Harry Potter and the Power of the Mind.
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and I do not write this story for any financial gain.
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Written Knowledge
~Parseltongue~
Spells
Chapter Thirteen - A Christmas Present - Part One
Christmas finally came, and everyone was celebrating. Most Hogwarts students were sent home and the ones who didn't want to go back were getting ready to attend a dinner with the teachers that remained in the school. The Christmas evening was about to start when two figures appeared out of nowhere.
Harry felt his feet touching the solid ground and closed his eyes, concentrating hard.
"You didn't puke. Well, I guess the headmaster took you on a few trips, didn't he?"
"Yup." Harry nodded, shaking his head, looking to the familiar neighborhood, a few houses displaying Christmas lights, illuminating the street, and Harry sighed. He pointed, and they both started walking.
"It has been three months, but it feels like an eternity. It feels more like years." As Harry said that, he stopped in the middle of the street with a big smile on his face, turning and walking to a mailbox, touching the very worn green ribbon attached to it. He walked back to Sirius and resumed their walk.
"What was that?"
"Something I liked to do when I was around."
"And let me guess, it's another enigmatic thing you won't talk about to show me how mysterious you are." Sirius said with a straight face and Harry giggled.
"Not at all. I just liked to play detective, using my skills to deduce things. The green ribbon was the signal I used to find people in need of my help. Tie a green ribbon to your mailbox and detective fancy pants will come to solve your mystery."
Sirius was surprised but decided not to comment on it, looking ahead and spotting a few green ribbons wrapped around mailboxes.
"It's here." Harry said and stopped, pointing to a house. Harry saw Vernon's car parked in the driveway, sighing before walking towards the door, followed close by Sirius.
Harry knocked and waited a few moments, hearing running inside, and then, Dudley opened the door with a smile, but when he saw Harry and Sirius, he screamed and ran back inside, making Harry chuckle before catching the door, followed by Sirius who closed it.
"What's going on?! Why are you shouting?!" Vernon's voice came from the kitchen and he appeared, seeing Harry, wearing the same dark clothes he used when he went to Hogwarts, accompanied by a man he has never seen before in his life, full of neck tattoos.
"YOU! YOU HAVE SOME NERVE COMING BACK HERE AFTER YOU LEFT WITHOUT A WORD! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND HERE AGAIN-"
"Good evening. Merry Christmas." Harry said low and Vernon frowned.
"IF YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO ACCEPT YOU BACK AFTER YOU-" Vernon shouted again, but Harry raised one hand.
"I'm just here to discuss a few things." As Harry said that, he saw Petunia coming downstairs, her face shocked when she saw Harry and Sirius.
Harry gestured to the sofa and nodded.
"Take a seat so we can talk."
"YOU COME OUT OF NOWHERE WITH... WHOEVER THIS IS AND EXPECT US TO WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS?!"
Harry took a deep breath and heard Sirius's low voice that sounded almost like a hiss:
"It wasn't a request."
The three looked at each other, noticing the air around Sirius, looking at his tattoos and the wand in his hand, walking to the sofa, and sitting.
Harry moved around the room and grabbed a chair, sitting in front of them while Sirius waved his wand and a chair came flying, that he grabbed and sat, making the three Dursleys gasp.
Thud!
They all looked forward to the noise, seeing a brown square package on top of the tea table, and Vernon frowned, looking at Harry who gestured with a nod for him to take it, so he grabbed it and opened it, gaping at what was inside.
"In there, there are a hundred thousand pounds in cash. Consider that as payment for the twelve years of crumbs, second-hand clothes, and allocation in the cupboard." Harry nodded, and they all looked stunned.
"Although it's more than you deserve, I'd never allow you to say it was not enough, so there you have it. Now, to the second matter at hand, I need to talk to you." Harry looked at Petunia and she looked scared, twisting her fingers.
They jumped when Sirius threw documents on the table, and Harry pointed.
"I need you to sign those."
"Hold on for a damn minute! Don't sign anything he tells you to sign, Petunia. HOW DARE YOU DEMAND ANYTHING FROM US WHEN-" Harry felt his blood boil and turned to Petunia, not paying attention to Vernon, because this was inside his mind since he discovered how his mother died.
"Do you know how she died?" He asked low and the woman's eyes went wide.
"She didn't go and got herself blown up with my father... she died trying to save me. She sacrificed her life trying to protect me from a killer, and in the night I was brought here, I was coming from the ruins of our home, where their bodies were still lying."
Petunia's eyes widened, but she didn't say a word.
"And the reason I was brought to you, is that her sacrifice was so deep, that it was rooted in her being, so her blood, that is inside you, also started acting as some kind of protection to me. If the monster that killed her would come for me, he'd never be able to even find me, because of her blood and her sacrifice. He could enter the house and stay in front of us without being able to see or touch a single hair of our heads. That's how strong her sacrifice was."
She could only stare.
"Do you know why I'm telling you this? Because I understood why you hated me. I understood why you hated her, and I want you to remember... I want you to remember the reason you hated us all these years. She was better than you, not because she was a witch, but because she was good. She was better than you in every possible way. You are a jealous, despicable, and disgraceful human being."
