broke out in the Daily Prophet, the pureblood elite screamed out to get the keys to That Place from "that stupid muggle" so that a way to destroy the Hollows once and for all time could be found.
Calling the King a "stupid muggle" in front of Heather Thompkins — not to mention the other War Hawks — turned out NOT to be a wise thing to do.
Between Heather and her friends, more damage was done to the purebloods of Britain than Yomigawa Tsukiko had done during the War of Liberation!
Furthermore — as if to add insult to injury, it seemed — a Magical Royal Proclamation was issued to "gently" remind the King's errant subjects that the Crown was the supreme authority in the United Kingdom for the magicals of the land, NOT the Minister for Magic or the Wizengamot!
And should people forget that and move to rebel against the Crown, Azkaban would be destroyed by the Protector of All Life and the rebels would all face Gonebren.
That shut people up for a few decades…until the First Purification War spilled out into the normal world in the 1970s. While King George VI's daughter didn't call upon Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to summon the War Hawks back to duty, she DID call upon loyal wizards to visit her to make use of a certain key.
Among them was Ulysses Cuffe. Mistakenly credited for using specially-designed wards to kill off the Death Eaters at Romney Marsh in 1979 — he was a well-trained curse-breaker, so that conclusion had been easy for the general public to make — he actually used the Hollows' power to wipe out the monsters who came to threaten his normal-born wife Kathleen and all their neighbours. As had been done many times before, he stayed silent about his mission to the Crown to this very day, glad to have performed his "Royal Service." Given that the bodies of the slain — which included some of Voldemort's oldest advisers from his days at Hogwarts in the 1940s — were made to disappear off Land's End, there was no way for anyone to learn the truth of what happened. Of course, by that time, the Ministry had succumbed to the "eye for an eye" policy of the senior Barty Crouch, so no follow-up investigation had been made by the DMLE despite the Wizengamot's demands for such, even from those who didn't support the Dark Lord.
A year after the "Massacre at Romney Marsh," Blaise Zabini's mother Vanessa was given the Key to deal with a would-be suitor named Melvin Kneen, a former housemate and classmate of hers. He was a man who joined Voldemort in hopes of enslaving his "Nessie"…and to ensure he would get her, Melvin used Nerio's ugliest-known hex — the horrid Curse of Maha; when used on a target witch, this ultimately killed off those wizards who might wish to seek her hand — on her to see to it all of her seven husbands would die…including Blaise's father George, then the Baron of Lewisham. Melvin was also an expert in potions who wanted to create a magical biological weapon to wipe out all the normals in the land. The Hollows — including the spirits of those girls Melvin sacrificed for his research — rendered him brain-dead and Vanessa left him crucified in Knockturn Alley as a stark visible warning to the Death Eaters to not push their luck.
A year after that, Voldemort was effectively destroyed by Lily Potter.
By then, the lesson had been taught to those of his supporters who survived and evaded Azkaban: Someone on the outside knew what they had done…and they were watching!
And while the ninja-like stealth and absolute secrecy of such missions scared many, that didn't stop people like Lucius Malfoy from dreaming of the chance to make the "filthy muggles" submit to their "betters" once and for all time.
When she learned of those attitudes, the Queen was NOT amused.
So — in the wake of the mass break-out of prisoners in Azkaban in the early winter of 1996 — she called on Emperor Akihito of Japan and asked a favour.
The Heavenly Sovereign, glad to help his friend in such a trying time, had the directors of the regional Magical Associations — ALL of whom EACH had the right to vote in the International Conference of Magical Communities — introduce a joint resolution in Geneva concerning the "British question."
Once appraised of what was REALLY going on in Britain thanks to the Queen via one of her normal-born Palace servants acting as messenger, the ICMC delegates unanimously voted to call on the Lady Tsukuyomi-no-Tsukushi to take Harry Potter under her direct apprenticeship — free of all influence from the Ministry of Magic and ESPECIALLY Albus Dumbledore; by then, the man's failures to deal with the monsters created by his "forgive and forget" approach to things at Hogwarts and how that attitude let them literally get away with murder forced many in Geneva to conclude that it was long since time he retired — so that "Harry Potter may deal with the villains who threaten the safety of us all without hindrance and with the best hopes of survival only good training will provide."
Accepting that declaration for Britain was Percy Weasley, who — having long grown tired of the ghastly corruption within the Ministry he had been exposed to since his graduation from Hogwarts in 1994 — stayed quiet about it until after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. There — after getting the chance to watch the Dark Lady of the Orient disarm Albus Dumbledore with a soulsword to render the Elder Wand ineffective, not to mention learn that the Curse of Helga Hufflepuff had actually saved Harry Potter's sister, who had died while still within Lily Potter's womb in 1981! — he then got the chance to drop the boom on a very harried Cornelius Fudge…
Level One of the Headquarters of Her Majesty's Ministry of Magic, Monday 1 July 1996, early morning…
"Do you realize I could have you in Azkaban right now, Weatherby?!"
Percy Weasley almost looked bored as he crossed his arms. "Mister Fudge, what happens to me doesn't matter right now." As the man before him turned a violent shade of puce on sensing the total lack of respect in the junior assistant's voice, the third-oldest son of Arthur and Molly Weasley then added, "It's what's going to happen to YOU once the news of the Lady Tsukiko taking Mister Potter on as her new apprentice gets out to the general public. As it will be in this morning's Daily Prophet."
"I want her arrested!" Cornelius Fudge then snapped, spinning on Amelia Bones. "Do whatever you have to do, Amelia! I want that woman out of this country!"
"That can't happen, Cornelius," the director of the DMLE warned.
"WHAT?!"
