Chapter Text
Harry sat against the ruins of what once was Hogwarts and sighed. He ran his fingers over the dry, cracked ground, lamenting the lack of grass and life in the ground. He stood up and walked over the where the forest once stood, but was now simply dry, cracked wasteland.
He walked past the dried up lake bed and past the spot where Hagrid’s hut once stood. He glanced at where the whomping willow should be before carrying on into the not-a-forest. He stood still and looked over the dry, cracked ground that was once a forest floor, giving life to the ground around him.
Over there was where the centaurs made their home, Aragog’s nest was there, that was about where the Thestrals had been, over there had been the unicorn’s pastures.
He sighed heavily and turned his back to the forest. He raised the Elder Wand and waved it in the air, drawing the last of the magic from the lay lines below to cast this one last spell. He closed his eyes as the magic washed over him and sent him hurtling back in time, back nearing nine thousand years, to his childhood. To before it was too late to save the life of the world.
The world that could no longer sustain life.
~#~.o.O.o. Abandonment .o.O.o. ~#~
Harry opened his eyes and found himself facing the underside of a staircase. He sighed, having forgotten this little part of his past.
He waved a hand, opening the cupboard door and stepped out. It was the middle of the night, the faint light from outside peeking through the living room curtains.
Harry looked down and took stock of himself, smiling in satisfaction at how young he looked. More time to set everything in motion.
He closed his eyes and connected to the magic of the world, nearly passing out at how vibrant and full of life it was after so many years of being nearly dead and only having him to keep it alive.
He sighed happily at the near euphoric feeling only snapping out of his daze when his knees nearly gave out beneath him.
He shook his head and focused, drawing the magic up and opening a new dimension. He created it about half the size of the earth, with a lunar and solar cycle the same as earth’s, and full of islands, ranging in size from the Isle of White to the Isle of Man (400-600 KM2). Each island was filled with thick forest with a cave network spreading deep into that would easily house any size wolf-pack that lived on the island. In the end there were hundreds, of thousands of islands, all ready and waiting for inhabitants.
The next dimension he created was similar, but the days were short and the nights long and dark. The moon never waned from its full position, being larger and brighter than the one on Earth. He made the lands similar to the ones here on earth, but the grounds were flat, the edges of each island being lush land ready for farming or forest ready for animals. The middle of the islands he created with cities ready for the people to move in. There were a couple of cities on each island with a large settlement in the middle, shielded from the few hours of sunlight this world had to offer. Perfect for the night walkers.
Harry then created a third dimension identical to earth, but a quarter the size. He carefully sculpted each island just as he remembered the original country looking like. This one was for the magical humans in the world. An identical dimension was created without the human settlements. This one would be inhabited by half of the magical creatures in the world.
Harry thought for a moment if he should create a world for some of the other species around before shaking his head, knowing they could live perfectly fine together, without humans around; though he did make a few island chains inaccessible from the outside for some of the more dangerous creatures who bred too fast, like Acromantula.
Harry sighed happily and opened his eyes. Finding himself face to face with Dudley. He blinked a few times and Dudley stared back.
“What you doing Freak?”
Harry smiled sadly. “It’s a secret.” He stood up and dusted his hands against his legs, looking around at the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. He turned to the back door. “Goodbye.” He walked out, ignoring Dudley asking where he was going and left. He kept walking. Soon, he came to the little park nearby and walked into the small wooded area beside it. It was much too thin to be called a wood, or forest, it was only about fifty meters long and twenty wide. The trees were sparse and thin and there were clear paths leading through it.
But it was enough.
Harry extended his magic and found all the bugs and tiny wildlife within the forest and slowly pulled each of them into the first dimension, the one for the were-wolves. All the little bugs and the few birds. The complete silence of the wildlife in the forest disturbed Harry but he doubted anyone else would notice. He turned and walked away, heading off down the street. He walked slowly, extracting the bug life from each garden as he walked. He spread them out across the first island. By the time he got to the end of Little Whining he had placed as many insects as he could on the first island. They would repopulate heavily over the next few years and increase their numbers to a more stable level.
