Key:
"Words."
Thoughts / "emphasis" / Title of Books or spells used
~~Parseltongue~~
¬¬Foreign Language¬¬
"Magical language."
The Avalanche Continues
3rd November 1993 (3 years, 96 days diluted)
There was no hiding the fact that Sirius Black had broken into Hogwarts. Moody's paranoia had the broken-down Auror wanting to drag Patricia in for DMLE questioning. Apparently, the man saw her cursing him and his Auror followers as the perfect distraction for the man to sneak into the school.
The accusation incensed the goblins. Ted Tonks ended up being superfluous and only there for his enjoyment as Gringotts' private law firm and the irate Patricia Rakepick tore through the Ministry like a herd of hippogriffs. It became common knowledge to those not plugged into the political arena that the Boy Who Lived considered the Rakepicks as his aunts in all by blood. Add in that the DMLE head Amelia Bones was supporting the rampage, and even the densest of Ministry workers could tell the political landscape was being rebuilt before their eyes.
Despite Harry's quip at the start of the school year with Blaise Zabini over not hiding, he never expected things to escalate as quickly as they had. He understood Lucius having to play his role to keep people from realising his alliance with the young Lord of Magic, but the elder Malfoy had revealed a suspicion that someone else was helping drive Fudge and his toad-woman's campaign against Harry. A campaign that included 'opinion pieces' in the Daily Prophet pointing out Harry's destruction of the Dementors had put everyone at risk from the dangerous Black.
The shifting landscape and Dumbledore's continual inactivity in defending Harry was building its own momentum within Hogwarts' hallowed halls. Facts, opinions, and rumours were being shared among the students and from their family. The result was a growing wave of belief with a surface resemblance to the impact of a dark-eyed Slytherin half-blood boy from the early 1940s. A wave that would be unstoppable by the time someone attempted to do so.
One person who was about to get caught up in the wave was making his way to the notorious lair of the Dungeon Bat. Things weren't adding up for Remus Lupin, and he knew only one person could give him answers. That was if the man both knew them and would share. The Marauder knocked on the door and did his best to hide his nerves when it opened.
"Lupin," Snape drawled, black eyes narrowing. The door was only open enough for the Potions Master to see who was disturbing him. A clear sign the man desired to be left alone. "If you're here to yet again thank me for -"
"Did James rape Lily?"
Remus had to give Snape credit. Despite being interrupted, something the werewolf knew the man loathed, and the subject of the question, the only reaction Remus received was a blank face and hardened gaze. "What are you blabbering about?"
"I know she was with someone before she got with James. I know who it was. Something happened and I think you know what it was."
The pair stared at each other with neither willing to give until Snape opened his door wider. "Get in here."
He did as Snape ordered. The man closed the door and swished his wand to activate a magic that ran over Remus' body. Security wards, he recognised.
The men sat on either side of Snape's desk and engaged in a staring match. The silence stretched long enough to feel uneasy before Snape spoke. "What do you know?"
Remus' hackles rose, and he fought back the urge to reach for his wand. There was something dangerous about Snape. The atmosphere was that of one of them trapped in a room with a deadly threat, and that threat wasn't the werewolf. "Lily and Sirius often had each other's scent on each other. It took a while for me to notice because they had overlapping scents from our first year, but I eventually noticed when they started using scent masking spells. I know they were a couple from our fourth year. And then..."
Remus trailed off. Snape hadn't been idle during his explanation. Rather, the Potions Master had pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey and two glasses from one of his desk drawers, and filled both with a liberal dose of the alcohol. The dour-faced man slid one glass across his desk and sat back, finishing Remus' sentence as he took a sip of the drink. "And then our seventh year came. Lily and Potter were head girl and boy, in a relationship, and Black acted as though it was the most brilliant event in the world."
"Exactly," Remus sighed, taking a deep sip of the offered drink. "The only reason I said nothing was because it was Lily. If any girl would have been strong enough to call their attacker out, it was her. And she was so happy when Harry was born. But I never could work out what happened, and things aren't adding up now."
Those fathomless onyx eyes watched him take another drink. "How much of this does Albus know?"
"Nothing. I've never talked to him about it." Remus paused and blinked, giving the whiskey a suspicious glare. His answer came too smooth and automatic to be natural, and he went to sniff the offending drink.
"Don't bother, it's traceless. I had to be sure," Snape admitted, reaching into another drawer to pull out some parchment. "Read these and be very careful with them."
Remus put the glass aside and took the offered sheets. Any curiosity he had over the 'or else' threat died when he saw the familiar handwriting and knew Snape would have a Remus skin rug if he dared damage something of Lily's.
What followed was a nightmare for Remus, as the very foundations of his world were torn asunder. The man he had felt indebted to for letting him attend Hogwarts had destroyed the lives of his friends. He returned the journal entries with one shaking hand and scooped up the open whiskey bottle with the other, taking a three deep guzzles of the alcohol with practiced ease.
"Fuck," he groaned, putting the half-empty bottle back on the desk and nudging it towards Snape. The man took the hint and returned it to its drawer after topping up his glass.
Remus leaned forward and buried his head in his hands at what he had learnt, never once doubting the truth of the words. "How?"
"The boy has her journal," Snape informed the broken man, and if there was sympathy in the former Slytherin's smooth tone, then neither commented on it. "He found it before the school broke for the summer."
"And the Rakepicks found him over the summer," Remus groaned, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. "He must hate me."
"He doesn't hate you, Lupin, he's merely reached Lily's level of exasperation."
Remus lifted his head, eyes widening at the statement, and Snape smirked when both man and wolf whimpered in a very tiny voice. "Oh..."
The Potions Master sighed and took pity on the other man. "According to the brat, Potter did not know about any of it."