"She is under diplomatic immunity imposed by the ICMC, as are all her apprentices from Meridiana that will be coming with her to stay in the country for the time being while she prepares Mister Potter to deal with You-Know-Who," Amelia stated. "If you try ANYTHING on any of them, the ICMC leadership will recommend that your government should have its accreditation revoked! You know what might happen next, I believe."
THAT made Cornelius turn stark-white. Losing official ICMC recognition would be an open invitation to anyone to launch any sort of military action against wizarding Britain without any other party interfering; this was seen as legal under the self-defence clauses in the Treaty of Geneva that saw the ICMC formed in the first place. And given how the British had arrogantly thrown their weight around the old ICW before 1946, there were a lot of magical governments around the world who would love the chance to put the "arrogant berks" in this land down…chief of which were the governments in former British colonies in Africa and Asia whose citizens had suffered horrendously before the Schwarze Mädchen under Margareta Hecht effectively liberated them during Grindelwald's War.
And given the year of denials over the return of Lord Voldemort to corporeal form…
"We can train Harry!" he then spat out before spinning on the other man sitting in the room. "Albus! You knew about this all along! Why haven't you done anything to train Harry to deal with You-Know-Who since he came to Hogwarts five years ago?!"
"I have been preparing Harry for that, Cornelius!" Albus Dumbledore stated. "And while Harry has suffered because of it, he's prevailed every time! I agree with you; there's no need whatsoever for Tsukiko to be involved in this!" He then ruefully shook his head. "Sadly, though…I cannot persuade the people in Geneva to understand."
Cornelius gaped. "What…?"
"The ICMC elected a new Supreme Mugwump when you removed the Ministry's support for Headmaster Dumbledore last summer," Percy explained. "He's Emilio Ramirez of Spain. As you probably know, he's a veteran of the Magische Reichsarmee who's a personal friend of Lady Tsukiko's; when he surrendered with his brigade, he did that to the Americans, thus avoiding Gonebren." As Cornelius gargled on hearing That Name, Percy added, "He was the one who organized the vote in February to ask Lady Tsukiko to take Harry under her charge. The vote I TRIED to warn you about…but because you were so intent on inflicting Ms. Umbridge on the students of Hogwarts, you didn't realize the true danger until it was too late to stop it." He shook his head as Amelia and Albus gaped at him and Cornelius sputtered in outrage. "You know, I long looked forward to working here at the Ministry. I would serve my people and help support my family. But ever since I came to this place, I've been sickened by the sheer insanity that rules almost everything that happens here! I won't resign; I can only now be impeached by the Wizengamot…and without the support of your 'friends' now cooling their arses in Azkaban — or taking dirt-naps in their family tombs — you won't have the votes to pull it off. If you survive YOUR impeachment, of course."
He turned to leave before pausing. "By the way…if you think Lady Tsukiko being in the country now is bad enough, there's worse waiting in the wings," he icily warned.
"What are you talking about?!" Cornelius snapped.
"The Key to Her Majesty's Prison Gonebren, you stupid boy."
Amelia shrieked out as Cornelius gargled and Albus gaped while an invisibility field close to the entrance to the Minister's office faded to reveal a smirking Yomigawa Tsukiko. "Apologies for that, sir," an amused Percy stated. "The Lady Tsukiko wished to surprise you. I felt it was only right and proper to aid her in that quest."
"Considering that those with diplomatic immunity cannot be refused entrance to these chambers, Percy-dono, you had no right to stop me anyway," Tsukiko stated before she gazed in amusement at a pale Cornelius and a shivering Amelia. "Oh, do sit down, boy!" the Dark Lady of the Orient snarled, which made him scramble for his chair as he tried to put as much distance as he could from this walking nightmare in white-and-red robes. "And stop shivering, Amelia-san," she added as she glared at Amelia Bones. "You're the director of law enforcement here. It's unbecoming of you."
Amelia tried not to soil herself as those ebony orbs focused on her for a moment. As Percy tried not to laugh — much that he respected Amelia Bones for her wanting to follow the law to the letter, she really was too stiff-lipped at times — at that sight, Albus moved to rise from his chair. "Tsukiko, please! There's…"
KLONK!
A gargled gasp escaped the poor headmaster after a large black kettlebell of all things — that marked with 100T in white on the flanks! — slammed on his head! As he collapsed dazed to the floor, Tsukiko smirked. "You almost got that spell right, Rose-chan," she declared. "Well done. I expect you to teach that to Harry-kun as soon as possible."
"Hai, Sensei!"
Amelia gasped in shock as another invisibility screen dropped, revealing a living ghost in white-and-red, complete with flame-red hair, green eyes and reading glasses. "Oh, Merlin…!" she breathed out as Cornelius gaped wide-eyed at the sight of this near-replica of Lily Evans in her fifth year at Hogwarts standing there, never mind that she had been able to sneak into his office unseen! "You look…"
"Like my mother save for my wearing glasses," Rose Potter derisively declared, the scorn in her voice making the older woman wince. "You know, when Big Brother told me about how LITTLE he knew about Mother and Father and what they ultimately fought and died for, I thought he was joking. After all, he had all the teachers at Hogwarts and the children of our parents' friends to tell him everything about them. But NO! No one — save probably for Rubeus Hagrid and Remus Lupin — ever said a THING about Mother and Father to my brother! Where was your niece when Big Brother needed to know about things in this society?!" A mocking tone then entered her voice as she answered, "'Oh! He's the Heir of Slytherin! He's evil!' 'Oh! He's stealing Cedric Diggory's glory! He's greedy!' 'Oh! He's lying about You-Know-Who'…" A disgusted look then crossed her face. "Why do you call the Slit-Eyed Albino that anyway?! Don't you know what the word 'Voldemort' means?!" Ignoring the jolts of gaping shock from Percy, Amelia and Cornelius, Rose shook her head. "And to believe Big Brother STILL cares for you inbred idiots! Why he didn't leave you twits behind when he realized what a bunch of lying, two-faced hypocrites so many of you are, I will NEVER understand! I had my reasons for staying away from Big Brother…but he understands because there were things out of my control. You people were IN control all along…and you did NOTHING!"
