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: A Librarian's Duty (Working Title)
Posted Date: January 01 2025
Tags: Timeline in the 2000s, Adopted Harry, Grown up Harry, Collector Harry, Manipulative Dumbledore
Footsteps echoed in the long corridor as the curator of the archives made his way to the room where he was likely to find his quarry, having received some news that needed to be shared with that guy immediately. The curator would normally have a harder time to find him, but with the passing of the previous owner, the person was the only candidate to handle the place he was in, and that meant he could only do it in one area.
Having arrived at his destination that was barred by two thick doors, the curator raised his arm that had a bracelet around his wrist that glowed when he waved it in front of the doors. Etched symbols started to glow on the door for a bit before they changed from gold to green and the doors unlocked themselves to swing inwards, allowing the curator to enter the room that was almost ridiculous in the sizing, with the ceiling being almost three stories above him, and the length and breadth of the room was more inline of a football field. The room was occupied with cupboards containing books and scrolls, or display cases with whatever objects residing inside, and perhaps the most curious would be the items that were not inside protective cases, but hovering about in the air around or above him like the skeleton of a whale that was moving about like it would in the ocean. It was more of a museum than a room to hold books and stuff, and one that was almost mystical with everything around him.
The curator made his way further in, neatly stepping about the various obstacles with the ease of one having done many times despite the random movements of balls bouncing, books sliding between cupboards, suits of armour walking about and the odd broom sweeping the floor. He was roughly a third of the way in when he found who he was looking for. "Chris."
The person being addressed was in the middle of organising some books after their recent mission to the tropics, dressed in a simple white shirt and dark pants, and rather annoyingly, had a pair of headphones on to listen to his music, hence not hearing the curator. The curator huffed while raising a hand in time for a small rubber ball to bounce into his hand. He then took a baseball pitcher stance, and with a little wind-up, threw the ball straight at the target's head.
"What the!" Said target yelped from the sudden impact to his head, reflexively grabbing his head despite there having no pain. He then turned around to look at the curator to reveal a young man who had short but messy black hair resembling a nest with tinges of gold and silver mixed in it, and a pair of heterochromatic eyes that consisted of an emerald green right eye and an ice blue right eye. "Matt? What gives?"
"You are being hailed. We got some important people that are requesting your presence for a mission." The curator spoke and continued as he watched the young man try to speak. "We cannot delay this any longer, you need to do this job." Chris struggled with the decision and ultimately let out a resigned sigh.
"Fine, just let me finish up." The curator nodded and went to a corner to wait for him to finish up. The young man quickly got whatever thing done before turning to the curator to nod, and with a few steps, they were out of the large room thanks to some magic that the man had for that specific spot. They made their way to the stairs and to the main part of the building where the employees in the vicinity stepped away to allow them passage, aware of their respective reputations.
"So, where are we headed to, Matt?" Chris asked.
"We are heading to the Theatre." The curator answered as they entered a room that had a large platform with a magic circle on it. They stood on it and waited for the attendant to give a go-ahead before they were transported to another room similar to it but more industrial in appearance with more guards around to protect the place. They left the platform to be checked by the security there, then directed to a corridor that gave off beams of light one might relate to the movies that would check someone for other hidden weapons, only this included glamors, potions and other stuff that would be hidden from physical eyes. Only when they reached the end and both glowed green were they allowed to leave the corridor through a previously concealed door that opened up for them. The duo continued on until they stopped outside a pair of impressive looking doors leading to a room they were meant to be in, letting the security guards check them once more and granting Matt the chance to talk.
"A heads up to you, Chris. We have a big session going on so the full council is here. That means Councillor Benedict too." Chris groaned loudly at that, and even the guards looked sympathetic at that. The council was made up of people selected from each country or state around the world, it just happened that their region of Canada was being represented by someone who was a hard case that tend to nitpick on every little detail, and had a bit of a rivalry with Chris's previous mentor before the man's unfortunate passing from old age. It probably did not help that said mentor was immensely successful in his work and more popular with the rank-and-file, and many stated that the only reason he was not on the council himself was because he was something of a maverick who preferred to get the job done properly with whatever means available, including contacts with mercenaries and the odd robber, while thinking of rules as mere guidelines. He made sure that any one on his team would walk home unscathed and alive, even if he had to step on toes to do so.
