Michael Brown

How did it end like this?

I was so close to finishing this damned trip. The only thing left to do was to leave the bookstore, then my visit to Diagon alley would be over. However it was apparently too much to ask, as despite all the caution on my part I was currently standing in front of almost the entire cast of Harry Potter, forced to play the part in one of the scenes from Chamber of Secrets. And it happened because apparently my trip to Diagon alley happened on the exact same day as Potter's merry adventure. What a coincidence, right?

Wrong, it was clearly the Ministry's plot. After all, the chance of such an encounter happening naturally was almost non-existent, so I was almost sure that this entire situation was actually engineered by unseen overlords of the magical world. If I was right, their plan was most likely to include me in "the Plot", making my movements much more predictable in the future, which would make it easier for them to manipulate them. After all, If I was preoccupied by hunting basilisks in the sewers or throwing rocks at feral werewolves, I wouldn't have enough time to plot against the Ministry, wouldn't I?

The most rational action to take in this situation would be to just turn around and walk away, ignoring the scene taking place in front of me completely. They wouldn't be able to force me into taking an active part in the scene without outing themselves as Ministry spies, so if I was really determined, I could stop this whole scheme from succeeding just by not involving myself. Things however were not so simple, as I forgot about someone when planning my retreat.

McGonagall. Not only did she take a position right behind me, stopping any potential attempts at running away, but she also casually greeted the group, forcing me to interact with them!

"Ah, Minerva, what a pleasant surprise!" Exclaimed a middle-aged man standing in the middle of the group. The fact that he had ginger hair, though mostly covered by a pointy hat, and a face of the actor playing Arthur Weasley told me he was most likely Arthur Weasley. He didn't look suspicious at all, which made it much more likely that he was hiding something. I honestly didn't remember much about him from the movies and books, but little snippets I did remember were enough to put me on guard.

After all, he was working in some sort of muggle division in the Ministry, where he was studying muggle society. It was obviously just a cover story, as studying muggles was just a diplomatic way of saying he was the Ministry's infiltrator, tasked with retrieving and, if necessary, destroying muggle technology capable of ending the Wizarding world's superiority. Arthur Weasley acted like a likable, dorky man, who loved his family, but I could bet that the last thing many muggle scientists, whose studies went a little too far, saw were his cold, dead eyes, devoid of any empathy and his mouth whispering a killing curse in the middle of a night. I looked at Arthur's face and shuddered, as I realized how perfect his mask was, noticing no sign of his darker side hidden behind his smile.

"I agree with Arthur, it's been too long! What are you doing here?" asked a plump, ginger woman, who was most definitely Molly Weasley. To be completely honest I knew even less about her than I knew about her husband, as the only thing I knew about her was that she liked to turn people into ice sculptures in order to shatter them and she was practicing some fucked up form of indirect gold-digging by trying to marry off her children to the most prominent and rich members of the magical society. She sent Ginny to marry a wealthy scion of Potter family, Ron to marry an extraordinary witch with a bright future and Bill to marry a powerful witch from that French school (Beuabtox? Bauletuix? Blausteoux? I was almost sure the name started with B and ended with X).

"I am here to help this young man…" Unaware of my thoughts McGonagall gestured at me with her hand, again making everyone focus on me. That damned woman. "…purchase necessary supplies for school. He will start his education at Hogwarts this year, so he needed a little bit of assistance" Then McGonagall looked at me, trying to pressure me into introducing myself to these obvious Ministry agents. Wonderful.

"My name is Michael Brown, nice to meet you" I said, giving everyone a shallow bow. I knew that they would jump at any opportunity to get to know me better, as it was part of their devious plan, so I was trying to sound as unassuming as I could, to give them as little information to work with as I could. If I was alone I would have even used a fake name, like John Wick, but unfortunately I was accompanied by that hag McGonagall, who would correct me immediately if I were to do that.

