Evolution
Thirty first March Nineteen Ninety Three: Hogwarts
Hogwarts was celebrating. The basilisk was finally dead and it was done thanks to the previous head girl of Hogwarts who was still affectionately known as Head Girl Tonks by many students of the school.
It was Auror trainee Tonks - who along with dozens of Auror trainees, as a desperate move by the Minister, had been sent to Hogwarts - who finally had the sense to question the girl who had died the last time the chamber of secrets had been opened and now haunted the second floor bathroom. Ten minutes of coaxing answers out of the stubborn ghost and three days of hiding out in the bathroom later, Ginny Weasley was caught hissing at a bathroom sink revealing the entrance to Slytherin's chamber.
Only it wasn't easy capturing the girl as Tonks had thought when she laid eyes on her. Tonks had been in a duel for her life. Killing curses were flying like cheering charms at her and it had only been the fact that a eleven year old girl could do only so much magic that saved Tonks life and allowed her to stun the tiny redhead.
Tonks carried the girl to the headmaster's office where the shocking revelation was made. It was an enchanted diary that once belonged to Lord Voldemort that had possessed the girl and unleashed the Basilisk on the castle.
After that it had been a small matter of flooding the Chamber of Secrets, the entrance of which was still open as only a Parselmouth could shut it, with roosters whose crow was fatal to the basilisk.
Head Girl Tonks was made a hero to Hogwarts and scheduled to be awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class for services rendered to the Magical World. She was also promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Auror Corps, the youngest ever to make the rank at the age of eighteen.
To celebrate end of year exams were cancelled and a party was thrown in the Great Hall.
Students smuggled in firewhiskey and butterbeer; mainly by the Weasley twins and professors turned a blind eye except for Professor Snape who was handing out detentions like candy on Halloween.
Dumbledore was loving it all and had decided to retire early. There was only so much excitement he could take with the stress of a missing Harry weighing down on him. Remus had still not made contact and Fawkes had not returned. Dumbledore knew better than to call on the phoenix without reason. For now he had to trust in Remus.
He was walking back to his office when he rounded a corner on the seventh floor and ran into Sybill Trelawney. The Divination professor squawked in surprise and fell on her rear, her big eyes wide with surprise behind her huge round glasses.
The bag she was carrying fell open and bottles of Sherry rolled out.
"Headmaster!" she gasped.
"Didn't see that coming Sybill?" Dumbledore joked merrily.
Trelawney stood up shakily. She was clearly tipsy. "The workings of the inner eye are a mystery even to us seers Albus," she said, reverting to a dreamy self.
"Of course," Dumbledore said solemnly, containing his mirth. "Do you need help getting back to your quarter Sybill? I could call a house elf."
Trelawney went unnaturally still.
"Sybill?"
"The decision will be made when fire streaks across the sky. Two paths will lay before him… one leading to salvation … the other… devastation. His decision will be made when fire streaks across the sky…. Salvation …. Devastation …. His decision will…"
The seer coughed and her eyes, that had gone misty, turned clear and she blinked in confusion. "Albus?"
Dumbledore was in shock. Trelawney had made another prophecy! One that was as vague as the one before! What decision? Who was she talking about? Please don't let it be Harry!
"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is okay Sybill. Enjoy your Sherry," he said absently before walking past her without looking back. He had to review the memory in his pensive. Devastation. The word echoed in his world.
Devastation.
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Fifth March, Nineteen Ninety Three: Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Remus had never experienced such heat before. He was soaked in sweat ever since the damn phoenix had dropped him at the edge of a city he had now identified as Amritsar in India. It was a holy city for a sect of religion in the country and Remus would classify it as exotic and beautiful if it weren't for the heat.
The people were very friendly and had responded kindly to his inquiries about Harry. Fawkes must have brought him here if Harry was close. He used a translation charm to speak with the locals who were absolutely delighted he could speak their tongue. Of course, it only seemed like he was talking their language.
It made finding lodging and a restaurant easy however the spice and taste of Indian food had him gulping water like there was no tomorrow. The men were all big, bearded wearing turbans, who laughed at his reaction to the food.
"Better than that bland stuff you English call food eh?" one man had said. Remus took a moment to realise it was English the man was speaking.
"We prefer our food light," Remus said tiredly. The heat was killing and he had been there for only five hours.
"No wonder you can't take the heat. So what brings you to Amritsar? No doubt it was the lure of the Golden Temple!"
The man was wearing white cotton pants and a shirt. His turban was red and he had a moustache that stretched beyond his cheeks with facial hair neatly combed.
"Actually, I'm looking for a boy," Remus said carefully. "He got separated from his family when they were in the area and they're very worried."
"A boy? What boy?"
Remus pulled out a picture of Harry from his first year class photo.
"He's just a baby!" the man gasped. "How did his family loose him and where? If a white boy got lost in our city word would spread faster than the strike of a cobra!"