"B-b-but…"
"Oh, shut up! NEBULA HYPNOTICA!"
Cornelius gargled as a fine mist appeared around his head before he collapsed into a chair, a loud snore then escaping him. Rose blinked before shaking his head. "I sure would hate to be his wife," she muttered before sitting on the couch close to the door.
"Tell Amelia-san everything, Percy-dono," Tsukiko then bade.
Amelia tensed as Percy gazed on her. "Here's what I found when I investigated Harry's history, Madame Director," he coldly declared as he raised his hand to count off each point he was making. "NO check-up in all the ten years he was living with the Dursleys by Wizarding Child Services, which is MANDATORY for all wizarding orphans cared for by muggle relations! NO looking into the bouts of accidental magic Harry endured while he was growing up in Little Whinging; as has been proven again and again, that always happens in times of great personal stress! Again, that was mandatory in his case! NO advising him of his future duties as the Lord of House Potter, to say anything of preparing him to accept his lordship the instant he walked into Gringotts before his first year…and that doesn't count for the effective THEFT of his vault keys during that time! And NO decent medical examination done to him to correct his malnutrition…which SHOULD have been the FIRST thing Madame Pomfrey noted when he came to Hogwarts back in 1991! Maybe then, the situation concerning his scar could have been looked at! Did you realize what was really INSIDE that thing Magi Potter here cut out with a soulsword?!"
"Wh-what?" a pale Amelia sputtered.
"A horcrux."
"P-p-Percy, st-stop…!"
"Oh, do shut up, Albus," Tsukiko stated as she glared down at the still-dazed Albus Dumbledore. "Your mania for secrecy — to say anything of your refusal to deal with that stupid little boy when you had the chance — was responsible for the deaths of six thousand people during the 1970s! All their deaths — Rose-chan's and Harry-kun's parents, Percy-dono's maternal uncles, plus so many others — are on YOUR head in the end, Albus!" As the headmaster paled on hearing that, the Dark Lady of the Orient smirked. "See where your policy of appeasement ultimately created?"
"Wh-wh-what is th-th-that…?" Amelia sputtered.
"It's a soul-jar, Amelia-san. Not so different from the classical process of creating a nŏksbae that was done in Korea two millennia ago…though created with far more darker intentions and needing the murder of an innocent to ensure the soul-break cleanly occurs," Tsukiko answered, which made Amelia turn as white as a ghost. "With those delightful things, Voldemort-dono was able to survive losing his body when Lily-dono used blood magic to save her son in 1981. He made several of them and was most likely in the process of transforming that large snake of his into one when the soul fragment lodged itself into Harry-kun's scar. While any of those things exist and their magical bonds to what is left of Voldemort's soul remain intact, he cannot die."
"The diary that possessed my sister Ginny in her first year was also one," Percy added.
The director of the DMLE staggered on hearing that before she turned to stare in horror at a pale Albus. "So when in Merlin's name were YOU going to tell us about all this?!"
"Amelia…you must understand…!"
"Do you truly believe the people in this land are complete fools, Albus?"
He stopped, turning to stare wide-eyed at Tsukiko. Before he could answer her, the Dark Lady of the Orient smirked. "I will strongly wager now that you planned to make Harry-kun sacrifice himself at the business end of Voldemort-dono's wand, hoping that he might ultimately survive it because of that soul fragment in his scar." As Albus winced on hearing that — which spoke volumes to Tsukiko — she then nodded to Rose. "That's why I had Rose-chan use a soulsword on it since that works better…and even more so, allowed the magical link between that horcrux and Voldemort-dono to be severed, thus terminating what mental connection existed between him and Harry-kun."
"That's why Riddle was in pain when Rose did that!" Percy concluded as Albus cringed on recalling what Harry's sister had done in the Department of Mysteries. "He suffered from soulsword backlash!"
"And — once I teach Big Brother how to make a soulsword — he could use it to cut all the links between the Dark Dorkbrain and his little horcruxes," Rose finished, which made Albus turn grey as his eyes went wide with horror at the idea of the Boy-Who-Lived learning such a terrible technique. "Once that's done, one more soulsword strike to the berk and he's gone. Even if we miss a horcrux, the soul fragment inside will be BURNED every time those links are cut thanks to soulsword backlash. If any of the Dark Moron's friends try what they did back last spring with a horcrux after it went through THAT…well, they won't get much."
Tsukiko nodded. "Which certainly will work far better than whatever 'power' Harry-kun supposedly has that will allow him to vanquish Voldemort-dono once and for…"
A knock echoed from the door. "Enter!" Amelia called out.
The door opened to reveal Cornelius' secretary. "Lord Potter is here, Madame Bones," she said, not blinking twice on seeing the Dark Lady of the Orient standing there.
"Send him in," the director of the DMLE bade.
The secretary ducked out. Harry Potter then walked in, dressed in formal robes with the crests of both the Houses of Potter and Black on his cape. He smiled as Rose got up to kiss his cheek before nodding politely to Percy. "Had a chance to talk to your parents yet?" he asked as he offered his hand to the older man.
"I talked to Father," Percy stated as he shook Harry's hand. "He'll explain it to Mother. Unfortunately, given the mess in this place…"
"Well, maybe I can help there," Harry stated. "Since my sister can't sit as my proxy for the House of Black given her being a Meridiana alumnus, Madame Bones, I've asked Madame Andromeda Tonks to serve as voting proxy for the time being. Now that I understand it, I certainly agree to that law about not allowing people to hold multiple seats, especially at my level."
