Harry Potter and the Mage's Guild
Chapter 4
Interludes/ The Winds of Change
Grimmauld Place – London
Grimmauld place was a very dreary location in London, especially during what passed for the summer months in England, now even more since the general area had become rundown and 'sketchy'. Hot, humid weather interspersed with bouts of torrential downpours made it quite miserable for anyone living there, or even visiting for just a short time. Since his escape from Azkaban, Sirius Black had been living back in his childhood nightmarish home, but had kept busy by making plans, plans that did not include a certain headmaster and a few select others that followed him like mindless minions.
Having been born into one of the oldest families in magical Britain had certain advantages, especially since his family had been one of the largest magical families originally and extremely paranoid as well, and for good reason. And perhaps the biggest advantage of being from such a paranoid family, was that despite his 'fugitive' status according to the Ministry, he had been formally recognized as the Lord of the House of Black by Gringotts Bank. The goblins were not fond of the Ministry and as Gringotts Bank was solely goblin land, they chose to 'ignore' most Ministry declarations and did NOT recognize Sirius Black as a criminal. And as such, he had taken full control of the wards of his home, which had angered Dumbledore greatly and was quite aware of what was happening in his house. Any secret conversations, meetings and plans that happened inside his house, he was made aware of and as all 'paranoid' Blacks, he documented them. Most of these 'secret' plans involved the most important person in his life, his sworn godson and heir, Harry Potter.
Sirius was very aware of the betrayal of his godson, including the thefts of money and priceless family heirlooms, by not just the headmaster, but by his 'friends' and certain members of his 'friend's' family. Fully aware of what would happen to him if he let on what he knew, Sirius kept quiet about what he saw and heard, but continued to document everything and make plans of his own. To further the impression that he was 'miserable' at being unable to help his godson, he kept up the 'public' display of his 'distaste' with Kreacher, the old, yet loyal Black Family elf.
Kreacher kept him apprised of every time there was a secret meeting and the start of a conversation that was happening between select individuals when he was not there (as he was attending to matters at Gringotts).
Sirius sat in the master's office in the library of his ancestral home, sipping on a cup of freshly made tea as he reviewed the latest information that had been gathered by his carefully hidden listening and scribing charms. A special feature of the master's office was that only the lord and his heir could enter this particular room, making it the prime choice for the anchors for the scribing and listening charms, as well as the location of the master ward-stone. The only other individual that could enter this room freely was the Head Elf of the House of Black, so Sirius was not surprised when Kreacher entered, but the expression on the elf's face had Sirius concerned.
"Kreacher, what is it?"
"A missive from Gringotts, master Sirius"
"Thank you Kreacher. Is Harry's room ready?"
"Yes, master Sirius. I'se readied Master Regulus's room."
A look of surprise crossed Sirius' face at that. He was quite aware of how much Kreacher had worshipped his younger brother and since settling things with Kreacher, they both were much happier. And with the re-decoration of the Black Manor House, including the removal of most of the 'dark' artefacts, had also worked wonders on Kreacher's attitude towards him.
"Thank you Kreacher. I am sure that Harry will be most pleased with your efforts and treat the room respectfully. "
"Here is the missive, Master Sirius."
Kreacher handed the missive to Sirius as he left the room, pausing just long enough to refresh the pot of tea with a snap of his wizened fingers. Sitting back in the plush leather chair, Sirius looked at the missive for a moment, then touched the ancient seal that held it shut. As soon as he had touched the seal, it broke open, there was just a short message written inside.
"Remember the promise your family made to the Mage's Guild"
As soon as he had read the message, it triggered a deeply buried memory. Once the memory had finished re-integrating itself back into his consciousness, Sirius realized one important fact – the Mages had returned, and this was bound to put a kink into any or all of Dumbledore's plans.
He now recalled the ancient promise his ancestors had made to the Mage's Guild and that some day his family would be called upon to honor that promise to aid the Guild in any way they could. That promise had been made by his ancestors over fifteen hundred years ago and deep inside Sirius Black knew that this event and his godson were connected somehow, and he would do everything he possibly could to help that along.
SHIELD Helicarrier – Director Fury's office.
