A/N- I am delighted with the interest being shown however there were some reviews which best be taken out of the way before we go further and see what is in the store for the wizarding world in this chapter.
Mckertis- Yeah it is so stupid because you obviously have not read the books and do not understand that term 'fanfiction'. I can take a little liberty with the events and the characters but well you would not understand the concept.
Guest- it is a little mistake which I intend to correct soon.
MarilynT- Ofcourse he will demonstrate his powers. As I recall he has to have powers to rival Tom therefore he will. What you need to understand is that just swift wandwork and powerful spells would not be useful where your opponent has much more at his disposal.
ObsessedwithHPFanFic- AS always, I am always delighted to see how you relish reading every chapter.
Rayondjay41- I know they are dragging along but not for long. With this chapter, I am hoping to speed things along at a pace that you will like.
This Chapter has been edited by Hypergym and many details have been added which were otherwise missing. I hope you would like the changes.
Disclaimer- The emerald eyed wizard still belongs to JKR. I do not own him
The Marichika
The ship landed on a deserted part of the coast line where there was nothing in sight but desert spreading for miles. It was picturesque in some ways but worrying in others. As far as Harry could see, there was no one in sight. As soon as the ship landed (they had been flying for some way) and the captain lowered the gangplank, he saw as many as 20 people on the coast. Harsh walked off the ship nonchalantly and the men immediately lined up on both sides of the gangplank. For every step he took, every one of the men bowed his head like he was some sort of king.
Harsh had told him that the mystics did not use the port for their ships but this deserted part of the coastline because it was easy this way and it avoided any prying eyes from finding their secrets. They had more threats to them there than just muggles.
One of the mystics called for Harry's attention, "Mr. Potter, Guruji has asked us to enlist your help."
Harry nodded his head and followed the mystic to the lowermost level of the ship where there was a storeroom. As he looked about he could see that the room was filled with many things and trunks scattered throughout the room. Harry could not remember seeing the store room earlier but shrugged. He hadn't seen the prison either.
"Mr. Potter", the mystic said, "your job is to sort these items and store them into the trunks neatly and you can use magic for the task."
There were a lot of items and Harry had no idea about how to do the job until inspiration hit him. As he could see among the things littered on the ground, there were cauldrons, scales, couple of brooms, a heap of books and a variety of other items.
He raised his wand and incanted, "Accio Books!" The next moment all the books came hurling through the air towards him, some of them hitting him in the face. The mystic, who had leapt out of the centre of the mayhem, was doubled over laughing at Harry's predicament as Harry toppled over into the pile of books. Harry's face was a glowing shade of red as he climbed out of the pile.
The mystic said, "Nothing to feel embarrassed about, Mr. Potter. You could summon every book at once is a testament to your power but I feel you have not been taught to use the summoning charm to collect things. I will teach you to use the summoning charm this way. Observe."
He raised his wand and flourished it in the required motion and keeping it raised, he directed the books flying through the air to an open trunk. Within seconds, all the books were stacked neatly in the trunk. As soon as the last book was in the trunk, he upended the trunk and the books were again littered on the floor. He banished them throughout the pile.
Grinning, he looked at Harry, "Could not have done your work for you, could I?"
Harry shrugged but did not say anything. He raised his wand and did as the mystic had taught him but halfway through the process, the books lost their will and fell to the floor. The mystic again sent the books all over the room. This time Harry raised his wand and used the charm with all his power. The books came flying from all directions and fell into the trunk in a heap leaving the mystic laughing.
"Mr. Potter," he said, wiping tears from his eyes, "did you use all your power?"
Harry sheepishly grinned, "I thought this way the books would not fall midway."
The mystic nodded, "Yes, but you need to learn how much power you need to use. You are like a power house full of unlimited power but if you do not know how to
use that power, it will cause accidents like this. Now sort these books into neat stacks."
When Harry told him that he did not know the charm, the mystic taught him the charm and the motion. It was not a very complex motion but he had not used it before so he had to try it more than once. A few tries later and the books were sitting in orderly stacks in the trunk.
Instructing him to arrange the other items in the other trunks, the mystic left him there. After 20 minutes, Harry had arranged everything in the trunks with the lids closed. As he waited and the mystic did not come, he shrunk the trunks, kept them in his pockets and went to the deck where he found that the mystics were making arrangements to go forth.
His hippogriff, Blackstorm, was tethered to the rail with a flying horse he remembered that they were called Pegasus or something, alongside. As soon as he emerged, he was approached by the mystic who he had been helping below decks, "Mr. Potter, you will travel with Guruji on your hippogriff. You both are taking the route from Gujarat to the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, then the state of Punjab from there you will reach near the Himalayas. This evening you both will reach the mystic camp in the Thar Desert and will stay there for today. Tomorrow, you will be given directions for the journey ahead. Now I must warn you about the perils ahead. We have many enemies and most of them have tried to sabotage our order by directing attacks on Guruji. We have averted all their attacks so far but they have never ceased. It is your duty to ensure that no harm comes to our Guruji. You will be his guard for today and use anything that you have in your arsenal."
Harry nodded but was worried. He was just a teenager who was being asked to act as guard for someone much more experienced than him. He knew that any attack on the Lord of Mystics would not be stunners and disarming spells but dark magic. He had no experience of duelling anyone but he resolved to do his best.
"Are you ready for the journey Harry?" Harsh's voice brought him out of his musing, "we better be going. The journey is long and the path is hard."
Approaching Black Storm, he bowed and when the beast lowered its head, he patted its flanks before mounting. As soon as he was mounted, Black Storm ran for a while on the deck and spreading its wings, took to the air instantly. As he ascended, he found that Harsh's Pegasus was flying at the same speed as him. The flying horse was a regal creature with its chestnut color, 15 feet spread of wings and tall musculature. They started by flying to the north in general with an accelerated pace. About an hour or two into the ride, Harry was bored of idle flying.
As they were flying, he could see desert beneath him spreading for miles. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, what is this area we are flying through?"
"This", Harsh made an expansive gesture with his arms, "is the Thar Desert. One of the biggest deserts in the world and this particular area is the part of the no-man's land between India and Pakistan. This is the international border where none of them can claim sovereignty. This desert is important to us magicals because there are so many things found in the sands which are useful for us only. We have been keeping a post in here since the tribe was formed."
