Title: Harry Potter: Four In One
Author: Joshua
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling created Harry James Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Hogwarts, the whole gosh-darn HP-universe and wrote the 7 "Harry Potter" books that we all love and enjoy. Spoilers for Book 1, and Book 7. In fact there may even be some direct quotes from Book 7, so be warned. I'm not writing this for profit, I may not even let anybody but my dearest and closest friends even read this and they'll get it for free, so thankfully this won't get me sued or anything. Everything AFTER Chapter Nine in Book 7 is going to be changed anyway and even those chapters that I do quote, they won't be quoted very well or for very long as I'm changing EVERYTHING after those points. Assume, for Wizard-Harry, that everything between the stated timelines in Book 1 and Book 7 is identical to what happened in the rest of the Books and the HP-universe. Tamora Pierce is the awesome author of the "Circle of Magic" books that 'Mage-Harry' is taken from, and of course I don't own Winding Circle nor the concepts of Academic and Ambient Magic. Any future Spy-Magic you might see is going to be exactly like the Battle Magic so far, an amalgamation of numerous sources that might not even be 'magic' on their own, but have been twisted in such a way by me. You have been warned.
Summary: A mysterious stranger interferes in the timeline and in Harry's life, splitting the young wizard into four and giving each a different magical education. Wizard, Warrior, Mage, and Spy.
AN: Past this Chapter here, things are going to change for this story. Can't yet say how much or in exactly which way, but for starters, this is the last time I'll put the Disclaimer at the head of the chapter. Other changes will be forthcoming and I'll either announce on my Author's Page, or I will put a very brief "AN" at the head of the appropriate chapter.
AN2: I am going to go the Round Robin way of things here; I plan on having Harry and Friends leave their universe through a unique method of travel that will guarantee their return to the exact moment they left so that they might face this newly discovered threat with adequate experience and training. Experience for Harry. Training and experience for the others. Hey, if I'm going to do a Mary-Sue HP Fanfic, I might as well do it right, right?
AN3: My point is, I would like to cross Harry and group here with already established, meaning 'written by other authors', HP alternate universes, or HPAUs. If you like this story, and have no objection to it, please contact me at and let me know if you're interested in having a Super-Harry come by your universe or not! I'll probably be approaching quite a few people on my own to request the opportunity to do the same.
Story:
12 Grimmald Place
A few minutes later
Harry was as close to a panic as he'd ever been as he carried Ginny up the stairs. Hermione and Ron were just as distraught, but thankfully they listened to him when he told them to remain downstairs. He quickly took Ginny to her room and laid her down on her bed. She was still conscious, but could not communicate, though her eyes spoke of confusion, fear, and pain.
"Don't worry Ginny," he whispered has he brushed back her hair from her face, "I'll take care of you."
Then he silently opened his Gate, the only sign being the rings appearing around his pupils. He focused his magic and cast a spell. The one spell that he was warned to not use casually, as besides using a whole lot of magic and power, it could be manipulated into a very dark spell by those that knew how.
"Full Elements: Full Life Regeneration: CURAGA!" a series of lights flew over and through Ginny's body, and as this happened her condition remarkably improved. Harry kept up the magic and the lights continued until the blood had disappeared and it was as if Ginny had never been cursed in the first place.
A minute later, she was as good as new, and Harry cut off the spell, nearly collapsing onto her as the drain in his energy finally hit him. So much for going back out tonight, he idly thought to himself as he picked himself up and fell into a nearby chair. Ginny, seeing this, immediately sat up, worry etched on her face. She winced a bit as she sat up.
"Careful," Harry said to her, sounding as tired as he looked, "I healed the damage, but the trauma can still be felt. Just give yourself a couple minutes and you should be fine."
"Thank you," she whispered. Then the famous Weasley temper suddenly flared. "You saved my life, and I love you for it Harry, but look at you! What did you just do? I'll bet you almost killed yourself just trying to save me, didn't you?"
"Then we're even," he groaned, adjusting his position a bit. "I could have handled that curse just fine, maybe even deflected it right back at the bastard. Instead, you, rather foolishly, threw yourself into what was obviously a lethal curse, almost killing yourself just trying to save me, didn't you?"
"Oh, don't you dare turn my own words against me," she warned him.
"Then don't make me have to do it again!" he shouted back. Just as suddenly, all energy seemed to leave him and it was all he could do to stay in the chair and not slump exhausted to the floor. "I couldn't stand it if you did, Ginny. I really don't think I could stand it. This time was bad enough."
"Oh Harry," Ginny whispered.
"I'm not going to go all chivalrously bigoted on you or anything," he assured her. "I am training you how to use your magic to fight, after all. Still... I would appreciate it if you would not underestimate me while overestimating yourself in the future."
"That doesn't sound like you," she pointed out.
"One of my other selves, the Mage that was trained in a place called Winding Circle, I grew up around strong women, and considered two of them to be surrogate mothers almost, and another three were like sisters to me, and they could all equally kick my arse without even trying. Didn't stop me from trying to do what you did for them on more than one occasion, especially when I didn't have to. They gave me the same lecture I just spouted at you. 'Cept for that chivalrous bigot stuff, that was all me."
