DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$ from this…
A/N: Clarice as an OC: I wanted a different dynamic here. She's still very young, but while Hermione is the logical one and the conscience of the group and Harry will still have his "saving people thing," I wanted someone cunning. Enter Clarice, one who might give the Weasley Twins a run for their money when she's older. She's going to be the scary quiet type in time (if you are against her and her family.)
The other part I wanted to eliminate was the "sexual tension" bit. Clarice is Harry sister and will be that and - well if you are thinking that way, that's SO WRONG! There will be none of that!
H/Hr will be (already are) very close friends. As close as kids their age can be. Clarice will be the beloved younger sister and will not feel threatened by the relationship (not that there won't be days. Nothing is perfect.) I wanted a character who would enhance and never truly threaten this trio. (Thus Luna was kind of out. I could see her and Harry getting together… Not that Luna will not be in this fic - as she already is.)
One reviewer started wondering about Clarice pairings. She's not even seven yet! I'm NOT about to have her pining for boys for another seven years at least!
Watanabe School: No super powers. Just education. When they finish, they'll be skilled, but no more powerful and any other 10 or 11 year old (at least not by any other means other than normal genetics). Vernon was a corpulent pig and damn neat killed Harry and like your body, magic does not begin to really grow and mature until puberty.
Dumbledore and Evil: He does not want to rule the world and is too wimpy to kill even when necessary. He believes anyone can be redeemed. But, I don't think his "Next Great Adventure" will be pleasant. He is selfish to a fault and generally amoral and does not care who is indirectly hurt - and yes, Harry's sojourn with his relatives was indirect. Dumbles didn't beat him, but didn't bother to care.
P.S. - Draco is really going to be an evil bastard! (But that's way in the future…)
P.P.S Harry's time in hospital is drawing to a close...
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MISTAKES AND PURPOSE
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1988 - ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, LONDON, U.K.
"Now," Sensei said, "when I chose to arrive, I believe there were two topics of conversation? You were discussing theories as to why Harry and Clarice were separated and the subject of wards, correct?"
"Yes," Hermione said.
"I believe the two topics are related."
"What are wards?" Clarice asked again.
"Ah! Once again a good question! It's a pity in my timeline most all of my students lacked the intellectual curiosity to ask the important questions! For the three of you, learn this: the only stupid questions are the ones you should have asked but didn't.
"The word 'ward' has several meanings in the English language. It's oldest meaning was to protect or to guard. That is what a magical ward does. It is magic that is designed to protect or guard something. It typically is created through the use of a type of spell known as a charm, but it can also be created by a potion or by the use of specially crafted ritual runes.
"There are many different kinds of wards in everyday use in the magical world. The most common is the 'Muggle Repelling Charm.' It's name is inaccurate. The charm hides a magical place from non-magical people. They are not so much as repelled as deceived. A huge magical building will appear as a ruin or uninviting place. My particular favorite effect is where the building would appear to be a festering toxic waste dump complete with stink. That is the final effect. More often, the non-magical person suddenly loses interest and remembers they have more important things to attend to.
"There are wards that prevent magical transportation either to or from a protected place. There are wards that prevent magical people from finding a location or detecting its occupants unless they have permission to find the place. Then there are the cursed wards that cause serious harm to those who are not allowed to be at the location. Warding possibilities are almost endless, but there are few wards that can make a place invulnerable against any threat. In most cases, several different wards are employed.
"But there was a ward that could do that and more. It protected a place against any and all magic. It would cause the death of anyone who tried to force their way in or to break the ward. It also protected the people under the ward such that they could venture forth from time to time and fear no attack. It's called the Blood Ward although since no blood ritual is involved in its creation, this is inaccurate. Its proper name would be the Family Ward. It has been illegal for some time."
"Why is it illegal?" Hermione asked.
"Two reasons," Sensei replied. "First off, unlike almost all other ward magic, the magic in a blood ward is cast upon a person, a child in fact. Casting magic upon a person is not considered proper, and on a child? That's right out! All legal wards are cast upon property, not a living being and not a child. The magic in the blood ward is based upon the love of a mother for their child. Once cast, that love provides protection for that child and its family until such child comes of age at seventeen. But the idea of using a child as a magical source is not considered proper.
