The next day, breakfast was filled with curious or startled murmurs, on the front page of the Prophet there was a photograph after the attack and a long, detailed article about what happened, from how the Death Eaters appeared and how the Aurors and the Order couldn't stop them to how a mysterious saviour appeared and in a few minutes saved the Alley without creating any casualties.
The article also recounted how he had arrived in the conflict zone and had been transformed into a white phoenix and as a 'joke' they called him 'The White Phoenix'
Harry had read the article like the rest of the students and had been amazed at the amount of detail they had gotten, he didn't remember seeing any journalists, but if the newspaper was to be believed there had to be at least one.
Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, despite knowing that only his friends would be able to connect the mysterious savior with him, he ate breakfast listening to the murmurs and assumptions about the savior. Some were downright extraordinary, hadn't there been a few who had even said that it had even been Merlin reincarnated who had saved them?
For his part, the young Hufflepuff endured all this as best he could, making himself as invisible as possible. He assumed, and he was right, that after a few days, all this would be forgotten and everyone would return to their normal activities.
He wasn't wrong, two days later practically no one was talking about what had happened and everything seemed normal. But Harry didn't have his normal days, ever since the Alley thing, he hadn't been able to have a quiet moment, and he had broken the psychics' main precept of non-intervention.
This was causing him mixed feelings, on the one hand, he felt guilty for breaking the main rule that every seer had to follow, but on the other hand... on the other hand, he felt satisfied, he had prevented a massacre from taking place and he was proud of that. He knew that if he had followed the policy of non-intervention, the massacre in the Alley would have been inevitable, and what was worse, for the first time, the war would have touched the students at Hogwarts with more than the blackmail.
That's how he spent the rest of his vacation, battling both feelings internally. He probably wouldn't have said anything about what he felt if it hadn't been for his own friends when they returned to school.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Athenea hadn't even given him time to greet them properly as soon as she saw him, she had jumped on him, hugging him and thanking him over and over again.
"Athenea... you have nothing to thank me for."
"Of course! If it hadn't been for your intervention, my sister and I would be dead, and don't deny it... Those Death Eaters were going to kill us all and you know it as well as I do."
"And how do you know it was me?"
"Please, Harry!" one of the twins exclaimed. "How many people are there who can transform into a phoenix and also a white one? Give us some credit..."
"And that's not even counting the powers displayed by the mysterious savior of Diagon Alley." Said the other twin "Just the same ones that we know a certain Hufflepuff friend of ours possesses."
"But..."
"But what?"
" I really shouldn't have done it. It's not that I regret it, but I shouldn't."
"What the hell are you saying?" asked a stunned Jonathan "Do you know that if you hadn't done that, the Death Eaters would have massacred the Alley?!"
"I know, that's why I say I don't regret it. But if I obey the council of Prophets, I shouldn't have done it. Non-intervention is the main law."
"Why don't you talk to Ginna?" Draco said, having been very quiet and guilty up until now. "I'm sure she can clear up any doubts you may have."
"Yes, I think I will do that..." Harry concluded and then, looking at the blond, he added. "Draco, you are not your father... don't feel guilty about it."
"Thank you, Harry," the boy said, adding a tremulous smile to his statement.
A few days later, Harry found himself in his mentor's chambers watching her unpack her luggage after her vacation. He didn't say anything, but he watched her intently with a slightly interested expression on his face.
The psychic didn't say a word as she took her things out of her suitcases, and she didn't even look at him... if she knew he had doubts or questions for her, she didn't take it personally and continued with the task at hand.
"Ginna..." Harry began, looking at her intently. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You've already did, but you can ask another." The woman said, causing an exasperated look from the boy.
"Would it be very serious if a psychic were to break the principle of
non-intervention?"
"Well..." The woman's expression turned serious. "It depends on the situation. Why?"
"Well... it's just that I..." He began and seeing that there was no gentle way to say it, he said it suddenly. "I broke it during the Christmas holidays."
"Excuse me? Explain yourself."
"I had a vision." He began to explain. "I had been practicing when I saw a group of Death Eaters attack Diagon Alley. Not only that, I saw that my friend Athenea was there and they were going to kill her. Before I knew it, I was in Diagon Alley, fighting Death Eaters."
"Ahh..." The woman laughed "I should have known that you were the mysterious savior of Diagon Alley."
"You're not angry?"
"Angry? Why should I be?"
"I broke one of the main laws..."
Ginna stared at him for a few moments as she thought about what to say or how to say it. He was so cute when he looked so worried, and for no reason at all, though of course, he didn't know that yet.
"Harry, for any psychic the law of non-intervention is very important... Fate is not something to be shaped to our advantage, but think of another law that is even more important, never endangering innocent lives. What you saw in Diagon Alley is something that any psychic worth his salt would have recounted, but you still have to think that it is different with you."
