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: Professor Potter (Working Title)

Posted Date: August 27 2024

Tags: Harry leaving Hogwarts AU, Chamber of Secrets AU, Good Sirius, Somewhat Good Dumbledore, Professor Harry Potter

Possible Challenges: Bad Ronald Weasley, Timeline bring up a little to early 2000s, schoolgirls crushing on adult Harry

Possible Pairings: TBD

Tropes not to be used: Harry returning to the Dursleys

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...And neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

The ghostly visage of Sybill Trelawney hovered over the Pensieve as one Albus Dumbledore looked at the memory recording with a heavy heart in the privacy of his office. The manner it was done and how she towered over him, it would give people the impression she was casting judgement on him for what he had done. The prophecy kept weighing on his mind for so many years, but the light was not seen at the end of the tunnel with all that had been going on thus far.

More so after the Chosen One had disappeared during his second year.

A heavy sigh came out of the old wizard's mouth, one of many as he leaned back in his chair with the Pensieve memory fading away, leaving him with the silence of his office and his thoughts to plague his mind.

When he dropped Harry Potter off at the Dursleys shortly after the death of his parents, Dumbledore knew the boy would not have a good life. Petunia would not truly love Harry, but he had hoped that whatever maternal instincts she had for her own son would translate to something similar for Harry despite her animosity with her sister.

He also knew that Harry would need to be tested for the coming fight, and subtly guided the boy through his adventure during his first year so that he could meet Voldemort in person, and then prepared for the second year when the fabled Chamber of Secrets was opened again.

He knew Harry had to be prepared for the populace and their ability to change attitudes in a dime, and so subtly encouraged Minerva to increase the point deduction during his first year, and then do nothing about the bullying in the second year when Harry revealed his ability as a Parseltongue from the duelling lesson.

He hoped that Harry would be toughened up from the adversity, learn from all of this and be prepared for the final fight.

He miscalculated badly.

Harry had disappeared around early December 1992 and was not seen since. The students thought they were vindicated since the attacks seemed to have stalled, only for them to return with a vengeance 2 months later with 10 purebloods and multiple muggleborns from all houses petrified at once, and then one Ginevra Weasley taken to the chambers with the message stating that her skeleton would lay in the chambers forever. The ministry came in at that point and at first people tried pointing fingers at each other or Harry, only for Hermione Granger, the last to be petrified, who managed to put the clues together to the identity of the monster and after being unpetrified herself, she could inform the teachers about Ginerva Weasley standing next to what the monster was, namely a basilisk.

More specifically, a basilisk bred to be the guardian for Salazar Slytherin.

The students had realised, too late, that Harry Potter couldn't have opened the Chamber if he wasn't at school, especially after what Granger described about the assailant. Thanks to finally knowing what the monster was, security measures were taken and crystals that had recorded the crow of a rooster were placed everywhere. The slightest indication of a snake being around triggered them. It was enough to assure the ministry that, if the basilisk should be able to leave the Chamber again, it would be killed immediately.

Not that they would get the chance, as shortly after, more students were caught in the attack with Draco Malfoy being one of the three actual deaths.

Lucius had tried to push Dumbledore out, but his grief over the loss of his son had caused him to overreach and revealed his hand in the matter. The Unspeakables came shortly after with the hunters from the Department of Magical Creatures to deal with the situation, and had some success by capturing the spirit of Tom Riddle who had obtained a body of his own by absorbing the life essence of Ginny Weasley. Even upon his defeat and his body construct crumbling away, Tom laughed while mocking them for their failures to prevent the deaths and his abduction of Ginerva Weasley, before turning to the students who were still around to thank them for driving away the one person who could have saved them from the attacks quicker, paying special attention at Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger to give his sarcastic appreciation for how the two supposed friends drove their friend away despite Harry's mother being a muggleborn, and the former's inattention regarding his little sister.

The shade's spirit's laughter seemed to linger long after the last of the shade disappeared into dark specks, haunting their ears and minds from his taunts about them driving Harry Potter away from Hogwarts. The castle was briefly closed shortly after to try and find the Basilisk to no avail. And with the chambers sealed shut, it was on a sad note that the missing person's case for Ginerva Weasley be left a cold case.