"DON'T YOU DARE TO INSULT HER-"
But that was enough and Harry snapped, getting up with his wand aimed at the three, at the same time his ring started shining, Ivy and Ask appeared from the insides of his clothes with their fangs in view, their scales glowing, and his chair flew across the room, hitting a window, cracking it.
"STOP SHOUTING AT ME! The only one in here that should be shouting is me, and I'm trying hard not to, so don't you dare raise your voice to me ever again. I don't care if this is your house, you're going to talk like a normal human being or I'll shut your mouth for you."
The three kept looking at him and the snakes around his neck, terrified, and even Sirius was taken aback after that, seeing Harry's hateful glare, but he could understand his anger after twelve years of dealing with these people. Sirius could understand that Harry would never allow these people to treat him the same way as before. This looked like a tantrum, but it was more of an assertive stance. He was showing he was not the puny boy they mistreated for all these years, he was a new Harry, one not afraid to take a stand against them.
Harry calmed down, stashing his wand, but Ivy and Ash remained in view, and Dudley covered his face with his hands, trembling from head to toe. Harry picked up his chair, sat again, and turned to Petunia while Sirius used the Reparo on the cracked window.
"Now, sign it."
The woman took the documents and started reading them, frowning, looking up at Harry, at the same moment Vernon took the papers from her hands and read them too.
"This- Is that him? Is he your godfather?" Vernon asked while pointing at Sirius, but Harry didn't answer, looking at Petunia.
"Sign it, dear, so we can be done with this nonsense." Vernon said while giving back the papers, a tiny smile spreading on his face.
Harry clicked a pen, sliding it over the table and she looked down, picking the object, but she looked up and asked:
"What about... the letter. What will happen?"
Harry nodded.
"Dumbledore's letter doesn't matter anymore. Sign this and we'll never see each other again."
She looked at the papers but didn't sign, looking up again.
"Where is she buried?"
Harry's eyes became cold.
"Don't you dare- Don't you dare to even pretend to care."
Her face became cold, and she looked at the window, her gaze far.
"You may have lost your mother that night, boy, but I lost my sister. I couldn't even-"
Harry felt stunned by that, seeing her eyes shining while she tried not to show her emotions, looking down and placing the documents on the table, signing them, and Sirius moved his wand, pulling the papers to his hands, stashing them inside his robes.
"Good, I advise you to use this money to move, because if somehow, the forces that I'm going against find out about you, they will come here, and you have my word that you are going to die and I'm not going to lift a finger to help."
"What?! You're telling us that your people may still come for us?! You're the one that put us in danger, and you'll just walk away?!" Vernon hissed, not raising his voice, but his face was red like a tomato.
"That money is also the compensation for the inconvenience, so don't act like you're not being paid for your trouble, because you are. What I am saying to you is: Sell the house and use your money to move, because if they somehow find you, they will try to use you as leverage to get to me, and I will not come to help... I'm telling you right now... I. Will. Let. You. Die."
They kept staring dumbfounded and Harry got up, buttoning up his jacket, hissing to the snakes, making them disappear inside his robes, and the Dursleys frowned at the weird sound.
"And finally, let me give you one last piece of advice. No matter what, never tell anyone about this, whoever they are. My enemies can become anyone, so if you tell about my world to someone, even the police, you may die." Harry paused and nodded.
"And with that, there's nothing else. Goodbye."
And he moved to the door, turning to take one last look inside. He saw the living room, the cupboard under the stairs he called home, and the face of the three Dursleys eyeing him. Vernon with a hateful glare, his teeth in view like an animal. Dudley trembling from head to toe, looking at him as if he was a ghost, and Petunia, staring at him with an affected face, a single tear falling through her face. Harry held her look for a moment before turning and closing the door behind him.
"Are you ok?" Sirius asked as they walked away from the houses to Apparate again.
"Yes... actually, no, not really."
Sirius just stared, not wanting to pry, but Harry started explaining.
"It's not like I imagined- I thought I'd feel relieved... free. I thought I'd be happy, but I just feel... alone. I don't know how to explain this."
"Don't worry, you're going to be-"
"Hey!"
The two turned to the sound and saw two police officers coming towards them, a cruiser a few yards back.
"Stay where you are, hey! Hands where I can see them!" The officer that was close said because Sirius had his hand halfway to his wand, and Harry said.
"Don't react, just do what they're telling you to do."
"For real?" Sirius rolled his eyes but raised his hands.
"Face that wall!" Harry frowned at the aggressive approach but obeyed, turning and walking to a wall, hearing the officers approaching, tapping his waist.
"Do you have any weapons on you? Anything dangerous that I need to be aware of? Any needles?"
"I have two poisonous snakes inside my clothes, so I'd be careful if I was you." Harry said with his hands up and the two officers looked at each other with frowns.
"Did you say snakes, lad?"
"I did." And as if feeling his desire, Ash and Ivy moved around his neck, making the officers gasp and take three steps back.
