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: Harry Moody (Working Title)

Posted Date: August 25 2023

Tags: Tactical Harry, Mentor Alastor Moody, Constant Vigilance Galore, Manipulative Dumbledore

People in need of drinks / therapy: Hogwarts Staff / Students, Amelia Bones, Death Eaters, Cornelius

Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody looked at the package and letter that had arrived while he was having breakfast. He ignored the indigent barking of the delivery owl as he took out his wand and checked the two items as thoroughly as he could to ensure there were no spells or dissolved potions on the package or the letter that could trigger a reaction upon skin contact. After that, Alastor put on specially treated gloves and a pair of iron tongs to grab the letter and opened it up, taking the time to read it properly. After doing so twice, Alastor dropped the letter on the table and removed his gloves to rub the bridge of what remained of his nose, his other eye swerving to look at the other item that appeared on his couch.

Said item being a baby that was asleep in a carrier and with a wicked scar on the forehead.

"Oh bugger me sides like a damn whore from Knockturn." Alastor could not help the words coming out of his mouth as he considered the situation. This was not what he had in mind after the civil war had ended with casualties on both sides. A part of him was wondering if he had taken too many hits to the head to have this dumped on him. With a sigh, he picked up the letter to read the contents, his heart growing heavy at the knowledge that he was likely the last correspondent for this writer.

Dear Alastor,

No doubt you have spent 10 to 30 minutes casting whatever detection spells you have in your repertoire to make sure this is safe. That should be the case, although a part of me really wants to see if I can prank the great Alastor Moody by not doing anything.

To be honest, I am really hoping that this letter does not come into play, but with the events that are happening around me and Lily as I write this, I am not leaving anything to chance. Constant vigilance with all the bells and whistles, you would know better than anyone.

First and foremost, if this letter is actually being read by you with the other items placed before you and more importantly my son, that means the worst case scenario has taken place, that being my dear Lily and I being dead from an attack by Voldemort and betrayal from someone we thought to be a dear friend, and despite the arrangements made, my son Harry would be left on the doorstep of the Dursleys, a muggle family related to Lily by her sister Petunia. A family that we have stated in both our written wills and orb recordings that they are never allowed to take custody of our son.

The reason for this precaution is this war, but more importantly, Dumbledore's unusual behaviour going about the war. While I might understand stunning criminals to avoid issues with the law and certain families left unsaid, it is different when it comes to the Death Eaters and their demented leader. I agree with you and some of the others that we need a stronger deterrent, yet the man would berate us for using deadly force while they are allowed to cast Avadas like candy. The hell with that, I want to protect my son from the absolute madness of this world.

Anyway, Dumbledore has been acting weird and recently has been persuading us to cast a Fidelius Charm on the house we will be hiding in, a spell that involves a Secret Keeper. I will state this right here in this letter that our TRUE Secret Keeper for the future hiding place is Peter Pettigrew. Sirius Black, the oath-sworn godfather of my son, has agreed to play the decoy to ensure the safety of Peter. If this works as it should, there will be a copy of our memories about the two placements. I am also including documentation to make sure everything's not lost.

Another thing worth noting is that aside from us, Frank and Alice are also in hiding for the same reason as us, supposedly because they are also targets for You-Know-Who. They are secondary guardians for Harry in the event Sirius is compromised in some manner, but if you are reading this, something must have happened to them to not be able to take care of Harry. I am hoping they are safe but this war is messed up.

I know that Dumbledore is your friend, but something is really weird with him. I won't write the real reason we went into hiding on this letter just in case it is not really you reading it, but I can say that this is making him focus a lot on Harry and Neville Longbottom. I do not like the look in his eyes the few times he came over to check on us and look at Harry. Maybe I am being too paranoid, but I know that he tends to keep secrets close to his chest and not give them out unless we twist his arm, and even then, it would likely be a half-truth at best which could lead to more harm. And Lily has worries that Dumbledore has designs for our baby boy.

I understand this is a lot to ask of you, but I can't think of anyone else who could better prepare Harry for possible dangers in the future. Well, perhaps Sirius, but I am biassed for him, and even I know that he can be immature at both the best, and the worst, of times. If he is not dead but for some reason unable to take care of Harry, I hope you could raise him in our stead. I did put in some paperwork on the sly that should reflect your name if for some reason Harry is not with any of the stated guardians. Hopefully by the time you get this letter, the paperwork will be filed.

If all goes well, this letter will not see the light of day, and you and I could be getting shit-faced drunk on our celebrations to victory, and Lily Flower to yell in my ear for that matter. But if not, I want to say that it was an honour to serve and protect Britain alongside you, my mentor and paranoid confidant.

James Charles Potter

Auror Second Class and General Pain in the Ass

"Damn it, James." Alastor muttered out the name of one of his Aurors with a slight more fond tone than he normally let out. James and Sirius were his last batch of students to enter the Auror force when this war really kicked off into high gear, and they were bagging plenty of Death Eaters despite the restrictions placed on them by Dumbledore who did not like Crouch enabling the Aurors to use deadly force. Now that the war was over with the supposed death of Voldemort, people were trying to pick up the pieces.

Alastor had suspicions about the issue with Sirius Black. The man was recently accused of selling out the Potters to Voldemort, and later involved with killing Peter Pettigrew along with 12 muggles. He was then sent to Azkaban relatively quickly, but Alastor had kept track of all the trials for supposed Death Eaters, and he did not recall one for Sirius. The man was too loyal to James and despite what everyone said about him being a Black, the young man hated his blood family with a passion. Now armed with the knowledge of him being the godfather of Harry Potter, Alastor figured that at the least, Peter Pettigrew's death could be attributed to him losing his composure over the loss, but he needed to do some digging.

And somehow among all of this, Harry Potter fell through the cracks.

Alastor would not deny the fact that he was actually scared of taking care of a child. He never really recovered from the loss of his wife and newborn son when the war first started, and a darker part of his mind was taunting him for him being skilled in killing instead of protecting. Hell, he had forgotten everything from maternity training, having devoted all he had to being an Auror to take down as many criminals as he could to stave off the memories of their deaths. He was not sure why James even considered him an option to protect his son, that young man was mental!

His thoughts broke when the baby shifted in the cradle before drowsily opening his eyes to look around and then laying eyes on Alastor. He blinked briefly before yawning widely and then dozing off again. Alastor stood there watching the baby for some time, before placing a hand to his face. This was a mistake, there was no way he could do this.

And yet, if he did not do this, Dumbledore was going to do whatever was going in his mind to make James suspicious and fearful for his son's livelihood.

A smile started to grow on Alastor's face as he brought down his hand to look at Harry once more. Well if James was serious about this, then fine. Alastor was going to do whatever he could do in his power to protect the young lad and raise him properly. Who knows, perhaps he could train the kid to be a kick-ass Auror who could take over his job in the future.

Oh yes, he could almost imagine the looks on everyone's faces on this. Now that was a prank if he could say so himself.

A maniacal laugh came out of his mouth as he went about to get what was needed and to prepare for lots of investigations in the near future. All over Britain, people of different sorts felt chills down their spines at the foreboding feeling that something was coming to disrupt their lives in the future.

And in the middle of it all, young Harry Potter slept on without a care in the world.