And here comes the twentieth chapter, folks! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Zorobak, something tells me, that wouldn't be such a great idea...
Digitize27, same reason he didn't do it this year.
DarkRavie, god of all, elvander72, akasanta, Marksbay, jamnaz79, geekymom, llIMagic, orion0905, The Sinful, raw666, Eldersprig, FuZzvKiNgZz, mizzrazz72, The Richmaster, Apsire, ObsessedWithHPFanFic, Rori Potter, Charles Ceaser, Aaeru, JPElles, Harriverse, Guest, TheImmortalSlytherin, oddfather, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Purpleeater54, no, it's not easy to possess someone - I just couldn't find a good way to write about that in the previous chapter. I'm going to mention the 'price' Voldemort had paid for his change of the host during the confrontation in front of the Mirror of Erised. As for making Voldemort more competent... Well, it was either this, of make him a total moron, which would have been even worse. That said, Dumbledore, Director Bones and other 'Good' guys will be more competent in this story as well. So, it evens out?
monkiepawn, no, Imperius IS single-action renewable spell. If it was a spell that required continuous input from the caster, Crouch Sr. wouldn't have been able to keep his son under it for more than a single day (he goes to sleep, Jr. is free). That said, the duration of Imerpius' effect would be inversely proportional to how much the order given conflicts with what the target wants to do. So, an order of 'do as you would've done with this order' would be totally useless, but the one who was given it would take ages to fight off the curse. As for your second point, element of surprise is capable of greatly reducing mental defenses. Which was enough, just barely, to let Voldemort bruteforce his way though his new host's mental defenses. It wouldn't have worked on someone who was expecting his 'attack'.
Shincore, yes, Harry will keep Parseltongue - though he'll have to re-train himself in using it - and no, he has it/will have it only because he was in contact with the horcrux for so long. No actual Slytherin (or other serpent-speaker's) blood in Harry. Not in this story, at least.
gginsc, Dumbledore, eh? Anyway, the situation will be dealt with rather soon.
magitech, Spazzman29, well, yeah, the re-possession came as a bit of an ass-pull, but I did kind-of write myself into a corner there a little. I saw this as a lesser evil. Spazzman29, also, take a look at my response to monkiepawn regarding the Imperius curse.
Wyrtha, thank you. *Waves the [Unicorn lives matter] sign*
Yana5, (:
* AN: I suck at writing parties... And, as always, great thanks to my friend Skelekitty for his help in polishing this chapter.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells
A Year Too Soon
Chapter XX: Busy Holidays
"I want to attend the party tonight too! Why won't you let me, father?" Draco whined as he approached his father in the Malfoy manor foyer on the evening of the Yule party. Lucius let out a small sigh.
"Haven't I answered this question several times already? Your behavior while at Hogwarts was not acceptable for the heir of a Noble House of Malfoy."
"This is all Potter's fault! His and that stupid rule's! I have done nothing wrong! I'm a Malfoy and have no need to suck it up to mudbloods!" Draco argued.
"Perhaps, Mr. Potter indeed was the one who promoted this amendment to the Slytherin internal rules. Regardless of that, the rule in question was accepted and now everyone is expected to follow it in public. Your continuous failure to do so only makes the Malfoy name lose face and is the reason behind your punishment. It would do you well to revise my lesson about the importance of keeping up appearances, son." Lucius explained.
"B-But!.." The blond boy tried to object, but his father was adamant.
"No, Draco, you will not be allowed to join your mother and I at the Yule party this year. I would advise using this time to think about the importance of subtlety regarding established rules."
"But, father!.." The younger wizard protested again.
"My decision is final, Draco, you are not going." Lucius said firmly while giving his son a glare that made it quite clear that there was no room for any further argument left. And it worked. Gritting his teeth, Draco turned around and stomped away angrily, his muttering about making Potter pay for this reaching Lucius's ears. The Malfoy patriarch let out a tired sigh. His son's continuous refusal to see the root of his problems in himself and his lack of flexibility when it came to interactions with the people outside of Malfoys' preferred circles was getting quite annoying. The boy needed to learn more about the subtle art of politicking. And the sooner, the better for him.