"Small mercies," Remus said, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He thought over everything he had read. "She fell in love with Harry through her visions."
"They became her emotional anchor."
"And she did everything she could to make sure he was born and then had the greatest chance of a successful life," Remus finished, looking at the man who had loved the woman they were discussing. "She was one dangerous woman."
Snape snorted. "And in other news, dragons like to breathe fire. Only a fool would forget how lethal she was."
The pair sat in silence. One sipped his drink while the other tried bringing order to the chaos raging within. Remus had clasped his hands together, elbows resting on his thighs, and struggled to understand the new world he found himself in.
"Pettigrew survived," Snape told him, causing Remus' head to whip up to stare agog at the information. "He was masquerading as a pet rat of the Weasley family. That's why he tried breaking into the Gryffindor dorm."
"Peter's here?" Remus growled, only to get a shake of the head in reply.
"No. Granger bought a Kneazle mix this summer. She did so when she was with the brat and the youngest Weasley boy, who just so happened to have a rat in his hands at the time."
Remus closed his eyes. He didn't need to ask what happened next. Once more silence settled between them until he spoke truth to thoughts that had plagued him for over a decade. "I wasn't there. At the end. I wasn't there."
Snape waited in silence. Remus was grateful. He could pretend he was alone in the room. "Dumbledore was constantly sending me out on missions for the Order. I hadn't spoken to any of them in moths before... before it happened. I wasn't there."
Even with his enhanced hearing, Remus only heard their breathing and the soft swish of a Snape's whiskey. "You were with the packs, trying to draw the wolves away from Greyback."
His eyes snapped open, their gazes locking, and Remus saw knowledge in the dark gaze.
"Did you really think the Dark Lord wasn't aware? Pettigrew might have been the most secret of his spies, but he wasn't the only one. It was less than a day before your secret was out, and almost double that time for Greyback to convince the Dark Lord not to have you be a message to Albus. Many wondered what went on in that private meeting, but its topic was well known. You. Fenrir was convinced that he could either convert you to the Dark Lord's side or, at worst, have you neutral and be one with the packs."
The two men shared another silence. One sipped his drink as the other remained in his slumped forward position, clasping his hands. The follow up question hung in the air until Snape took the initiative and plucked it out. "Did he?"
Only the two men would know how long it took Remus to reply. But reply he eventually did. "I'd never experienced being with other wolves during a full moon. The Marauders helped, but there is a difference between being with Animagi and being with other werewolves. The closest I can compare is between a wand that suits you and one that's perfectly matched. And that doesn't touch on what it's like. I would never have betrayed Lily, James, or Sirius, but the freedom that the pack gave me. Albus... he was distancing me from the Order that last year, and I can't say there weren't reasons for it."
Snape finished his drink and put the tumbler down on the desk, spinning it between his fingers so that the rumble of glass and wood filled the room. "The boy has started a third side, Lupin, and war is coming. Despite his preparations, it approaches. And he needs loyal allies to stand beside him when it starts from both sides."
Remus looked at the borderline sacred parchment carrying the words of a ghost and sighed. He knew from hard earned experience, and knew Snape did too, that this time would be worse than the one they had lived through. He could already see how the Ministry was circling Harry. It didn't matter how good the kid was - and Remus knew well that for everything James' son was showing, there would be at least an equal amount kept hidden – a pack could bring down even the most dangerous single target.
"I wasn't there to help his parents, but I'll be there for him. Even if it means fighting Albus."
For the first time since they sat down, Snape's other hand came up from behind his desk to reveal the wand he had been holding. "Willing to make that into an oath?"
Remus grinned, his teeth flashing in the room's candlelight, and he opened his clasped hands to show the wand he had been palming since the truth potion. "I'm already there."
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OoOoO
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6th November 1993 (3 years, 99 days diluted)
With one Marauder swearing himself loyal to the son of the group's dead leader, said son slipped out of Hogwarts the first Saturday after Halloween to come face-to-face with the last loyal Marauder.
In a magically expanded and protected guest room of the Tonkses modest home lay the notorious Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange. The obvious grooming and showers the cousins had been through might have made the pair look human, but despite their personal hygiene, the emaciated fugitives barely deserved the label.
"How bad are they?"
"I've seen worse, but not by much," Andromeda confessed. The two were standing outside the room's entrance, along with the elder Malfoys and Rakepick sisters. "It's going to take a long time for them to get to full health. You understand I can't give you the details?"
Harry nodded. Doctor-patient confidentiality was a thing in the Magical World, although with certain caveats. None of which he qualified for. Not that it mattered, as he only wanted to know if the pair could recover.
"With the right treatment, they should be physically healed by the summer. Mentally, however, is another thing. They'll need a professional Mind Healer for that."
"Ah, you love me really," Sirius weakly chuckled, causing the healer to pull her wand out with a frown.
"How many times have I told you to stop using magic?" She demanded as she scanned the area outside of the room to find and dispel the listening charm. "Especially wandless. You're overworking your core."
"How else am I to know what's going on out there?" He replied as the group entered the room.
"The silencing charm is to prevent you from being disturbed, Siri, you know this," Narcissa scolded, stalking into the room with her lethal heels clacking. It must have been an old routine, given how Harry spotted his godfather wincing at each tap of her expensive shoes. "Your job is to listen to Andi and get better. Let us take care of the world."
Cissa had stepped between Harry and his view of Sirius. The teen was about to follow her into the room when Andi caught his shoulder and raised a finger for him to wait.
"But he's at Hogwarts, Cissa..." Sirius pleaded, all humour vanishing from his voice. In fact, the male Black sounded like he was begging, and they heard tears in his words. "Hogwarts! I have to find him. I have to kill him. Please, Cissa! Please!"
