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Harry the Squib?
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Harry Potter is a squib. The Wizarding World refuses to believe this despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Harry gets his letter personally delivered by Hagrid, but hadn't gotten any previously. The teachers insisted that the magic was messing up, as he was clearly meant to get an acceptance letter - after all, he is definitely a wizard!
Hagrid would ask about 'the times where weird things happened around him' and how 'that was actually accidental magic'. Problem was that nothing weird had ever happened around Harry.
No wand worked for Harry. Ollivander insisted on one in particular because it was connected to Voldemort. He insisted that the wand just had to get used to him.
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By the time Harry made it to his 4th year at Hogwarts he was beyond trying to convince people he didn’t have magic. Witches and Wizards believed in the impossible and that included the belief that their precious Boy Who Lived was a wizard. He did the homework, paid attention in class and even waved his stick like they told him to, but to him it was just a stick. