"Lord Peverell", someone called Harry and he turned to find it was Daphne Greengrass.
"Yes, Daphne", he said, "I have told you already to call me by name, haven't I?"
She nodded, "Yes but this is official business."
Saying so, she pulled out an envelope sealed with the crest of House Greengrass that was addressed to him. He took the letter and looked at her questioningly.
"Lord Peverell, this is an expression of gratitude from Lord Greengrass to you for the help that you rendered to me in the battle of Hogsmead. Also, my father is sending a similar letter to your father, Lord Potter expressing his thanks for the same."
As she left, Harry considered the symbolism behind the letter. He knew that the pureblood families never did things without standing to gain from them. The Greengrasses were known neutrals and for them to accept and acknowledge one whose family was entrenched in the light was definitely something. May be, things were starting to change.
After the gut-wrenching torture that Lilly put him through, Pettigrew was ready to sell his mother to stop the torture. Lilly did not use the Cruciatus curse on him but she was more imaginative. Coming from a muggle background, she employed muggle methods of torture under which Peter broke down. Finally, when she was done, he gave up all the secrets that he knew. Also, he was so battered and bruised that he looked like someone had run over him with a motor car.
"So, Peter", said James, snarling, "tell me why did you become a traitor? Where did I and others fail you? We clothed you as we clothed ourselves, we offered you a place at our hearth, I was proud to call you a brother and what did you do? You stab me in the back. You took away my son whose only fault was that he was born to us. Why did you do it?"
"Jame… James… you have to under. understand… the Dark Lord is a power to reckon with. We were losing the war when he approached me. Yes, you were my friend but only because you pitied me. The talentless thing who had no use to you except being a follower. You helped me become an animagi but only because my animagus form was of use to you. You pitied me because even though a pureblood, I was poor compared to you. I was not as talented as you. My parents didn't have wealth like yours. And he offered me so much more that I could never achieve under your shadow. The Dark Lord offered me everything that you couldn't. And when he came to me, he offered me my desires or death. I was scared…."
"You should have died", snarled Remus Lupin, "You had it better than me, Peter. You didn't have to change into a monster at every full moon. Your parents didn't have to change houses frequently. You were loved while I was feared but I didn't go to that monster. Even Sirius who was mistreated by his family did not become a death eater. Let me tell you who you are Peter. You are a snivelling coward who always sought the protection of the strongest on the playground. You have only ever cared about your own life even at the cost of those who loved you, trusted you. You disgust us."
Sirius was boiling with anger but said nothing. He kept glaring at the rat in his fury but couldn't afford to give in to his anger or he was afraid that he would kill the traitor.
"Tell me Peter, why were you at Hogwarts tonight?", James asked.
"The Dark Lord sent me to find the one who foiled the attack on Hogsmead. He lost some of his best fighters there and he was told that another boy besides Longbottom had foiled the attack. He has plans for the Longbottom boy but he wanted to be sure that there was no other threat to him."
"What plans has he for Neville?", Harry asked who was standing in the shadows of the chamber.
Peter yelped when he saw the boy, "Don't let him come near me! He will kill me."
"I will not kill you if you will answer my questions, Peter", Harry said, "I want to know what he is planning for Neville."
"I don't know everything but he said something about abducting the Longbottom boy from Hogwarts during the Triwizard."
Harry sucked in a breath! There was a traitor in the school.
"How does he plan to do that?", Harry asked harshly.
"I don't know. He does not disclose everything to all of his followers. But, he has a plan and it is in motion."
"You are in his inner circle", snapped Lilly, "Spare me the hippogriff dung about not knowing anything."
"Like I said, I don't know the details.", he said, "But, I have heard that Wulburga knows. She knows all of his plans."
"How do I get my hands on Wulburga?", Harry asked.
"You can't get your hands on her", Peter said shaking his head, "She lives near him at all times."
Harry casually stunned the traitor and turned to James, "Dad, we need a plan to draw Wulburga out. Who is coming with the contingent of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to Hogwarts?"