"The other reason is the effect of the spell if it works. It provides near total magical protection to the family. So long as the child is under the age of seventeen - the age of majority in our world - no magical attack or threat can harm that child or the family. While their home is the base of the wards, the wards protect the family regardless, provided they consider the home their home and domicile. The ward prevents magical detection as well - which is why it's illegal. The child and any other children can do magic! In Britain, it is illegal for a child to do anything other than accidental magic outside of a Ministry of Magic approved school.
"Only those who are trusted by the family can enter the wards and, if they try to enter to betray that trust, they will fail. Had such a ward been in place when you were born, Harry, your family would still be alive and together. Dumbledore could have created that ward on your birth, but he is always concerned about legalities, at least until they bite back. He created the ward after your parents were killed and, I believe, separated you and Clarice for a reason."
"And that was?" Harry asked.
"The ward is at full strength when the warded child lives with a blood relative and they bond as family. Clarice and you, being so close in age, would have bonded as siblings. Dumbledore wanted and needed to monitor you, Harry. He would not have been able to do that unless he sent you to live with a blood relative who despised you or who you were. And it had to be without your sister. As you are with your sister now, the bond is reforming and once you leave here and move in with the Grangers, it will seal! You, Clarice, the Grangers, Minnie and Hermione will be safe from uninvited magical threat until the youngest of you turns seventeen! You can walk down Diagon Alley - the wizarding mall, for lack of a more apt expression - walk right up to the worst of your enemy's and so long as you seek no fight, even if they know you, they will not know you unless you reveal yourselves to them! Voldemort himself would not know you! That's one of the reasons the Ward Dumbledore used is illegal. The other? Unless you trusted a member of the Hogwarts staff - Minnie to be certain - you would never get the invitation to attend!
"So far as the magical world is concerned, if the ward forms between you and Clarice - and I think it will - you all will not exist! Oh, you will, but the magical world will forget about you and only those you tell will know who you really are - and they cannot spread that around. To be honest, they could scream it from the roof tops of Diagon Alley and everyone would merely think they're barmy. Consequently, Dumbledore cannot mold your fate to meet his vision of the future if a full fledged Family Ward is in place, even when you attend Hogwarts. His plans will be over soon."
"Meaning my being a Martyr," Harry said.
Sensei nodded. "Exactly! Handing you over to a blood relative who hated magic and would not protect you opened holes in the Wards that allowed you to be magically monitored. Not huge holes that would allow an enemy a means to attack you, but you would be monitored, Harry. As Dumbledore foolishly believed his plan foolproof, when the wards collapsed as a result of the end of you - er - Dursley family connection, he could not help but conclude you are dead. His warding ideas were a big mistake, but by no means his biggest."
"And what was the biggest?" Harry asked. "Does it involve me?"
"Only indirectly mostly, Harry," Sensei replied. "You remember how I told you about the night your parents died and why they were murdered?"
Harry nodded.
"There is a curse out there know as the Killing Curse. Even non-magical people have heard of it. It's real incantation sounds like 'Abra Kadabra.' This was the curse Voldemort used on your parents and tried to use on you. It destroys all magic in a living thing or object and if your magic is destroyed, you die - instantly. There's no known way to protect against it. Your only defenses are to either block it with a steel plate or rock or to dodge it.
"Voldemort killed your parents, your mother right before your eyes. He then tried to kill you and…failed. The attempt destroyed his physical being."
"So he's dead then?" Robert asked.
"Physically, yes. He has no physical being or body anymore. My appearance is even more substantial than he is now. But his soul remains anchored to this world and as long as it so remains, he can come back one day and find or create a new body for himself."
Minerva gasped! "He has a Horcrux?"
"What's that?" Clarice asked.
