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Chapter 8 - Glimpses into the world of the masters

Growing up all the wizard children learned about the legendary duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Even if he wasn't her father, it would have been an honor to meet him. Being a centenarian, Dumbledore was far from his prime, but she still felt the powerful magic surrounding him, when they met. He had a vast amount of experience about live, which made their everyday conversations something interesting. In his presence, she felt embarrassed by her own cowardice during the war. While she was hiding her limited master skills, her father was fighting to keep multiple master wizards at bay.

She thought back to history class. Most master wizards were to afraid to duel Grindelwald, the few who did were either dead or captured. Out of nowhere came a commoner fighting his own cloak-and-dagger battle to get access to Grindelwald's castle. His efforts created an opportunity for the local wizard armies to breach the wards of an important hideout used by Grindelwald's supporters. During the battle Grindelwald came to push them back, but he walked into Dumbledore's trap and was teleported out by a phoenix. Grindelwald reaction to the teleportation was just as quick and the phoenix had to drop him into a nearby lake.

By the time reinforcements found Grindelwald, the battle was to intense to help. Curses, conjurations, runes and enchanted objects made the battlefield a death trap for all outsiders. For the first hour it seemed as if Grindelwald was in control, but somehow Dumbledore managed to slip an exploding potion through Grindelwald shields. Dumbledore used the confusion surrounding the explosion to heal his own injuries. The potion managed to slow down Grindelwald's movement and the battle for his survival begun.

Dumbledore used his advantage to make Grindewald's escape impossible. An hour later Dumbledore swarmed Grindelwald with conjured nifflers, making them think Grindelwald's wand is a piece of metal. One of these nifflers managed to steal the wand, but threw it away as soon as he realized it is not metal. Dumbledore fiercely protected the fallen wand and everyone knew it was only a matter of time, before Grindelwald's wandless shields would give in.

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It would be a few days before they could meet again. Her father's had a very busy schedule at Hogwarts and abroad. Her disguise stood up to the first challenge, but would probably be tested even harder when she tells her father about raising Harry. She had to reinforce her Fidelius spells daily to make sure they stay in perfect form.

The Fidelius spell used an elaborate ritual and took her two weeks to complete. It took her months to get the spell into the correct form and to hide her secrets in the way she needed. The only way to learn her secret was for her to share a piece of her memory, containing the secret, with a person. The added memory was protected by the Fidelius charm too, therefore they could not divulge her secret to anyone. She had to do everything twice, because she wanted to keep her two lives separate.

She showed the existence of Lily to the Dursleys and various non-magical people she came in contact with. To share the secret with muggles only required basic leglimency. The secret contained nothing that would let anyone suspect she is a witch, she merely made herself visible.

Ariana was eager to meet her father again. They had much in common. Both of them have travelled the world to visit hidden magical communities. Conversations with ordinary wizards were hard for Ariana, because many people did not know much about foreign magic. Their shared knowledge of magical world, made it easy for her to talk to him about her life.

She was not sure, why he would ask her to bring protective clothing for their next meeting. It could be that he simply wanted her to be save with so many Death Eaters still active. Their leader may have fell, but clearly someone quickly took his place. Only a few of the low ranking members was caught in the last year. Attacks was few and far between, but seemed to be well coordinated. She thought that they probably would not try to attack her father, therefore there had to be another reason.

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Ariana visited the Dursleys a few times a week. She wanted Harry to grow up around children his age and the regular visits to his cousin and his friends was the best she could do for now. Over time Dudley became attached to Ariana's presence in his life and Petunia became Harry's favorite. Ariana was a little jealous about the ease with which Petunia could get Harry to listen to her. Harry accepted Ariana as his mother, but their relationship was not as strong as Ariana wanted it to be.

Petunia asked her to join them at their cousin's birthday. The family was shocked, but happy to see her. They believed she had written them of, for her new life as nobility. She learned a lot about Lily's family from the stories they told about the past. Being the only witch in her family made it difficult for them to relate to her.

Not really knowing how to make the strained situation better, she offered to look after the children. Dudley tried to take the toys from his first cousins, but Ariana secretly disciplined him with magic, because his parents were not prepared for the hard part of being a parent. Without the toy he wanted, the boy moved to sit on his aunt's lap. Harry was mostly playing on his own, only talking a little to the older children playing around him.

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She was waiting for her father in the magical area of Gloucestershire. She kept an eye out for any Death Eater activity, but everything seemed normal. A small group of children was playing tag outside. They was definitely purebloods and had nothing to fear from an attack. The Dark Lord did not look kindly on those who spilled young pureblood.

