War sage
I hope you like this chapter just as much.
douchiesnacks
Thanks.
Lord Edric
I don't think Dumbledore actually created the problem he fixed. Grindlewad was already set on his path before he met Dumbledore he got kicked out of a school which teaches the dark arts for doing dark arts after all so he must have been bad from the start.
You could say Dumbledore made it worse but I don't think he ever would of gone as far as to actually try to enslave the muggles and take the Wizarding World. It seemed to me that Dumbledore was a lonely young man who fell in love and was blinded by that love. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened to someone. I've known more than a few girls who got into legal trouble because of their bad boy boyfriends. Dumbledore should of known better but then so should every woman who ends with an abusive man for a lover.
If your talking about Riddle. Again I don't think Dumbledore is to blame. Sure he made it worse by not killing Riddle or locking him up with Grindlewald before Riddle even became a Dark Lord but Dumbledore didn't create these monsters.
Grindelwald was carving his Dark Lord symbol into the walls of his school long before he met Dumbledore he was a known sadist at his school and nearly killed a few people.
As for Voldemort well is the product of being born under the effects of love potion, being too powerful and being too afraid of death. The guy murdered what was left of his family before he was even out of school.
No Dumbledore didn't create these threats but he may of used to them to advance himself into power.
As for your idea of using V it would only work if Dumbledore, Voldemort and Potter were gone. Voldemort would destroy any rival group to his Death Eaters and Dumbledore would never let himself be replaced my anyone but Potter. And if Potter is around everyone will turn to him in the hopes that he will defeat the new threat.
A sane Luna scares me as well and I have to write her but my version of insane adult Luna would make Bellatrix look like an angry puppy. One traumatic push would be all it takes (evil smile)
A.W
The last chapter was more about setting up future chapters like this one. And lots of people don't read author notes. I'm guilty of it myself.
Yeah I've noticed that about Harry Potter fan fics. They tend to stick to the cannon plot as closely as possible. In my view that's fine when you start but as time passes things would get more and more different.
I on the other hand totally screwed with the time line by making sure the Chamber never opened. Of course that made things worse, depending on your point of view, as a student actually died rather than a few people ending up getting turned to stone.
However in the end it didn't change much at least not so far. Black still escaped and the diary Horcrux was still destroyed. And If Gothic doesn't do anything about Wormtail the rat could still escape and work to restore Voldemort to life. But even if Wormtail dies or gets locked up and Sirus is set free. Barty Crouch Junior could still end up aiding his master its just that he won't be pretending to be Moody so Voldemort will have to come up with a different plan to get Potter to the graveyard.
There's a theory about altering the past that states that someone altering past events is like throwing a stone into a pound. At first it creates a lot of ripples (changes) but things then calm down and nothing the person who changed the past events has done seems to have any real impact at all.
If that theory is true rather than the Butterfly effect that it would justify why so many Potter fan fics involving time travel follow the cannon plot so much.
And of course you have things like fate and destiny to take into account also there is that whole prophecy issue.
Check the author note.
Guest
Not directly but in this chapter you will see that Gothic's and Luna's actions did draw attention of the teachers. But not in a bad way.
The First Gothic. Book One. A Wizard In Training. Part 13.
Ottery St. Catchpole. Devon, England. The Wizarding World.
While it was very nice to be out of school for the holidays I didn't think I'd ever get use to attending Christmas parties or having to wear dress robes. Any party where the men show off as much of their legs as the women do is just bad in my view. But I had to grin and bare it.
The Diggory Christmas party was far less casual this year due to there being more important guests than normal. Something Mrs. Diggory took delight in as last year half the Hogwarts staff hadn't been here and neither had the Minister for Magic.
Their presence here was partly my fault as twice so far this year I'd beaten back the Dementors while seeming to protect the younger students. Really I'd mostly been protecting myself and Luna but if I saved the souls of any children as well that was a nice bonus.
The first time I'd played the hero had been mostly ignored, aside from gaining Luna and I some house points which I really don't care about. Mostly a fuss hadn't been made because few people had actually seen anything and Lupin had realised that neither Luna or myself wanted a lot of fuss made so he'd kindly not gone around telling people about it.
