Chapter 31
Episode - Selfless, Brave and True
Harry Potter and Emma Swan walked down the stairs of the Storybrooke Hospital into the basement to the asylum. He walked up to the receptionist who was sitting behind a desk wearing a nurse's uniform.
He then started walking down the corridor. He passed by a disheveled woman in a hospital gown who was mopping the floor.
It had been a week since Harry had enacted The Blessing Of The Villainous Hero on Lord Voldemort. And a number of things happened during the event. Belle had stolen Harry's invisibility cloak and the Enchanted Candle, and then went to Regina's Vault and cursed Cora's heart and then managed to put it back inside of Cora's chest. Cora died and Rumpelstiltskin was cured of his poison.
The Evil Queen was out for vengeance again, but was adhering to her probation. Cora had been fought and subdued by the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army. And then Belle killed her in her vulnerable state in order to save her beloved Rumple.
With the threat of Cora and Lord Voldemort no more, Harry dismissed the members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army from the town.
Neal was going to invite his girlfriend from out of town to Storybrooke and tell her everything, about his origin and magic and everything. This was technically a violation of the International Statute of Secrecy, but there are some Muggles that know that magic exists, and Truth be told, the few Muggles that know, they could hardly expose The Wizarding Community if they wanted to.
If a muggle knew that Wizards and Magic exist, they can hardly run up and down the street and shout at the top of their lungs, "Hey, Wizards and Magic exist. They exist among us in a secret community." it would hardly contaminate the secrecy. Because it's said all the time. Countless people on the internet who do not know that magic and wizards exist, post blogs and conversations about how it's real all the time, and the majority of the population don't believe them.
As Harry walked down the hall which consisted of about 50 padded rooms, some vacant, but the occupied ones each had a name. One had the name 'S. Glass'. Another had the name 'Spencer'. And then he came to a room that had two men standing on either side of the door which were Aurors from the Magical Congress. The door was marked with a plaque that said 'T. Riddle'.
"I'm going to see the prisoner." said Harry matter of factly with authority.
The two men bowed their heads and stepped away in respect at Harry's presence. Word that Harry had defeated Lord Voldemort yet again had been spreading across the magical community.
Harry waved his wand over the door and the Protection Spell preventing anyone from getting in or out was removed. Harry opened the door. Emma drew her sidearm.
Inside was Tom Riddle wearing a gray jumpsuit. He was just sitting quietly with his eyes closed. He seemed to be meditating.
"Hey Tom." said Harry in a friendly voice.
Tom Riddle looked up.
"Harry Potter." said Tom Riddle with a smile, calm and composed. "It is an honor. And you too, Sheriff."
"Thank you." said Harry. "How are you doing?"
"I'm feeling fine." though his voice had turned to a tone of sadness. "I'm still feeling guilt and shame over all of the sins I committed."
"It's the Blessing Of The Villainous Hero." said Harry.
"Yes indeed." said Tom Riddle. "I am also experiencing additional symptoms. The Blessing seems to be forcing on my mind an extreme desire to perform hero deeds."
"I should have anticipated that." said Harry. "My intention was to merely purge your mind of evil and badness. But of course what it does is it turned you from a villain to a hero."
"One is not a hero for no reason." said Tom Riddle. "In my entire life I have yet to perform a heroic deed. One is not a hero until they perform a heroic deed."
"Well for right now, you can channel the energy into simply serving your time."
"Yes, of course." said Tom. "I hear congratulations are in order. You have been awarded the Order of Merlin First-Class."
"Yes I have." said Harry.
"You deserve it." said Tom with a smile. "Where is my daughter?"
"Safe." said Harry. "She's staying with the fairies at the convent. I have decided that I will adopt her myself if you are not opposed."
"I think Lord Voldemort signed away any parental rights long ago." said Tom. "If she's to be adopted by anyone I trust you will give her a good life. And be the father to her I never was."
"You can trust me." said Harry. "As for prison, how much time do you think you deserve to serve?"
"Forever." said Tom.
"Are you sure?" asked Harry.
"Other people have been sentenced to life without parole for far less than what I've done." said Tom.
"Fair enough." said Harry. "But you are no longer the man that you were. I don't believe in incarcerating a harmless man who can be a productive member of society."
"What do you suggest?" asked Tom.
"I'm going to represent you at your trial." said Harry. "I'm going to argue that you are not Lord Voldemort. That Lord Voldemort is dead. That you are a different Consciousness now inhabiting the body, and that you are no threat to anyone and that you have never hurt anyone."