"Headmaster Dmitri Melkov of Durmstrang Institute and Madam Olypme Maxime of Beauxbatons will be leading their contingent", James said.
"What happened to Karkaroff?"
"Igor Karkaroff? He is the deputy headmaster at Durmstrang. Why?"
"Karkaroff is a death eater", Harry said, "We need to be on the alert while the Triwizard is going on."
"We did this prank last term, George", Fred was saying, "We need something new."
"You are right, my ugly twin", said Fred, "So what can we do?"
"Hello Fred and George", said Harry as he sat with them, "I have heard that you guys have a map of Hogwarts."
"Rumours", said George airily, "In a way of speaking, even if such a map exists, we wouldn't know anything about it. Would we?"
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good", Harry said, "You can trust me that I won't go snitching on you to the headmaster or anyone else for that matter."
"How do you know that line?", George asked.
"What? The password for opening the map?", Harry asked, grinning.
"Yes", said Fred shakily, "The map is one of our best kept secrets."
With a slight grin, Harry said, "I know a lot more than you think and if you will let me in on your pranking campaign, I will even introduce you to the creators of the map."
Harry of course knew that they did not have the map anymore since he had taken it from them after having stunned them but it was a good move to unnerve them.
Their eyes spread in wonder, "Really?"
"Yes", Harry said, "And I know your biggest ambition is to open a joke shop to rival Zonko's. I will even provide you with the start-up capital so you can upgrade from the stall that your brother Percy manages now."
"Do you have ideas for products?"
"Yes. Decoy Detonators, Peruvian Instant Blackness Powder, Canary Creams, Nosebleed Nougat, Puking Pastilles, Extendable ears, Portable swamp…"
Fred held up his arms as if to stop him, "That is already a lot to go on, Harry. Ok we agree to make you a partner in crime on the following conditions- first you will introduce us to the Marauders, second you will invest in our business and third you will help us to develop more products."
"Agreed", Harry said, "Also I've heard that you guys call yourself pranksters and are looking for the one who caused the prank in the Great Hall?"
"Yes", they said cautiously, "Do you know who it was?"
"You're looking at him", Harry said smugly.
"Be serious."
"Serious as a heart attack.", Harry said solemnly, "I am the number one son of one of the Marauders, godson of another and honorary nephew of a third."
Realisation dawned on the twins.
"You mean…."
"Yes, my father James Potter is Prongs, Sirius Black is Padfoot and Remus Lupin is Moony."
"Who is Wormtail?", Fred asked.
"The traitor Pettigrew", Harry spat venomously.
"What is thy bidding, Oh Mighty Prank Master?", they asked, showing appropriate awe.
"Charlus Potter has been pranking people without others knowing since last year and he has challenged me to a prank war. He has a team but I am one bloke. I want you guys on my team."
"Name the deed and consider it done", the twins replied with matching, malicious grins.
"Madam Bones, Algernon Croaker is here to see you", her secretary announced.
"Send him in", she said and sat a bit straighter. Algernon Croaker was a living legend in their circles having been the head of the Unspeakables for 50 years now. He had outlasted many ministers and DMLE heads and was often credited to have revolutionized the department. He was old yet respected in the ministry and it was said that his gaze could make people squirm.
Croaker entered a minute later and took a chair without being offered one, "Amelia, we got a breakthrough in the war against you-know-who recently. However, to explain it to you I ask you to go out on one leg and hear me out before you form opinions."
"Go on, I am listening", she said.
"You may have heard the news that James Potter's long thought dead son was recently found alive? That we were told that he was exchanged with a homunculus and the boy was sent abroad?"
She nodded and he continued, "The thing is that this is not the son that the Potters lost."
"Then who is he?"
"He is Harry Potter, son of James and Lilly Potter but he is not the boy that was being sought after by you-know-who. This one has come from a different dimension."
"Are you talking about the eldest Potter son? And what do you mean he is from a different dimension? Who knows the reality behind this?"
