STORY TITLE: Harry Read The Books
PART: 02 of?
AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (red.)
DISTRIBUTION: , Archive of Our Own, Hentai-Foundry, Questionable Questing
DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, they all belong to JK Rowling and her publishers.
SUMMARY: On Christmas Eve of the Third Year, Harry finds a series of seven books and a pamphlet titled 'And What Happens Afterward.'
FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster
RELATIONSHIPS: Harry/Multi
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: 5,058
SPOILERS: None, if you don't know how the Harry Potter story goes by now, why are you reading this story?
WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, Dom/sub, multiple partners, and Femme-cest.
AUTHOR NOTES: To avoid the underage issue, Hogwarts starts at 13 years old, so everybody is at least 16 when they start doing the nasty. There isn't any lemon planned for the first few chapters, and only when it makes sense in the story to include one after that.
NOTES ON HORCRUX DISPOSAL: I borrowed the means of destroying the Horcrux from White Angel of Auralon, the fanfic 'Hunt.' I contacted the author a while ago and got permission to use that method.
A QUICK NOTE ABOUT DOLORES UMBRIDGE: I have seen in fanon that Dolores was the daughter of a Cuthbert Umbridge, which, when I needed to find out who was the head of Goblin Liaison Office in 1993, was Cuthbert Mockridge, who was no relation to Dolores at all.
#
Ministry for Magic
Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
London, UK
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Amelia couldn't believe her luck. She had been fighting practically since she took over as Director, to be able to question the Death Eaters who claimed to have been compelled to take the Dark Mark. She didn't believe it, especially after noticing how often the 'supposedly Imperioused' Death Eaters regularly socialized, which could be understood for several of the Death Eaters, the ones who were wealthy pure-bloods, but what possible reason would someone like Lucius Malfoy have to spend so much time with either of the Carrow twins, or Antonin Dolohov, or even McNair?
She had been beating her head against the wall of money and influence, preventing her from even asking the questions of those supposedly compelled Death Eaters. She wouldn't admit it to anybody, but she was starting to feel like she would never any progress. But out of nowhere, she received an early Yule gift when Elphinstone Urquart knocked on her office door and, after casting every privacy and security spell either of them knew, presented her with a cage containing a miserable-looking rat.
As soon as the rat was positively identified, she and Elphinstone took the disillusioned cage and rat to the high-security interview rooms, after stopping by Moody's desk. She and Alastor had a conversation that, to anybody listening, would have sounded like a normal, casual conversation, but the two of them knew exactly what they were saying, it was a code the two of them developed during the last months of the war when they didn't know who they could trust. There were spies and sympathizers all over the Ministry, and even in the Auror Ranks by then, but the two of them needed a way to pass messages and came up with the code, and they still updated it just about every month.
Amelia had told Moody to get Veritaserum and an evidence notepad and quill and meet her down in the High Privacy/High-Security interview rooms. Moody was just as shocked as she had been when the rat was forced to transform back into Peter Pettigrew. The sight of the Dark Mark on Pettigrew's left arm justified the Veritaserum, and the answers to the questions had the Evidence Quill nearly ripping a hole in the notepad it was moving so fast taking down the information. Pettigrew appeared desperate to avoid the Dementor's Kiss so he was extremely open with his answers. He also voluntarily provided multiple memories of Death Eater gatherings, as well as providing the names of every Death Eater at the gatherings, the first definite list of Voldemort's followers they had ever received. The memory of him becoming the Secret Keeper for James and Lily was almost an afterthought compared to everything else. The final memory was of the confrontation with Sirius that ended with the deaths of thirteen muggles. That alone would be enough to see him pushed through the Veil, not that any of the Interrogators mentioned that to the sniveling traitor.
With the memories of naming the Death Eaters, they now had concrete evidence of committed Death Eaters within the Ministry. It was no longer just a suspicion, it was a fact. As she sat in her office, Amelia couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. All their hard work and perseverance had paid off. With this new information, they could finally take action and root out the corruption within the Ministry. It was a small victory in the ongoing battle against the attitude that gave rise to Voldemort and his followers, but it was a crucial one. Amelia knew they still had a long way to go, but this was a step in the right direction.
