Chương 153: CHAPTER {155-157}
****A-MEETING-LONG-AWAITED (II)****
~~Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts~~ (A couple of minutes ago)
The room was completely silent and then all of a sudden the Floo flared up as the green flames spewed out of the fireplace, waking up some of the sleeping portraits of the previous Headmasters. Moments later, Albus Dumbledore finally stepped out of the fireplace before removing the soot from his extravagant purple robes… Albus slowly made his way around his table and took his seat before releasing a tired sigh.
It has been a long day for him… First, he had to deal with the long and stressful Wizengamot meeting where Harry's new guardian was decided. Then he had to deal with Severus, who seemed to be worried about Lily Potter's boy even though he would outright deny such a thing, and finally, Albus had to track down one of his unsavory supporters before paying them a surprise visit.
It took a lot of convincing, but Mundungus Fletcher finally agreed to carry out the task of grabbing Harry Potter and then bringing him back to Britain. The man was a petty thief and thanks to that, the man had experienced the hospitality of Azkaban. That was why he was reluctant to accept the job at first as if he got caught during this job, then his sentence would be much severe, but Albus knew how to bring a man like Mundungus Fletcher in line.
Albus simply needed to promise a handsome reward for the job to make Mundungus accept the job… Mundungus would be leaving after midnight along with a couple of his friends using the Portkey Albus provided them with. To be honest, Albus only trusted Mundungus, and he would have preferred if the man went alone, but subduing Harry might be too much of a task for Mundungus alone, and the job would become even more complicated if Harry was in the company of Jacklyn Harper.
Albus had given Mundungus all the information he could about the duo, but still, he wasn't sure if Mundungus would succeed or not in the first place… He would have been more confident if he could have sent Severus or if he could have gone there himself, but either of their absence would have been noticed. Alastor would have been a good choice too, but he had ruined their friendship and Albus suspected that Alastor was working with the Bones woman. Hence, his options were severely limited.
Albus unlocked his drawer with a tap of his Wand and pulled out a worn-out parchment before placing it on his desk. Albus tapped the parchment with the tip of his Wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" He muttered the password and the map unfurled on top of his desk. He had to admit that the map was a work of pure genius.
He had been using the map to keep an eye on Nymphadora Tonks since the day she arrived at Hogwarts. The girl was playing her role so perfectly that Albus wouldn't have known of her presence in the first place if it wasn't for the map. Tonight Nymphadora seemed to be lurking near the Ravenclaw Tower. Albus wondered how long she was going to be in the school. With a sigh, he decided to close the map and call it a day, but he stopped when his gaze focused on another name on the parchment.
He immediately shot up from his seat with a frown on his face… "Hadrian Potter" Albus read the name from the parchment in a low tone. He knew that the map never lied, which meant Harry was really here, at Hogwarts, and his real name was Hadrian Potter, but the biggest question that came to his mind was 'How?'. Yes, Albus was surprised to his core, but he quickly regained his bearings as a plan started to form inside his mind.
Only a few moments ago, Albus was worried if Mundungus and his friends would be able to capture Harry or not, but now he no longer needed to be worried about such things… He could capture the boy himself. He didn't know why or how the boy was here, at Hogwarts, but this was a blessing in disguise for him. Albus watched as Harry came across Mrs. Norris before coming across Barty Crouch.
The name made him freeze for a second… Recently he had noticed the man going around his school quite a lot, but he didn't pay it any mind as the man was managing the Tournament, but something felt off… He wondered why Mrs. Norris was doing rounds on her own while Argus Filch was still in his office. Argus loved getting students into trouble, so it made him wonder why the man was skipping his duties.
What happened during the next few seconds was quite confusing for Albus as he wasn't able to make any heads or tails of the situation until all of a sudden, Barty Crouch disappeared from the map. Albus gasped in horror believing Harry had killed Barty. He realized that he needed to start moving before anyone else could confront Harry… It was clear that Harry was walking down a dark path, but the boy was needed if they wanted to beat Voldemort.
"Fawkes!" Albus exclaimed sharply and the Phoenix flew down over his shoulder while trilling. As soon as his familiar landed over his shoulder, they both disappeared in a pillar of flames.
Moments later, Albus arrived inside the hall in a pillar of flames where Harry had killed Barty. He turned his head until his gaze finally focused on Harry. "There is no use in hiding anymore, Harry, or should I call you Hadrian?" The man asked smugly, surprising Harry for the second time… Albus turned his gaze, looking for the body of Barty, but found nothing except for some rubble.
