I do not own Harry Potter and please read the note from chapter 1. Ignorance is so NOT BLISS!
Chapter 61
Elder Wand Part 2
Confusion on the faces of all those within the room, Albus turns away in shame. "Some things happened in my past, which I am not proud of. Needless to say I had thought that maybe, just maybe with something called the Deathly Hallows, I could fix it. This was long before I had become Headmaster of Hogwarts, and it is also a reason why I and Aberforth had not spoken for as long as we have. For you see I had a sister."
Startled by this, Harry albeit still confused asks something that is at the foremost of his mind. "What does this have to do with the story?"
Giving a wry laugh, Albus turned back to look at all involved, especially Harry. "Remember the mirror of Erised, Harry? Remember when I told you I could see through most invisibility spells?"
Nodding his head, Harry says nothing as the others look at him in confusion. It is only Ron and Hermione, who gaze upon their friend sadly and with memories.
"I was lying Harry. It takes a lot of concentration to sense it. For, you see I had actually detected you through the wards I had placed at that moment. But before I go any further, it is best I start from something of a beginning."
"All right..." The only Potter stated quietly, as he looked at the elderly figure in the chair.
"I had often wondered when I saw your father, as well as Sirius and Remus using your cloak, why it was I could not see through it. It led me to remember of my sister and something I had in my possession. Something to this day, that Aberforth and I do not speak of."
"Which was?" Alexandre asked. Despite not understanding any of this gibberish in his opinion, this was something that the Wolf inside him sensed needed to be told. Needed to be shared to move on...
"Something happened to her years ago. It was something that muggle or wizard like, should not happen to any woman. It broke her. It broke her to the point that her mind was not there anymore. And you all know what happens with untrained magic..."
Eyes widening with clear precision, as the revelation appears. For something like this, well more often the child's magic was bound. But that had only been going on recently, years ago...
"Albus...what did you do?" Minerva whispered.
"It's not what I did, that you should be asking Minerva. You should be asking what Grindenwald and I did."
Speaking now, the small group pales at what they hear their most beloved headmaster of their childhood's reveal to them. Each, spell, each experiment, everything...
When he was done an hour or so later, Sirius who was pale said something, that for the first time, even Minerva could not argue with. "I need a drink..."
"I believe it is time for a break then. Allow me to ask the house elves to bring us food and drink."
Fire Whiskey was stated unanimously by all those in the room save Minerva. The older woman already knowing she was going to drink plenty of it looked at Albus with eyes that were filled with pain.
"Albus...why?" She said so quietly, as the older wizard approached her, which he had to actually strain himself to hear.
"If you could bring back the mind, the soul of someone you loved? Wouldn't you try?"
Hearing those words, Minerva shook her head quietly. "No I wouldn't." She replied softly. Accepting a bottle from one of the four elves summoned, she took a long deep drink of the burning liquid down her throat. "The dead need to stay as they are. It is their rest...let them live in memories, let them bodies die in peace."
Somehow, her words seem to surprise the older wizard. Fawkes letting out a mournful sound of agreement with her words, for despite it all, Albus still does not feel enough has been forgiven despite all that he has done for the children during this war.
To him the dead are still alive regardless of what has happened...
Looking toward the others in the room, he is needless to say proud of the Weasely. Unlike many other of the Order, including the two women, most were still intent that Harry was still the same. Still the innocent boy that needed protection...
The one woman's eyes were starting to see. And by the sad gaze on the eyes of the young Granger woman, she was now thinking as she should have been long ago.
He was not just any phoenix. He was one of the first after all and he has lived a long time. He could sense the darkness that had been rising within his friend since that night, he went with the other. It was a type though that even he could not heal, like he had done years ago for the young one.
This type fed on his very life to feed its own. And more and more as of late, Albus had needed near double the amount of regular potions to stay off the pain its devouring was bringing him.
That was disturbing to say the least.
Now as they eat and drink, they try to forget what they had just heard. If only for a few moments...
