章節 36: Chapter 36
"I'm so glad I'm not an Auror anymore" said Sirius, stretching his arms. "There is no way I would want to risk my life by telling the Irish to stop celebrating. Oh, my poor wife. Sometimes I feel so bad for her."
Harry snorted. He completely agreed with his godfather. He looked at Astoria who was busy talking about the match to her bemused sister. He found it amusing that Daphne didn't care for Quidditch while Astoria loved it, even though she never played the game.
The next hour was spent eating slowly and chatting amidst laughter. Just when they decided to pack the tent and leave, they heard an explosion and screams outside. Harry and Daphne immediately got up, their wands in hand.
"Something is wrong" said Cyrus, looking out of the tent. His eyes went wide. "We're under attack. Tori, you're with me. Harry, Daphne, come with me, but if we're separated, head to the woods. You can Disapparate to the manor from there. Come on, let's move."
They got out of the tent, amidst screams of terror. Harry saw many people walking slowly, their wands aloft, with four bodies of the muggles high in the air, being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. He recognised them immediately when they started firing more Cruciatus Curses at witches and wizards – Death Eaters.
Harry's blood boiled when he saw them attacking and torturing innocent children. "Daphne, try to find as many children as you can. Take them to safety. Use lethal spells; these bastards don't deserve mercy" he said, and walked towards the Death Eaters.
Harry twirled his wand, morphed into a man in his early twenties and started firing curses at them. The Death Eaters, who didn't expect any resistance, were quite shocked and pretty soon Harry was fighting five on one. He snarled as a Killing Curse came close to his body, though he was far too experienced to dodge it for it to do any damage. His power in the curses increased, and a red jet of light impacted one of the Death Eaters' arms. The man screamed in pain as Harry's Reductor curse cut off the man's arm. Harry created a large eagle of fire and one of the Death Easters was caught in it. Harry watched with satisfaction as it quickly burned through his clothes, and then took a bone breaking curse to the chest, courtesy of Harry. If the man remained without medical attention for long, he was as good as dead.
Suddenly, the Dark Mark was fired into the sky from the other side of the field. The Death Eaters took one look at it and quickly portkeyed away at once.
"Damn it!" snarled Harry. He wasn't able to put up Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards as he was duelling five at once. Besides, the Death Eaters were quite proficient with those wards, considering they used to put them up before an attack during the war.
He looked up and frowned when he saw the Dark Mark in the sky. He quickly ran to the place of the mark, hoping to catch whoever was behind it. When he approached there, he found a bunch of terrified children, being shouted at by a group of wizards. He tried to break through and it was quite dark, so he decided to get their attention.
"Expecto Patronum" he whispered. The giant thunderbird Patronus burst from the tip of his wand and stood next to him, emitting light and happiness. He went forwards with a calm expression on his face when he heard Barty Crouch shouting at the children "I'm asking you one final time! Who was it? Which one of you cast the Dark Mark in the sky?"
"Wow, talk about shifting blame on others instead of doing his job. Now where have I seen you do that before, Crouch?" said a voice.
The witches and wizards parted, and they saw a man who appeared to be in his twenties, with an enormous Patronus by his side. Nobody recognized him, but everyone could practically feel him oozing magical power as if towering over them all. They watched the man come forwards, and kneel in front of the bunch of terrified children as he asked gently "Don't worry about that bad man over there. You did nothing wrong. We would just like to ask some questions about that bad mark in the sky. Will you answer those for me?"
"Just who do you think you are?" shouted Crouch, his eyes big and wide. "Aurors, arrest him!"
"Going to throw me in Azkaban without a trial like you did to my godfather, Crouch?" sneered the man, his face slowly morphed into the face of the very famous Lord Hadrian Potter. "Try it, and I'll have you executed by tomorrow morning."
Many of the people around gasped when they recognised the Boy Who Lived. The thunderbird patronus came forward, bathing the place in light and warmth. Harry immediately turned to the crying boy in front of him. He guessed that the boy was probably six years old, and so were his companions. He gave the young boy a hug and soothingly rubbed his back.
"Don't cry" he said softly. "We'll find your parents soon, alright? For now, can you please answer some questions? For one, what's your name?"
The boy sniffed and said "Adam Shaw". The other kids muttered their names as well.
"Nice to meet you all" said Harry smiling at the kids. "I'm Hadrian Potter, but you may call me Harry."
"You're the Boy Who Lived!" said one of the kids, looking at him with big, wide eyes.