Ginny giggled again. Then she got up and helped him to his feet. "Come on, you're beat. Especially after everything that happened today. I'll help you to bed, then go assure my brother and Hermione that I'm all right. Is there anything I can get for you? Anything I can... do for you?"
Harry chuckled, but even then he sounded exhausted. "I believe we discussed that already. As for anything else, Kreacher can get me whatever else I might need. He's been abandoned for quite long enough if you ask me. If Ron gives you any trouble, get him to practice his forms a bit more. Nobody leaves. We stirred up the hornet's nest quite a lot, and it's going to be a few days before everything calms back down. Get as much rest as you all can. Also, you might want to eat something yourself, and then hit the sack. Speaking from personal experience with that spell, healing can take a lot out of you."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said. They walked up the next flight of stairs and then into Harry's room, where he quickly collapsed upon the bed. Ginny almost decided to help him with getting into his pajamas, except that every time she tried to remove his clothes, he woke up just enough to glare at her and get her to leave. With a sigh, she finally left and made her way downstairs, where a frantic Hermione and a pacing Ron were overjoyed to see her up and walking.
"Ginny!" Ron exclaimed. "You're all right! You're alive! You're not dead!" He was shouting all this while jumping up and down around her while hugging her neck at the same time.
"And he's normally only like this on his birthday," the red-haired girl dryly commented to Hermione.
"What happened? What did Harry do? Are you really all right?" a frantic Hermione blurted out.
"I'm fine," Ginny assured her friend while trying to calm her brother down. "As for what happened, well, obviously, I got cursed by a Death Eater, and Harry healed me. He's upstairs resting, largely because the spell he had to use to sa...uh, heal me took a lot out of him. Anyway, I'm starving, so I'm going to get something to eat. Care to join me, that way I can answer any other questions you've got, Hermione."
With a grin at the knowledge she had both of them hooked, she walked off towards the kitchen and quickly had Kreacher cooking up a small feast for her. Between her and Ron, it was gone within half an hour. Tops. During which, she answered Hermione's questions, which largely concerned the spell Harry used to heal her, the curse that had almost killed her, and the consequences of each. An hour later, all three were tired and it was early evening. Without any more questions, all three went up to bed and immediately fell asleep.
12 Grimmauld Place
Three days later
Attic/Training Room
Ron lunged forward, throwing a punch straight at Hermione's face. She ducked to the side, her arm looping up and deflecting his arm with an open palm, right before flowing around him and slapping her other palm against his underside and slipping behind him. He did not hesitate to jump up in an incredibly acrobatic maneuver and twirled over her head and then behind her, where he struck at her open back, only for her to pull off a similar jump at the last second. She moved in, flowing from position to position, fists and flat palms striking against the redhead. He endured, using solid blocks or straightforward deflects to counter, finally using a foot slide to trip her up just enough to get her to retreat once more.
On the other side of the room, Harry and Ginny were having a fight of their own. Harry was faster, taller, stronger, and tougher, able to endure everything they could throw at him and then some. Ginny was learning all four styles equally and progressing at a rate that reminded Harry of another person's progress. His own. Still, she only started learning martial arts a little under a month ago, so while she was learning quickly, she had no hope of a chance against Harry in the slightest.
Another few minutes sparring, until Ginny finally collapsed into exhaustion, and Ron and Hermione were still fighting each other to a standstill at every move. Harry called for a break, much to the others relief.
"All right, I think that's enough sparring for today. Cool down time. You guys run through your katas, you should know them well enough to do them on your own now. I'm going to go get you some water. Be back soon. And I better find you cooling down when I get back!" He told them as he stepped down the stairs and further down to the kitchen.
"Couldn't he just have made Kreacher get them for us?" Ron asked.
"Ron!" Hermione was outraged.
"I mean, I... he..." Ron panicked before taking a breath and continuing, "I mean, Harry's been all about making Kreacher feel wanted and needed again, and the only way to do that with a House Elf is to order them around. So... since Harry's been asking Kreacher to do stuff like getting us refreshments so far, why is he suddenly doing it himself?"
"Probably because he's doing something else, and he wants us occupied while he does it," Ginny hypothesized as she got into position to begin her katas. "And if it was to go out and fry some Death Eaters, he would have told us. Probably has to do with our training. Now, are you two going to get started, or what?"
Frustrated at the lack of answers, but having nothing else to do, the three turned their attention to their katas and slowly and methodically moved through each of the motions with great focus. They got so into it that time passed without them even noticing and it seemed as if he'd only just left when they finally noticed Harry standing there watching them, ice cold water bottles waiting for them, and an old book in his hands.
"Harry, that's my gift from Dumbledore!" Hermione cried after she'd drained half her bottle in one gulp.
"Yep," he nodded. "Found something interesting in it too. Turn to the story about the Three Brothers. Read it and then tell me if you realize anything."
