Chapter 40 - Transcendent
The office was silent aside from the gentle background noise of the headmaster's many gadgets.
"What have you done?"
Dumbledore's whisper was soft but horrified.
"Only what was necessary. We have the ruined wasteland of Hangleton to deal with and-
The headmaster's flaming aura filled the room, pressing down on her with tremendous purpose.
"You cannot just take what you want, Miss Granger-"
Hermione let her magic free, the temperature of the room dropping as she squared her shoulders against the ancient wizard. Her power resonated with her indignant rebellion.
"It is not about what I want, Headmaster-"
Fire raged behind Albus' eyes as he stood suddenly, throwing his chair backwards onto the floor with a crash as his magic roared and pressed against her own.
"Souls are not your playthings to break when they-"
They slammed their hands down on the desk with a thunderous release of power and the headmaster was thrown backwards into the shelves behind his desk, smashing the delicate instruments and sliding down the wall.
"WE WILL DO WHAT WE MUST!"
Their eyes glowed with an eerie turquoise light as their thoughts whirled.
Our cause is just.
Our actions are necessary.
Our enemy is terrible and great.
We cannot afford to lose.
Ruthlessness is the price that must be paid.
Their hair crackled and sparked with aquamarine lightning and the air in the room churned with dense and potent power. Their collective magic bared down on the old man as he stared up at them in horror from the office floor.
"How many innocent souls are worth that of Cornelius Fudge? How many innocents will you allow to suffer before you do what is necessary?"
Their voice echoed with a deep reverberation as their souls moved in harmony. Thoughts bounced between them through the connection so quickly that they became their thoughts.
"You once admonished us for presuming to lecture you on the consequences of inaction, BUT WE WILL DO SO NOW, ALBUS!"
The headmaster pulled himself up the wall as his power struggled against their combined might.
"We fight this war because of your inaction. The Death Eaters are free and in positions of power due to your failure to burn out the rot thirteen years ago!"
Albus looked taken aback even as he pulled himself to his feet. They floated up to look him in the eye.
"The ministry is useless and parasitic because you allowed it to become so."
The fire of Dumbledore's power tried to free itself from their hold, tried to let him get a word in as he stared into the angry light of their eyes. It failed against their united fury.
"Your refusal to take the required steps to protect those who cannot protect themselves will be our downfall. Will you tell grieving mothers that their children were not worth it? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU ALREADY DONE SO?"
The headmaster's face looked old and tired as he braced himself on his desk.
"We will do what is necessary to ensure a peaceful tomorrow. Those who would prey on the innocent through malice or incompetence will be handled accordingly."
Their eyes narrowed and power coiled down their arms, pooling in their hands as the turquoise light flooded the room.
"You are our ally against the hellfire with which the Dark Lord seeks to cover the world. Do not oppose us because you are unwilling to do what is required."
Phoenix song filled the room.
Fawkes soared through the office in great circles, his scarlet feathers resplendent and his music peaceful as he flew.
They looked up and paused as the melody lifted their soul.
They pulled in heavy breaths as they touched back down to the floor in front of the ancient wizard.
"We have work to do, Albus. Are you with us?"
Dumbledore considered them pensively for a moment before nodding and setting his chair upright. He winced as he gingerly lowered himself into it.
"Let us begin, then." He said, his voice grave.
…
Fudge was quickly dispatched to begin damage control in Hangleton to avoid the collapse of the statute of secrecy.
Harry carefully extricated his personality matrix from Hermione's and felt her relax as their souls became unique once again.
That was… interesting.
Something else to unpack later, I think. Although I do appreciate your unconditional support, Harry.
Always.
"We have two different overall avenues that we can take," Hermione began. "We can go public with the return of the Dark Lord, or we can work in the shadows. What are the benefits and pitfalls of each approach?"
"The obvious consequence of going public is, well, the public. They may panic," Harry said.
"We must also consider Voldemort's actions," Dumbledore said, still looking at them warily. "Publicizing his return will leave him no reason to limit the scale of his violence."
Hermione nodded. "If we give him the opportunity to work behind the scenes, he may just take it. We have the ministry behind us, so the only thing that staying in the shadows deprives us of is public support, which is of minimal use until Voldemort goes public himself."
"Voldemort will still have his eye on the prophecy," Dumbledore mused, "and he may be willing to quietly recruit more forces while he works towards learning the rest of the prophecy. Especially after the fight you gave him tonight and your continued survival."