He was brought out of his thoughts as his wife, stunningly-beautiful as always, joined him in the foyer, finally ready for the party.
"Let us be off, dear." Lucius said. "We shouldn't keep Alfred waiting." Narcissa nodded in response, and the two of them stepped through the floo's green flames to the McMillan manor.
~/ *** \~
He was getting better at it, Harry thought as he stepped through the floo into the McMillan Manor. He might not have done it in a graceful way, but, at the very least, he didn't end up in a heap on the floor, which was quite a progress for him.
"Welcome to the McMillan manor, Heir Potter." A rather tall man with short blond hair and brush-like mustache greeted once the green-eyed youth recovered a little from the head-spinning experience that was the floo travel. "Please follow through the door to your left into the Blue Hall. We will be starting soon." The man added then after a brief glance at the clock on the wall.
"Thank you, Lord McMillan. It's an honor to be there." Harry replied politely. The two wizards shook their hands, and the young Potter proceeded to the Blue Hall. Stepping through the double doors, he found himself in a very spacious room, easily the size of Hogwarts' largest classroom. Most of the Blue Hall was dedicated to one giant dancing floor, with an orchestra in the far corner and some tables with refreshments sitting along the walls.
And there were a lot of wizards and witches in expensive-looking opulent dress robes in there. A few were walking around and greeting others, but the majority seemed to be mingling only within their small groups. From where he was, Harry could see only a handful of familiar faces but, unfortunately, those were the people he didn't interact much if at all at Hogwarts. Greeting the few that actually noticed his arrival with a small, polite bow, he passed into the hall, looking out for his friends.
After a minute or so of walking around, Harry finally spotted the people he was the most eager to see right now: Flora and Hestia. The Carrow twins were standing by a window, making desperate attempt not to look bored out of the mind while their grandmother was talking business with some elderly wizard. Noticing him, the girls quietly waved him.
"Good evening, Heir Potter." They greeted Harry officially as he walked up to them. "It's a pleasure to see you tonight." They said while offering him their hands.
"The pleasure is all mine." He replied, taking the girls' hands. He then kissed each, causing Flora and Hestia to giggle while a pink tinge spread over their cheeks. "You two look fantastic." Harry added then. And, indeed, their dress robes might not have been as opulent as quite a few other, but they looked great and made Flora and Hestia look like (modest) princesses.
"Ah, Heir Potter, I'm pleased that you had no difficulty making it here tonight." Lady Carrow said. "Please let me introduce Mr. Tiberius Ogden, an exemplary businessman and a distiller."
"An honor, Mr. Potter." The elderly wizard said as he shook Harry's hand.
"Likewise." Harry replied politely. With the introductions out of the way, Mr. Ogden returned to his conversation with Lady Carrow, which the young Potter had no interest in: catching up with his friends was far more fun! "So… How were your holidays so far?" He asked the twins.
"Rather quiet, to be honest." Flora replied. "And what about yours?"
"Pretty much the same." Harry said. After a short pause, he continued, changing the topic: "Have you seen any of our classmates around here? I saw a few people from Hogwarts, but none of them were Slytherins. Or even from our year."
"Hm..." Hestia breathed out thoughtfully. "I think, I saw the Greengrass family arriving a little while ago. Shall we go look for them?" The green-eyed Potter nodded, and the three of them excused themselves to Lady Carrow and Mr. Ogden, leaving in search for the Greengrass sisters. After a couple of minutes they found Daphne and Astoria talking to Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Strangely, Daphne's nearly inseparable friend, Tracey, seemed to not be with them.
"Harry, Flora, Hestia, nice to see you!" The dark-skinned boy called as the 'older' trio approached. He then shook Harry's hand while the girls greeted each other with quick pecks on their cheeks. "How are you all this fine night?" The Italian-born wizard asked next.
"We're doing well." Flora replied for the three of them. "And how are you?"