"He keeps slipping," Andi whispered. She had dispelled the charms she had found, but she wasn't taking chances. "Each day is a little better, but he can't let it go."
"Can I talk to him?"
She frowned, a pensive look crossing her face as she thought everything through. Harry waited as long as he needed, as still as a statue and silent as the grave. Lucius and Ted shifted at the unnatural air he gave off, but the Rakepicks were used to this. As full of life and laughter as Lily's boy could be, it could also feel like Death itself was staring out from his eyes. And they knew better to look too deep into his gaze when he was like this. Both had seen something stirring in the green, something they did their best to ignore. Andromeda was a Black and didn't show any reaction to what she saw when she looked at Harry. Only taking a slow nod when she decided.
"But you'll leave if he becomes too worked up. His long-term health has to come before any reunions."
"Of course," he promised, nodding. The single move turned him from something else to just a powerful teen. "Thank you for taking care of him, Auntie."
"We're family," was Andi's response even as Harry stepped into the room.
Cissa had knelt down next to the bed and had been trying to calm Sirius, whispering to him so not to disturb the sleeping Bellatrix. Harry had broken six feet in height, and this was before adding in the heels of his boots. Which meant Sirius saw him coming from almost the beginning. His frantic ramblings froze in his mouth and sanity returned to his grey eyes.
"James...?" the Marauder croaked, only to shake his head wild enough to send his hair flying. "No, not James. Too much Mum Dorea. I was James' brother. But I know you..."
"Hello, Padfoot." Harry said in little more than a whisper. Cissa stood with far too much elegance from her position to let him get closer. "It's Harry."
"No, not Harry. I saw Harry. You don't look like Harry. I saw Harry with him. The Traitor! I have to save Harry!"
Like a lightning strike, Harry was in Sirius' face, holding it between his hands to keep Sirius from thrashing around. He heard Andi coming, but ignored her. "I'm Harry, Sirius. I'm safe. I promise." ~~ Damn it man, focus! ~~
He didn't mean to slip into Parsel and felt the familiar rumbling in his holster as the Horned Serpent horn in his primary wand reacted to the magical language. But despite what he had said to Andi, this was the man who was supposed to be his father, and it tore into Harry's heart to see him so broken. And then the impossible happened. Rather than recoiling from the sound, the hissed words brought sanity back to Sirius, who stared deep into the far too familiar eyes.
"You found her grandfather," the Marauder whispered, causing everyone to freeze. His eyes danced back and forth, looking deep into Harry's almost as Cassie would do when she was Seeing. "Too comfortable hissing. Walks too much like a Lord. I can feel your power. You found him. You found Lily's secret."
A chill caused every hair on Harry's body to rise as he remembered his mother's journal and her earlier entries. When a young Narcissa had befriended the Gryffindor after working out her legacy. And when that same teen had her younger cousin in red swear to be there and protect Lily when she, the older Slytherin, couldn't.
"You remem..." he couldn't bring himself to hope, cutting himself off before he said anything more. "Yes, I found her grimoire. And Salazar. He's been training me."
Sirius reached up to clasp Harry's palms, taking them off his face so he could grip them as tight as his weak body would allow. His eyes closed. A tear fell. And he spoke. "I remember. Lily, you clever girl. Took my blood after you were born. Adoption potion. To be the son you were supposed to be. I remember."
Sirius snarled the last word. A snarl of both declaration and defiance. And then man and teen, fugitive and Lord of Magic, broke into tears and held each other as their world became just that bit more right.
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OoOoO
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It took some time before everyone had calmed, and Sirius could explain. The group sat on chairs around his bed and even Bellatrix, far saner than Harry would have expected, was awake and propped up to listen.
"The Dementors make you relive your worst memories," the man said, sipping a fresh glass of nutrition potions in water. It reminded Harry of Vernaculi health drinks used during and after a heavy physical work out. "But they couldn't torment me if I didn't remember. Something had to give, and it wasn't them."
"Dumbledore's spells," Andi sighed, glaring at her patient. "You should have told me, I could have gone in there to make sure..."
Sirius' shake of the head had her drifting off. "I had to find out what Harry knew. How much he knew about James and Lily."
"You would have given up the boy for their memories, despite the truth of the matter," Lucius declared, looking like he was fighting back a sneer.
"I told him we should just kidnap Potter and be done with it," Bella threw out. She and Cissa were near constantly holding hands. "He agreed until we got to that Muggle place and saw the destruction."
"I reclaimed some of my magic that Dumbledore had used to ward the place," Harry informed them. He was sitting on the edge of Sirius' bed to see everything. To say the description of what he did was basic was an understatement, but it helped the recovering pair to understand. "I used a ritual to reclaim it, and that was the result."
"Yeah, well, dog-breath over there thought he'd lost you and tried racing to Hogwarts in a single day. And before I could talk sense into the mutt, one of the Prophets I stole had a story about your early maturity. I couldn't do anything then, not without a wand to curse the idiot."
"Love you too, Bells!" Sirius sing-songed, getting eye rolls from the other males.
"There will be no cursing each other until I've declared you fit. Is that understood?"
Andromeda's fierce glare and harsh tone had both patients dropping their heads and mumbling. "Yes, Andi."
"You killing those monsters was music to an old dog's ears," Sirius said about the end of the Dementors after Andi's sniff of disapproval at their antics.
"The fallout leaves a lot to be desired," Cissa said, reaching out to brush a lock of Bella's behind her ear. The Death Eater sister sent a heartwarming smile back, and Harry guessed it was something between the two since their childhoods. "Minister Fudge and his toady are doing everything they can to discredit him."
"The problem is that until he takes up his Lordships, he's an orphaned heir versus the Ministry," Ted added, only to be corrected by Lucius.