"Because it's different?"
"Harry, you're a good boy, but there's something you don't know... A great destiny awaits you" the psychic told him very seriously. "Tell me, have you ever wondered why you have so many powers that haven't been seen in centuries? Or why you're incapable of healing yourself despite being a healer and having no problems healing others? Or best of all... why you're a mage, a type of magic user that hasn't been in our society for so long that it's been almost forgotten?"
"Of course I've wondered! But I haven't found any answers."
"That's because the answers you seek are found with the answer to your destiny. Stopping the attack on the Alley was something that had to happen, you being the one to do it had to happen... that's why ignoring the rule was incongruous."
"And what is that destiny?"
"It's not time for you to know yet, and certainly not from my mouth" She laughed "Now, how about you help me unpack, huh?"
The boy couldn't help but laugh at his mentor's last comment, so typical of her downplaying the matter and then making him laugh. It was what he liked most about her, that despite all the bad things that could happen, she always greeted him with a smile on her lips and a cheerful disposition. He hadn't seen her angry yet, and he would prefer never to.
After that day, it was quite common to see the boy looking at the water with a little insistence from his mentor. He had never tried to look into the future consciously and for no reason, except on rare occasions to practice, but now it was in case he saw something worth avoiding.
What he saw was very relative, for example, one time he saw how a little girl stole her mother's magic wand and, playing with it, flooded the house. Other times, he saw things that were going to happen at Hogwarts, he knew what the result of the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match was going to be almost a month in advance...he had too much integrity (and a vault full of galleons) because he could have made a good amount of money with the unofficial bets that were made between the students.
Then there were the times when he really searched, the times when the water showed him the horrors Voldemort had planned against different populations, magical or muggle, and after the first moments of horror, with Ginna's help, he planned his counterattacks. It wasn't easy, but it was very satisfying.
As it happened, Voldemort was also very reliable, and as such his attacks always had the same approach. It wasn't very difficult after three or four attacks to realize his strategy and as such counter it. It was even funny to see the faces of the Death Eaters when he appeared at the scene of the attack, in his white cloak and without letting anyone see his face... some were extraordinarily funny as they pouted as if they were small children.
Little by little, the Death Eaters who were not fast enough were captured and in this way, the ranks of the Dark Lord were thinned... The newspapers did not stop writing about the mysterious savior and the Ministry tried by all means to obtain a certain level of control. Although perhaps, the best of all was how badly the Order of the Phoenix was handling it.
Accustomed as they were to being the only opposition to the Dark Lord, it was now very difficult for them to accept the fact that they had competition, and that they did not know anything about his identity... that was perhaps what they found most difficult.
"Albus, you have to admit it." Moody told him "We haven't acted against the Dark Lord for two months. When we arrive, the attacks have either been averted and we just watch the phoenix disappear, or if we arrive in time, before we can do anything, he has already averted the attack. He is faster and much more effective than us."
"Not to mention that he has every chance of being the one the prophecy told us about." Alice Longbottom assured.
"That's not true!" Lily Potter exclaimed "It's Brian, the child of the prophecy! And you know it!"
" Really?" The auror asked, looking at her with slight contempt "Is that your reason for the ostentatious favoritism towards Brian?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, yes, whatever you say," he said with a dismissive gesture of his hand "The thing is that Brian has not shown any sign of fantastic and impressive power that the prophecy indicated... In fact, from what my Neville has explained to me, he is nothing more than an average wizard. Harry, on the other hand, has shown many more abilities and strength than his brother... if it weren't for this stranger, I would say that he was the child of the prophecy."
"Nonsense! " Sirius exclaimed "We all know who is the stronger of the two brothers, don't we, Albus?"
The old man remained silent for a few moments, ignoring Sirius's question. He stared into space, not paying attention to anything or anyone, making everyone nervous.
"Albus?" Sirius asked again.
"I'm sorry to have to say this, but Alice is right. From what I've seen at school and my Professors agree, Brian is nothing more than an average wizard. Harry, on the other hand, has shown himself to be an exceptional wizard, not only is his understanding greater than average, but his power and affinity for magic is far superior. If it weren't for this stranger, I'd be forced to say that I got the wrong brother twelve years ago."
"What!?" James Potter exclaimed. "You said Brian was the child of the prophecy! You can't be wrong!"
"I'm human, James. I can make mistakes too. Brian wasn't the child of the prophecy."
[T/N: HAAHAAAHAHAHAHAH! SUCK IT POTTERS!! If you loved this chapter then leave a comment, write a review, and drop some stones. If you can't wait to see the look on Brian's face when he finally realises he's life is worth less than nothing, not even worth being a sacrifice, then check out the P@treon or the Ko-fi, the book finished over there.]
--------------------------
[p@treon.com/PuddingLord]- Replace "@" with "a"
[ko-fi.com/puddinglord]