Of course that hadn't stopped the whole school talking about but when combined with the news that I was now the richest kid in the school the whole saving the train thing hadn't seemed that important it had just enhanced my reputation even further. I'd had to politely refuse quite a few Christmas party invitations.
There had been some talk of a special services to the school award after the train ride but there was some sort of rule that stated that the award could only be given for actions the students made while in the school or by representing the school. Neither of which applied during the ride to school on the Hogwarts Express.
However the second time Luna and I had tackled the Dementors the entire school had been there as well as a handful of VIPs. Some of them had seen Luna and I protect an entire stand of children. The fact that the teacher had actually been the ones to drive the demons away wasn't taken into account.
One of those VIPs had been Fudge the Minister Of Magic who was currently heading right for me with a big grin on his face.
I'd predicated that the Minister would approach me at some point in the hopes of gaining access once more to the Malfoy fortune. I'd even guessed that it would at Christmas time and Luna had confirmed this. But I'd never guessed that he'd be approaching me privately after publicly awarding Luna and I the Order Of Merlin Third Class for defending our fellow students. Luna hadn't seen it coming either, but no one is perfect.
"Ah Damien there you are" said the Minister with a grin plastered across his face "I've been looking for you. I was just speaking to Dumbledore and he told me that you and Miss. Lovegood will be getting that Special Services to the School Award after all but you'll have to wait till you return to Hogwarts".
Oh great more attention that was just what I needed.
"That's great Minister" I replied lying through my teeth.
"Oh that's not all Damien" said the Minster who was still smiling in that way politicians do which never failed to creep me out "Between you and Miss. Lovegood you have earned two hundred house points so its safe to say that Ravenclaw will be winning the House Cup this year".
I really couldn't of cared less about House Points and I failed to hide my lack of interest. Thankfully the Minister didn't pick on what I was really feeling.
"Is something the matter Damien?" asked the Minister.
I lied quickly
"Oh I was just thinking that with that many house points that the other students might start to think that its not worth trying to win the cup at all".
The Minister acted as if my views actually mattered.
"Well I'll mention it to Dumbledore but I'm sure he knows what he is doing".
A sentiment I did not share.
"It was his idea after all" added Fudge
Damn it! I really didn't want Dumbledore to noticed me.
"Really" I said hoping that my concerned shock came off as mere surprise "I didn't think the headmaster would of even noticed me I'm just a second year after all".
"Of course he noticed" assured Fudge although I didn't feel assured "they have been talking about you and Miss. Lovegood all evening. Your head of house was even suggesting that the both of you be moved up a year of course if that does happen it will have to happen quickly as you'd of missed a couple of months worth of your electives. Would skipping a year interest you Damien?".
I gave it some thought.
In the third year Hogwarts students picked two extra classes to take OWLs for along with the normal classes. So if Luna and I did move up a year we'd not only be doing more advanced work for the classes we were already in but we'd also start two new classes after they had already covered the basics.
I wouldn't protest this as I found the school work rather easy. Compared to college level work first and second year high school work was far to simple for my tastes.
During my college years I'd been able to write up five thousand word essay in one evening after having done all the research before dinner. In comparison a few inches of homework was no challenge at all. I couldn't speak for Luna but I got the sense that the school work wasn't exactly taxing her much either.
Still I couldn't help but wonder if the teachers just saw Luna and I as a couple of gifted students deserving of advancement or if they had suspicions about us.
It was highly doubtful that they had knew the truth after the idea that I was from the future of another universe were this world was all fiction and that Luna was a true Seer who could examine possible time lines was rather ridiculous. But they might suspect that Luna and I were behind the Outcast newsletter.
The clues were there. Luna's Dad published the Quibbler which meant that she had the access required printing press. Luna was a bright young student who expressed her views and had inside information about what was going on the school. I was here best friend and also considered to be smart so naturally I could be involved. We were both also friends with two girls who were known for their skills in gossiping. It really wasn't that hard to figure out.
Thankfully nothing we were doing was illegal or even against school rules. Plus nobody had any proof since they hadn't found out how the Outcast newsletter was finding its way into people's hands.
"Well I think I could cope with moving up a year" I said to the Minister who was waiting for me to say something "I can't speak for Luna of course but she's smarter than me so I'm sure she could handle it".
I might actually be smarter than her but I had more years of experience to call upon which gave me an edge.
