Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Magic Born From Necessity 2 (Working Title)
Posted Date: September 10 2023
Inspiration: The Great Wandout Challenge, Unintended Consequences, The Core Wars
Tags: Harry needing therapy, Manipulative Dumbledore, Helpful Goblins, Harry becoming Rich 3000
Possible Challenges: See below
Possible Pairings: Harry x Hermione x Susan
Hermione Granger was waiting anxiously on the spectator stands, her hands making a mess of her skirt as she impatiently waited for this bloody tournament to end and for the appearance of her dear friend to come back from the maze, with Neville seated next to her as the only person she and Harry would trust in this bloody school of idiots.
This year was such a mess with the tournament coming to Hogwarts and somehow Harry got dragged into it as the unwilling fourth champion. She also could not believe the stupidity of the populace, this was a repeat of their second year but with international students and reporters trying to smear Harry's name. At least Harry was proactive this time round and removed a lot of the harassment at the root, but the idiots in Hogwarts seemed incapable of rational thoughts, and the less said about Ronald Weasley the better. That idiot honestly believed that Harry could somehow trick an ancient artefact that was older than Dumbledore by at least a century into thinking that he was in a fourth school, and accused him of cheating. Then after the first task when he tried to give a half-hearted apology that Harry rightfully refused, the boy seemed determined to paint Harry in a bad spotlight despite the oaths made long before.
And then there was Rita Skeeter, the reporter who briefly tried to paint Harry in a bad light and later a victim in a love triangle between them and Victor Krum. She wanted to know how she did it if only so she could get the pleasure of getting the woman in her hands, but Harry got Dobby to look for Skeeter and to get her away from them. Given how the elf came back later with a stereotypical villain laugh and hands rubbing to boot, Hermione was looking forward to hearing the news.
This was the year where her respect for the professors were at an all time old, none more so than Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Dumbledore. While Harry's oath helped with the information found in the books about Dumbledore having the power to actually recast the drawing of names, the Head of Hufflepuff was acting like a lot like Snape, being very rude at Harry and taking points for the silliest of reasons, not that it lasted that long since Harry left Gryffindor House after a disastrous meeting with McGonagall trying to strong-arm him into following whatever Dumbledore had in mind. Her favourite Transfiguration Professor was also being really messed up with how she kept harassing Harry and later her due to her being the sole contact in Gryffindor actively meeting Harry. And when Dobby appeared to stop her drinking from a goblet supposedly tainted by the professor to be loyal to them and tell them where Harry was, Hermione had a very vocal description about that betrayal of confidence.
Dobby admitted that he was impressed with her choice of vocabulary that outstripped Lucius Malfoy by a lot.
While the school got better after the oath and Harry's performance with the two tasks, the girl had been talking with Harry about their situation, and Harry had stated flat out that he was finding a way out of Hogwarts after the tournament and away from Britain if needed to ensure he did not have to put up with this craziness ever again, with the added thought of returning to and catching up on muggle education. Hermione admitted she was really tempted at that point to follow; magic was great and all, but Hogwarts was not providing any subjects that would help her get into a muggle university once she finished Hogwarts, or prepare her for anything in muggle working life. Harry put it best when they were alone, stating that it was like they were expecting the wonder of magic to keep the muggleborns in their world, and if not that, the gaps in their education may force them to stick around to make a living, or worse, through contracts.
That last part, along with the other reasons, was what convinced Hermione to start some communications with her parents to send over some books for personal studies, something that would make them happy, but at the same time Harry had been checking for other schools that might allow them to study both magic and regular subjects to help them on their road to freedom. But it was also problematic when he read up on British laws that made it harder for them to transfer out if required. He and Hermione had gone to ask Fleur about her school to get an idea of their lessons, but they were not sure if they wanted to go there as it felt Beauxbatons focused more on charms and mannerisms than actual subjects, and Durmstrang was not a good choice for either of them.
Hermione had to wonder about Dumbledore's attempts to integrate the Weasleys back into Harry's life after that horrid Howler by Molly, and with all that had happened, her blinders were removed from her eyes. All she wanted right now was Harry to finish this bloody tournament so that they could leave Hogwarts.