And ever since Chris was taken in by the man in his childhood, Councillor Benedict seemed to make it his mission to go at him as well.
The doors opened to let the two in, having them stop in the middle of the small amphitheatre that had raised tiers for the people to be seated. In front of them were the chairs meant for the primary chairman and the three advisors who would proceed in the session, and much to their private displeasure, Councillor Benedict was next to them in the high chair. The doors shut behind them, sealing them in with the full council looking down at them.
"Welcome, Curator Matt and Librarian Christopher Norton." The chairman greeted the duo, looking quite spry for an elderly man who appeared to be in the prime of his life despite edging close to 90.
"Chairman Watson." Both bowed their heads to the man whom they genuinely respected.
"Curator Watson, thank you for taking time to come here." The old woman who looked like a typical grandmother greeted the man with a smile. "And you too, young Chrisopher. Have you been eating well?"
"Yes, Councillor Anouve." Chris had to smile at the old woman who often told him to eat more when he was growing up and often had pies ready for him and his master to eat.
"Yes, yes. Nice to meet you all." And the mood got ruined by the slimy man who looked at the two with disdain, the same one the two hated the most of the council. "Still playing with the books I see, Curator Matt."
"They are good books, certainly more informative than the picture books you read, Councillor Benedict. You should try it." Matt gave a thin smile. The slimy man then turned to Chris.
"Ah, yes. Christopher Norton, former apprentice and adopted son of Qui Gon." The curator watched his young friend's hands clenched into fists behind his back at the emphasis about the adoption. Benedict seemed to enjoy rubbing the fact in his face about that, all because of Gui Gon pissing him off a few times, along with Chris's success since taking up the position that the man had tried to pass to someone that would listen to him. It was the same routine all over again, and a few of the other councillors were rolling their eyes at the man's negative bias.
"Councillor Benedict." The chairman certainly did not appreciate the man's tone and gave him a warning with narrow eyes.
"Apologies, Chairman." How the man could sound both sincere and insincere with a straight face and smirk while bowing was something Chris and Matt did not want to entertain. Chairman Watson focused on him a bit longer before turning back to Chris with a more personable expression.
"Christopher Norton, since your appointment to the role that belonged to your father, you have done well with the retrieval of lost knowledge and protection of the artefacts in the warehouse. Your accomplishments at your age are impressive." Many of the other councillors and officers were nodding at this or were neutral. Councillor Benedict on the other hand looked like he had swallowed a lemon and was trying to pass out an ostrich egg at the same time, partially because he could not say anything negative from the others watching him closely.
"Today, you have been summoned for a mission, which at first glance does not appear to be that important, is one that could prove most contentious once word gets out about it." Chairman Watson paused before continuing. "Firstly, how much of Britain's situation are you aware of?" Chris blinked at the odd question but answered truthfully.
"For No-Mag Britain, the Prime Minister has declared a state of emergency on account of recent attacks that resulted in property damage and deaths. Several stores have been ransacked with valuables lost, schools and I believe the main office were attacked by unknown people." Chris hummed as he considered the next bit. "For Magical Britain, the civil war is getting worse since the resurrection of the dark wizard named Voldemort. The ministry there is ineffective due to the rampant corruption and split between different groups with different agendas. The two prominent groups are present. The first is led by Lucius Malfoy who is proxy to Voldemort, and the other is led by one Albus Dumbledore, the supposed Leader of the Light." All could relate to Christopher's sarcastic retelling of the rather pretentious title.
"The war is spilling blood from innocents and spilling over to the No-Mag boundaries, and there is talk that the No-Mag government will be sending in the army to take control of the situation. But at the same time, there is an ultimatum being sent to the Ministry over their actions." Chris ended the summary.