"Jesus Christ- Dispatch, we have a 10-91v, I repeat, we have a 10-91v." The second officer said while pressing his radio.
And then, they heard and turned to see at least 6 cruisers arriving, followed by black cars, and from one of them, a woman came out.
"Are you Harry James Potter?" She asked, and Harry nodded slowly, looking around.
"I'm Inspector Chloe Davies, New Scotland Yard, and I'd like for you to come with us. We have a few questions for you." She said while showing a badge.
Harry thought there was something really wrong going on.
'The Dursleys didn't do this- Then how? Why is this happening? This was not a coincidence, they were waiting.' Harry stopped his deduction and asked the woman:
"Why are we being arrested?"
"You're not being arrested, we're simply asking you to come with us for a chat."
"And if I refuse?" Harry asked while raising one eyebrow.
"Well, if you don't comply we'll simply ask the... Dursleys what we want to ask you." She read from a tiny notebook, smiling at Harry.
"Inspector Davies, he wasn't properly searched yet, and he has snakes in his person... we saw it." The officer said, and she turned to look at Harry with a smile.
"Snakes, huh?"
Harry just stared.
"It's all right, they can keep their things."
"But Inspector-"
"I told you it's ok." She glared at the officer, and he nodded.
Harry looked at Sirius and the man was smiling, having fun while being in the middle of this tense situation with muggles. Wizards were so full of themselves.
"Fine." Harry said, not because he was afraid they'd go talk to the Dursleys, he knew they were going to do that anyway, but because he needed answers as to what was going on.
The Inspector gestured to her car, and they walked to it, seeing all faces turned to them, and Harry stored that piece of the puzzle.
'They are all here for us, so they really were waiting for us to leave the house.'
The trip was quiet, and the woman kept staring at Harry, who sustained her gaze a few times, but she simply stared, smiling. She was brunette, in her late twenties or early thirties, with light brown eyes, her hair no longer than her shoulder line with bangs.
They drove for almost an hour until they reached a big building with a lot of glass windows and a sign on the front.
New Scotland Yard.
They were bought inside and escorted by at least ten officers, the woman leading them, until she stopped in front of a room, signaling for Sirius to enter, and when Harry moved to follow, she blocked his way, closing the door and walking ahead, opening another room.
"Really? I'm a minor." Harry said while raising one eyebrow.
"It doesn't matter." She answered with a smile, and Harry narrowed his eyes.
'It doesn't matter? If this is related to a crime, then everything is inadmissible- What the hell is going on?'
After getting in, he was left there for a good hour, looking around the room, walking up and down, seeing his reflection in the one-side mirror, looking up to the cameras, and then, the door went open and the Inspector was back.
"I didn't know if you like tea, so I got you water. Take a seat." She gestured, placing a bottle on the table, and Harry obeyed, noticing she also had another woman with her, a red-head, using similar clothes.
"This is my partner, Inspector Ruby." Harry nodded, noticing the woman's gaze full of meaning. She didn't acknowledge his nod, and that made him chuckle.
"So, what is this all about, Inspector Davies?" Harry asked and saw Inspector Davies taking folders from a box she brought with her.
"You can call me Chloe. Let's start from the beginning, Mr. Potter."
"Then you can call me Harry. I'm all ears." Harry answered, and she smiled before crossing her hands, interlacing her fingers, leaning towards him on the table.
"You see, 8 years ago, someone noticed something strange happening in our country. This... thing that was happening was caught by an Inspector, who noticed this strange pattern." She paused and played with her nails for a few moments.
"He noticed children were disappearing all around the country, but the weird thing was that those children would re-appear one year later in their homes as if nothing happened, hell, a few would even reappear for Christmas- Anyway, the Inspector just kept tabs on it for some time, thinking that it could be some kind of human trafficking ring, but the children were always coming back unharmed, completely fine. This Inspector then brought his concerns to his higher-ups, but they were so eager to dismiss him, that he thought something was wrong with his superiors as well. He had a weird-looking case, but they dismissed it so fast that he wanted to dive even deeper, and that's when he filed for a medical leave."
Harry frowned.
"Weird, huh? Yes, he was so motivated and certain that something was wrong that he kept going, until one day he complained about memory loss, and not being able to continue with the case, but it was weird because the memory loss was only related to the information regarding the case. Can you believe it? He could remember everything just fine, except any information about the case. Even his files were 'lost' in his amnesia problem, nevertheless, he couldn't keep going, so he archived the pieces of his work that he still had until another Inspector stumbled on the same problem years later."
She paused and took a folder.
"Do you recognize these?" She started showing Harry photos on the table, spreading them around, and Harry noticed they were pictures taken of half-bloods walking to King's Crossing with their luggage. Harry simply stared down and Chloe tilted her head, trying to meet his gaze.
"No? What about these?" She started placing more photos on the table, and Harry saw photos of ruins of a very familiar castle, remembering the charm around Hogwarts to repel muggles that he read about in Hogwarts, a story.
"No, I have no idea who they are or what is this place, but my best bet is that they are children and this is a ruin." Harry lied and Chloe giggled before nodding.