"Guruji, I have been curious about your tribe' Harry asked, 'I mean what it is and how one can join you?".
"The tribe is like a big family where we have wizards and witches of extra ordinary abilities. This tribe is a force which often clashes with the forces of evil. Our primary task is to serve mother magic and do her bidding. To be a part of this tribe, one has to give up all their attachments and identities. Once you become a part of us, you forgo your previous life.", Harsh said, lost in thought, "No one can join it by themselves but we seek them out. We always test them and their characters and see they are susceptible to corrupted by power. If we find someone is power hungry and would use it to wreck havoc, we never go to them. Decades ago, we were studying two men who were extra ordinarily powerful and talented but we found one of them though was powerful but could use our secrets to bring destruction and the other wanted to expose all our secrets to the world. The first never sought us out and we never approached him and we avoided the second and dissuaded him from finding us with some difficulty. Years later, those men were turned to be heros and villains to the wizarding world."
"Are you talking about Head Master?", Harry asked hesitantly.
"Yes", Harsh smiled, "Your head master was adamant about finding us to learn our secrets but those secrets being known to others would have caused much more damage than they prevented. We had given a thought to invite Albus to be a part of this tribe but we gave up on the idea instantly because we knew he would never give up on his identity. He had the best interests of Wizarding Britain in his heart and he could not be convinced otherwise in any way."
"Identity?", Harry asked in confusion.
"Yes", Harsh replied, "to become a mystic you have to give up on your life. You have to renounce everything that you were in life, your family, your identity and even your name. Albus loved Wizarding Britain too much to give up on it. We have had members from around the world in our tribe since we started and at times, we take help from witches and wizards who do not wish to join us."
"I do not understand", Harry said.
"You remember I told Mr. Longbottom that his family wand was given to me?", Harsh asked. "The wand belonged to Lord Harfang Longbottom who was powerful in his own might. We were in a war in Bulgaria where we were fighting a dark lord who had a massive army at his side and we sought his help. He along with your ancestor Lord Potter and a few other members of your family's alliance answered to my pleas and we raised a force. We won the war but the Lord Longbottom succumbed in the war trying to protect your ancestor. The wand was given to me by Lord Longbottom while his body was taken to Avalon by your ancestor. We have sought help from many people around the world in many conflicts but those people do not become members of the tribe."
Harry nodded his head thoughtfully absorbing every bit of the information he was being told.
"What is the story of the goblins?", Harry asked Harsh, "why were they not allowing you into the bank?".
Harsh chuckled, "During the second goblin rebellion in 16th century, the wizards were fighting a tough fight and the losses were heavy on both sides. There was a stale mate situation with none of them getting upper hand. We were watching closely and when we were asked to help by the alliance, we sent best of our warriors. I led my people through the goblin stronghold with members of the alliance and we killed nearly 300 goblins in a few hours. As we reached the leaders of the rebellion, the wizarding forces were signalled to make the move to quell the rebels. The rebellion was quelled in few hours but so many goblins were killed with a lot of wizards. When it was time to frame a treaty, the goblins sought for me to be punished but I had already vanished with all my warriors. The treaty was entered into and the Goblins were forbidden to carry a wand but they expressly banned me from entering any of the branches of Gringotts. I never had much use of the bank before but sometimes, I had to go to them and they get in a tizzy. I have fought them many times since then but never a full scale war but like little skirmishes or battles which get resolved with killing a number of them. The last time I visited was about 70 years ago when I was trying to find some ancient relics and I suspected them to be housed in a high security vault. The goblins denied me entry and when I refused to leave, they attacked me. I was successful in entering the bank but they were too many. I slaughtered too many of them and Iron Fist who was one of their best warriors fought me to almost standstill before I was able to hang him as an egg for a dragon. While they hate me for killing a lot of them, they respect anyone with power."
Harry smiled thinking of the story. It was incredible but he could not remember being taught about the mystics in the history taught by Professor Binns. When he asked the question, Harsh shrugged, "As I said, we work from shadows Harry. When we have to work in open, we take different identities. Your ministry was only told that some foreign help was sought and used to quell the rebels. As there were not many fighters and the number of Aurors was going down, we were welcomed without any questions asked."
"Now Harry, we are going to land near the sand dunes there", Harsh pointed to a dune nearby, "there is the stop for tonight."
Harry landed near the designated spot and as soon as he dismounted, a mystic appeared at his side to take the reins of the hippogriff.
Harry could see nothing in sight and turned to Harsh, "Where is the stop, Guruji?"
Harsh smirked and said cryptically, "You need to know where to go. Magic leaves its traces. Tell me Harry what you experienced when you visited Ollivander's for the first time?"
Harry thought back to the moment 4 years ago when he had stepped into Ollivander's and he had felt a rush of wind which raised his hair for a moment. He nodded to the mystic, "Yes Guruji. I felt a tingle on my skin when I entered and a rush of wind which raised my hair for a moment."
Harsh smiled, "Interesting. You had spent a decade away from the magical world and were no better than a muggle born yet you distinctly felt the magical tingle on your skin. It says a lot about your magical prowess. The tingle that you felt was magic. Ollivander's shop is very old and exudes ambient magic with all those people going in to find a wand suitable to them. You felt the magic which lingers there and that shows that you are blessed by mother magic."
He then thrust his hand forward and asked Harry to do the same, "Harry, concentrate on the environment around you and try to find the same feeling that you had got in Ollivander's. As soon as you get that feeling, thrust your hand in that direction and try to grasp anything which may be present there. I would not be disappointed if you do not find anything."
Harry closed his eyes and tried to feel something. For five minutes, his mind kept wandering to different thoughts like Hogwarts, Susan Bones, Sirius Black, his parents and many other things which kept popping up for no reason. As he tried harder, he thought he could feel some tingling sensation and tried to advance his senses in that direction but could not find anything more. Frustrated, he opened his eyes to find Harsh looking at him curiously.
Harsh said, "Did you find anything Harry?"
Harry shook his head, "I could not concentrate at first. Things kept popping up in my mind and after trying hard, I could feel a tingling sensation but that was all."
"Don't worry Mr. Potter.", Harsh said, "It is normal to happen. No one gets it in the first chance. This place does not even have that much residual magic for novice to feel around. However, after you training you would be able to feel it easily."