Amelia nodded as Albus staggered up. Glares from Rose and Tsukiko kept him silent; it was obvious to them — and Percy, too — that the headmaster was NOT pleased at the fact that Harry had gone and claimed his inheritance at Gringotts. That had also seen him emancipated, thus free of any influence by any magical guardian the Ministry could assign to watch over the Boy-Who-Lived; as a normal-raised child, such guardianship fell automatically on Albus Dumbledore in his capacity as headmaster of Hogwarts.
"I'm glad you agree to that, My Lord," Amelia stated. "I hope that when Susan comes of age, I'll be able to hand over the reigns of my family to her as she is the proper heir, as does Dowager Augusta Longbottom concerning Neville." She then took a deep breath before bowing. "My Lord, I must also apologize for all our failure…"
"Aunt Amelia, save it," Harry bade, which made her blush on hearing him call her "aunt." "None of you — thanks very much to Mister Dumbledore and his mad mania for controlling every aspect of my life because of that prophecy that my godfather gave up his life for to keep free from Riddle's hands — could probably do a thing even if you did know the truth. It wouldn't surprise me that Mister Dumbledore has been fast and loose with memory charms to make sure those who DID try were stopped in their tracks."
"Now, Harry…!"
KLONK!
Another kettlebell — this one with 200T on its side — slammed down on Albus' head, knocking him out. "You do that very well, Magi Potter," Amelia stated.
"Well, the old dork's giving me so many chances to practice, Aunt Amelia!" Rose said, which made Amelia and Percy both laugh. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I've got the paperwork for my assuming my family seats," Harry noted. "Since it's too late to go to today's meeting of the Wizengamot, I'll hold off on introducing articles of impeachment on Mister Fudge until next week. Oh, just in case Dolores Um-bitch comes back to try to cause trouble for Sally-Anne Perks, Aunt Amelia, I discussed this with Madame Marchbanks. Sally-Anne will sit her OWLs before the end of July. After all, her soul-bond was with another magical; where Libera went to school has no bearing on that matter. Besides, before that stupid law was passed in 1705 to block the magi of Meridiana from doing anything with the Ministry, pactios were formed between the magi of that school and wizards and witches of Hogwarts all the time."
Amelia nodded; her niece — not to mention everyone from Hufflepuff who had been in the school at the time — had howled with outrage about what happened to Sally-Anne Perks at the hands of Dolores Umbridge. "What about Dolores destroying Sally-Anne's wand?"
"It was a fake wand Percy's brothers Fred and George supplied for the occasion," Harry stated. "Libera supplied a special portkey to get Sally-Anne's things out of the castle before they could be destroyed, plus another portkey to make sure Sally-Anne could get out of Hogwarts before she was obliviated and had her magic bound…not that such would have worked because of the soul-bond. And thanks to some tricks Fred and George loaned Sally-Anne, Um-bitch spent a little time in the Hospital Wing after she tried to bind her magic. After she recovered, she sent Obliviators over to Ross-on-Wye to bind Sally-Anne's magic and memory-wipe her and and her parents. Unfortunately, they hit special anti-apparition wards set up around the town by Libera's sister Juno; those saw them teleported into Gonebren to give the Hollows something to chew on." As Amelia gasped in horror and Percy blinked in surprise, he scratched his chin. "I think they're still there…"
"No, Big Brother. All of them had the Dark Dork's mark on their arms, so Juno asked the Hollows nicely to let them be dumped off Land's End," Rose supplied.
"Do you have names?" Amelia demanded.
Rose handed her a rolled sheet of parchment. Amelia opened it to scan what was there, then she snarled. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to speak to Chief Radford."
With that, she headed out. The others watched her go, then Harry sighed. "Well, she never asked about the Key of Gonebren," he commented as he gazed on the others.
"Not surprising," Tsukiko breathed out. "Gonebren is something that hasn't haunted the collective conscience of this society for three centuries, Harry-kun. It's the dark kami that lurks at the edge of your awareness. You know it's there, but you don't think about it unless it's thrust right into your face."
"Would the Queen go that far, Lady Tsukiko?" Percy wondered.
A light smile crossed the older woman's face. "Percy-dono, your Sovereign has endured a lot since she succeeded her father to the Throne of the Pendragon forty-four years ago when it comes to you wand magicals within Her Realm," she stated. "She believes — and passionately so — in the Separation Act since it's done more good than harm in the long term, even after the basic concept of magic became accepted to most normals in the 1920s thanks to the Steel Angels. But there have just been too many people in your land who've felt themselves kings of the world once they learn magic, then went forth to do all sorts of unspeakable things to innocent people who — if they were approached kindly and peacefully — would accept the existence of magic without complaint."
"'Mione and all the other normal-borns had parents who accepted it," Harry noted.
"True, but they're special cases. Look at your own uncle and aunt, Harry-kun."
He grimaced as a stormy look crossed Rose's face; if Vernon or Petunia Dursley were in front of her right now, their lives would be in mortal danger. "So the best thing to do is just keep pressing at it until people get the hint," Percy noted.
"Yeah," Harry breathed out. "That might take a while…"
Harry Potter's prediction proved quite prophetic.