"The problem," the blond emphasised. "Is that while I am continuing my cover as someone who feeds Fudge's attitude against you, I have determined that there is someone else driving the incompetent man's actions. Someone the fool refuses to speak of, even to me, despite dropping enough hints of their existence."
"I'm sure you're real broken up about it," Sirius sneered, only to cringe at the glare Harry sent him.
"He's on our side," Harry's tone demanded no argument, and the harsh gaze turned to Bellatrix. "I've manipulated both his and Severus' Dark Mark. They can get rid of it whenever they wish. I could remove yours if you wished. However..."
He trailed off. He didn't need to finish. Bella knew what he wanted from her. "Why do you think I killed them? Old Man Orion threw me into Roldophus' arms without a care. I was a slave to him and his sick bastard brother before the Dark Lord put his Mark on me. I did what they wanted. Whatever they wanted. That's why I pecked their eyes out before clawing their throats open!"
No one missed her emphasis. Cissa was making soothing noises to calm the woman even as everyone felt the Lestrange brothers had died too easy.
"You said nothing at your trial nor sentencing," Ted brought up.
"Because I knew the Dark Lord was going to return." She whimpered, pulling her knees against her chest and wrapping far too skinny arms around them. "I know what he's done. He's coming back and nothing can stop him."
"Hufflepuff's Cup," Harry told the group, not taking his eyes off the woman. He knew this from his ritual. "The git left a soul shard in my scar that my ritual tore into and gave me his memories. I know what he gave you and what it is. I've destroyed the rest."
Bella's head snapped up at his words, purple eyes wide with naked hope as Harry continued. "I wanted to find out where you stood before I did something about it."
"She could give you her vault key, or you'd set the goblins on it," Trish worked out, getting a nod in reply. Harry and Bella had yet to break eye contact, and it took the Gringotts Curse-Breaker to explain to the rest. "The goblins would destroy the Horcrux the moment they knew it was there. They hate the things. But they'll also destroy the family whose vault it's in. The Lestrange line will lose everything and the goblins will keep it all. Money, property, possessions, even magical tomes. They are servants of Magic and will do everything in their power to wipe the offending family from existence short of hunting them down. And only then, because it'll start a new Goblin Rebellion. Heck, they've even got a way to make sure the Lestrange line doesn't show up on future lineage tests."
"Do it," Bella growled. Cissa and moved onto the bed to wrap her sister in her arms. "Destroy them."
Harry gave another small nod that he knew Trish had caught when she spoke. "I'll inform the goblins when I go back to work. That gobshite family will be extinct by the end of the week."
"I have to ask-" he started.
"Family Magic," Bella interrupted, knowing where he was going. "A variation of the Memory Cage Curse."
"I'll have to create a ritual to fix that," Harry mused, finally breaking his gaze from the woman with his mind already working on runic permutations.
"Create a ritual?" Sirius snapped, tired of being ignored. "Forget that! What's this about a soul shard? Horcruxes? What are you doing to stop the Fudge attacking Harry?"
The questions continued. They had to wait him out before repeating the details he had already been told. Andromeda checked his mind out while Sirius calmed and found the breaking of Dumbledore's spell had done a number on the Marauder's short-term memory. Thankfully, it was more akin to spell residue rather than an actual mind problem, but the treatment would take at least a month to work. Their explanations to the two fugitives finished with Narcissa's rant over her plans even as she continued to comfort Bella. The Lady Malfoy was using both her Black dowry and Lucius' money to buy up the debt and businesses of everyone involved with attacking on Harry. From the idiot Aurors who had accompanied Umbridge to Hogwarts, to the woman herself. Profit wasn't the plan, destruction was. The moment Harry took up his Lordships would see those same debts sold to the goblins for the cheap, along with a mass liquidation of the businesses. She was going to leave them penniless and only then begin her campaign.
Trish had laughed and told Cissa to tell the entire plan to the Malfoy Account Manager. "The goblins love a good financial vendetta!"
"Despite Dumbledore's attitude to the contrary," Lucius spoke again to Harry, fingers rubbing over the head of his cane. "Those in the Ministry have not ignored your change in appearance. The Wizengamot has curtailed his power. Starting this month, they censored him for the next year and he can do nothing but open and close meetings."
"I didn't see anything mentioned in the Prophet," Harry frowned. The punishment was a token move as a Wizengamot member could bring up any proposals Dumbledore wanted.
"They also decided that the man was simply unlucky in being your magical guardian during your time with those Muggles. Such a tragic connection to the abuse of a magical child would damage his legendary reputation, and they wished to spare him such ignominy."
"I'm sorry, what?" Harry blinked, sounding more like his age than a Lord of Magic..
"As I said, someone else is moving in the shadows, my Lord," Lucius shrugged, for once not worried about getting tortured for bringing bad news to a man he followed. "Both Fudge and the Wizengamot are dancing to the pull of another's strings. It took the constant letters home of your fellow students pushing your physical changes and what that meant for the Wizengamot to act even this much."
"I definitely have another enemy, then?"
Lucius continued playing with his cane as he considered the question, going through every manipulation he had spotted since Hogwarts' start. "As of now, I would have to say no. It is more that they are protecting Dumbledore. Even when they support and manipulate Fudge, it has been more to distract him with you whenever the man appeared to be moving against Dumbledore. Were the Minister's office not constantly swept for spells, I would say they have been listening in to his conversations. I have heard more than one of Fudge's rants about doing 'something' about Dumbledore, only for his attitude to change and refocus on you."
"Fantastic," Harry sighed, rolling his eyes.
"France!" the so far silent member of the group declared, drawing all eyes to her. Cassie ignored them all as she stared at Harry. "France is the key. Both for allies and enemies. You must speak with the Delacours."