"Your summary is correct, and we have managed to gain further details on the matter." Chairman Watson nodded with a grim expression. "It is problematic to say the least." Several snorted at the evident understatement.
"The officials from the MAC-USA have interviewed those seeking asylum or refuge on our shores, and uncovered something that one of our undercover agents sent to Britain has helped to confirm. It would appear a prophecy is involved and that is the reason why the civil war has been expanding past the boundaries and starting to reach our shores. Albus Dumbledore has been trying to find the child named in the prophecy and force them into the war." Chris and Watson blinked at the answer that they did not expect.
"An actual prophecy? And the man is not doing anything productive in the meantime?" One could forgive the skepticism that Matt had on the issue. They themselves were wondering if the wizard had a few screws loose.
"Albus Dumbledore is, shall we say? Infamous among the community for giving second chances to repeat offenders like candy." The look on the councillors' faces indicated they would like to describe the man's attitude with harsher words. "And his actions are contradictions in many manners. In the current situation Britain is facing, Dumbledore is banking everything on the child to end it on his terms without regard to the damage he is doing to those around him with his supposed desire to 'redeem' the offenders." One could almost hear the mental eye-rolling of everyone in the room at that last bit.
"Right, so what does that have to do with us?" Chris decided to get them back on track and not deal with the headache. "Are you asking us to find this kid?"
"Thankfully, no. Apparently the primary child in question has gone missing for a few years, but it has not stopped Dumbledore from attempting to use others that matched the other criterias in the prophecy, and failing in the process." A different councillor had answered him. "At least two children had been forced into this fight, and not to the best endings."
"But that is not why we summoned you here." Councillor Benedict interrupted, not wanting to stick on this issue for long.
"Indeed. Our mission for you is more along our line of work." Chairman Watson nodded. "As you no doubt learned from Qui Gon, the warehouse vault of Britain has been locked since the death of the previous Librarian in charge of it roughly 35 years ago, and his potential successor was too indoctrinated by Dumbledore to allow that access. But based on the latest report from our agents checking on it, it is showing signs of awakening." That got both Chris and Matt straightening their backs. The magic of the vaults in question was ancient, predating the building of Salem Academy and possibly before the implementation of the Librarian system. Librarians were chosen by said magic and for the most part, there could only be one librarian per vault. In the event there were no protectors for the vault, it would shut themselves tight until the next one could be chosen. As the vaults contain all sorts of knowledge and artefacts spanning the entirety of human history around the world, it was no surprise that people would want to gain control of them.
In the case of Britain, the vault had additional features to it that allowed the vault to copy and store all tomes, scrolls and books from any and all magical families that had settled there along with artefacts that would be stored inside in the event a magical family goes extinct or wiped out for a multitude of reasons. There was a very high chance this included magic from the Arthur's Period that was under Merlin's eye, and other forms of magic that were greatly sought after. The British Librarian Vault would be a treasure trove of magical knowledge especially with Magical Britain being extremely conservative over what it considers Light and Dark magic, and with Dumbledore doing whatever he can to squirrel away knowledge or to declare them dark and order them to be destroyed.
"So we have a new Librarian for that vault?" Chris asked.
"Yes, and rather surprising, it is reacting to someone recently promoted." The man's beard twitched in amusement. "Specifically speaking, you."
"Me?" Chris pointed to himself with slight surprise. It was uncommon for a Librarian to be in charge of multiple vaults, and even then they were usually stand-ins for the true attendant that would come shortly after.
"Yes, you. The agents had checked the vault thoroughly and they confirmed that it can only be accessed by you." Chairman Watson nodded. "They had even tried the stand-in agents, and the vault rejected them thoroughly. The only reason we know that it can be accessed by you is due to the tablet that housed the magical signatures of all Librarians in our employment. When they were trying to get a match, the vault took out yours and integrated it into its wards with the security enhanced further."
"This is irregular. He is already the Librarian for the Canadian sector." Benedict spoke out. "We should leave the vault to another Librarian. I can draft out a list of possible candidates later."