He’d leave the wildlife, the flora and fauna, untouched for a few years before he moved anyone in. He needed the ecosystem to be able to support itself without his help, or the world would be doomed to die.
Harry spent the next few months travelling Britain, he never took too many animals from one place, and spread them around as far as he was able in each of the worlds. By the time he finished with the British Isles he had taken many animals, not just bugs and birds, as well as a large number of plants he had been unable to replicate when creating the worlds, mostly those that had magical properties.
He had also discovered that he was five years old, and so he had six years before he got his Hogwarts letter.
Six years to travel the world and collect various animals from different cultures and climates and finish stocking up the worlds. So far it was looking good. It had only been a few months but the insect population had significantly increased, the animals were already marking out territories and trails, making the most out of their new homes. He wouldn’t put any large predators in the were-wolf world, since the wolves themselves would take that place, but everywhere else needed them for the ecosystem, though he’d make sure the herbivores could survive first, and get their numbers up a bit.
The next five years passed in a blur. All of the worlds were ready for habitation of the sentient races by the end of the second and he’d gone around collecting magical species. Some wizards too, though only those from magical creature reserves.
He smirked, remembering each of the reserves. The humans had only been too happy to slide into the new dimension, since it meant the creatures didn’t have to worry about being seen by humans and as such, the reserves could be bigger, allowing the creatures more room. He explained that half of the creatures in each reserve would be sent to a world where there were no humans at all, allowing them to regain their numbers without humans killing them for potions ingredients or wand parts.
Sadly, the other humans would not be as easy to convince to move.
Currently Harry was sitting in a muggle cafe, drinking a milkshake and watching the news. They were reporting the suspicious disappearances of huge numbers of animals worldwide. Harry smirked, knowing that it was not some kind of activist group working against the nature forces of the world like green peace. Harry had actually taken all of some endangered species, placing all of them close together, allowing them to breed in the wild and repopulate naturally, instead of them being ‘extinct in the wild’.
They blamed it on nature activists at first.
He glanced to the side, his eyes narrowing slightly as a couple with a young baby, who was obviously magical (to his eyes at least) walked in. That was one of the biggest problems. Many magical lines had become squib lines and eventually, descendants had no idea about the magical world at all. Even if he moved every magical into the new dimension, what was he going to do about the ‘muggle-borns’.
He supposed he could find a way to track them, like the ministry tracked accidental magic. It would be easier with the rest of the magical world in hiding, certainly. He shook his head, deciding to worry about that hurdle when he gets to it. For now, he only had a year left before he got his Hogwarts letter. Already the world was changing. He’d collected all the were-wolf packs from around the world and given each of them their own island in their dimension and all of them had settled in well. He’d made a few packs out of stray wolves too, but it was hard to find them since a lot of them tried to pretend to be humans.
The Wizarding world had noticed the significant drop in numbers. It was in all the papers.
The hardest people to move would actually be the vampires, because he needed food for them. Humans. He couldn’t decide how to do it, since he didn’t want to kidnap people, but he didn’t want to go around telling people about what he was doing and then wiping their memory when they refused to be a food source for a coven of vampires.
He finished his shake and left the cafe, walking down the street thinking. He watched the bustling city life and smiled to himself. At first, he’d been almost claustrophobic around so many people, around so much noise and light and life and magic, but he’d gotten used to it over time. He narrowed his eyes, spotting a couple with a six year old. She was magical, he could tell that much, but they were glowering at her and hissing. He used a quick spell and found them to be telling her not to do anything strange while they were out, to not embarrass them in public like last time.
“But I swear, I don’t know how that happened!”
“Don’t you sass me girl!”
Harry blinked for a moment before scowling. He put a tracker charm on them and followed them for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Obviously they would not keep their daughter past today, but what to do with them, and what to do with her.