"The minister knows about him. The Chief Warlock knows about him because he appeared first at Hogwarts. The Potters and Black know about him and the Weasleys do. Other than them, there is no one who knows him."
"I have trouble believing this", she said, "tell me you are having me on."
"No", he said calmly, "That boy has really come from a different world where he was born to James and Lilly who died when he was barely 1 year and 3 months old. He grew up and faced you-know-who and killed him for good and lived a long life. Recently, he was sent into this dimension by some unknown means in a 14 years old body but he has the skill and power that no 14 years old boy can possess. He is also very knowledgeable and he was the one who told us that death eaters have a dark mark branded in their skin and that it can be seen only by using parseltongue."
"Have you met him?"
"I have", Croaker said, "And he warned me about Rookwood but I refused to believe him. He is also a Peverell and you know what that means. Peverell is not just a name but history. You have heard the same legends that I did. They are friends with death and their way of wielding magic is unique to them. When the last of the Peverells married a Potter, it was said that their magic waned from the world but my recent research shows that their family magic manifests itself only in very dire times of need. It is the magic which chooses its next wielder rather than being chosen by succession."
"Why do you believe what he says?"
"There are hundreds of mysteries that we are trying to unravel all the time. As you may know, the veil was used as a means of execution before the ministry employed dementors. Soon thereafter, we started experimenting on the veil to see what is its original function. We haven't been able to make much headway because we had no access to something even though it was before us the whole time. He told us that the archway over which the veil lies is the gateway to view the other worlds and dimensions. Now we can see other dimensions however that is a very tedious and esoteric process. The requirements alone can bankrupt a small country."
"What else has he done?"
"He was the one beside Longbottom and young Susan when they fought the death eaters at Hogsmead and he was responsible for the capture of Lucius Malfoy and deaths of many of the death eaters."
"How old is he?"
"Now this is where it gets interesting. He was a grown man who lived to a great age before he eventually died in that world and some cosmic events conspired to put him in this dimension. However, he has the body and the magical core of a 14 years old child. He is a mighty powerful wizard and his spell repertoire is vaster than many of the senior Aurors even. He defeated Alastor Moody in a duel with a wand that was not his."
She choked, "He defeated Alastor with someone else's wand?"
"Yes, and he can resist any form of mental compulsion, Veritaserum doesn't work on him and he doesn't fear Death Eaters. He duels like it is some sort of game to him and I have it on good authority that you owe your current position to him."
"What? What do you mean?"
"He told Dumbledore that Barty Crouch Junior is a death eater and he was captured by the unknown Order of the Phoenix. Do you really think that Barty just came into the custody of the Aurors when they have failed to bring anyone in for years now? And I have it on good authority that he was the one who suggested to the minister to nominate you as the head of the DMLE over all others."
"He did all that? Why?"
"He came from a world where he killed you-know-who when he was a boy. Later he joined the Auror Department and became one of the best Aurors in the force. His prowess with wand was such that common criminals would drop their wands at the sight of him. And he ruthlessly put down any and all of his enemies. He knows how to defeat you-know-who for good. He may be a child in this world but he is better than many Aurors I know personally. He knows each one of us, our strengths and for some unknown reasons, he favours you for this position above others saying that you pose a dire threat to you-know-who even. I am personally looking forward to hiring him for the Unspeakables."
"What do you suggest?"
"You have a niece of marriageable age", Croaker said mysteriously, "And I have heard that she is a good friend with Lord Peverell and the future Lord Black. Not to mention he is the scion of the Potters and as such, he will hold a considerable influence on our world in the future. If you add to it that he is able to defeat you-know-who, he will be considered almost a god. There is nothing that they would deny him."
She said distastefully, "I don't want to use my niece as a bargaining chip."
He shrugged, "Well in that case, Nicholas Greengrass will have a lot to gain because I have heard that his eldest daughter, Daphne has been seen with that boy and they are very good friends. While it can be a marriage of convenience between the two, yet it would merge three houses and bring a coalition that will rule the Wizengamot for years to come."