But as they quiet down once more, one thing that has been bugging them all, was why Albus had told them this story in the first place.
"Headmaster, what has that got to do with a children's story? Or even moreso what does it have to do with my mum and dad?" Harry had to ask as the Headmaster returned to his seat. The house elves fussing over him, as they themselves have long since sensed the emanate demise of the one whom has treated them with love.
"There have been invisibility cloaks before made by wizard kind Harry. But something about your father's felt different. Older magic was stronger. Much like my wand..."
Confused, still it is Alexandre whom approaches the wand and sniffs it cautiously. At the same time moving his nose, over the delicate material, he reaches into his pocket and brings out a stone encased in a pendant.
"My wife...before Greyback...said this had been passed down in her family since before they became shifters and joined our pride. She told me of the power this was supposed to have alongside two other objects. The story she told me was one that I remembered from the Brother's Grimm fairy tales. It smells of old power, much like that stick of yours and this scrap of cloth...and it something she told me that must always be protected."
The three together began to almost seemingly resonate with old magic, magic that Harry himself felt calling to him and as he touched what was left of his old cloak. It began to glow, filling the office with its warmth, when it dies, that which once belonged to his father had been restored. Surprising all but Alexandre, who had suspected it.
"How...?"
"Old magic is something us shifters on the mainland know much of." Alexandre said quietly. "The fact that according to Remus, there is a lot about shifters you and those in this hidden world, leads me to belief that somewhere you lost that understanding. You do not control the magic. The magic controls you."
Ready to protest that belief, Alexandre holds up his hand, revealing the true power, that only Remus and Harry and more recently Sirius have seen hints of at his disposal. Ron and the others, who have not felt it balked. Their fear evident in their eyes...
"How?"
"You may be wizards, but you are human. You fear what you can not understand. And although I and Remus are shifters, what made us in the beginning is old magic. Magic that is very much alive."
About to protest that belief that something that can not be touched is alive. Hermione is halted by a hand on her arm from Minerva as Harry speaks.
"That...makes sense. I had often wondered with the wands of our cores whether or not something that was taken from another would still retain its magic. Although Fawke's feather was in my wand, does it still retain its magic? Or is the magic simply being channeled through it?"
"And you would be correct Harry, it is through creatures such as Fawkes and our Wolf friends here, that we are able to use the magic we are blessed with." Albus said quietly. "It is something all wizards know but will deny."
"But why deny what is true?" Hermione blurted out.
"Because they won't feel as powerful..." Ron worded softly in response. "Power is a thing many want and few are willing to share. To know that those creatures are needed would make many angry and upset, because they have this belief that the magical creatures are not needed, for they actually have the power and not them. Remember Umbridge?"
Somehow Ron's words, hushed the young woman who looked at him with surprise.
"Ron..."
"He's changed Hermione." Harry stated quietly, much to the surprise of all listening, at his defense of one who betrayed him as many others had done. "He realized that things can not be as they were. There is too much in the past for everything to be forgotten... or even forgiven."
"Harry...then why..."
"Because we began with a clean slate Hermione, I realized that Harry and I are not the same people. The people we used to be are dead, because of a mistake we helped to perpetuate whether we knew it or not. We are new...so why not start all over again." Ron replied as he spoke up. The tone of his voice, sending the message home now into the young woman's mind...
They have changed.
Albus was proud as he listened to the words being spoken. Maybe...just maybe all though they can not be as close as they all once were, they can all be friends again. Death or not, he wishes to live long enough to see that if it all possible. But now...to get back to why they had all gathered...
"Even though I would like to talk more on that, one of these hallows is something Harry, that Voldemort would like to get his hands on."
"The wand old man." Alexandre responded as he stepped forward. "My mate told me the story often enough to know what you are referring to. One of the three brothers in the tale supposedly had a weapon that was given to him. A weapon, which can never be defeated..."
"Yes. My wand is the reason I have kept Voldemort at bay when we have battled over the years Harry. I have the Elder wand from the story, just as his wife had the stone...and your father had the cloak."