An incredibly blond couple walked past and Harry was immediately reminded of the Malfoy’s, who he’d seen on holiday in France just last week.
Harry paused slightly mid-step before continuing on.
Perhaps...
A plan quickly formulated in Harry’s mind and he smirked, apparating to Diagon Alley and heading to the post office. A quick letter, requesting a meeting at the Leakey Cauldron Tomorrow, and a quick trip into the Leakey Cauldron to reserve one of the private rooms for the entire day, along with a room upstairs and he was done.
He silently apparated to the couple with the magical child and found them alone.
He walked up to them, placing wards around stopping anyone from hearing them, seeing them or walking over to them. He then placed a ward stopping them from leaving.
“Good Afternoon.”
They looked up. The lady smiled pleasantly. “Hello there. Are you lost?”
Harry shook his head. “No. I know where I am, as I came here for you.”
The man frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Do you know what your daughter is?”
They seemed a little nervous at that. The woman frowned. “What do you mean, ‘what’?”
Harry looked directly at the girl. “You’re a witch.”
“What?” she frowned, vaguely insulted.
He smirked. “It’s alright. I’m a wizard.” He flicked his wrist, conjuring an expensive looking table, plush luxury chairs and a delicate tea set with crystal glassware. “Shall we?” he sat down and with a flick of his wrist, the tea pot was full of boiling water and ready to pour.
The girl sat down, a small smile across her face. Her parents were more reluctant. Harry began pouring the tea, “Now, there is a secret society hidden in each country. The magical community. We have everything your world has, banks, money, a government, schools, shops, towns and villages. We don’t have anything with electricity, as the two don’t mix, but we get by without. Your daughter is part of this world, being a witch, and we would like for her to attend school with us when she turns eleven.”
The man frowned. “So... the... the things she can do are... what, magic?”
“Yes.”
“How do we get rid of it?” to Harry’s surprise it was the mother who asked, the father nodding his agreement.
“You don’t.” He supplied. “Once born with magic, there is no getting rid of it.”
The man scowled. “No daughter of mine will have that kind of... thing.”
Harry scowled. “So, you would turn your daughter away for her gift?”
“It’s not natural!”
The girl looked horrified. “But... daddy...”
The woman shook her head. “Your father’s right dear. It’s not normal. It’s not natural. If Jesus wanted us to be able to do things like that... we’d all be born like that.”
Harry grimaced, realising these people were religious. As the conversation wore on it became more clear that they were extremely religious and would not tolerate their daughter being magical at all.
Eventually Harry stepped back in. “If I may?” the three jumped, having forgotten he was there. “I can get in contact with a good family in the Wizarding world who could take your daughter in. In the eyes of your government she would disappear, and you would never have to worry about her again.”
To his disgust, both parents immediately agreed. Harry held back a sneer and stood, beckoning the girl to follow him. As they walked away Harry glanced behind him and sent the two people to the dimension the vampires were due to go to. He would not have scum like that hanging around. He apparated the girl to the Leakey Cauldron, directly into their room. He squatted down beside her. “I need you to think about your home, real hard. I’m gonna get a picture of it from your mind, and I’ll go there and get all of your things. Alright?”
The girl nodded and closed her eyes, focusing really hard. Harry chuckled and disappeared with a quiet pop, after finding the image in her head. He appeared in a living room and immediately moved around the house, collecting all of the girl’s things and placing them in a conjured bag, including all of her furniture. He conjured a camera and took a few photos, which he would hopefully give to the Malfoy elves and they could decorate the girl’s room along a similar theme.
Not identical, since it would just remind her of here, but similar enough to make her feel relaxed and at home.
He appeared back at the Cauldron and presented the girl with the bag, pulling out a change of clothes for tomorrow along with a couple of the stuffed toys. “I got all of your things. I’ve asked someone to meet me here tomorrow, so hopefully you will have at the very least, somewhere to stay until they can find you a new family.”