But it had been 10 minutes since Fleur entered the maze as the last competitor, and the audience did not have much to see at that point other than flashes of light and some fire. They did hear her screams shortly after with red sparks being fired to show the last spot a competitor was at and giving up, and that at least shut up some of the idiots who had been viewing this as a mere game, as though the dragons and the near drowning experience was not enough of a wake-up call. After that, they spent roughly 20 minutes waiting for something to happen with a number of people complaining about the lack of viewing in the maze.
Suddenly the hedges dropped, meaning someone had gotten hold of the goblet and that meant signifying the end of the tournament. Eyes went to the podium to where the champion should appear by portkey, only for no one to appear after a while. But as much as they wanted to discuss, they had trouble in the form of the animals used for the tournament escaping the area, with a few headed straight for the viewing stands where they were, making a few people scream at this. The professors and a few of the adults on hand went to cast hexes to attack the creatures while a few others went to create walls or other obstacles to slow them down. It took a while, but they were able to either kill a few or at least drive them towards the Forbidden Forest, with the wails from Hagrid over the loss of "misunderstood creatures".
Hermione would like to point that that was absolutely nothing to misunderstand when you have sharp teeth or poisoned fangs aimed at you!
Her thoughts were interrupted when Snape and Karkarov suddenly collapsed and screamed out in agony as they clutched their left arm, followed shortly by Professor Alastor Moody who had arrived earlier to deal with the creatures. People crowded around the three in a futile attempt to see what was happening, Professor Dumbledore being the foremost person to try and get Snape to tell him what was wrong. It did not tell him much and within two minutes, Snape stopped screaming and died with pain and fear evident on his face, with Karkarov and Moody doing the same thing shortly after. Many of the female students screamed at the deaths that occurred right in front of their eyes.
The wind shifted and suddenly Hermione could smell something burning. Neville, who also smelled it, turned around only to widen his eyes in shock. "The school!" His shout prompted her and those closest to turn, and their shouts drew the attention of others and eventually the professors who turned to find thick black smoke coming out of the seventh level of the castle near the Ravenclaw tower and other parts of the castle. Another shout drew Hermione's attention to the front where she spotted Dumbledore clutching his heart in visible agony before collapsing on the floor with Madam Pomfrey to stabilise him with another Healer on hand for assistance, while Professors Flitwick and McGonagall rushed to investigate the fires and to hopefully put them out, and some of the other professors helping to keep the crowd calm in this unexpected circumstances.
Then, as though it was not enough at that point, every wand was ripped out of everyones' hands or pockets and flew into the air like a giant flock of sparrows, followed shortly by the wands left by the students who thought they would not need them for this event flying out of the open windows, and forming another flock to leave the area in the same manner.
Seeing all of this happening and not seeing Harry made Hermione think of one thing.
'Oh, Harry! What mess did you get into this time!'
~ooOOoo~
Delores Umbridge was going about her business in the Ministry, using the opportunity from the Third Task to get some of her private work done without the hassle of Aurors or meddlesome fools messing with her work. There were deeds to be done and half-breeds to be eradicated if not suppressed for the betterment of their community, along with people that needed to be rid of for making lots of noise.
One such person was Albus Dumbledore. That man was a thorn in the Ministry's side in her humble opinion, using that rather old charter to enforce the fact that the school had autonomy to avoid following all the rules set by the Ministry. He had fingers in many pies when it came to the various positions he held, and there had been the not-so-subtle whispers that he would make a better Minister than Cornelius if he wanted to. The post of Minister was strong, but the old wizard was circumventing it with his own roles that could spell disaster if he were to go against Cornelius with the level of support he got from the masses. There were also stories coming out of Hogwarts that showed that the man was consolidating his power over the youthful minds of the students along with sweeping matters under the rug to ensure that he maintained his post as headmaster.