It was quite obvious that a fight took place here recently as the Magical signature was still fresh. There were no Wards in Hogwarts that could inform the Headmaster or the Professors if a fight broke in the halls, but there were Wards in Hogwarts that could sense if anyone cast Dark Magic, but Albus had turned off those Wards to protect the Slytherin students.
Slytherins were known to use Dark Magic, after all, it would be plausible deniability on his part. He didn't want to condemn students for their upbringing. Albus couldn't help but blame the parents for such an upbringing and the students were still very young, which meant that they could be redeemed. Then there was the fact that Albus needed to protect Severus, so if any of the Slytherin students came under fire, then by extension, Severus would be under fire too.
So, in case any fights broke out, Albus was completely dependent on portraits to inform him or the Professors, which wasn't so bad, but it wasn't perfect… For example, there were no portraits in this hall, so the fight would have gone completely unnoticed if he didn't see it on the map or until someone stumbled upon the scene. Though in this case, the lack of portraits in this hall was a blessing as the other Professors were blissfully unaware of the fight.
Harry wasn't surprised that he was discovered, after all, he caused quite a bit of commotion with the fight, but he was surprised by the fact that Albus Dumbledore had somehow managed to learn his name. Since Dumbledore already knew where he was, Harry saw no reason to hide anymore. So, he simply dropped the Disillusionment Charm and stepped forward.
"Well, you caught me" Harry declared with a grin before a frown replaced the grin on his face. "How did you find my name?" Harry asked as he inclined his head questioningly.
Though instead of answering, Albus simply looked around and frowned. Fawkes thrilled sullenly before jumping off from Albus' shoulder. "What did you do to Barty?" Albus asked in a grave tone.
"I do not know what you are talking about" Harry smoothly denied. To be honest, Harry had no idea what Dumbledore was blithering about. He kidnapped the man posing as Argus Filch, but there was only one Barty Harry knew about and Rita had seen Barty interact with the person posing as Argus Filch, which meant that the man he kidnapped couldn't be Barty.
"There is no use in denying it, Hadrian… Your parents would be rolling in their graves if they could see you now" Albus said in a disappointed tone as he shook his head.
"That is not going to work on me" Harry declared.
"I am saddened my boy that you don't know what type of people they were" Albus shook his head. "Hadrian, my boy, I implore you to listen to me… The path you are walking down will only lead you to ruin" Albus said with a pleading look on his face.
"You don't even know the path I am walking on" Harry pointed out. "Are you stalling for time with your useless words?" Harry asked and once again, Albus shook my head.
"No, my boy, I am simply trying to explain what you are doing is wrong…" Albus would have said something more, but Harry decided to cut him off with an annoyed look on his face.
"I am leaving" Harry interrupted Albus' spiel.
"I am afraid I cannot allow that" Albus sighed in disappointment as he looked at Harry. He wondered how he was going to fix Harry. This Harry could never be their savior.
"And how are you planning to stop me?" Harry asked curiously. He already knew what was coming. He knew this was going to happen from the beginning, so he simply decided to hasten the process instead of listening to the heap of hippogriff dung Albus was spewing from his mouth.
"Forgive me, my boy" Albus apologized before casting a Body-Binding Curse at Harry…
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****A-MEETING-LONG-AWAITED (III)****
"Forgive me, my boy" Albus apologized before casting a Body-Binding Curse at Harry, and Harry hated the fact that Albus was apologizing to him for attacking him when the man wanted to have him under his thumb from the beginning. Harry easily side-stepped to dodge the Spell and cast a Body-Binding Curse of his own toward Albus.
The man flicked the legendary Elder Wand and batted away the Spell with extreme ease, before attacking Harry with a Stunning Charm…
While watching the Spell approach him, Harry realized that there were two paths in front of him. He would either crush Dumbledore right here and make it clear how outclassed and outgunned the man was or he could pull his punches and make Albus think that while Harry was strong, he wasn't unbeatable… There were advantages and disadvantages of either path.
Harry used his own Wand to deflect the Stunning Charm before returning the favor. In a way, he was mocking Dumbledore as he was casting the same Spells at him in return. So, after some consideration, Harry decided to pull his punches to make Albus believe that while he was strong, he wasn't unbeatable… If he crushed Albus at this stage then the man might end up doing something unpredictable and drastic to gain the upper hand.
Harry couldn't have that…
Albus Dumbledore was still within the realm of his predictions and if the man realized that he couldn't defeat Harry by any conventional means, then who knows what he might end up doing… From what Harry has come to know about Albus, he knew that Albus hated not being in control. Currently, Albus believed that he was still in control, which meant that he wouldn't do anything reckless, but the case wouldn't be the same if he crushed the man with overwhelming power.