"How nice to meet you Michael! My name is Molly Weasley. I'm sure it must be quite confusing for you, first year and all that, but Hogwarts is a wonderful place and I am certain you will love it, just like I did" Said Molly Weasley, using her motherly voice, no doubt trying to make me unconsciously trust her, using my lack of proper mother figure. Jokes on her, as I already had a mother (though she was just a woman tasked with raising me)! I wasn't like Harry, an abused orphan, whom she could freely manipulate! "Actually my daughter, Ginny, will also start Hogwarts this year. I am sure you will be good friends. Isn't it right Ginny?"

Damn it, she was already trying to place one of her family members close to me, no doubt intending to use Ginny to observe my every step and report everything she found to the Ministry. The girl in question only nodded after hearing her mother's question, acting as if she was a little embarrassed by being put on a spot like that, though I didn't buy it for a second. I could tell that she would find a way to "stumble" upon me in school, always ready to help. It was quite a terrifying thought, especially as my artificial memories suggested that she was a cold-blooded sociopath who drugged Harry with a love potion to become his wife (I think). I wouldn't be surprised if she were to create a dangerous situation herself, only to show up and save me, trying to gain my trust. Yeah, now that I thought about it, the Weasleys were quite scary and I should stay away from them.

"…Yes, I hope we will be friends" I replied, honestly not sure what else I could say in response. I couldn't exactly say: 'Leave me alone! You won't get any information out of me!' Could I? Well, I could, but with so many Ministry agents around me it wouldn't take long for me to land in Azkaban, as saying that would be equal to admitting I saw through their tricks. For now it was better to play safe.

But what was I supposed to do? I really didn't want to talk with any of these people, especially the walking propaganda machine that was Harry Potter. I could only be thankful that he didn't say anything yet, though I was worried it was because he was waiting for something to happen. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good for me, so I had to find a way to leave this group as soon as possible. Fortunately the opportunity came from the most unexpected source.

"Well…" Came a slow, slick voice, drawing the attention of everyone in the group. It belonged to Lucius Malfoy, who was looking at everyone with noticeable scorn on his face, holding an old-looking schoolbook in his arms. I couldn't exactly blame him for his displeasure, as he most likely thought that everyone else's performance was subpar and he, as a true professional, couldn't watch it anymore. I empathized with him a little, as I also thought that Weasleys were quite unconvincing in their roles so far. "As much as I…enjoyed watching this conversation, I'm afraid we have to leave" He then turned to Ginny and threw the book he was holding, which he presumably stole from her before my arrival, into her cauldron, as if disgusted just by touching it. His performance was stellar, as I could practically see the contempt in his eyes, but I knew what was the real reason behind his actions. As I looked at the book thrown by Lucius into Ginny's cauldron, I was able to spot a familiar-looking frame of an old notebook, hidden right behind it. Hmm… "Your book, young Weasley. I know that these are a rare commodity for you, so I wouldn't dare take it away from you. Come, Draco. We are leaving."

And with that, Lucius and his son left the bookstore, leaving a bunch of angry Weasleys behind. I didn't really care about that though, as my focus was on the object inside Ginny's cauldron. There was a notebook there, with a brown, leather cover and pages yellowed from age. It was also one of Voldemort's horcruxes, containing a fragment of the dark lord's soul.

But was Voldemort truly a dark lord? The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that Voldemort wasn't an evil wizard, hellbent on purging the wizarding world of muggle-born, but a freedom fighter, who dedicated his life to fighting against the Ministry. I thought that because the information about him put in my head by the Ministry sounded like blatant propaganda.

'Voldemort is a powerful, evil wizard, who tortured and killed hundreds of people and almost conquered magical Britain.'

'Voldemort was so weak that a literal toddler was able to kill him'

Do you see the contradiction here? It was a standard tactic of a totalitarian regime to demonize their enemy, while simultaneously making them look pathetic. They needed Voldemort to be feared by the population to keep them docile, as they would be too afraid of the magical bogeyman to rebel against the Ministry on their own. Yet they also couldn't let people think that Voldemort was strong enough to stand up against the Ministry, because then people might actually decide to join him. Thus they told everyone he was beaten by two-years-old kid.

