บท 72: Prophecy boy
Gaude wasn't sure which collectibles, ahem, people to look for first. Certainly, Snape would come in handy in reproducing the potions he had heard of so far and Hagrid might have an idea of two on subduing the Manthog that had since been moved from Gaude's jeep's trunk into a heavily enchanted enclosure, but there was still the matter of a certain little vampire.
Finally, Gaude decided to pay a visit to Hagrid first. He had picked up fifteen relatively amicable species during his travels. He wanted the half-giant to figure out how to properly care and breed them. Gaude was hoping to harvest new magical materials off them that could eventually give rise to new and useful potions. He had already handed over thirty-eight species of herbs that were either supposedly extinct or so rare that they were considered more a myth than a reality on his own Earth.
Unlike any students that were about to go for another school year in Hogwarts and hoping to survive the ride, Gaude simply apparated straight to the hut. However, even after he knocked quite loudly, there was no response.
---
Meanwhile, in the Hogwarts Potions classroom, a small lab separated by a wall.
Severus snape was writing a letter: 'Dear Headmaster Dumbledore, I implore you once again to consider updating the list of supplies the students are to purchase for this year's potions classes. It pains me to see another talented student practice with outdated equipment. Yours sincerely, Severus Snape.'
He folded the letter into an envelope and was about to cast Pandora's letter delivering charm on it, but suddenly stopped, as he felt a pulling sensation from the core of his being. Panicked, he lifted the sleeve of his robe and stared at a scar. Not seeing any change in it, another thought struck him.
With hesitation and trepidation, he whispered: "Ma- master?"
After sending the letter, some hope flashed in Severus' eyes. In his mind, there was only one person who could do the things deemed impossible, or at least find the people who could – his master.
Snape quickly cast the charm on the letter and it rose into the air, quickly darting through the corridors, fluttering at turns and charging up the stairs, finally squeezing through a crack behind a Gargoyle, charged up a set of spiral stairs and reached Dumbledore's office. It then hovered in front of the Headmaster who looked at the letter. Seeing the sender's name, he muttered: "It seems it's that time of the year again.", then grabbed the letter from the air and placed it in a box with ten similar ones. He could already guess the contents. Why change what had worked so far?
From the window, he could see Snape making brisk pace in the general direction of the Forbidden Forest.
---
From the distance, Gaude could see the subordinate he hadn't been looking for approaching. Funny how things worked out sometimes.
Once Severus reached within earshot, Gaude demanded: "Explain yourself, Snape!", wanting the man to give him the exact reasoning behind why he had neglected his duties in Gaude's potions lab.
Snape, after reaching a proper conversation distance, said in a small voice: "Ma-master, I- I didn't mean to. It was just that Lily and James- A prophecy was told. I- I wanted her back. He- he killed her! Please! Can you bring her back?" Due to the nature of the vow Snape had sworn to Gaude before, he could recognize his master, no matter what appearance he took.
Gaude's knowledge of the Wizarding World had never been complete, there were sizeable gaps here and there, things he had brushed past. He asked Snape to clarify the matters, and slowly got the full picture.
Finally, he said in a half-growling tone: "So, not only do you want me to fuck with time, which is a very bad idea by itself, you also want me to sneak into the birthplace of a prophecy that is already in the process of fulfillment and steal one of its key instruments? Do you even realize how much that would cost me?"
Snape looked defeated when he said: "Master…"
Gaude, however, knew exactly how to motivate such a person. He said in a non-negotiable tone: "One hundred million contribution points. You put that together and I'll bring her back for you. Hell, for that price, I can even make her to have you as her one true love."
Gaude's claims weren't completely baseless. He had come into contact with soul magic a few years ago, and he saw the potential in it. Of course, the tricky part was to have a soul to work with, which would most probably require time travel among other things. The reason he quoted a rather high price was twofold: one was to buy enough time for Snape to age to death and the other was that a motivated slave was much better than a regular slave.
Snape's back straightened visibly as he said: "Yes, sir. Is there anything you need done, anything at all?"
Gaude discussed a few matters with Snape, to get a grasp of his understanding on various matters. It turned out that among the Dark Arts that Snape had practiced, those involving the Soul were somewhat represented. Truly a talented individual, and with a moral compass that was stuck at 'that's fine', he was perfect to be included into a special research team.
Finally, Gaude said: "It would be worth about two thousand contribution points if you could track down Dementor's teeth for me, a thousand for a way to safely extract them."
After Gaude listed off a few more unusual materials, Hagrid finally arrived.