Well, he could always kill the man and be done with it, but he didn't want to do that… First of all, killing Albus would destabilize Wizarding Britain, and while he didn't care much about Britain, this was his father's birthplace, so he would rather have it not destroyed, and secondly, killing Albus right now would be mercy… Harry wanted the man to experience the pain and despair he experienced at the hands of the Dursleys.
"You will need to do better than that, Headmaster" Harry declared with a mocking grin as side-stepped to dodge the Stunning Spell.
Albus stared at him with a contemplative look on his face before finally nodding his head. "Yes, yes… I believe you are right, my boy" Albus admitted and twirled the Elder Wand in his hand before casting a Bludgeoning Hex at Harry.
Harry easily dodged the Hex and cast an Exploding Curse at his opponent. Albus jabbed the Elder Wand to cast the same Curse of his own. The Spells collided mid-air, creating a massive shockwave. The whole hall trembled due to the shockwave and Albus had to admit that he was underestimating Harry by quite a lot… This wasn't good for his plans.
The hall trembled again as their Spells collided against each other. The duo continued to dish out various Spells in an attempt to defeat the other, but neither of them was able to gain the upper hand, not that Harry was attempting to gain the upper hand in the first place. Albus frowned when he realized that Harry was somewhat on his level, so without any other options, he decided to stop holding back. He needed to detain Harry at all costs.
Albus' hand turned into a blur as he stopped holding back… Albus was beyond a century old, but it was almost unbelievable the way he was moving at this age. Since Harry had witnessed the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, he knew that Dumbledore was far from his prime, but if anyone saw Dumbledore right now, then they would be completely blown away by the sight.
For the first time since the fight started, Harry started to get pushed back even though he seemed to be holding his own… "Hadrian, you cannot win, please surrender" Albus requested with a solemn look on his face. "You are in a lot of danger, let me help you" Albus pleaded, hoping for Harry to listen.
"I know, Headmaster… As long as he is out there I will always be in danger" Harry admitted, surprising Albus. There was no doubt in Albus' mind that Harry was talking about Voldemort, but he wondered how the boy came to know that Voldemort was still out there. Then he remembered that he had revealed almost everything to Sirius… He decided it was a mistake and started to wonder if Sirius had revealed the Prophecy too.
"I am sorry, Hadrian, but he isn't the only danger you are facing… Let me help you, Hadrian. I can help you, I can keep you safe…" Albus pleaded in a grave tone, only for Harry to shrug and continue his attacks. Albus realized that Harry wasn't going to surrender and to be honest, he wasn't sure how long it was going to take for the others to arrive as they were causing a lot of ruckus.
He needed to capture Harry before the others could arrive… It was a matter of plausible deniability and he was sure that except for Severus, nobody would agree with his actions…
Harry frowned and started to wonder if should stop sandbagging the fight anymore as Albus started to overwhelm him. He realized that Albus wanted to finish the fight as quickly as possible, but before he could make up his mind, he started to receive a message from none other than Rita Skeeter. He brushed away the Knockback Jinx with a flick of his Wand.
'I have found something. It's urgent'
'What happened?' Harry asked as now he was purely on defense.
'Can't tell'
He received a short message from Rita, which made him frown before receiving another short message from the woman.
'I am on Prophet roof'
Harry internally sighed… He believed that the woman could have told him everything through the Mark, but the woman had a flair for dramatics. At least, now he had an excuse to leave, but Rita wasn't the only one who had a flair for dramatics… So, he decided to use something he learned very recently to escape and leave something for Albus to ponder about…
"It was nice meeting you Albus, but it's about time I get going" Harry revealed with a grin as he deflected a Body-Binding Curse. Throughout the fight, neither of them used anything overly lethal, which was quite an achievement for Harry.
"I am sorry, Hadrian, but there is no escape" Albus sighed in disappointment as he continued his attempt to capture Harry.
"Then allow me to surprise you" Harry revealed with a grin before he was engulfed in a pillar of flames and moments later, when the flames disappeared, Harry was nowhere to be seen. To be honest, Albus couldn't believe his eyes… Harry used Phoenix Flash to escape, but how? There was no way Albus would mistake Phoenix Flash, after all, he had experienced Phoenix Flash uncountable times.
He turned toward Fawkes with a dumb look on his face, only to find that his familiar also seemed to be equally dumbfounded… Hundreds of questions started to pop into his Mind, but he didn't have an answer for any of them… Albus realized that he won't be able to get much sleep tonight and he would have to review the memory until he had some answers. With that thought in his mind, he started to fix the hall as he didn't want to leave any signs of the fight.