The summer of 1996 saw a return to the dark days of the late 1970s, which the Death Eaters — howling like rabid dogs at the bloody nose that had been delivered to them at the Department of Mysteries — struck out to take down potentially dangerous people who could lead the Ministry of Magic in a campaign to defeat them. Tragically, one of those killed was Amelia Bones…who would be slain at Voldemort's own hand days after her meeting with the just-ennobled Marquess of Taunton Deane and Grimmauld, his sister and his new teacher at the Ministry headquarters. With the strongest and most competent voice for resistance gone, the leadership of the magical government was eventually passed on to Rufus Scrimgeour, then-Chief Auror of Britain. A man who seemed quite determined to stand up to the Death Eaters — which impressed Harry enough that he voted for him when the impeachment of Cornelius Fudge was passed — the native of Surrey soon proved to be an even worse disappointment than his predecessor.
With Cornelius Fudge, Harry later lamented, at least one knew at first glance how incompetent he was.
Or — as Harry's sister would muse in that same conversation — as the Americans would say, Rufus Scrimgeour could talk the talk…but he definitely could NOT walk the walk!
As the Boy-Who-Lived worked himself to the bone to prepare for war against the Dark Lord, the casualties kept mounting. Atop Susan Bones becoming the new Baroness of Bute because of her aunt's murder, Daphne Greengrass' parents Cyrus and Chloe died in mid-fall, ennobling her as the Countess of Mutuantonis. Soon after that, Hannah Abbott's mother Rebecca was slain, making her the new Baroness of Camden. Ernie MacMillan's parents Lewis and Anna were killed after the turn of the New Year in 1997, making him the Baron of Rosyth. Other people attending school and allying themselves with the Boy-Who-Lived lost loved ones in very much the same way, both parents — as was in the case of people like Lisa Turpin's father and mother David and Tasha and Wayne Hopkins' parents Gabriel and Dorothy — and elder siblings. Even those relatives that had just come into people's lives weren't spared; Nymphadora Tonks' parents Ted and Andromeda — the latter serving as the voting proxy for Harry in the Wizengamot because she was born a Black — would be killed by the Carrow siblings in the late spring of 1997.
But no matter what the Death Eaters did to try to force Harry's allies to abandon him, the backs of people like Susan, Daphne, Hannah, Ernie, Lisa and Wayne just stiffened more as they elected to turn the heat up on Voldemort's people inside Hogwarts itself. Those who had been marked such as Charlie Vaisey were especially vulnerable to attacks by Harry and his allies. Liberal applications of the Morsmordre Crucio on such people became practically the order of the day by the start of the New Year. Try as Albus Dumbledore — who was horrified to see that Harry and all his friends in the Defence Association were developing a lethal killing edge to their spell-work that Yomigawa Tsukiko's constant and intensive training was delivering them, augmented with wandless skills taught to them by Nekane Springfield — might to bring peace to his school, the violence kept on escalating until the marked Death Eaters within the school were driven out of Hogwarts by the time of the spring Hogsmeade weekend in early May, either fearful for their lives or in a constant state of post-Cruciatus shock.
Voldemort had anticipated this eventuality. While the Dark Lord was more than grateful for the new generation of supporters he had gained thanks to the recruiting efforts of Draco Malfoy during that year, he knew that having Harry Potter train under Yomigawa Tsukiko would make the Boy-Who-Lived a formidable foe if given the chance. And while he had hoped some of his marked followers in school might get a lucky shot in to take down some of Harry's allies, he knew that defence training had been gutted out thanks to the curse he had placed on the position of DADA professor years before; such left those NOT being in the D.A. at a terrible disadvantage. So he had Draco Malfoy — who remained unmarked, as did his friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, not to mention Theodore Nott — arrange to construct a vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement to allow same to form a warp tunnel to Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, thus bypassing Hogwarts' wards and allowing the Death Eaters to storm the castle. To ensure all would go well, another raid on Azkaban in late April saw those who had been imprisoned by the Ministry in the wake of the previous spring's defeat at the Department of Mysteries freed, thus seeing the ranks of Voldemort's experienced fighters reinforced.
While that particular attack had been a surprise to Harry and his allies, they had anticipated something like that happening. Sensor wards had been laid out throughout the castle, which would chime immediately if people possessing the Dark Mark (save for Severus Snape) or were cursed with lycanthropy (save for Remus Lupin) appeared in large masses all at once. Such finally happened in the immediate wake of a futile attempt by Albus and Harry — with Rose accompanying them — to locate one of Voldemort's horcruxes in a cave on the English channel coast in East Sussex. Discovering that the horcrux — a locket once possessed by Salazar Slytherin itself — was a fake, the party soon discovered a note inside it, signed by a mysterious "R.A.B."…
West of Eastbourne in East Sussex, Saturday 14 June 1997, before dusk…
"That's Regulus Black!"
Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter gazed wide-eyed on the latter's sister. "How did you know of Regulus, Rose?" the weakened headmaster gasped.
"I remember seeing his name on the Black family tapestry when Big Brother used his new power as the head of the House of Black to update all the names!" Rose Potter asserted as she gazed on the older man, a mixture of respect and annoyance on her face; no matter what Albus had done to Harry over the years, it was obvious to Harry's sister that the dying arch-mage still cared deeply for the younger man. "Regulus Arcturus Black! His name always stuck in my mind…!"
"Because of Kreacher!" Harry chided. "You took a shine to the old guy the instant you moved into Grimmauld, Rose!" He then blinked. "Wait a minute…"
He turned to gaze on the note just extracted from the locket taken from the cave opening onto a small beach bordering the English Channel:
To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
"He probably took it — or HAD it taken — to a place he thought would be totally safe from Voldemort!" Harry hissed as he held up the fake locket to gaze intently at it for a moment before spitting out in self-disgust. "Damn it! I KNEW I saw something like this!" To Albus. "When the Order took over Grimmauld Place, we did a massive clean-up of all the dark things that were there! A locket similar to this one…" — he shook the fake locket in his hand — "…was in the garbage pile! I then remembered Kreacher getting that locket out and taking it somewhere private! KREACHER!"