Those who understood the woman realised she had put herself in a trance. A dangerous thing when not in a safe environment, it allowed Cassie's Sight to grant her impressions and nudges for the future. Never anything solid, and not a true vision, but they were not to be underestimated.
"Delacours?" Harry asked.
"A wonderful couple," Trish offered. "A delicious pair in bed as well."
"Gabriel Delacour is the French equivalent of Amelia Bones," Ted helped, ignoring the woman's salacious smirk. "I don't know about his wife."
"A Veela rumoured to be one of their Matriarch leaders," Cissa added.
"And friends of the Potters," Sirius finished. "Dad Charlus and Gabriel's father fought in Grindelwald's war. "
"My Father told me of that," Lucius agreed, with a nod and pained expression. Harry would learn that Lord Malfoy had never gotten over the loss of his father, Abraxas. "The Four Kings were forced from the Italian front after Augustine Lestrange was almost killed. He and Markus Bones had dealt with Eldritch beings from Beyond, but it exhausted them. Grindelwald's forces almost killed both men before Father and the other two Kings pulled them out. Father could only save Augustine and got injured trying to get to Lord Bones. Lord Black, Charlus Potter, and Jacques Delacour left him behind to guard the Lord Lestrange as they mounted a rescue for Lord Bones."
The Four Kings. Abraxas Malfoy, Arcturus Black, Augustine Lestrange, and Charlus Potter. Best friends. Political and magical powerhouses. Harry had heard all about them from Salazar, and he knew the group, especially the late Lord Lestrange, would welcome the goblin's actions against House Lestrange after what Bellatrix had been through.
"It wasn't just a rescue," Sirius scoffed. He'd obviously heard the story from Charlus Potter. "That attack tore apart Grindelwald's Italian defences and began the man's downfall. They damned near ripped Italy off the continent to get to Amelia's father."
And Harry knew they could have done it. Especially in their grief. Harry knew the secrets of all their families, secrets he didn't think even the Lord Malfoy opposite him knew. He knew where they came from and what power lay dormant in their veins. And from the looks that the Black sisters were giving each other, they knew too.
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OoOoO
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They had a plan. Harry and Trish would use his time in France over Yule to reach out to the Delacours for Sirius and Bellatrix to have ICW sponsored trials. With one being innocent of the crimes he was accused, and the other under magic compulsion when doing hers, it would be a positive result for the family. Harry removed Bella's Mark before he left, wanting to give the woman a sign that her life was her own for the first time in decades.
That evening saw him in the Room doing another ritual. The Animagus ability didn't just open the mind to the animal's instincts and way of thinking. The human body would naturally get some bleed-through once the mage mastered the ability to change. This range from heightened senses, physical ticks, a resistance or weakness to environments that affected the animal, or even physical manifesting claws or fangs when emotional. Almost from the moment the skill was first mastered, mages throughout the ages had attempted to bridge the gap further to share the animal's strengths with the human. The Founders had a vast number of varying rituals that did just that, each with their own requirements and results, and had often left it to their students to pick whichever drew them. Harry, being the contrarian that he was, picked none of them. And all of them.
He took the mind-boggling variations and condensed and merged them together in a way no one had before. His goal was as simple as it was insane. To not only share his Animagus' powers and abilities with his human body, but with each other. The trickiest part of the Inner Blood Ritual was making it work for forms he hadn't yet accessed, making the ritual something anyone could do before they found their forms.
Well, not really anyone, he mentally corrected as he carved into his homunculus. His body-double was missing every trace of hair, including eyelashes, and even had the teeth and nails removed. He was beyond grateful that the spells to do that didn't carry over. The reason for this pure nakedness was down to the need for runes to be placed near enough everywhere. Harry's blood knife had been skimming over his double's skin for the past four hours, weaving and sliding into every part of the body that Harry could get to. The ritual alone would replace three-quarters of his skin with runes upon completion, and could only be done by a Blood Mage used to the rigours and strains of high-intensity rituals.
He never wavered. The ritual would go beyond Harry's normal time to use the Time-Turner and he continued his task with a single-minded focus, even when he had to carve into his copy's privates. He pushed away the pain and kept his mind blank. He was about to become a Lord of Magic in both rituals and Inner Blood Magic.
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OoOoO
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12th November 1993 (3 years, 148 days diluted)
The school was abuzz between Sirius' attempted break-in to the Gryffindor Common Room, the replacement portrait being so insane even the loner Ravenclaws had heard of his antics, and Ginny Weasley out-flying Malfoy to the point Marcus Flint demanded she and Harry got dosed with Veritaserum to prove they'd Polyjuiced as each other to throw the Snakes off.
Even Draco had stared at the seventh-year for that accusation.
Harry was pacing Flitwick's third-floor office as the professor watched him with concern. He had used the Room to create a door to the office through a created corridor to a section of the Room he and Sal had created. He still wasn't happy with what he was about to do, but his Master had finally convinced him to try. Lucius' confirmation of a hidden hand manipulating things had put the Snake Lord on edge. His connections to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had told him the Triwizard Tournament's revival had gone from an attempt to an actual schedules event. It was too coincidental for there to be an unknown threat from the shadows at the same time the schools had agreed to the return of a death tournament the Founder believed was used as an assassination tool.
"I never wanted this," he declared, not really seeing the floor that he stared at. "Becoming a Lord of Magic wasn't about changing the world. It was so I could avenge mum and Sirius. And James."
"Revenge is a twisted path to walk down, my Lord."
"I know. Grandfather has warned me more than once. But it's about avenging them, not revenge. I was... I am doing what needs to be done. Justice. Both those monsters have destroyed lives, and I've been training to become something that could stop them. I was glad to find my Animagus form was a snake. Its cold thoughts helped make it impersonal, to keep the need for revenge from poisoning me. I planned on destroying them both and then living my life. Letting the world move on without me."