Confused, but curious, Hermione accepted the book and turned to the mentioned story within the storybook and read through it in less than five minutes. Then she went back and read through it a second and a third time. On the third, she spent a minute looking at the first page of the story, specifically the top of it where a familiar triangular eye was etched in pen.
"I don't understand, Harry, what is it you wanted me to figure out?" Hermione said, on the edge of tears.
In reply, he merely brought out his Invisibility cloak, and from under his shirt he pulled out the mokeskin pouch Hagrid had given him, and pulled out the stone that had come from the Snitch. Then he pulled out a very, very familiar wand, made out of elder wood; Dumbledore's wand. Hermione's eyes went wide.
"No," she gasped. "No. No. No, it... it's just not possible. No, it... it can't be... can it?"
"Hermione, I was split into four separate beings by a Time Wizard who then took three of me to alternate realities and pocket dimensions where each of them received a highly diversified magical education, and then fused me back together on my 17th birthday. I survived the Killing Curse when I was a baby, killed a 60-foot basilisk when I was 12, and none of that is counting all the things we all saw in the Department of Mysteries. Is it really hard to believe that three items in a wizard fairy tale, are actually real?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ron, who'd been watching on silently so far, shouted. "The Tale of the Three Brothers? That's the one where Death comes for three brothers and they defeat Death only for it to trick them into accepting three gifts from Death that result in their own deaths anyway... right?"
"Not exactly, but close enough," Hermione responded.
"So, you're saying the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility are real? And that... these are... them?" Ginny questioned, pointing at the three magical artifacts.
"Yep," Harry nodded.
"But... how?" Hermione wanted to know.
"Well, fairy tales are just folklore that somebody just finally decided to put down on paper and print into books, right? So, what if the Tale of the Three Brothers was a bit of folklore, three wizards that either crafted these or were given them some time before even the Founders of Hogwarts lived, maybe even before Merlin! Then it got turned into a bedtime story and told and retold so many times that it became more fiction than reality. Besides, I did some extra research, and do you know how many 'unbeatable wands' are found throughout history?"
"Dozens, if not outright hundreds," Hermione answered. "But you can't mean that..."
Harry shrugged. "There are historical documents, first-hand accounts and so forth of the unbeatable wand, given dozens of different names. But never once did one unbeatable wand face another, only the passage of one Dark Wizard after another, using it and then losing it. It said so in the story, the Elder Wand was stolen by a thief."
"But the stone, the cloak, neither of them can be real!" Hermione protested.
"Well, in the story, it was never said what happened to either. Only that the second brother killed himself, not what he did with the stone, nor what happened to it. But with the Cloak..."
"The youngest brother gave it to his son!" she exclaimed, finally catching on. "Your father's Invisibility Cloak! And... it probably could have been passed down through your family for ages, from father to son!"
"Bingo," Harry grinned.
"And... what does this mean exactly?" Ron asked. "I mean, it's wicked and everything. And now that I think about it... Don't you realize he's right? I've got so used to Harry's Cloak and how good it is, I never stopped to think. I've never heard of one like Harry's. It's infallible. We've never been spotted under it!"
"Of course not!" Hermione exclaimed, "we're invisible when we're under it, Ron!"
"It's never occurred to me before, but I've heard stuff about charms wearing off cloaks when they get old, or them being ripped apart by spells so they've got holes in them. Harry's was owned by his dad, so it's not exactly new, is it, but it's just... perfect!"
"He's right, I've heard the same things," Ginny agreed.
"But... the stone? Come on!"
"Well," Harry shrugged, "Only one way to find out. With that, he flipped the stone over three times in his hand and said aloud, "Dumbledore."
Instantly, with no transition or special effect at all, the ghost of Albus Dumbledore stood among them. Like all ghosts they were familiar with, he had no color and was translucent to their eyes. Still, all four of them swore that his eyes still sparkled as they always had in life.
"Ah, Harry. You figured this out much sooner than I had anticipated. Congratulations are in order, I do believe," he said with a grim smile.
"So this is the Resurrection Stone of the story?" Harry held it up.
Dumbledore nodded his head sadly. "How much do you know?"
"That the things you left me and Hermione in your will permitted me to have control and possession of these magical artifacts, not to mention your wand, that I claimed possession of through a minor duel with Malfoy. The book contains the story that tells us what they are, you hid the stone in my Snitch, and you anticipated that I wouldn't be able to figure this out until Voldemort had me cornered and I would figure I was about to die. From that I can gleam several strategies, but the one that fits best with my experience with you is that you intended for Voldemort to eventually steal your wand from you grave and then use it in a duel with me, with me confronting and defeating Malfoy before then, so that when we dueled, in the ultimate irony, the ultimate wand that wins all duels for its master, which Voldemort coveted so much, would wind up killing him when he tried to kill me. Rather poor planning if you ask me."
"I am so sorry, Harry."
Harry shrugged. "Not to worry. Mostly I just wanted to confirm if this was the Resurrection Stone from the story or not. But since you're here... time for some explanations old man."