For a moment he wondered if should tell the other Professors or the Ministry about the break-in or not in an attempt to hold something over Harry, but he quickly dismissed the idea… There was no way he would be able to prove it in the court, and he would be simply giving the Dark and the Grey Faction to call him senile…
They had been trying to diminish his influence within the Wizengamot for years and while Albus could do without the political clout of Chief Warlock, losing it right now would be quite detrimental for his cause when Harry Potter could very well be a Dark Lord in the rise. He was certain that Harry was already undergoing dark and dangerous Rituals, or how else could he explain the power the boy possessed at the age of fourteen?
The hall was almost fixed when he started to hear footsteps, which made him realize that this was going to be a much longer night than he was expecting… With that thought in his mind, he started to ponder how to explain the mess to the other Professors…
<Line Break>
Meanwhile, Harry arrived at the outskirts of Hogsmeade in a pillar of flames… He grinned before he decided to thank Albus' Phoenix for this nifty ability… Phoenix Flash was quite an overpowered ability as Harry wasn't sure if there were any means to stop Phoenix Flash or not and even if there was a way to stop Phoenix Flash, he was certain that not many knew it.
|That was quite something| Lily breathed out. |He is old, but he is still better than me when I was still alive| Lily revealed with a grimace.
|There is a reason why Dumbledore is considered the second coming of Merlin| Harry declared. No matter what anyone said about Dumbledore, there was always the undeniable fact that the man was incredibly powerful and Harry experienced that firsthand. Yes, he could have defeated Albus, but that didn't mean that Harry wouldn't recognize and respect the man's capabilities…
After all, Albus did defeat Grindelwald, who had the Elder Wand in his possession at that time, and that was enough to show just how strong Albus really was even though he was no longer in his prime…
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****THE-ERROR-THEY-MADE (I)****
Harry appeared inside one of the alleys in front of the Daily Prophet's office before he started to rise in the air as Rita was waiting for him on the roof of the Daily Prophet. The streets were almost empty as it was pretty late, so Harry wasn't worried about getting noticed by anyone and if anyone did see him, then they would probably dismiss the sight of someone flying without a broom.
He finally noticed Rita on the roof of the Daily Prophet. The woman seemed to be pacing around with a worried look on her face while biting her nails. Harry swiftly landed behind her, making the woman shriek in surprise. The woman jumped around in fright and a look of relief crossed her face when she realized that it was Harry, though that didn't stop her from glaring at him.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" The woman griped unhappily as she continued to glare at him.
Even though Harry would never admit it, he was amused. "You are still alive, are you not?" Harry asked in an amused tone and her glare intensified. "So, what is so urgent? If you must know, I was having a lot of fun" Harry pointed out childishly.
The worried look returned to Rita's face. She nervously fiddled with her hands for a couple of seconds before she finally started to speak. "Well, there was an emergency Wizengamot meeting today. They are keeping a tight lid, so it took me some time to discover everything" Rita explained slowly, making Harry wonder why Rita believed he should be concerned.
"And I should care, why?" Harry asked curiously as he raised his brows at her.
"You should care because the meeting was about you. Sirius Black was decided to be an unfit guardian by the Wizengamot and Lucius Malfoy was voted to be your new guardian by the Wizengamot!" Rita exclaimed, looking exasperated.
"They can do that?" Harry asked her with an incredulous look on his face. To be honest, he wasn't expecting something like this.
"Yeah" Rita nodded her head tiredly. "They used an old Law. Here take this" Rita pulled out a file from her purse and handed it over to Harry. He simply accepted the file and decided to take a peek… It was a copy of the whole Wizengamot session. He started to wonder how the woman was able to get her hands on something like this.
|Maybe she is sleeping with the scribe| Lily suggested helpfully and Harry had to admit, his mom was on to something.
"How much time do I have before the Ministry comes for me?" Harry asked.
"A couple of days at most" Rita answered worriedly, making Harry nod his head in understanding.
"I see… Thanks for the heads-up" Harry thanked the woman. "I would have given you a reward, but I don't have anything on me at this moment" Harry explained apologetically and the woman didn't seem to mind it.
"What are you planning to do? Lucius Malfoy is a very dangerous man…" Rita began to explain worriedly, but Harry stopped her before she could continue with her downtrodden explanation.
"I know, I have done my research, Rita" Harry pointed out drily. "Go home and call this a day, everything will be alright" Harry assured her before a portal appeared beside him. Without saying anything else, he entered the portal while back at Rita who couldn't help but stare at Harry with a look of worry.