And then there was Harry Potter. That boy was a no-good halfblood, a stain on what used to be a decent family of purebloods if not for James Potter soiling himself over the mudblood Lily Evans, likely seduced by the woman and falling for her thralls. That boy was clearly a troublemaker, based on Lucius's descriptions from reports made by his son Draco at Hogwarts, always galavanting around like some royal brat and bullying the young boy because of his status and Dumbledore being in his corner. It even showed in his circle of friends involving blood traitors and a mudblood, spitting on traditions that have held on for generations.
This latest stunt in the tournament was the last straw, she did not believe the boy was innocent or that Dumbledore was solely responsible for the issue of the boy being a supposed fourth champion. No, clearly Dumbledore worked to get the boy entered into the tournament with the intent to embarrass Cornelius and make the administration look bad. Him looking bad was merely temporary and it showed how quickly it faded in favour of looking into the issues by the ministry for letting the goblet be used in the first place.
Well, not on her watch. Delores was going to make sure the boy ever regretted picking a fight with the purebloods and the first part of the plan was to try and get the boy expelled from Hogwarts as soon as possible. The tournament should be over soon and with it, the immunity that the boy must have enjoyed to wreak havoc on the upstanding heirs in Hogwarts. She just needed to have a chat with her old friend Mafalda Hopkirk to increase the sensitivity around the brat's residence for even the tiniest bit of magic, and then she would set up the means to get the boy use his magic and give Cornelius to put the boy in his rightful place beneath their feet. If done right, they could even get Dumbledore to be put to heel.
With a nod at that idea, Delores got up from her chair and made her way to her private floo to hail Hopkirk in the fireplace. She grabbed the Floo powder and threw it into the fire while calling out to the Improper Use of Magic Office for the connection to be made. She was about to bend down on her knees (she grumbled slightly at that inconvenience) when a loud crash made her turn to find her wand had somehow pulled itself out of her purse, dragging it along to smash against the bottles on her table before crashing against the door and somehow breaking . In her haste to stop her wand from leaving, her hand knocked the container of Floo powder off the ledge and into the open fire, prompting a flashfire that engulfed the woman and filled the room with green fire that also leaked out of the hole in the door. Unknowingly at that point in time, the Floo connection had been made and Mafalda Hopkirk was answering it when the fire came on. She got a faceful of the flames before she lost conscious from the blast throwing her against the wall, and the fire filled the office that destroyed the magical sensors that would normally monitor incidents of magical activity breaching the statute of secrecy, but also covertly monitor potential muggleborns that certain people would wish to be rid of before coming to Hogwarts in hopes of "cleansing the bloodline" along with helping Delores and others like Yaxley or Malfoy with a supply of children to sell for their hidden child smuggling routine, often disguised as child adoption schemes in front of company.
The fire would also knock out the Department of Magical Transportation, with the department head Madam Edgecombe managing to escape relatively unharmed as she was moving to the next room and only got knocked out from the blast. Said blast and fire however destroyed the equipment used to monitor the Floo network and to properly maintain the connection to avoid issues. This ended with a cascading effect that knocked out other fires that were open around the same time, but those further from the Ministry were relatively smaller and thankfully no one at the time was harmed, although the home owners would need to repair the damage that came from it.
It would be a few hours later when the staff were looking around to gather the others for a headcount that they would find what was left of Delores Umbridge and Malfada Hopkirk in their offices. And in the near future, after some investigations, they would know who was the one responsible for taking out the Floo network.
~ooOOoo~
A bloodcurdling scream rang out in the cold corridors of Azkaban, making many of the prisoners huddle in a corner of their cells. The guards would have gone to investigate the scream, but their wands left their hands, and there was no way they would go near even the low-security cells with only the medallions to keep the Dementors away, not when they could tell that they had no wands and had attempted to swarm one of the guards if not for the timely action of his partner to drag him to a room before activating the emergency portkey to get them to the guardroom's infirmary.
Bellatrix Lestrange was howling with rage at the left arm that was currently bruised and scratched, but more importantly, not spotting a tattoo that she had for many years. It was a symbol of pride for her to bear the Dark Mark bestowed on her by her master after going through the initiation rites that had her casting the Killing Curse on a family of mudbloods. It was through the mark she could feel the pride of her master when he praised her, and granted her the role of being one of the most ruthless members of the Inner Circle.
