Harry Potter and the Power of the Past
Disclaimer: All JKR's, not mine.
Summary: This is a complete AU- Harry Potter is a 21-year old wizard, who's on top of the world. He's rich, in love, and loved by all, but his life is turned upside down as a spiral of events leads to the ultimate battle between good and evil. Can Harry lead the fight for the light, but yet manage to keep his life together?
A/N: Thanks for the reviews everybody. Oh, and review again!
S/N: I figure I'd give you all a Christmas present and write another epilogue for this story. Though, this totally feels more like a prologue for the sequel that I had planned. This is as a thank you to all those people who have read my stories and have diligently reviewed my chapters, even if it was just a simple one word review. Thank you, and have a good holiday and New Year!
Chapter 43: Five Years Later
It had been nearly five years since Janus Potter and Lucida Nigel left to travel the world, leaving their friends and family to wonder when they would return. Other than the many non-patterned letters that he would send every few days or so, Harry and Nymphadora Potter had not spoken with or seen their oldest son since his departure, which forced a cold, empty sadness upon them that neither one could fix, no matter how hard they tried. Unfortunately, Harry had no time for sadness now, as the British Ministry of Magic was once again under attack from a darkness that began to besiege the country just weeks prior.
As such, immediately after realizing that there was a threat to the safety and well being of the British magical community, Harry called both Sirius and Theodore to gather the old crowd, who mostly all rejoined the Order instantly. Those that did not join were some former members who had fought during the first war against Voldemort, and were now just too old to participate in the battles, though they did offer their services in a variety of other ways. Harry accepted their services gladly, welcoming whatever help the Order could get, regardless of how big or small it was. Overall, Harry was happy to see many of his old comrades, although he wished it was under better terms than what had called them all together.
Additionally, Harry also asked his son Arcturus to recruit some fresh new wizards and witches that wanted to protect their friends and family, mimicking the call to arms that Albus Dumbledore had done when Voldemort had returned all those years ago. Arcturus took up the challenge, asking many of his Hogwarts friends that he trusted with his life to join the Order, whom hesitantly accepted, not really knowing what exactly the Order of the Phoenix did, having not been alive during the second war against Voldemort. Today, December 23, two days before Christmas, was the newly reconstituted Order of the Phoenix's third meeting, and they were still at a loss as to what this threat was, or more specifically, who it was exactly.
The only information they had was that the dark witches and wizards wore the same black cloaks of the Death Eaters, albeit without the bone or metal masks that adorned the Death Eaters during Lord Voldemort's reign. In addition, other than two attacks on a muggle train, and a single attack on Diagon Alley, they had yet to encounter the enemy on a regular basis, leaving the opposition a cloud of mystery that needed to be figured out before they could extinguish the threat. However, one curious fact was that a few people had already been kidnapped without any distinguishable pattern, which meant that it was hard to trace the purpose of the takings and what they were intended to accomplish.
"Yeah, I know," Harry understood, nodding his head in agreement to something that a new member of the Order had said. "But I think…" He began to talk, but then paused and tilted his head up to the ceiling when he heard the front door of the house slam and footsteps creak from above as the person who entered began to walk further into the house. As silence stole over the Order, they realized that someone was walking on the first floor, but whom? Harry quickly scanned the table, counting every member of the Order, making sure he didn't miss anybody. "Everyone is here, though." He whispered, as the footsteps got louder and louder, signaling that they were getting closer and closer to the door. He could hear two sets now, meaning two people had entered a house that should have been impossible to enter.
"Who is that?" Sirius said, getting to his feet, hearing the footsteps as well. Clunk, clack, the footsteps got louder, inching seemingly closer and closer to them. "Andromeda and Ted are at your house, correct? Watching Megara?" He questioned, looking over to Nymphadora, who nodded in agreement that her parents were babysitting her daughter. "The Nigels wouldn't come, so who else has been told the secret? Everyone in the Order is either here or has made it known that they wouldn't be coming tonight." He said, knowing that the Fidelius Charm performed by Albus Dumbledore all those years ago with him as the Secret Keeper that protected the house was still in effect, meaning nobody could find the place or even speak of it to someone who wasn't aware of the secret unless he himself told them where it was.
