Note: Unedited. No Beta. Alternate Dimension. MOD Harry. Mentions (implied or direct) of Slash. Slow update.
Of Magic and Death
05:
There was tension that lingered around his dad and uncle and aunt after that day in Diagon Alley. And he didn't know why it existed in the first place. He might have been older than his current age, but he was never that perceptive. That particular trait was in Hermione. And he wasn't even being humble because it was true. Even when he was extremely observant, he never stuck to his drawn conclusion without all the facts.
He was different than his previous kid self that rushes towards a situation without any facts. He learned. And he wouldn't return to that kind of attitude anytime soon.
And if he thought that his dad's unusual attitude in Diagon Alley had anything to do with Tom... well, he'd just have to investigate it then.
As none would tell either him or Harry what was wrong, he just buried himself in researching about the different schools he hadn't known in his own timeline.
He received no less than five invitation letters. Of course the prominent one was Hogwarts. And he had every intention of attending the school this coming year. If only to see the school and to feel out the people he knew there, especially Dumbledore. Oh right, the Headmaster wasn't really that big of a threat... at the moment. His previous headmaster wasn't a threat to him before too. He was as light and misguidedly good as a naïve first year.
That was what he had thought though before he found out about all he had done in his life. So he wasn't so sure about his counterpart either.
Best to know about him early.
And if he wanted to know more about him in another's perspective, he could just ask his dad later.
There were letters from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in America, Siren's Academy in Iceland and Osiris Temple from Egypt. There were also Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland and Magus Institute in an apparently unknown location.
Out of the five, he only ever knew Hogwarts. He thought only Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were the only wizarding school in the whole world. With the letters he had received, he thought wrong. Now he felt so inadequate for not knowing these schools.
'Or perhaps Dumbledore did everything he could so I would enter Hogwarts. He did do everything to have me under his control' Just the thought was making his magic stir angrily in the surface.
With this much anger and betrayal he felt, he knew that even if Dumbledore were good here, he would always second-guess everything Dumbledore said. He would never probably listen to him that well, even if the advice seemed sound. Because he would be too paranoid to look for any manipulative actions behind his words.
There's just too much history between him and the name Albus Dumbledore. 'I have to control my temper'
The three unknown school's information wasn't seen anywhere in Diagon Alley and he had to force his dad to buy the informative books in a bookstore in Diagon Alley. Dad wouldn't even step foot there if he hadn't told him he would go there if he had to.
He felt bad though when his dad arrived as if he was trying to calm himself. He also had a crying fit and held him for the entire day, as if he would disappear any minute and wanted him to remain in his side.
It made him extremely worried. What could have made his dad act like that? The only ever tme he became so emotional was when it came to him and his... father...
At that thought, he just kept quiet and held his dad close to him too.
He had wanted to give his father a second chance at what his father had apparently done to drive his dad away from him as he had every intention of wanting to know who his father was. He wanted a family and he knew his dad loved his father very much so he didn't want to close his father of his life. That was the reason why he always wanted to ask some small things or information about his father.
But if his dad always react like this when his father was concerned... he would abandon his quest of finding his father.
Finding a man that made his dad so emotional was not worth it. He wanted a family, true. But he had Sirius as his dad. He's brilliant and loved him too much. That was more than enough for him.
If he could make his dad happy without mentioning his father, he might as well stop looking.
His dad's happiness was more important than finding someone who hadn't been there his whole life.
. . . . .
"You won't look for him anymore Master?"
"Look for whom?" Harry asked. They were currently inside his mindscape that looked like the replica of Hogwarts in his own dimension. In the real world, Castor was sleeping as it's already time for his sleep. They sometimes meet inside his mindscape as whenever Death visited, he always woke up feeling refreshed.
"Your father?" Death asked. He opened his closed eyes and those green orbs looked at Death's rather entirely black eyes calmly.
"No,"
"I see..." Harry relaxed and closed his eyes once again, making sure that he was comfortable lying on Death's lap for the duration of his stay in his own mindscape with Death as a companion. "Are you sure?"
Harry just nodded.
. . . . .
"I want to go to Hogwarts dad," he said the next day at breakfast with his dad in the Black Manor that Uncle Regulus gave to them when he took over as the Lord Black. His grandmother – the first time he realized that he had to use the term, he was horrified and frankly felt disturbed – Walburga Black had been shrieking at the top of her lungs at what her 'outstanding good son' had done. Uncle Regulus had even made sure that his dad got back his shares in the Black family fortune along with putting his name back in the family tree despite grandmother's protest.
Uncle had never listened to grandmother after he was announced as Lord Black.
Grandfather Orion had apparently approved of what Uncle Regulus had done.
He still wasn't sure what made the Black's different in this dimension. He's just glad that they weren't like before, even if the Black madness were still quite active in the gene if Aunt Bellatrix' attitude was anything to go by.
The Black family's motto was even different from his own dimension. The motto 'Toujours Pur' (always pure) was changed to 'La Famille D'abord' (family first). And it aptly fit the Black family here as even the – admittedly and very obviously – crazy Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black was loyal to the Black family. She was even the one his dad had been closest to from the Black sisters, which had really disturbed and horrified him when he found out his dad and the woman who had killed his Godfather before were like best friends here. Though his grandmother couldn't seem to understand and follow their motto.