Regarding the young Potter, no trace of him could be found. He was certainly not at the Dursleys, given the vitriol spewed from Vernon that had him and his family dragged in front of the Wizengamot with their memories on display, and Albus could not stop the verdict that saw them in the muggle prisons for the abuse. And he was not found in the magical world, not that many expected him to do so given the dangers he was thrust into and the abuse he had undergone from the students and teachers.

The parents of the students demonstrated their disappointment and anger on the matter by sending Howlers through mail or in person, the latter most demonstrated by Molly who came to Hogwarts to scream hysterically at her sons and ripping the prefect badge off Percy's robes to throw it at Minerva, stating she did not want them near her children since they did not do anything to protect Ginerva or Harry, and that her sons would be punished accordingly since the teachers did not do so.

Then to compound on their mistakes, notices have gone out in the last month before the end of the term to businesses for closure or to families who were loaned money, and the common point was the Potter Family, which meant somehow Harry had contacted Gringotts and found out about the contracts and lots, and he was now recalling them with valid reasons since he had the memories to prove their lack of contact and abuse.

(Some of the faults may have been from Dumbledore for restricting the mail, but he was trying to stop all the cursed mail from getting to Harry, he swore it!)

That increased the number of complaints and punishments towards the students from the parents or guardians who brushed away their excuses about Harry being a Parselmouth. Amelia Bones even came to berate Susan Bones in a classroom with her voice audible despite the silencing charms, telling Susan that she was not an Auror despite being raised by one, and that she let her prejudice screw over the Bones Family for her behaviour towards Harry and getting all loans recalled along with items once bestowed by the late Fleamont Potter, and then having their alliance removed. The child was shell-shocked and in tears once that was done, and Amelia left with a disapproving frown at Hannah Abott and a glare at Pomona Sprout.

To make matters worse, Sirius Black managed to escape Azkaban during the summer before what would have been Harry's third year. The school already reeling from the Basilisk's attacks were introduced to the infamous guards of Azkaban, the soul sucking demons known as Dementors whose mere presence were enough to change the weather and terrify the populace with their aura, and were brought in to secure the castle by Cornelius who wanted to do something about the fears of the populace and heard about Sirius constantly saying "He's at Hogwarts" which meant he believed Harry to be at the castle.

It only made for the most miserable Hogwarts year with Dementors giving the students nightmares and also kissing the students to suck their souls during the first Quidditch match of the season, with a good number lost to the demons including Mister Creevey and Mister Macmillian. Coupled with the lowest OWL grades of the year and the news of a werewolf teaching their students, the parents were out for blood at the Ministry and Dumbledore for not protecting their children, with the added insult of Sirius Black not being sighted around the castle at all.

Then the Triwizard Tournament came to Hogwarts the following year after the disastrous Quidditch World Cup that saw the Dark Mark return after 14 years, and briefly Dumbledore thought there was a chance to bring Harry back with some manoeuvring to leave the rules open-ended enough for someone to drop the boy's name into the Goblet of Fire to force his return. But on the day of the First Task, his old friend Alastor Moody collapsed with a scream only to reveal himself as an imposter who lost his magic to the cup.

The tournament went on with Victor Krum losing an arm from the dragon in the First Task, Fleur Delacour almost losing her life and her sister's from the Merpeople in the Second Task, and finally Cedric Diggory almost mauled to death by the creatures in the maze, with no one winning ultimately and being considered the worst showing to boot.

Shortly after, rumours and whispers spread of Voldemort's return after the tournament and the Ministry started to go against Hogwarts and him in particular over all that had happened and Cornelius thinking that he was after his job for some reason. There were increased searches for Harry Potter from bounty hunters and Hit-Wizards, with some wanting to declare him a fugitive only to be held back by Amelia Bones and like-minded folks. Cornelius did send Dolores Umbridge to teach DADA in the capacity of the Ministry Inquisitor, and that was a very bad year with students getting detentions for various reasons while the Slytherins were given carte blanche to do whatever they want.

Ultimately it ended with Voldemort breaking into the Ministry to steal the prophecy, with the minister killed afterwards.