Her father tried to sneak up from behind her, but she had a ward out to sense someone with a powerful magical aura. He was dressed in formal war attire with the symbols of the Dumbledore and Peverell family engraved. This type of armor was widely used by wizards who had to be ready for battle. He greeted her and complimented her on her extraordinary armor.

"Lets get something to drink, before we get to the more serious matters of why I arranged for us to meet here".

Dumbledore asked the waiter for seating on the balcony. The first thing she noticed was the great view the spot had of a nearby forest. They got some hot chocolate and started with casual conversation. After they finished their hot chocolate her father asked her, if she would like to join him on a acromantula hunt. The mayor asked Dumbledore to thin out their numbers, because the forest can't support the whole colony anymore.

Dumbledore: "I know it is dangerous taking on a colony of acromantula, but I thought with your training in collecting Acromantula silk, your expertise would be helpful."

Ariana:"I don't like killing magical creatures, but for a baby acromantula I shall join your hunt."

Dumbledore(smiling): "Oh, I don't have a full hunting party, so far it is just me and professors Flitwick and Kettleburn. You might know professor Flitwick from the European dueling championships. "

At the edge of the forest, Ariana stopped to take her weapons out of her handbag. Her father was impressed with her arsenal hovering next to her, even when they moved through the thick vegetation, the weapons followed. They were looking for any signs of acromantula activity to help them find the colony. Walking through the forest they spotted many animals, but they did not find anything acromantula related after an hour. Dumbledore asked her to stop and rest on his conjured couch.

Dumbledore: "It would be faster to search for the acromantula in my magical animagus form. I don't want to leave you alone however, may I ask you to search with the professors, while I am gone?"

Ariana: "Sure, the extra pairs of eyes may help too."

Dumbledore called a house elf to bring professors Flitwick and Kettleburn to the site and introduced them to her. He felt he could trust them to keep his daughter safe. Half an hour later Dumbledore returned, ready to take them to the acromantula colony.

Ariana shot a few acromantula with her crossbow to get their attention. The acromantula stormed at her, however the charge was met with hundreds of burning light beams from her father(master level) and magnetic dagger attack from Flitwick(master level). Kettleburn used conjured magical plants to poison the spiders. Ariana created a powerful shield to stop the surviving spiders from breaching their simple defenses. Dumbledore scared some of with an earthquake, while Flitwick used pieces of loose rock to crush the spiders. Kettleburn sent out bursts of water from the ground to propel them into the air and soon the spiders struggled to run through the sludge they created.

Meanwhile, Ariana killed a large number of spiders by alternating between her throwing spears and her transfigured hammers(from branches). After their heavy attack, the spiders ran in different directions. Ariana found a baby acromantula near the nest and transfigured her into a rose.

They cleaned up the mess they made and harvested some potion ingredients. Lastly they buried all the spiders that they killed.

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The professors joined them for a quick drink, after their successful hunt, but they did not stay long. Ariana wanted to tell her father about Harry. Hoping he would want to be part of the boy's life. Her usage of Harry's name in their casual conversation looked like a slip, but she used it strategically. Her father however looked a bit upset about the news. Seeing his daughter reaction to his emotions, he tried to explain that he was just surprised that she managed to get past his blood wards.

Ariana: "My aunt on my mother's side is Charlus Potter's mother. I had little contact with the magical side of my family, but James asked me in his will to keep an eye on Harry. He gave me a list of people who Harry should visit growing up (/ half-truth in the will was such list, but it was Dumbledore's job, which she took over/). After all they have done for us, I couldn't refuse, family bonds is important. "

Dumbledore: "Of course, I met your aunt a few times in passing. Thought it is not all family bond you have with Harry, you are family with Lily due to your relation Abeforth. To my shame I must say that he has a large number of children out of wedlock. I am close enough related to the Potters to have be invited to a few family meetings. The Potters trusted me due to my double blood connection to be Harry's magical guardian . Your three fold connection to Harry must have allowed you to go through the wards. "

Ariana: "I wanted to ask you, whom I must contact to meet a certain Sirius Black, I believe he was a friend of James and their probably related too. He is at the top of James' list of people, who Harry must visit regularly."

Dumbledore: "I know Sirius, we sometimes work together on Death Eater attacks. I shall let him know you want to bring Harry for a visit, but a word of caution, the death of James is still difficult for him to accept."