"Oh I already spoke with Mr. Lovegood. I found him before I spotted you" explained the Minister.
Hardly surprising given his outfit. Not many people wore tinsel sown into their dress robes after all.
"He thinks that it is a wonderful idea for his daughter to move a year up but it only made sense if both of you wished. I wanted to see what you thought before I brought it up with Dumbledore again".
This guy really wanted to get on my good side and that worried me because I didn't have access to the Mafloy money yet. He had to know that I couldn't bribe him like Lucy 'isn't my hair effeminate' Malfoy I just didn't have that kind of cash to throw around at least not for another four or five years.
It was possible that he was thinking long term. By getting into my good books now and by doing me favours he might be thinking that in a few years when I had the money that I'd want to return the favours. If so Fudge was smarter than he looked.
Also if this was true then I might as well take advantage since if events stayed on track he wouldn't be in office by the time I turned seventeen. And even if was I could afford to repay him. Plus if things got out of hand I still had my escape hatch. That made me worry about the future a lot less.
"Well were Luna goes I go" I told the Minister.
"Wonderful" replied Fudge "I'll talk to Dumbledore about this later. For now I wanted to ask for a favour Damien".
Here it came. What was this going to cost me?
"As you might be aware England will be hosting the final match of the World Cup next summer and there is another event taking place soon after that which will involve a lot of work with the Ministries counterparts in Europe".
Well Britain was part of Europe so I assumed he meant the rest of Europe namely the two countries that the other schools taking part in the Triwizard Tournament were in.
"Now I had arrangement with Lucius Malfoy. He was going to pay host to some of the more important foreign diplomats. But due to his passing the home is no longer open for us to use. So what I was hoping was that you would allow the Ministry to make use of what is now called Mason Manor to house our nation's guests for the World Cup and for the event to follow".
Well that wasn't to bad. I'd thought that the Minister's favours would be more costly but I was getting an award and a chance to skip a year of school all in exchange for letting the Ministry use a house I had no intention of stepping foot in. At least not until I was an adult.
Still I wished they'd asked my permission before they went and cleaned out the place out of dark artefacts. Although thinking on it that raid made a lot more sense now. Fudge had planned this all in advance.
I was surprised that was actually bothering to ask permission. Madam Longbottom must of kicked up a fuss about the raid. Or maybe teachers had told Fudge that I was behind the Outcast newsletter. Which would make him ask me nicely so I didn't kick up a fuss by mentioning in the newsletter. Also it could be that the law did allow them to raid a property without a warrant but it didn't allow them to make use of private properties without permission.
"Of course Minister" I replied with false cheerfulness "I have other arrangements for housing until I leave school and as far as I am aware no one is actually using the house so I see no reason why it can't be used by the Ministry. Madam Longbottom is taking care of things for me so you might need to talk to her to make sure the Manor is stocked..."
Fudge interrupted.
"Oh there's no need to worry about the details Damien" he assured "I have people you will ensure that the house is kept clean and well stocked. We'll even compensate you for any damage and have the place cleaned top to bottom once were done with it".
More likely the House Elves would be doing all that.
I noticed that my head of house was standing behind Fudge. Either he had something important to discuss with me or he was worried about the Minister taking advantage of me. I suspected that it was both Fudge wasn't know for caring about the opinions of children.
Skilfully Dumbledore moved in to distract the Minister while Professor Flitwick tool me aside.
"Damien I need a quick word with you" said the part goblin teacher".
Teachers wanting a quick word with me was in my experience rarely a good thing. I was starting to wonder if I should just steal a bottle of Firewhisky and find somewhere to hide for the rest of the night.
"What would you like to talk about, sir? I asked the pint sized professor.
Flitwick was normally quite a jolly fellow. He was rare for him to raise his voice when talking to his students and he taught in a way that was both entertaining and informative. But right now he looked every bit the serious adult.
"Its about you and Miss. Lovegood moving up a year. It was my idea and I think it is a good one".
So Fudge was telling the truth about that. I'd assumed he'd tried to arrange it in order to get on my good side.
"You both have the highest grades seen in years and I have noticed that you have both made friends with students in the third year".