"So are we." Blaise replied. "Though some of us are a bit too impatient for the party to start." He then added while nodding towards Astoria, who, indeed, looked ready to embark on a dance the moment the music started playing.
"Yeah, little 'Tori can be quite a ball of restless energy sometimes." Daphne supplied 'helpfully' while ruffling her sister's hair lightly. After a short pause, during which she stole a glance at the clock, she continued: "Hm… We have only a few minutes before the party starts, but it doesn't look like the Notts, Malfoys and Bones are here yet." Harry shrugged.
"No, we haven't seen them either..." He cut off as he saw a familiar face moving through the crowds. "Speak of the Devil..." He muttered under his breath, before calling out as loud as was appropriate in the current situation: "Theodore!" Hearing his name, the young Nott stopped and turned around. Noticing his housemates calling for his attention, he excused himself to his parents and moved to join his friends.. "Evening." Harry greeted him.
"Good evening, everyone. Sorry for being a bit late, there was an issue back home that delayed our departure slightly."
"Don't worry about that; you're right on time." Pansy reassured him. "Are you looking forward to the party, Theo?"
A couple of minutes later, their conversation, which began gravitating towards Hogwarts and other school-related topics, was interrupted by Lord McMillan's Magically-amplified voice filling the Blue Hall:
"Good evening, Ladies and gentlewizards, and welcome to the Yule Party of 1991! Before we begin the celebrations, let me say a few words about the outgoing year." And the man proceeded to give a speech about the ups and down of the past year and his vision of the coming one. It was mostly about politics related stuff, so Harry didn't find it to be particularly interesting.
Finally, everything was said and Lord McMillan made a rather pretentious wand movement, signalling the band to start playing. Flora and Hestia took this as their cue and offered Harry their hands. And once he took them, the twins wasted no time in pulling him towards the center of the hall, where the first pairs were starting their dance.
A few dances later, Harry found himself at one of the tables set along the walls of the Blue hall, picking some refreshments for himself, Flora and Hestia. And just as he was about to return, he almost ran into a tall man with long blonde hair, whom he, after a moment, recognized as Lucius Malfoy, the current Lord of the Noble House of Malfoy.
"Good evening, Lord Malfoy." He greeted the man. "It's a pleasure to finally make acquaintances with you." The older wizard nodded.
"Likewise, Heir Potter." There was the briefest of moments of silence, before he added: "I must say, I'm delighted to see that you've managed to overcome whichever obstacles that kept you from attending the Yule party the previous year." His words sounded quite genuine, but Harry couldn't help but feel that the Lord Malfoy was still quite disappointed in him for not being able to attend the party he had hosted.
"As am I." Harry said. "Alas, my being able to be here tonight has a lot to do with Lady Luck finally smiling upon me. I will have to think of new ways to work around the Headmaster to attend events like this in the future."
"I see..." Lucius said after a bit of a pause. "I wish you best luck then, Heir Potter." The green-eyed wizard nodded.
"Thank you, Lord Malfoy." After a moment of silence Harry continued: "It was a pleasure to talk you, but I'm afraid, I've kept my ladies waiting for long enough." The blond wizard nodded slowly, continuing on to his wife. Letting out a sigh after a few seconds, Harry carefully made his way to where Flora and Hestia were waiting for his return.
~/ *** \~
"Good morning. Please tell your curse-breakers that I've arrived." Harry said as he gave a letter to a Gringotts teller. The goblin behind the counter studied the parchment for a few long moments, and once he had confirmed that it was no forgery, he summoned one of the 'errand boys'.
"Boneclaw, escort Mr. Potter to the waiting room number seventeen and notify Senior Curse-Breaker Grimlance that his client has arrived." The teller instructed the younger goblin in gobbledegook, who nodded quickly, before turning his attention to the green-eyed wizard.
"Please follow me, Mr. Potter." And with that he errand-goblin headed for one of the many doors leading out of the Gringotts atrium. Harry, who'd rather not be left behind, quickly followed his 'guide'... After a few minutes of navigating through the maze of corridors, they arrived to a long, brightly-lit hallway with numerous doors lining its walls. The goblin stopped at the door with a golden number '17' on it.
