The disclaimer is in the first chapter.
I would like to thank my Higher Power for this new day.
All my love to my home team of cheerleaders. My mom and son.
A hug to SlytherinSal and Marc the Unruly.
To all the followers and readers and reviewers, thanks guys for your enthusiasm and your smiles.
Thanks for keeping the place Troll free.
Enjoy!
~o~
-oo0oo-
Chapter 14. Oli's traveling tales.
Harry (Oli, the Granger's house-elf) was having a great time, with his token collection of death eaters. He created a cubist portrait of a microbe and included all of his tokens. Then he shrunk it and placed it inside Hermione's doll house. They still had to take care of Greyback and make a collection of Horcruxes.
Ah, magic was so much easier to deal with this time around. Harry smiled at Hermione's latest scheme, working so effortlessly and with so little drama. In a way, it was anti-climatic, when all of the missing death eaters had left their last wills and testament, for a much more healthy family tradition.
Yes, exchange programs for the heirs of dark families and migration for the dark widows and occasional widowers. A Trust fund for the people related to the casualties of the previous wizarding war was reached out to and aided with money, psychological support systems, and more sensible choices than holding on to the loss. The trust was called New Beginnings. It was managed, not only by a team of volunteers but by a professional staff. Some of the deceased followers of the dark lord left specific instructions in their wills.
The wills spoke of a new program available through Gringotts medical, that kept high confidentiality of the families who lost their head of house. The program, being through Gringotts, had the advantage that it educated members of old wizarding families so they could venture into the muggle world. It prepared them with the knowledge and inspiration to practice new skills as a trade, and last but not least, the suggestion to their spouses to look for their happiness without hurting third parties as the now deceased death eaters, uh, parents and husbands did to them.
Fortunes were being set up in a trust fund to help the orphans and family members of victims of the last war. Simultaneously, Saint Mungo's was getting a new wing for the victims of long-term spell damage. In the muggle world, new charities reached out to the family members of people who were lost by magical blood prejudiced attacks. It was not hard to see that Gringotts and Saint Mungo's were in a tizzy with the logistics of such a change, still, they were not complaining.
The following trend was hard to grasp, as the majority of the magical population couldn't figure out the change in the air. It was quite surreal to see so many dark families quietly migrate to Australia, Switzerland, and Spain. No one could make heads or tails of the fallout, however, Gringotts and Saint Mungos had no issues providing the magical passports and health certificates in the magical exodus.
Hermione was brilliant, Harry thought, as a Teddy bear, he had traveled the UK and back. Hermione was able to dig out the ring. Harry as Oli had gone to Hogwarts and retrieved Ravenclaw's diadem. The elves in Hogwarts had no issue with an unknown house-elf claiming lost property from the room of requirement.
Sirius had taken the fortunes of all the dead minions of the wraith Tom; and with Hermione and Harry co-created the trust, New Beginnings. The goblins explained it was by right of conquest since it was his magic and Harry's which created the magical cleansing in Azkaban. Sirius had obtained Slytherin's locket and the cup. From his old home in Grimmauld the locket, and the cup from Hufflepuff in Bella's vault.
The time travelers and Sirius were about to close on the Diary of Tom M. Riddle, but while that clean-up was happening, Harry felt that he and Hermione were just children enjoying their childhood.
Meanwhile.
Albus Dumbledore was at a loss. So many dark wizards and their families had stepped away in secrecy in the middle of the night. This was wrong. What would happen to the Wizengamot, and the Ministry of Magic? Amelia was just too busy tracing dead wizards and closing their missing file status. Minister Bagnold was ignorant of the whereabouts of so many of her staff that she had no choice but to start hiring muggle-borns who had qualifications. Importing them from the continent and Australia since here in Britain, people were not yet prepared for office jobs or not old enough to qualify, and the native muggle-borns from the past had emigrated too, thanks to the blood prejudice prevalent in not taking them seriously as possible candidates to work in the Ministry of Magic. No one had the time or courtesy to give Albus an explanation. Instead, he chose a simpler approach. He asked Severus to step into his office to hear what his Potions Master had to say on the matter.
It was a shame that, due to the accident, there was a new paint job and the portraits were absent while waiting for repair. They took a bit of the character from the Headmasters office, something he always took as a symbol of his status in the magical world. Still, Albus needed more information.