She was planning her approach to Minister Fudge, anticipating having a fight on her hands, considering how close Fudge was to Lucius Malfoy. A knock on her office door provided the perfect means to blunt any arguments the Minister put forward. Her visitor was the Head of the Goblin Liaison Office, Cuthbert Mockridge, who had been negotiating with the Senior Managers of Gringotts, to get access to Dolores Umbridge's banking information, because the Minister's Undersecretary had committed several serious offenses against Gringotts and the entire Goblin Nation. The offenses were heinous enough to break their confidentially rules, but when they opened up the transaction history for the last 12 months alone, there were multiple transfers to her account from Lucius Malfoy. There is nothing illegal in giving someone gold, but Cuthbert noticed an interesting coincidence, every time there was a donation to Umbridge, within 48 hours of the 'donation' either Dolores or somebody who owed her something, would propose a law to add to Pureblood privileges at the expense of the muggle-born or any non-English magicals. That on its' own was enough to get her interrogated with Veritaserum, and there would likely be additional charges depending on what comes out of the interrogation.
Amelia had to admit, if only to herself, but Fudge actually impressed her, once he understood how many members of the Ministry were either marked Death Eaters, or just willing to take bribes. There was no hesitation, swearing out arrest and interrogation warrants for every person named in the memories. He didn't even stumble over listing Lucius Malfoy as one of the priority suspects and would be one of the first to be arrested, after the Ministry employees so the alarm wouldn't get out to the suspects before they could be arrested.
The last of the Death Eaters was in a Ministry holding cell, including, to Dumbledore's annoyance, Severus Snape.
Having the Death Eaters and the rest locked up, the members of the Wizengamot selected as jurors were summoned, and once the courtroom was sealed, the memories of Pettigrew's interrogation were played and once the uproar about the treatment of Sirius Black subsided, Amelia brought Pettigrew into the courtroom, and the Barrister that was assigned to defend him, came down to the floor of the chamber and the trial began.
The outcome was never in doubt, even though the Barrister did the best he could, Pettigrew was convicted of all charges, and, there was a unanimous vote to have Pettigrew kissed by a Dementor. They gave the rat ten minutes to compose himself before he was taken to the Dementor, the time didn't help, the pathetic wretch was pleading and begging, struggling against the Aurors holding him until he was in the Dementor's grasp.
Knowing that the rest of the Veritaserum Interviews would be going on for several days, Amelia had complete confidence in Rufus Scrimgeour and Kingsley Shacklebolt to keep things under control and to know when they needed to contact her. She locked all the evidence in the secure personal vault that would only open for her, and then, stopping in the archives, found and signed for Sirius Black's wand.
When she reached the lobby, Amelia saw Albus and Remus Lupin waiting. Remus had managed, using an Adfero messenger, to reach Sirius, earlier that afternoon, and told him about the capture of Wormtail, and got him to wait in the Shrieking Shack. Remus, with Minerva's help, got a basket of food from the elves in the kitchen and found warm clothing that would fit Sirius. Remus brought the basket, clothes, and, courtesy of the Hogsmeade Apothecary, several different potions to help Sirius start recovering from his experience, and was waiting at the Shack when Sirius arrived.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Near the end of Dinner
Harry, Hermione, and Luna had been talking all through the rest of dinner, barely noticing that the Great Hall was starting to empty. Harry had a good idea of what Luna was like, based on his reading, and was prepared to accept his new friend's quirks. Hermione, on the other hand, was clearly enjoying the conversation and seemed fascinated by the younger girl.
Although from the shy glances, Hermione was giving Luna and the smile Luna returned, Harry wondered if he was seeing a part of Hermione that wouldn't have been mentioned in the books, especially when the mess with the Goblet of Fire was putting pressure on all of them, and then Umbridge and his scar hurting the next year, she may not have felt comfortable enough to let her interest be noticeable.
Harry set the question aside, it wasn't any of his business, and Hermione was still going to be his best friend, unless she started fancying Snape, then he would take her to check for potions!
They were finishing the last of the pudding course when Harry saw Remus walking through the door, a wide smile on his face.
Before Harry could say anything, Remus leaned in and said, "Sirius was completely exonerated, and is receiving medical care in a private clinic. Pettigrew was given the Dementor's Kiss, he won't be spying on young boys or girls again. Professor Dumbledore and I were able to see Sirius and talk for a while, and when I told him how you used the Map to identify Pettigrew, if he'd been in his Animagus form, the mutt would have been chasing his tail in excitement."
When Harry and the others looked at him curiously, Remus told them about Sirius' Animagus form, and how Harry's dad was a stag. When Harry asked Remus if he had a form, the older man shook his head, "Unfortunately, I'm not able to become an Animagus, not everyone has the innate ability to transform."