Just then, the door at the top of the stairs opened, and a pair of feet started to trek down the stairwell, followed closely by another pair. Everyone turned and looked, waiting to see who it was with bated breath. Working from his feet up, they noticed that the man was wearing a long green cloak, black slacks, and white robes. And then, they reached his face, with his black hair, his bright green eyes, and handsome good looks, his was a face that they recognized instantly. He was an imposing man, being as tall as Albus Dumbledore once stood, who was usually the tallest in whatever room he stood—at least the rooms that Hagrid wasn't in, that is.
"Janus!" Tonks screamed in a mixture of surprise and happiness, jumping up from the table and rushing towards her oldest son the instant she saw that it was him. She tackled Janus as soon as she was close enough, tears of joy quickly welling up in her two colored eyes. So happy was she that her hair kept involuntarily changing between pink, purple, and bright orange, unable to settle on a single color, clearly being affected by her emotional state.
Next to Janus, stood Lucida Nigel, who looked astonishingly like a member of the infamous Black family, with her pointed features, her long black hair and violet eyes that seemed cold. "Hello, mum," Janus whispered, wrapping his arms around his much more petite mother. He kissed her cheek, embracing her for the first time in over five years when he had left to travel the world.
"Oh my," Sirius whispered as a large smile appeared on his face, watching as Harry whipped his head around at the mention of his son. Silently, the leader of the Order took a few quick steps towards him, once Nymphadora had released him, amazed that his son had finally returned.
"He's….he's back?" Arcturus whispered to himself as he got to his feet from his chair, so incredibly surprised that his mind went blank. There, standing not ten feet from him stood his older brother, the wizard that he had looked up to and idolized while growing up and attending Hogwarts. He stared in almost disbelief, watching as his mother and father hugged and greeted their firstborn son, waiting for his chance to greet Janus.
"Hello Janus," Harry said quietly, noticing that tears were coming to his own emerald green eyes, blurring his vision.
"Dad," Janus replied, hugging his father happily, knowing how much the man had missed him.
"Oh, I can't believe you're going to be home for Christmas!" Tonks exclaimed, so incredibly thrilled to see her son that she didn't know what to do with herself. Then, while Janus and Harry said hello, she turned to Lucida, who was still standing on the stairs, unable to move around Harry and Janus. "It's good to see you, Lucida!"
"I'd give you a hug, but…" Lucida smiled, nodding her head over to the father and son pair that was blocking the way, preventing her from going over to Tonks.
Once he was done with his father, Janus then met with his brother, Arcturus, who was nearly as tall as he was. Unlike Janus, whom took after Harry immensely, Arcturus looked exactly like a Black, with pointed, aristocratic features and gray eyes, which he clearly inherited from his mother and grandmother. "Brother," Arcturus nodded, pulling away from the hug.
When Arcturus took a step back, Janus was bombarded by people, such as his cousins Kastor and Pollux, various friends that he had not seen since Hogwarts, and other old family friends, like Theodore Nott and Hermione Krum. "Why did you come home now?" Sirius asked, slapping Janus on the back, having always liked the boy, though he wasn't as close to him as he was to Emery, the youngest son.
"Well, it's a long story, so we can all sit down and talk about it later tonight or tomorrow, but to try and make the long story short, we heard about what was happening and we both wanted to come home to make sure you were all okay." Janus answered, walking over to the side of the table that Sirius sat, where Harry had conjured a new chair, right next to his own seat at the head of the table—Sirius sat to Harry's left, being his second in command, while Cedric usually sat to his right, though he was not in attendance.
