Harry Potter and The Fate We Make
Chapter 4: Cry Havok! And Let Slip the Dogs of War!
A/N: Wow, lotta people putting this on alert and in their favorites! E-cookies to ladysavay for being my first reviewer. This story'll be updated pretty quickly ... at least twice a week unless I hit a snag. Oh, and e-cookies go to the first person to guess where the story's title comes from. Disclaimer's in the first chapter.
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The others exchanged worried looks, but all sat down at the table. Harry didn't. He paced, muttering under his breath for a few moments before turning to face them. "All right. We've got major problems. Even bigger ones than I thought." He rubbed at his face. "What I'm about to tell you guys, I don't want you telling anyone, or talking to anyone about, except for the people in here, Sirius, Remus, Dobby and Winky. Nobody else."
"But Harry, The Headmaster ... " Hermione started.
Harry growled. "The Headmaster can take a flying leap for all I care right about now, Hermione. He's royally screwed up."
Hermione looked mortally affronted, but then, Harry'd been expecting that. She still seemed to think that people in authority could do no wrong, though she was, he admitted, less strident about it than she had been.
"Let's take this step by step, ok? First and foremost ... Voldemort on the loose, doing as he pleased. Dumbledore's interviewing Trelawney of all people ... and she gives a prophecy."
This put Ron in stitches. "Trelawney, mate? And he believed that shite?"
Harry gave a grim nod, then repeated the prophecy. "Now, somehow or other, I'm betting Voldemort heard about it. He went after me and my parents. My folks went into hiding, using Pettigrew." He snarled the name. "As their Secret Keeper. We all know how that turned out." There were grim looks around the table.
"And then Dumbledore, in his infinite wisdom, decided I needed to be put with the Dursleys. Mind you, this was before Sirius went after Pettigrew. I get left there and see neither hide nor hair of anyone for the next decade, pretty much, except for a few very strange and very, very brief encounters on the few occasions the Dursleys took me with them somewhere. In the meantime, Sirius gets tossed in jail without so much as a by-your-leave. All because Dumbledore decided I'd be safer under blood wards, and away from the wizarding world so I didn't get a big head."
Harry turned and paced some more. "Then, Hagrid shows up. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy. He's great. But not exactly the best person to give me the lowdown on the wizarding world. He forgot to tell me how to get on the train, for crying out loud. If I hadn't run into you guys." He waved at the Weasley's. "Who knows what would've happened. And then ... well, we all know what happened first year. I can forgive him not telling me the minute I walked in the doors, I really can. But after everything was over, I asked him straight out why Voldemort was after me. He refused to tell me. He just patted me on the head and sent me back to the Dursley's. Same thing after second year. And again last year. 'Go be a kid, you're too little to understand', or whatever the heck was going through his mind. I really don't know. Never a thought of 'gee, Voldie's still after him. Might be a good idea to teach the kid a thing or two not on the usual curriculum, especially if I want him alive to beat Voldie'. The worst part? He just now told me to my face that he thinks the 'power he knows not' is love." Harry flailed his hands in the air. "What does he expect me to do, hug Voldie into submission? He sat there and did nothing to prepare me! Cedric DIED because I barely know one end of a wand from the other!" He slapped the table with both palms, choking back anger and tears at the same time. Ginny, who happened to be closest, reached over and gripped his arm, expression sympathetic. Harry took a few deep breaths.
"So, since he's done absolutely nothing to help, I'm going to have to do this my way. Hermione? I want you back in the lawbooks. There has GOT to be a way to clear Sirius' name, one way or the other. Now that Dobby and Winky are working for me, I can get money from my trust vault anytime, so I could even pay a solicitor, if we can find one."
Hermione nodded grimly. Harry could tell she wasn't overly thrilled with him telling Dumbledore to go fly a kite, but it was kind of hard to refute the facts, even for her.
"Dobby, I want you to go down to the Chamber of Secrets. See if the basilisk down there is salvageable."
"Why you wanting to know that, mate?" Ron asked.
"Because, it might come in handy. Basilisk hide is as good as dragon hide for protection, for one thing ... and if it's salvageable, there's hide enough to outfit all of us and more besides. And giving Snape access to such rare potions ingredients might get him off my back a bit. I don't need more than one enemy, I really don't." And he needed to write Sirius and Remus again. See if Sirius would be willing to teach him to become an animagus. Even if it took him a while to learn, it might come in handy. Harry wasn't about to say no to any advantage he could get. For all he knew, being an animagus was the power Voldie didn't 'know'.
Hmmm. Might be worth it to try to sound Professor Flitwick out. Hadn't Hermione said he was a Dueling Master, last year? Merlin knew Harry got on with Flitwick better than he got on with Snape. Sure, Snape could teach him a lot, but he had a feeling they'd be more inclined to getting each other mad and trying to kill each other than teaching and learning, at least as things stood right now.
Dobby popped away while Harry was busy running options through his mind, and a few moments later, popped back.
"It be looking like it be killed just this morning, Harry Potter sir." Dobby reported.
"Ohhh, that's good news." Harry said. Ok, so that was an option. He grabbed parchment and quill, and started writing, fast. The first was a list.
1) Tempt Snape with Basilisk
2) Get Basilisk rendered for parts
3) Find way to clear Sirius
4) GET TRAINED. (Flitwick? Animagus?)
5) Place to live? (Sirius and Remus dealing with this one?)