It was through the mark that she could feel her master's return from whatever state he was in, bringing the dark mark to its proper glory.
It was through the mark that she could feel her master in battle, and in need of his greatest warriors, and so allowed the channel to be open for him to take her magic to aid him even as her worthless husband and brother were screaming in agony from what was going on, their voices eventually silenced.
It was through the mark that she felt her master's shock, fears, and finally rage before the connection was cut and the mark faded to nothing.
Bellatrix could not believe that her dear master could be defeated, not in a straight up duel. Someone must have cheated to take him off-guard, they would have to do that in order to get the better of him, and even then he would be able to fight back easily. Her Lord was someone who always turned the tides against their enemies, and knew their futures were to conquer all and have them bow to their supremacy.
With the Dark Mark gone with all feelings of connection, that would mean the unthinkable has happened.
It would mean her Dark Lord was not only vanquished again, he was permanently gone. Possibly abandoned if not betrayed by those who claimed the Imperious Curse to get away from Azkaban.
Those damn dogs, she would get them all! And Harry Potter too! She would make sure they would all pay once she got out of this prison cell!
In her mounting anger and madness, her magic that had been forced down from years of Dementor exposure was suddenly released in a large burst like a valve releasing large amounts of water after enduring lots of pressure. The sudden release was enough to crack the walls of her cells along with denting the thick iron door outwards like it was made of thin foil and cracking the outer walls of the cells nearest to her. And much like a valve that had released large amounts of water, Bellatrix was strained from the sudden release and slumped to the ground semi-conscious, unable to do anything but blink as pairs of bony hands gripped the damaged door frame and pulled it hard enough to allow for one Dementor to slip through the gaps and gilded its way to her.
She could not do anything to prevent the creature from gripping her neck with one hand while lowering its hood with the other hand right as another Dementor entered the room, the last sight that would greet her eyes as the moonlight came out of the cloud cover was the rotting face that had no eyes and a gaping mouth that let out a rattle as it lowered its face to hers.
It would be two mornings after when the guards finally got some additional support to inspect the prison cells that they would find the Lestranges on the ground, the males showing signs of decay and expressions of agonised pain and suffering, while Bellatrix was half-frozen and with the dubious honour of being the last Death Eater to ever get the Dementor's Kiss in Azkaban.
~ooOOoo~
As a bank that deals with solid gold and other valuables pertaining to many of Britain's family lines, the goblins needed ways to track those families to ensure that in the event of an untimely death, the transfer of ownership was done smoothly and as little fuss as possible to avoid the possibility of people wanting to rage feuds over others for their slice of pie, and to deter possible thieves hoping to take the wealth of older family lines.
In a specially guarded room, there were several open books that were helping to keep track of all going on with British families in different matters, with two thick leather-bound and particularly big books placed on marble stone altars next to each other in the middle of the room. The two books were enchanted to have limitless pages with the more recent entries spanning the past decade being the more visible while the past entries would be hidden until they were called up through a blank page on the front of the books. Two large eagle feathers were stuck in the ink bottles next to the books, waiting for the magic to activate them so that they would come out of the bottles and start writing in the pages.
The first book that appeared to be made of fresh tree bark coloured a forest green with mithril clasps around the corners was the Book of New Life, a book that recorded the names and dates of those born to the families not unlike the book in Hogwarts that tracked magical students once they started displaying accidental magic. It also showed whether the child in question was a legitimate heir or a bastard child from some infidelity, the latter showing up a few times more in the turn of the century.
The other book had a more foreboding appearance with leather that was a deep crimson red as though it was bathed in the fresh blood of enemies, with dulled bronze and rusted iron parts on parts of the book, and pages that gave the impression it was made from skin. That was the Book of the Dead, aptly named for the appearance and for the ability to record the names and causes of death for the people in question. This book would be consulted a few times in a month, and sadly had more entries in it based on the recent wars that came about in the world.