"And to help," Lucida added, taking a seat next to her old friend Harmony Davies after the pair had hugged hello. "Sorry if we smell, we were in Shanghai just two days ago and we came straight here without showering."
"You guys didn't get married yet, did you?" Harmony questioned with an edge to her voice that made Lucida smile, wanting to make sure she didn't miss her chance to be the maid of honor.
"Oh get off it; I wrote you, you don't think I would have mentioned that fact?" Lucida flashed her left hand to the table, showing an engagement ring on her finger, but no marriage band. "Plus, my mother would kill me if I got married without her there."
"Correction: I would have killed you," Harmony laughed, knowing that the pair would have had a problem had they gotten married without her knowing. "And you only wrote every few months, that doesn't excuse you."
"We didn't mean to interrupt, please, carry on." Janus said, taking the conjured seat in between Sirius and his brother, Arcturus.
"You are never an interruption, Janus." Harry said lovingly, still in shock that his oldest son was home, back from his grand traveling adventure. "We'll talk about it at breakfast tomorrow, yeah?"
"Of course," Janus nodded in agreement, preparing himself to answer all the questions he knew they would eventually ask. He gazed around the table, recognizing most of the faces with a few notable exceptions, before he stopped at Harmony, cocking an eyebrow. "Where is Warrick?" He questioned, wondering where his oldest friend was and why he wasn't attending the meeting.
"Oh, hi to you, too, Janus," Harmony rolled her eyes, annoyed that he couldn't at least say hi to her before asking about her brother. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."
"This is interesting, the dark prodigal son returns just days after a new dark wizard shows up, hm?" A male voice whispered down at the other end of the table, away from the ears of the Potter family, as he narrowed his glance at Janus. "Along with his femme fatale tramp of a fiancé, I can't be the only one thinking that something is wrong here."
"Not all Slytherins are evil, Corner." A female with red hair and freckles scathed, admonishing him for what he had said—it was both bigoted and old fashioned, let alone insulting to the female sex, as well.
"No, they're not, I know that…but he is." Corner replied nonchalantly, before turning his attention back to the meeting, which Harry had just resumed.
"Like I started to say before, I think it is a necessity to have the Ministry and important personnel therein on high alert until we're made aware of what exactly this person, this Dark Lord wants. Minister Diggory will probably agree with that assessment, I believe, and if not, I'll talk to him as Cedric, not as the Minister." Harry opined, knowing that Cedric would agree with him on at least a personal level, if not a professional one. He paused for a moment, still a bit frazzled by Janus' appearance.
"As you all probably know, we've seen two people that portray themselves as Dark Lords, but they have each alluded to a higher, more powerful master of theirs that has not shown his or her face just yet. However, how do we know for sure that this is not just a bluff? I contend that they are just using it as a fear tactic." Herald McGonagall spoke from the middle area of the table, having returned to Great Britain years ago and immediately joined the Order of the Phoenix the moment Harry called.
He was a thin man, with pursed lips, short jet black hair, a nose that curled upwards at its tip and a talent for magic that mirrored his paternal aunt. The son of Malcolm McGonagall, the younger brother of Minerva, he had attended Hogwarts as a child, leaving the grand school just a year prior to the arrival of James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape and many of the other wizards and witches of that class. He had met Harry when the younger wizard traveled the world before his seventh year in Hogwarts, teaching the boy magic that he would not learn in Hogwarts or from any wizard in Europe, having practices and techniques much different in Australia than they had in Great Britain. Seeing the abilities Harry possessed at such a young age, he immediately took a liking to the younger wizard and they quickly became friends, holding mutual esteem and admiration for one another.
"It is certainly a possibility," Harry agreed with the older wizard, turning his gaze to him. "But I question whether you can come up with a legitimate motivation for what such a bluff would get them. They've shown willingness to duel many powerful wizards, such as Sirius and Kingsley, so the fear of not being able to actually conduct or perform magic on a level necessary in order to fulfill their dark ambitions does not seem probable, at least to me."