"That's right" said Harry. "And I want to help you. But before I do, can you tell me if you saw anything in relation to that mark in the sky? You see, it's a bad sign of a bad man, and we want to make sure the people who caused all this are captured. Can you do that?" he asked soothingly.
Adam looked at the vivid green eyes of his childhood hero and said in a shaky voice "T-there was a m-man there. H-he said some s-spell and that t-thing came in the air. I don't know anything more."
With that, he broke down again, and Harry hugged him tightly. The thunderbird patronus came closer, bathing the children in warmth so as to make them feel better.
"Preposterous" yelled Crouch. "Clearly he was behind it! I - "
"A child who doesn't even own a wand firing a curse known only to Death Eaters?" asked Harry coldly. "Do you have a brain at all, Crouch? These are children, the fact that you're pinning the blame on them shows what a complete moron you really are."
"Do you know who I am, boy?" snarled Crouch. "You will address me with respect."
Harry didn't flinch. "I'll show respect to those who deserve it. And you, Crouch, will never be on my list of those whom I can respect. Just shut up and do your job instead of pinning the blame on innocent children. Search the area if you wish; if the kid is right, you might find Apparition traces or magical residue over there. Now get out of my way. I need to get these children to their parents, something which you couldn't be bothered with."
People were watching the display with their jaws hanging in shock. Many didn't know how to react as Crouch was the Head of a very important department in the Ministry, and Harry was the Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble House, not to mention the Boy Who Lived. Harry didn't care about any of that. Instead, he asked the kids to follow him, when suddenly, people gasped.
"Is that a Nundu?" asked someone in awe.
A silver Nundu appeared in front of Harry. He nodded to it as it stood next to the thunderbird Patronus, leading the way. Harry slowly led the children to their forest where Daphne was surrounded by children and parents alike. Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"Adam!" A woman came up and hugged the little boy who again started crying once he found his mother. Many more hysterical parents found their children and hugged them. Harry went over to Daphne who greeted him with a hug as well.
"Thank you so much" said a man in a shaky voice. "You rescued our children. We don't know how to thank you."
"There is no need for that" said Daphne, standing beside her fiancé. "We did what any decent witch or wizard would do."
"You had better take them home" said Harry quietly. "Many of them are traumatised because of Barty Crouch yelling at them. You might want to file a complaint, though, as he accused your children of casting the Dark Mark in the sky."
Many of the parents gasped in outrage. They profusely thanked the couple again and they all Disapparated. Harry dispelled his Patronus after Daphne did the same, took her hand and Disapparated to Greengrass Manor.
When they entered several minutes later, they found Cyrus Greengrass pacing in the living room. When he saw them, he sighed in relief and shouted "Where were you? Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"
Without waiting for an answer, he took out a communication mirror and called Sirius. He informed the other man about their safe return and deactivated it. Pretty soon, Sirius arrived as well.
"Well?" snapped Sirius. "What do you two have to say for yourselves? I remember Cyrus telling you to go to the forest and Apparate home, so why didn't you?"
Harry and Daphne looked at each other and spent the next fifteen minutes explaining what had happened. Pretty soon, they were all sitting on the various couches, lost in thought.
"I never thought Barty Crouch could sink so far" said Sirius finally. "How could he accuse defenceless children to have conjured the Dark Mark?"
"I would like to know the same thing" said Elizabeth, frowning. "Those poor kids were probably traumatized."
"They were" said Harry quietly. "All of them were hysterical and only one boy was in control enough to tell me what happened and he too was crying. It was quite frankly disgusting."
"Whatever the case, I'm proud of you both" said Elizabeth, giving them a smile. Cyrus and Sirius nodded as well.
Once the adults left, Harry turned to Daphne and said "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I sure am glad you're mine. You're amazing, Daphne. I'm so proud of you."
Daphne smiled and nuzzled his face against hers as she whispered "I'm the one who should be proud of you; you fought five Death Easters at once, you saved those children from Crouch and delivered them to their parents. This is one of the reasons I love you so much. You have a big heart."
Harry smiled as he trailed kisses on the side of her face. Pretty soon, they were asleep on the couch with Harry lying on his back and Daphne's head on his chest, hugging him tightly.
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
The next morning, Elizabeth got up and made her way to the living room. She stopped when she saw the sight of her daughter sleeping next to her fiancé, her arms and legs wrapped around him and her head on his chest. She couldn't help but smile as she found it really adorable. She conjured a blanket and placed it on them and left the room.