Finishing up, Remus said, "Sirius is going to be sending you a letter tomorrow, along with Madame Bones, who's the Head of the Law Enforcement Department at the Ministry. He did want me to tell you that, you will receive a pretty extravagant present tomorrow that won't be signed for. He said that's to make up for all the birthdays and Christmas's he missed."
Harry didn't have to feign excitement, although he told Remus that it was knowing that he had a Godfather and the man cared about him. He was excited about Sirius, but the part of him that was still a young teenager was also excited as Hell about getting the Firebolt.
He said, "I'm looking forward to hearing from him, and will I be able to write back, or even visit him?"
"I'm not sure about visiting him right away, Sirius needs a lot of care to make up for the horrible situation he's been in for so many years. I'm sure when he's healthier you'll be able to visit him, but for now, you should be able to send a letter to him. Just send word to Madam Bones letting her know so she can add Hedwig to the wards where Sirius is staying. I'm sure that hearing from you will help him as much as a dozen potions."
Needless to say, Luna was extremely curious about the conversation but was polite enough not to ask. When Remus left to go up to the Staff Table to get the last of Dinner, Harry could see Luna's interest, and, speaking to her and Hermione, said,
"I don't know the entire story, but what I know is, Sirius Black, rather than being the Right-Hand Man of Voldemort," (and he was impressed that the blonde didn't even flinch at the name,) he was an Auror he was my Dad's Auror Partner, they had been friends as I'm sure you guess by what Professor Lupin was saying since they met on the Hogwarts Express. When my parents had to go into hiding, they used a charm called the Fidelus Charm, which hides a single secret inside someone, the Secret Keeper, and because he and Dad were so close, Sirius suggested that he be the Decoy, and trust another friend of theirs, Peter Pettigrew with the actual secret.
"Which is was a huge mistake, because Pettigrew was actually a spy and led the Dark Arse directly to my parents house. Sirius got to the house, found me alive, tried to heal the scar on my head, and then, turned baby me over to Hagrid so Sirius can track down Pettigrew. I think you know the rest of the story by now."
Looking up, Harry saw that other than Remus at the Staff Table, the three of them were the only ones in the room. Getting up, they escorted Luna back to Ravenclaw, and, agreeing to meet for breakfast, he and Hermione made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.
Catching sight of himself in a mirror, he scowled at the sight of Dudley's cast-offs and said to Hermione, "Can you do me a favor and ask Lavender or Parvati if they have an order form for Madame Malkins or Gladrags? Since I probably will not have to go back to the Dursleys' there's no reason to be forced to wear the baby whale's cast-offs."
Hermione nodded, "Of course, but if you can wait a few days, I can ask my mum and dad to get you some everyday, non-magical world walking around clothes. You can pay me back when they get here."
He grinned, "That would be brilliant, thank you! Do you know the measuring charm, because I don't know my sizes."
Hermione shook her head, "I don't, but I'm fairly certain Parvati does, do you want me to ask her?"
She was in luck, Parvati was in the room and had order forms for both shops and followed Hermione down to the Common Room, where Harry was waiting.
After getting his measurements written down, Parvati commented that certain colors would look better on him than others, she suggested clothes in shades of red, or earthy tones like olive green or brown.
Harry listed those colors on the order sheets, saying with a smile, "I'm going to take your word for the colors, Parvati, since you always look amazing when you are wearing your own outfits, and not the school uniform."
Parvati smiled happily, thanking him before heading back up to the dorm.
Hermione wondered at the change in her best friend, he was never all that comfortable talking to different girls, but he was almost flirting with Parvati, did he do it deliberately, or not even notice? Making a mental note to pay attention to Harry to see if she found any other changes.
Grabbing the list of sizes and colors, she asked Harry if she could ask Hedwig to take a letter for her.
As if in answer to her question, Hedwig came flying through a window and landed on her shoulder, sticking her leg out imperiously, making her and Harry laugh. With that, Harry stroked his familiars feathers before turning to go up to his dorm.
Filling out the order forms he pressed his vault key on the wax seal at the bottom of both forms and asked Dobby to take his orders to each of the shops.
Harry had said goodnight to Ron and Neville before pulling the curtains on his bed closed. He had just laid his head on the pillow when his eyes shot open as something occurred to him. Sooner or later either Dumbledore or Snape will try to use Legilimancy on him, and he has nothing close to shields. Calling for Dobby, he asked the little guy to take him up to the Come and Go Room, and then prepare several meals for him to eat. Before Dobby could leave, Harry stopped him and added several notebooks and biro's to take notes. He remembered the warning that the only thing you could take out of the room was something brought in with him.