That was true. Aside from Ginny I had no friends in my year. I wasn't even that close to Ginny as she was Luna's friend really. Plus her crush on Potter was annoying to say the least. She never said anything about it to me or to Neville as far as I knew but I'd overheard things she'd said to Luna. She seemed convinced that she would marry the Boy-Who-Lived despite having a said total of three words to him while in my presence. I found Susan and Hannah far more likeable company despite the fact that they could both gossip at an Olympic level.
"I'm up for it sir" I told the Charms teacher before he could ask "to be honest so far the school work has been a little to easy for me".
Professor Flitwick nodded.
"I suspected as much. Neither you or Miss. Lovegood seemed to struggle with your exams or any homework and your clearly having problem relating to your classmates".
In their defence your first year at a boarding school is never easy. Back then lot of my fellow first year Claws had been adjusting to the work pace while battling home sickness. Even the Purebloods had needed time to get use to using so much magic. The books and the films don't make you realise how hard Hogwarts is to get us to using magic Muggleborns have to deal with that a lot of what they thought as impossible is possible. Trying to master magical powers while finding yourself a place socially and its no wonder I avoided them I just wouldn't of been able to cope with the angst they were producing.
"The Headmaster has left it up to me to deal with" explained the Charms teacher "I think having you both move up a year is for the best. I'll make the arrangements so that you can start your third year after the holidays".
I nodded to show my agreement.
"Now to your electives. Miss Lovegood is taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Which I'm sure you already knew".
She had mentioned she planned to take those subjects and I did not envy her. From what I'd heard both classes were really tough.
"Now before he died your Father filled out the needed paper work. You can of course change your electives but that would against your Father's will".
Which would mean I wouldn't inherit the Mason family fortune. Although even if the will wasn't followed there wasn't anyone else to alive to take the money so really it was a matter of honouring the will. Even in the event that someone had a claim to that fortune (which was unlikely given that any adult closely related enough to me to get the money would also be responsible for my care due to Wizarding law) I still had the Malfoy family fortune. But being able to decide what exams I took wasn't worth forfeiting my inheritance over.
Also since forfeiting the will that would also mean getting kicked out the family (and the end of the family as well) I'd legally be required to call myself Damien Malfoy and there was no way that was ever happing.
"So your electives will be Divination and Care Of Magical Creatures. Both classes aren't very popular with Ravenclaw students" pointed out the teacher "so you'll find yourself sharing those classes with more than the Hufflepuffs".
I really didn't want to take Divination but Care Off Magical Creatures wouldn't be so bad and at least I didn't have take Muggle Studies that would be a total waste of my time.
Normally the Badgers and the Claws shared classes. So it would interesting to share classes with the Lions and the Snakes. Watching those two houses mix it up was often amusing.
"Your Father also arranged what NEWTs you would take but he took into account that you could only take certain NEWTs if you OWL grades are high enough. So you are only required to take NEWTs for Transfiguration, Charms, Defence and Potions"
Flitwick seemed rather annoyed about this. Perhaps it was rare for parents to decide what NEWTs their children took.
"If you don't you forfeit your inheritance. That's rather strict in my opinion but I don't think you will have any trouble. Obviously you don't need to pass those NEWT classes to inherit as you will turn seventeen before the exams take place".
That took some of the pressure off and I didn't fall to notice that since it was the Traveller who had actually sorted all this out what he had arranged things so that if I did skip a year I'd be in the all same classes as Harry Potter.
Given what the Traveller could do it wouldn't surprise me if had aided in putting me forward a year although I suspected that he had just foreseen that this could happen and had just made arrangements for it. But even if he had arranged all of this I wasn't complaining. A year less at Hogwarts suited me fine.
This also all meant I could be lazy and only take four NEWTs. I'd be encouraged to take five as the best jobs required at least five NEWTs but I didn't care.
Professor Flitwick turned to leave but stopped himself as he had something else to say.
"Now just remember that changing years isn't easy. If you want to come back to the second year its best to do quickly. We can call the first couple of weeks a trail run so you can change your mind without to much trouble during those two weeks. And you can always repeat the third year if doesn't work out in the long run but it would be best to finish out the year".
When the part goblin left I breathed out a sigh and found somewhere quieter to be.
"Ah Damien there you are".
Oh no not another one.
I turned to the speaker and saw that it was Albus Dumbledore
Oh fuck.