Nicholas Fury sat behind his desk on the helicarrier, currently reviewing various reports and trying to ignore the incessant banter between the two current occupants of his office. While normally the banter would be a welcomed distraction, today for some reason, it was grating rather heavily on his nerves. The reports he was reviewing were quite disturbing as they pointed to a rapidly escalating situation worldwide and he was certain that someone was pulling the strings to make this happen. He was about to admonish his two guests, when the door to his office slid open and admitted his right-hand man, Phil Coulson. Phil walked in with an extremely worried expression on his face and tightly holding onto a holo-pad.
"What is it, Phil? What has you this spooked?" Nick asked.
"Nick, you really need to see this."
Now Director Fury was truly worried. Despite their many years of working together and the very strong friendship that resulted from that, Phil had rarely called him by his first name. That also drew the attention of the room's other two occupants.
Taking the offered holo-pad, Nick set it on his desk and pressed the blinking green 'play' button and watched the scene unfold before him. Initially, the video was some kind of security footage from some unknown facility, until he saw the odd image on the wall – it was a combination of the Shield and Hydra emblems superimposed of a large eye.
The scene paused for a second as the first sounds were heard on the video, it was not the sounds they expected, it was the sounds of people screaming in utter terror. Shifting to a different camera, one that was stationed at the intersection of a corridor, it showed a large group of troops stationed there, all equipped with high tech weapons, all of them wearing some kind of hybridized armor and all the troops were wearing patches that matched the symbol on the wall.
Nick, Phil and the other two occupants all watched in rapt attention as the screams grew louder and closer, which appeared to unnerve the troops stationed there, a few of them moving around restlessly. It seemed like hours had passed, but it was only mere seconds as the screaming grew even louder and now the occasional spray of blood could be seen painting the flat gray colored walls.
The troops could be seen looking back and forth at each other nervously as the screaming came to an abrupt stop as what appeared to be a body had been flung down the corridor at high speed, impacted the side of the corridor and rolled to a stop in front of the troops. It was not a body like they had expected, but something out of a banned horror movie.
The leader of the troop contingent removed the helmet from the body and what remained of the armor and nearly passed out from shock. The only reason that it was considered a body, was that it was in roughly human shape, but the body had been reduced to a withered husk, its face was frozen in a scream of mortal terror.
"What have you done, Fury?" whispered one of the occupants.
As if in slow motion, a figure then appeared in the intersection of the corridor, covered in blood, clothed in the remains of some kind of body suit that did not hide what had happened there. The figure was that of a young female, but that was about all that could be easily determined as the girl's hair appeared to be soaked in blood, her eyes seemed to flicker between pitch black and fiery red and she stalked predatorily towards the troops.
In the span of less than four seconds, the troops that had been stationed in the intersection were wiped out in a variety of ways with several of them meeting the same fate as the husk in the armor. Upon seeing the symbol on the wall, the girl stood there for a moment, then her hand was enveloped blue/black flames and her eyes turned pitch black. She gestured at the wall and a new sigil appeared over the others, pulsating malevolently as it burned away the sigil underneath it. At that moment, the camera in the corridor was cut off as it was destroyed.
Within 2 seconds of the corridor camera being cut off, the scene shifted to an outside camera, allowing a new image to take its place.
Once the camera was able to focus clearly, the girl was standing over where the facility was and had begun gesturing with both of her hands. In the air above the facility, a symbol began forming in the air, rapidly growing larger and larger until it had reached the size of a circle nearly a half mile in diameter. This symbol began pulsing with the same bluish black flames as it spun faster and faster in the air, then began rotation in all directions. As soon as it had reached a certain speed and rotation, the girl took both hands and brought them down hard, as if she were hitting a flat surface. The sigil slammed into the ground and penetrated it as it traveled through the facility, destroying everything that was in its wake.
Once it had completed its job, the sigil re-appeared over the facility remains, then dissipated and the image stopped as the camera shut off.
"What the hell was that?" Fury exclaimed, trying to process what he had just seen. "Can either of you tell me what we just watched?"
Both men looked at each other, shaking their heads in stunned disbelief, each of them knowing exactly what that sigil was and what it meant.
"We cannot and will not help you."