Moments later, he was standing across from the tapestry of the trolls, and concentrating on a place where he could learn and practice Occlumency. On the third time walking past the wall, a door appeared in front of him.
Setting up the room the way it was, and was it only the day before? Harry found several books on organizing the mind and building shields along with other similar subjects. Dobby had gotten back from the kitchen with several days worth of meals, and clean clothes.
When he was as ready as possible, he activated the runes to give him the time he needed to study. Sitting down in the chair, he picked up the first book and started to read.
HRTB & HRTB & HRTB
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The Come and Go Room
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Time Immaterial
Harry had just finished the last of the books and was considering getting some sleep before going back to the dorm. He wasn't just physically tired, but mentally exhausted from the effort of creating his shields and putting false memories in front of the shields. Of course, the work put into imagining shagging Pansy Parkinson in the Slytherin Common Room wasn't easy, but he managed it. He almost hoped that Snape would be the one to find that memory, it would drive him crazy trying to figure out how he had managed to get into the Slytherin Common Room, and Parkinson out of her knickers.
He was still smiling as he drifted off to sleep when something else he had read suddenly grabbed his attention. He didn't know why he hadn't paid attention to it when he read the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, other than he was focusing on the immediate issues, and putting everything else to the side, but now, the fact that he had a piece of Riddle's soul in his scar wiped sleep away, immediately.
Concentrating on what he needed, Harry asked for ways to destroy a Horcrux, without damaging the container, especially a living container. Minutes later, three more books appeared on the reading table, and Harry gave a sigh of relief that there was a possible way to get rid of the scar without taking a Killing Curse to the face!
Checking the meals Dobby had prepared, there was enough for 6 more meals before having to leave the room. He wanted to start reading, but two pages into the first book, the words were blurring and he couldn't keep his eyes open. Marking his place in the book, he finally surrendered to the need for sleep.
Harry slept well, except for some oddly arousing dreams, where he actually was having sex with Pansy, but it was here in the room, not the Slytherin Dungeons. And, surprisingly, Pansy was loudly enthusiastic about the experience. A part of his mind determined to remember to talk to Sirius or Moony if there were places where he could get an education.
As if the Pansy dream had cleared the way, several other girls showed up, just as eager and enthusiastic as Pansy. First was Hermione, of course, then Luna found her way into the dreams, and he wondered if she were really as flexible in real life as she was in the dreams. There were too many other witches showing up, and eventually he fell deeper asleep, waking up several hours later refreshed.
After showering and dressing, he grabbed his notebook and pen, writing down the names and, if available, the author's of the books. Sitting back down, he picked up the book and was soon reading steadily, taking quite a few notes, until he found the description of a ritual that would accomplish what he needed. Reviewing the instructions, there were lists of ingredients to prepare and a large bowl made out of silver. He went through the other books and wrote down information that could be useful. Using the same code he used the last time, he protected all the information from prying eyes and prepared to go back to the dorm.
Deactivating the Runes, the room returned to normal time, and before he could blink, Dobby popped into the room with the clothes Harry had worn into the room. As soon as he was changed, Dobby took him back to his bed, and fell asleep almost without realizing it.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Quidditch Pitch
Saturday, December 25th, 1993
After Breakfast
Hermione noticed that Luna was shivering, sitting beside her in the bleachers over the Quidditch Pitch. Casting a warming charm on her new friend, Luna smiled gratefully before turning back to watch Harry and the two youngest Weasleys. Both of the redheads seem to have broken through the shock of finding out about Scabbers.
Letting Ron and Ginny fly on the Firebolt seemed to help Ron and his sister to get over the way they were fooled by the rat. Of course, the two of them, and Percy perked up finding out that Pettigrew was Kissed, so he couldn't spy on them any more.
Then Harry had suggested going for a fly, to help Ginny practice at Seeker, and the two of them had their coats on before Harry finished speaking.
So now, Ron was flying one of the twin's brooms, Harry on the other, both of them tossing golf balls in the air, while Ginny, grinning widely, was flying the Firebolt doing her best to find and catch each of the balls before they hit the ground. All three of them laughing and joking around, obviously happy to be having fun together.
Hermione was glad that Harry had people who shared his enjoyment of Quidditch, because she really didn't understand why it fascinated so many people. She went to the games to support Gryffindor, and Harry, but would be happier curled up in front of the fireplace with a book and a mug of hot chocolate, but then, she would rather be reading comfortably than almost any other activity.