"I wondered if we might discuss a few things. Let us take a walk"
Oh double fuck
"Sure Headmaster" I said as the old man started to led me around the corridors of the Diggory's stately home.
"You know Damien that its been a long time since a young man skipped a year at Hogwarts. The last time a boy did so was back just before I became Headmaster. In fact protested that course of action".
The identity of that boy wasn't hard to guess.
"You see I refused the chance to skip a year wanting to spend more time at the school. Hogwarts has always been home to me. Aside form the dorm rooms I never did enough sharing a bedroom",
Personally I saw the place as more of a badly run insane asylum rather than a home. Then again I shouldn't judge my actual family had always a bit nuts I'd even called the home I'd grown up an asylum.
"Like you I was top of my class and made a good friend on my very first day. Despite some family issues I was well liked by my peers even if I did feel distant towards them. Again much like you".
This was not what I had thought he would talk about.
"And again like you I did not find my school work challenging so I found other things to occupy my time".
Damn he did know that I was behind the newsletter.
"Another brilliant man who again was not that different from you also rapidly surpassed his peers and began to experiment with things best not experimented with".
He meant Riddle I was sure of it. We both orphans in this world. Known to be half bloods (although technically I was a Muggleborn) smarter than those our age and also able to manipulate them with ease.
"Now unlike yourself and the young man you remind me off. I directed my energies to winning awards and getting published in some of the legitimate magazines of the time".
That remark made me think that he really did know that I was behind the Outcast newsletter so I avoided eye contact so couldn't read my mind not that I was sure that it worked that way.
Of course if he read that false mind he might think that I wasn't behind the Outcast newsletter after all which would likely led any investigation astray but I didn't what he would see so it was best to avoid eye contact and hoped that it worked that way.
Still if did think I was behind the newsletter he might think that I was just trying to exercise my intellectual muscles if so he wouldn't worry to much about the newsletter. Then again given that he seemed to trying guide to more legitimate writing he might already be concerned about the newsletter.
I'd have to tread carefully here or I could just mess with the old fart.
"So you think I should try and win some awards" I said slowly "I already won a Merlin 3rd Class what would get me a second or third?"
After pretending to give it some thought I added
"I could try to capture Black that would get me at least a 2nd class".
"No, no" insisted Dumbledore " I was referring to academic awards. Hogwarts offers a large range of optional part time classes as well as clubs which give our students ample chance to win awards. For example we have music and art classes open to third years and above. You could find many ways to occupy your time".
The Headmaster must really be worried that I would start messing with the Dark Arts. It made sense as from his point of view I was brilliant but also young and possibly naïve. Most people at the age I looked do tend to rush into things without thinking about the consequences. I did know that messing around with forbidden magic could cause problems but he didn't know that I knew and really I shouldn't know.
Something then popped into my head.
"What about Hogsmede weekends?" I asked "If I'm in third year can I join the rest of the third years when they leave the castle".
For a moment I'd thought he'd say no as while I would in third year I wasn't as old (physically) as the third year students but for reasons I could guess he said yes.
"Well you have the signed form. And you are mature for your age. Miss Lovegood can also go if she gets permission. As long as you go together and don't wander too far I see no reason why not".
Thank goddess Ravenclaw male students learn quickly to ward their beds and to cast privacy charms. The second years students were really going to hate me for this and I'd need the defences. Ravenclaws could be quite cruel when bullying and I suspected most of my peers were going to be really jealous.
Not that the reason we quickly learned those charms was to stop bullying getting privacy was very important to teenage boys. I'd even taught them to poor Neville as if anyone needed to block the noises Ron the ginger prat made it was Neville.
"Well I'll look into those clubs and such when I get back to school Professor" I promised "I'm rather good on the guitar maybe I'll take it up again".
Actually I just knew a Discworld spell that would allow to play the guitar like a pro for a few hours. Like all their spells any action tended to have a reaction so some poor bloke would lose his talent for a few hours but I didn't care it wasn't as if I planning to become a rock star.
"Very good Damien" said the Headmaster with a smile "and why don't you check out a few of the magazines in the school library. There are some good opportunities to make oneself heard in them. I myself am rather found of Transfiguration Today".
We walked in silence for a while until Dumbledore mentioned something I wanted to hear.
