A Study in Magic
by Books of Change
Warning/Notes: This is a BBC Sherlock and Harry Potter crossover AU. The HP timeline and BBC Sherlock's timeline has been shifted forwards and backwards to match up. One major BBC Sherlock character's gender has changed for the sake of the plot. NOT SLASH! Appearances can and will be deceiving. Readers beware!
Chapter two: Dinner in Baker Street
Despite the argument that implied all attempts at dinner would only end in disaster, McGonagall and Dumbledore did end up staying for dinner. And what a marvelous dinner it was—delivered right on time via courier, the food and wine very delicious and high class. The only downside was it made Sherlock inexplicably grumpy, so much that he refused to eat a bite. John shrugged and tucked in, telling everyone else to do the same. As they dined, Dumbledore asked the inevitable question:
"So how did you end up adopting Harry?"
John and Sherlock looked at each other. Then they looked at Harry. The three conferred wordlessly for moment, exchanging many a mysterious glances and shakes of the head. In the end John sighed and nodded. Harry excused himself, saying that he wanted to take some of the excellent treacle tart to Mrs. Hudson. Once he was out of earshot, John began:
"Sherlock works as a consulting detective. He's good. Even the police consult him for their more difficult cases."
"They're constantly out of their depth and lack the sense to admit it," Sherlock interjected.
"Sherlock," John growled.
Sherlock looked petulantly away. After sending a withering glare at Sherlock, John continued:
"At some point, Sherlock caught the eye of his evil counterpart, a consulting criminal by the name of Jim Moriarty. Moriarty started baiting Sherlock with puzzles— mad intricate crimes with high stakes. If Sherlock didn't solve the puzzle on time, Moriarty would blow up his hostages. Literally. He kidnapped them, strapped them on bombs, made them speak for him at gunpoint and blew them up if they spoke out of turn. And yes, in case you're wondering, the man was insane."
"I judge from the past tense Mr. Moriarty is no longer in the land of living," said Dumbledore.
"He better not be."
"Ah," said Dumbledore delicately. "Pray continue."
"Well, they went back and forth like that," said John, "Moriarty cutting closer and Sherlock trying to one-up on him. He kidnapped me once and almost blew me up twice. Thank you so much for fixing my shoulder, by the way."
"You're welcome."
"Mmn. So around April last year Sherlock finally got the upper hand on Moriarty. We had to do mad crazy things to get there. You don't want to know what we had to do. But getting married was one of them."
Dumbledore choked on his water. McGonagall's fork clattered to the floor.
"…You married Mr. Holmes just to gain an upper hand over Moriarty?" McGonagall sputtered.
"Well, yeah," said John, sounding as if McGonagall and Dumbledore were the unreasonable ones. "Seriously, the death toll and number of other victims were getting out of hand so anything short of murder was fair game. It worked too: kept Sherlock from dying in a matter of days instead of years."
Dumbledore opened and close his mouth. John and Sherlock, of course, didn't know what a privileged sight this was and just went ahead.
"Though we wouldn't have gotten married under normal circumstances, we don't regret the decision," Sherlock said matter-of-factly. "We're certainly not contemplating divorce. At least, I'm not." He eyed John.
"Nope," John confirmed.
Dumbledore eyed the two for a moment. Then he set his wineglass aside and started rubbing his temples as if their thoughts were physically hurting him.
"As much as the precise reason of your marriage raises my curiosity, I do not think I'm ready to hear the answer," said Dumbledore.
"Most people don't ever want to know," John agreed. "Anyway, by June the police and secret service were ready to arrest Moriarty and his criminal network. They did a good job, except Moriarty and his no. 2 escaped."
"Moriarty setup his final puzzle shortly thereafter," Sherlock said, suddenly solemn. "He kidnapped Harry and his relatives. Harry was his mouthpiece. The puzzle was this: 'What is my dirty little secret?'"
A fork clattered to the floor once more. A horrified silence descended upon the cramped kitchen like mercury. The fridge in the corner hummed quietly in its wake.
"I know now the answer was magic," Sherlock said without inflection, "Not the garden variety abuse Harry was suffering, not the locking him in the cupboard under the stairs, and certainly not the misuse of child support funds. But whether I solved the puzzle or not didn't matter. The puzzle was just a ruse. Moriarty wanted to flush us out in the open. John went to retrieve the hostages and I went to confront Moriarty—just as he planned. He was going to blow up John and Harry and the rest of the hostages as I watched. And he would've succeeded. Except Harry teleported away and appeared right on top of John, just outside the critical blast radius. That's how they survived."
"Harry saved my life," said John. "Though Harry seems to think I saved his. Anyway, after all that, adopting him was the least we could do."
"Of course you saved his life, you shielded him from the explosion," Sherlock growled. "In case you've forgotten again, John, the explosion left you officially dead for a whole minute whereas the worst Harry suffered was second degree burns."