"You may try." said Voldemort as he nodded in compliance. "But I do not fear you failing if you do not succeed. I am more than happy to accept whatever sentence a fair and impartial jury of my peers gives me."
Harry then reached into his pocket and pulled out Voldemort's wand.
"We've done a thorough magical examination of your wand." said Harry. "It is no longer a horcrux. The portion of your soul within it has returned to your body."
"It doesn't matter." said Tom with a smile. "My horcrux. I don't need it anymore. I am happy to die a mortal death now."
"We would like to ask you a few questions." said Emma.
"I will be happy to give you any information that I possess." said Tom compliantly.
"We wish you to name every single one of your Death Eaters." said Harry in an official Police business voice.
"Of course. Though I do wish to ask, what will become of them once I name them?"
"They will be rounded up and arrested." said Harry.
"Of course." said Tom with understanding. "But I just wish to clarify, is simply being a Death Eater a crime?"
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"There are many Death Eaters still at large that became Death Eaters under intimidation and blackmail." said Tom. "I branded them with the 'dark mark' and told them to 'stand by' until such time as I called them 'to service'. Many of them I never did call to service. And as far as I know they've never actually committed a crime. So unless the crime that they have committed is simply being a Death Eater under intimidation and coercion, perhaps the context of their guilt should be reevaluated."
"Fair enough." said Harry considering Tom's suggestion.
"And another thing." said Tom. "I wish to summon a Council of the Death Eaters."
"Why?" asked Emma.
"To formally disband them, and to declare to their faces that I am releasing them from my service. There are many Death Eaters that are still very loyal to me and waiting for my return, and will continue to support the cause unless I specifically tell them to stop. There may be some that will not listen to me and will continue my work from where I left off, but that will be on them."
"That will have to wait until later time." said Harry. "The Magical Congress has given Kingsley Shacklebolt temporary jurisdiction on your trial that will take place here in Storybrooke as the charges against you are a British criminal case, not American."
"When will the trial take place?" asked Tom.
"Tomorrow." said Harry. "The Prosecution will present a strong case against you, I in turn will present the best defense in favor of you that I can. The fact that it's coming from me, and I will focus mostly on your Rehabilitation."
"Thank you." said Tom gratefully. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to go back to quiet meditation."
"As you wish." said Harry.
"Wait." said Tom.
Harry and Emma stopped to listen. Tom opened his hand, palm up, and with a whirl of purple smoke a red rose magically appeared in his hand.
"A gift for Cora's grave. I wish to pay my respects. Voldemort had a fondness for her."
Harry took the rose.
"I will make sure that the Evil Queen gets it." said Harry.
They exited the hospital where Emma then walked off in the direction of Granny's. Harry went in a different direction.
Harry went to the house that he and the gang were staying at.
"Hey guys." said Harry as he came face to face with Ron and Hermione.
"Hey Harry." said Hermione. "How did it go?"
"As well as it could have." said Harry, as he waved his wand over the stove in the kitchen to boil some water for some soup. "He's as calm and collected as I've ever seen him. He says he's willing to accept whatever punishment a fair and impartial jury of his peers will give."
"There won't be a jury." said Ron.
"We just got word from Kingsley." said Hermione. "It will be a 'Bench Trial."
Harry thought about that for a moment. He wondered if it would hurt his case. He then decided that it wouldn't. Any jury would not be able to be fair and impartial towards Lord Voldemort. He did however trust Kingsley to make a verdict of Guilty or Not-Guilty strictly based on the evidence."
"It'll be fine." said Harry.
"Why do you even want to defend him anyway?" asked Ron.
"He holds my heart. And I hold his." said Harry. "We are again connected. After everything I went through to enact the Blessing, I think he deserves it. Voldemort paid the ultimate price, his life. The newly reformed Tom Riddle under the Blessing of the Villainous Hero, in my opinion he's innocent."
"Well, as much as we don't like it," said Ron with determination in his voice, "we will stand behind you."
"We always have and we always will." said Hermione.
An hour or so later Harry decided that he would go to the Sheriff's Station to work on some legal paperwork.
He was just walking up to the entrance of the sheriff's station when all of a sudden a man burst out the front door trying to run but wobbling around and stumbling until he fell to the ground.
After a moment of scrutinizing the person, he realized that he was not flesh and blood. His entire body except for his clothes were made completely out of wood. He was a 6 foot tall, man-sized, walking, talking, marionette with no strings.
"August!" called out the voice of Emma as she, Mary Margaret, David, Henry, and Marco the town handyman ran up to the puppet.