The second parchment was a letter to Sirius and Remus
Sirius and Remus
Hi guys, me again. Had a talk with Dumbledore. Sirius, if there is any possible way to do it (and the offer is still open), I'll take you up on that offer you made at the end of third year. Staying with the Dursleys is a moot point now, and as much as I like the Weasley's ... they're not really my family. You are, both of you. Or, what's left of it anyway. There's so much I need to do. There's a prophecy. Basically, it says that I'm the only one that can deal with Voldie. Dumbledore's known since before I was born. Makes me wonder why he's sat back and done nothing to ... nevermind, that's a rant for later, as I've already said it to him, and to my friends. It's going to be a while before I can talk to him civilly, though! Also, would you be willing to teach me to become an animagus, if that's possible?
Harry
The third was a short note to Snape.
Professor
If you are interested in acquiring some basilisk parts (which I have been assured are still in good condition) meet me in the third floor girls' bathroom tonight after dinner, and bring LOTS of containers and whatever supplies you need to render the thing. I will require half the hide for my share of the carcass, but aside from that, any parts useable for potions are yours.
Harry Potter
"Dobby, take this one to Snape first, then this one to Sirius and Remus, please."
Dobby nodded. "Right away Harry Potter sir!"
And he popped away.
While he'd been busy, there's been a low-voiced conference between the Weasleys (Hermione was already nose-deep in a book). Finally, they parted and Ron called over.
"Hey, mate? Y'might wanna talk to Neville. The Longbottoms're one of the oldest families, a lot like the Potters were. He'd know ... or his gran would, at least ... most if not all what you're wanting to know when it comes to laws and customs and stuff, since it's a bit different for them than for most of the rest of us." Ron's ears were nearly as red as his hair and he wasn't looking at Harry.
Harry felt a bit bad. The Weasley's were good people, no three ways about it, but they were poor, and didn't exactly travel in the same circles as the Malfoys and that lot ... and that was who Harry was going to have to be dealing with and outsmarting, one way or another. He needed to know the rules that lot operated under (well, the rules they were supposed to operate under, at any rate!).
"And y'might wanna sound out Susan Bones, too. Her aunt's head of the DMLE. If anybody'd know how to help Sirius, it'd be her aunt. You'd just have to be careful and not let her know you know where Sirius is, at least until she knows all of what's going on."
Harry nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, though I'll probably hold off on Bones until I have a better idea of what to say." Somehow, he doubted that walking up to the head of the DMLE and saying 'Sirius is innocent, now quit hunting him down!' would do any good, even if it was the truth.
Dobby finally returned, with two notes, which he handed over to Harry. Harry decided to get the one from Snape over with first. To his surprise, there were precisely three words on the scrap of parchment, and none of them was an insult, though Harry fancied he could hear the sneer in Snape's voice if he'd been speaking.
I'll be there
"Probably thinks I'm full of shite." Harry muttered to himself, then opened the letter from Sirius and Remus.
Harry
You're just lucky you're there and I'm here, or I'd thump you for thinking I wanted to go back on that offer, pup. As it stands, I'll just have to get even later. Believe it or not, there is a possibility of it happening. Seems that while my folks said I was disinherited when I got sorted into Gryffindor, they never got around to making it legal, and since I never had a trial, I inherited everything when they died, including the Black family house. I hate the place, and the house-elf is more than a little insane (in a bad way) and more than a bit nasty, but if Dobby and Winky are willing, we can do something about that. Dumbledore's already starting to get the old gang together that was working with him against Voldemort, and I offered the place as a headquarters. We've been by, and the place is a wreck, but salvageable. Remus says he's more than happy to pick you up at Hogwarts and bring you here once school's out. We should have the place secured by then ... Dumbledore's coming by this weekend to deal with the security issues.
Now, regarding the other bit of news in your note. I think Dumbledore's heart was in the right place. He screwed up massively, there's no question of that, but I don't really think he meant for things to happen the way they did. That said, they did happen the way they did, and we're stuck cleaning the mess. Don't worry, kiddo, Remus and I will do everything in our power to help you with this. The house has a rather extensive library, with books not found much of anywhere else. And while you'll be forbidden to get anywhere near some of them (I plan on destroying them, because they're that bad), there's bound to be books with information in them that's either not much known or has been lost to time. Just remind me to keep a stinging jinx handy to get Hermione out of there if she sees the library. And of COURSE I'll help you learn to become an animagus! It shouldn't take you as long as it took us, since you'll have the benefit of working with someone who's already an animagus, and won't have to do all the research and trial and error we went through.
Sirius (and Remus, of course)
Harry was more than a bit misty-eyed by the end of the letter. It never ceased to amaze him, having an adult he could depend on like this.
"Winky!" Winky popped in, and Harry blinked. He hadn't seen her since before breakfast, and since then ... well, she'd taken the whole 'clean up' directive to heart. She looked squeaky clean, and the little dress she'd been wearing had been mended and cleaned. Harry grinned. "You're looking much better, Winky. Dobby, Winky, Sirius said in this letter he's got a place for us to stay, but evidently it's in bad repair. School lets out next week ... would you two mind helping clean the place and putting it to rights?"
"Of course we's help, Master Harry!" Winky said. Beside her, Dobby was nodding so hard his ears were threatening to slap his head.
"That's great." Merlin. Living with Sirius and Remus. No more Dursley's. The idea was hard to credit, really. He just hoped that everything held together and it really happened. Merlin knew things tended to go to the dogs around him often enough for him to be wary.