Harry knew that even though the woman had accepted her place as his servant, she was only worried about him due to the rewards she would receive from him for good work, and then there was the fact that her life was now connected to his through the Sigil of the Lost…
<Line Break>
Instead of returning to his apartment or Jacklyn's house, Harry arrived at one of the hills near Ilvermorny and sat down while staring down at the city. After staring down at the city for a few minutes, Harry finally took a deep breath and opened the file in his hand. Sometimes, he envied the normal people since he knew that he could never have a normal life like them. Thankfully, it was only a small part of him that desired such a mundane life. He knew he was destined for something great, but he didn't want to stop at that.
|What are you planning to do?| Lily asked. She wasn't worried about him as she knew that her son was strong enough to deal with the likes of Ministry and Lucius Malfoy on his own, but she wanted to know what he was planning.
|First of all, I want to see who my enemies are| Harry declared airily as he started to read through the file Rita gave him. He felt bad for Sirius, the man genuinely cared for him, alas the man will get his chance to seek his revenge… Sirius was his family regardless of what the Wizengamot believed and Harry would never dismiss his family.
|I wonder what Lucius could have offered to buy Greengrass' support in this endeavour of his?| Harry asked himself.
|You said he is a businessman, right? Then they must have made some sort of deal| Lily suggested after some thinking.
|Probably| Harry agreed. |Unfortunately, it doesn't matter. He had acted against me and he would have to pay the price for that| Harry decided coldly. He might be interested in Daphne Greengrass, but the girl didn't mean anything to him in the long run. Then all of a sudden, Harry felt a familiar presence trigger the Wards at his apartment. Amelia Bones wanted to get a clearance from the ICW before sending her Aurors to grab him. It would take a couple of days to get the clearance, which meant that Alastor Moody was at his apartment on someone else's behalf.
With a cruel grin on his face, Harry stood up and disappeared with a soft pop…
<Line Break>
~~Harry's Apartment~~
Harry arrived inside his apartment and opened the door. "I wasn't expecting you to make such an amateur mistake" Harry said with a curious look on his face as he stared at the scarred man standing in front of him. The man didn't seem to be surprised by Harry's arrival in the slightest. In fact, it seemed that the man was actually waiting for his arrival. The man was probably waiting for him for quite some time, but he got tired of waiting and decided to trigger the Wards intentionally.
"It wasn't a mistake, boy, since I knew you would be arriving" Moody snapped at Harry as his Magical eye swirled creepily.
"I see…" Harry muttered with a hum. "So, what do you want?" Harry asked as opened the door wide and stepped back as an invitation for the man.
The man carefully looked around before finally stepping inside his apartment. "Something happened back in Britain. Something that concerns you" The man revealed gruffly before taking a small sip from his hip flask.
"If you are talking about the Wizengamot meeting where Lucius Malfoy was decided to be my new guardian, then I am already aware of that" Harry revealed dismissively and the look of surprise on Alastor's face was completely priceless, but the look of surprise didn't last for long as he was able to quickly regain his bearings.
"Then you already know how much danger you are in, right?" The man asked with a heavy frown marring his face.
"Yes, I know, but it is none of your concern" Once again, Harry dismissed the man, only for Alastor to scowl unhappily. Not that Harry cared. "I am grateful that you came here to inform me of this development, but I will deal with this my own way" Harry added as he looked away from Alastor. He wanted to see if the man would try to take him away forcefully or not.
"You have no idea…" Alastor growled as he stepped forward, but the next moment he found himself falling. For a paranoid person like him, it was a shock of the century. He immediately stumbled up on his feet with his Wand held out in his hand. He looked around frantically before he finally lowered his head with a dumb look on his face. He was in the middle of Hogsmeade, but how?
'The boy didn't use a Portkey' Alastor decided. He had taken Portkeys hundreds, if not thousands of times so he knew how a Portkey felt like. He remembered taking a step forward and then he remembered the sensation of falling like the floor disappeared from under his feet… Alastor knew that this couldn't be an illusion as his Magical eye could see through all illusions, so how? How did he arrive at Hogwarts from the boy's apartment? He scowled unhappily as he kicked the ground, only to find a note sticking on his peg leg. With a murderous scowl on his face, he took off the note and read it…
'The next time you will find yourself in the cells of MACUSA'
He read the note and crumpled it with a furious look on his face. He wasn't angry at the boy specifically, he was angry over the fact that the boy was able to take him by surprise and he had no idea how the boy was able to do that. With an unhappy scowl on his face, he took a large sip from his hip flask before disappearing with a soft crack. He decided to inform Amelia about this development before trying anything else…
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