With that said, Croaker left. Amelia was thinking over everything that he had told her. It was true that she was surprised when she was promoted because she knew that Barty Crouch Senior wouldn't retire until he died. But suddenly Lucius Malfoy was captured and told the ministry that Crouch's son was a death eater and it paved the way ahead for her. If it was the boy who had made it possible then she owed him a lot. Also, there was the Wizengamot to consider. She had seen the young lord and he cut an impressive figure. But for the life of her, she could not guess how he had convinced Sirius Black to declare him the Lord of Black.
Breaking her musings, she sent for her secretary, "Send a paper plane to the head of Aurors, James Potter and have him report here in 10 minutes."
Charlus Potter was planning another prank. This one involved sending students careening down a corridor as the stairs turned into a giant slide. The stairs at the side of the castle had been rearranged to become a slide at a specific time. To accomplish that he had asked for the help of his godfather who was a marauder at heart.
However, that was to happen later. Right now, he was sitting at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast with his best friend, Edgar Bones and they were fine tuning the details of the prank. There was also the threat that Charlus had received at the hands of his elder brother that they were going to have a prank war.
They were looking in the great hall absent mindedly and talked in hushed whispers. Dumbledore was in his chair talking with Minerva McGonagall. Severus Snape was at the table and glaring balefully at the students. Lilly Potter was at the table too and she kept her eyes on her children around the great hall.
Harry was not in the great hall but then he rarely was. She knew that he was either in the library or the chamber of secrets practicing and honing his magical skills. The boy still surprised her and it was when she lived with the Marauders. She had once walked in on one of his practice sessions where he was battling 5 dummies at once and slaughtered them all. The expressions on his face were feral and it looked like he was dancing the dance of death in front of the dummies. He was using the most mundane of spells but he used them so artfully that they turned lethal. As long as the practice lasted, it looked like he was possessed by a primal being and the blood lust was on him. Whatever doubts about his ability had remained within her were dispelled. If he could face 5 dummies at once, he surely could face death eaters.
She had later talked with him and he told her that he liked to be ready for what may come. In his other life, he had friends with him who helped him through thick and thin but here he was alone. Lilly in her heart wished that he would find someone to stand with him.
"BOOM! BOOOOMMM! BOOOOOMMMM!"
The loud booms echoed in the great hall and the teachers were out of their seats, their wands in their hands waiting for whatever was happening. Suddenly the doors to the great hall were flung open and a line of suits of armour which were generally in various niches around the castle, were marching into the Great Hall. At the head of them was a knight of stone who was beating a drum which was in his hand and the rest followed him.
The band stopped in front of Charlus and the suits bowed to him and then a shrill voice came which resonated in the great hall, "Here is the first. Your turn."
With that Cornish pixies were let loose everywhere in the great hall. The little creatures of mayhem went everywhere in the great hall and the panicked students ran thither. The teachers were trying to control the panicked students while the only one who was left unfazed was Albus Dumbledore who had raised his wand and cast a humungous spell which froze all the pixies which started to fall on the floor with a heavy thud. After that he happily resumed eating his breakfast and his eyes twinkled. Lilly watched the head master and was surprised to see him smiling. It had been years since she saw him smile and it was a nice change.
"All the students return to their dorms. We will find out who is responsible for it and they will be severely punished. Classes for today are suspended. All the teachers report to the staff room."
She didn't know why but there was a nagging feeling that this was Harry's doing. It would be hard to prove but she knew the vicious streak that the boy had and he also knew a lot of pranks. But there was the question about why he would challenge Charlus of all people. Charlus was innocent in that during all his first year, Charlus had not done any pranks and he ran away at the first sight of trouble. In fact, she was secretly proud that Charlus was her goody two shoes son who showed a modicum of respect for authority and rules. It was her who had fought tooth and nail to name Remus as his godfather because she knew that Remus would be a positive influence on him.
"Lilly will you please ask Charlus to report to the staff room?", McGonagall asked as they reached the staff room. They could see that Dumbledore was in the staff room, poring over a voluminous tome.