Pop! "Master Harry, what…AAAAH!"
All three turned to see a wide-eyed Kreacher — who looked a lot younger than he had appeared when the members of the Order of the Phoenix had moved into the Black family townhouse in Islington two years ago; he was also dressed in formal robes with the crest of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black of Grimmauld over his heart — gaze in fright at a place he NEVER wanted to come to again, especially in the wake of the death of his beloved Master Regulus. And while there were now tongues of magical flame leaping out of that hideous place, the memories of the awful events in the late fall of 1979 were still too fresh and too painful to cast away. Before he could flee back to the hidden townhouse in Islington, Rose placed comforting hands on the elderly house elf's shoulders. "Kreacher, it's alright," she soothed as he blinked, his body slightly glowing as a small portion of the Meridiana alumnus' own magic flooded him. Straightening himself, he turned to gaze upon his new master's wonderful crystal-blood sister given new life years ago by that delightful angel of the stars now living in Manchester, free of her cruel and evil masters. "We know what happened to Master Regulus."
Kreacher blinked before his eyes teared. "Kreacher failed…!"
"You didn't fail, Kreacher…" Albus breathed out. "You just didn't understand the sheer level of madness that Voldemort succumbed to when he perverted the ancient and benign gift of the nŏksbae into an evil monstrosity. Please — for Regulus' sake most of all — tell us: Do you still have the locket he gave up his life for?"
The house elf blinked before snapping his fingers. In a flash of light, a silver locket with emerald jewels shaped in an "S" appeared on the rock next to where Albus was now sitting as he recovered what little magic he had left after using Fiendfyre inside the cave to burn the inferi left to guard this particular jewel and the soul-fragment contained within. Harry raised his right hand to point at it. "SPIRITUS EXAMINO!"
A bolt of white light struck the locket, making it glow brightly to Harry's mage sight. On seeing that, Rose grimaced. "That's the same aura I saw in your scar, Big Brother!"
"A horcrux!" Albus breathed out. "Now, all we have to do…"
"We destroy it now."
The headmaster nodded. "Yes…we have to get to the Chamber…"
"No!" the Boy-Who-Lived snapped. "No time! We hurt Voldemort NOW, Professor! We know there'll probably be a move on Hogwarts soon with you gone from it!"
"Harry! Please! I know the risks! But we need…!"
"A soulsword."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
And then…
"Oh, Harry…why?" a pale Albus sobbed as his blue eyes teared; despite his knowing that Rose could use such a thing, he had heard nothing about anyone teaching Harry that technique. "Is that…?!"
"Professor…" the younger man breathed out. "It's not because of what you always kept from me before Sirius died! It's not because I WANT to do this! It's because I HAVE to do this! Prophecy forced me to be Voldemort's executioner! Fine! I don't like it but I accept it! When I felt the scar burned out of me by Rose last spring, I knew I found the way to do it with as minimal cost in lives as possible!"
"But a soulsword, Harry…?!" the old arch-mage moaned. "Do you have any idea at all what it takes to make such a thing?! It's worse than a killing curse!"
"Then why didn't Tsukiko-sensei or her friends eventually go insane by using soulswords in the War of Liberation, Professor?" Harry countered. "None of them did! Because — even if using a soulsword normally means someone will die — they all did something before the invasion of Vietnam in '39 to make them realize the TRUTH of what they were doing! Even you yourself realized it after the war when you were sent by the ICW to Tenmon-jinja to demand Sensei confess to war crimes!" He shook his head. "Why didn't you do it, Professor? Why didn't you touch the Tsūshō when Sensei wanted to make you see why she fought?!"
Albus gaped as the blood drained from his face, a cloak of grief for the lost innocence of this young man then flooding his weary soul as he realized how far Tsukiko had gone to prepare her new apprentice to engage in all-out war against Voldemort. Oh, dear God, he KNEW about the Crystal of Suffering! An object that was a living reflection of the pain of millions from across Africa and Asia, enslaved by those who saw themselves as "better," not caring of the native cultures and native forms of magic that had been practised by magicals from Indonesia to India and from Sudan to Rhodesia for many generations across thousands of years before the Europeans came with their "civilized" forms of spell craft. Even if he had not physically touched the Tsūshō the day Tsukiko showed him that device within the oratory of Tenmon-jinja overlooking Nagasaki in 1946, he couldn't help but FEEL the waves of unending agony that had been carefully copied into the dark meson jewel forged from particles within Tsukiko's blood…which had sealed a blood oath upon the soul of the magical samurai from Kyūshū to avenge such suffering and ensure it never would haunt future generations.
And when he moved to destroy such an accursed thing with the Elder Wand he had won from his former lover months before on the fields of Nurmengard — still believing that he was in the right despite the howls from across the planet saying how wrong he was, those protests moving to fatally cripple an already weakened International Confederation of Wizards…thus allowing a new International Conference of Magical Communities to rise in its place — the Dark Lady of the Orient calmly asked this:
"Why do you seek to destroy the truth, Albus-kun…and keep perpetuating pain?"
On hearing that calm question, the Defeater of Grindelwald gazed intently into the onyx black orbs of the last Mahō-Shōgun of Japan…and realized that no matter what he said, no matter what he did, it would all be for nought in the long term.
His mission to avenge the wrecking of the ICW had been a failure from the start.
Those liberated by his host would NEVER submit to European control again…
…and they would, to their dying breath, NEVER allow the woman who freed them all to suffer for simply doing what she believed was the right thing in the end.
Even if Gellert Grindelwald had been struck down…
…Yomigawa Tsukiko, his closest ally, had achieved an incredible triumph.