"Harry!" Hermione admonished him. "I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore. It's been a trying month."
"It's quite all right, Miss Granger," Dumbledore assured her. "All things considered, it's expected even. So, Harry, what, exactly, is it you would like me to explain?"
Harry actually took a moment to think over that question. He'd, actually, already figured out most of what Dumbledore's previous plan and thinking had been; protect him from Death Eaters looking to avenge their fallen master by sending him to the Dursleys where he would be protected from magical harm, give him all the information he would need to understand and perhaps even anticipate Voldemort's own plans, give him the tools to win against Voldemort in the form of these magical artifacts, while giving him enough time, so to speak, to figure it all out while Voldemort more or less dug his own grave. The overall plan, though, had to be one of the most simplistic uses of dramatic irony that he'd ever heard of.
Voldemort didn't know that wands, being magic-made, had somewhat of a basic intelligence. Sort of a mixture of the creature that provided the main ingredient and the wizard that was most compatible with the wand, though one thing was prevalent in all wands. If their master/wielder was ever defeated, defeat being classified as being "disarmed" rather than just dead, then the one that defeated said master became the wand's new master. It actually used to be more of a code of honor than anything else, but after a few hundred years, the code became magical law and law became a basic instinct that was ingrained into every wand ever made, no matter who made it.
Voldemort might know of this "magical law" although given his warped sense of reality he would view it more as the other person had to be killed to defeat them. And he currently believed that Snape had killed Dumbledore, and thus was the current master of the Elder Wand. He didn't know Draco had picked up Dumbledore's wand after stunning him atop the tower, thus disarming and easily defeating him. He also didn't know that just over a week ago, he'd gone to Malfoy Manor with the Elder Wand, put it in Draco's hand, and then dueled him ten times in a row, losing only the first time and disarming Malfoy in various other ways until he was sure the wand recognized him as it's new master. Then he'd stunned and erased Draco's memories and left.
Therefore, the plan was to have Voldemort try and use the Elder Wand and when he next dueled against Harry, the wand would backfire on him, winning the duel for it's master; Harry Potter.
No, the plan was simplistic, and incredibly obvious once you had all the facts, which Harry nearly did. To be honest, he really only had three questions.
"What are these things?" he asked.
Dumbledore smiled, his translucent eyes twinkling as they had in life. "They are called the Deathly Hallows. I had looked for them in my youth, but never in all my years did I ever expect to see them all together like this. I am almost ashamed to admit, I was quite a fool back then, as I did not seek them out for their historic value, but for the power they offered."
"Yeah, we know already," Harry interrupted, drawing a surprised look from the specter.
"Rita Skeeter released the 'Unbiased Biography of Albus Dumbledore'," he answered the look. "I have to admit, given the way things turned out, I didn't really expect you and Grindelwald to have been the best of friends when you were both in school."
"Yes, well..."
"Though I would imagine that at some point you revised your dream of conquering the world to 'put muggles in their place' and to ensure that the world was controlled by the superior race, wizards and witches?"
The children had never seen Dumbledore look so... ashamed or defeated before.
Harry just shrugged, "Like I said, we already knew, and like you said, you were a kid, you made mistakes, and you learned from them. So, they're called the Deathly Hallows. I can see why, given the story that cropped up around their supposed creation. Next question; why test me?"
"Harry?" Hermione spoke up, still stunned by the previous revelation, but her friend's raw emotion that was put into that question worried her.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Harry," Dumbledore looked utterly defeated now.
"Ron kind of admitted it that summer I spent at the Burrow. You asked Molly Weasley to help me through the barrier. Given their honest reactions, which even now I have to admit were either truly honest, or that woman is the best god damned actress in the entire universe, none of the Weasleys there really knew who I was until Fred and George blurted it out. So, I am forced to surmise that you merely sent her a letter saying that there was a muggle-raised First Year that would be coming through the gateway that year. After all, Platform 9 ¾ does have a Floo connection and that is the way most wizard families get onto the Platform."
"Professor McGonagall, after she took me and my parents shopping in Diagon Alley, explained exactly how to get onto the Platform," Hermione pointed out.
He turned to face her and replied, deadpan, "Hagrid took me shopping in Diagon Alley."
"Ah," Hermione's face lit up with understanding.
"Then we have my First Year at Hogwarts," Harry continued speaking to Dumbledore's ghost. "Admittedly, Quirrell, being a certified Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be able to learn and know Occlumency to a degree of keeping both you and Snape out, so with Riddle, literally, in his head and protecting him from your Legilimency, you wouldn't immediately know. But then we have the so-called protections of the Sorcerer's Stone. One of which was a Troll, provided by Professor Quirrell, correct? The Troll on Halloween? And he just screamed and fainted? Not to mention him trying to kill me. Snape even knew he was trying to kill me and was casting the counter-curse at the same time!"
"Second Year!" Harry was pacing by now. "An eleven-year-old First year witch is not capable in the slightest of learning Occlumency! I know for a fact that Snape was using the silent version of Legilimency on every student in every Potions class, especially on the first day! How could he not know about the Horcrux! After the chickens, and then the first attacks, and then that mess with Hagrid! Three drops of Veritaserum would have been MORE than enough to clear Hagrid's name! And don't even get me started on Sirius!"