"That's exactly what I'm hoping for," Remus said with a smile. "The child is the son of a famous person and there's a huge reward for his return."
"Igniting a man's greed will not help you here my friend," the man laughed. "You're in the presence of god here. Go and pray at the temple. Speak to god and then look for your boy."
Remus blinked. He had not expected that.
"Err…"
"Don't err British man. Just pray and follow god's guidance."
Remus sighed. Why had the phoenix left him here when there was clearly no sign of Harry? If he didn't find Harry soon, there was no way he was going to honour their agreement!
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Place Unknown
When Harry awoke it was under the cover of trees with his back against warm bark.
He felt rested and relaxed. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. He also didn't feel the heat bearing down on him which made his eyes widen as he realised he was not where he wanted to be.
He jumped to his feet and felt his head spin his blood resumed circulation.
His eyes took in his surroundings and found them to be completely unfamiliar. There was no sand, no endless skies, and no sparse flora. It was disorienting. He heard a rustle behind him and summoned the void, ready to strike. However, when he laid eyes on the disturbance, his hold on the void slipped through his fingers like slime and his eyes widened in wonder.
A man stood before him and it wasn't how he looked that captured his eyes. It was his core. It was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. He had six cores. All having different colours, rising from red at the spine to violet around his forehead. They were spinning with an ethereal glow around his body and seemed to convey emotions to Harry. The red at the spine spoke to Harry of a well of power, the orange above of passion, the yellow of authority, the green of an unfamiliar emotion, the blue of knowledge and the violet of clairvoyance. He was having a conversation with magic. It seemed like the magic wanted to go higher still but it looked like the path to the seventh core was still blocked. Harry wondered why. His curiosity was drowned by the fact that there could be more than one magical core!
The man glared at Harry sternly and the yellow pulsed.
Harry felt a wave of intimidation wash over him, drawing out a need to obey and respect this man. He lowered his eyes, unable to stand the sight of the man's magic. It was too bright!
He felt a hand touch his shoulder and the green and red enveloped him, calming him to a state Harry didn't think possible. He felt safe. It was weird.
The man spoke something, his voice hoarse and unused. Harry didn't understand. It was alien to him. He blinked, uncomprehending.
Suddenly the colours, as if sucked into a vacuum, disappeared and a middle-aged man stood before Harry. He was probably two heads taller than Harry, had matted black hair that could almost be classified as dreadlocks. His eyes were a curious murky brown and his dark brown skin was wrinkled in places over a thin frame. He was wearing an orange sheet carelessly wrapped around his waist and was looking down at Harry with amusement.
He then closed the distance between them and knelt down to get to eye level with Harry.
Then, in an accent that clearly said the man had never spoken English before, he said, "Stay," and pointed at the ground, "Go," and pointed to the West.
Harry understood. He had a choice. He chose to stay. He pointed to the ground. He itched to know more about the cores.
The man smiled. It wasn't a welcoming smile but one that promised Harry was not going to like his decision. He looked disapprovingly at Harry and then placed his hand over Harry's chest.
Harry had only a moment to see the green seeping into him before his emotions started to go haywire.
He gasped and fell to his knees as the man stood up and turned away.
It began as a feeling of yearning. Longing for the desire to have a mother wrapping her arms around him. Regret and repentance for killing his relatives. Reciprocating Daphne's friendship. The want and need to have friends. The feelings kept coming. Harry realised it was love.
He couldn't take it. It hurt so much! He curled into a ball and screamed.
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Fifth April, Nineteen ninety-three; Ministry Of Magic.
"It was him. Malfoy. It had to be. I'm not going to let that son of a bitch get away with this."
Arthur Weasley was furious. It didn't look it but the colour of his ears gave him away. They were red and letting out steam.
"What are you going to do about it? We don't have any proof," said Perkins. Arthur's second in command.
Arthur glared at the small black diary that so innocently lay in a plastic bag on his table. He had fought tooth and nail to get it under his authority. His argument was it was a diary about it the muggle world that was enchanted to possess people, therefore it came under the misuse of muggle artefacts. He had two days before it had to go to the Department of Mysteries.
The redhead drummed his finger on his oak table. It was a vast improvement over the closet that was once his office. "I read this newspaper clipping once. A muggle one. About how muggle Aurors use fingerprints to find criminals."
Perkins looked blank.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "Come on. We're going to a police station." He grabbed the bag and stuffed it into his robe pocket.
"What?"
"Get your arse moving and follow me, Perkins," Arthur snapped.
"Wouldn't Auror Tonks be more suitable for this?" Perkins whined.
The proverbial light bulb turned to 'on' in Arthur's mind.
"That is an excellent suggestion! Let's go find her."
Arthur Weasley was on a mission to prove his daughter innocent and systematically destroy Lucius Malfoy. He had one month to do it before Ginny Weasley was to go on trial as an accessory to attempted murder!