Harsh grasped something in the air and within a second, he had a rope in his hand. As he pulled on the rope, a door appeared and they went inside. Inside was a three story complex which resembled a small fort with thick brick walls, torches burning in their sconces and guards at every gate. They went through a tunnel on the right side of the door which opened into a big hall which was big enough to rival the parlour in Bones Manor. The walls were sparsely decorated with a coat of arms hanging on one wall. The coat of arms showed a two headed bird soaring through the air alongside an owl with wands crossed in the background and there were some words beneath it which Harry could not understand.
On the far side of the room, there was a raised platform on which sat a comfortable looking arm chair while a number of chairs were arranged in two rows in front of the platform. Harsh climbed the platform and sat on the chair while Harry stood dumbly not knowing what to do till he was prodded by a mystic to stand beside Harsh. He recalled that he was protecting Harsh for the journey however he did not know anything of the perceived threat. He took out his wand and stood in alert position behind Harsh's chair while he held a meeting which lasted for an hour.
After they were done, Harsh proceeded to the dining room where Harry again noticed that many of the mystics did not touch any meat on the dining table however Harry tried some of those and found them to be quite delicious. As dinner ended, one of the mystics cornered him, "Mr. Potter, as I understand you are working as security for Guruji. For the next 4 hours, you will stand guard outside his bed chamber and then you will be relieved of your duties. It is your duty to ensure that no harm comes upon him."
Harry nodded his head, looking determined.
2 hours later, as Harry was alertly guarding the entrance of the bed chamber, he heard approaching footsteps but could not see anyone. At first he was confused but soon he realised that whoever it was, they were using the disillusionment charm which he had seen at Privet Drive. As he looked more closely, he could see shimmering in the air at 4 places. Immediately he whipped his wand out and shot a couple of stunners in the directions he could hear steps coming from while remaining alert. A great thud was heard and two people fell to the ground while two more people became visible and immediately started raining hexes on him forcing him to conjure his most powerful shield.
One of the men fired a light blue spell at him which he recognised as a blasting hex. He shielded against the hex and turned to the other man who had just raised his wand at him. Knowing himself to be outnumbered, he took the approach he knew best. He started casting at the best of his speed by firing off whatever came to his mind. As he was raining down on them, he even cast a lot of the grey spells (spells which are borderline dark) which he ordinarily would not have done. Sometimes, he would dodge and sometimes he would shield but mostly he kept up the attack and the two men were on the defensive the entire time but keeping him on his toes. After about 20 minutes, as Harry's energy was ebbing, he got worried about not being able to stop the men but at the same moment, Harsh appeared from his chambers, "At ease, men."
The two men immediately lowered their wands and Harry did the same. Harsh signalled all of them to follow him into the hall where he was seated like everyone else unlike before.
Harsh started, "What is your assessment of Harry, Viraksh?"
The mystic Viraksh gathered his thoughts for a moment before he spoke, "Guruji, Mr. Potter is very powerful and has a knee jerk reaction to events around him. He had situational awareness around him and he heard our footsteps from about 200 meters away and within seconds, he had fired stunners at us. These two were lax and paid for it with being stunned before they could even fire a stinging hex and Mr. Potter did not allow us to fire more than a handful of hexes. He kept us at bay for 20 minutes and that is impressive considering he did not incapacitate us but only kept firing high powered hexes at us. To keep firing such high powered spells for so long is a testament to his prowess. Whoever is training him has trained him well. But he will need to be trained intensely if he is to match that abomination in a battle."
Viraksh tipped his head in acknowledgement towards Harry while the other mystic did the same.
Afterwards, they were dismissed for the night with Harry going to sleep extremely tired and content to have been able to hold his own against the mystics. And he was hopeful with what they had said about training him. He was glad there was someone who was interested in training him to deal with Voldemort for good. He had started taking notice of things which he had observed happening in himself. He was feeling confident and he had started to try to regulate the amount of power that went into his spells. He also had started to try to connect with his magical core as it said in the book. This was proving frustrating to him because he could not feel a thing within him and the book said that it was important for him for any witch or wizard to find their magical core since it would help them to use the most of their magical strength. He was surprised that Hermione never brought up this subject and neither did Ron but then probably they didn't know about it. He would ask them when he returned.
Thinking of England, his thoughts went to his friends and extended family there. The first he thought was of the Marauders who tended to him like their own child and always tried to do their best by him. He thought of Hermione who was off to Europe with her parents on holiday. He thought about her reaction when she finds out about what he was learning. He could imagine her nagging at him to teach her everything he had learned. Then he thought of Neville and his parents who had quickly adopted him as one of their own. He thought of the Weasleys who considered him as their extended family and treated him as such since the day he had gone to the Burrow before his 2nd year. He thought of Susan Bones and his heart did a little somersault but he could not understand the feeling. He thought of Amelia and her kindness towards him. He wondered how they were preparing for war but he knew that whatever they were doing would be useful for the war. He idly wondered whether the head master had found any more of the Horcruxes. Eventually he fell asleep tired of his exertions of the day.
Black Town House, London
Dumbledore was sitting at the head of the table in the meeting room waiting for other members of the order to arrive. He had received an owl from Amelia during the day which stated that there was business which needed to be discussed only with the inner circle members of the Order. So, he had sent patroni to the Weasley members, Sirius, Remus, Alastor, Kingsley, Minerva and Nymphadora. As per Madam Bones expressed orders, Severus had not been invited to this meeting.
Albus heard the door opening and the Weasley's walked in followed by the Marauder duo, then the aurors and lastly Minerva came in with Amelia who was laughing at something Minerva had just told her.
"Welcome everyone to this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix", Dumbledore announced, "Madam Bones has called this meeting saying she has some new business to share with us."
He pointed to Amelia, who started, "Due to the efforts of some students, I came into some information which has given me unprecedented leverage over the minister. I decided to make some use of the information before we axe him. Armed with the information, I confronted Cornelius and persuaded him to agree to have a trial for Sirius Black before the Wizengamot. During which Cornelius has pledged his full support to us.", Amelia smirked "needless to say, within a fortnight Sirius Black will be cleared of the perceived crimes against the Potters and the murder of 12 muggles."
This elated everyone who was present at the meeting knowing that Sirius being free would work in their favour since his political clout was still more far reaching than anyone else, considering the number of vassals that the House of Black had. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like mad, his mind in over drive about the leverage to Fudge. He turned to Amelia, "Can we use the information to coax him into increase the budget of DMLE or initiate emergency measures?"