Phil and Nick looked at the speakers, surprised by the statement and especially from whom it had come.
"Why not, Loki?"
"Neither I, Thor or my father is willing to encourage the wrath of or make an enemy of the Mage's Guild and somehow you have managed to do both."
"My brother is correct. We must return to Asgard and inform father of these developments immediately. "
Both Thor and Loki stood, turned then swiftly exited Fury's office, wanting to be far away from the storm that was brewing rapidly. Once those two had left, Nick turned to Phil and asked.
"There is something else, isn't there?"
"Yes, and it's going to make this much, much worse."
"What is it?"
"The girl. That's Henson's missing granddaughter."
"Oh shit. Isn't she a …"
"Yes"
Harry's watchers – Surrey
Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks sat looking out of a window at Mrs. Figg's house in Little Whinging, Surrey, keeping watch on a particular house on Privet Drive. Both 'belonged' to a quasi-legal group that was 'dedicated' to opposing Voldemort, the Order of the Phoenix. The reason they were watching this particular house is that it was the current residence of Harry Potter, aka "The Boy who Lived."
Both Remus and Dora (she hated her given name) had volunteered to watch over him, not because of the moniker he had, but because he was the son of James and Lily (for Remus), and he was related (by blood) to Tonks.
Remus and Dora had taken notice of the girl who walked slowly and cautiously through the neighborhood for the past couple of weeks, and who seemed to spend a great deal of the time in the same park that Harry had taken to escaping to from the Dursley residence since his return from the disaster that his 4th year at Hogwarts had been. So, it was no surprise when they watched Harry exit the Dursley residence early in the morning, retreating to the park once again.
They had been watching the neighborhood for a couple of hours, when they felt the unnatural chill permeate the neighborhood, which only happened when Dementors were near, then both of them recoiled when they felt the enormous magical shockwave ripple thru the area, dissipating the unnatural chill that they had previously felt. The shockwave was so strong that it left them nearly breathless.
"What was that?" We need to check on it and Harry. It could be a threat to him."
Remus nodded in agreement, replying quickly.
"Let's go."
Both Remus and Dora were leaving the haven of Mrs. Figg's home, when they saw two figures trudging down the street, a third figure being half carried between them. They were relieved to see Harry, the girl and the third person being Harry's cousin, Dudley, carried between them.
As the unlikely trio walked by Mrs. Figg's house, Remus and Dora could feel the latent magical energy swirling in the air around them, although it appeared to be more concentrated around the girl. Extremely concerned for Harry's safety, Remus made to leave the yard, when the girl's head abruptly snapped to the right, and she stared directly at him. Remus saw something in her eyes that completely cowed the wolf in him, and he did not move, except to go back inside the house. Sitting down, Remus watched the girl and Harry carry Dudley back to the Dursley residence.
Confused as to Remus' sudden change in behavior, Dora turned to him and asked.
"Aren't you going to check on him? He could be in real danger."
"I think I will stay here for the moment. We are not supposed to make any kind of contact or alert Harry to our presence here. "
"I know that, but this is a potential disaster waiting to happen. What made you change your mind?"
"The girl. She has tremendous power. And something about her makes my wolf retreat. I cannot place it, but something big has changed."
"Is she a danger to Harry?"
"I do not think so. She seems to be on good terms with him and after everything that he's been through, I think he needs this."
Dora had known Remus long enough to. To have him admit that this girl, specifically something about her made his wolf retreat meant something. She was suspicious as to the timing of the girl's arrival in the neighborhood, this specific neighborhood around the same time Harry arrived back from Hogwarts. Keeping these suspicions to herself, Dora decided to send a message to Dumbledore as soon as she could. She was preparing to go over to the house and 'check' this girl out, when Remus spoke.
"Unless there was a danger of Death Eaters, we cannot blow our cover. It's best that we watch and try to track where the girl goes once, she leaves Harry's residence. Remember, this 'job' is off the books."
Dora sighed as she realized that Remus was right. As fond as she was of Harry, neither one of them had a legitimate reason to go over to the house to talk to Harry and the girl. Both were aware of the impressive, explosive row that Harry had with his now former friends; Ron, Ginny and Hermione, the watchers had learned to keep their distance from the extremely angry young wizard.