"Emma." spoke the man-sized puppet in a weak scratchy voice.
He seemed to be injured.
"Pinocchio!" said the old man, Marco. "My boy! What has happened to you?"
"I'm sorry papa." said the puppet with a weak exhausted voice. "I failed you."
"No, my boy." said Marco. "You have nothing to apologize for. It is I who failed you."
He then looked at Emma.
"Emma." he then tried to get up and whisper in her ear. "I need to warn you about something important. We're all in danger. She…" he began, but he couldn't seem to finish the sentence because he had no strength, "she…she…"
But then his eyes closed and his body went limp.
"No!" cried Marco in disbelief and denial. "Not again! Not again!"
It was then that Neal walked up and he looked at the dead puppet with recognition.
"August?" said Neal.
"No." said Mary Margaret in disbelief as she shook her head. "No. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. August was supposed to get a second chance. He was supposed to get a happy ending."
"Harry, can you heal him?" asked David.
"His body is made out of enchanted wood." said Harry. "His anatomy and DNA is nothing like that of a normal human being. I wouldn't know how to heal him."
"But someone killed him! He tried to warn us about some kind of danger," said Emma half anger half determination in her voice, "with his last dying breath. I will not let that be in vain!"
They all stood there quietly for a moment while Geppetto again mourned and grieved the death of his son that he had already lost and gotten back several times while his story played out in the Enchanted Forest before the Curse.
"Brave, truthful, and unselfish?" said Henry through a whisper in his voice.
"What?" said Harry, immediately curious about Henry's epiphany.
"Brave, truthful, and unselfish!" said Henry loudly with Dawning comprehension in his voice in a tone of renewed hope. "Don't you all see? That is what Pinocchio was supposed to be. There's still hope. We need the Blue Fairy."
And on que as if summoned by Henry's words, Mother Superior ran up behind them right at that moment.
"I'm here Henry." said Mother Superior to the boy.
"Mother Superior, can you restore August's life?" asked Harry.
"August just tried to warn us of some kind of Danger with his last dying breath." said Henry. "Would that be selfless and honest enough to restore his life?"
"Possibly Henry." said Mother Superior with hope but still uncertain. "If as you say August's actions here today truly were brave, truthful, and unselfish, then yes there is a possibility that I could restore his life."
"Please!" pleaded Marco with tears in his eyes. "I beg of you! Try!"
Mother Superior nodded and then pulled out her wand. Harry had observed the wands that the fairies used. They were not made of wood with a magical core like the Wizards of this world, no, they seemed to be made of crystal forged from fairy dust.
Mother Superior pointed her wand at August. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Her wand began to glow. Then August's body began to glow. And before their eyes he was transformed back into flesh, except he was no longer the grown up man, August, no, he was a boy of about the age of eight in old style clothes from the Enchanted Forest.
His head began to stir and his eyes began to flutter.
"Pinocchio?" said Marco with relief in his voice.
The boy opened his eyes and looked up at the man.
"Father?" said the boy.
"Look." said Marco gesturing towards the boy's bare hands.
The boy examined the front of his hands and then the back. The boy smiled with excitement.
"I'm a real boy!" said the boy excitedly. "I'm a real boy!"
Marco helped him to his feet and then hugged like Father and Son.
'And that's the real story of Pinocchio in this world,' thought Harry with a smile, 'Geppetto and Pinocchio got their happy ending.'
It was then that Neal's girlfriend Tamara walked up behind him. She had witnessed the whole thing. Harry immediately thought that he could have pointed his wand and modified her memory, but Neil told her the truth for a reason. A marriage should be based on honesty and no secrets. Even in a muggle/wizard relationship the witch or wizard has to tell their muggle spouse the truth of what they are.
"Pinocchio?" said Tamara in disbelief, but yet believing nonetheless. "You were telling the truth. You really are from a magical land."
"You believe me now?" said Neil with nervousness but not quite sure.
"I just watched a nun wave a magic wand and magically turn a grown man into a child. If that doesn't prove what you're saying is true, I don't know what does."
Harry couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it seems that she became a Believer on the spot a little too quickly.
Mother Superior then got down on one knee to look Pinocchio right in the face. She smiled.
"You have not been a very good boy since you got to this world. This is your big second chance." said Mother Superior in a reprimand and warning but polite friendly voice. "Do better this time Pinocchio."
She then affectionately booped him on the nose with her finger.
"Marco, I apologize for interrupting your reunion, but we need a word with him." said Harry.
Harry and Emma got down on one knee to look at him at eye level.