While his allies knew he had two Animagus forms, they had only been told they were a snake and bird. Mostly because Harry just wanted to see their faces when they found out the truth.
Filius didn't scoff, but it was a close thing. The Boy Who Lived would always be something the country's mage population was interested in. And that was before the waves the young Lord of Magic had been making. As though reading his thoughts, Harry stopped his pacing and gave the man a wry grin.
"I know. A foolish hope. Grandfather told me he was letting me keep it until I was ready to hear the truth."
"And are you?"
"Three years," Harry explained with a heavy sigh. "I've spent three years learning from Master Sal, pushing myself and my magic places I never imagined were possible, and then hearing stories of what the Founders were like. What they built this school to stand for. And then I go to class and see how limited it is now. How much of a poor imitation Hogwarts is compared to when they lived. I talk to the others and there is so much they don't know. Or don't know that they don't know. They're being short-changed. You are being short-changed with what you're forced to teach us. I thought I could ignore it and wait until I took up my Lordships and started making changes."
"And yet?" Filius nudged when Harry paused. It broke the part-goblin's heart to see the raw emotions on his student's face. The young man often shared those tales of the early Hogwarts days and he agreed with the teen. Comparing the past and present was akin to comparing a Nundu with a tabby cat.
"You know I have Riddle's memories. I know everything he knew up to my birthday. His skills, his experience, his fighting techniques, and the things he knows he's weak at. And say what you will about the monster, but he knew how to study. He's got an encyclopaedic knowledge of Dumbledore's skills and fighting style. One of the first things he did when travelling Europe was hunt down everyone who watched Dumbledore during Grindelwald's war. An easy thing to find back then, and he took their memories. It's not ego to say I can anticipate most of their moves-"
"It would then be about gaining the skill to put your knowledge into practice and not die."
"Exactly, Sir," Harry nodded, taking a deep breath and releasing it with another long sigh. "But this other threat. I can't anticipate an enemy I don't even know the identity of. And after everything Master Sal has taught me, everything I've been told, and everything I've created... I can't let that die with me. I can't let what this school once was to be forgotten again."
"You want these students to be your legacy," Filius summed up.
"I need them to be," Harry pressed, pleading with the man to understand. Filius nodded he did and Harry's shoulders slumped in relief, closing his eyes to centre himself. His growing bond with Hogwarts nudged his thoughts. "They're here."
Harry opened his eyes, and the pair turned to the door as it opened. Thirteen. That was the 'magic' number. The past two months had seen him do many 'study sessions' in Flitwick's office during the evenings, ranging from homework to magical theory, and everything in between. The number of students who came to them varied constantly, yet these thirteen had been to each and often stayed into curfew hours to pick his brain for more. What he hadn't expected was to see six extra faces walking through Flitwick's door.
"What?" Daphne Greengrass demanded when he raised an eyebrow at her. The first-year next to her was her Slytherin sister, Astoria. "You think I couldn't work it out that this little group would be more than your usual? As if I'd leave my sister out of this."
Harry and Filius scoffed at that. The teen turned to the others, debating whose attendance he would question first. The surprise blond took his choice away by stepping forward.
"I guess I should do this in public," Draco said, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. "I've been a prat in public often enough."
The admission caught everyone by surprise.
"It was made clear to me over the summer how my attitude needed changing," Draco continued, his look at Harry saying exactly what moment he was talking about. "I'm been struggling... no, I've been refusing to do it properly. But after you stopped the Hippogriff, I started thinking about where my actions could take me."
While it looked to the group that Draco's hand went to touch the arm that Buckbeak had almost injured, Harry suspected it was a different Mark that the other boy was thinking about. "I'm sorry, cousin. I'll change."
"Seems like it's a day of home truths," Harry replied when Draco had stopped. "Apology accepted, as long as you're serious about changing."
The boy in green nodded. Everyone knew it was the best Draco would get until he proved himself.
"I guess it's our turn," Ron spoke up, sending bemused glances at his school nemesis. He shook himself down. The look changed to one Harry had only seen his friend wear when Ginny was taken to the Chamber.
Harry had called everyone together on a Friday to let them have the weekend to think of his coming revelations. It was also the day before the full moon and Snape had substituted their DADA classes. The man had almost beat the class over the head with a glowing neon sign saying 'Your Professor is a Werewolf' while constantly putting down Lupin's quality as a teacher. Harry was an expert in taking insults from the man, both those meant and those faked, and he had picked out that the Potions Master was faking the entire routine, doing it only because watching eyes expected it of him. While most of the Gryffindors had jumped to the defence of Lupin, Ron had surprised Harry by being the one of the silent voices. Harry wondered if he was about to find out why.
"I'm not comfortable with this. We're not comfortable with this," Ron continued, spinning his hand in a vague gesture at the Slytherins. "Mum and dad, they-"
"They don't think highly of anyone that's not a Gryffindor," Fred said for his struggling brother. The sneer with which he said the words would have fitted more on a Malfoy's face than that of a Weasley. Harry didn't try hiding his shock at what he heard.
"Oh, they wouldn't have let you see it, Harrikins," George told him, the other two boys and Ginny nodding their agreement. "But they almost drove Charlie crazy by constantly putting Dora down in private, and she's such a Hufflepuff!"
"Is that why your parents stopped coming over for dinner?" Cedric asked, looking horrified. More so when he got four nods back.
"Yeah," Ron winced, clearly uncomfortable in explaining the family business in public. "As soon as you became a Badger, that was it."
"You'll be good once you graduate, Pretty Boy," Fred promised with a fake leer, the humour not reaching his eyes. "Merlin, dad's mate at work is a former Slytherin, and he doesn't have a bad word about the guy."
