Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that Harry Potter belongs to the amazing JK Rowling and that I am most definitely up to no good.
A/N: Thank you so much for all of the awesome reviews I have gotten so far for this story, they really do mean a lot to me. For those of you who are excited about Harry getting to Hogwarts, I do want to let you know that it will be at least another 2 chapters after this one before that happens but I will certainly try and make those chapters worth the wait. Thanks again guys!
Previous Chapter Summary: Nick and Nell bring Harry to live with them and Harry finds out what having a real family is all about. Dumbledore meets with Snape to inform him about his new position and though the greasy bat is upset at being pushed aside to make room for someone better qualified, he accepts the change in the end. Nick and Nell take Harry to St. Mungo's where they find more evidence of the Dursley's abuse and set out to get Harry healthy again.
The trip through Harrods was a whirlwind of excitement and new experiences for Harry. They stopped in for clothes and things first and a little over an hour later they came away with an entirely new wardrobe for him, including casual, dressy, and athletic clothes for fall and winter, trainers, and to his embarrassment, underwear. Perenelle had actually gotten his clothes slightly larger than his current size since the potions he was going to be taking would cause him to grow a bit in the next month. She then had him change into one of his new outfits right after purchasing everything before shrinking all of the bags so they could put them in their pockets and not have to worry about carrying them.
Nicolas and Harry spent the rest of the time before heading off to lunch in the toy department while Perenelle went to wonder around. They started out with a rather innocent nerf gun war, which quickly escalated from just the two of them to several other children running around trying not to get caught by the store clerks, and ended with several of the guns, a large container of LEGO, a bunch of different types of board games, and various other toys coming home with them. Nicolas told him quietly that he planned on experimenting with a few of the nerf guns to see what kind of magical enhancements he could add to them to make them more fun and that Harry was welcome to help if he wanted.
After meeting up again and stopping for lunch at a French restaurant inside the large store they finally left and boarded a bus to make their way to Charring Cross Road, stopping along the way to pick up some toiletries and things. Once they finally got there, Harry was hustled through a dingy pub called The Leaky Cauldron and out the back into a small courtyard where they stopped and were looking at the brick wall with much more intensity than Harry thought a brick wall should warrant. He was astonished however, when Nicolas pulled his wand, tapped one of the bricks three times, and the wall opened up to reveal a long cobblestoned alley with a multitude of different shops.
From the moment they stepped through the entrance into Diagon Alley, Harry was completely in awe of his surroundings. There were so many wonderful things for him to look at that he wasn't able to concentrate on just one thing for too long, though a huge sign that was draped horizontally across a store called Flourish and Blotts did catch his eye as they approached. When he looked over at it he saw that it read 'Temporarily Closed Due to an Infestation of Bookworms'.
"Oh drat," Perenelle said as she stopped to read the sign, "I had hoped to get a few introductory books for you to read in your spare time before our trip."
"What trip?"
That caught both adults by surprise, in all of the excitement they had completely forgotten to tell Harry about their trip in a few days. "Well, Nick and I had made plans some time ago to take a trip to Egypt to, among other things, visit the International Warlock Convention which is held yearly in different locations and attended by witches and wizards from all over the world. It's not just a good way to see and interact with people from different cultures and walks of life but also very fun. Hundreds of vendors set up booths and tables to sell their wares and you can just about find anything and everything if you look hard enough."
"Oh," Harry said dejectedly, "Will I be staying with someone else while you're gone then?"
He sounded so crestfallen when he asked that Nicolas rushed to reassure their young charge, "You will be coming with us of course, from the moment we were allowed to come visit you we had planned on taking you. That is, if you're ok with going to Egypt?"
Harry perked up instantly at hearing this news, he remembered reading about Egypt a bit from school and had always been interested in its history, "Yes!" He practically shouted, "Are we going to get to see the pyramids, and ride camels, and sail down the Nile?" He asked excitedly bouncing up and down a bit.
Nicolas and Perenelle laughed at his stream of questions as they guided him back down the alley and Perenelle answered him, "We most certainly will be seeing the pyramids and a relaxing trip down the Nile sounds like a very good idea but I'm afraid we will have to wait and see about the camels. They really aren't all they're cracked up to be."
This did nothing to dull Harry's excitement and his mind was filled with thinking of all the different things they might do. Did Egypt have a magical section similar to Diagon Alley and were there magical animals like Alcmene there? Would he get to take pictures and, if so, would the Flamels let him send some to the Dursleys to make them jealous? This last thought nearly had him rubbing his hands together and cackling as he pictured their reactions.