Just as he spoke and owl flew in through the window and Harry retrieved the letter, which was from Lucius Malfoy, accepting his request for a meeting, stating the time to be at one in the afternoon. Harry nodded. “There we go, we’ll meet him tomorrow at one, for now, let’s get you some new clothes and things.”
They spent the rest of the day shopping. Harry bought the girl some expensive dresses and robes, hoping Malfoy would be more willing to take her in if she al least looked like a magical person, and not a muggle. The girl was taking being abandoned surprisingly easily. Harry had to wonder how they treated her, or if it had sunk in yet that she would never see them again.
Once she was asleep that night Harry placed an alert ward over her and slipped into the vampire dimension, easily finding the only people living there. He was somewhat surprised to find them in one of the castles that he’d built. “You are not welcome here.” They both looked up at his surprised. “This home is not for you. Follow me.” He turned and left. When they did not follow he simply levitated them. He dumped them in an apartment in the city nearby and slipped out of the dimension, apparating to their home and collecting all of their belongings. He placed them all in the middle of the apartment. “You’ll have to work for your food. Cus’ I’ll not have anything to do with you after this. You’ll find more people around eventually. The ones who will live in the castle will be in charge of the island. You’ll follow their laws.” He vanished without another word, knowing he’d scared them both.
All too soon it was time for his meeting with Lucius. Tom showed the man through and Harry stood to greet him. “Lord Malfoy, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Lord Potter Black Peverell. This is May Lee. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.”
He glanced and May, who cut a clumsy curtsey, “Nice to meet you my Lord.” Her whole manner screamed inexperienced but thankfully Malfoy didn’t comment.
“It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Lord Potter, and miss Lee.”
Harry gestured to the chairs, “Please, sit, and we can get down to business.” Malfoy nodded and sat. Harry began speaking as he served the tea, a quiet whisper for May to ‘watch and learn’. She stared at his hands as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world. “Now, I asked for you to meet me as I have a proposal for you that may be to your advantage.”
Malfoy crossed his ankles elegantly but otherwise looked incredibly bored. “Oh, really?”
Harry nodded. “As you know, muggle-born children do not know about the magical world until they are contacted by us, either when they are accepted into Hogwarts, or if they have done accidental magic often or public enough that the ministry needs to step in and educate the family, to prevent it happening again. Now, unfortunately, some muggles, who do not understand their child’s gift... mistreat their child.”
Immediately he saw Malfoy stiffen. Child abuse was almost unheard of in the magical world, as any child born was sacred, since there were so few. Purebloods had trouble conceiving.
“Now, if these children were taken from their muggle parents at a young age and fostered or adopted by a magical family, they would grow up in our world, know of our customs and culture. They would follow our traditions and know all our laws. They would be able to learn of magic sooner and thus would not keep their pureblood classmates behind by having to learn the theory or simple spells like lumos and wingardium leviosa.”
Malfoy nodded slowly. “A good point, indeed.”
Harry nodded. “It would also mean that some bloodlines may be brought back, you never know when a ‘muggle-born’ child is the great-grandchild of a squib who may have been the last of their line. Perhaps they are not the first in their family, but the first in a few generations? Some may be, but others may not. I find it hard to believe that a line would simply stop having magic completely.” It was a controversial theory that didn’t get many fans from the pureblood society. “All it would require would be a simple heraldry test, which Gringotts offers for free.”
Malfoy nodded slowly. “And why do you want to see me about this?” he cast a suspicious glance to May.
“May was disowned by her parents because she had magic. They are strongly religious and think she is, to use their words, ‘tainted by the devil’.” Malfoy sneered at Harry’s words. “She needs new home and family. Placing her in a muggle orphanage would not be in her best interest, and our world has no such thing, since children are always taken in by family if they are orphaned. I thought, that if you take the girl in, it would look good for you, to be seen helping a child in need, and a Muggleborn to boot, meaning a lot of the Light will stop harassing you for your past,” he cast a glance towards Malfoy’s left arm, “And it would begin to make headway in getting Muggleborns away from the muggle world sooner, so our world is less corrupted but their influence.”