"Councillor Benedict, you know as well as I do that the vaults are charmed to seek out the Librarian who best suits its purposes. Once chosen, it won't dismiss them unless they do something to break the code of conduct or they are deceased. And as stated, the vault had chosen his signature out of all the rest." The chairman looked Benedict in the eye and a grim frown. "And since we are on the subject, your conduct towards Christopher Norton has been getting out of hand and long enough. One more remark, word or even an eye twitch of disrespect, and you are out of this council. Am I clear?"
"Perfectly, Sir." Benedict apologised somewhat insincerely, and the chairman knew it, which made the next bit oh so sweet for Chris and Matt.
"You also need to apologise to Christopher and Matt. And it must be truthful." If one looked carefully, they might see a twitch of the man's mouth and twinkling eyes of amusement from the other councillors at the impending show. Even the security guards in the room were unconsciously leaning forward in anticipation of this. The man in question looked more ready to ingest poison and kiss Hitler on the lips than to apologise to Chris and Matt but turned his head with clearly agonising slowness towards them.
"My apologies for my rude words." Oh, the look on his face as he spoke like it physically hurt him to do it was a Patronus worthy memory for the two of them. The chairman looked at the trio a bit longer before continuing.
"Now in addition to the vault acquisition, we have received a request from her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Third." That definitely got Chris's and Matt's attention. "The Queen is not pleased with the state of the Magical Ministry and the manner the attacks are being handled. When our agents reached out for permission to check on the British Vault, she saw fit to liaise with us on this. In exchange for us aiding her to end the conflict and remove the terrorists and other elements, she has granted us full autonomy to work in her country and allow us to take any magical and all magical items found in the homes of the terrorists and potential insurgents once dealt with."
Both Chris's and Matt's mouths dropped wide open at that piece of news, and they were not the only ones, and they could be forgiven for that faux pas. This was a really big boon to have since most magical communities would jealously guard their relics and knowledge with a passion, and usually that meant the items would be passed down to the next generation or to those entitled to it through blood connections. To be allowed to get those books and relics from the families would be great since the vaults would make sure no one could take the contents out without good reason, and more often than not, they needed to reference something that could only be found elsewhere.
"So she wants us to eliminate Voldemort and his followers?" Chris asked with slight suspicion.
"And potentially deal with Dumbledore and his vigilante group." Chairman Watson added that addendum. "Her Majesty is certainly not impressed with him to say the least." He looked at both of them with a serious expression, emphasizing on Chris. "There are more details, but we need to know if you are taking this. Do you accept this mission, Librarian Christopher Norton?" The young man exchanged a look with his friend, a silent conversation passed within seconds before turning back to the chairman.
"I accept the mission, Chairman Watson."
"Excellent." The older man nodded once. "Full details would be sent to you shortly. You may take what you need, however should you desire to take items from the Canadian Vault, you are only allowed two, and they must be returned safely. The top priority for this mission is to regain control of the British Vault."
"Understood." Clearly knowing they were dismissed, Chris and Matt left the room and back to the transport room where they would be sent back. Within a few minutes, they were back in the Canadian Vault where the silence was finally broken.
"This is going to be a big case." Matt spoke as he settled on the chair that just happened to wander in at the right moment, with a table serving his favorite scotch. "To think we will be tasked to remove the British terrorists in exchange for taking back the British Vault. It is somewhat unbelievable."
"Yes, it is." Chris merely leaned on the cupboard nearest to them as he looked through the folder that was sent to them regarding his mission and details on known people involved with the British Blood War. Most have photo shots of their faces to show who they were, but there were the few odd ones out that showed a general figure image stating no available or up-to-date profile shots for them, such as the dark wizard Voldemort. There was quite a dossier collected for the two groups, so that was something.
"How are you feeling?" Matt asked.
"This is going to be a serious job." Chris pulled out the profile talking about Albus Dumbledore, noting what was stated with a frown. "I know that we are often asked to do tasks that are normally mercenary work or hitman stuff, but this is a little different. I am a little weary about the supposed prophecy involved."