Albus then shuddered as he remembered words Gellert has said to him months before:
"You stopped me, Albus," the last Reichsmagieminister of Germany had stated with a content smile that summer evening at Nurmengard as he was prepared to face trial in Geneva by the American battle mages under the command of the extraordinary Mollie Bean, the curiously-rejuvenated veteran of the Civil War who had kept watch over the Rail-Splitter's campaign during the Score and Four against the daywalker vampires that had provoked that horrid fratricidal conflict in the United States during the early 1860s. "But the real battle was never here in Europe. It was in Asia…and by extension Africa. The Americans realized it. The Soviets realized it. Deny it all you wish, but that which you vowed to fight for is dying. My girls all struck the death blows in London and Paris and elsewhere…and even if I cannot help create the Greater Good for all of humanity, it will come. And humanity will be whole once more."
He then was jolted by Tsukiko's next words:
"You can keep denying the truth…but you know deep down what the truth is," she said. "And mark my words, Albus. Your people's arrogance — now that they are denied the chance to force their 'superior' culture on others — will make them turn inward and rip and burn away at their own culture, one born thanks to four incredible people who built a school that united all across Britain centuries before the United Kingdom came into being. I know this from talking to those of your former students who flocked to Gellert's banner when he raised it years ago." She shook her head, weariness appearing on her face…which forced Albus to remember that despite her looking like an Oriental beauty in the prime of life, Tsukiko was actually six years his senior. "No matter what Dean-san attempted to do to prepare you to overcome Gellert, a man you once loved deeply, you never could understand what the warrior's code demands. And the day will come that you will try to impose your worldview on an apprentice at a time when your society hangs on the precipice of total destruction. At that moment, you will have to ask yourself one question:
"Was the cost to preserve a lie worth it in the end…?
"…and will that apprentice be forced make the choice you couldn't force yourself to make because you denied that such a choice was needed?"
The ancient headmaster blinked as his heart seemed to chill as he looked upon the calm face of the son of James and Lily Potter. And there it was. The sad weariness that had been on Yomigawa Tsukiko's face fifty-one years before when she — with just mere words — forced him to open his eyes to the true nature of what his people in Britain and their neighbours on the Continent had unleashed across the planet for centuries. What was worse, despite his efforts after that failed mission to Japan — in Hogwarts and in the Ministry of Magic — to make people see that racial hatred and supporting violence against those who were not "pure" was NOT the path to use to live a happy life, it had ultimately been for nought. A dark lord worse than Gellert Grindelwald had risen in part because Albus hadn't taken precautions when his common sense warned him trouble could arise thanks to Thomas Marvolo Riddle…
…and now, James' and Lily's son had been forced to make a choice.
A choice forced on him thanks to Quirinus Quirrell, burned to ashes at his hands to save the Philosopher's Stone from the grasp of the body-less Voldemort…
A choice forced on him when he faced down a thousand-year basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets to save a girl he barely knew, said beast driven on by one of Voldemort's horcruxes…
A choice forced on him when — in his failure to keep the true betrayer of his parents captive when he had the chance to make sure his godfather could be part of his life — a dark and horrid ritual was used to give Voldemort his own body back, with innocent Cedric Diggory becoming the first casualty of the Second Purification War…
A choice forced on him when he learned of all the secrets that had been kept from him — out of a simple desire to stay the dark hand of Destiny from falling on his still-young shoulders — that cost him his godfather…and gained him his sister…
…and the chance to learn from someone who understood war.
There was no choice now.
There had never been a choice.
It was time to pass on the baton.
"May you succeed where I failed, Harry," the Defeater of Grindelwald conceded. "I pray it doesn't consume you as it did Gellert and Tom."
The young man who would soon be called the Man-Who-Won nodded. "Rose, Kreacher, move him to safety," he said as his magic and ki coalesced in his hand.
"ANIMAE GLADIUM!"
Seconds later, the howling wail of a dying soul fragment echoed over East Sussex…
To be continued…
WRITER'S NOTES
1) This part and the next part of the story is a special interlude that will allow me to better explain the whole history behind the Hollows of Her Majesty's Prison Gonebren…not to mention a general overview of what was called the "Second Purification War" or "Voldemort's Second War" — though more popularly known as Death Eater Season — that occurred in the summer of 1997.
2) Translations: Kendō — Literally "the way of the sword," this is the Japanese swordsmanship martial art; Iaidō — Literally "the way of mental presence and immediate reaction," this is a martial art that teaches practitioners the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, then replacing the sword in the scabbard…which, before the 1930s, was called Battōjutsu ("art of drawing the sword") as fans of Rurōni Kenshin might recognize; Aikidō — Literally "the way of unifying with life energy," this is the Japanese grappling form of martial art that teaches practitioners how to defend themselves…while ensuring they do NOT harm their opponents; T'ae Kwon-do — Literally "the way of the foot and the hand," this is the popular Korean martial art that combines sport and exercise with combat and self-defence techniques; Tàijíquán — Literally "supreme ultimate fist," this is the famous Chinese internal martial art form that emphasizes both defensive combat techniques and the maintenance of good health; Land of the Wa — Poetic name for Japan; Nebula Hypnotica — Mist of Sleep (a spell from Negima); Spiritus Examino — Spiritual Examination.
3) The names of the military geniuses noted in the first flashback scene:
Sūn Wǔ (traditional birth and death dates 544-496 B.C.E.) — known more commonly by the Wade-Giles Romanization of the term "Master Sūn," Sun Tzu (spelled in Pīnyīn format as Sūnzǐ) — was a Chinese military general who was reported to have lived during the Spring and Autumn Period (771-476 B.C.E.). He is traditionally credited as the author of the legendary treatise The Art of War (known normally in Chinese as Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ or "Master Sūn's Military Rules"), an extremely influential ancient Chinese book on strategy that impacts military thinking to this day.