Malfoy nodded slowly and hummed, his eyes unfocused slightly as he sipped his tea, thinking about it. “I would have to discuss it with my wife and son, of course. Though Narcissa would be happy to have a little girl, especially since Draco is going to Hogwarts next year...” the last part was muttered slightly, as though he was thinking out loud. He surreptitiously scratched his forearm. “But what about bloodlines? They would be diluted.”
Harry smirked. “That’s what the fostering option is for. She’d keep her name, but you would be her foster family. You’d raise her and look after her, without her taking your family name. For those more focused on profit and business, they could make it a contract, that when the child leaves Hogwarts they will work at the family’s company or business for a minimal number of years as repayment for being fostered. It’s what some muggle companies do. They will sponsor someone, finance them going to college or university, sometimes both. The student is required to keep up a certain grade average and when they graduate they will work at the company, for a lowered wage or something, for a certain time period that was agreed upon before the student was sponsored. Usually, they make friends with people in the company and after the minimum time is finished, they want to stay on at the company, instead of finding a new one to work at.”
Malfoy frowned and nodded slowly, thinking that over. “A good business venture, certainly, and definitely something to think about.”
Harry smirked inwardly, knowing the man had several companies and would be implementing the sponsorship with at least one of them in the near future.
He nodded slightly and locked eyes with Harry. “I will think about what you’ve said and discuss it with my family. I shall owl you with my decision.”
Harry nodded. “We’ll be staying here, should you wish to meet in person again.”
Malfoy nodded and stood, as Harry did. They shook hands and exchanged parting pleasantries, before the man left. Harry turned to May, “Shall we go and get you some books then, start learning about this world?”
The girl smiled and nodded, happily following Harry to the bookstore.
The next day found Lucius Malfoy taking the girl to Gringotts, finding out she was in-fact the great-great-granddaughter of a thought-to-be-extinct pureblood line and announcing in the papers that he was fostering her, as her squib parents were deemed to be ‘unacceptable and deplorable guardians, not fit to raise a kneezle’. A quiet word with the man before he’d left had him promising not to mention that Harry was aware of the Wizarding World.
Harry then went around the muggle orphanages in England and owled Malfoy a list of all the magical children in them, complete with ages, how long they’d been there and their current treatment at the hands of the matrons there.
Malfoy brought it up at the Wizengamot meeting the next day and within a week all of the magical children had been taken in by a magical family. Some were adopted but others were fostered and went by the name of the magical line they were descended from.
By the end of the month several more Muggleborn children had been adopted by magical families, a few of them already in Hogwarts, due to the ministry deeming their living arrangements ‘unsuitable’. Harry visited each of these families after the children had been taken away and all but one was taken to the vampire dimension. The exception had been that the parents were living deep in poverty and were struggling to feed themselves and their child. They were allowed visits and their child, who was being fostered by a wealthy pureblood family, would write to them regularly. The neighbours had been told the child was being fostered by a well off family for his own good, and that he would have a better chance with them than he would have done with his parents, who had been relieved that someone was going to ensure their son had a decent future and was able to handle his bursts of accidental magic.
Over the course of the next few months several more children were given up or taken away from their abusive families. A few were like that family, and the child was simply being fostered by a magical family but still had contact with their muggle family.
Harry was not worried about this as he knew that they would drift away from each other over time.
While this was happening Harry kept on with moving magical creatures and plants into the new dimensions. He uncovered several more were-wolves and moved them all into their dimension and finally made contact with a vampire coven.
He walked down the hall, admiring the beauty of the place. He was led into a room and bowed deeply to the Lord in the chair, who stood and bowed back. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, my Lord.”
The man nodded and gestured to the chair opposite him. “I am afraid I am unable to offer you a drink, as I believe what we have here would not be to your taste.”
Harry smiled slightly. “So it would seem. It is perfectly understandable, of course. I am the one who requested this meeting on such short notice, and it would be unreasonable of me to ask you to provide a beverage for me when you would have to go out of your way to procure it.”