"So it's only when we're in Hogwarts that we're the enemy?" Susan Bones growled, not even trying to hide her disgust at what they were saying. The Weasleys shrugged as one.
"When you told us Grannie Ced was a Slytherin and how that meant we're related to you and Neville," Ginny said, sighing before she straightened her back and gained her own determined look. "Well, we had a family meeting and got in touch with Bill and Charlie. We've decided bugger that, and treat everyone as their own person."
Harry snorted at the mention of the Curse-Breaker with George winking, telling him he wasn't far off with his thoughts on the man's words.
"I notice a distinct lack of your other brother in all of this," Flitwick pointed out, getting four scowls in return that caused him to wince. "Ah. I see."
"So now that a Slytherin has acted like a Gryffindor and the Gryffindors have acted like Hufflepuffs," Blaise Zabini drawled from where he was leaning against a wall, arms crossed. "How about we get to the reason we're all here?"
That caused a collection of noises of agreements. Harry nodded and waved them towards the other door. "If you'll follow me. And Sir, you'll need to be the last one through and close it behind you."
"Through a door that was never there, to a place that doesn't exist," Luna declared, ignoring the looks her words got with long ease.
"Spoilers, Lu," he called back over his shoulder as he led the group through an empty corridor. He got a serious 'yes, my Lord' back that caused a few worried frowns from the others.
They came out in a room the size of the Great Hall, not that anyone could tell. Partitions cut off the bulk of the room, with the first part being a mock classroom, only with a range of comfortable chairs that would fit in their Common Rooms rather than classroom chairs. Harry went to the single desk and leaned against it, watching the large group find somewhere to sit. He hadn't missed Draco's widening eyes as the blond guessed what was about to happen.
Filius stood off to the side and was surprised when Miss Lovegood joined him. More so when she threw up a spell that his senses told him was a privacy spell despite the incantation and wand action not being anything he recognised.
"This room has a modified Aegis of Neutrality embedded into it," Harry began. The Hogwarts student fading away as they watched, replaced by someone only three present had ever seen before. "If I knew Draco and the Weasleys were going to say what they did, I would have told them to wait. Nothing shared here can be told to others unless they already know. I'm the only person who can, and I give a Wizard's Oath never to use what's here against any of you unless you become my enemy."
Most of the group shifted uneasily. Harry sighed and slipped off his robe to drop it without care on the desk. He started undoing his shirt's sleeve buttons as he spoke. "Neville, I need you to come up here. The others will hear this, but I need to tell you properly."
Filius' eyes widened to an almost comical size when he saw Harry removing the invisible wand holsters. It couldn't be, he thought at the sight of the bracers. And that was when he realised the reason for Miss Lovegood's actions as she leaned down to whisper. "The bridge is building, for the Horned God grows as the Oak King replaces the Holly. They went to the Living Lands, but the Green Man will call them back again, and the sword will be reforged."
The part-goblin looked at her. It was a look as though something had destroyed his world and he didn't know if she was the cause or its savour. "Does he... How much does..."
"He steps a path he cannot See, yet his heart refuses to turn away," she promised, standing upright and walking to take a chair. Flitwick followed, needing to sit after what he had just experienced.
"I'm going to tell you all something that's going to be hard for you to hear," Harry informed the group. The symbolism of him giving up his wands had the pure-bloods nervous. Neville stood in front of Harry with the latter's position allowing them to be more level in height. "But I swear that it's true."
"Okay, Harry," Neville replied, taking a deep breath to prepare himself.
"Sirius Black is innocent. He was never my parents' Secret-Keeper. That was Peter Pettigrew. They threw him into Azkaban without a trial, and he broke free because he saw Pettigrew was still alive." Neville was frowning as Harry spoke, confused what this had to do with him. Harry's gaze drifted past the boy to the redheads listening. "He saw it in a Daily Prophet article when a family won the Prize Draw, and one son was holding Pettigrew in the traitor's Animagus form of a rat missing a toe."
The Weasleys lost all colouring, their freckles standing out as they realised what was being said. Harry was quick to ease them of any fears. "Don't worry, I asked some house-elves to check you all over. Even the Weasleys not in Hogwarts. He did nothing to any of you."
"House-elves can do that?" Hannah Abbot gasped, getting verbal confirmation from both Harry and Flitwick.
"The reason I'm telling you this is that the other person who escaped is also innocent." Neville was already shaking his head in denial. "Bellatrix Black was in what was effectively a Slave contract. She had to do everything the Lestrange brothers command. And she never cast the spell that hurt your parents. Neville, listen to me. Pain does not send someone insane. Too much pain will kill them before their minds snap. The Healers are wrong! It's a version of a curse known as the Memory Cage. A Lestrange family variety."
Parvati and Lavender were up and helping the stunned boy to a chair before his knees gave way.
"Does Auntie know?" A scandalised Susan Bones called out.
"She knows about Sirius, but the proof came from my mother's grimoire," he told the group, getting knowing winces from those who understood what that meant. "Bellatrix is a bit more tricky. Without a Lord Black, the marriage contract is inaccessible, and she's already been through a trial. People will say she could have spoken up then, ignoring that her husband could have ordered her not to."
"Then get the Lestranges to talk," Justin pointed out the obvious.
"They're dead," the room gaped at Harry's cold announcement. Neville had put his head between his legs as he tried understanding everything he was hearing, but it shot up when Harry spoke. "She killed them during the escape. Why it's being hidden from the public is anyone's guess."
"Then there's nothing that can be done." Cedric's eyes filled with sympathy as he looked at Neville. "Without a Lestrange to undo the Family Magic-"
"Unless someone created a ritual to work around it, no," Harry told them as it put his holsters back on and rolled down his sleeves. He got a scoff from Daphne.