He was brought out of his musing however when Perenelle cried out excitedly before grabbing Nicolas and dragging him over to one of the shop windows. Nicolas, in turn, was just able to grab onto Harry to drag him along as well before he got out of reach. They stopped behind a small group of children with their parents and Harry had to crane his neck to see just what they were looking at.
"Look Nick, Nimbus finally came out with a new model. The Nimbus 2000." Perenelle said with enthusiasm as she gazed at the sleek broom residing in the window.
"Yes dear, I see it," he responded and looked down to see Harry also gazing at the broom appreciatively. "How fast does it go then?" He asked patiently, knowing she wouldn't be willing to continue on until she knew all the details.
She had to squint to see the small print from behind all the children, "It says here that it can go from 0 to 65 miles per hour in 10 seconds. That's on par with the Cleansweep 7 that came out in February. Oh, look at the finish on the mahogany handle. Isn't it a beauty?"
As she stared at the broom Nicolas saw Harry give her a curious look so he leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Nell loves flying and Quidditch about as much as she loves her spell crafting. She even played on a professional Quidditch team a number of years ago and is quite a gifted chaser."
Harry, having heard a brief rundown of the sport this morning, looked upon Perenelle with even more respect.
After spending a few more minutes looking at the new broom Nicolas was able to pull them away from Quality Quidditch Supplies and began steering them back down the alley again. It only took them a few more moments of winding through the crowds before they stopped in front of a small store called Samperi's Spectacles. Each word was housed within a lens of the giant pair of glasses that sat above the door and it took a second for Harry to read the name because the words kept going in and out of focus. One minute they were clear and he could read them easily, the next they were completely blurry and looked like most things did when he took his glasses off.
The shop was empty of customers when they walked inside but absolutely packed with shelves and counters filled with hundreds of different glasses and one single chair in the far right corner that looked like it reclined backwards.
Perenelle was just about to ring the small bell resting on the counter near the old fashioned cash register when a short hunched woman stepped out from the back room. "Welcome to Samperi's Spectacles, my name is Mrs. Lorena Samperi. How may I help you today?"
"Hello, we were looking to get Harry here a new pair—" She was cutoff by an outraged cry from the small woman.
"Well I should hope so. I can tell without even running any scans that those glasses are not suited to him at all. And look at the state of them, they are an absolute travesty." She ranted as she came around the counter and stopped right in front of Harry, her face mere inches away from his. "May I young man?" She asked holding out her hand expectantly.
Harry nodded and removed the glasses. They had hardly touched her hand before she snatched them away, turned around, and started walking towards the chair in the corner, muttering to herself while looking the glasses over and absently grabbing a piece of parchment off a pile that sat on a small table next to the chair.
"Come along Mr. Potter, I imagine you will feel much better once you have a pair of spectacles attuned to your natural eyesight."
Harry startled at her knowing his name without being introduced before remembering that he was supposed to be famous. Nicolas gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a small push forward to get him moving. He crossed the room and sat in the chair, which reclined slowly as soon as he was situated.
"Alright, this won't take but a minute. Just look straight ahead at the black dot on the ceiling and try not to move your eyes too much."
She waited for him to find the big black dot and focus on it before she started waving her wand over his face. He felt a slight itch behind his eyes and had to keep himself from reaching up to rub them. A few seconds later and she waved her wand one last time and the itch disappeared.
"There we go." She said and tapped the parchment she was holding. "Why don't you go pick out some new spectacles and while I correct them to your prescription you all can go over the different charms I can put on them." She instructed, handing him back his glasses.
It took a while for him to find some that he really liked but he finally came away with a pair that had silver frames and rectangular lenses with rounded corners. When he had put them on and looked up at the Flamels to see what they thought for what felt like the hundredth time, Perenelle had let out a soft squeal and told him that he looked very handsome. He mumbled a thank you and made his way over to Mrs. Samperi, fighting a deep blush.
"Excellent choice Mr. Potter." She stated, taking the glasses from him and setting a piece of parchment down in front of him before placing the glasses in a small clamp. "Now, here is a list of the various charms I mentioned, just let me know what you would like and I will add them."
Harry was a bit lost when he read through the list, not sure what he should and shouldn't choose.
"Need some help Harry?" Nicolas asked from behind him and Harry gave him a grateful look as he handed the list over. They spent the next few minutes telling him all about the pros and cons of the various charms and helped him choose which ones would be best. In the end he chose the Unbreakable, Self-Cleaning, Impervious, Anti-Summoning, and Photochromic (which worked like sunglasses but kept the lenses completely clear) charms.
Approximately 5 minutes later, Harry donned his new glasses and was in awe as he looked around him. Everything was so clear and focused that he felt that he was seeing the world for the first time, even the colors seemed more vibrant than they had been before.
Once they had paid Mrs. Samperi and thanked her profusely they went back outside and made their way back up the alley and stepped into The Leaky Cauldron, where they stopped just to the side of the giant fireplace.
"Alright," Perenelle began, "I'll be heading off to my appointment now and will meet you two back at the cottage. Nick, you have everything for the investigators right?" She asked and at his nod she continued, "Don't worry about dinner, I'm going to place an order with Rosmerta at The Three Broomsticks before my meeting and will pick it up on my way back."
"That sounds great dear, we shall see you back at the cottage later." Nicolas said and stepped forward to give her a brief kiss.
She gave him a kiss in return, then turned to give Harry a hug before she stepped in front of the fireplace, pulled a small purple leather bag from her pocket, and reached in. A moment later, she withdrew her hand and threw a pinch of floo powder into the fire before taking a breath and stepping in. "The Three Broomsticks," she yelled, and was gone in a flash.
"So Harry," Nicolas began after a few moments of silence, "Would you like to take the floo to the Ministry or would you rather walk?"
Harry was quick with his answer, "Walk please."
Nicolas chuckled, "Very well, though you will have to get used to floo travel sooner or later. Before we go however, I do need to discuss something with you real quick." He said and led Harry to a small table in the back corner, waving away Tom when he began to make his way over.
Once they were both situated and Nicolas had cast a privacy charm around them he began, "Ok Harry, do you know what an apprentice is."
Harry thought for a second but then shook his head, "Sorry, no."
"That's quite alright. The general definition of an apprentice is a person who trains under another in order to learn a certain set of skills. They are seen quite regularly in the non magical world these days and are usually just called trainees but are a bit rarer here in the magical world because some masters can be rather demanding of their students.
"You see, in ancient times an apprentice would sign a binding contract to pretty much do whatever their master chose for them to do in order to learn their trade for a predetermined length of time. These days, the contracts are much more lax and there is the option to void said contract should either party wish to do so, though they must have a good reason for it.
"Now, the reason I am telling you this is because a few months before she died I had offered your mother an apprenticeship under me. My timing was rather atrocious and she was forced to decline my offer due to the need for you all to go into hiding as soon as possible. She did extract a promise from me however that should anything happen to her I would take you as an apprentice when you were ready and as long as you agreed to it."
"What would I be learning?" Harry asked, deeply curious.
"Alchemy, which is the study of the four basic elements as well as the transmutation of substances, such as turning copper into silver or gold and the like. There is much more to it of course but that is the basics and besides, you won't really have to worry too much about it until you are at least 16."
"What if I'm not any good at Alchemy?"
Nicolas gave him a smile, "Well, we won't really know that until at least a few years. While Alchemy isn't offered at Hogwarts until your 6th year, Potions and Transfiguration, the branch of magic focusing on changing one thing to another, are both offered from your first year on and will get you started on the basics."
Seeing that the young man still looked a bit worried he chose to continue, "Remember Harry, whether you accept the offer is entirely up to you and I will not be upset or disappointed should you wish to decline it and choose a different path. If you want to become a professional Quidditch player when you get older or something else entirely, I will be perfectly happy with that. Just remember that my offer will always be open for you to accept at another time if you ever change your mind. Ok?"
"Ok." Harry responded with a nod.
"Good. The second reason I am disclosing this to you now is because I will most likely be mentioning your possible future apprenticeship under me when we are arguing our case for adopting you. Though you wouldn't actually be my apprentice for a number of years, the years before can be thought of as a pre-apprenticeship where I attempt to groom you for the possible position so it gives us a good chance of gaining guardianship of you."
Harry worried a bit at hearing that. "Do you think there will be a problem with you adopting me?"
Nicolas tried to reassure him. "Not really but we like to have all of our bases covered just in case. The biggest obstacle we foresee is your fame and that's only because certain people will think they have a say in what happens to you when they really have no business thinking anything of the sort. But Nell and I have our own sort of fame and I intend to use that to its full advantage if necessary."
"What sort of fame?"
"That is an explanation for another time I'm afraid as we really should be heading to the Ministry now." He said standing up and dropping the privacy charm before leading a slightly disappointed Harry out the door and back onto Charring Cross Road.
It took them about 15 minutes to reach the phone booth that Nicolas told him was used for visitors to enter the Ministry from the street if they chose not to use the floo. And another 10 minutes to descend into the Ministry itself, go through security, and make their way to level 2 which, the friendly disembodied voice informed them as they exited the lift, housed the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
They walked down a short hallway, turned the corner, stepped through a set of heavy oak doors and into a large area filled with small cubicles. Harry followed Nicolas as he made an immediate left and walked between the wall and the cubicles. They made a right once they hit the left-hand wall and kept walking, Nicolas scanning each door as they passed, before coming to a stop in front of the fourth door which had a golden plaque that read Department of Children's Welfare and right underneath that, Head of Department: Leona Poole.
Nicolas opened the door and allowed Harry to go in ahead of him.
Inside they found an office with two small desks facing them in the back of the room with a chair in front of each and a small walkway in between. On the right wall stood a huge fireplace with several comfortable looking chairs surrounding it and a table right in the middle. Several filing cabinets were set against the left hand wall along with a table that had a tea set and what looked like packages of snacks on it. All in all, the room felt rather cozy to Harry.
Only one of the desks was occupied at the moment and the kind looking woman behind it looked up when they entered and asked, "May I help you?"
"Yes please," Nicolas responded, striding over, "I am Nicolas Flamel, I owled you this morning."
"Ah yes, you said you had some concerns regarding a case of possible child abuse correct?" She enquired standing up and glanced at Harry who hadn't moved from near the door. "Is this the child in question?"
"Indeed it is," Nicolas replied, turning and gesturing for Harry to come forward, "This is Harry Potter and my wife and I are looking to have an investigation opened into the treatment of Harry by his Aunt and Uncle as well as to see about adopting him."
Though she hid it well, Harry could tell that the woman was slightly startled at hearing his name.
She came from around her desk and stopped just in front of Harry, "I see," she said before holding out her hand, "It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter, my name is Leona Poole. Please feel free to call me Miss Leona."
Harry shook her hand and gave her a nervous smile, "Hello Miss Leona."
She gave him a warm smile in return and then moved to greet Nicolas, "Would either of you like some tea or biscuits before we get started?"
"Just tea for me please," Nicolas replied and glanced down at Harry to see what he preferred.
"Just tea is fine for me too."
"Very well, we will be sitting over by the fire so if you would make your way over and sit wherever you please." She instructed and flicked her wand at the tea set.
Harry and Nicolas made themselves comfortable in the two chairs that sat closest together as Miss Leona levitated a large tray over and set it on the table in front of them. Once it was situated they saw that she had brought over the tea as well as an assortment of different biscuits on a plate.
"Just in case any of us gets hungry during the meeting," She said and poured them each a cup of tea before sitting down herself with a quill and parchment that she seemed to have pulled from nowhere, "Now Mr. Flamel, why don't you tell me in detail what exactly is going on and we can see what actions need to be taken once I have all the facts."
Nicolas gave a nod and began his explanation. Not wanting to leave anything out he decided to start with the happenings before the Potters had gone into hiding and their interactions with Harry as a baby then continued on with everything they knew had happened after the attack and finally ended with an in depth breakdown of their meeting with the Dursleys as well as all the things they had done that day.
Miss Leona, for her part, was writing furiously and would occasionally interrupt Nicolas to ask a question or to clarify something further, especially the part regarding the apprenticeship.
When Nicolas finally fell silent she set her parchment and quill down and massaged her hand. "Mr. Potter," she said, gaining the boys attention, "Do you have anything extra to add to Mr. Flamel's statement regarding what has happened yesterday and today?"
Harry shook his head, "Other than that this has been the best day of my life, no ma'am."
She gave him another warm smile, "I'm glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions regarding your relatives treatment of you these past years? If you don't feel comfortable with it right now please don't hesitate to say so. We have quite a bit from Mr. Flamel already so anything you give us will just be extra information."
He thought about it for a long while before coming to a decision, "I don't really feel like talking about it anymore today if that's all right."
"That is perfectly fine Mr. Potter, you have had quite an emotional two days already so I understand perfectly." She said and turned her attention to Nicolas again. "Mr. Flamel, from what you saw yesterday, do you think we need to be concerned about the other child under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley? That will be part of our investigation of course but we like to look at every aspect of the case before making a decision."
"Not that I could see but we didn't interact with him enough to really determine that with any degree of certainty." He replied and turned to Harry, "What do you think Harry? Should we be worried about your relatives treatment of your cousin?"
"I don't think so? He throws tantrums a lot but they never yell at him and he always gets whatever he wants, especially food and toys. The only times I have seen him get in trouble is at school because he likes to bully other kids but any time the school tries to say anything about it Aunt Petunia goes on one of her rants about how perfect he is and that he would never do anything like that."
Miss Leona wrote all this down and made sure to put a note for the investigators to look for signs of parental abuse, however mild, so they could try and nip that in the bud as soon as possible.
"Thank you for that Mr. Potter. Now, I would like to speak to you in private for a few minutes regarding Mr. and Mrs. Flamel if it's all right with you?"
Harry glanced at Nicolas and the man gave him an encouraging nod, "It's ok Harry, just answer her questions truthfully and everything will be fine."
When Harry gave him a hesitant nod in return Nicolas stood up, "Good lad, I'm going to be right over there," He pointed to Miss Leona's desk, "so if you need anything just give me a shout."
When Nicolas was situated in the chair in front of her desk, Miss Leona pulled her wand and cast a privacy charm around them so Nicolas couldn't hear anything they were saying. "You seem quite taken with the Flamels despite only being with them for a day." She commented as she reached forward and grabbed a biscuit off the plate.
Harry nodded his head emphatically, "They're really great."
"That's good to hear. And you like their home too?"
"Oh yeah, they have the coolest house I've ever seen." He began and a grin spread across his face. "There is this giant fountain outside that has all of these little fairies flying around it and tons of different flowers and plants. The inside is really cool too and they put me in this humungous room that they said would be mine from now on. Then there is Alcmene, she is this huge cat that Nell said was magical but I can't remember what she called her."
"A Kneazle?"
"Yeah, that's it. She is really nice, though she did stare at me a lot when we first met."
She laughed softly, "Some Kneazles tend to do that. Now, that all sounds very nice and I am glad that you like staying with them so far but I would also like to hear your opinion on the apprenticeship Mr. Flamel mentioned. How did it make you feel when he told you about it?" She asked leaning forward, but instead of grabbing another biscuit, she offered the plate to Harry.
Harry tentatively grabbed one and took a bite as he thought about her question. "I'm still not sure about it to be honest. He said that he is offering it because he promised my mum but we don't even know if I'm going to be any good at it."
"Did he seem like he may pressure you into accepting the apprenticeship?"
He looked at her in confusion for a moment before responding, "No, he said that it would always be my choice whether I wanted to do it or not and that it will be a few years before I would have to decide. He even said he wouldn't be upset or disappointed if I chose to do something entirely different."
"Very good Mr. Potter. I only have one more question for you and then we can call Mr. Flamel back over." She said as she watched him reach for another biscuit. "How do you feel about the Flamels adopting you?"
Harry's face lit up, "I would like that very much. They are both really nice and have bought me all these new things that my relatives never would. They are even taking me to Egypt with them and Nell said that she would teach me to fly a broom."
"Well that is certainly exciting." She remarked. "I think that is all the questions I have for you at the moment Mr. Potter. Let's get Mr. Flamel back over here so we can wrap this up and you can be on your way as we have been talking for quite some time."
She dropped her privacy charm and called Nicolas, who was working on the Rubik's Cube he had bought at Harrods earlier, back over. He stashed it away in his pocket as he walked over and took his seat next to Harry.
"Ok first off," She began, "I would like to let you know that, with your statement as well as the evidence you mentioned, I have determined that we have ample cause to open an investigation into the Dursleys for neglect as well as emotional and psychological abuse. We will have two of our aurors trained in these types of cases working with some of the squibs that work for the muggle children's welfare since the situation crosses through both worlds. The aurors will probably wish to ask you a few questions of their own so expect an owl asking you to come in again or possibly allowing them to visit you at your home.
"Now, despite Mr. Potter here being a magical citizen, because they are muggles, the Dursleys will most likely be tried and sentenced through the muggle courts. The aurors are really only deployed as a go between and to assist with any magical aspects the squibs may not be able to handle, such as the ward you placed in the Dursley's home. Does that all sound ok with you?"
Nicolas gave a nod, "I am fine with that, as long as some form of justice is meted out."
"Excellent, moving on to the adoption. At first I was only going to allow you to have temporary guardianship of Mr. Potter until we could decide whether a full adoption was in his best interest. But, given his fame, I'm afraid some people may attempt to drag out the adoption and he may not end up with the best family in the end. So, after some thought, I have chosen to allow you to adopt Mr. Potter under the condition that I be permitted to conduct monthly inspections for the months that he is not attending Hogwarts."
"Of course, that would be perfectly fine with us."
"Very well, that just leaves signing the adoption papers, which your wife will also need to come in to sign, as well as handing over the evidence. I will have one of the aurors get the Dursleys to sign the paperwork relinquishing their guardianship of Mr. Potter just so everything is ship shape and nobody can stick their nose in to reverse the adoption once it's all said and done."
It only took her a few minutes to get all the paperwork together for Nicolas to sign and for him to give her the oversized clothes and broken glasses. He also promised to have Perenelle come in early tomorrow morning to sign the papers and give her own statement should they wish it.
All in all it was only another 10 minutes or so before Nicolas and Harry found themselves back in the main lobby of the Ministry of Magic and both were ecstatic at how things had turned out. Harry, because it was now official that he would be part of a proper family and Nicolas, because though they had little doubt they could get custody of Harry they had not anticipated the adoption going through so quickly and efficiently.
"Well, I think a momentous occasion such as this calls for a celebration of sorts." Nicolas said, turning to look at Harry with a wide grin. "What do you say we head back to Diagon Alley and partake of some large ice-cream sundaes?"
"Yeah." Harry responded excitedly and he didn't even mind when Nicolas suggested that they take the floo back to The Leaky Cauldron.
OoOoOoO
As Nicolas and Harry were discussing the future apprenticeship, Perenelle was marching up the path to Hogwarts and anyone who laid eyes on her could tell from her expression that she was a witch on a mission.
Hagrid, who had again been sent to escort their guest, very nearly just let her find her own way to Dumbledore's office just so he could avoid having that look directed at him but he screwed up his courage and stepped forward to greet her in the end. Though Perenelle softened a bit as Hagrid guided her through the castle she knew that she was still a bit short with him when he chose to ask her questions so she set a reminder to herself to apologize to him about it later. She had spent the entire walk up from Hogsmeade ensuring she was suitably ready to tear strips off of Albus and she would not let Hagrid's friendly demeanor ruin it now.
When she was finally on the landing leading to the Headmaster's Office she didn't even knock or wait for his acknowledgment before opening the door and striding in.
"Perenelle, how lovely…" Dumbledore began but was cut off.
"Stuff it Albus, I'm not here for a social visit."
Dumbledore was taken aback at the sheer anger in her voice, he had truly not expected this when he had agreed to meet with Perenelle after receiving her letter this morning. He was curious as to what the Dursleys had done to spawn such aggression towards him as well as caused the blood wards around #4 Privet Drive to fall. The only thing that had stopped him rushing to the Dursley's home earlier when he realized the wards were no longer active was Perenelle's letter arriving about an hour before, telling him that she wanted to speak with him about young Harry.
"Then what may I help you with today?" He asked guardedly.
"I want to know exactly what the hell you were thinking when you decided to leave Harry with those despicable people."
"Ah well, you see, with his mother's sacrifice I was able to anchor very powerful protections to his Aunt, given that she was Lily's sister, via their blood. It was to ensure his safety from the Death Eaters who bribed their way out of Azkaban."
"I know what blood wards are and I know very well that they would not protect him from any danger from within the house and if you sit there and tell me that those wards were the only reason for leaving him in that place so help me Albus, I will flay you alive."
"Of course it wasn't, I also sent him there so that he could grow up away from the wizarding world to keep him from becoming arrogant and brash due to his fame. They are also his last remaining family and so I felt it would be the best place for him."
Without the pertinent information, mainly that the Dursleys were loathsome human beings and should never have been allowed to care for a child, Perenelle could see that his decisions made some sort of sense. That did not mean however, that they were the right ones. "Did you never even check up on him?"
Dumbledore hesitated to answer that question but given that the wards had already fallen, meaning that Harry was most likely no longer with the Dursleys, he concluded that it would be best for all around if he went ahead and gave her everything he knew. "Not personally, but I did hire a squib by the name of Arabella Figg to watch over him and report any serious findings to me. She told me that he is a bit of an outcast in the neighborhood, that his cousin regularly bullied him, and that he has a rather odd way of dressing but none of those seemed overly alarming to me."
Perenelle closed her eyes and started muttering to herself and it took him a moment to determine that she was swearing in French. When her wand suddenly appeared in her hand, Dumbledore was so startled by it that he very nearly pulled his own before realizing that she wasn't intending to use it on him, not yet anyway.
She conjured an empty vial and proceeded to pull a memory from her temple, let it drop into the vial and then slammed it down on top of his desk. "Take this memory Albus and watch, watch as he is ignored and bullied by all three of those horrid people you call his family, watch as he is so surprised at the thought of anybody showing him affection that he hardly knows what to do, watch at how excited he is to leave with two near perfect strangers rather than stay in that place," She paused, closed her eyes briefly and let out a sad sigh before continuing. "And at the end, once you see where they forced him to sleep for ten years, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me again that leaving him there was the best thing for him."
"Is this really necessary Perenelle?" He asked but she simply sat down and refused to acknowledge anything he said, so with a weary sigh and much trepidation he went over to his pensieve and spent the next 30 odd minutes viewing her memory.
When he finally emerged he was both angered and deeply saddened. He collected Perenelle's memory, handed it back to her, and sat down at his desk and didn't say anything for several long minutes. "I knew that he would not have the happiest childhood there but I never imagined they would treat him like that."
That set Perenelle off again. She stood up and towered over the man. "You left that baby on their doorstep fully aware that you were possibly setting him up for years of abuse!? Have you gone completely out of your mind?"
"It was the safest…"
"I don't care how safe those wards made him, that was not a good enough reason to leave him there. In fact, no reason is ever good enough to leave any child in an abusive environment. And did you just happen to forget about Nick and I?"
"Now Pere…" But she continued on as if she hadn't heard him.
"We would have taken him in without a moments hesitation, raised him as our own, given him all the love he could ever need and more." She fumed, passing back and forth in front of his desk, sending a glare his way every time she turned. "But no, the great Albus bloody Dumbledore, without even consulting anybody else, chose to drop him off at a home where he has known nothing but neglect and emotional abuse for the past ten years. You have no idea how hard it was to keep myself from hexing that horse face shrew and that walrus she calls a husband."
"Perenelle please…" He tried again.
"Don't you dare 'Perenelle' me Dumbledore! You have no right to address me like… like a friend, after what you have done." She paused to take a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself somewhat since her magic had started to manifest in what looked like small crackles of lightning.
Though her last barb stung him greatly, Dumbledore took advantage of the momentary silence. "Mrs. Flamel," He began, which finally got her attention and she reluctantly sat down to hear what he had to say, "I realize that I made a grave mistake but, no matter how wrong it was, please understand that I did what I thought was best during a time of war, no matter if it had just abruptly ended, there were still Death Eaters running about unchecked. I did not forget about you and you're husband but I did forget the innumerable resources you have at your disposal that could have seen to his safety had I placed him with you and for that, I am deeply sorry."
Perenelle said nothing for a long time. "I am still upset with you." She spat just as he was becoming quite anxious and he could only nod his head in acceptance at that. "You will have to do a lot if you intend to be forgiven by either of us, starting with not interfering with Nick and I adopting Harry."
Again, knowing that Harry was no longer safe at the Dursleys, Dumbledore had no problem with this turn of events. "I actually think that would be a marvelous idea."
She gave him a scathing look but didn't say anything to that. "Since we will be his legal guardians, you will also tell us everything you have been keeping secret regarding Harry these past years."
Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat, he knew that if he told them the prophecy that they would most likely tell Harry and he didn't feel that the boy was ready for that. "I don't believe that would be such a good idea."
"You seem to be under the impression that I was asking." She remarked and gave him a smirk. "You are, of course, mistaken and should you refuse to divulge anything regarding him, with Voldemort's return looming on the horizon, Nick and I may very well feel that it would be safest to take Harry out of the country."
That simple statement nearly sent Dumbledore into a full blown panic, though he was careful not to let Perenelle see it. Harry leaving the country would spell disaster for all of wizarding Britain and he knew that she wasn't bluffing in the slightest. Beauxbatons would welcome both them and Harry with open arms, and just about every other school in the world would do the same now that he thought about it. "I really don't think that would be necessary."
"Oh but your opinion doesn't really matter to me at the moment. You really only have the two options available to you. Why don't we let you think it over while we are in Egypt and we can discuss it further when we come in to take care of the stone." She said and stood up.
"Yes, perhaps that would be best." Dumbledore agreed, standing up as well, but he already knew which option he would be forced to choose.
"Indeed. Now, after some planning last night, Nick and I think it would be a better idea if you had someone trustful and nondescript fetch the stone from Gringotts either while we are in Egypt or shortly after we get back, instead of one of us going to get it."
"I agree, that is a much better plan, and I will most likely have them retrieve it shortly after you return."
"Very well, here is the key and Nick will let the Goblins know that we are giving you permission to access the vault but make sure you send a note with whoever it is so that they don't make a scene and are turned away."
"Of course. Goodbye and I hope you have a good time in Egypt." Dumbledore said and gave her a smile.
She looked down her nose at him slightly and he knew that she had not forgiven him. "Farewell." Was all she said before she swept out the door.
To see such disappointment on the face of one of the two people that he greatly admired and had looked up to for so long weighed heavily upon him. He knew that not many could understand that the relationship he had with the Flamels was more of a student mentor relationship, with him being the student. Yes he was powerful magically, but his knowledge could never compare with that of Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel and he had no problem admitting such to anybody who asked.
Dumbledore let out a deep sigh as he made his way back to his desk. Fawkes flew over to his familiar and began singing as Dumbledore absently extended his hand and began scratching the back of his neck, where he knew Fawkes had a hard time reaching. "I was just trying to protect him Fawkes. But Perenelle is right, I really did do wrong by young Harry."
The old phoenix gave a trill and rubbed his head on Dumbledore's cheek to try and comfort him. And there they sat, late into the night, as Dumbledore thought over everything Perenelle had told and shown him that day and what he might be able to do to get them to trust him again.
OoOoOoO
When Perenelle got home and Nicolas told her what had happened she was thrilled at the news and glad that she had stopped by Honeydukes to pick up an assortment of sweets for Harry to try since they now used these as a celebratory dessert and both Flamels had quite a bit of fun seeing Harry's reactions to some of the more bizarre candy.
The next morning, she made sure to head to the Ministry straight away to sign the paperwork for the adoption and answer a few questions for Miss Poole. She also stopped by the Portkey Office to inform them that they would be adjusting their itinerary a bit to include a third person and changing their departure dates and destinations. She and Nicolas had come up with a nice surprise that they thought Harry would enjoy and so needed a second Portkey and permissions to visit a second country the last two days of their vacation.
The few remaining days before they were to leave for Egypt were a combination of excitement and torture for Harry. Before the Flamels took him in, the furthest he had ever been away from Little Whinging was the zoo for Dudley's birthday and he was beyond excited to actually be traveling outside of the country for the first time but, the more excited he became, the longer the days seemed to drag by. While both Flamels were busy getting things situated for the trip, they refused to let him help so he spent those days playing with the toys they had bought him, reading through A History of Magic and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, practicing writing with a quill and ink, and learning to fly.
This last activity held his attention for far greater lengths than any book ever could but he was only allowed to fly when either Nicolas or Perenelle were available to watch him since he was still pretty new to the whole experience. In fact, he had nearly given Perenelle a heart attack when she was first showing him the basics and they were flying in ever widening circles and doing figure eights so that he could get the hang of turning when he got a bit too excited and chose to try out a dive that he had seen in Which Broomstick without giving her any warning.
After completing the dive successfully and without injury Perenelle forced him to land his broom and then proceeded to give him a severe dressing down. In the end, she grounded him for the rest of the day and told him that he would not be flying again until he wrote her a foot long essay on flying safety and the consequences of attempting tricks when not properly trained. He felt so guilty for scaring her that he finished the essay within that same hour and apologized profusely when he gave it to her. She, in turn, apologized for yelling at him like she had and extracted a promise from him that he would not attempt anything like that again without letting her show him how to safely perform it before telling him that he had in fact executed his dive flawlessly and that she was very impressed.
On one of the days, Nicolas made sure to put on a big show, while not being too obvious, about going to Gringotts and making a withdrawal from his high security vault. While the Goblins grumbled and looked at him funny when they took him to it and he went into the vault without taking out the one item that was contained inside, he paid it no mind.
The night before they were supposed to leave was finally upon them and Harry was very excited and didn't want to go to sleep. He was so excited in fact, that Nicolas was seriously contemplating giving him a mild sleep potion but before he could decide one way or the other Perenelle forced the lad into bed, where he promptly burrowed down under the covers and was fast asleep in moments. Nicolas and Perenelle smiled at each other and left to attend to a few last minute things that needed to be done before they left for what promised to be a splendid week of vacation.
A/N: I know that the adoption process wasn't very realistic with it just happening on the spot like that but I really just wanted to get it out of the way instead of it dragging on and on when we all knew he was going to end up with the Flamels anyway :P
A/N 2: Sorry to all of you guys who dislike or think that Dumbledore is being kind of OC but that will really only happen in regards to the Flamels because of the type of relationship they have with him. Neither of them are going to hesitate in letting him know when they believe he is doing something wrong so get prepared for that happening in the future.