Amelia shrugged, "No, Albus. We cannot do that without getting the consent of the majority of the Wizengamot and as far as we know, even with all 11 of Harry's votes, we will be short of a majority because the dark and neutral faction together are larger than light. We need to break the neutrals to gain any advantage."
Sirius who had been sitting quietly all this while turned to Dumbledore, "Who will be looking after Harry's seats? I mean he is not of the age where he can attend the Wizengamot according to the rules, so there will be a regent. He has 4 houses and I believe there have to be 4 regents in that case."
Dumbledore sat smiling for a moment then said, "This will depend on Harry alone but if I were to guess, he would name you, Remus and Amelia as the regents for those houses. Probably you will handle two of his houses."
As there was not much else to discuss, the meeting was adjourned quickly.
Malfoy Manor
Tom Riddle was holding court in the ball room of the manor with all the men that he had been able to recruit since he came back. Most of them were his old followers, some were those who had returned to him the night he came back, others were those who had supported him from the sidelines without taking the mark. Many of these were aurors or part of the ministry in the capacity of Department heads or at obscure positions where they could work for him without anyone finding out about it. These had been informed of his return by the death eaters and this was the first time since he returned that they had gathered here for him.
His return had not gone according to plan. True that using the boy's blood had, at least, made it possible for him to touch the boy without being burned, but that was as far as it went. Instead of the humiliating death he had planned for the little whelp, he had resisted the Imperius curse, his Imperius curse, a thing that had never happened before. Then there was that thing which happened between their wands. And finally, the little wretch survived his killing curse... again! Had his death eaters seen the fear in his eyes? Had they noticed the shock and temporary weakness he experienced when his killing curse hit the boy? No, he did not think so. It was dark and they were all very busy trying to stop the boy. But they failed and the little wretch escaped. At least the wizarding world at large did not believe in his return. It had been surprisingly easy to manipulate the minister with a little nudge and gracious donations from Lucius to use his position as minister to discredit and deny any account of his return. He also had lost two of his faithful who ironically were the very same ones who had been instrumental in helping him gain this body. Severus had told him of the rat being caught by Dumbledore and Barty being captured by an obscure wizard that no one knew about. He had lost two followers in exchange for a body, a trade he considered fair since he was sure that he could break the rat out of Azkaban when he stormed it.
A visit to the prison was in order to break out his most trusted and loyal followers but that had to wait. For now, he was lying low so that nobody could confirm that he was back. From the shadows, he and his followers continued to recruit and add to their numbers. There was very little success so far but he hoped for that to change when he decided it was time to step into the open, whenever that may be. Right now his two main concerns were getting his hands on that prophesy and discovering what happened to the two death eaters who had been missing for a week now. He had assigned them to scout out St. Mungo's and they had not been seen since. Perhaps they had deserted his ranks. They and their families will be punished obviously.
One thing which had been lying heavy on his mind was how the boy had escaped twice from him. The boy had been hit with the killing curse twice now but he had lived. Perhaps he was immune to the curse. What's more is the first time the boy survived the curse, it had rebounded on him, breaking his power and leaving him a disembodied consciousness, even less than a ghost. The second time, he felt shock and weakness, as if a part of him was destroyed instead of the boy dying. He would have to research more to be certain. He was sure that the boy could still be killed. There are worse ways to kill someone than the killing curse. Voldemort favoured that form of execution because, for some reason, killing someone while leaving no sign of injury on their body was somehow much more intimidating than leaving a mangled mess. Ah, well, he would just have to make a mess, this time. The death will be gruesome and painful, of course. The boy had escaped him too many times and for him one was far too many. To complete his quest for world domination, he would have to kill Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Those two had been thorns in his side for far too long. He knew that he could not be killed but he needed to hear that prophecy. Pity Severus had only heard a part of it. His men's attempts at the department of mysteries were getting nowhere with the order playing guard all the time and the unspeakable security. He would need inside help in the department. His old faithful, Rookwood was incarcerated in Azkaban. He would need to break him out. Then he would be able to do something but for the time being, his followers were trying different methods to obtain the prophecy.
Another thing that had worried him initially was the locked wands which had happened when he and the boy were locked in a battle of wills. How the boy was able to beat him was beyond his comprehension but it showed that the boy was powerful for his age. It could mean that in a few years, the boy will be more powerful than him and it did not bode well. The boy will need to die before he did anything. He had tried to find the boy's muggle relatives' home since he knew that he stayed there during the summers but Severus had informed him that Dumbledore had removed the boy from them and the muggles had moved away. No one knew where Dumbledore was keeping the boy. The only good news that Severus had brought him was that the boy's wand had been destroyed in the grave yard which meant their wands would not be locked into a struggle again.
The boy, the boy, it kept coming back to the boy. He had tried and failed to kill the boy three times now. He needed to kill the boy and that cursed prophesy held the key to killling the boy and he must have it. His thoughts went round and round. Then Lucius spoke into the silence, breaking him from his reverie.
"My Lord,", Lucius said, "We have tried every way we could think of to pick up that prophecy from its shelf but it has not yielded any results yet. Marcus Flint is still in St. Mungo's being treated for his injuries but the hopes of his recovery are next to nothing."
At the same time, Voldemort was angry that he had been distracted from his thoughts and welcomed the opportunity to entertain himself, he raised his wand at Malfoy, "Crucio". He laughed inwardly as he watched the least trustworthy of his death eaters squirm and struggle not to cry out. A full minute passed as he relished the pain and made his point for all those in the room who might think to defy him before he lifted his wand,. In his high, cold voice, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "You dare to speak out of turn, Lucius? You forget your place."
Malfoy said nothing, but shook his head fervently.
The Dark Lord addressed the people in the room, "I want the prophecy by any means necessary. I do not care what you have to do to obtain it but, obtain it, you shall."
Cottage on the hill
Alastor Moody was thoroughly irritated. The brats before him were green. They had seen nothing of war and their minds were not attuned to combat at all. The way he was training them, they would never reach their full potential. For one thing, none of them knew anything beyond the standard spells or curses which were taught in the academic curriculum. He had been hoping that things would be better with the Bones lass or the Longbottom boy whose families had a long history of warriors and their family magic was full of such magics as are useful in battles.
