Chapter 7
As I stepped out of the carriage onto the front steps of Hogwarts I wondered what this year would bring. Heaven help me if anybody including the Daily Profit had to tell me that I was going to the headmaster's office the very first thing. The question was, how soon after my arrival was the very first thing? No sooner had the welcoming feast concluded then Professor McGonagall escorted me up to Dumbledore's office.
"Harry My Boy, it's good to see you," Albus said, eyes twinkling madly. He was struggling to resist his desire to curse the damned child. "Harry My Boy how are you doing? Apparently your death was slightly exaggerated."
Apparently while I was supposed to be coming up with an answer Dumbledore turn to McGonagall, "That will be all Professor you may go."
"No, I wish that Professor McGonagall remains as I have nothing to hide from anyone." If he wanted her out of the office then I want her to stay.
"Harry My Boy I'm afraid this information cannot be disseminated as it is of a highly classified nature, even only I know about it contents at this moment. From your tirade at your trial you have been able to figure out some aspects of the near future. I'm only sharing this one prophecy with you because it concerns you and the time has come for to you learn of your destiny. You see if others knew the complete contents of the prophecy it would risk the safety of the wizard world."
"You might as well say what you want to say because I will tell Professor McGonagall as soon as your meeting here is finished, Old Boy." The old boy was thrown in as I figured he had lost his marbles! Hadn't I already indicated and blabbed the general context of the prophecy at my trial at the ministry?
"Very well My Boy, if you insist. "
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
Well that is a bit more specific than what I said at my trial. At least Dumbledore's trying to to keep the bulk of the prophecy secret. But after all the misadventures that clone Harry had been through this turkey is just now letting this information out? Dumbledore knew all the time. I hopefully kept a straight face and didn't show the anger percolating within me. After the basic Hogwarts education and no specialized help to confront the Dark Lord established only one conclusion. Calf to the slaughter! I die is the logical conclusion based on the prophecy by the loon that Dumbledore keeps here as a Divination Professor. But that made no sense. I die and Voldemort takes over England, so who's going to to get rid of Voldemort? It definitely wasn't going to be Dumbledore as he was too old to last in any long fight. Now having had Gilderoy Lockhart as the DADA Professor made perfect sense, Dumbledore is not expected me to survive and is not telling everything he knows. This year the DADA Professor was going to be Snape while some character name Slughorn is going to be Potion Master I'm sure glad that the goblins got to me two days ago. At least I now have some hope.
Flashback:
"Harry as a friend of the goblins we have some information we must share. Our experts have done some research based on your memory of the Seers vision of the graveyard fight and his subsequent return using that ritual. Our experts feel that he is only a construct held together by feeding off of the dark mark of his followers. He may be magically strong but physically he will be a wreck. He will be unable to exceed the physical strength of the flesh donor. Are you sure you can not tell us anymore like when and where this fight will take place"
"I'm sorry but not at this time. I'd laugh myself silly if this wasn't so serious. Is there any way to cut off his sucking magic from his follower's dark marks?"
"Harry it is an area that we are exploring. However in the meantime he's no longer considered human nor alive. So if you claim the Slytherin estate by conquest he loses his vaults as well as his claim as being Lord Slytherin. In effect you may order him and he must obey or be cast from your house of Slytherin.
"Of course I claimed the Slytherin estate!" Now it looked like Wormtail couldn't be messed with until after the ritual or Voldemort could find himself a more powerful wizard to provide the flesh for the rituals . Wonder what body part Wormtail was good have to provide next time I do in Voldemort?
"We have collected and put in order the Slytherin estate in anticipation of your claiming the estate. There was one oddity. We found this ring in the Gaunt residency. We have removed all of the curses. The oddity is that there were multiple curses but one was connected directly to Voldemort. This one curse is one that we shall be doing further research into at our expense."
I put the ring in my pocket and made a mental note to research and see if there was any special rings connected to Voldemort. I did take note of the goblins going to do something at their own expense rather having me pay.
End flashback:
"Headmaster, that is some fabulous news! I'll just send an owl to Voldemort straightaway. According to the prophecy if he leaves me alone and I leave him alone we will live forever." I've course I said this to rile up the old man as the prophecy was fairly clear. I turned and headed for the door of course I found it locked.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Harry."
"That prophecy says you can't kill me headmaster what are you to do? Are you going to torture me in front of the Professor McGonagall to make me change my mind? Quit being a jerk and open the door."
"The wizard world is relying on you and I will not allow you to condemn wizard world to Voldemort's rule. I'm afraid I'm going to have to lock you up until you are needed to appear before Voldemort."
"Albus you can't be serious Potter is a boy and not some animal to be locked away!" McGonagall was not happy.
"Professor McGonagall I'm sure I'm saving you from having your memory altered. Dumbledore you may send an owl to my mail dropbox when you're ready to swear a magical oath to leave me alone. I shall be checking Professor McGonagall's memory of this conversation before we meet again." Dumbledore was going for his wand as I transported out of his office.
Dumbledore fumed, had he known the little brat would turn out like this, he would have made his relatives really kill him. He did not need Harry Potter, Potter was only a distraction to his real plans. Now he had to sweet talk Minerva because she was ready to defend herself if he tried a memory charms on her. She was already backing towards the door and any aggression would cause a number of curses to fly. Dumbledore had no worries about winning but the injuries would bring in Madame Pomfrey asking questions.
Any rational observer would have to admit that Dumbledore's brain was not running on all cylinders.