She was sipping her tea when her husband came into the dining room in a daze. "Cyrus? What happened?" asked Elizabeth.
"Did I just see my eldest daughter hugging and sleeping next to her boyfriend?" he asked in a bland voice.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You mean her fiancé, and yes. They were probably too tired and must have fallen asleep there last night. Besides, it's nothing we didn't do at that age."
"But we were seventeen then" grumbled Cyrus. "They're only fourteen."
"Fourteen and betrothed" she clarified. "Just let leave them alone. I hope you didn't wake them."
Cyrus sighed. "No. I didn't. Still, why must I be put in such a situation where I must watch my children grow up and not need me anymore?"
Elizabeth smirked. "If that's the case, you wouldn't mind taking care of Dylan for the day, would you? I was planning on going shopping and you just accommodated me. Oh, aren't you sweet!"
With that, she walked away. Cyrus grumbled and said, "I knew that I shouldn't have married a fellow Slytherin." He started eating breakfast when Harry and Daphne slowly made their way to the dining room as well.
"Good morning. Slept well? I could see you were very comfortable" said a smirking Cyrus.
Harry's eyes went wide. "We can explain!" he said quickly.
"It's fine" grumbled Cyrus. "My wife already made me accept it and tricked me into taking care of Dylan for the day. Just know that if you hurt my daughter, I'll come after you with my wand blazing".
"Understood" said Harry.
"Daddy, we talked about this" said Daphne, her eyes narrowed.
Cyrus rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. Geez, could I go on without being attacked by one of you girls for a day? But noo, that's not how it works in this house. Be careful Harry. She'll trick you into doing things you would never want to do. She'll use your own words against you, and by the time you've realised what was going on, she would have left the room, with you wondering how you were tricked by her without even seeing it."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were complaining about me and not about your eldest daughter" said Elizabeth, coming back into the dining room, holding Dylan. She saw Harry snickering and Daphne throwing him filthy looks.
"Oh you don't have to warn him Daddy" said Daphne, helping herself to breakfast. "While I don't deny that I do that, he's a master at manipulating me too; making me go to that stupid Quidditch match yesterday is a prime example. Damn those green eyes" she muttered finally.
"Look at this" said Harry quietly, interrupting them. They all saw the large E-Mirror in the dining room was activated, showing the Magical Daily News.
"Good morning to you all. This is a special report" said the reporter. "The aftermath of the finals of the Quidditch World Cup was filled with trauma and confusion as many dark wizards chose it as an occasion to attack witches, wizards and muggles alike. These wizards, who were confirmed to have been Death Eaters, were disgusting in that they also chose to attack children."
"When the Death Eaters attacked, there was wide scale panic and confusion, which enabled them to continue with their attacks. We have received intelligence that Lord Hadrian Potter, Lord of Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, along with his fiancée Daphne Greengrass, eldest daughter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass chose to remain behind to fight the Death Eaters. Indeed, Lady Daphne rescued many of the injured children and set up a camp near the forest so as to help them find their parents while Lord Potter fought five Death Eaters at once! Yes, viewers! A fourteen-year-old wizard fought against five grown-up wizards at the same time. He seems to have heavily injured two of them, though once the Dark Mark was fired by an unknown wizard, they all fled."
"It was at this time that five children around the age of six or seven years old were at the scene of the crime. It was said that Bartemius Crouch, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation was yelling at the terrified children, asking them questions. It was at this time that Lord Potter came at the scene. It has been widely speculated after watching the scene that Lord Hadrian Potter might possibly be a partial metamorphmagus. When Mr Crouch was accusing the six-year-old boy to have cast the Dark Mark, Lord Potter got annoyed and rebuked him. He then calmly asked the young child if he saw anything and took the children to safety. Here is what happened -"
The scene of the World Cup from when Harry entered to finally when he took the children and left was shown. Harry suspected that the Magical Daily probably took the Pensieve memory of one of the people present to show to clip. It accurately showed Harry trading barbs with Crouch, at the same time trying to calm the children. It even showed his and Daphne's Patronus.
"There you have it, witches and wizards. A fourteen-year-old school boy was able to keep his head while the Head of one of our most important departments couldn't do so. What was Mr Crouch thinking when he accused a bunch of defenceless children to have cast the Dark Mark?"