Grandmother Walburga's death in the unmerciful hands of muggle disease called Cancer when he was five years old had made him very happy without even feeling the slightest of guilt. She deserved it for all the nasty things she had done and said to his dad.
He noted those distinct differences in the Black family as an example of how this dimension could be massively different from his previous one and made himself be cautious of everything.
"Hogwarts?" dad whispered in disbelief, his face paling. Castor blinked before his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
His dad shouldn't be looking like that. It was a foregone conclusion anyway that he would go to Hogwarts. His dad knew of his desire to attend the school where he had attended. He had already told him before when he was still a three-year-old kid and was regaled with stories about his time in the school.
Besides, Hogwarts was like his home. It would be nice to get there even if it's just for a year.
Besides, he could observe Dumbledore's attitude and personality first hand there. And if he found something that would remind him of all the unpleasantness of his dimension-Dumbledore, he'd be out of there before said elderly wizard ever grab him to be used.
That's how disillusioned he is of the supposedly Leader of the Light.
"Yes," he replied, ignoring his dad's unusual reaction for now. "I wanted to see the school you've been telling me about. Hogwarts sounded really interesting too from my research," he added.
And it was. The curriculum of Hogwarts were more fulfilling and informative than in his own dimension.
There were additional subjects like 'The Art of Fencing', 'Duel Tactics' and 'SoulFire Manipulation'. He wanted to take those subjects, especially the SoulFire as this was the VERY first time he ever heard of it.
Even some of the core subjects were different. For example, there wasn't 'Muggle Studies'. Instead, there was 'Muggle Integration' for anyone who was born and raised in the magical world and 'Magical Traditions' for those raised in non-magical environment.
The differences in here and the other dimension was fascinating.
"What- what about the other acceptance letter you received?"
"Well... they're nice. And Magus is really interesting. They apparently have almost all subjects there. I get to choose my own courses and our year level depends on our performance, not age," he told his dad. Magus was like a dream come true for him. It was really interesting and he wouldn't mind studying there. But...
He still wanted to stay and study in Hogwarts... It was physically and mentally impossible for him to ignore the school as he had treated Hogwarts as his home back then.
His fondness never faded.
"Magus... that unknown school?" dad asked, confused. Castor nodded.
"What about the others?"
"They have nice course work but Magus appealed to me," he stated. He then looked at his dad closely in the eye and said quite seriously. "And I know you were the one who had asked for an acceptance letter from the other three schools, am I right dad? That was what the written forms and 'exams' were all about am I right?"
His dad nodded almost sheepishly. He released a puff of breath.
He had been confused when his dad had just told him to get dressed and then had him take an exam in different parts of the world without any explanation. He was tired and drained after each exams that he just rested every time they came home.
They were mind inducing.
Well, except for Magus. It wasn't a part of the tests as even dad was puzzled about that acceptance letter.
"Why?"
His dad stared at him, eyes questioning. He resisted the urge to sigh.
"Dad, why did you have me take entrance tests on those schools? It was almost like you didn't want me to attend Hogwarts..." when his dad looked a little guilty and his eyes shifted to his sides, he instantly knew that his assumptions weren't unfounded.
He hit the right mark.
He walked towards his dad and knelt in front of him, who was seating on the sofa still looking pale. He held his hand and looked into his dad's eye.
"What's wrong dad?" he asked. He was wondering why dad looked like he was panicking right at that moment. Why didn't he want him to go to Hogwarts? Is something wrong there? Was the Headmaster not trustworthy after all and that his dad caught onto it? Did something traumatizing happened there?
But if there is, dad wouldn't have told me any stories about Hogwarts. Come to think of it, dad wouldn't have told me any stories about how amazing Hogwarts would be if he didn't want me to attend right from the start.
"Is this a new development dad? Is your reluctance just recent? Because if not, you wouldn't have told me any stories about Hogwarts. Did something happen? Is Hogwarts dangerous? Is there any untrustworthy person there?" Let's hope it's not Dumbledore, he added inside his mind.
Dad just smiled at him in melancholy. "You're smarter than your dad Castor. Just like your father..." his dad grimaced and he fought the urge to flinch.
He really didn't like reminding his dad about his other parent. Especially if this was how his dad was going to react every time he was mentioned within his dad's hearing.
It only cemented his decision not to know anything about his father.
"You really don't want me to attend Hogwarts, am I right dad?" his dad gave a weary sigh and nodded a little.
"Okay," dad's head snapped to look at him with wide, hopeful eyes and he winced a little. Because he knew what he would say next would dim that hope from his eyes. But he had to do it.
Just for a year. He had to see if Dumbledore could still be a threat to his family. Also, he wanted to know why his dad didn't want him to attend the school.
"I'll attend just for a year dad. Then I'll transfer to Magus," When he said that he'd be attending Hogwarts, his dad predictable wilted but immediately smiled widely when he said he's only going to stay for a year and then transfer.
He could work this out.
TBC.
A/N:
Sorry for the late update. My laziness caught up with me. I admit, this wasn't much but at least it's here.
Next chapter: Castor goes to Hogwarts.
Btw, the schools I mentioned aren't mine. They were taken from a specific story... (I forgot the title. I'll mention it in the next chapter). Magus though was mine.
Okay, enough about that. Gonna review?