"Yes, Minerva," Sensei said, "and he has more than one. As for your question Clarice, the simplest explanation is it is an evil magical object that a wizard creates to anchor his soul to this world so that he cannot truly die. He accomplishes this by tearing a bit of his soul off and storing it in the object. Now you cannot just tear your soul at will. No! You must do something so evil, so heinous so as to render your soul breakable and unstable. The most common thing is to murder someone in cold blood. Raping a child, particularly a family member is also said to work, although there are no documented cases of that."
"So he's a murderer?" Rose asked.
"Arguably an understatement," Sensei replied. "Most murderers are decent people when compared to him.
"Anyway, so long as his Horcrux survives intact, the rest of his soul is anchored to this world. With help, either through possession of another or by some other means, he can perform any of six rituals or magical rites that will restore him to a body."
"So he needs this hocrux for the ritual?" Harry asked.
"Yes and no," Sensei said. "It needs to exist intact with its soul fragment safe inside. But he does not need to have it in the physical or geographic sense. He could be on the opposite side of the world and be able to return to a physical form."
"Sounds horrible," Rose commented.
"Indeed, it is. What's worse is that he made more than one - no one had ever done that before and until each and every one of them is destroyed, he can come back and cannot truly be killed."
"And he must be killed?" McGonagall asked.
"He has so severed his immortal soul that he is not human anymore. There can be no redemption or hope for him. Thousands have died because of him and, until he is stopped forever, billions are at risk. Harry, Hermione and Clarice are orphans from their birthparents because of him. Voldemort must die for good and forever!"
"And destroying these horcrux things," Robert Granger began.
"Will make him mortal again," Sensei concluded. "As a mortal, he can be killed once and for all and we can hope to avoid the nuclear holocaust his continued existence caused in my timeline. As a mortal, anyone can kill him."
"So I don't have to?" Harry asked.
"The math says only you can defeat his defenses, Harry," Sensei said. "But once his defenses are gone, once he is mortal, if he's not paying attention crossing the road, a London bus could be his end. He could choke to death on a chicken bone or - as he is older, a heart attack could do him in. Wouldn't rule that out, by the way. The git thinks he's invincible so I doubt he's been eating right. While we magicals can live a long, long time, we are not immune from certain physical flaws and can die young of natural causes. And I doubt the git would visit a Healer."
"Does Dumbledore know about these horcruxes?" McGonagall asked.
"Right now?" Sensei replied, "he suspects but lacks proof. He knows Voldemort was not really killed - there would have been remains. He knows Voldemort bragged to his followers about defeating death - a euphemism in magical talk for having at least one. But for now he has no solid proof and will not have any until June of 1993, if nothing happens before then."
"So, what are these horcrux things," Harry asked, "where are they? Can we get to them and how do we destroy them?"
"In my timeline," Sensei said, "the first Horcrux came to light - as I said - in June 1993. It was a diary that belonged to one Tom Riddle, the boy who would one day become Voldemort. I destroyed it when I was twelve. Right now, I have no idea where it is, but I do know at least one former Death Eater - a soldier for Voldemort - either has it or knows where it is.
"The second Horcrux destroyed was a ring that belonged to Riddle's maternal grandfather, the legal heir of Salazar Slytherin. It is in the dead man's ruin of a home, buried beneath the dirt floor and protected by powerful curses that, in my timeline, led to Dumbledore's death in June of 1997 because he failed to break one of them. Should you attend the Watanabe School, Harry, you will succeed where he failed but until then I will say no more.
"The third was a locket that again belonged to the magical side of Riddle's family. His father was non-magical and only got together with his mother by her use of a love potion. She pawned the locket for meal money after the potion wore off and she was penniless and pregnant on the streets of London. It was also well guarded. But a boy who joined Voldemort's army betrayed him - at the cost of his life - and stole it from its well guarded hiding place. It now sits on a bookcase in that boy's now abandoned ancestral home. A home that now belongs to Harry's godfather, who sits in prison for a crime he did not commit. I should hope, Minerva, you take the time to catch the rat who can set the man free?"
Minerva nodded.
"The fourth was a goblet of gold that had once belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts. It sits in a high security vault in Gringotts - the magical world's bank. The Vault owners are all convicted Death Eaters rotting away in prison. For now, there is no way to get to that one. In time, there may be.