I suspected that the true nature of his demise looked quite different in reality. The most probable explanation was that his base of operations was found by the Ministry, who sent its soldiers to dispose of him and his fellow rebels. Voldemort most likely fought valiantly, not giving up until the bitter end, but he was eventually overpowered and killed. He was a smart man though, so he created horcruxes, which would allow him to rise from the dead and continue his glorious fight against the oppressor. The ministry knew about them too however, so they demonized these objects, declaring them as extremely dark magic. They put these blatant lies in my head, hoping I would help them fight against the leader of the rebellion. They however didn't expect me to see through their pathetic scheme. I knew what I had to do.

"Is that brown notebook yours?" I asked Ginny, surprising everyone. Not knowing what I was talking about, Ginny looked at her cauldron. She took the diary out, looking at it in puzzlement.

"No, it's not mine. I only bought a schoolbook. Why is it in my cauldron?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, confused. Fearing that her family's financial situation would make her keep the diary, I approached her and slowly took the diary from her hands, trying to act as casual as I could.

"Then It must belong to the man who just left. He must have accidentally put it in your cauldron alongside your schoolbook" I said confidently, trying to sound as if something like that could actually happen. The group had dubious expressions on their faces, most likely aware that the notebook was placed there intentionally, as it was part of the scene after all, but they couldn't really admit that it was the case, so they were silent. "He shouldn't have gone too far. I will return it"

I ran out of the bookstore, completely ignoring McGonagall's voice telling me to stay with her. After exiting the shop I looked around, trying to see if Malfoys were still around. After a few moments I spotted them walking through the street in the distance, unaware of me observing them, so I waited until they vanished from my sight, then I turned around, waiting for my handler to come after me.

McGonagall exited the bookstore a minute later, looking slightly panicked. When she noticed me "returning" to the building, she calmed down though, approaching me with a frown on her face.

"Mr Brown, you shouldn't run away without a permission" She said with a stern voice, ready to scold me for leaving her side, but then her eyes landed on the diary that was still in my arms, stopping her in her tracks. "You weren't able to find Mr Malfoy?"

Telling her that Malfoy already left would most likely end with her taking the diary away from me, so that she would be able to return it to him. I couldn't let that happen, so I already prepared a story that would let me keep the diary without raising any suspicion.

"I was actually able to catch up to him, but when I presented him the notebook, he said something about 'not wanting to touch anything dirtied by mudblood filth' and that I should keep it" I looked at McGonagall with innocent eyes, trying to convince her that I was just a naive eleven-years-old, who didn't know what that word meant. After hearing me McGonagall's eyes went wide, apparently not expecting a casual act of racism being a part of our trip. "Professor McGonagall, what's a mudblood?"

"That's…" Started McGonagall, looking like she was unsure how to respond to that. It took her a few seconds to actually answer the question, though her voice was quite stiff during the explanation. "It's a…swear word that some people use to describe wizards and witches with muggle parents. It's a horrible word and I'm sorry you had to hear that"

"It's all right, professor, it's just a word. And I got a free notebook out of it" I said with a small smile on my face. After a moment of hesitation she returned it with her own smile, which I took as a silent permission to keep the diary.

Good, my plan worked. I was able to safely acquire Voldemort's horcrux and, in case it led to some trouble, I would be able to implicate McGonagall in this by telling everyone that she let me keep an artifact full of dark magic. I was even able to escape "the plot" in the process. I had to say, it was quite nice to win against her for once.

"Do we need to purchase anything else, professor?" I asked, inwardly celebrating my victory. There were some losses, sure, like becoming a host to a magical parasite and getting a permanent Ministry spy by my side, but overall I would return triumphant.

"No, I think it's time for us to return to your house. Could you give me your hand?" McGonagall responded, most likely hoping to end this trip as well, not wanting to deal with any further questions.

Few seconds later we apparated, leaving Diagon alley behind.