The man nodded, seemingly happy with his answer. “So, child, what brings you here?”
Harry inclined his head. “The world is changing. It is heading for disaster and I worry that the magical world will soon be discovered, or else drive itself to ruin before doing so, leaving us unable to fight back against the muggles. They have advanced while wizards have not and I worry for the sake of our world.”
The vampire stiffened. “And what do you suggest about this?” he seemed suddenly cold and aggressive.
Harry waved his hands, placating the man. “Centuries ago, there was a race that lived on the earth with us. They fled into another dimension, still attached to this one, but undisturbed and it allowed them to escape the hatred of the humans. I wish to follow in their footsteps. I have access to several dimensions and believe that if the magical world moves into these dimensions then we would not have to worry about the muggles discovering us, as we would not be there to be found.”
The man relaxed and frowned. “Any why do you come to me with this idea?”
Harry smirked. “Recently, several families have begun to adopt Muggleborn children. I have sent their muggle relatives into one dimension. The daylight lasts only a few hours, but the days are still twenty four hours long. It is otherwise uninhabited and perfect for your kind to live in. The only problem I am facing is getting enough humans there for you to have enough to eat without drying up your food source within a few years, as well as having enough people there that some could be turned, if you find anyone you wish to do so with. I cannot go around kidnapping muggles left right and centre. And though a few disappearances here and there from different countries across the world would not look suspicious, it would not be enough to provide enough humans for all of the vampires of the world.”
He frowned. “And all the vampires of the world would live in this dimension?”
Harry nodded. “It’s about a third of the size of earth, and made up of islands, big enough for a coven and several human settlements, so each coven will have their own island. You’d never have to contact each other if you didn’t want to.”
He nodded slowly. “And if you had an answer to your problem, there would be nothing keeping my kind from moving in, yes?”
Harry nodded. “I’ve already supplied the were-wolves with a dimension, each pack has their own island and the ecosystem is stabilised. They have plenty of food and won’t run out, unless they over hunt. The dimensions were made years ago and are all ready for life. I just need to find humans for you. And to convince the wizards to move into their dimension.”
The vampire nodded slowly. “I will consider your offer, and think about your problem. Most vampires have a human partner they feed from, who lives with them full time, though some prefer to mix it up, especially since humans don’t live for long.”
Harry nodded. “Yeah, one of the downsides of being immortal.”
“You speak as if from experience.”
“Perhaps I am.”
There was silence for several long moments before the vampire grinned. “I like you, human. You are interesting.” He stood. “I shall think about the problem of food, until then, I wish you well, and hope we meet again on favourable terms.”
Harry nodded and stood, shaking the man’s hand, surprised to find he was wearing charmed gloves so that his hands felt warm, and that he held his hand loosely, like he was afraid to hurt him with a stronger grip. Harry smiled gently at the man, the considerations not lost on him at all. “I hope so too. Until we meet again, my Lord.” He bowed to the man and followed the vampire who had led him here back out of the castle.
The younger vampire turned to Harry just as they got to the door. “How will we contact you if we need to?”
Harry quirked a smile. “Owl will do, or if you want to meet in person, I will be at Hogwarts as of September.”
The man nodded and vanished from sight so Harry apparated to his current apartment.
~#~.o.O.o. Abandonment .o.O.o. ~#~
Harry placed the newspaper down, smirking at the articles. Apparently Dumbledore had been going on about the new practice of adopting Muggleborns to another member of the ICW so the International News, an international paper that England didn’t get, ran a funny article about how Britain was finally starting to accept magical children before they turned eleven.
It had been a subject of scorn for many years. Most magical societies hated Britain for how they treated people.
Harry stood up as he was called and walked into the Spanish minister’s office. Five hours later he left, satisfied that magical Spain would vote for the move when it was brought up at the next ICW meeting.