"And like you just said, Sherlock, if Harry didn't magic himself out, there wouldn't have been anything of me left to scrap off the pavement," John retorted. "Anyway, that's how we adopted Harry. We didn't realize he was a wizard until a couple of adult wizards cursed Sherlock into a coma that lasted six days, but that's another story."
-oo00oo-
The rest of the evening would have been very subdued affair except John and Sherlock acted as if there was no reason to be subdued. Dumbledore pried more details on the 'garden variety abuse' Sherlock observed, and became absolutely still. At which point, John wondered how Harry ended up with the Dursleys and half-seriously threatened dire consequences for the one responsible.
"I'm sorry to say it was I," Dumbledore confessed as soon as John made the threat.
John stared at him. Sherlock, on the other hand, didn't look at all surprised, but looked terribly interested in observing John's reaction.
"What were your reasons?" John asked quietly.
"Voldemort was vanquished, but his followers were not," Dumbledore said. "The best protection I could give him was blood wards, forged through the shared blood between his mother and her sister. Then there was his upbringing to consider; should he grow up knowing fame or away from it all even if meant suffering?"
John continued to stare at Dumbledore. Dumbledore bowed his head.
"One day, I shall tell all this to Harry. I dare say he will be terribly angry with me. But I'd rather him alive and angry than the alternatives."
Another heavy silence descended upon the kitchen. For a moment, John stared at the ceiling.
"I was a soldier once," John said at length. "So I know war doesn't end when you kill off the leader. Sometimes it just makes things worse," A sigh, "And I know there's two ways to abuse a kid: either with too much pain or too much pleasure. You had to pick either. No matter how you think about it, Harry was going to suffer damage."
Another pause.
"Before we got married, Sherlock and I talked about what kind of kid we wanted, hypothetically speaking. I can't have kids—Afghanistan made sure of that—and Sherlock isn't interested in fathering any. But we both agreed we both wanted a kid who was kind and not afraid of suffering and hardship … A kid like Harry."
Dumbledore looked up. John gave him a rueful smile.
"I know you think we're insane. Everyone does. Half of the time I'm convinced Child Services will wise up on it and take Harry away. I can't say I'd blame them. But having Harry around was one of best things that happen to us, and it wouldn't have happened if you kept Harry in your world. So on my part, you have my thanks."
-oo00oo-
McGonagall came back from her trip to London late in the evening without the Headmaster. Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts and the only teaching staff still present, inquired over Dumbledore's whereabouts. Minerva unceremoniously dropped the news of her unintentional discovery of Harry Potter, a.k.a. Harry Watson, and told him Dumbledore was still in London confirming her discovery.
When Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts a good two hours later, Severus was ready to pounce.
"Well, headmaster? Is it true or was Minerva hallucinating?"
Dumbledore stared at Severus for a moment, his face holding an expression one may make after witnessing a Hippogriff with a long history of violence turn the other cheek after receiving an insult.
"The former," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Harry Watson is indeed Harry Potter, son of Lily. Harry legally changed his surname to Watson when his adoption to Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson finalized a couple of months ago."
Severus had to sit down from the bombshell he just received. "How?"
Dumbledore rattled off a very spectacular story featuring consulting criminals, consulting detectives, secret Muggle criminal organizations (which uncomfortably reminded Severus of the Death Eaters), high-stake puzzles, bombs and hostages. If it weren't for the fact Dumbledore was telling the tale, he would have disbelieved it outright.
"In short," said Severus when Dumbledore finished speaking. "Potter and his relatives were kidnapped by Muggle criminal mastermind Jim Moriarty. Moriarty threatened to blow them up. Holmes the Muggle detective—"
"Consulting detective."
"—whatever," Severus snarled. "Holmes solves Moriarty's puzzle. Watson saves Potter. Is that what happened?"
"More or less, yes."
"That doesn't explain why they adopted him."
"From what I understand, Dr. Watson was not only instrumental in saving Harry's life, but in nursing him back to health. As one can imagine, Harry was quite traumatized by this incident; during his extended stay at the hospital, Harry was plagued by nightmares and insomnia, and could sleep only if Dr. Watson held him close. By the time he was discharged, Dr. Watson and Harry were inseparable. It was Mr. Holmes who suggested that they adopt Harry, seeing as the boy had no other living relations and they would not have children of their own."
Severus stewed over this.
"Have you informed the Minister?"
"Not yet. I plan on doing so when I am confident in my ability to explain myself and the situation." Dumbledore chuckled. "Speaking of which, I stayed longer partly because I wanted to observe Harry."
Severus suspected that to be the case.
"What are your observations?"
"Harry is doing much better than expected. He doesn't react violently to sudden loud noises or explosions, nor does he have any significant mobility problems. Nevertheless, I plan on sending him to Poppy once he is sorted."