"The fifth is a historical object long thought to be lost to the world. It was a tiara - also known as a diadem - that belonged to another Hogwarts founder: Rowena Ravenclaw. Arguably, it's one of Hermione's family heirlooms, but it must be destroyed! It sits in a secret room at Hogwarts.
"The sixth, well in my timeline this was Dumbledore's biggest mistake. Mine as well because I had absolute faith in the man. Dumbledore believed it was this snake that Voldemort kept. The snake was nothing more than a familiar. When it was destroyed I foolishly thought it was over for the bastard. I killed his body minutes later. But twenty-five years later, he returned, so obviously I missed something - as did Dumbledore. The real horcrux was a small shield that belonged to Godric Gryffindor - Harry's ancestor. It is also in a secret room in Hogwarts.
"The final horcrux is in many ways the most problematic. Voldemort created it by accident when he tried to kill Harry all those years ago. It's Harry."
"Me?" Harry gasped.
"The scar on your forehead, to be precise," Sensei said.
"How do we get rid of it?" Hermione asked.
"The easy way is to kill Harry," Sensei said. The gasps of horror did not stop the old man. "I SAID THE EASY WAY! That was the way Dumbledore envisioned in my timeline and that was what happened. I was killed, but my soul did not move on as I was given the choice to come back and finish it. I chose to do so, but I did not have to and could have stayed dead. There are two other ways I know of.
"First, Harry can fall in love and conceive a child. But it must be true and undying love - as opposed to lust or a fling - and if must occur before Harry turns seventeen. It must be mutual, both the love and, more importantly the desire to have the child. The child had to be wanted from the moment of the act by both and not an accident. Possible, but not practical in reality as true love cannot be predicted and - well the girl or her family might object."
"You're talking about Hermione, aren't you?" Robert Granger said.
"Not with any degree of certainty," Sensei said. "But I would say that in my timeline, she was the most likely one. The drawbacks are obvious. Hermione would give birth to the child at no later than age eighteen - probably sooner. But, the one advantage is simple. Love is the opposite of hate and hate is needed to create a horcrux. The horcruxes are interconnected to some extent. Should one be destroyed by love, all remaining horcruxes, wherever they are, would be destroyed at the same time. If Voldemort is not in a physical body at that time, he dies. If my timeline is still in effect, to achieve that result - and assuming Hermione is the love of Harry's life - she would have to conceive much earlier. If she carried to term, the child would be born not later than February of 1996. She would be sixteen, Harry fifteen at the time of birth."
"So," Robert Granger said, "our options are to kill Harry or for my daughter to have a child within the next eight years? Unacceptable!"
"Those are two options," Sensei said. "There is a third. I admit I don't understand it completely, but it does not require killing or babies."
"And what is that?"
"The Watanabe School I mentioned earlier. There are teachers there from all over - students as well. The faculty knows magic we don't know here. They are not bound by our magical laws - which are considered overly restrictive in most of the world. In the magical world, Britain is a backward country lacking any progressive thought. There is magic they can do that we refused to learn because it is foreign and must be Dark. It may not be pleasant, but I have reason to believe if Harry is sent there, the horcrux within him will be found and destroyed, without the less desirable results I have discussed. But, that is your decision to make. For Harry, the best decision in my opinion, as well as for Hermione and Clarice as well. They could learn far more there than here. Think about it?"
"Anything seems better but what about the cost?"
"We'll discuss finances tomorrow. Think about it?"
"If feasible, if it works, Robert?" Rose Granger began.
"We'll discuss this," he nodded. "It is preferable to the other options. Leave those for the 'no other choice' category."
"How do we destroy the others?" Harry asked.
"There are ways," Sensei said. "Ways Dumbledore refused to teach me because he considered it Dark Magic. In almost all cases, it's not the magic that is Dark but the user. Aside from the ritual that I believe the Japanese know, and the option of Harry becoming a Dad before he's old enough to drive, there are three known ways to destroy a Horcurx. One is the Killing Curse I mentioned earlier. It destroys magic and would thus destroy the magical protections that hold the soul in the object. Without that protection, the soul fragment ceases to be. Dumbledore considers anyone who would even deign to learn that spell Dark per se. He forgets that most Curse Breakers know it and use it in their work.