"This is a very interesting place. I went there, lots of ruins, but something weird about it, but we'll come to it later. Let me show you something." She picked another folder and placed it on the table, taking documents and showing them to Harry.
"Did you know that we have a list of all children that are in our educational system?" She asked sly and Harry started reading the list.
"So you see, every single child that starts studying either in state schools or particular schools is listed in our databank, and once a child goes off the grid, we know where to look, and of course, sometimes children go missing and end up in the underworld, where there are drugs, prostitution, and other crimes, but even though they left their lives behind, we can still connect them to this list, because at one point, they were simply students in the many schools we have around the country."
Harry tried not to let the shock transpire when he saw a known name.
Hermione Jean Granger.
"Interesting, isn't it?" She asked, and Harry smiled while nodding.
"Very."
Harry kept reading the list, stopping at his name, and seeing his school and the date he was last seen. It was September 1st, the day he left for Hogwarts.
"This second Inspector found it weird, just like his predecessor. You see, this problem kept reappearing over the years, and we had 15 Inspectors filling for medical leave. All those related to this disappearance case, all of them with memory problems."
'Jesus Christ, how stupid is the Ministry to let this fly. How has nobody noticed this?' Harry thought fierce, cursing Fudge with all of his might.
"So you see, the sixteenth Inspector, my mentor, took this case, and it took him just a few months to understand something was going on. He knew something was going to happen to him, and you wanna guess why I am the seventeenth?"
"Medical leave?" Harry asked.
"Correct, he can't remember anything related to this case, and now it's my turn, but you see, I'm tired of this charade, so I created a few safeguards regarding the problem, so even if I forget, I have a way to remember."
Harry waited.
"You must be wondering, why did we bring an underage boy here, without his guardians, without an adult, without child services-"
"Because you got a blank check." Harry said seriously, and Inspector Chloe smiled at him.
"Care to explain?"
Harry didn't answer, and she tilted her head.
"When I brought my concerns to the higher-ups they too were eager to dismiss me, and that's when I found out that our Prime Minister was in contact with people from my investigation. Weird, right?"
"Extremely." Inspector Ruby said.
"So, when we assembled proves and brought those proves to different higher-ups, they came with us to talk to our Prime Minister, but you won't believe what happened."
"He couldn't remember." Ruby completed and Harry nodded, pretending to read the list again.
"And after that... I got a blank check." She whispered very low and Harry looked at her in the eyes, and she smiled.
"That's an amazing job, gathering all this information." Harry said with a smile and the woman smiled wide at his attempt to sweet-talk her.
"Thank you, but let's go back to this." She said while tapping on the documents, placing a photo in front of Harry.
Harry looked down and saw a photo of platforms nine and ten at King's Crossing station.
"So you see, Harry, after making a few arrangements to protect me and my team, we dove deep into this case, and we got the green light to use all of our toys. We noticed a very weird pattern with those missing children, do you wanna hear it?"
Harry simply nodded.
"Great. You see, they would be all right until they finish middle school, and then, on their twelfth birthday, they'd go missing. Now that's strange if you ask me. Well, we started monitoring a few children before they turn twelve, and we found our answer, well, sorta." She took a tablet and played a video of platforms nine and ten, and Harry saw kids walking around with their luggage, some with owls.
"I never saw owls in cages like that, well, that's not the weirdest part, look." She pointed to the screen and Harry saw that the moment they arrive between platforms nine and ten, they wouldn't appear on the camera, disappearing likes ghosts.
"Impressive, it is almost like magic." She said and Harry tried hard not to smile, thinking he was in the middle of a monumental crisis."
"So we thought, the cameras are the problem, so we switched them, and the result was the same, so we sent people there to see from up close, and guess what?" She asked with a giggle, taking a piece of paper and reading from it.
"It was like they disappeared. I was looking at them, and then I blinked, and they were gone. I couldn't see where they'd gone, no sound, nothing, all of sudden, I was alone on the platform, and when the next one appeared, the same thing happened. I tried not to blink, but at the moment they moved, I had to, and they vanished from my sight."
Harry looked at Inspector Ruby who was looking at him with worried eyes, her hand in her gun.
"So, you must be asking yourself, why all this nonsense, right? I'm just a kid that doesn't know a thing, but that's the problem, I think you do, Harry. I think you know exactly what's going on because I think you're one of these children, who turned twelve and disappeared." She pointed to the tablet and tapped for some time, choosing a new file and turning the screen for Harry to see himself in the footage, arriving between the platforms just to disappear from the main camera as well.
"We were on our toes because Christmas is one of the times the children come back, so we were keeping watch, and we had a hit. We saw you two arriving, and the report of my team is hilarious, hear me out." She took a paper and read again, her smile stopping mid-sentence.
"It was like they appeared from thin air. There was nothing, and then they both appeared."
She leaned back and stared at Harry's poker face, but he could feel the sweat running down his neck.
"Now, would you like to talk to me?"
Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair, trying to calm down to play this perfectly.
"About what, exactly?"
"Where did you go on September 1st?" She asked with a tiny smile.
"Abroad School." Harry answered seriously.