"Pure fear," Herald contended once more, resolute in his beliefs, though not stubborn in them. He would quickly admit that he was wrong if evidence presented itself that showed that he was incorrect. "If they infuse fear into the people that says 'hey, we're not even the worst, so just give up already,' they would meet their goals much quicker. I've seen it used before many years ago."
"Decent possibility, yes," Harry nodded, not thinking of a legitimate counter argument to the idea due to the relative lack of information that they had at that present moment. Then, seeing the time and how late it was, he gave out a sigh, realizing that they hadn't gotten much done during the meeting at all. "Have a Happy Christmas, everyone." He smiled, wishing everybody a great holiday and adjourning the meeting for the night.
It took a few minutes for all to file out, before it was just Harry and Janus still left in the basement. "I have to go and speak with the Minister. I'm sorry, if I would have known you were coming…" Harry trailed off, feeling awful that he couldn't spend time with his son, and instead had to rush off to perform duties that he wish he didn't need to perform.
"Nonsense," Janus shrugged it off, stifling a yawn, not wanting his father to feel guilty about anything. "I'm not going anywhere; you'll see me when you're done or rather more likely tomorrow."
"Do you want to come? I'm sure Uncle Cedric would love to see you." Harry suggested, gauging whether his son was interested. "What, with you being his godson and all."
"I think I want to get settled first. I haven't even taken a shower." Janus replied, letting his father down gently, knowing that he had other things to accomplish first before he saw any other family members. "Tell him I say hi, though."
"Will do," Harry smiled, bringing his son in for another hug. "Your mom and I are so happy that you're home."
"I know you are," Janus said, pulling away and watching as Harry walked over to the fireplace on the other side of the room. His father picked up a handful of floo powder and called out 'Minister's Office', and in a flash of green flames, he was gone, leaving Janus alone. Turning, he walked up the stairs and into the kitchen, where he knew Lucida and his mother were waiting for him. Hearing voices in the hallway, he followed them, raising a questioning eyebrow about what everyone was talking about.
Lucida, his mother, and Arcturus were all standing around, talking to each other. He walked over to the small group and listened in, not really interested in speaking, though, preferring to just eavesdrop. "Welcome back, Janus," Regulus Black's portrait called out from the sitting room just feet away, leaning awkwardly in his portrait to be able to see into the hallway.
"Thanks, Regulus," Janus said, giving a small grin when he saw the lengths that Regulus was taking to see him. While he didn't seek it out, attention was not something that bothered him, which was clearly a trait that he had inherited from his paternal grandfather, whom craved attention and went to great lengths to receive it during his youth.
"Are you staying at our house?" Tonks questioned, giving him a hopeful glance. His room, she knew, was exactly as he had left, albeit with Zeali having changed the sheets every other day and she herself having gone in there every so often because she missed him so much.
"No," Janus shook his head in the negative, frowning slightly. "We didn't know how late we were going to arrive, we expected somewhere around midnight, so we owled ahead for a room at the Leaky Cauldron. We'll stay there until we can find a place of our own, hopefully after the holiday."
"You don't want to live with me, either? I thought only Arcturus had that feeling." Tonks smiled playfully, knowing that her oldest son wasn't a young boy anymore and didn't need his mother as much. Truthfully, while she didn't have the connection that Janus and Harry had, she had grown accustomed to the relationship that she did have with Janus, and hoped that it would grow now that he was back.
"Where do you live?" Janus questioned his younger brother, looking over at him interestedly. One of the problems with having only spoken with his family through writing was that he missed the everyday things, which was something that he knew he would have to learn about in order to integrate himself back into the family.
"Above my shop in Diagon Alley," Arcturus replied, watching as Lucida brushed against Janus and headed for the door. "Yeah, I never mentioned that in any of my letters."