George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945) — for those who don't know the man often nicknamed "Old Blood and Guts" or saw the 1970 film Patton starring George C. Scott in the title role — was the legendary commander of the Third United States Army from shortly after D-Day in the summer of 1944 to the end of World War Two in Europe almost a year later. A brash, outspoken and sometimes undisciplined romantic who believed that he had been resurrected time and time again to fight wars, he also led the American forces in the invasion of North Africa in 1942 and the invasion of Sicily a year later. He is perhaps the most successful field army commander in American history.
Hans von Dach (1927-2003) was a Swiss military theorist. He was the author of the seminal treatise on guerrilla warfare, Total Resistance, that was published in seven volumes in 1957. Von Dach was scorned by his fellow Swiss Army officers because of his radical idea of actually going AGAINST the standard rules of warfare — this resulted in his never being promoted beyond the rank of major from 1963 to his retirement in 1988 — and tossing aside the Cold War-influenced strategy the Swiss military leadership advocated in the defence of their nation against possible invasion from outside powers, especially if the Warsaw Pact overran NATO in World War Three.
Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) was the famous Yugoslav Partisan leader that led a brutal guerrilla war against the Nazis during the Second World War in the "Yugoslav Theatre" between 1941-45. The actions of his troops detained thousands of German troops that might have proven more useful elsewhere. Because of that, he became the effective dictator of Yugoslavia from the time his country was liberated by the Red Army to his death thirty-five years later. Tito was also the first world leader to break away from siding either with the West or the East — he was a Communist — and, by doing so, created a "Third World" collection of nations not bound to either Washington or Moscow.
Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950) was a white South African commando leader during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) for the state of Transvaal in an unsuccessful resistance against British domination of the southern part of Africa. However, after peace was made and the Union of South Africa was formed, Smuts worked to make it a self-sustaining and self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth. He served as Prime Minister for two terms (1919-24 and 1939-48) and was a soldier serving as a leader of South African troops fighting alongside the British Army in both World Wars, eventually reaching the honorary rank of lieutenant general by the end of the Great War and field marshal at the end of the Second World War.
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (1879-1919) was a prominent leader of the Mexican Revolution from 1910-20, fighting to overthrow the autocratic government that had ruled that country for thirty-five years prior. A revered figure in his homeland to this very day, he led rebels — nicknamed Zapatistas and formally known as the Ejército Libertador del Sur ("Liberation Army of the South") — to force land reform and allow the poor to have better control over their lives. Sadly, Zapata would be tricked into attending a peace conference with his opposite number; on his arrival at the place where the meeting was to happen, his car was riddled by bullets.
Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911-2013) was a freedom fighter who fought against the French moving to take back control of his homeland in the First Indochina War (1946-54) and later against the Americans and their allies during the Vietnam War (1960-75). He was the genius behind engagements like the battle of Ðiện Biên Phủ (13 March-7 May 1954) that broke the back of the French…and the Tết Offensive launched on the Vietnamese New Year (30 January 1968) that caught the Americans and the South Vietnamese totally off-guard. He also led the final offensive that conquered South Vietnam in 1975. He retired from active duty in 1991 at the rank of general.
4) Harry Potter character and location notes notes:
Michelle Truman is my own creation. However, her brother Gabriel Truman was a Hufflepuff prefect who might have been one of the unnamed characters in the LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 video game and was mentioned in Pottermore. He got into trouble with a Ravenclaw prefect concerning which house the classical arithmancy mistress Bridget Wenlock (1202-86) — mentioned in video games based on the first three novels — was as a student; to confirm, Madame Wenlock was a badger.
The exact location of the village of Tinworth was never stated in the Harry Potter novels, save for the fact that it was on the seashore in Cornwall.
The Circle of Justice appeared in The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone in the scene where Vanessa Zabini's would-be lover Melvin Kneen — there, I called him "Martin" — was tried for his torturing both his family and normal girls in hopes of creating a magical biological weapon to destroy all the normals. The Curse of Maha was also introduced in that story; I based this concept on the character of Maya from the 1994 Pink Pineapple adult five episode OVA series Inma Yōjo (known in English as "The Erotic Temptress") and how her very existence caused others around her to die.
The name I gave to the Bloody Baron here — Ælfweard Cerdic — is my creation. It was also used in TI&tPS. There, he was greeted as such by Hirosaki Chikage (from Sister Princess) when the Hogwarts ghosts all descended on the foyer next to the Great Hall before the Sorting.
Marcus Belby was first introduced in Half-Blood Prince. He is the nephew of the man who created the Wolfsbane Potion that helps lycanthropes endure the full moon transformations while keeping their human mind in control over the wolf's body, Damocles Belby (the family name is, of course, based on Marcus' family name).
Maxine O'Flaherty was a character from the video game Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Windows and XBox formats. I used her in TI&tPS. In that, I put her a year ahead of Harry Potter's class.
The note written by Regulus Black to Voldemort as found in the fake locket horcrux is directly quoted from Half-Blood Prince. As an aside, the location of the cave where Salazar Slytherin's Locket was placed by the Dark Lord was never given in HBP; the location given here is my invention, first used in TI&tPS.
5) A First Officer in the Woman's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS, nicknamed the "Wrens" as members of their British sister service were also called) — the Royal Canadian Navy's women's division during and after World War Two — is the equivalent of a lieutenant commander in the regular Navy (NATO rank code OF-3).
6) The Barony of Rosyth (Ernie MacMillan) is named after the Scottish seaport village and former naval dockyard located on the Firth of Forth across from Edinburgh; its name in Scots Gaelic is Ros Fhìobh. The Rosyth Dockyard was first opened in 1909 thanks to the build-up to World War One and was turned over to civilian control in 1987.