Luna got her attention, saying quietly, "I think they are about finished, so we can go back inside where it's warmer and the two of us can go to the library to look up information for Buckbeak's appeal. I don't think Harry will be able to sit quietly and read, do you?"
Hermione grinned wryly, shaking her head, "No, you're right, Harry has a lot of good points, but he is still a boy, and happier doing physical things."
Looking up at the laughter, she saw Harry and the Weasleys landing in front of the bleachers, which was enough for her and Luna to get off the cold metal bench. As the two of them got closer to Harry, Hermione heard him saying,
"I hope you're planning to try out next year, Gin, you have all the right skills and attitude to be a seeker, and I'm going to get with the others on the team about creating a second team to get younger players some flying time and practice for their positions."
Harry looked over at Ron and continued, "We can spend the next few days working on your Keeping skills, so you can try out next September, Ollie is graduating this year and the spot will be open."
When the two girls joined them, the five went back inside, just chatting, and Harry was hoping to get a letter from Sirius so he could write back, and to Madame Bones so Hedwig can be added to the mail wards. He knew he was smiling like a loon, but he didn't care, in just the last day, he had changed things for the better for he, Sirius, and Luna too, and there's still several months before the long holiday to get even more things changed.
Harry couldn't wait!
HRTB & HRTB & HRTB
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hallway outside of the Library
Saturday, December 25th, 1993
Before Lunch
Harry had just left Hermione and Luna at the Library, they had waited patiently enough for Harry to take a quick shower and change into his new clothes. He had been pleasantly surprised to see the packages of clothing, underwear and all, sitting with his gifts.
He was glad he had taken the time to get presentable, and getting wolf whistles from Parvati and Lavender was kind of a fun feeling as well, before escorting Hermione and Luna to the Library.
Heading down the passageway, he heard his name being called, and turned to see Susan Bones hurrying toward him. Curious, he waited for her to reach him, a friendly smile on his face.
Susan smiled in return as she caught up with him, "Thanks for waiting for me, Harry, I thought I was going to have to catch you at Lunch. I've got an envelope for you, from my Aunt Amelia, who is the head of Law Enforcement."
Reaching into her robe pocket, Susan pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to him.
"Thanks for delivering the letter, Susan, I was actually expecting to hear from her, Professor Lupin told me last night. I thought I would be getting an Owl, but I have no objection to getting mail from an attractive girl."
Susan blushed at the compliment, but kept her voice steady,
"Well, Thank you for compliment Harry, and I have to say I like the new clothes, were they Christmas gifts?"
"Yes, sort of, they are presents from me, to me. And that is clear as mud, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah kinda," Susan agreed.
Harry gave Susan a short version of the Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew disaster, and mentioned that, since he would not be going back to his relatives, there was no reason to wear the rags they forced him to wear.
Susan was honestly shocked at hearing how he was treated, "Didn't any of the teachers, or Madam Pomfrey notice? It's their job to pay attention to students, to find out if they are treated badly at home!"
Harry shrugged, "Not that I'm aware of, even if it would do any good if they did notice, Dumbledore says that I have to stay with my mum's sister because of some kind of protection. I can do without the protection if it means being fed regularly, clothed decently, and a comfortable place to sleep!"
Harry realized he'd raised his voice, and lowered it back to a conversational level. "Sorry, I guess that's been building up for a while. You are a very good listener though, Susan, but I shouldn't have dumped all that on you."
Susan attempted a smile, but there was anger in her eyes, and Harry just hoped it wasn't aimed at him.
"You're very welcome, and you needed to let that out. I'm just glad you trusted me enough to let me know about how it is. What I will do, if the Headmaster tries to make you go back to those people, I'll get my Aunt to invite you to spend part of the summer holiday with us, would that be okay?"
"That would be amazing, I'm hoping that Sirius will be healthy enough for me to live with him, but if not, I would certainly take you up on that offer, as long as your Aunt agrees, I'd hate to have her arrest me for flirting with you." The last was said with a grin, even though he was starting to think about Susan as somebody he would enjoy spending time with.
Fortunately, Susan gave a light laugh, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell her that I like it when you flirt, so the worst that would happen to you is getting the stink-eye from Aunt Amelia."
With that, they separated, Susan to go back to the Sett to write a letter to her Aunt, and Harry to find an empty classroom where he could put up Privacy charms and sat down to read the letters...
End Chapter Two