Harry took over. "So, until the Dark Lord reveals himself, we work against his recruitment efforts, defend the prophecy as if it contains useful information, and prepare the ministry for the war to come. We must also begin recruitment on our side. Do you have agents at your disposal, Albus?"
Dumbledore nodded reluctantly. "During the last war, I led a group called the Order of the Phoenix. We worked to undermine and sabotage Voldemort's plans from the shadows while the ministry waged open war, as ineffective and corrupt as they were. James and Lily were both members, along with Mr Longbottom's parents and many others.
Hermione nodded again. "You should call the remaining members and work to recruit more if you are up for it. We will need all the help that we can get, even with the ministry on our side. What steps can we take within the ministry?"
"We should consider who to bring into our confidence, ministry agents who are not as short sighted as Fudge." Dumbledore paused and leveled them with a serious stare, "I'm sure that we can agree that the outcome with Cornelius was not ideal and should be avoided if at all possible."
They nodded. Despite the necessity, they weren't happy about turning souls into puppets.
"I believe that a valuable target for recruitment would be Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If any department head needs to be brought into the loop, it is the one who commands the Aurors. She is an upstanding witch of great moral fiber who will not be easily corrupted."
Albus took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"While it pains me to say so, we must keep the truth about Cornelius from her. It would be best to have him approach her in his official capacity, and then have him introduce us as other agents working directly with the ministry with his approval. Amelia has little patience for vigilantism and has clashed with me in the past over the Order."
Hermione hummed as she considered. "So that covers the Aurors. Is there anything else that we can do with the ministry?"
Harry took over. "We will need to begin ferreting out Voldemort's agents within the ministry. Both impiriused and genuine. We could convince Bones to hire Moody in an official capacity as internal security, so that he can utilize the Eye to identify any leaks."
"I wish you the best of luck convincing him," Albus chuckled. "He enjoys his retirement."
"We'll work on that. Where else will Voldemort turn his eyes for recruitment?" Hermione asked.
"Dark creatures. The Dementors, werewolves, giants, trolls, vampires, anyone who chafes under the current ministry regulations and wishes for freedom."
Harry took over. "We can make significant headway on the majority of those. Let's start with the Dementors. Azkaban cannot be allowed to remain as it is, for a multitude of reasons. The hungry Dark is a force of nature and cannot be destroyed with our current power, so how do we contain it without giving it food?"
Albus sighed. "A question that many have asked. With unilateral ministry support, we may be able to empty the prison and build a ward scheme to trap all of the Dementors on the empty island, but it will take time."
Hermione switched into the metaphorical driver's seat. "We can get Fudge working on it, and work on getting legislation passed to legitimize it. Which brings us to another front. The Wizengamot."
Harry took over. "I think that we should bring Augusta on board. She has connections and agrees with our goals. We already talked to her about many of them last summer. She can speak for us in the chamber while I wait to come of age and take my seat."
"The Death Eaters and their supporters on the Wizengamot will undoubtedly oppose you. We do not hold the majority consistently for most issues," the headmaster cautioned.
Harry smiled. "We will have to force them into a situation where they cannot win. We could bring a number of bills to the table, reform for Dark Creatures while also addressing the inhumane treatment of prisoners, many of which are their own families. We include werewolves and vampires and giants; we stand on our soapbox, and we convince our allies on the Light side to join us in giving the Dark faction what they supposedly want. We propose updates to the werewolf laws to allow equal employment rights and free wolfsbane on the ministry dime. Fudge will back it personally. We cry out against the horror of Azkaban and lobby for the prisoners to be moved to humane conditions and the Dementors caged on the island. Force the Death Eaters to either publicly work against their own recruitment targets or capitulate."
Dumbledore looked unsure, but he nodded. "That is bold, but it may benefit us in the long run. I can begin working with my contacts within the Wizengamot while you work to bring Augusta on board."
Hermione took over. "That just leaves us with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. Even if he is staying quiet, he needs to contact his agents and work from somewhere."
"We monitor known Death Eater properties and gathering places," Harry said. "Once we get evidence that the Dark Lord is present, we get clearance from the ministry and move to engage the enemy with our combined forces. We get Fudge to quietly declare the Death Eaters and Voldemort to be enemies of the state, so that they can be treated as enemy combatants rather than citizens. We hunt him until he is forced to play his hand."
Dumbledore looked concerned. "That is an extreme course of action. If we empty the metaphorical hornets' nest, we may do more harm than good."
"We cannot afford to sit idle while Voldemort gathers his forces, Albus. Be happy that I am not advocating for the preemptive execution of all known Death Eaters." Harry's eyes narrowed as they locked with the headmaster's sad blue orbs.
"That you would even consider it is concerning, but you're right. If Voldemort is present or they are found actively working towards his goals, we move to engage and bring them in."
Or put them in the ground if we need to.
"Now for a more interesting line of inquiry," Albus said. "How do you propose we work to restore Harry's body?"
"I've been thinking about that. Are you willing to take a trip to France with us?"
Dumbledore's eyes widened. "I suppose that could work. I'll do my best to persuade Nicholas that it is for a good cause."
"That would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure that this will get very awkward very quickly."
…
"You did it!"
Luna bounced towards them as they left the headmaster's office. They had spent several more hours preparing their plans and scheduling meetings with the required parties over the next few days, but they were exhausted by this point. The ceremony to present the Triwizard Cup had been postponed to the following evening due to some 'classified security concerns', and in the meantime, they were going to bed.
Hermione groaned and let Harry take the reins, "Did what, Angel?"
"You melded your souls! I knew you could!"
Harry sighed. "Yes, I suppose we did. But we're still going to get me a body back as soon as we can. I do like having a meat puppet of my own to pilot about.
Hermione kicked him back into her soul. "Don't… call them that, Harry. It's disturbing to those of us who aren't wraiths.
Luna grinned widely. "But I like your meat puppet, Hermione!"
"See what you've done?"
Luna and Harry spoke in unison, one from inside her soul and the other through the insane blonde bouncing in front of her.
"Remember, chaos is the spice of life!"
"I hate you both. And I need to sleep, it's been a long day."
It's been a long day for you? Do I need to remind you that I died?
Well that just means you don't have a body to get tired anymore. Do souls even sleep?
That's actually an interesting point. Do we even need to sleep? We could probably just rejuvenate our body and mind with magic and-
Maybe later, but not right now. Besides, leaving the constraints of humanity behind and doing everything with magic is kind of your thing, not mine. I still buy my own clothes.
Falling for consumer culture isn't-
Nope, too tired. We can banter about it tomorrow.
They said goodnight to Luna and headed up to the tower. Harry used the cloak to let them walk invisibly through the common room and avoid any conversation with the many Gryffindors still up and whispering about the task.
As Hermione piloted them up to her dorm, Harry had an awkward thought.
Ummm… I think I'm just going to step into the other room for a bit.
Such a gentleman. I'll drag you back when it's safe to return.
Harry carefully untangled himself from Hermione's soul and allowed himself to float out of her body. Returning to an untethered state was strange but also mildly comforting. He floated in the endless sea of Dark, the souls of the students and the castle itself an ocean of stars shining in the night.
He pondered their next steps and observed the cloak within his soul. He remembered how the fragments had twisted Voldemort and looked for signs of corruption within himself but found nothing out of the ordinary. The cloak had darkened his soul from the moment he had dove into the infinite sea of Dark within it, so maybe he had already known that it affected him and just… didn't care? Was that also the cloak's doing? Was it even worth worrying about at this point?
As someone who had accepted magic and power as part of their being from the very start of their remembered life, Harry found it hard to care that Magic may have changed him. It was part of who he was. The occlumency had changed how his mind developed, and the fragments had influenced his soul as he grew with them. If he was to achieve his potential, he couldn't stop to second guess himself now. He was a creature of magic, and a creature of magic he would remain.
He felt the tug on his soul as Hermione returned to bed. He slipped back into her soul with ease, the possession welcome and comfortable by this point.
Welcome back.
Happy to be here. Thank you for helping me, even when I'm just a voice in your head.
You're the best voice in my head I could ask for, Jiminy Cricket.
Simba, remember who you are…
Shut up.
I miss your hugs.
Harry felt the deep sense of longing and pain that leaked through the link at the idea of his current state, even if Hermione knew that he was still there.
He pushed his feelings of love and adoration through the bond, his appreciation for her and his longing for her in return.
He felt their eyes prickle with tears as Hermione curled up in her dorm room bed.
Thank you, Harry. I'm happy that you're still here. Please don't leave me.
More tears fell into her pillow.
I can't do this without you.
I'll always find my way back, don't worry.
I love you.
I love you too. Goodnight, Hermione.
…