Apparently, the standards of personal hygiene enforced by the corridors in Gaude's base had taken their toll on the half-giant, because his hair was fixed into a man bun and his beard was braided into forks, with his neck cleanly shaved – apparently he had figured out the bare minimum he could get away with lest he lose twenty years of age along with his beard. Instead of a shag carpet, he was wearing a thick leather jacket that put his muscular physique on full display.
Eating parts of his words as usual, he asked: " 'ello, who might ye be?"
Gaude didn't really care about an oaf forgetting about people, so he reintroduced himself: "Gaude Vywin, grandson of Charles Vywin, current head of House Vywin."
Hagrid seemed to try and move some thoughts in his head, and after he had accomplished that, he said: "Gaude Vywin, eh? Can't say I 'av' seen ye 'round these parts. Look at ye, all grown up!"
Gaude wasn't really interested in slow talking that would require a bucket of tea to be done. He said: "Here's the deal. I have recently come across fifteen pairs of never-before-seen species of creatures. As per the deal you had with Charles, I'm calling you in. Figure out what they need and make them breed. No experimental breeding, however. Those are very likely to be the only specimens of their species, and if something goes wrong, you know who I'll blame."
Hagrid's eyes immediately lit up. "N'er before seen you say? I'll jus' feed Fluffy and then I'll be off!"
Gaude had already turned to leave. Hearing that the prophecy was just as on track as it had been in any other world where he hadn't interfered, he decided to make the most of it. The thing about prophecies was that they had the habit of keeping their target safe within the outer fringes of reason.
---
Two days later.
Gaude entered Irma's office without knocking and slapped a thick folder on her table.
Irma had been concentrated on the paperwork of a botched mission. In fact, calling it botched wasn't doing the word justice. A job hadn't been screwed up so bad in years.
The loud sound stopped her contemplation on how to spin the story to get out of it with minimal losses. Seeing who she was dealing with, she started feeling uncomfortable. Because of what had happened before, she no longer felt safe when she was alone with Gaude. The worst part was that even if she yelled for help, everyone but Carter would ask how they could assist Gaude. Everyone there, including herself were Gaude's private property due to those damn contracts, that was the cruel truth of the place. Even if she wasn't under the contract, there wasn't much she could do – whatever he had done, there was no evidence left behind but an irreparable hole in her memories. That was the scariest thing about those proficient in magic.
Gaude said: "This is your next assignment. I believe you to be among those uniquely qualified for the task. All the necessary details are on the file. I expect you to report success by six PM at the latest."
Irma opened the folder and immediately her face contorted. She said indignantly: "He's just a kid! What do you want with him?"
Gaude replied: "Relax. It's a retrieval, not an assassination. Now, get to reading the file. I'm sure you'll like the task by the end of it. In return, I'll make this mess disappear."
Gaude, unlike Irma, knew who and why had sabotaged the job. Laly's team of spy elves had never stopped collecting intel, among other things on known and potential competitors for Gaude's various enterprises.
Once Irma had started familiarizing herself with the file given to her, Gaude went to Interrogation. While he could easily get to the truth with Veritaserum or Legilimency, there was just something about the hands-on approach and prying the intel from the subject's broken jaws piece by piece. It was a damn good stress relief.
---
Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.
As usual, Harry was running, followed by Dennis, Dudley, Gordon, Malcolm and Piers. They may be big and slow, but if Harry stopped, they'd still catch up to him. It was the usual game of 'Harry Hunting', brought on by Dudley's spell of boredom after he had broken the last of his easy-to-use toys from his birthday.
Suddenly, Harry blinked his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things right. There were four people in Principal clothes and a police car with two officers near his home. He wondered if something had happened, perhaps to aunt Marge on one of her vacations.
He could've sworn he also saw the air occasionally shimmer in many places around the house, but that couldn't be.
He had slowed down his running and due to that, was about to be caught by Dudley that had taken the lead of his group.
Harry decided to risk it and seek shelter near the adults, at the very least, the boys wouldn't dare to do anything to him with so many strangers around.
He overheard one of them speaking: "… concerns about the treatment of a child. We have a warrant to inspect the house."
Harry hadn't seen wrong; it really was their house. He just didn't understand what was that about the mistreatment of a child? Was it because Dudley was allowed to eat so much that he could barely run a hundred yards without getting winded? Harry was sure that had to be it.
However, the next moment, Harry was baffled again. One of the people in suits asked another: "Is this the one?"
The one who was asked looked at some papers in his hand and replied: "The description matches. I think that's the one."
After getting even closer, Harry could see Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon standing in the doorway, Aunt petunia's face was pale and a good match for her blouse while Uncle Vernon's face was light purple, matching his tie.