"Why? What has he done? You can see someone has challenged him", Lilly said.
"Yes, I can see that and that is what I want to know", McGonagall said.
"Why?"
It was Dumbledore who replied, "Students are indulging in more and more pranks. I have had reports that several pranks have been planned which may compromise security measures in the school. The secret ways out of the school which we had assumed to have become dysfunctional are active again. I fear something much worse is going to happen. Even the ghosts are getting skittish."
"The ghosts?"
"Yes", he said, "you may have noticed that the ghosts used to roam the castle at will previously but now they are rarely seen and mostly in places where students don't go. If something can scare the ghosts, I definitely would want to look into that. Whoever has challenged Charlus can scare the ghosts. They have told me that this person emits such an aura that they flee before them and they fear that he can even torment them in their afterlife."
"But what has it to do with Charlus? I mean Charlus isn't someone who can scare the ghosts", she said.
"No but he may know someone. Please send for him now."
Charlus Potter was mortified. Yes, he was a prankster but nothing on the scale of his father, godfather and uncle. This one prank sounded like it was straight out of the Marauder's era.
He also knew the terror that the Marauders were. In days of yore, the quartet was infamous for their pranks and things that they got up to in school. They were still credited as the best of their generation in all departments. James and Sirius were the best duellists of their generation and had even fought Voldemort to a standstill more than once. Lilly Potter was a brilliant witch, a dab hand at potions and a master when it came to Charms.
Charlus admired his father and mother and tried to be like them as much as he could. He was a studious student like his mother and was a natural at charms. He was also good at Transfiguration but McGonagall let it be known to him that he was not what she expected him to be but she hoped he would be as good as his father was, if not better. He had also started pranking people but it was on a small scale because he was wary of getting caught.
However, Harry hit it out of the park in just one go. Remus told him that he had caused the prank the other day in the great hall and now this. Charlus could not even think from where he had got so many pixies. And then he had charmed all those statues and suits of armour to march into the great hall in a procession.
This brought him up short and he was forced to reevaluate his opinion of Harry. Harry could duel with death eaters as if he were walking in the park, do pranks on a grand scale, fly like he was born on his firebolt and had defeated even Alastor in a duel with someone else's wand after having defeated Lilly without a wand.
To hear of it, James had told him that the boy had also slain a thousand years old Basilisk in the chamber of secrets with nothing but a rooster and a sword. Harry was everything that one would expect from a powerful wizard.
"Potter!", the Ravenclaw prefect said, "the headmaster has called you to the staff room."
Charlus was afraid. From all he had heard from his father, godfather and uncle, being called to an audience with Dumbledore was not an ordinary occurrence, and so far, he had not done anything to merit the summons.
Bracing himself, he walked up to the staff room where the professors were in attendance with Lilly Potter.
"Mr. Potter", said Dumbledore calmly, "We all heard what passed in the great hall. Someone charmed the statues and suits of armour to march in the great hall and challenge you. Now I do not need to impress upon you the importance of the fact that such activities put the safety of the school at risk. And the power to animate the statues and the suits lies solely with someone who knows the spell to activate them. Now what was the challenge and who did it?"
"Professor, I am not sure I want to tell you that", he said, wringing his hands nervously.
"Mr. Potter, I must insist that you tell us", said Flitwick.
"It's Harry, isn't it?", Lilly asked abruptly.
"Of… Of course… not", Charlus tried to deny it but his facial expressions said it all.
"What did he challenge you to?", Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes boring into his head as if he would pry out the secrets by forcing his gaze into him.
"Answer the headmaster", Lilly said, "He wants to know."
"Mr. Potter", Dumbledore said, "If you fail to answer me, I will have to suspend you from school for two months."
Charlus wasn't so noble to keep his silence when he knew his brother had set him up but answering the headmaster would open another can of flobberworms and he would have to answer why Harry had challenged him to prank war. However, faced with possible suspension, he decided to save his skin first.