"Please wait inside, Mr. Potter. Senior Curse-Breaker Grimlance shall be there momentarily." He said as he unlocked and opened the door. Nodding, Harry stepped inside the waiting room. It wasn't especially big - maybe twice the size of the Dursleys' guestroom - but certainly looked quite comfortable with three sofas around a coffee table. Taking a seat, the green-eyed youth waited for the curse-breaker to arrive.
And just like the errand-goblin promised, the curse-breaker joined him not five minutes later. He was an imposing goblin with a number of prominent Magical scars on whatever skin wasn't hidden under dragonhide armor. He was also carrying an ornate dagger on his belt an array of various golden trinkets that, probably, were his curse-breaking tools.
"Mr. Potter, I presume? I'm Gringotts' Senior Curse-Breaker Grimlance. I've been told, you wish to employ my services." The goblin said. Harry nodded.
"Yes, I'd like you to examine my scar." He said, pointing at the infamous lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. "A ...person I trust was concerned that there might be some foreign and likely not benign Magic residing within it."
"I see..." Grimlance said. "I can do that. We'll have to relocate to one of the ritual chambers, though. I'm afraid, the current setting won't be conductive to the proper in-depth examination of cursed scars." Once Harry gave him a nod of agreement, the goblin curse-breaker led him out of the waiting room. Another walk through the maze of corridors and stairs, and they arrived to a barren circular room, lit by a number of strange Magical torches that burned with cold blue flames. "Please remove any enchanted items you might be wearing and lie down on the floor in the center of the room, Mr. Potter" The goblin instructed.
The floor was cold and not at all comfortable, but Harry didn't complain and just lay there quietly while the Grimlance drew some strange runes around him. Once he was done, the curse-breaker began chanting in gobbledegook, which caused the runes to lit up with the same cold-blue light. Then, a moment or two later, the young wizard felt unfamiliar Magic probing him. It was not a nice sensation, but he grit his teeth and bore with it… After what felt like hours, the goblin had all the information he needed and stopped channeling his Magic into the runes.
"There is indeed a strong presence of a foreign Magic centered around your scar, Mr. Potter." Grimlance said. "I believe I can identify its nature already, but I'd like to make an additional examination to be completely sure." The green-eyed wizard nodded.
"Of course." The goblin immediately went back to work. Removing the old set of runes, he drew a new, much more elaborate, one. Once done, he began chanting, once again subjecting Harry to that uncomfortable feeling of being deep-scanned with Magic.
"Yes, as I thought, your scar is a horcrux." Grimlance said once he finished examining the young Potter's infamous scar. Seeing the confusion on his client's face, the goblin elaborated: "It means, a piece of soul that belongs to another being resides there. And while it might be impossible for me to determine who made this horcrux, that recent Dark Lord of yours, Voldemort, I believe, would be a likely candidate." This revelation shocked Harry to his very core and made him feel dirty and violated. He also couldn't help but suddenly fear that the previously-dormant piece of soul would try to take over him, now that it has been discovered. He really didn't want to give his body away to that monster in human form.
"C-can it be removed?" He asked, once he finally regained the faculty of speech, hoping beyond hope for a positive answer. Thankfully, his little wish was granted:
"Yes, that can be done." The curse-breaker said. "However doing without causing you permanent harm is beyond my abilities. You will need to hire a Master Curse-Breaker, possible entire team of them, for this job." That sounded expensive, but Harry would give pretty much anything to get rid of that abomination. "Furthermore, the only ritual to safely extract a horcrux that I know of requires seven days of preparations, so I suggest you book the curse-breakers' services well in advance, Mr. Potter."
~/ *** \~
"...And here are the changes to the lesson plans that I propose, Headmaster." Terrence Mire, an Auror-turned-teacher, said as he handed Dumbledore a piece of parchment. "I must say, I was surprised by how neutral and professional they were, considering that they were written by a very Dark wizard. I found only a handful of things that, I believe, need to be changed."