"All right Remus, I do not like it. But in this instance, you are right."
The duo continued their watch, unable to see or hear what was going on inside the Dursley residence and quite unaware of was now happening and the conversation about to take place that was going to change everything…. for everyone
The Burrow – Weasley Residence
As always, the Burrow was a hive of activity at any given time, but even more so during the summer months, right after the end of the Hogwarts school year. While still a hive of activity, there was also a sense of underlying tension this summer. And it was between two sides: the Weasley twins (Fred and George) on one side and on the other side were Ron, Ginny and Hermione.
"Mum! You must speak to Fred and George! They just pranked my shower." Ron complained as he entered the kitchen.
Molly turned to look at her youngest son and was not amused. He was covered head to toe in brown paint, with a large yellow stripe down the back.
"Fred! George! Change your brother back now…" before Molly could finish, two more yells sounded out in the Burrow and these two yells were distinctly female.
Less than ten seconds later, Ginny and Hermione appeared next to Ron, each of them sporting identical colors to Ron. Fred and George appeared on the landing, looking quite pleased with themselves.
"Explain yourselves now!" Molly bellowed at the smirking duo.
"Simple, mother. These three now look on the outside like they are on the inside – Cowards that stink."
"Remove this now!" the Weasley matriarch demanded.
Gred and Forge looked at each other, then back at the four, who were fuming mad and started turning red as their anger increased.
"No. Anyone who will betray a friend, like these three have is indeed a coward that stinks."
"I am sick of hearing about poor, poor Potter. He's got everything and all I have is second or third hand everything." Ron whined.
"Just shut up, whiny Ronnikins. No need to show everyone what a complete idiot you are all the time."
"Take that back" yelled Ron, his ears turning bright red.
"Or, you will do what, ickle Ronniekins?"
At this point, both sides erupted in a yelling match that nearly shook the walls of the Burrow apart. This verbal sparring continued for several minutes, only stopping when Arthur walked in the door, with a large owl perched on his shoulders and a scroll in his hand.
"What is going on here?" Arthur demanded.
"Apparently the twins decided to prank, Ron, Ginny and Hermione and they are refusing to reverse it." Molly stated, still furious at the twins.
"It is only going to last a day, so they will just have to live with it. Serves the three of them right, the backstabbing traitors."
Still fuming, Ron and Hermione headed back upstairs, while Ginny's eyes filled with fake 'tears. Molly turned to comfort her daughter but stopped when she saw the crest on the harness of the owl and seal on the scroll.
"What's that, Arthur?"
"I have not opened it yet. It's from Gringotts and looks to be important." Arthur replied.
Ignoring Ginny's fake tears, Arthur sat down in his chair at the kitchen table, broke open the seal and began to read what was written on the scroll.
To: Head of the House of Weasley
From: Gringotts Trusts and Contracts Offices
This notice is to inform you that the marriage contract between Harrison James Potter and Ginerva Molly Weasley is invalid and has been voided. This contract was illegally written up to 'unite' House Weasley and the Ancient and Noble House of Potter, by Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley, neither of whom had the legal authority to write and enact such a contract.
House Potter has yet to decide if they will file charges against those who initiated and signed the illegal contract as they had no authority or rights to do so. A non-binding copy of the contract has been included with this missive and once a decision has been made by House Potter, House Weasley will be notified.
Copies of this have not yet been sent to the DMLE, pending a decision by House Potter
Razorclaw
Gringotts Trusts and Contracts
Arthur did not miss the flash of anger on his wife's face and some of his suspicions were confirmed.
"We will speak of this later."
Arthur Weasley rarely raised his voice with Molly, but when he did, she knew he was serious, and it would not go well for her.
"Very well, Arthur"
Molly secretly hoped that Harry would not file charges as that would expose the fact that she and Dumbledore had arranged this, shortly after Ginny's birth. She was aware of the potential fallout from this could be bad for her and Dumbledore's plans. Her hopes of furthering Ginny's chances of marrying Harry Potter and getting herself a piece of the sizeable Potter vaults were about to fall apart as she saw the headlines of the Daily Prophet.