"It is also astounding to see the form of Lord Potter and Lady Daphne's Patroni. Lord Potter's Patronus takes the form of a thunderbird, as it is well known that he has a thunderbird as a familiar. Lady Daphne's Patronus very shockingly takes the form of a Nundu! Yes, viewers, a Nundu. She definitely is a girl you don't want to mess with."
"The attack at the Quidditch World Cup has become an International incident, and this has been shameful for the British Ministry of Magic. Lady Amelia Black, the Director of British Magical Law Enforcement is furious as most of her Aurors and Hit-Wizards were not present to repel the attacks. Indeed, the DMLE has already begun an investigation, and it was found that many of the Aurors and Hit-Wizards were sent back to the Ministry as well as on patrols at Diagon Alley, Godric's Hollow, Hogsmeade and other places on the orders of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, Madam Dolores Umbridge. It is not known why she did so, as Madam Umbridge does not have the authority to order the employees of the DMLE, although reports by many have claimed that she threatened them with their jobs if they did not do as she ordered. Lady Black is understandably furious at the way her department workers were treated and is preparing plead her case to the Wizengamot in the next session."
"Why are dark witches and wizards running unchecked in our country? Why do we let such people roam free who take pleasure in torturing our children? What do Minister Fudge and Madam Umbridge have to say about this? How was Madam Umbridge involved in those attacks at the World Cup? Stay tuned for more news. This is Steve Green, reporting for the Magical Daily News."
"You're a metamorphamagus?" asked Cyrus shocked.
Harry nodded and changed the features on his face. He morphed back and said "A partial one, yes. I can only change the features of my face and hair. I honestly hadn't expected it to be kept a secret for this long. I had thought that it would be revealed a year ago. Oh well, I knew it would come out sooner or later."
Harry's eyes narrowed when he thought about Dolores Umbridge. She was a nasty woman, who she hated magical creatures and muggleborns with a passion and was doing her best to round them up. He would have to do something about her as she was interfering with his plans.
"Harry you've packed your dress robes, haven't you?" asked Daphne suddenly.
"Huh?" said Harry, breaking away from his thoughts. "Oh, you mean for the Yule Ball. Yes, I have. We can go shopping if you'd like; change the colours and maybe buy you a dress as well."
"I sure am glad you weren't in school when I was a student" muttered Cyrus. "You probably would have had a harem and denied us all a chance to date girls."
Harry and Daphne looked at each other and both suddenly burst out laughing. Daphne had tears in her eyes as she gasped out "Harry having a harem? I would kill to see how he would handle that! He would probably run away rather than face a bunch of angry wives."
"No thanks, Cyrus" said Harry grinning. "My dad would have been overjoyed if I did have a harem, but there is no way I would ever do that to Daphne. She's my one and only" he said, hugging her from behind and kissing the top of her head.
Cyrus shook his head and smiled slightly. He sure was glad that Daphne was betrothed to Harry. He wasn't worried about the boy at all; he just pretended to so as to show his protective father persona. But he was terrified what kind of boy Astoria would choose.
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
It was the last week before the school was set to start. Rain lashed against the windows of Potter Castle. Thunder could be heard and lightning flashed across the horizon. Harry stood in the middle of the grounds of the castle, with a thunderbird by his side. He was soaking wet, but he didn't care.
"Concentrate now" instructed Aquila. "You are in control. You control the storm; the storm does not control you. The lightning powers you; use it. Let the lightning infuse your body. There is no distinction between you and the lightning. You are both the same; merge with it; control it. Release it."
Harry was glowing. His skin was emitting a white light; his hair was pure white in colour and his fingertips were glowing as well. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on the storm. He raised both his arms sideways, with his fingers pointing towards the sky. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck him. Harry screamed.
"You are in control" repeated Aquila. "The lightning is you; there is no difference. Let is merge with you. Control it . ."
Harry screamed in pain like he had never screamed before as the current of the lightning bolt coursed through his body. He thought he was going to die; the pain was unbearable. No, he couldn't give up. The magical world needed him. He made a vow that he wouldn't abandon them. Daphne needed him. Aquila believed in him and Harry didn't want to let the thunderbird down. He snarled and pulled the lightning bolt into himself. The current and the lightning's inherent magic seeped into his body as he took control. He was the one in control; the lightning was his. He created it and he powered it.
He screamed and let out a blast of lightning into the sky from each of his fingertips from both hands. Harry's eyes glowed bright green, but you could see lightning bolts in the orbs. His entire body was charged with current and magic. Aquila bowed down to the Lord of Lightning, just as Harry climbed on him.