He rued the death of Edgar Bones. He was a fighter and often praised by others for his skills but he had died in the previous war saving his family. He was adept in the Bones family magic and if he were here, he would have been an excellent instructor for the students and at the very least he could have taught a thing or two about his family magic to his daughter.
Likewise he missed Frank and Alice Longbottom who were excellent aurors and still fondly remembered by the men in the ranks as being warriors beyond all compare. To vouch for their exemplary skills, they had fought with You-Know-Who three times and had escaped him, a feat only rivalled by James and Lily Potter. The squad of Amelia, James, Frank, Alice and Sirius Black was known for their efficiency and ruthlessness in the battle field. As soon as they arrived in battle, they had the power to turn the tide of war in favour of the Aurors. He had been surprised when they all sans Amelia had left the Auror forces but he understood their reason. They all were fighters but they often fought to keep their family safe. James and Lily had started their family and Harry Potter was just born which forced them to go into hiding and likewise Frank and Alice had their family to care for. They were some of the best Aurors that Moody had trained in a long time and had come to love as family.
When he heard of the death of the Potters and the incapacitation of the Longbottoms, he had gone into a rage. He still remembered how he had been in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries when he heard the news. He had reported for duty the same day. The next few weeks, he had hunted death eater scum and killed as many as he found. It was only when all the death eaters were either captured or killed that Moody tendered his resignation and went into retirement. The war had given him too more wounds than he needed and he would be damned if the snake faced monster took anymore people away.
Seeing the children all arrive through the floo, he hobbled towards them. He barked orders to them to do some warm up before he ran them through the mill.
After about 30 minutes, he had all of them before him, panting and tired.
Looking at all of them closely, he barked, "Who can tell me about the blasting hex?"
Immediately Hermione Granger started, "The blasting hex is one of the standard hexes which are used to blast obstacles into tiny fragments. It has two variants- Bombarda and Bombarda Maxima of which the Bombarda Maxima is more powerful. The required wand motion is half counter clockwise circle. The colour of spell may vary from Light Blue to Purple depending upon the power used in casting."
Moody muttered, "Typical Ravenclaw answer. You copied the book, lass?"
Hermione looked flabbergasted but did not say anything.
Moody turned to the twins, "You two, how would you describe the blasting hex?"
One of the twins raised his wand and incanted, "Bombarda" shooting a light blue spell towards Moody who absorbed it into a shield he had raised almost instantly. The other twin instantly fired "Bombarda Maxima" which was deep purple and Moody batted aside with a flick of his wand.
Turning to the others, he manically grinned, "This is not your class and I am not your professor. Here you are to be trained in the ways of a warrior so that you are able to hold your own in a fight. I do not require parchments for the work I assign but I need you to learn what is in those books. Your life may depend upon them and do not shun any spell as irrelevant. Even a simple stinging hex may get you an advantage."
"Now I am going to see if any of you can dodge or shield. I will fire hexes at you all randomly. I want you to shield or dodge them", he barked.
Immediately he started firing stinging hexes randomly at everyone there. Sometimes they connected, sometimes they were dodged or shielded against when he realised that they shielded more than dodging. He instantly started firing shield breaking hexes and soon all of them were scurrying for cover. Soon enough, they all sported welts or bruises from all the times they failed at dodging or shielding and when their shields were broken.
THAR DESERT, INDIA
Harry Potter woke up tired and sore. Yesterday had been a long day and he had only been able to sleep for a few hours. Every small movement was a new experience in pain. He gritted his teeth and persuaded his limbs to get out of bed, one muscle at a time. He got to his feet and stretched every joint and muscle through its full range of motion, feeling them protest as he did. In a few minutes, the soreness was still present, but he felt more limber and thought that he could bear it. Feeling a bit unsteady, but making his movements deliberate and slow, he made his way to the main assembly hall where the mystics were just sitting down to breakfast.
He had expanded his trunk which he kept in his pocket, and was rummaging around, trying to find his toiletries.
The mystic Vikrash approached him, "Mr. Potter, you will not use mundane methods to do your chores."
"Huh?", Harry muttered groggily.
The mystic suppressed his smile, "I mean Mr. Potter that till the time you are with us you will not use muggle ways to do things. For anything that you do, you are supposed to use magic for it. From brushing your teeth to other chores that you may have, you will use magic for it."
Harry nodded his head and pulling his wand, he summoned his toiletries before he was directed to a bath situated on the first floor of the building. The bath had a big tub in it which was big enough for 4-5 people at once, but there were no taps in the bathroom. As he was stumped at this, he quickly remembered the mystic words about using magic for everything and raised his wand, "Aguamenti!" A thick jet of water started flowing from his wand and in 5 minutes, the tub was filled but he felt quite the drain on his magic. As he slipped into the tub, he immediately forgot the exhaustion.
He appeared in the hall after 20 minutes, dressed in a black robe with his cloak billowing behind him. There was the Potter crest on the left side of the robe with the Peverell crest and on the left side, he had another crest which he was sure was the mystic's crest.
As he entered the hall, he found the mystics were hauling a large bundle out of the front door. As they stepped out, the mystics laid the bundle on the ground while one of them whipped his wand out and tapped it with his wand. The bundle unfurled itself and he found that it was a carpet like the ones he had heard about in fairy tales. The carpet was about 20 feet long and 15 feet wide and 6 inches thick blood red in colour.
Harsh stepped onto the carpet followed by Harry while the mystics retreated to a distance. Harsh tapped his wand to the carpet while muttering something under his breath which Harry did not understand but within seconds, the carpet was starting to hover in the air and in a few moments they were airborne.
Harry had flown on brooms, hippogriffs and now he was flying on a carpet and all were different experiences. Flying on a broom felt like he was in command. Riding a hippogriff was like an extension of his thoughts since he had started riding Blackstorm. While on a carpet, he felt like something else was in control.
He turned to the mystic, "Guruji, we could have apparated to the tribe's home. Why are we travelling this way?"
Harsh smile at his thoughtfulness, "we could have done that Harry but think it as part of your training. Besides, all the initiates of the tribe have to go through this process. While you are not going to become a permanent member of our tribe, you have been accorded honorary member's status."
Harry smiled but said nothing.
"Harry, this area that we are passing through is notorious for attacks. We have been attacked too many times here by all sort of creatures and people. That is one reason that we use carpets to travel through this region but the most dangerous are the flying serpents which are some abominations bred by a nefarious wizard and used against us for a long time now", Harsh said to him, "I want you to use whatever you have to resist any attacks and make sure that no one is able to climb aboard the carpet..