It was all these books, especially the two mentioned, that effectively formed the cornerstone of Gringotts's ability to protect and track the estates of multiple families, along with tracking any goblin items to ensure that they would be returned no matter what those wizards or witches claimed. These books were so important that the room they were residing in was warded heavily against those seeking to spy, damage, spell, or vandalise the books, and granted a pair of guards patrolling the area as the first, and more often than not, only line of defence since the rare few who attempt such stunts would be regretting their actions in no time.
As there was no way to determine when someone would be born or pass away, the goblins would check on the books at least once a month to keep track of any changes and to prepare for any will readings to be held. If there were two or more deaths in quick succession, an alert would be sounded to let the attendants know about it and would check at the latest end of the week.
The loud, repetitive ringing from the room along with vault alarms that were echoing off the corridor was clearly a sign that something major was going on.
With the suddenness of the alarms, both goblins readied their spears with eyes gleaming for the opportunity of a fight. The book attendant had arrived shortly after and went inside with one of the guards coming along to check with his spells for any hidden characters before he moved to the books to see what was causing them to chime so much while the guard stood by in readiness right as several more guards arrived with the director of British Gringotts Branch right in front of the pack.
"We just had a breach in one of our vaults, and then we heard the book alerts. What is going on, Attendant Gumeye?" The darker and bigger goblin turned to the attendant for answers.
"I have just arrived myself, Director. There appears to be a large number of deceased being written in quick succession, and it is still going." The goblin attendant stood aside to show the quill blazing across the pages with such speed that it was a wonder the pages did not get cut or catch fire from the scratches. Ragnok came forward to the pedestal and examined the names that had already been written.
He immediately noted that most of the names written belonged to the dark echelons of society, such as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, Nathan Nott, Thomas Avery, the Parkinsons, Thomas Flint, along with others who had a place in different manners such as Severus Snape. There were also other names that were not expected, such as Garrick Ollivander, Barty Crouch Junior, and the supposedly long dead Peter Pettigrew.
One name in particular caught his attention: Tom Marvolo Riddle. He of course knew the true name of Voldemort since the man had to have a vault in his youth during the time in Hogwarts, but the odd thing was that Riddle had been listed and unlisted over and over - each listing time-stamped several seconds apart, with the last entry being two minutes later from the second last. He considered the information and concluded with a frown that Horcruxes were a possibility. That would also explain the fire in the Lestrange vault which meant the Lestranges had defaulted on their contract to not store any soul-based items in the vaults, and so Gringotts could claim damages from them. They also claim the man's vault for attempting to perform the taboo ritual to claim immortality if required.
As he was examining the book, three more names were added. He recognized one of the names, Dolores Umbridge – the unpleasant witch who frequently barged into the lobby, shouting directions, as if anyone in the Nation would listen to her. Her death would be celebrated with Grog tonight. The second was more surprising, Bellatrix Lestrange. Given that her husbands and in-laws were deceased before her, that meant that her dowry and other valuables that would not be taken would be sent back to the Black Family, which meant Sirius Black and perhaps his godson Harry Potter.
With the majority of the names being from "respectable members of society" and knowing what was going on this year, he reasoned that Harry Potter was involved in some manner. He did frown at the lack of a certain name despite all of the prominent ones appearing, but that could be easily checked.
"Attendant Gumeye, bring me the Book of Waning Ailments." The goblin nodded and rushed forth to grab a third book that was smaller than the other two books. The name was appropriate given how the cover was stricken with black nerve-like lines seemingly grown into it with rusted copper for the lock. With a flick of a finger, the book opened wide and pages flew all the way to the latest entries made recently, and much like the cover, the names and issues were written with sick green ink and in a manner not unlike worms crawling about one's skin. This book was used to track families with the heads of houses on the verge of death through whatever methods, and likely the end of their family lines.
On that page, they could see some of the names that were now on the Book of Death written in the smaller book but with lines striking them out to show that the people in question have passed away, with added notations that their family vaults were automatically cut off if they were the last of their bloodlines. It was the last name that caught both their attention.
Minor House of Dumbledore
Albus Wulfric Dumbledore, aged 112, currently unconscious due to a heart attack.