"Pinocchio." said Emma. "A few moments ago, before you turned into a little boy, you were about to tell us something really important. You tried to warn us of some kind of danger. Do you remember what that is?"
Pinocchio strained his face as though he was trying to conjure up the memories. After a few moments it was clear that he wasn't certain.
"I…I don't remember." Pinocchio said clearly with sincerity in his voice. "If I did, I would tell you. I would be truthful."
"That's alright." said Harry reassuringly. "I believe that you are fatigued after the long hard day that you have had. Marco, why don't you take Pinocchio home. He could probably use a hot meal and a rest."
Pinocchio, Geppetto, and the Blue Fairy were about to walk off.
"Mother Superior, may I have a word?" said Harry.
The Blue Fairy stopped and turned back toward him.
"Harry Potter. What can I do for you?" said Mother Superior with a smile.
"I'm not sure who to ask. If he was still alive, I would go to Professor Dumbledore for information on unusual magic."
"I knew professor Dumbledore." said Mother Superior, "I'm sorry about his passing."
"You knew him?" asked Harry with curiosity.
"He crossed realms many years ago. We met in the Enchanted Forest years before The Curse."
"Interesting, well, anyway, during my duel with Lord Voldemort, our wands were locked by the twin cores, and then I had a vision. Like people spoke to me from beyond the grave all who were Lord Voldemort's dead victims. And then I conjured this ball of white light in my hand that plowed right through Voldemort's defenses and disarmed him and incapacitated him."
"That is love." said Mother Superior. "A magic far more powerful than the Dark Lord could have ever stood up to. You Harry Potter, are The Savior."
"But I thought Emma was The Savior." said Harry with confusion.
"Well, actually, there's more than one. They pop up all over the place. They are the products of 'True Love' or just random chance destiny, and they possess powerful Light Magic."
"Light Magic?" asked Harry with confusion.
"It is the opposite of Dark Magic." explained Mother Superior stating the obvious, but she elaborated. "Light Magic, as opposed to Dark Magic, which is corrupted by evil, Light Magic is 100% pure Magic born from the darkness through love. You Harry were the product of two parents who loved each other very much. And then they were killed by the Dark Lord. Your mother sacrificed herself to save you and cast her Protective Charm on, which is a form of Light Magic. You were then raised by a family that did not want you and abused you and neglected you. Because of that abuse and neglect at the hands of the Dursleys, you could have chosen to embrace the darkness and you, Harry Potter, would have become this Realm's most ruthless villain."
Harry got a chill down his spine when he heard the fairy say that. The idea that he actually had been a miniscule hair off that path years ago when he chose to take the path of love.
"Instead however, Harry Potter," continued Mother Superior, "you chose a different path. You chose Love over the Darkness, which gave you magic far more powerful than the Dark Lord ever had. The Dark Lord on the other hand, was born to a father who did not want him, and a mother too heartbroken to live for him and the Dark Lord lived in an orphanage. But instead of choosing Love and rejecting the darkness, he chose to embrace the darkness, giving him Dark Magic far more powerful than that of any other wizard in this realm, the result being, he had the ability to cast difficult spells effortlessly and far more powerfully. Just the difference between Light Magic versus Dark Magic, the two are like one-way-glass, Light can snuff out Darkness, but Darkness cannot snuff out Light. So when Lord Voldemort's Dark Magic born from his choosing the darkness went up against your love for your dead parents, your friends, your wife, and your godson, the dark magic was no match. And as a result, the Dark Lord was literally powerless against you."
Harry stood there and thought about that for a moment overwhelmed by the concept of the details.
"I hope I have sufficiently answered your question?" said Mother Superior.
"Yes, I think you have." said Harry. "Thank you Mother Superior."
Neal then turned to Tamara.
"I'm not mad at you." said Neal in sympathy and understanding. "And for the record, when I told who I was and where I'm from, I never really expected you to believe me. In fact I kind of did expect you to break up with me. Don't get me wrong, you breaking up with me is not what I wanted, no, but I felt that I needed to tell you the truth and you hear it from me anyway."
Tomorrow paused for a few moments to contemplate.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in. If this is all too much for you to handle, I will understand if you want to call off our engagement and go back to New York without me."
Tamara smiled and took Neal's hand.
"What I signed up for, was you. And everything about you and comes with you." said Tamara with understanding.
"How did I get so lucky?" said Neal with a tone of gratitude for what he had.
And they started to walk away.
"There's still the mystery to be solved." said Emma. "Who killed August?"
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