Harry nodded while he tightened his grasp on the wand. His mind was furiously imagining all the scenarios which they might face, one of them being him getting toppled over the edge of the carpet. As he raised the question to Harsh, he guffawed, "No Harry. Unless I wish it, none of us will drop over the edge. You see there is a layer of sticking charm embedded in the carpet which would keep you on board. Unless I wish you cannot leave of here by yourself."
Harry's mind started thinking over the other aspect of the situation- the flying snakes. If he had faced this problem before the first task, he could have simply talked to it but he had not tested his parsel tongue ability since the third task and as so many things had changed after being hit with the curse. Who knew if he retained the ability? Perhaps, it was time for him to find out.
As they sped onwards in silence, he saw some creatures flying towards the carpet and he started blasting them out of the sky before they could land. He successfully blasted some of them while he petrified others however a couple of them landed on the carpet. While he banished one off of the carpet, one flew to him with the intention to strike him. Before Harry could banish it, it sank its fangs into his leg. Harry felt a little sting but could not feel the effects of the snake poison. Before he could devote more thoughts to the issue, he found the snake dissolving with its flesh burning away like hot wax and the snake was writhing in agony. He saw another of the snakes near him poised to strike and Harry yelled, "Stop!"
"A speakerrrrr...", The snake hissed in reply, quivering all the time.
"Don't bite me or you will die", Harry hissed back to the snake, "Can you understand me?"
"You have scent of a speaker about you great one, I am not worthy to talk", the snake replied.
"My friend can you tell me why I did not die when that Snake bit me?", Harry asked pointing to the dead snake.
"You have the poison of the great serpent coursing in your blood, it protects you from all ssssnake poison", the snake replied.
"Its okay noble beast. Do you think you can leave here without causing any troubles to us?" Harry asked the snake.
The snake said nothing but dipped its hood towards Harry in form of respect and flew away. Harsh who had been watching everything curiously turned to him, "Are you a parsel tongue, Harry?"
Harry turned to him, expecting loathing in his eyes but he found intrigue,
"Yes Guruji. The first time I knew was when we were at the zoo for Dudley's eleventh birthday. There was a rather sad boa constrictor at the reptile house and Dudley was getting his father to try and wake him up. When he just kept laying there, the others lost interest and wandered off. Then I started talking to the snake and found out that he could understand me. Then there was that time at the duelling club when Malfoy, at Snape's suggestion, conjured a great ugly snake and set it on me. While I was deciding what to do next, Lockheart hurt it and the snake went after another one of the students. Next thing I knew, I went gliding across the room after it and called it off. That was when people started telling me how rare this ability is and that they thought only dark wizards could do it. I could also hear the great basilisk muttering to itself when it was moving through the plumbing. When I asked Head Master about it, he thought that I could speak to snakes because Voldemort transferred some of his power to me when he gave me this scar.", he indicated his forehead. "I thought I had lost the ability when the second killing curse destroyed the soul fragment within me."
Harsh nodded his head in thought while Harry continued speaking, "I also thought you would hate me."
"Hate you?", Harsh said in amazement, "Why would I hate you for having a gift of magic, Harry? This is a very rare gift and only those blessed by mother magic have this gift. It is the hypocrisy of British Wizards who classify things into light and dark. We embrace all the gifts that Mother Magic has so generously bestowed on us. While none of your Potter ancestors had this gift on their side, your Black heritage had some of their descendants gifted with this gift of Parsel tongue having come from Egypt where wizards with parsel tongue are still found in abundance."
Harry nodded feeling relieved. He had initially thought that the mystic would be repulsed that Harry was a parsel tongue but he was finding that a lot of his apprehensions were baseless when it came to the mystics.
"What I am curious about is what did you say to the snake and why did not the poison of the snake kill you?", Harsh asked, eyeing him curiously.
Harry smiled embarrassed, "He told me that I am a speaker and that he is not worthy to talk to me. He said that I have basilisk venom and it protects me."
"Oh yes, the monster of Slytherin", Harsh smiled, "the basilisk he had put in the school to act as school defense in case of an intrusion."
"How do you know about the Basilisk?", Harry asked in amazement.
"If you are asking how I know there was a Basilisk in Hogwarts then you have to remember that I knew Salazar since he was a child", Harsh smirked at the look on Harry's face, his face showing surprise and his eyes wide, "Salazar told me that he intended to put a Basilisk in the hidden chamber where he had his living quarters. No one knows how the rumour that he hated the muggle-born started since he used to find and bring muggle born wizards and witches to Hogwarts and look after them personally. If you are asking how I know you faced a basilisk then Dumbledore recounted that tale to your godfather and I was there to listen. However, he had not mentioned of you being a parsel mouth."
Harry's mind was reeling with what he was told as he had never known half the things that Harsh was telling him notwithstanding that there was no public information available about any of the founders. He realised that he had been fed a long standing prejudice against Slytherin without any facts to support the statement.
He turned to Harsh again, "What do you mean that he used to bring muggle born wizards and witches to Hogwarts?"
Harsh started, "It was a dark time for wizards and witches all around, Harry. It was an age when wizards were hunted by muggles out of fear, their wands were snapped or they were killed in general by muggles. Muggle born wizards had it worst since their parent would kill them thinking them to be abnormal or freaks of nature. Salazar recognised the need to save them and he devised a plan where he often went to families where they despised their magical child and he often whisked them away to Hogwarts from where they were taken in by wizarding families and raised as pure-bloods. Later, many of those wizards started their own families many of whom are ancient families now. He had left on invitation from the somewhere in Europe to open a school to rival Hogwarts. Legends state that he had died in a battle which involved some rather nasty evil wizards who all ganged up on him and took him down. We tried to find what happened but never found a trace of it."
Harry was in awe of the story. Salazar sounded like a noble man who lived to serve magic all his life and even made efforts to make things easy for Muggle Born wizards. He resolved then to make friends with some of the good Slytherins when he returned to Hogwarts. He felt is unjust to condemn one-fourth of the school only because they belonged to a different house.
After Harsh finished is tale, they kept flying in silence till late evening when Harsh landed the carpet in dense woods. As soon as the carpet touched the ground, 4 mystics appeared like shadows and escorted them to a clearing in the woods and gave a folded piece of fabric to him, "This is the tent Mr. Potter. Erect it while we make food arrangements."