"I noticed," Janus dryly replied.
"Want to walk with us, Arcturus?" Lucida questioned as she pulled her cloak closer to her body, preparing herself for the harsh winter air.
"Walk?" Arcturus repeated, nodding his head all the while. "Sure. See you tomorrow, mum. Say bye to dad for me," Arcturus said, waving to his mother and heading towards the door.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay at our house? You're old room is exactly as you left it." Tonks offered one last time, wanting her son to be close to her. Plus, she reasoned, with Christmas Eve and Christmas over the next two days, he would probably be at their house most of time anyway, so it was just easier for Janus to stay in his old room.
"We already have a room." Janus replied with a smile, appreciating what his mother was trying to do. "We'll spend lots of time together tomorrow and on Christmas, don't worry."
"Okay," Tonks grinned, admiring the fact that Janus was intelligent enough to get why she was so insistent. "Bye hunny," She said, kissing him one last time. "Oh, and breakfast is at ten o'clock tomorrow!"
"Okay, bye mum," Janus kissed her cheek back, before walking to the door himself. "Sirius, Emmeline, I'll see you both tomorrow." He called up the stairs, hoping that they would hear him. "Ready?" He smiled at Lucida, opening the door and allowing her to leave first. He followed her immediately after, with Arcturus closing the door behind them.
"I don't think I've ever seen you fake smile as much as you did back in there," Arcturus mumbled once they were out in the bitter cold. "You used to be quieter than a mouse around a cat before you left, and now you're like the gossip columnists for the Daily Prophet."
"It wasn't fake; I am thrilled to see them." Janus answered, shifting his green gaze over to his brother. "I've missed her, and dad, of course. As for the talking, what do you want me to do, not speak after having not seen any of you for five bloody years?"
"You didn't come home because you missed them, though. We both know that." Arcturus returned, knowing that Janus was hiding something, though he didn't know what just yet. His brother could fool many people, both intelligent people and moronic, but he couldn't fool Arcturus, which was why they got along so well growing up.
"I came home to protect my family—Emery, Megara, mum and dad, grandma and granddad, Lucida's parents." Janus recited, turning at the corner that would lead them to Charring Cross Road, where the Leaky Cauldron was located. To muggles, the pub appeared as a broken down shop front, but to magical folk, it served as a doorway to the wondrous world of Diagon Alley.
"So you're saying I shouldn't expect you to protect me if need be?" Arcturus smiled in an effort to change the subject, noticing that his brother had failed to include him while listing his family members.
Janus gave him a sideways glance, shaking his head in jest. "You don't need protection." Janus answered sincerely, knowing how powerful of a wizard his brother was—he was smart, smarter than most could ever dream to be.
"You haven't seen Emery yet, have you?" Arcturus questioned, as a smile appeared on his face. I wonder how Emery is going to react to seeing Janus, he questioned himself, hoping to Merlin that he would be able to see it and the interaction thereafter with his own eyes.
"No, I saw grandma and granddad, and Megara of course when we stopped by the house before going to Grimmauld Place, but he wasn't there." Janus returned with a shake of his head. "Not that he would actually want to see me anyway."
"Don't say that," Lucida chided, not wanting Janus to blame himself for whatever problems that his brother had with him.
"He's changed." Arcturus said, and then paused, seemingly thinking of something. "Well, on second thought, no, he really hasn't, though he admittedly isn't as obnoxious as he was. But honestly, he's missed you probably more than he will ever admit. You gave him the drive to become the best quidditch player he could become, and, well, he's kind of become just that. He was at practice, that's probably why you didn't see him at the house. They have a big game tomorrow."
"Chaser for the Magpies, yeah, that's really good for him." Janus nodded, truly impressed with his brother's talent at quidditch. No matter how many ancient books he read, no matter how many neat tricks he had with a wand, Emery was better than him at quidditch to the nth degree, which was something he wouldn't change for the world. "I wrote him a lot when I was away, but I only ever got a few responses. I think two or three, if I recall correctly."