"You are wondering if it is real?" Matt went to take one of the papers offered by Chris to look through the testimony of one of the refugees.
"You know my opinion about prophecies, they are wooly subjects at best. Always unclear with the obscure wording until the actual thing is fulfilled at the end." Chris answered. "From what the chairman told us and the testimonies from the refugees, Dumbledore really wants to direct this particular prophecy to the conclusion he believes is the best path, but since two children are harmed in the process, I don't know how the man thinks he can get it done. We don't know about the wording or the primary child that was named. So a part of me is not certain if us getting rid of Voldemort and his terrorist group would be successful."
"Well, in my opinion, you may not be able to directly remove the head of the snake in this situation, but you can take out the framework." Matt offered his idea. "The Queen has granted us permission to procure anything from their homes, so you can remove the members and take their stuff while getting the British Vault under your control."
"That's another thing. The fact that the British warehouse vault reacted to my magical signature in such a manner?" Chris paused in reading the notes before speaking. "We know the vaults can be blood locked for families of Librarians, and the British Vault is traditionally set to both magical signatures and blood. That it had accepted mine means?"
"The previous Librarian could be a possible relation of yours?" Matt finished his question, knowing of Chris's adoption and circumstances that brought him to Canada as his residence. "Have you visited Gringotts for an inheritance test?"
"Something of the sort, but it was more to inherit Father's vaults and responsibilities. The staff had noted something was masking the results that would show other entries, and suggested that I go back to Britain and ask the goblins from that branch to find out more since I was adopted there before coming here." Chris rubbed his hands together, a habit he did not quite quit when he got nervous about something. "I never really got around to it." Matt knew what he did not say, Britain was something of a touchy subject for Chris, and the young man would rather avoid the country altogether. He would of course do his job if it required him to go into the country, and he would make sure to get it completed quickly before getting out of it.
But now it would appear his past had returned to roast, he did have some connection through the British warehouse vault.
"Well, as Qui Gon would likely say, 'You can either procrastinate on the matter and have it sweep you off your feet without knowing, or pull the bandage off and face it head on', or something similar. You might as well take this chance to confirm with the staff at that Gringotts branch to see what is hidden from your previous test, and perhaps it could tell you something more about your blood family." Matt shrugged. Chris nodded at that bit but still looked uncertain. "I'll leave you to read that report. I got to check on some of the entries listed on this page to prepare you for your mission." With that, Matt left the warehouse vault, with the door shutting tight in response to the emotions going on in the current protector.
Chris let out a sigh as he sat down on the nearby chair and ran a hand through his hair, moving the fringe a little to show a light discoloration of the skin that suggested he had an old scar on his forehead. He pulled out one particular page to read regarding the actions done by Dumbledore to handle this war. There was no wording on the prophecy but they were approaching the Unspeakables from the MACUSA to check if a copy of the prophecy was stored there as any genuine prophecy would be made available everywhere in the world. What was stated was the old wizard trying to find the primary candidate that he apparently had obtained illegal guardianship over to place them somewhere only to lose track.
A boy who was apparently the one who defeated the current dark wizard the first time.
A boy whose name was well-known in the wizarding community.
A boy who had gone missing from the No-Mag family he had been placed at despite orders from his late parents not to be placed there on account of them being anti magic.
A boy whom Christopher Norton was more than familiar with.
Why, one might ask?
Chris took the rough sketch of the boy in question, looking like a boy from Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist novel, only one without the singing and dancing. His fingers gently traced the drawing of the boy's eyes, eyes very similar to his with his memories of his childhood coming back with a vengeance.
So Dumbledore was the one who put the boy in with that family, and left him there to be abused and later dumped at an orphanage until he was saved by a man who happened to be passing by, and later taken to Canada.
Now Christopher Norton, once known as Harry Potter, had a name and a face to the man who created this whole mess.
Now he was suitably motivated to do this mission for the Librarians.
Author's Notes:
Happy New Year everyone!