"Sure, Potter, because people invent rituals like that every day."
"A Child of Naga might be able to do it," Sue Li stared at the tall teen, brown eyes giving him a calculating appraisal. "You did not sound apologetic when you said that."
"No," Padma argued. "No offence, Harry, but even someone of Naga's blood can't just break through a Family Magic curse like that. Or make up a ritual to do it. You need someone like-"
"Like a Lord of Magic," Blaise Zabini finished. His tone and how he was looking at Harry made all those who turned to him realise what he meant. Some were already looking to deny it or scoff, but Flitwick's words cut them off.
"Show them, My Lord. It is why they are here."
All eyes were on Harry, who took a steadying breath and released his soul aura. It had grown to almost six feet in diameter and was a constant shifting of colours that seemed both solid and translucent simultaneously. A magical aura was just that, full of magic that those around the mage would feel even if it wasn't visible. Soul auras didn't have that familiar sense of magic, but it filled those who looked at it with a deep understanding and belief that the person before them was something more.
To a one the group were off their chairs and bowed. Harry closed his eyes and centred himself. He had just crossed the Rubicon. His life was now more than just destroying his enemies. He drew his aura back into himself and opened his eyes, looking at the awed and even fearful gazes he saw on their faces. Even Flitwick gaped at the change in his aura. "Get up, all of you. You're here to learn, not to worship."
They did so, sliding back into the chairs despite their dazed expressions. Even the Slytherins were struggling with what they had seen. "My mother was a Seer. She Saw a True Vision of that Halloween. She used her talents to find a Lord of Magic. He had ties to her family, and she had him promise to train me. He found me at the end of last year, gave me mum's grimoire that explained everything, and then used complicated Time Magic to teach me everything I know. I didn't age, but I've spent years working with him."
"Why'd you bloody come back then?" Justin asked, flabbergasted. He might not completely know what Harry had become, not to the level his pure-blood peers did, but he understood enough to guess the classes would be piss easy for the teen.
"My friends are here and this is my home," Harry told the blunt 'Puff with a shrug before turning to Neville. "I know a lot about your family's history. Our families have been working with each other for centuries, Nev. I won't abandon you or your family now."
"It doesn't matter," Neville said, mournfully. "Gran wouldn't want it to work if it brought back mum as well. I've heard her talking to Uncle Algie. She hasn't done something to mum already only because she wants mum to be the one they test any new treatment on."
The air filled with sounds of disgust while the divination-obsessed Gryffindor girls rubbed Neville's back. And then they smelt ozone and Harry's eyes sparked with lightning. For a moment, he looked like a depiction of a wrathful thunder god before he pulled his emotions under control. Harry knelt before his friend and cupped Neville's face with both hands.
"A Potter will never abandon a Longbottom," he declared. Neville couldn't look away from his friend, not when for the first time in his life someone was being angry for him. "She could have the Ministry and the entire damn Auror force between me and St. Mungo's. She could hide your parents anywhere in the world and it wouldn't matter. As soon as I work out how to free them, I'll do it, and to hell with anyone that tries stopping me. You have my word, Neville. If it's the last thing I do, you'll have your parents back."
The tears broke free, and the two girls comforted Neville as Harry stood. No one doubted Harry would fulfil his promise. The Lord of Magic returned to leaning against the desk, and never was the image of him being their teacher more obvious. "The Ministry has restricted Magic until she's little more than parlour tricks. What Hogwarts is allowed to teach us is nothing compared to what it used to be. Master Flitwick and most of the others know this. They just can't do anything about it.
"This is sounding like a bit of a revolutionary speech," Cedric pointed out, getting nods from Susan and Hannah.
"I could rant for days at how much our world needs to change, Cedric. How the magic we're allowed to use is, at best, stagnant, and at worst, being restricted. How it's being done with knowledge. Most of my arguments with Hermione this year have all been down to her not knowing the things I only know from my mentor. But that's not why I called you all here. I picked none of you for your blood status, political leanings, or what your family name is. Aside from those I consider my family, you're all here because you've always been here. Every class Flitwick and I have done, there you were. Willing to learn, willing to listen to what I said."
"Harry," Lavender interrupted, swallowing hard when his intense gaze moved to her. "I've noticed you don't use the word 'professor' anymore."
"Mister Potter uses the old method, Miss Brown," Filius answered, getting a thankful nod from the standing teen. "Before the formation of the WEA and the OWLs and NEWTs, back when students could be at Hogwarts for a few years or for decades. When their teachers were the ones who decided they were ready."
"But you've taken apprentices before, Professor," Susan pointed out.
"I have, Miss Bones, but that was after the student passed their exams. I cannot take a first year and train them to be a Charms Master without them taking exams marked by others. I have no say in what your final grades are. If one of you were to struggle with my class, I cannot keep teaching you until you have an O level knowledge. In Mister Potter's eyes, that means I have failed as an instructor."
"Through no fault of your own, Sir," Harry declared. The pair had often talked on this very subject. "But being a Lord of Magic gives me leeway. I can take all you as far as you want to go with any subject you want, even those not taught at Hogwarts, or those deemed Dark by the Ministry."
Some in the group looked uneasy at his announcement, yet he pushed on. "But I'll only teach you that far. I won't push any of you to learn more than you want. Hogwarts was once a place where every type of magic was taught. Nothing was off limits."
"And if we want to go all the way?" Daphne asked, blushing at how she phrased the question. Harry ignored the innuendo, and the Weasley twins chuckling, to give her his full attention.
"Then I'll teach you. And as the Founders took it upon themselves to hunt down any of their students who went Evil, I'll do the same to any of you."
None of them doubted him.
.
.
OoOoO
SN:
Last Edited - 5th September 2023
Word Count – 9,876
Previous Word Count - 9,834