"Where?" She asked angelically and Harry smiled.
"At that place you took pictures from."
"Those ruins? That is your school?"
"It's an archeologic school." Harry smiled, and she smiled wide.
"Cut the crap, Harry."
"Fine." And by saying that, Harry placed his hand on his waist and took out his wand, making Inspector Ruby pull out her gun and aim at him.
"DROP IT!"
Harry simply turned slowly, eyeing the woman, but it was Inspector Chloe who spoke:
"Ruby?! What in god's name are you doing?! PUT THAT DOWN!"
"But he's-"
"NOW!" She hissed, and the woman obeyed, looking at Harry with worry on her face.
"I happen to know this, you see, after we started interviewing these kids when they came home, they all had a similar stick like that one."
"Yea, we all get one." Harry answered dreamily.
"What for?"
"If I tell you, do you know what's going to happen?" Harry asked while playing with his wand and the woman leaned forward.
"What?"
"This time, they'll realize their mistake. They'll dig deep to tie all loose ends related to this leak, they will erase all of your memories, and I mean all of your memories, so if I tell you, this whole thing ends. Are you still willing to hear it?"
Chloe looked stunned now, and Harry hissed toward Ivy and Ash.
~Come out.~
And the two snakes instantly moved, exiting his clothes, and Inspector Chloe's eyes bulged, the same as Ruby's.
"Bloody hell-"
"What did you just-" Inspector Chloe started, but Harry cut her short.
"I'm going to ask you again, Inspector- Chloe, are you ready to die?"
"Are you threatening me?" She asked in a whisper.
"No, but if you ask me about what happens to someone that forgets who they are, I'd say they lose the essence of themselves, they become someone else, so what I'm asking is if you're ready to forget who you are in order to understand just for a moment."
She was breathing faster, scared, and then, Harry heard the door being kicked open, seeing Sirius with his wand raised towards Inspector Ruby.
"Stupefy." He said, and the woman received the flash of red light, making her fly against the wall, falling to the ground, groaning, and Chloe instantly got up, seeing Sirius aiming his wand at her.
"Stupefy."
'Protego.' Harry thought while getting up as well, blocking the spell that was about to hit the woman, feeling the tremendous impact it had, remembering his playful duel with Dumbledore, seeing the real force of an adult wizard, storing to mind that Dumbledore was actually playing with him and that he couldn't beat Sirius even if he wanted. The spell pushed Harry a little back, and he redirected it to the wall, that cracked.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, HARRY?! MOVE!" Sirius shouted and Harry raised one hand, his eyes on Chloe who was with her gun drawn, looking at her partner and back at Harry.
"Sirius, stop! Inspector, calm down." Harry tried to calm everyone, but she was gasping.
"You- You two- What the fuck are you?!"
"Inspector Davies- Chloe, please, calm down." Harry tried again.
She just stared at Sirius who had his wand still aimed.
"What the hell are you?!" She asked again, and Harry pressed his lips together, trying to think if this was a good idea. This was something he had already thought about it, but the situation was wrong, and the timing was bad. Should he try to salvage it, or just let it go? He decided to try it.
"We are wizards, and these are our weapons, they are magical wands."
"Wizards? What the hell are you on-" She whispered, looking at Ruby, who was groaning on the floor, trying to move but not even able to lift an arm.
"Harry, what the hell are you doing revealing our identities to muggles?" Sirius hissed, looking outside of the room.
"Now, this is what's going to happen, in a few moments I'll receive a letter for doing magic in here, so they'll know what's going on, and after that, they will send word to my Ministry, and this place is going to be swarming with Aurors."
"Aurors?"'
"They are a special force that protects our world, so, when they come here, they will Obliviate everyone, and since your investigation is already this deep, they will involve the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and they will tie all the loose ends."
"What-"
"But I'd like to propose something." Harry raised his hands, and she frowned.
"Harry, what the hell are you thinking? I have three of them Stupefied back there, and they are going to come back up anytime.
Harry kept staring at the woman with his hands raised.
"If you want to understand, you'll have to trust me." He whispered, and she looked around before cursing.
"God fucking damn it!" She stashed her gun and Harry nodded.
"Now, since you'll be a part of this, you have to follow my lead, or they will Obliviate you."
"What is Obliviate?" She hissed, confused.
"Memory loss." Harry whispered, and she raised her eyebrows, her mouth falling open.
"Now, here's what I need you to do." Harry started.
A few hours later.
Harry, Sirius, and Chloe were sitting in a cafe, where Harry was whispering to her the magical world story.
"So the Prime Minister knew."
"I read about it. It's common for our Minister to contact yours so they can work together in hiding our presence, and by the end of their term, they are obliviated."
Her face became cold and Harry could understand her anger. Wizards were sure full of themselves.
"So, magic is real? I mean, like in the movies."
"Not exactly. We do magic based on words of power."
"Words of power? Was that Latin? You said Stupefy, didn't you?" She asked Sirius, and he nodded.
"You understand quick." Harry nodded, and she frowned.
"So you're saying that everyone back in the Scotland Yard is going to have their memories altered?"