"You can't do this! We have rights!", Uncle Vernon shouted.
"The only thing you can charge us for is doting on our son too much! We've been following the safe home act of eighty-one to the letter!", Aunt Petunia added.
A principal-suited woman said: "I'm afraid we can't take your word for it. We like to follow our standard protocol to the letter."
Harry, Dudley and his group had stopped on their tracks, not daring to butt in while adults were talking.
Suddenly, the only woman among the four, a brunette much prettier than Aunt Petunia turned towards Harry and slowly walked towards him. Harry subconsciously looked at Dudley's old baggy clothing, feeling for a first time in a while just how loosely it hung around his thin body.
The woman gave Harry a smile that made him feel like the windy day had just gotten a lot warmer. She said: "Harry Potter, I presume? I am Irma Ross. Would you like to show us to your room?"
Harry was taught not to talk to strangers when Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon weren't around, but now it was alright, because they were right there. It should be alright to show them his room, too. Dudley showed his rooms to people all the time.
However, Aunt Petunia suddenly said something strange: "Remember Harry, it's the upstairs bedroom on the left, not the right.", she turned to the nearest person, a short-haired man and said: "I swear, he's such a forgetful boy, he'd lose his head if it wasn't screwed on tight."
Harry, however, didn't want Aunt Petunia to be embarrassed, so he corrected: "But Aunt Petunia, those are both Dudley's bedrooms! Mine is under the stairs."
Aunt petunia turned grayish white, no longer matching her blouse. She was trembling on spot, staring at Harry with wide eyes, as if he had just made Dudley cry again.
Harry had started walking towards the house along with the blonde woman with a nice smile, but as they reached the door, Aunt and Uncle were still standing there like a wall.
"Please step aside. We won't take long.", the lady said.
"No. You have no authority to make us.", Uncle Vernon replied, looking uncertain.
Now, even the two police officers that had been staying near their car to make sure Dudley and his gang didn't try sitting in it, had moved. In a few steps, they were in front of the door and the mustached one said: "Sir, madam, please step aside or we'll be authorized to use force."
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't seem to like the thought of the officer authoring force, because they stepped aside, their faces flashing different colors like Christmas lights.
Harry opened the door to the broom closet under the stairs and said: "This is my room."
The lady looked surprised, then scribbled something on a paper. After a while, she said: "That's five paragraphs and eight subsections right here. We will need to see the other child living in the house to confirm some details."
Harry tried to be helpful – there was a lot less yelling if he did that. He pointed at Dudley and said: "He's right there."
The lady looked at Dudley and muttered while writing: "An interesting case. Both obesity and malnourishment present in children." She wasn't really doing a good job at hiding her thoughts, as the color changes on Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's faces had finally reached their end, agreeing on the white-grey of dusty paper.
After she finished writing, the woman said: "I'm afraid both boys will have to be taken in custody. You lack any aptitude for parenting. The only way you will ever be allowed to see your son again is if you go through the full-length parenting course and report in once a month for the rest of your lives. Neither of you no longer has any rights towards Harry."
Harry wasn't sure what custody was, but he had wished to leave this place for a very long time.
---
Irma said to the little boy next to her: "Harry, your Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have gotten into some trouble and they won't be able to take care of you from now on. Do you want to come with me?"
Irma didn't expect the boy to have a smile instead of an expression of reluctance on his face, or maybe she did.
At first, she had wanted to refuse the job when Gaude gave it to her directly, but once she read the file, she wished she'd known sooner. The boy was treated worse than a stolen horse, he was given barely enough to eat to keep him alive and chores enough to make sure he worked off every single calorie.
To be honest, Irma wanted to make those two that according to the paperwork were his legal guardians disappear, just like she had many of the contract targets before. However, that asshole Gaude, he left a very specific set of instructions at the end of the file, detailing how to act and what not to do.
Irma wasn't aware, but there were also people from the mind department mixed into the troop of knights providing security. The mind department personnel's job was to make sure that Harry was compliant and very willing to play along.
The little boy asked: "Where will you take me?"
"Someplace away from here, where you can make lots of new friends. If you want to, you can live with me once we get there."
Irma saw the boy smile like there was nothing wrong with the world. At that moment, Irma swore that whatever Gaude had planned for the boy, she'd give it her all to stop him. She didn't want to have an innocent life on her conscience.
That left her with her final task, one she was actually looking forward to. She looked up Petunia Dursley and said: "We'll also need a few phials of your blood for the forensics laboratory. It won't hurt a bit."
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