The next few days had him meeting with the leaders of all the other magical governments and pleading his points. Some were easy to convince, while others harder. A couple refused outright, as he knew Britain would. All countries agreed to create a department in their ministries that would be the liaisons between both dimensions, collecting any new magicals that crop up and bringing their entire family into the new dimension.
It was, overall, easier than Harry had thought it would be. Especially after he made it known that there was a dimension full of islands that was solely for were-wolves and they would not have to worry about Lycanthropy at all in the new dimension. And that he was sending half of the magical creatures in the world into a separate one from the humans so they would not go extinct, which greatly pleased many people.
In the end, though, the final decision would be decided at the next ICW meeting, which wasn’t for another six months.
Harry had already approached several different magical species and told them of the worlds, some electing to stay with the humans while others preferred to live without. Those that wanted to live without the humans were already in the new world, settling down in their new homes.
~#~.o.O.o. Abandonment .o.O.o. ~#~
Harry knocked on the door to number 4 Privet Drive, honestly surprised when Petunia answered the door. She scowled at him and he held up both hands. “I’m just here to talk.”
She snorted but let him in. “Be thankful Vernon’s not here right now.”
Harry nodded. He sat down on the couch, looking over the place. From the pictures on the walls, Dudley had gained more weight and looked to be in danger of several health problems. He turned to Petunia. “I see this place hasn’t changed much since I left.”
She sneered. “What do you want?”
“Have you been contacted by anyone from my world since I left?”
“No.”
“Good.” He leant forwards. “One week before my birthday, I will receive my Hogwarts letter. I will need to be here the day before then and stay over the night, for it to be addressed to here. I will then contact the school, accepting their invitation and that will be that. I will then leave and go to the bank, where I shall officially acquire the emancipation documents, and as the orphaned heir of a pureblood line with only muggle relatives, I shall be allowed to become emancipated and you’ll never see me again. I don’t want them to know I didn’t live here the last six years, or we’ll all be in trouble.”
Petunia frowned. “Why can’t you just leave now?”
“If I don’t stay here, then when my letter arrives, either Dumbledore will drag me back here and find a way to keep me here, or I’ll be adopted by a magical family, something I have no intention of letting happen. It’s in all of our interest that we do this.”
Petunia paled. “Vernon won’t like this.”
“I will pay you a hundred pounds and will arrive before he gets back from work and sit silently in one of the rooms upstairs. I only need to stay long enough for my letter to arrive, he won’t even have to know I’m here so long as you keep him out of the guest room and don’t let him see my letter. I promise, he won’t know I’m here.”
Petunia bit her lip and thought for a moment before nodding.
And that was how Harry found himself spending the night upstairs in the guest room reserved for Marge, with a subtle notice-me-not on the door to make sure Vernon won’t come near it. The next morning Petunia slipped his letter under the door and Harry wrote a reply, calling the owl up to the bedroom window and sending it off. He made sure to write that his cousin had a ‘terrible fear of birds’ and could they ‘not send any more letters’ and that his Aunt was going to take him shopping as she knew where Diagon Alley was.
Harry had half a mind to reject the letter entirely, as he knew more magic than Hogwarts could possible teach him and it would be difficult having to pretend to be an eleven year old. As it was he either used an aging charm on himself or he only had to pretend for short periods of time. As it was the ‘otherworldly-experienced-child’ had played to his advantage on a few occasions as it gave the impression that he was some kind of seer.
Thankfully, his trip to Diagon that day was un-accosted by anyone from the Order or Hogwarts and he was able to officially sign the emancipation papers. Harry checked the list and bought the potions ingredients, a couple more rolls of parchment, a few quills and a couple bottles of ink, though after thinking about it for a moment he asked the shop if they did any owl delivery system, and if he could take a load of the forms to Hogwarts with him, as many Muggleborns underestimated how much supplies they need and end up running out by the end of the year.