He paced a couple more times before rounding on the dead Headmaster. "WHY did you test me?!"
"To make sure you weren't Voldemort," came the blunt reply.
Startled, Harry took a step back, not having expected that answer.
"Of course after the Sorting Ceremony, that was all the proof I needed that you weren't. Everything that came later... well, the traps were not the only defense on the Stone, as you know Harry. The one thing that Voldemort did see and you did not, were the Alarm wards placed in each room. Voldemort quite easily by-passed those and the traps, traps that any group of determined First Years could get through. You, however, immediately set off all the alarms the moment you stepped into Professor Flitwick's test, which immediately prompted me to turn around and fly back to Hogwarts with the utmost urgency."
"Everything that came after... I'm sorry to admit was only partially my doing. I took advantage of the circumstances as they happened, giving you the clues to see if you could piece it all together yourself, in each circumstance. Once Voldemort returned, however, I knew that there was no more room for preparing you. So I then began working on what you called my plan to defeat Voldemort."
"Why did you hold back in your fight with him?" Harry asked his final question. When the ghost opened his mouth to answer, Harry held up the Elder Wand, arching an eyebrow as though accusing.
The ghost of Dumbledore let out an ethereal sigh and slumped. "I didn't hold back Harry. I merely refused to end another's life. I... I attempted to save you from knowing what that is like. My plan may have been simplistic and costly, Harry, but at the least it would have prevented you from becoming a murderer, as you had feared when you first heard the prophecy for yourself."
"Speaking of which..."
Seeing where that was going, Dumbledore immediately shook his head, "No. I did not once let the thought of keeping or breaking the prophecy influence me in the least against Voldemort in my duel with him. As I said, I was attempting to subdue him so that he might be captured. I... I refused to kill him."
Harry took a deep breath and let it out as a slow sigh.
"That was stupid," he finally said, drawing gasps from his friends, as he'd said it straight to the former Headmaster's face. "At the time he was on the brink of starting another war. He was at the very heart of the Wizarding government, inside the Ministry of Magic, his minions walking the halls of the Department of Mysteries, causing equal amounts of destruction, harm, and damage. He was fighting you with lethal curses, trying to kill both you, me, my friends, and anyone else in the area. Anyone else in the world would have pulled the gloves off and given half the chance, I know many would have, to borrow a phrase, pulled the trigger on his ugly mug! But."
He sighed again and continued, "But, you stuck to your convictions, and I can respect that. Even though I don't agree with many of your choices, you did them with the best of intentions and acted on as much information as you had at the time. So, for what it's worth... I forgive you for any wrongs done between us. Which includes leaving me with the Dursley's growing up."
"Thank you," Dumbledore started to say, but Harry waved his hand.
"You can go now. I have all the information that I need from you." He flipped the stone once more and the ghost faded away.
"Harry... I can't believe you just did that," Hermione was in shock.
"He deserved worse," came the tight reply.
"He certainly didn't deserve your forgiveness for leaving you at the Dursley's!" Ginny added.
Harry smirked and shrugged. Like a dog shaking water out of it's fur, Harry shed his foul mood and turned around to face them. "All right, as you all know, you passed the test on your skill with the Transform spell with flying colors. And I did promise to teach you all a new battle spell once you had mastered this one."
"YES!" Ron crowed.
"However, you still haven't mastered it just yet," Harry enjoyed Ron's crestfallen expression at his statement. "You've mastered self-transfiguration and animal transfiguration. There is, however, still object transfiguration. Specifically, changing into stationary objects, like furniture, books, weapons, tools, pieces of art, things like that."
"But how...?" Hermione started to ask.
"Same three hand-seals, only this time you're focusing on a physical object rather than a living thing. Same basic rules as animal transfiguration. One time change. Once you're changed, you're stuck until either you exert the magic to change forms once more, or until someone else comes along to reverse the spell. Few obvious differences though."
"Such as?" Ron asked. Everyone was kind of surprised that he wasn't already trying this out as he had with animal transfiguration.
"Obviously, you can't move around as you would in either human or animal form. There are also other differences, such as your perception. It's actually harder to explain, as you still have all of your senses, they're just... changed. Did any of you try and transform into an insect of any kind?"
"I did. Once," Ginny shuddered in revulsion.
"Well, as far as your senses go, it's a lot like that. Relearning how to see, hear, feel, and other things like that. It varies, depending on what you change into, but it's all still there. Once you can copy an object perfectly, then I can show you the trick I learned about how to change the spell so you can move even while a solid object, and apply other spells to your object-self as well."
"Wicked! What do we do?" Ron eagerly asked.
"You practice," Harry said with a smile. "Start with something you're familiar with. Don't worry, none of you are powerful enough that doing something by accident, or otherwise, is irreversible. So I'll change you back if it becomes obvious that you're stuck or something. Once you can master changing to various objects on your own, I'll show you the tricks."