"Oh and I thought you'd like to know that Hogwarts will no longer being playing host to the Dementors. Its seems that a lot of concerned parents wrote to the Minsiter demanding that the Dementors be removed".
I actually had a way to kill the evil creatures but having them sent away was just as good for now but the next time one of those foul things came near me it would die. Well it would be utterly destroyed but that was fine with me.
Somewhere along the way we'd turned around and ended up back in the ballroom we'd left. How the Headmaster had navigated us both back to this point I didn't know, this house was a maze but he ended parting ways with me right were Luna was standing but not before he gave me one more piece of advice.
"Remember Damien that your chances for becoming Prefect and perhaps even Headboy depend on you not only working hard but also becoming a proper part of the school".
Neither of those positions meant anything to me. Being a Prefect could have its advantages but the actually role would be a means to an end not in of itself an honour.
"What did that senile old man want?" demanded Luna to know in an angry voice.
Her attitude shocked me I'd never heard her speak like that. I'd heard her argue before but never before had she ever sounded so angry.
I moved over to the corner of the roof and I used the muffliato spell to ensure that we wouldn't be overheard. I could get away with doing magic out of school because according my research the Trace only detected magic done around a minor not the magic the minor did. It also could detect if there were other wand using people around the minor. So as long as I was in area were magic was being used frequently, like the home of a family of Purebloods or Digon Alley, I could do all the spells I wished.
"Are you moving up a year?" I asked Luna once I was sure we couldn't be overheard.
"Of course I am" she answered "I don't want to stay at school any longer than I have to. Ginny will be mad but its not like we will stop being friends with her".
I'd not realised that the red head would soon be the only Outcast left still in the second year. She was indeed going to be mad and I'd get the blame no doubt.
"Now stop changing the subject" ordered Luna "and tell me what the Headmaster wanted to talk to you about".
Since when I had I become the sub in this relationship? I was going to have to start asserting my dominance soon. Otherwise how was I suppose to led the Outcasts. Respect my authority!
Still no one wants an irate girlfriend. Not that she was my girlfriend officially but only person that difference applied to was me as it meant I wasn't getting to snog her.
Which for the first time since we'd met actually seemed like a good idea only I wouldn't as the spell I'd put up only stop people from hearing what we said not from seeing what we did. Still it was nice to know that the hormones were starting to catch up.
"He just wanted to give me some advice and to encourage me to pick up some extracurricular activities. I think he's worried that I'll get bored and start studying the Dark Arts for fun and profit".
It was a bit late but I'd only just come to his attention so it wasn't as if he could done anything before now. I'd be willing to bet that before the incident on the train he'd never even heard my name.
"I thought he might try that" said Luna "it explains why I keep seeing you trying to take pictures".
Huh? What?
"The school runs a photography course in the art class" explained the blonde "we can sign up it will make Dumbledore think were keeping busy".
I was a little worried about that as it was getting harder and harder for the Outcasts to met. If I started taking more classes I might not have time for meetings at all which I suppose was what Dumbledore wanted.
"We'll just have to have the meeting during the holidays" I said thinking out loud "maybe we can get some of those communication mirrors".
Rather than discuss it Luna took my hand and encouraged me to move back into the crowd.
"Come on lets go home we can plan the future there" she offered "in bed".
For her that meant the Rookery. These days for me that meant wherever Luna was.
Author Note:
Well it must be clear by now that I could still take this story in a few directions. I want to know if you guys think I should try and keep the story close to cannon or should I let my character really derail things.
Throw your opinions at me. I have some ideas but I want my readers to help me decided. I am after all writing this story for you guys, which makes a nice change from my other stories which are more about my fantasies and if you think those were exercises in vanity just remember that those stories are the ones I considered tame enough to put on
So should he kill Wormtail or capture him?
Should he send Moody a letter warning him about Barty Crouch Junior so that Moody goes spend most of a school year in a trunk? Bare in mind that this could prevent the return of Voldemort for years.
Or should he allow events to unfold so that he derail Voldemort's plans later?
Also I want your opinions on the Luna romance. I didn't bother with the girls at my high school because I couldn't stand them so I don't what ages are normal for guys to start getting interested in snogging and groping is to soon for the characters to start kissing?