"Correct."
She looked down, and after taking a sip from her coffee, she asked.
"Why didn't you let me be... obliterated, too?"
"Obliviated." Sirius corrected, but she kept looking at Harry.
"Because you were the exact thing I was looking for. You have been in my plans for some time now, I just didn't know it would be you."
She frowned and whispered.
"You were after contact."
"Exactly." Harry smiled.
"And who said that I'd help you?"
Harry shrugged.
"We don't even need to obliviate you, because when you go back and try to report this, your bosses are going to ask what the hell are you talking about. They may put you in a straightjacket."
"So you're saying-"
"That you are all alone." Harry said while sipping his tea.
She nodded, drinking her coffee again.
"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm just presenting to you how things stand. I mean, I knew it was a matter of time until someone would find out. It's 2010 for god's sake. I just didn't think I would be the one picked."
"It was sheer luck. We had people in three houses, but you appeared first."
"Yea, I wanted to deal with a few matters early."
"So what you're saying is that we have a parallel world where magic exists, a world where wizards and witches live hidden from us... muggles?"
"Yes, although parallel is not quite right. It's the same world, just not accessible to you, muggles."
"But if what you said about your world not wanting to be a threat is true-"
"No, we couldn't come out, just imagine the uproar. Imagine your world discovering about ours. Just think for a moment and try to visualize the catastrophe it would be."
She paused for a few moments, trying to visualize it, shivering.
"So what now? I'm alone, you said yourself, so I can't keep going with my investigation."
"Yeah, your investigation is over, but you are part of the Wizardry World now, and I hope that's enough for the moment."
"Enough for what?"
"To satisfy your curiosity. That's what brought you here, wasn't it? Your desire to unravel the mystery? Congratulations, you just did it."
"How- How am I supposed to deal with this?! My god!" She hissed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but you dig too deep. You found what you wanted, but it's not something you can make public, because it will cause more harm than good."
"So I just... know?"
"You just know."
"How am I supposed to live my life- 3 years of work gone... thrown away."
"I'm sorry about that, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, but If you want to go forth and make this public, I'm not going to stop you. I just want you to understand what it will cause. I've been telling you for the past two hours about our world, and you saw it is real, you felt it is real, so there's no going back for you."
"And what if this Ministry of Magic finds out that I know?"
"They will obliviate you. It's in their constitution, that any muggle that is not blood-related to a wizard, must be obliviated no matter the circumstances."
"So, what am I supposed to do?"
"I have a few ideas." Harry smiled, and she frowned.
"And how old are you? No way in hell you're twelve."
"You know what, people keep telling me this and it's getting annoying. Just because I don't go around acting like a dork, it doesn't mean I'm not twelve. I'm a kid, just a different kind."
"That I can vouch for." Sirius mended, and Harry smiled.
"So, what is that you're planning for me?"
Harry smiled, pulling the plate with cakes closer before starting to speak.
"Can you believe it?" The Auror that was in charge asked another.
"I knew this would happen, Mr. Robards- I've been telling Mr. Fudge for almost five years that the muggles have new ways... they're too inventive. Look at this, they have photos of Hogwarts- Look at these, they were taken from space, from their fancy saletilles."
"Satellites." Robards corrected his partner.
"Ways to monitor us... look, even King's Crossing is compromised."
"This is going to take all night, I'm going to send word back to the ministry, we need all hands on deck tonight."
Robards turned and walked out of the room, seeing at least fifty people sitting on the corridor's floor, their gazes foggy, as if they were in a trance, and at least fifteen wizards with their wands raised, obliviating the ones who were resisting the new implanted memories.
"Mr. Robards, we got all who were working tonight, and we got all documents related to their investigation."
"Nice work, Dawlish, bring it with us, I want to show this to Cornellius personally... he has to understand."
"There's something else, sir."
"Yes?"
"We have a muggle-born with us, sir, and he said that muggles use something called servers to gather their pictures and moving images... videos, but when he went to retrieve those, there were none."
"That's good, isn't it?" Robards asked with a frown.
"Well, I guess so, he just thought it was weird."
"Tell him to double-check just in case, we cannot let this spread another inch."
And the man walked away, leaving Robards looking around, wondering how in the world they missed this for so long and what exactly was Harry's involvement in this matter.
After explaining what happened to the Aurors and leaving the Scotland Yard to meet Chloe, Sirius and Harry appeared in front of a weird house, surrounded by green and nothing else, and they both frown.
"Lumus." Sirius said with his wand up.
"Well, accordingly to the instructions, this is the place." Sirius said and Harry nodded, moving closer to the house while looking around, spotting something weird moving in the small grass, it looked like rats, but they moved strangely as if they were walking on two legs.
When they got closer, they heard voices and Harry smiled, seeing the twins through the window.
"There they are."
"I'm coming back to get you in an hour, you still have Augusta's party to attend, right?"
"I do, but don't you wanna stay?"
"I don't think it's the best idea."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"You're a free man, Sirius."
"Yes, but I wasn't invited. I'll go back and take a look at how they're dealing with that problem." He shook his head and Harry gave up.