"Well, how about you demonstrate it for us? Like you did before," Hermione requested.
Harry shrugged, formed the seals, and in a puff of white smoke, there was suddenly a chair sitting there. Another puff of smoke, the chair was replaced with a student's desk. Ten seconds after that, a large vase, another twenty count after that, a marble statue of Harry Potter, in the fashion of the Greek Apollo, nude, stood there. The girls stared unabashedly while Ron was looking confusedly back and forth between them and the statue. Suddenly the statue opened it's eyes, smirked at Ginny and winked at Hermione before reverted back to it's still form and after another puff of smoke, there stood Harry with a sly grin on his face.
"That's the basics. Practice until dinner time," he said, taking the Deathly Hallows with him as he left the attic. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron all stared at each other, the girls blushing slightly, but finally they just shrugged and got down to practicing.
Surprisingly, it seemed to be harder for them to change into solid objects than to change into animals or other people. They were at it until well after dinner time and not even Hermione or Ginny could actually do it.
Ministry of Magic
Next Day
Evening
Harry wasn't sure what he was even doing here. He'd promised that he wouldn't go out and face Death Eaters or whatnot alone anymore. But he wasn't exactly doing that, and in fact he was planning on not facing any Death Eaters, or anyone at all for that matter. The plan had, originally been, to just sneak in and see what all exactly the Ministry was up to under the new regime.
Of course that was before he found out that part of the new regime was that everyone worked late.
He would have wrapped himself up in the Invisibility Cloak (gets capital letters now that he knew it was one of the Deathly Hallows), save for two things; one that he didn't bring it as the Ministry was supposed to be empty at this time of night, and two, it was simpler for him to just turn himself invisible with a silent spell. The moment that he teleported in, thankfully when nobody was looking, and he saw a lot of people going around like it was your standard workday, he bit off a curse and triggered one of the cooler powers he'd developed as a magical spy; OSI. Opposite-Spectrum Invisibility.
Not from Battle Magic, and quite frankly way more advanced than anything Winding Circle had, not to mention the Ministry would expect wizard-based spells of invisibility such as disillusionment or standard invisibility cloaks. The OSI spell was designed for use by covert operatives under the principle of quantum mechanics that everything that exists, gives off, reflects, or generates energy that marks it's presence in the universe, or Space/Time Continuum as Einstein called it. What the spell does, it alters the caster's own molecules to switch from the spectrum of energy where everyone else can see and hear them to the exact quantum opposite so they could neither been seen or heard by anyone in the normal spectrum of Space/Time.
Cool part was, even though Harry was now completely undetectable, even better than being under a mobile Fidelius Charm, he could still see and hear and even interact with the normal spectrum, IE everything around him, without any difficulty despite technically being of the opposite spectrum. He could still touch objects and people and such and they could feel him, they just couldn't see or hear him.
Slipping past security, and it being child's play to get past the wards and wand check, Harry made his way over to the elevator and started to figure out what all he could do here. He decided to start with his least favorite place in the world; the Department of Mysteries.
Imagine his surprise when he saw a line of people stretching the entire corridor and felt the telltale sensation of cold dread creeping in on his heart. Only this time, he had a lot more "bad" and "traumatic" stuff in his head since the last time he'd been in a Dementor's presence.
Hedwig, on Harry's shoulder clacked her beak angrily.
"Oh hell no!" Harry growled, drawing both of his wands. The Holly and Phoenix feather and the Elder wands together. Concentrating with lethal intensity upon the culmination of four lifetimes of happy memories, he cast with both wands.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!"
Even though he was currently, and technically speaking, not in the same phase of existence as all those people and even the Dementors, magic itself crosses all barriers of Space/Time, so despite not being heard or seen, the twin Patroni came into being all the same. The one on the right was his standard Patronus; Prongs still, surprisingly, modeled after the animagus form of his deceased father. He had almost expected it to be a four-headed dragon or something else like that after all that he'd been through in the past few months.
The Patronus on the left, however, was the interesting one, as it had been cast with the Elder Wand. For starters, instead of silver, it was colored gold throughout. For another, it was not a ghostly collection of vapors in the shape of a stag. It was a real honest living breathing stag that was softly glowing gold, had solid gold antlers and shiny gold hooves. Oh, and it's eyes were a demonic looking red that made one think of death.
Despite being startled by this new appearance of his guardian he merely holstered the Elder Wand and pulled out his Staff. Just before he cast the Patronus spell again, he ordered, "Drive away every single Dementor that is in the area. Destroy them if possible, but drive them all away from here and from these people. EXPECTO PATRON—I!"
Harry wasn't really sure what he was doing, but he just wanted to see what would happen, with the differences between a staff and a wand, he had little doubt that it would be... interesting to say the least. He wasn't disappointed as, with the gold and silver stags leading the charge, an entire stampede poured from the gold cap of his staff, startling a lot of the people in the hallway, but bringing relief with them as all influences of the Dementors were erased in their wake.
"Probably should have brought the others, but like hell I'm going to let this go on for even one more minute," Harry said once the stampede had stopped coming from his staff. He quickly walked down the hall, following the line and growled when he saw it ending in the very same courtroom where he'd had his Fifth Year hearing on underage magic use.
Entering, he wasn't surprised to see none other than Delores Umbridge at the center of everything.
Well, needless as it is to say, he honestly couldn't be held responsible for what happened next.
After all, who in their right mind would be stupid enough to shoot the Cruciatus Curse at a mirror that bore their own reflection, and then keep it up until they gave themselves a heart attack?
12 Grimmauld Place
Same Time
"Has anybody seen Harry?" Hermione asked Ron and Ginny.
"No," they both said at the same time.
Startled that none of them knew where their friend, and more or less leader, was at the moment, they shared a look and then all together shouted, "KREACHER!"
"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked the old house elf the moment he appeared.
"Master left for Ministry of Magic... to do... business, he said," Kreacher replied in that sly tone of voice, thankfully without the scorn he'd used when speaking to Hermione of late.
"Come on! We've got to—!" Hermione started to say.
"Got to what?" Harry asked from the open door, leaning against the door frame with arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face.
"HARRY! Where have you been? I... we were getting worried sick about you?" she screeched.
"Really? But you only just found out I was gone," he replied.
"Mate, I thought we told you not to go off on your own anymore without us there as backup!" Ron told him. "What were you thinking, going to the Ministry of Magic like that?"
"Honestly couldn't say," Harry shrugged. "And technically, you told me not to go on anymore midnight raids saying the V-word to draw in Death Eaters, nothing about sneaking into the Ministry of Magic."
"So, what did you do, if not take out a few more Death Eaters?" Ginny asked.
"Not sure, I haven't gotten back from the Ministry, yet," the now-revealed clone smiled cockily at them.
"Let's go," Ginny ordered this time.
Ministry of Magic
Main Lobby
The entire Ministry was in chaos when they flooed in. Given the time of night, even they expected the place to be nearly empty, if not completely so. After all, it had been just over a year ago when they'd broken into the Department of Mysteries.
Instead, people were screaming, people were running, and Dementors were fleeing, being chased by a herd of stag Patroni, a bright golden one that looked like a real stag leading the charge. Getting past the Security gate amidst the chaos was hardly worth the effort as all three, before flooing in, had transformed to look like known Aurors or Order Members. Ron, incidentally, had changed to look like an older Moody... if he had never been injured in his entire life, while Ginny and Hermione looked like Tonks and Professor McGonagall respectively, all three dressed in crimson Auror robes.
After seeing a screaming Dolores Umbridge, being hounded by the re-animated centaur statue and another couple of stag Patroni, bleeding from cuts on her hands reading "I will not be an UmBitch!" (the point of the exclamation being shaped like double-ring and the line a familiar-shaped lightning bolt), the three Battle-mages-in-training turned to face each other and acknowledged the person responsible for all of this, "Harry."
"What do you think could have set him off like this?" 'Tonks' asked them as they made their way to the stairs, where most of the exodus was originating from seeing as the elevators were out of order for the moment.
"Harry's never been one for pranks," 'McGonagall' argued. "The only time he ever broke the rules was so that he might help someone or stop... Riddle. But the only times that I've ever seen him be this... sadistic..."
"Were the times he thought somebody was in trouble, suffering, or in danger," 'Moody' finished the thought. "He damn near tortured Lockhart when it looked like Ginny was in trouble and the man was running instead of helping. He wanted to kill Wormtail when he found out, but wanted him to suffer more than die. Then there was the time... he told us how he chased Bellatrix and used the Cruciatus on her, remember? Not to mention how he was acting before that, when he thought Sirius was being tortured all because of him."
"Whatever he saw down here... it must have been terrible," 'Tonks' said. At the looks she received, she explained. "Whatever he had planned before coming here, it wasn't to do all this. It's too noisy, draws too much attention. He's been telling us to use hit-and-run tactics this entire time, since... well you know. Now, less than two days after Diagon Alley, he makes an assault on the Ministry itself? No, he probably came here for something small, a message to say he could strike at the heart any time he damn well pleased. But something else happened here, something he saw, something that he heard... It set him off in a big way."
"We need to find him," 'McGonagall' urgently whispered.
"Any suggestions on how?"
"I'll be showing you how to do that next," Harry said from right beside them, appearing out of thin air, Hedwig on his right shoulder.
"HARRY!" they all screamed, the girls/women going to hug him.
"What the bloody hell are you thinking here, mate?" 'Moody' hissed, looking around, they'd made it to the third floor by this point and was glad that it appeared, for the moment anyway, they were the only ones in the corridor.
"Well, Ginny had it right," Harry shrugged. "I only came here for some information, maybe leave a painted warning on the wall somewhere, put a few dungbombs in the Minister's office, that sort of thing. Then... I saw the line."
"Line?" Ginny/Tonks asked, concerned.
"They had lined up all of the 'Potential Undesirables' in the Department of Mysteries, had the Dementors there to keep everybody in line... There were children younger than school age in that line," he hissed. "Those that could 'prove blood purity' or to be more accurate could pay Umbitch enough bribes to give them a stamp of approval got to leave with their families. Everybody else? Azkaban. Muggleborns? Dementor's Kiss and body either killed or otherwise disposed of."
His three friends looked shocked and appalled at this information, but he wasn't done yet. "Of course I didn't know this at first. I was just looking around, saw the line, saw the Dementors, I reacted. Sure you saw the herd of Patroni I conjured, well that was the first thing I did, followed very shortly by getting the people out of here. Then I went in to confront Umbitch. Moment I let her see me, she shot the Cruciatus Curse at me. They're supposed to AK me on sight, you know? Anyway, I pulled out a mirror and she kept up the curse until she had a heart attack. Didn't kill her, unfortunately."
"Yeah, saw what you did to her, not bad work, mate. Twins would approve," Ron/Moody commented.
"Oh, that came after I revived her. Anyway, I don't exactly carry Veritaserum on me all the time, so I was forced to use other means of getting the information I required, and our former Headmistress was quite talkative after I demonstrated some of that for her."
"Harry..." Hermione/McGonagall whimpered.
He smiled and shook his head, "No, Hermione, I didn't torture her, although I do have to admit the temptation was there. One of the spells I learned from my spy days... uh... when I was 15, anyway, the spell is basically a truth spell, making the person or persons affected by it answer any question asked them with the full and unabridged truth, no matter what. Even keeping quiet or holding something back is not an option."
"And?" Ginny could tell that he was still holding something back himself.
"It's worse than I had ever feared," he told them, his expression going dark.
"The bodies, after being Kissed or killed... there's no physical evidence or actual proof, but Umbridge believed they were being sent off to Voldemort... and being turned into Inferi. Or Vampires. Or mind-controlled werewolves. Or... gods above, if there is a single Dark Creature that is born from the destruction or use of a dead wizard's body, he's using them to create an army that could march out over the entire world and nothing could stand in his way."
"Harry... what are you saying?" Hermione was confused.
"He's not stopping with the Ministry. I don't know if it's because I confronted him instead of running. I don't know if I just pushed him over the edge... But Riddle isn't going to sit back and rule Wizarding Britain and be satisfied with that. We already know how he plans on living forever. I've got the rest of his Horcruxes, except for the snake. Once that's gone, I can kill him free and clear, but... He's set up a contingency plan. He dies, his entire army marches out and it does not stop. I found the proof of his plan just before I came across you three here. Not proof of what happens to the bodies of the Undesirables, but proof that it is his plan. When this army of his reaches enough numbers that no matter who, what, or how many oppose him that it won't even matter, he's going to let it loose on the entire world. Not just the magical world. The whole world."
Hermione gasped, while the Weasleys just looked stunned. Wasn't much else they could do.
"And if that isn't bad enough, he's also made it so that the very moment that he dies, enough numbers or not, this... Dark Army is going to go out of control and start destroying everything there is. So if I kill him or not, there's still going to be a whole lot of damage done, if not the whole ball of wax going out the window," he told them.
"Well... we'll just have to stop this army first and then destroy him," Ron said, crossing his arms.
Harry shook his head. "Not enough time. Even if we contact the Order and I start training them the way I have been you guys... we just don't have the numbers and it would take too long! And while I found proof of it's existence, I have no clue as to where this Dark Army is being made or how many already exist. I could go out there and hunt Moldywart down right now, obliterate every trace of him and it could be only a handful of zombies, which I can handle, or it could be pockets of Dark Creatures hidden away all over Europe that I can't."
"We'll help!" Ginny exclaimed.
"That's just it, you're nowhere near being ready to help in something like this! Against Death Eaters and wizards and witches is one thing, but against this... Guys, the spells I've been teaching you are powerful, yes, but you'd need at least the amount of experience I have before—" Harry suddenly stopped talking as his eyes went wide and his breathing hitched.
"Harry?" the girls called, worried, while Ron kept looking around, but he couldn't see or hear anyone.
"Bloody hell, I'm brilliant," Harry said out loud. "We need to get back home. Now!"
With that, all four vanished in a blinding flash of light as Harry teleported them through several levels of wards and then across several miles back to 12 Grimmauld Place. They didn't have much time.
AN: Few last tidbits, as I'm sure a few people have questions by this point. First up, the OSI spell. It's a very obscure and easily misinterpreted theory in Quantum Theory, of how not just light and sound, but all matter can exist in all spectrums of energy, and how it is, theoretically, possible for there to exist lifeforms that their very atoms exist at the exact opposite of our own. I got the initial inspiration off the Stargate SG1 Season 2 episode "Show and Tell". As for the Golden Patronus, I no longer consider that an original idea as I have read at least three different fanfics by at least three different authors where Harry gets a more powerful Patronus and it turns out to be gold instead of silver. Lastly the "spell" Harry used to save Ginny's life; look up Final Fantasy : )