/Scene Break/
Three days after school had started I received a letter in my mail dropbox from Professor McGonagall requesting a meeting in a private room at the Three Broomsticks. Also enclosed was a letter from Madame Bones of the DMLE requesting a meeting?
I replied to both letters and after receiving responses from both I rented a room at the three broomsticks for the entire day of the meeting. Amelia Bones got to interview me that morning in my clone Harry glamour persona...
"Good morning Mr. Potter I'm Amelia Bones head of the DMLE and I would like you to clear up a few points."
"Actually it's Lord Potter but just call me Harry. I hear you been having fun trying to get Dumbledore to let you into Hogwarts to talk with me."
"Harry, that is an understatement to say the least. I asked to see you in the hopes that you could clear up a few areas. It seems the more I tried to get answers the more I find more questions to ask. Let's start with your uncle Vernon beating someone to death. Obviously this was not you, but do you have any idea who this person was?"
"All I can say is that I was nowhere near Privet Drive when the crime was committed."
"Might I ask where you were?"
"That's a very interesting question and to be honest with you I haven't the foggiest of an idea where I was." I held my hands to stop her from asking more questions.
"Let me see if I can give you a verbal picture of my life. I was dumped on the front doorstep of Privet Drive by Dumbledore. I was left to be found as a baby with the milk bottles the next morning. The family treated me as a slave to do all the chores of the house. I was fed meager portions if it all and was used as a punching bag. Needless to say I finally had enough and ran away. I was found by a young woman who magically transported me to her castle in the mountains. She provided me with food and tutors for my magical education. I still have no idea where her place is located. When I was found by Dumbledore's people I was taken to the Weasley's residence a few days before my trial."
"Why did you not come forward when you heard that you were murdered?"
"To be honest I don't read the Daily Profit and I've been out of the country on numerous occasions. My death just popped up in a conversation quite a good while after my trial. Just for curiosity couldn't the Muggle's identify the body?" What I was really trying to ask was did the medical people realize that it was a clone.
"So you have no idea how or why that body disappeared from the Muggle forensic lab."
"No Madam Bones. In fact this is the first that I have heard that the body had disappeared. So what else can I help you with?"
"Originally I only wished to discuss the murder with you. However, with Dumbledore not allowing me to interview you I contacted Professor McGonagall in hopes that she could persuade Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall informed me that you had left Hogwarts. Susan gave me the information you so subtly dropped to her. Shortly thereafter Dumbledore contacted me to have you arrested as a truant. Now I am not one to rush off to arrest someone based solely on Dumbledore's instructions. For all I knew you might've had a new set of guardians who had requested a school transfer. In checking the ministry archives to see if you had transferred schools I discovered an interesting fact. I don't believe Dumbledore is going to be very happy to find you've completed your OWLs and are not required to attend Hogwarts."
"If that's all, I would appreciate it if you did not mention my OWL status to Dumbledore. I'm sure if he's that interested he can check your archives himself."
With a nod of her head and a firms handshake Madame Bones returned to her busy schedule.
/Scene Break/
After a hearty lunch it was time to meet with Professor McGonagall...
"Mr. Potter if you agree the headmaster will be here in an hour. He has agreed to take your oath. I would like to add that I'm not happy with the headmaster and if you have any problems feel free to see me at anytime." McGonagall had prepared an oath for Dumbledore as had I. Hopefully we came up with a loophole free oath. Of course the verbiage, "except in school matters" left a large area for him to diddle with but at least my plan was somewhat successful.
Meanwhile I had been seeing a young lady who had set my stomach afire since my return to Hogsmeade; it's too bad we had to keep our relationship secret. Our relationship was turning very serious and is now the main reason I was attempting to attend Hogwarts, well one of the reasons.
Evelyn had explained to me that the age of seventeen was considered an adult as that is when wizards magic matured. Unfortunately I had already had that boost and Evelyn theorized that I would have a couple more before I hit seventeen. While I was not Mr. super magic guy and presently couldn't take on Dumbledore or Voldemort, I was no slouch. It is not the lack of power I just needed to be able to combine Transfiguration, Charms and use everything while dueling. Exposure to the different forms of magic and their combination was something Hogwarts would be providing. Therefore during the week I would be studying hard at Hogwarts but during my free evenings I would transport myself to my house. Then Ava and I would decide what would make for the best use of our time.
"Harry, one of the customers was talking about a rodeo and I was wondering…"
"Sure thing Ava let's do some quick research and…"
I transported Ava and myself to the Fort Worth Texas Stockyards Championship Rodeo in the Cowtown Coliseum. We then had a humongous steak in the local restaurant before we headed to the Seychelles islands for a bit of sunbathing. I can only hope that all my weekends were this nice.
"You know Harry I'm having to work extra hard during the week and I have been giving up my home schooling on the weekends."
"I told your parents if you need extra or special training I'll be happy to hire tutors for you."
"No Harry, we can't let you pay for my education. Besides I can't believe all the spells I have been picking up by just hanging out with you. Besides I've known for a long time I was destined to be a housewife. I don't believe the exploding curse that I picked up from you is going to help me in making an omelet in the morning."
/Scene Break/
Potter was only a filthy half-blood, while he Draco and his parents were purebloods! The Malfoy's were superior in every way! How dare that bastard insulted him and force him to run naked down the train car. It was a disaster in Fumbleups office over the Dark Lord's tattoo on my butt... I will make Potter pay.