As they left, Harry was standing there with the tent in his hand, thinking furiously about the spell he had seen people use to erect a tent. "I believe the charm is erectus with the wand movement of a quarter clock wise rotation with a flick at the end", he muttered to himself.
Harry put the bundle in the clearing and pointed his wand at it incanting, "Erectus!", while he gave a clockwise quarter rotation with a flick and the tent started erecting itself. Within seconds, the job was done. On the inside it was three stories tall and resembled the tents he had seen at the Quidditch World Cup.
Next morning, Harry woke up refreshed and as he stepped out of the tent, Harsh grabbed his hand and was gone.
Ministry of Magic, London
Cornelius Fudge was sweating bullets. As soon as Amelia had left his office that day after properly intimidating him with all the parchment pieces she held, he had immediately decided to acquiesce to her demands lest she barge into his office with an arrest warrant. With the evidence she was holding, he would get a one-way trip to Azkaban. That would be catastrophic for fudge, and he flattered himself to think it would be catastrophic for the ministry as well. Umbridge had pestered and pried at him to try and get the details of the meeting between him and Madame Bones from him. Fudge had to resort to threatening to fire her, again, to get her to stop.
The junior undersecretary Weasley was silent and keeping an eye over things happening. The boy was a consummate politician and a shrewd person. He had the sense to see what way the wind is blowing and to choose his side wisely. Fudge had already decided to keep an eye on him if he remained minister for long, which didn't look likely right now. Cornelius realised that he had reached the end of his tether and there is nothing much that he could do about it.
As Amelia laid into him about his crimes he felt remorse for his younger righteous self which he had sacrificed at the altar of his ambition. He had fallen from the path the moment he decided to take his first bribe from a suspected death eater. Soon he was engaged in rampant corruption, turning a blind eye to everything Lucius did. He had easily agreed to Amelia's demand to arrange a trial for Sirius Black since the alternative was to become a permanent guest of the dementors. It was political suicide. Black had been his favourite scape-goat and this sudden reversal was certain political suicide. But, that ship had already sailed and maybe, just maybe, if he owned up to one mistake, he might find work somewhere.
Amelia had Peter Pettigrew in custody. The naked tailed rodent had confessed, under Veritaserum, that he had betrayed the Potters. He also confessed to faking his own death, cutting off his own finger and setting off the explosion, which killed all those muggles, to cover his escape into the sewers. Based on that testimony, Sirius Black's only crime was breaking out of Azkaban and since he did not belong there, that was no crime at all. As minister, he could simply issue a pardon, but the formal procedure would look better and distance him from responsibility for the decision. It looked even better in light of the fact that an heir of one of the most ancient and noble houses had been tossed into a cell without a trial. Now, he would get one. Maybe, with some luck, he might not get any more flack from the Daily Prophet. Ever since that day when they announced that they are under new ownership, they had been out for his blood.
He had sent out notices to call an emergency session of the Wizengamot to hear the matter today. Lucius had arrived within minutes of receiving the notice and looked furious that Cornelius had called an emergency session without conferring with him. Cornelius had to remind him that he was the minister and as such it was his prerogative and he did not need Lucius's advice to do his job. As Lucius seethed and took his seat, Cornelius jovially greeted many of his acquaintances and warmly shook hands with the Chief Warlock. He had heard that the DMLE chief was getting real cozy with the chief warlock and as such, Cornelius wanted to be in everyone's good books.
"The emergency meeting of the Wizengamot for the month of July is now called to order.", announced the voice of Chief Warlock Dumbledore, "Minister Fudge has called this session, therefore, let him address it. Minister, the floor is yours."
Cornelius stood and casting a sonorous at his throat, began
"Thank-you Chief Warlock Dumbledore. It has recently come to my attention that a man who has been living under a death sentence has never received a trial. A few days ago, DMLE head Bones brought evidence to my attention that may prove that man's innocence. We have gathered here today to hear the facts regarding this case and to determine his guilt or innocence. Regardless of the outcome, we will have, at the very least, have corrected the egregious injustice, which was committed by the previous administration, of holding this man without trial in blatant violation of his most basic rights. I give the floor to DMLE Head Bones", he nodded to Amelia and sat down.
Amelia stood and faced the assembly, "Thank-you Minister Fudge. The accused is one Sirius Orion of the Ancient and Most Noble house of Black."
There was a general intake of breath mixed reactions of fear, loathing and surprise. A few even chuckled.
Malfoy's face was a mask of cold fury. With a contemptuous sneer on his face and a tone to match, he was on his feet, "You cannot be serious! There is no possibility that man is innocent! I move that we dismiss this proceeding and track him down like a dog! He deserves death!"
At that moment, several things happened at once. The entire room went silent. Albus Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice, "There had been no trial for Sirius Black in the first war and such he was wrongfully incarcerated in Azkaban in ignorance of the due process of law and violation of principles of natural justice. One more outburst and you will be sent out of these august chambers.
Malfoys pointy pale face rapidly went from crimson to gray. He swallowed his angry retort and sat down muttering, "Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore."
Madame Bones waited a moment for the reaction to finish then continued, "Prior to his incarceration, the most serious charge against this wizard was for creating a nuisance in connection with his involvement in a brawl at The Leaky Cauldron Inn. The charges against him are as follows: First: conspiracy. In that as keeper of the Fidelius secret, that he did knowingly and with forethought, reveal that secret to Lord Voldemort (with the sole exception of Dumbledore, everyone in the room winced) who subsequently murdered Lilly and James Potter. Second: Murder. In that he did knowingly and with forethought hunt down and murder one Peter Pettigrew. Third: Muggle Baiting. In that twelve muggles were killed in the explosion which the accused used to murder Peter Pettigrew. Fourth: Jail Break. In that having been incarcerated for his crimes, he did escape from custody at Azkaban. Is everyone present familiar with these charges?", and she paused as the assembly showed their assent.
Now, it was Dumbledore's turn to speak as Chief Warlock, "Does the accused understand these charges?", turning to the table where the defence sat.
Ted Tonks rose from his seat, "Acting in Sirius Black's stead, I am authorized to answer for my client. We understand the charges."
"So entered.", Albus said. "We will now hear motions. Madame Bones?"