"Another is a fire spell called Feindfyre. It's considered Dark because it is impossible to control. It too destroys magic. Yet again, it does have uses. Magical metal smiths use if all the time to stoke their forges. Even if you could be taught these spells, you are years away from being ready.
"The easiest way to destroy a horcrux is with basilisk venom. It too destroys magic, unfortunately it's not something one can pop down to the local market and pick up. If there is any out there for sale, it is probably next to impossible to find and would cost a king's ransom."
"What's a basilisk," Clarice asked.
"It's a magical hybrid of sorts. It's a great, ruddy snake that can only be bred in captivity and only by a really powerful witch or wizard. It lives practically forever unless it is killed and that's no picnic. A fully grown one can be over sixty feet in length and weigh as much as an elephant. Its venom is only one of it's weapons. Its stare is lethal. If you make eye contact with one, you drop dead - provided you are close enough."
"How did you destroy the horcruxes in your timeline, Sensei?" Hermione asked.
"Basilisk venom," Sensei said.
"But you said that's really hard to get!"
"Unless you are lucky enough to find a basilisk - or unlucky. I killed one when I was twelve. Dumb luck, really. Put a sword through its skull, but had I known then what I know now, there is an easier and less potentially life ending way."
"What's that?"
"A rooster," Sensei said. "The crowing of a rooster kills them dead."
"That's silly," Clarice said, "a crowing rooster kills a deadly, giant snake?"
"Some magic is quite silly when you think about it," Sensei smiled.
"So, where is this basilisk thing?" Harry asked.
"I will tell you, Harry. I promise. But not until you are ready to deal with the Horcruxes and that ruddy snake. Same with the locations of the Horcruxes, not until you are ready. When you are ready, you will decide what to do and when. Until you are ready - and that won't be for some time - there's no reason for you to know as there's nothing you can do with the information. Besides, although I believe Minerva here can be trusted with this information, the less she knows now, the better."
"Why?"
"Dumbledore," Sensei said. "If he suspects she knows something, he will try to get that information from her. It's risky enough that she knows about you three and about what awaits you in the future. Dumbledore's big mistake was withholding information. I admit I am doing it too, but only because it is of no use to anyone - yet. Dumbledore withholds information that can be of use - even now he does so. He never told me half of what I've told you, or he never explained it to me. I trusted him completely which was a waste for he never truly trusted me. Had he trusted me, things may have been very different. Had I not had blind faith in him, things may have been very different. But they were the way they were."
"Critical reasoning," Hermione nodded.
"Exactly! Do not rely on others to tell you everything or to tell you what to do and what needs to be done!"
"May I ask a question?" Robert Granger asked.
"By all means."
"Why are you telling them all this? I mean, is it age appropriate? They're only children and I know that although we agreed to take Harry and Clarice into our home, we didn't agree to this."
"I appreciate your concern," Sensei said, "really I do. I was a father once too and - well. But would you hide the truth from your daughter? Would you tell her the world is a wonderful place when all hell is breaking loose?"
"But is sounds like you want them to be warriors or something!"
"Maybe. The truth is, Mr. Granger, there is a storm coming. These three are magical children and the first blows will fall upon their world. True, the enemy sees Harry as a prime target, but Clarice is a close second should they learn of her and should they ever learn of Hermione's magical family, she will be targeted for death. Would you rather she know nothing about that or learn to be ready for what is out there?
"In my timeline, I was in the thick of it at age eleven. I did not want to be and most certainly was not trained to be. I was a mushroom. The magical adults I knew fed me sh … manure and kept me in the dark as it were. I was not aware of how things were or how bad things could be until it happened. I was always reacting to events and not making things happen.