Severus Snape stepped in through the fireplace, dusted himself off, and waited for Albus to display his disappointment at not being the center of the universe on this new day. He looked sideways and took notice of the poor enslaved magical being Fawkes, and felt its sorrow.
"Ah, Severus, thank you for answering my summons," Said Albus with a sad tone of voice.
Severus nodded in acknowledgment.
"Severus, do you have any idea why so many members of dark families emigrated recently?"
"A new beginning, maybe?" Said, Severus.
"A new beginning you say?" Asked Albus.
"That was what Agatha Nott said in her letter, she received notice from Gringotts of the passing of her husband and a bit later she was summoned for the reading of his will. Amelia Bones confirmed the news and the missing person file is now closed. Agatha asked for a suggestion on her move, I supported her move, and suggested Australia, since there is a strong magical community in place," replied Severus.
"You see nothing wrong with this?" Asked Albus.
"What I see and think of this, matters very little, headmaster," answered Severus.
"Humor me, won't you Severus," said Albus.
"If there is a new dark lord/lady on the horizon, he or she has not made any noise. I don't think the migration is Voldemort's doing. Leaving family and friends to escape his grasp is not how he operates. There are no coincidences headmaster, too many of the branded death eaters have dropped from the face of the earth, but still, a few remain. If there is a force of reckoning out there? Then I believe the last of the standing followers of the dark lord were kept here for a reason. One to make an example of them or, two, to make allegiance to this new force/figure. As you know, magical Britain is fertile ground for magical megalomaniacs and it's typical for them to oppress the proper volunteers." Said Severus with embedded cynicism, which made Fawkes softly trill, making Severus briefly turn to the firebird and notice a small nod in his direction.
Albus decided to ignore the tone in which Severus delivered his opinion. He was quite surprised by the potions master's attitude. Indeed, if Severus and the remaining Death Eaters were left to be made an example of, Severus was facing his demise bravely. No, Albus could not inform Severus that Lily's boy was missing. The man was already difficult to control, the acknowledgment of Harry being lost would only push Severus further away. He nodded, and added, "Yes, you have given me much to consider. Thank you, Severus," said Albus jovially.
Severus knew that the old idiot was hiding something. Instead of confronting him, he nodded and walked away. He too had to rethink his options and how he was going to join Agatha in Australia. The potions master already knew of Harry Potter's missing status. While drinking a pint in the Hog's Head days before, he heard the drunken mutterings of Arabella Figg. He wanted to strangle the colorful old coot then. But no, it would have been too easy to be killed, following such a deed and after Agatha's invite, he had been meditating on his choices. He sighed and said to Lily's picture, as he stepped into his study ensuing his conversation with Albus, "I'm sorry Lily, I failed you again. I hope the next time we meet, you'll try to humor me. I'm sorry Lily I really am, if given a chance, I would have raised him, if only to see your eyes again." Said Severus as tears rolled down his face.
Harry had witnessed the entire exchange, being in Oli's shape, had given him invisibility that even his father's cloak could not. He appeared next to Fawkes, and asked, "Hello Fawkes, how are you?"
To Phoenix birds, time flows differently, and instead, Fawkes sang a joyful song of welcome, as he recognized the time-traveling being in front of him. "I'm glad to see you're fine too, now tell me, why can't you leave the old goat?" Asked Harry.
Fawkes sang and projected images of the ritual that was used to bind the will of the ancient bird to Albus and asked to be turned to ice, in order to break the link. Harry Potter in the shape of a house-elf nodded, took Fawkes, and reappeared next to the top of an extinct volcano. He sent a glacier spell right at the heart of the old Phoenix and waited for the creature to expire. As the last of the Phoenix magic left, Harry incinerated the body to ashes. He left the ashes of the bird, scattered on the volcanic rock. The remains sifted through the rock and soon enough the ground began shaking. Harry levitated from the ground and noticed how a plume of fire began rising from the deep. A new song shook Harry's soul, Fawkes was free and grateful. Harry just nodded and said, "Return to Hogwarts and take the Potions Master away, once he is with Agatha Nott, return to your home. Leave Albus Dumbledore to me,"
Fawkes trilled and disappeared in a flash of fire.