"Thank you, Terrence." The aged warlock said, accepting the parchment. "I'll send you a note with an elf when I finish reviewing your suggestions." Nodding, the DADA Professor was about to leave, when Dumbledore stopped him. "One more thing, Terrence. I'm not sure, whether Amelia… Whether Director Bones has told you that there used to be an object of extreme value safeguarded within the castle. The object in question has since been removed from the school, but its protections still require an update. Thus, when you have time, I'd like you to implement some form of a protection in a form of a trap room, Terrence." Dumbledore asked. The other man nodded in response.
"I will try to think of something when I have a bit of free time."
"Thank you." The aged warlock said, before dismissing his newest DADA Professor, who gave him a small nod, before walking out of the Headmaster's office.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Voldemort let a crooked grin split his temporary face: the old fool was far too trusting. The Dark Lord had been afraid that he'll have to waste his host's remaining time searching for the Philosopher's Stone's new location, but Dumbledore was seemingly giving it to him for free. Perhaps, he might actually get his new, perfect body much sooner than he expected!
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was sitting in his office, deep in thought. His skill in detecting Magic allowed him to 'see' the dark taint clinging to his new DADA Professor. It was much the same with what he had observed around Quirinius and, knowing that the man had been working for Voldemort, this was quite unsettling. He tried to think up a reasonable explanation for this taint, but the only idea he could come up with were branding Magic and direct possession. In either case, this was bad news as it meant that the Dark Lord managed to get an Auror under his control. And the chances were, he had already used Terrence to do further damage within the Ministry. He needed to notify Amelia about this immediately!
"Director of the DMLE office." He called as he threw a pinch of floo powder into a fireplace sitting in a corner of his office. It looked like Lady Luck was on his side and Madam Director was still at her workplace. "Good evening, Amelia." He greeted her.
"Good evening." The witch returned without much enthusiasm. "Is there something I can do for you, Dumbledore?" The aged warlock nodded.
"Yes. I bring you news of grave importance." Pausing for a brief moment, Dumbledore continued. "I'm afraid Quirinius - Mr. Quirrell - hadn't been acting on his own, and whoever controlled him managed to compromise your corps and, possibly, the rest of the Ministry. I know that the Aurors have semi-annual checks for the Imperius curse and other means of Magical mind manipulation, but, if memory serves, the next one is in May. I implore you, Amelia, to have an unscheduled one as soon as possible. And extend it to all departments of the Ministry."
"Those are some very serious claims, Dumbledore." Madam Bones said with a deep frown. "I would like to see the source of your information and verify that it is trustworthy. And, assuming I do perform an unscheduled check, I'll have to recall senior Auror Mire, your current DADA professor."
"I'm afraid, I can't disclose my sources to you, Amelia." Albus replied. "If you start investigating them, it might alert the Dark Wizard standing behind all this that you're aware of his doings before the Ministry is cleared of his agents. If he decides to strike, it can do untold amounts of damage. Same with Terrence Mire, he must remain at Hogwarts. I will personally deal with him." Amelia let out a dissatisfied growl: she really hated it when people kept such crucial information to themselves. That said, she also knew Dumbledore well enough to know that he wouldn't contact her like this if it wasn't very important.
"Fine." She said finally. "But once this is over, you will disclose your sources to me." She demanded.
"Of course." The aged warlock agreed, before ending the floo call. Returning to his table, he couldn't help but hope that whatever Voldemort was trying to do with his latest scheme hasn't done too much damage to the DMLE and the Ministry as a whole yet. And while he will let Amelia handle cleaning up the Ministry, he needed to tighten the wards around Hogwarts to ensure that Voldemort wouldn't be able to hurt the school's students through Terrence. And, if his guess that the Voldemort was actually possessing the poor man was spot on, he also needed to update his own safeguard for the Philosopher's Stone. Tom was nothing if not a cruel, ruthless and resourceful bastard, and the Greater Good will suffer greatly, should the Dark Lord succeed in his quest to regain a body...
That's all, folks!
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