"Regardless of our hopes that they can have normal and carefree childhoods, the reality is, by 1992 Harry will have to face the enemy. If the girls are kept out of the fray, it will only be a matter of a few years before the enemy comes for them as well. Would you rather they be defenseless? Would you rather they die as sheep, for die they will in the end unless they are ready. The Clarice in my timeline died in a prison that at the time was only marginally better than the Nazi concentration camps. Hermione only barely escaped that fate and that was more by luck than skill.
"And, if your daughter is anything like the version I knew, she will not sit idly by and do nothing. She will stand up to the enemy and fight and she won't wait for permission from you or anyone else to do so.
"The wards that will surround you when Harry and Clarice move in with you will keep you safer than you otherwise would have been, but they will not last forever. These three will be safer than they were the last time, but only until Clarice turns seventeen. Once that happens, all bets are off.
"I never knew much of this - not when I needed to. I did not learn I was magical until I turned eleven. I did not learn I was the enemy's prime target until after his fourth failed attempt on my life. I did not learn how to defeat him until after many I knew and loved had died unnecessarily. Had I known earlier, had I been trained to be the lion and not the lamb, things would have been very different. Later in life, again when it was too late, I learned that it is better to make things happen than to wait for them to happen and hope for the best.
"We have an opportunity not to repeat past mistakes. They will not be helpless when the time comes. When the enemy returns, he will find a fight he had not counted on waiting for him and his followers."
"But you seem to propose to send children to war," Rose said.
"In my timeline that's just what we did - with less than acceptable results."
"Why?"
"Because the children still had hopes and dreams and something worth fighting for. Most of the adults surrendered or preferred to look the other way or ignore that their world was coming to an end. You field the army that will stand and fight, not the one you would like to stand and fight.
"The conditions that lead to complacency and appeasement - and ultimately disaster - are there now just as they were then. The magical world lacks any clear leader and even amongst them, no strong one. Dumbledore is the most respected, but he is secretive. He never has tried to build a coalition that could stand up for itself. He shuns power and refuses to muster an army to him, even though he could. Worst, he believes in redemption. That is the stuff of theologians and not the stuff of armies. His path leads to ruin.
"If the adults are unable or unwilling to save the world from evil, then who is left?"
"It's that bad?"
"Not now. We are in the calm before the storm. The wizarding world is at peace and the economy is booming. This is but a respite. The storm clouds will gather and yet the people will believe the storms are gone forever. They have no umbrellas. They don't think such things are needed. If the current generation refuses to train for war, and the last generation refuses to lead in war, who does that leave to defend what is right?
"That's too much to ask from children so young!"
"If that's what needed to be done tomorrow, then I agree and all is already lost. But the war I speak of will not even begin for at least another seven years. That gives us time: time to learn, time to train, time to prepare and time to win."
"But there are only three of them," Robert protested.
"Around a particle of dust too small to see, a snowflake forms. It joins with others and others and others until conditions are right and the avalanche is set loose. These three may be the dust particles that one day unleashes the avalanche. I am not saying they have to fight or even need to. I leave that decision to them. I was not given that choice. Unlike me, they will be prepared so that if they choose to, they have a fighting chance and do not have to rely upon dumb luck as I did.
"I am not here to steal away their childhood, only to see that they have every opportunity to grow and thrive. I want them to be safe and to live full lives. I just know it won't be easy and will be impossible if they are not ready for the hell we cannot stop from coming. I cannot take them from you. You are their guardians and I will have to respect your wishes to a major degree. But, I would ask that you look into this Watanabe School. Even if I am totally wrong about the future I know is coming, it is an exceptional opportunity for them. I will leave you once I have assigned the children their homework for this week."
Sensei then discussed more concentration exercises for Harry and Hermione and the first mind lesson to Clarice before fading from sight.
"What do you think of all that Robert?" Rose asked.
"I'm not comfortable with the idea of war, or children fighting."
"Honestly! You lied about your age and joined the Army at sixteen! You were in the S.A.S.! You expect your children to hide their heads in the sand when their country is in need?"
"No," Robert said. "I just hoped it would never be necessary." He sighed. "The war he speaks of is years away. Perhaps we should - er - humor the crazy old coot."
"Perhaps."