Severus nodded at the prudence of this action.
"Now the sobering news: Harry is prone to abrupt silences that at times last for days on end. He also has a tendency to seek precipices and sit dangerously close to the edge when left alone. The former I confirmed with my own eyes. The latter I did not observe in person, but I have Mr. Holmes' careful notes on the matter. Though the frequency of both behaviours have reduced significantly of late, we still must be mindful."
More extra work in other words, Severus thought sourly.
"What are you planning to do for Potter's protection? The blood wards are presumably gone."
"Oh, I have several ideas," Dumbledore said absently, before adding: "I expect to pay many visits to Baker Street this year."
"You mean to keep him where he is?" Severus asked in surprise. "Don't you think it would be more … prudent to move him to a Wizarding family?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I doubt Dr. Watson will forfeit custody without a fight, not after going through the lengthy adoption process. And as I said before, Harry is very attached to Dr. Watson."
"Surely the problem isn't that daunting," Severus sneered. "Our Ministry, bungling though it may be, does have entire department dedicated to hiding our existence from Muggles. A few memory charms—"
"It won't do," Dumbledore said firmly. "Not only would we have to obliviate Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson, we would have to obliviate Harry as well. Don't you realise how much we would have to make him forget? He must forget the circumstances of his relatives' deaths, the existence of his adoptive parents, and everything that happened from the kidnapping and thereafter. This is an entire year lost! Even if we can successfully remove all this without causing brain damage, it will not remove Harry's trauma. It will continue to manifest, but he will not remember the cause. Moreover, while I flatter myself an intelligent man, within five minutes I knew Mr. Holmes was in a class of his own. No," Dumbledore waved away the protest. "Believe me, making him forget will not stop him from figuring out what he'd forgotten. We cannot completely remove Harry's existence from their lives without compromising his ability to function normally in our world. No, it's not practical. More importantly, it won't work."
"But the security concerns…"
"Then consider this if you will." Severus noted Dumbledore's expression took a slightly haunted edge. "Have you wondered why Dr. Watson was able to save Harry but not his relatives?"
"I was going to ask you."
"When Mr. Moriarty released his hostages' location, he did so to kill the doctor and the hostages. Harry and Dr. Watson only survived because Harry Apparated into Dr. Watson's arms before it was too late."
Severus closed his mouth with an audible click.
"Harry's magic saved him, but it didn't save his relatives," Dumbledore said softly. "Harry is in no way guilty. He was only nine. His magic could only react instinctively. Yet it haunts him. He said so himself: 'I can't help but think … If my magic could save me, it could have saved them too.'"
Severus felt the sour look on his face ebbed away like a receding tide, leaving blankness at its wake.
"In order for Harry to live, he must accept his magic," Dumbledore said. "To do otherwise will only lead to madness. When I heard what had happened, I feared the worst. But the boy I met today was one wary and haunted, but nevertheless eager to learn. For this we have Dr. Watson to thank. As a decorated medical officer forced to leave the battlefield after sustaining critical injuries, the doctor knows how to comfort a wounded survivor."
For a full minute the wizards stood in solemn silence. Severus chewed over the new bits of information he received with his head bowed. Dumbledore stared at the ceiling, the twinkling light that usually shown in his blue eyes dimming as he got lost in his own thoughts—or lost in a memory, one could not say.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "Have you any other questions?"
"Just one," said Severus. "You said part of the reason you stayed is because you wished to observe Potter. What was the other part?"
Dumbledore's smile took a mischievous turn that Severus learned to guard himself against.
"Shortly after my interview with Harry, I was immediately ushered to another interview with Mr. Mycroft Holmes, Mr. Sherlock's older brother. He wanted to know my intentions towards his brother and family, you see."
Severus raised an eyebrow at this.
"You didn't refuse?"
"He didn't make refusal a viable option."
Severus raised his other eyebrow. "Are you saying he essentially kidnapped you?"
"Seeing as he hijacked all the security cameras in the vicinity to spy on me, and readied a black armoured car in front of 221B to escort me, and then drove me to an abandoned warehouse for the actual interview, yes, I think he did!"
Dumbledore laughed heartily as Severus struggled to contain equal parts of admiration and horror—not over the Headmaster, not really, he knew Dumbledore was perfectly capable of treating the casual kidnapping of his own person as unexpected bit of fun—but over the sheer nerve of Mycroft Holmes for pulling it off.
"Who are these people?" Severus wondered out loud.
"Who are they indeed?" Dumbledore said, still chuckling. "At least you can see my predicament. How am I supposed explain this to Cornelius? He'll never believe me!"
-oo00oo-
Final Notes: Thank you so much everyone for your kind reviews! The bit about Mycroft almost got deleted, but I just couldn't resist. Next stop: Diagon Alley!