"Of all these charges, only the last has been brought during this administration. As DMLE Head, I found that the accused has been wrongfully imprisoned in that he has not received a trial in accordance with our laws and recommend that this charge be dropped immediately.
Amelia then said, 'Now it is time for us to hear what happened at that night from the only witness alive who first handedly knows about the events of the night. One who was thought dead for all these years and touted as a hero by. Quite alive, though slightly maimed Peter Pettigrew, (again, there was a collective gasp all around the room) ".
The doors to the corridor opened and Peter Pettigrew was escorted in, flanked by Shacklebolt and Tonks, his right hand missing.
Albus turned to Ameliaand asked, "DMLE Head Bones, have you examined the witness?"
"Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore", she answered.
"Are you satisfied that this is Peter Leone Pettigrew for whose Murder, Sirius Black was accused of?", he asked.
"Yes, Chief Warlock, I confirm that this is indeed the same Peter Pettigrew.", she stated.
"Well then", said Dumbledore, "since the man is obviously alive, the charge is dropped. We will now hear evidence regarding the remaining two charges. Call your first witness."
"Black killed those muggles, Madam Bones.", Sneered Lucius, "I object to this trial."
Dumbledore hardly glared at Malfoy, 'Lord Malfoy we have already established that Sirius Black never received a trial, a blunder on part of the previous administration and we are gathered here today to correct that mistake and to save a man from a fate as horrible as Dementor's kiss. If you have any tenable ground to object to this trial or some evidence which proves him guilty, please bring it forth otherwise please do not interfere with the Wizengamot or as the Chief Warlock, I would be compelled to restrict you from entering into this chamber for the entirety of this session along with imposing fine on you.'
Malfoy rose and thundered towards the exit and the entire assembly followed Malfoy to the door with their eyes, trying not to look like they were looking. When the door made a very solid thump and click as it closed behind him, Albus spoke again, in his usual pleasant tone, "Please proceed with your case DMLE Head Bones.".
She looked at the man being held firmly by the two aurors and said, "Chief Warlock, I seek permission to interrogate Peter Pettigrew with veritaserum so that we can determine the truth as he otherwise may be reluctant to speak the truth."
This time, there was a definite twinkle in the eyes behind those half-moon spectacles, "Permission granted DMLE Head Bones.".
Peter was escorted to the stand, the chains on the chair engaged to hold down his arms, legs and torso. The Aurors administered three drops of Veritaserum and waited a few seconds before beginning questioning.
Amelia first asked him, "Your name, for the record please?".
"Peter Leone Pettigrew.", he said, looking bewildered and defeated.
"To your knowledge, was Sirius Black the secret keeper for the location of the potters, James, Lilly and Harold?", she asked, next.
To his credit, the rat actually tried to resist answering this time but finally had to give it up, "No. He was not."
Madame Bones tried again because, despite her desire to let Sirius Black go free, she was the Head of DMLE and had to make a good show of trying to find some evidence against Sirius. She asked, "Please tell the Wizengamot, who was the secret keeper for the Potters?"
This time, Wormtail broke down and wept, "I was" and the last bit of fight went out of him.
"On the night of November 7 1981, there was an explosion which took the lives of twelve muggles and, until recently, it was thought you. Were you present when this took place?", she asked.
The rat knew where this was going, but he had no more desire to try and fight it. He answered, "Yes. I was present."
Then she asked, "did Sirius Black set off that explosion?"
He looked around the Wizengamot and could see the hate in the eyes of the Lords gathered in the Wizengamot and whispered, "No, he did not.".
She observed, "Mr. Pettigrew, you sound quite certain of that." Then she asked her final question, "Mr. Pettigrew, who did set off that explosion?"
Looking down at his feet, he answered, "I did."
Amelia turned to the WIzengamot and addressed the gathering, 'We all have heard the truth of what happened that night and as it turns out, the previous administration incarcerated an innocent man in Azkaban for 12 years and the present administration initiated manhunt for him since these last 2 years. I move that the charge of conspiracy be dismissed on the grounds that he was not the secret keeper for the Potters and therefore could not reveal that secret to You-know-who. I further move that the charge of muggle baiting be dismissed as Peter Pettigrew has just testified that he did, in fact, set off the explosion which caused those deaths."
Dumbledore now addressed the Wizengamot, 'We have heard the entire story of the fake death of Peter Pettigrew who also caused death of those 12 muggles and his illegal incarceration for 12 years in Azkaban. Those who are in favour of acquitting him of all the charges and exonerating him?'
Almost all of hands went up, primarily because Sirius was scion of an Ancient and Most Noble Houses and the houses usually stood together when it came to one of their and because Sirius Black had been extremely popular Auror.
Dumbledore rapped his gravel, 'Sirius Black is hereby exonerated of all charges and the manhunt going on for him is called off. He has been made subject of public ridicule and hatred at the behest of Ministry. The lack of trial was a grave mistake for which no amount of Galleons can compensate however we can do we can. The ministry will publish advertisements in Daily Prophet and all other publications daily for a week wherein the Ministry will tender its apologies for besmirching his fair name and his reputation in addition to violation of his rights as scion of Ancient and Most Noble House. Reparations to the tune of 1 million 2 hundred thousand Galleons shall be made by the ministry for the injustices meted to him. It is also decreed that if Sirius Black be found, he shall report to the chief of DMLE and the minister shall tender his apologies in person to him in her presence.'
Just then, Sirius seemed to materialize out of thin air in the spectator stands making people cry in astonishment and wonder and Fudge paled. Sirius turned to the addressed Lords in general, 'Well, I am waiting for that apology from the Minister.'
Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice and declared, 'It is so ordered. Mr. Weasley, please issue those orders forth with. Is there any further business?'
This time, it was Madame Bones, "Yes, Chief Warlock Dumbledore. In light of the evidence we have heard today, I move to remand Mr. Pettigrew into custody pending investigation of charges for conspiracy, multiple counts of murder and sedition in connection with activities as a death eater.'
Dumbledore tapped his gavel twice more and said, "It is so ordered."
She gestured to the aurors and they took hold of the rat as the chains released him from the chair. She said, 'Take him away."
In the next hour, all the paperwork done and a notice delivered to The Daily Prophet, The Quibble, Teen Witch Weekly. Sirius was a free man and he eagerly awaited his son's return.
Waiting for your reviews.