"He challenged me to a prank war", he said too quietly.
"Prank war?", Lilly said, "But why? He knows you don't do pranks."
Remus Lupin cleared his throat, "About that, Lilly, he has done a lot of pranks".
Lilly turned on him, "I would say that you explain yourself this moment, Remus John Lupin."
Lupin cringed but there was nothing he could do but come clean, "Charlus has been doing a lot of pranks since he came to Hogwarts. All the time that there were pranks last year which could not be pinned on anyone, it was him and his friend Edgar."
Dumbledore who was smiling under his beard, said, "And I assume that Harry Potter caught on to the fact that you are a prankster and has challenged you?"
Charlus nodded and the headmaster continued, "I cannot punish you for previous transgressions Mr. Potter but don't let me catch you in a prank anytime soon. Now off you go."
Charlus trotted out of the staff room almost running. After being sure that the boy was gone, Dumbledore turned to the professors, "What Mr. Harry Potter did today breaks a lot of rules of the school but considering that no one has caught him in the act and we only have the word of Mr. Charlus Potter, I think we can let the present infraction go. Besides, I have realised lately that the school has become morose, grim and cheerless. After the recent battle of Hogsmead, the school was in need of something like this to lift the mood. That being said, if any of you find him indulging in activities which break the rules of the school, you are free to put him in detention."
Everyone agreed, even Snape although reluctantly. The boy was a thorny problem for him. He could ruin Severus's life in a second and Severus could only hope it wouldn't come to that.
James met with Amelia Bones to hear her proposition. While it sounded fine and her motivations were clear yet he was not sure he wanted to follow up on it. It was true that his father had not pestered him for it and he wouldn't have done it for any of his children but it was also true that Harry was very different. The boy had already lived through a life before he appeared in their world.
What Amelia asked had merits though since it would cement the Bones Potter alliance more firmly and give them the edge they needed in the Wizengamot. The progressives were a minority in the chamber and could not get anything done.
James also knew that the trial of the recently captured death eaters could be severely hampered if the Wizengamot interfered in the same. They needed to get the issue out of the control of the lords and ladies. They needed a war tribunal. Ironically, the idea had been suggested to him by Harry himself who told him of how they had dealt with the death eaters in the other world.
There was a big problem in the way of the realization of that goal though. He had a good number of allies of his own but that was not enough in the Wizengamot. The house of Black has shifted to the light faction on the decree of Arcturus Orion Black and the number of their allies halved. He had no hope of receiving any help from the Dark Faction and the neutrals who were the majority did not lean in anyone's favour.
They needed the majority but James was not sure if Nicholas Greengrass would agree to his point of view. He was also aware of the equation that Bones pointed out to him. He could play the pureblood game and get Greengrass on his side but it was not to his taste. He decided to wait on it for some time and to discuss the issue with Lilly, Sirius and Remus.
"Neville", Harry called out, "I know you are very adept with a wand but you seem to hold back. I will teach you things that will help you in the war."
"My father has taught me a lot of things", Neville said, "And I have also studied Longbottom family magic but there is a difference between reading and doing. You fought with death eaters like you have been trained for it."
Harry smiled inwardly, "What do you want to learn?"
"I want to learn to fight like you", Neville said, "I have seen you disposing of them like it was no sweat to you."
"The first thing about death eaters is that they are cowards and bullies. They won't face anyone who is powerful enough to fight them. They won't attack if you are greater in number than them. They never hang around and wait for the Aurors to arrive. The first rule when you face them is hit first and hit hard. Hit them so hard that they can't get back up."
"Mate, can we do this with more people?", Neville asked him, "there are a few more people that I want to be a part of this."
"Why?"
"My father always says that you can't win a war without an army. Solitary soldiers often end up dying for no reason."
"How many people are we talking about?"
"Susan, Lyra, Ernie, the twins, Lucian to name a few", Neville said, "They have always supported me in my tasks."
"Alright but it is upon you to arrange a meeting and ensure secrecy."