He did the same with the apothecary, though they were unable to owl order due to the nature of potions ingredients, though they had forms students could fill out and they would prepare the order for collection. Harry decided the apothecary in Hogsmead would be more convenient as any upper year student could go down during a Hogsmead weekend and a lower year student could either accompany a teacher or the teacher could go down themselves.
He already had all the books, though they were worn and full of notes, so he only needed a couple of things from the list. It was only a week later that he remembered about the Philosophers Stone, and only then because of the newspaper article saying the vault had been broken into but nothing was stolen as the vault was already empty.
Harry immediately wrote to Nicholas Flamell requesting an urgent meeting, supplying the article with the letter. To his immense surprise, Flamell actually agreed to meet with him and supplied a portkey. Upon arriving at the Flamell house Harry was taken by how homey and inviting it was, though the pink smoke coming from under a door to one side was worrying.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, sir.”
Nicholas nodded and gestured Harry to sit opposite himself and his wife, who was already serving tea and muttering about ‘underfed children these days’ and ‘did no one know how to feed a growing boy?’ and ‘will need some feeding up’. Harry placed a hand on his stomach rather self-consciously, sure he didn’t look thin enough to cause this woman to worry about him.
Nicholas simply smiled indulgently at his wife, rolling his eyes dramatically when she wasn’t looking, though the gentle backhand to his chest a moment later told him she knew anyway.
“So, child, what does this letter mean?” he held up Harry’s letter with the newspaper clipping.
Harry frowned slightly. “Did you lend the Philosophers Stone to Dumbledore?”
“Good heavens no. I can’t stand the brat, thinking himself my partner, honestly.”
Harry chuckled and grinned. He frowned at the newspaper. “Dumbledore has his people believing that the item within the vault was the Philosophers Stone. He’s going to place it at Hogwarts on the third floor corridor on the left hand side, guarded by a Cerberus named Fluffy, who belongs to the loose lipped Grounds Keeper who loves to talk about his pets, a patch of devils snare, a plant first years cover in herbology, a door which will only open with the correct key from amongst hundreds of them, all with wings and charmed to fly, though the room supplies brooms to catch said key with, an enchanted chess set that will let you pass if you win, a troll and a table of potions with a logic puzzle telling you which one you need to drink to get through. The stone will be in the room beyond there. Plus, at the welcoming feast he’s going to tell everyone that the ‘third floor corridor on the left hand side, is forbidden to all students who do not wish to die a most painful death’, which of course will get every student in the school interested in what’s past there.”
Nicholas frowned and shared a look with Perenell. She turned to him. “You seem to know a lot about this.”
Harry nodded. “I know a lot of events that would happen in the future and how they play out, if I didn’t know what happens and intervene.”
Nicholas nodded. “Why would Dumbledore do that though?”
“Two reasons, first, to test me to see if I have an ‘adventurous spirit’ and to see if I’m willing to put myself in danger if I think that no one else is going to protect the stone, and second, to lure out Voldemort’s wraith, who will go after the stone, knowing it’s there. I don’t know how he got the information that it was supposedly in vault 713 at Gringotts, nor how he broke in and out of that vault.”
Nicholas frowned further and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. “I would never give away the stone. It’s safe here, rest assured. As for Dumbledore, try to avoid him if you can.”
Harry nodded. Before another thought struck him. “You’re over six hundred years old, I’m sure you know magics that most of the world has forgotten. Do you know of any spells that can destroy a Horcrux without damaging the container? Several of Hogwart’s founders items have been turned into them and I don’t want to have to destroy such precious historical items.”
Both Flamells paled significantly at that. Nicholas spoke quietly. “Yes... I know of a few spells we could use...”
Harry grinned. “Great. Then can you get rid of this one?” he pointed to his forehead and Perenell practically fainted on the spot.
Nicholas nodded slowly and stood up. “Come with me.” He led Harry upstairs and into a little bedroom which was decorated like a guest room. “Lay down here. I’m not going to lie, this is going to hurt a lot.”
Harry shrugged and lay down on the bed. “It’s worth it.”
“I’m sure.”