It has been 10 years since Harry's disappearance, and Britain was on the brink of destruction with Voldemort's Death Eaters gaining in numbers and attacking the muggles without the Aurors coming in time to stop them. Amelia Bones barely escaped with her life from the attacks on her and her niece, prompting her to leave her job and ultimately the country, starting an exodus of those who wished to get away from the war. In her place, a supporter perverted her Auror Corps and turned it into a more militaristic version of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad, going about hunting muggleborns, half-bloods and those of the light faction for a number of reasons.

The muggle government had taken notice, no thanks to the puppet minister who tried to control the muggle minister only to be caught on camera and set off the beginnings of the next witch hunt. Dumbledore remembered the war that went alongside his battle with Grindelwald, and knew that the muggles only got more creative with new methods to attack others, and knew that for all the bluster and power, the wizards and witches were ill-prepared to deal with them once they knew how to get around magic. It did not help matters when he heard about the special group in the muggle military made up of squibs and muggleborns who had been treated harshly over the years, now using their talents to deal with the problem their way.

His attempts to install Neville Longbottom as the Boy-Who-Lived were failures. Between his grandmother's constant comparison with his father, Severus's malicious belittling, the bullying and the snide remarks about him being the backup for Harry Potter, the boy's confidence was rock bottom and it certainly did not help him when his first encounter with Voldemort has him fainting and later tortured to join his parents in Saint Mungos.

His Order of the Phoenix had been trying to handle the war to stop the Death Eaters and at the same time handle the status quota, but it was becoming clear that they were heavily outnumbered and outmatched by the two sides, and the members were not ill-equipped to deal with the fighting. Whatever members he had at his disposal either saw too many winters, or too few to handle what was effectively a tidal wave threatening to swallow them all. Some had even jumped ship to join with the Death Eaters to save their own skins, like Ronald Weasley who almost single handedly doomed them by passing information to Perceival who would leak it to known supporters, his reasoning being there was no reason being on the side that was getting hammered and him always being reminded of chasing Harry away.

They were at the ends of their ropes and they needed something to break the tidal wave of violence.

He needed Harry Potter back in Britain. He needed to tell him about the destiny he had over his head.

But where was the boy?

~ooOOoo~

Somewhere by the coasts of Italy, stood a small collection of buildings overlooking one part of the coastline. The buildings were part of an academy that was built quite recently, and it showed with the gleaming white walls and glass that reflected the light of the sun. The grounds were neatly kept with trees and bushes lining the paved pathways. There were two stadiums that dealt with radically different types of sports, and there was even a giant glass dome that housed both the massive garden slash greenhouse, and the cove that had perfect weather conditions year round thanks to the protections in the academy and the dome.

In one of the offices in the tower facing the coastline, a young man in smart clothes was watching one of his students trying to focus her magic enough to just perform the task needed and not blow up the dummy as her magic often did. It was coming close to an hour, but he was patient, and she was one of his more diligent students in the academy to attempt this so he had faith in her.

"Take your time, relax." The young man spoke softly to the girl. "Your emotions and state of mind empower your magic, and while it is tempting to let it go to get more strength in the spell, your emotions can negatively affect it to create something different and often a bad thing."

The girl took a breath and her body frame loosened from the air let out shortly after. She aimed her palm at the dummy and with a push, a spell left it to hit the dummy that caused it to change in myriad colours before it started to change its form and ended up as a wood statue of a lion. The man smiled at the results shown to him. "Well done, Miss Vance."

The brunette cheered and jumped about in happy giddiness, with the professor looking away politely due to her excitement making certain anatomy bounce about thanks to puberty hitting her hard. She then pounced on him to hug him tightly, nearly making him stumble before he huffed and patted her back while ignoring the soft feeling on his chest.

"Thank you, Professor! It finally worked!" The girl named Vance released her hug and stepped back with a beaming smile and a light blush. "I did not blow it up."

"A job well done, Miss Vance." The young man smiled with a nod. "Now it is early, but I think we can end the lessons for the day. Take this moment to celebrate, but remember you have classes in the afternoon."

"Right!" The girl grabbed her bag and rushed to the door, pausing to turn and look at him. "Thank you, Professor Potter. See you tomorrow!" The young man smiled at his student as the sea breeze went through the window, ruffling up his fringe to show an old faded scar in the form of a lightning bolt.

"I will see you in class then, Miss Vance."