"Because he's a dolt, hit in the head with a few too many bludgers, I think." Arcturus replied, shrugging his shoulders with a wry grin. His younger brother was someone that he just didn't understand, so cocky and arrogant, so different than either Janus or himself—though, Sirius had said that Emery was eerily similar to how James was growing up, which was appropriate being that he looked so much like James did.
They arrived at the Leaky Cauldron minutes later, and the trio walked up the stairs to the room that was procured by Janus, room number 23. Lucida and Janus took off their cloaks and got settled, while Arcturus took a seat at the small desk chair that was by the window, holding his cloak in his arms. "I'll be right back," Janus said, excusing himself and walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
"Why did you two really come back?" Arcturus questioned Lucida, once Janus was out of earshot. While he knew Lucida would protect Janus and whatever secrets his brother had, he also knew that he had a good relationship with the witch, and hoped to be able use that to his advantage.
"Like he said before, to help your father," Lucida answered, continuing the story that Janus told Arcturus just minutes prior. "And to fulfill a promise."
"What promise?" Arcturus inquired, but went quiet when Janus returned, not wanting Janus to know about the conversation. "I should be going." He said, rising to his feet and gathering his cloak.
"Brother, before you leave, let me ask you something," Janus started, needing to know an answer. His brother immediately paused and turned around, questioning his brother with a cocked eyebrow.
"I know something that you don't? This is a first." Arcturus laughed, using his right hand to push a strand of his black hair behind his ear. "What is it?"
Janus licked his lips for a second, wanting to choose his wards as carefully as he could. "In wandlore, is it possible to use a part of a basilisk as the core of a wand? Do you know of any cases that it has been done before?"
"A basilisk?" Arcturus repeated, thinking for a moment, having obviously never used a basilisk in any of his wands. "I suppose you would be able to use the heartstrings or something akin, similarly like you would use with a dragon, but…I wouldn't use it in my wands, even if I could. In legend, they're known to be so uncontrollable, even more so than a dragon that I would think that only a parseltongue like yourself could actually use the wand to its fullest potential. I don't even know what wood you would use to complement it either, perhaps ebony, but I'm skeptical that combination would be as successful as it would seem at first glance." He answered, not bothering to ask what his brother needed to know that for just yet. "I've never come across a wand in my research that has a basilisk core, either."
"Thank you," Janus bit his lip, nodding his head. "I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast?"
"Count on it," Arcturus grinned, turning around and walking to the door. "Bye Lucida," He said, waving to the witch, whom waved back, but stayed otherwise silent. With a turn of the knob, he opened the door and stepped out, closing the wooden door behind him with a soft click.
Instantly, Lucida looked over to Janus, whom was still biting his lip, his mind clearly thinking about something. "Do you think it is him?" Lucida questioned the wizard quietly once she was sure that Arcturus had left the room, watching as her love stared out of the window, a pensive and forlorn look on his face. She wanted to understand exactly what he was thinking, knowing that they had come back to England for the lone and sole purpose to figure that question out. Silently, she waited for the answer, seeing that he was weighing it in his mind, his wonderfully complicated mind that housed so much knowledge and wisdom and barely contained darkness.
"Who else could it be?" He responded finally, having let out a sigh of disconcert, turning around to look over to the pretty, black haired and violet eyed witch.
Lucida mimicked Janus and bit her lip, not really knowing what to make of what he had said. "And if it is?" She asked, hoping that he wouldn't answer how she thought that he would.
Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Lucida immediately had her answer—the action they were taking was the right thing to do, regardless of how it may be perceived by the others. Then, looking down, Janus spoke in a voice that she had only heard once before: "Without me, the Order of the Phoenix doesn't—no, rather my father doesn't stand a chance…"
A/N: Happy Holidays, everyone. I hope you have a good new Year, too!