"All right then."
And he was gone.
Harry came to the door, knocking on it.
"Who is it?!" A female voice asked and Harry remembered it as if it was yesterday, it was their mother's voice, the same lady who spoke to him at King's Crossing.
"It's Harry."
And the door was punched open.
"Harry!" Fred opened a smile and Harry smiled back.
"Hey, I hope I'm not too late."
"Not at all, come on in, mate." Fred gestured for him to enter, and Harry saw the weirdest house he has ever seen in his life.
From the outside, it looked like it had once been a large stone pigpen, but it had extra rooms here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic. Harry counted four chimneys perched on top of the red roof, and by the door, there was a lopsided sign that read THE BURROW. From the inside, it looked like it had three floors, with a lot of enchanted objects moving around, cleaning and cooking, and Harry instinctively smiled.
"Hello, good evening. Merry Christmas." Harry said while seeing four head heads turning to look at him.
"Ah, you must be Harry. I've been hearing your name for the last months back in the ministry."
Harry saw who he deduced to be their father getting up from the table to shake his hand.
"I'm Arthur Weasley, nice to finally meet you."
"Likewise, sir."
"Come, take a seat, we were waiting for you."
Harry was moved to a chair and looked around.
"I believe you met all of my children apart from these two. These are Charlie and William, they live abroad, but they got some time off from their work to come home for Christmas."
"Hey, I've heard you're a beast flying. I'm Charlie." The one Harry thought was the oldest smiled, offering his hand, which Harry noticed had many burning marks.
"Hi, I've heard about you. Wood tears up every time someone says your name, it's the weirdest thing." Harry said with a smirk and he laughed, followed by the twins and Ronald.
"You know Wood? I thought you were in Ravenclaw."
"Harry doesn't care about houses, Charlie." Fred said while shaking his head.
"Doesn't care about houses?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a frown.
"He sits with every house anytime, he even enters their common rooms." Ronald said in a low voice.
"What?! And they let you?" Charlie asked surprised.
"Why not?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
They all eyed each other with frowns.
"I don't believe in segregation, so every time I have a chance, I show the others how silly this animosity between houses is."
"That's the most Ravenclaw thing I have ever heard." William said, and everyone smiled.
"Talkers, all of them." Charlie nodded with a smile, and Harry chuckled.
"I miss Wood, he was an enthusiast, just like me, I knew he'd be a good captain after I finished school." Charlie said dreamily.
Harry smiled and turned to the second son he didn't know. William had long red hair, weird earrings, and an air of rebellion around him.
"Ah, nice to meet you, Harry." He said while offering his wand.
"Likewise." Harry shook his hand and then, the only member he didn't really know appeared.
The girl that pointed to his snakes looked at Harry as if she saw a ghost, her eyes widening before she moved robotically to sit across the table.
"Ginny, where are your manners? Say hi to our guest." Her mother complained, and George giggled.
"Hi." She whispered almost inaudible and Harry smiled.
"Hey, nice to meet you."
She whispered something that harry understood as 'you too' and looked down, her ears red.
"Now, where are they?" Charlie asked with a hint of excitement, rubbing his hands together, and Harry frowned at his weird gaze.
"Where's who?"
"The Dragon Snakes." He was almost drooling.
"Er..."
"Charlie works with dragons in Romania, so he's kind of a sucker for animals." George explained.
Harry saw his gaze and smiled.
"I'm not sure the situation is suited to... bring them out."
"Aw, c'mon, I only saw drawings of them." He complained like a small child.
"I just feel it could make them lose their appetite, I mean, it's not really common to have snakes on your table.
"They don't care, right? They want to see them too." Charlie pushed, looking around.
"I must say I'm intrigued." Mr. Weasley said with a smile.
"The food is not ready yet, dear, so you can show them if you want, no worries, just be careful." Mrs. Weasley said with a warm smile, and Harry frowned, turning to Ginny.
"Are you afraid of snakes?" He asked seriously, and she shook her head, becoming red again.
~They want to meet you, come out and behave, ok?~ Harry hissed and the Weasleys all eyed him with wide eyes.
"Remarkable." Arthur whispered and William nodded, impressed.
"I never thought I'd live to see a parselmouth." Charlie said.
~You've been introducing us to people so much lately.~ Ivy hissed still from inside Harry's clothes, making the Weasleys look at each other.
~Sorry.~ Harry hissed back, undoing a button.
~Did it sound like I was complaining? I love it, keep it going if you may.~ Ivy said playful, but Ash was the first to move out from Harry's sleeve, moving out to the top of the table, making Charlie gasp loudly.
"Oh, my god-"
"We told you he was a big boy." George said and Charlie nodded.
"This is the male, right?"
"Ash." Harry said.
"He's beautiful. Look at his horns- Did you know there's a tale about dragon snakes? They say that dragon snakes were the first dragons that ever existed and that they evolved to the dragons we have today."
And Ivy appeared and Charlie almost had a heart attack, getting up in a rush, knocking his chair down.
"You- You- How- There's no way!"