It was a sight to been seen. Hadrian Potter, Lord of the Potter and Gryffindor families, was sitting on his Thunderbird familiar who was flying in the sky, lightning bolts flying from his fingertips as he finally was prepared for his destiny as the Lightning Lord.
Magical and non-magical creatures alike everywhere bowed to the Lightning Lord, the saviour of magic, the one to bring back glory to the planet; their saviour from certain destruction. The house elves in the manor and all over the world kneeled down as a mark of respect; Centaurs let a stream of arrows at the sky; merpeople sang songs; dragons let out a breath of fire at the sky; goblins looked at the sky and gave a warrior style salute; Nundus roared and bowed down in respect; High Elves looked up at the sky and smeared mud on their foreheads; Unicorns neighed and bowed to the lightning bolts in the sky; Fawkes and other phoenixes trilled and sang beautiful songs for the future of the magical world; thunderbirds bowed down to their master and king and many other species followed suit.
The Lord of Lightning was finally here. The storm raged all over the world at the same time as Magic welcomed its saviour.
HP*LIGHTNING LORD*HP
Harry packed his trunk, told Hedwig to fly to Hogwarts and cajoled Tango into his cage and flooed to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He quickly found a compartment amidst stares and hungry looks from many of the girls and went inside. He sighed. Harry knew that he had grown taller during the summer and he had to admit he was quite good looking (He shuddered when his picture had appeared on the cover of Teen Witch Weekly just a few days ago, saying that he was the hottest teenager in the country), and this made him a target for many of the girls in school.
Harry was now standing nearly six feet in height, which for a fourteen-year-old boy was quite tall. Due to the vigorous exercises and martial arts he did every day, his muscles were well defined. He was also sporting six pack abs, a fact he was very proud of. His silky albeit a bit messy black hair went all the way to the base of his neck, touching his shoulders and Daphne loved to run her hands through it every time they made out. His facial features were better defined now as well and so he attracted attention wherever he went just by his looks alone.
There was a knock on the door and Daphne entered the compartment. She gave Harry a quick kiss and proceeded to levitate her trunk to the rack above. Daphne too had developed over the summer. She was tall and stunningly beautiful, and some would probably have thought she was a Veela at first glance. Her deep blue eyes and rosy pink lips highlighted her already pretty face. Dark blonde hair with slight waves in them ran down to the middle of her back. Her breasts and curves had developed very nicely and boys couldn't help but stare at her when she passed by. The two were considered the best looking boy and girl in the school and Cyrus Greengrass had a right to be worried.
Soon, their friends came into the compartment as well. The train started moving and Harry and Neville were busy discussing the Quidditch finals when the door to the compartment opened. Harry rolled his eyes when he saw who it was. He should have put up a notice me not charm on the door.
"What can do for you Draco?" asked Harry with a smile.
Malfoy was thrown off guard for a second when Harry greeted him with a smile. He blinked owlishly for a few seconds and recovered.
"So . . . are you going to enter, Potter?" said Draco snidely. "A glory hound like you wouldn't hesitate to compete right? More fame would only add to that big head of yours."
Harry looked at Malfoy with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"You don't know?" asked Draco, laughing loudly. "My father heard it from Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself. I thought you would know, after all, you wouldn't miss this opportunity to show off would you?" he said and laughed.
Harry sighed and sat back in a comfortable position. "Oh my dear Draco, would you ever once use your brain? You're forgetting who you're talking to. Unlike you, I'm a member of the Wizengamot, so even if I don't sit on the body yet, I'm apprised on what goes on in there. That being said, I'm shocked that your father told you about such confidential information that was to be kept a secret. I guess we have to inform the Wizengamot Administration Services and the press that Lord Malfoy didn't care about the secrets of the Ministry. If he blabbed to you, who knows to who else he could have mentioned it to? It could become a disaster for him if people think that he's not fit to be a member of the Wizengamot, don't you agree? Run along now" he said. Draco was white as a sheet, and with a flick of Harry's wand, he and his goons were thrown out of the compartment.
"And that's how the Potters do it" muttered Harry, putting his arm around his fiancée.
"Ahm, Harry" said Tracy tentatively. "We all know what's going on at Hogwarts this year. Was it really supposed to be confidential?"
Daphne laughed. "The tournament is an open secret, Tracy. Many of us know about it, but the general student population doesn't because the Ministry wants it to be a surprise. Harry did that just to make Malfoy wet his pants, nothing more."
Harry smirked.
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