Suggestion: recall all debts before the current head is deceased.
"Well done, Attendant Gumeye." Ragnok's mouth was curling in delight at the magnitude of the opportunity that had just dropped onto his lap. "Send out a bank wide alert to all the managers to check on their life-stones to confirm the readings here and send me a list of names whether there are heirs or not. Alert the senior managers for the Houses of Black and Potter to come to me after the end of your shift."
Gumeye bowed so deeply that his nose touched the floor. He replied, "I'll make it so, Director." Ragnok stayed where he was as the other guards moved to check on other areas of the bank, his mind going quickly over the information he had gotten for this. Given what was going on, the odds were very high that Harry Potter had a hand in the destruction of the Pureblood Movement that had ravaged the country and somehow managed to get rid of Voldemort at the same time. He needed the boy to be in Gringotts to clarify on the details, something that could be done with Dumbledore temporarily knocked out of the chessboard. Sharpclaw, the bank manager for the Potter Family Vaults, had been complaining about the old wizard constantly rerouting the mail to Harry Potter and trying to gain access to the main vaults along with a supposed marriage contract that thankfully was rendered invalid for the time being, and if they can get to the young lad in time, they can fix a lot of issues.
The boy just needs to come to Gringotts.
~ooOOoo~
All over Britain, a vast majority of wizards and witches were gripping with the fear and uncertainties of not being able to perform their magic without a wand. A good few were treating this as the sign of an upcoming apocalypse at the prospect of not being able to use any magic. Some of the less scrupulous types were thinking of cashing on the issue by hoarding on selected goods before selling them at a higher price for profits. Those with muggle backgrounds like the muggleborns or muggle-raised half-bloods were merely inconvenienced by the loss of their wands and went to do things the manual way, with some utilising touch-based runes to perform certain tasks. They were also the ones who were living in regular homes with electricity so they did not experience much issues in their living, nor were they affected too much over transport since they would have other means of transportation compared to their magically raised counterparts who kept using the Floo or broomsticks for those who could not Apparate without a wand.
For the countries in Europe closest to Britain, they were also affected badly by the event that would be known as the Great Wandout of 1995. The vast majority of the stores handling wands were destroyed with a few of the wand crafters deceased if not heavily injured by whatever had caused this. The stores handling brooms were also affecting as much of their stocks literally flew out of the windows to go wherever they were going, with a good number snapping in their rush to leave and wrecking the stores at the same time. A few potion stores were damaged due to the owners having been in the middle of preparing potions when their wands left their hands, resulting in potions that exploded spectacularly. People were demanding wands and answers for their predicament.
Somewhere in a graveyard of Little Hangleton, a certain boy groaned before opening his eyes and forcing himself to a seated position to look about him, noting the burnt cloaks and what looked like the biggest bonfire of burnt wands and broomsticks he had laid his eyes on. He blinked a few times before opening his mouth.
"What the bloody hell happened here?"
Author's Notes:
One thing I noted about the wandout stories written by old-crow was how convenient certain characters were around to get killed in the first two chapters of those stories. I am not saying old-crow is bad or criticizing their writing, after all I got inspired by them to write this. I just thought it was a little odd that the characters just died off like that too cleanly.
This is my take on how some of the situations get unwrapped in the POVs of others, and how Delores and Bellatrix kicked the bucket. I also played with the idea that the Floo network was active during this period and there should be a knock-on effect from the wands getting summoned to Harry. I also expanded on the goblins knowing what was going on based on Unintended Consequences.
At this point, I have no idea what to have Harry and Hermione do. Old crow's stories had them making new wands, one other author had Harry and Neville developing Green Magic. And since the working title for mine is "Magic born from Necessity", I would probably think something like them developing new skills or maybe unearth old magic censored by Dumbledore and the ministry. And remember, I did change a couple of aspects from the original challenge like keeping the Elder Wand, and possibly have Dumbledore in a coma and being a pain in the ass if he returns.
Let's see if I can get one more idea, and Headstart chapter, out by Christmas. Until then, stay safe.
And I put my pen down for now...