"Are you ok, Charlie?" Mr. Weasley asked Charlie who was with his hand over his mouth.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked confused and Charlie whispered:
"Have you ever read anything about Dragon Snakes, Harry? I mean, anything?!"
Harry frowned and tried to remember.
"Very little, there's not much going on about them."
"Right, but there's something that it's kind of common knowledge. We who work with dragons all hear the tales about those who met these snakes."
"What?"
"Red dragon snakes are the most vicious, atrocious, and evil snakes that exist. They kill for fun and are just completely insane. They attack things just for the fun of killing, and I heard stories about them stalking people and larger animals just to kill them and leave. This snake is not a good pet to have."
Harry tilted his head, looking at Ivy who flicked her tongue.
~What is he saying?~ She asked.
~That red dragon snakes are vicious, atrocious, and evil. He's saying red dragon snakes are kind of monsters and that you're not a good pet to have.~
And then, Harry felt a shiver, as if feeling Ivy's intentions, feeling through her, a desire to kill.
~Ivy?!~ Harry asked shocked, and the snake turned to him.
~I was all of those things, but I like to think that I left that behind in the desert.~
~Then what the hell was that I just felt?~ Harry asked with a serious gaze.
~My desire to take a nibble because he said I'm not a good pet, and that's absurd, I've been the perfect pet this whole time!~ Her offended tone made Harry chuckle, and he shook his head.
"She's offended."
"She is?" Charlie asked with a frown.
"Yes, she said she was all of those things, but that she left that behind when she left Egypt. She came here because she was tired of the carnage."
And when Harry stopped speaking, she slithered her way to Charlie, and he looked at Harry, who nodded, making him come closer, and she moved up his arm, resting by his neck.
~He smells like us.~ Ash said from the table and Harry turned.
~What you mean?~
~I don't know, but he has our smell.~ He hissed.
After the initial shock, Charlie played with the snakes, who were placed on the table, greeting everyone before coming back to Harry. When they reach Ginny, she had a face so scared, that Ivy kept her distance, just moving her body from one side to the other, trying to be funny.
After the snakes were gone, they talked for some time, and then they had dinner, and Harry took just a bite, and when asked, he explained he was also going to attend the Longbottom party.
"Who brought you, if you don't mind me asking." Arthur asked.
"Sirius did."
They all stopped what they were doing or talking to look at Harry.
"Are you saying that Sirius Black was here?" George asked, and Harry frowned with a nod.
"He was kind of an urban legend for some time." William started explaining.
"Oh, yeah."
At that moment, Ronald, who had gone up, came back to sit again, and Ivy moved inside Harry's clothes.
~Harry.~ She called and Harry looked down, frowning.
~What?~
~Do you remember when I told you on your trip to your school that that boy had some weird magic around him?~
~Who? Ronald?~ Harry asked while gesturing towards the boy who frowned.
~Yes, I remember saying that the magic was coming from a living being inside his robes, and now, I'm feeling it again, and I think I understand.~
Harry frowned, looking at Ronald.
~It's the same as before, in the ministry, and in your school, it's the same as your godfather, and your teacher.~
Harry felt stunned when he understood.
~The thing he has with him is an Animagus.~ Ivy said, and Harry's frown enlarged.
"Ronald, do you mind showing me your rat?" Harry asked seriously, and the conversations around the table died out.
"My rat?" Ronald asked confused.
"Yes." Harry said and Ronald moved his hands to grab his rat from the insides of his shirt, and when the rat appeared, Harry narrowed his eyes to see the animal, looking at the weird things it had in its ears, like tiny earrings, but the body was the body of a normal rat, and then, Harry's gaze fell on its missing pinky finger.
It took Harry three seconds.
One to remember as if hearing a voice saying: The only thing found was a pinky finger.
One to frown at that weird detail and add the information, and the last one to widen his eyes, feeling a rush of adrenaline in his body, instantly getting up, knocking his chair back and down, taking out his wand, hissing loudly:
~GET HIM!~
And it happened all at once.
Ronald's rat saw Harry's eyes and at the moment Harry got up, it bit Ronald's finger, making him scream and drop the animal, that instantly started running across the table, but Ivy was like a blur, slithering over the table in a heartbeat, striking at the rat, but not really biting it, entangling herself with it, restraining the animal that left a horrifying screech.
"DON'T MOVE OR SHE'LL KILL YOU!" Harry shouted.
Everyone got up after the initial ruckus, Charlie and William taking out their wands, pointing them at Harry, while Fred, George, and Percy had their wands drawn as well, pointing at Ivy.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, HARRY?!" Fred shouted at the moment that Ash also moved, stopping in front of Ivy who had the rat firmly enveloped, showing his fangs, making the rat screech louder.
"WHAT THE HELL- WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL MY RAT?!" Ronald asked in despair, grabbing his bleeding finger while Ginny was pale, hiding behind Mrs. Weasley who also had her wand raised.
"That's not a rat... That's an Animagus... an Animagus that goes by the name of Peter Pettigrew." Harry was able to whisper, making everyone look at the animal with frowns on their faces.
AN: Review?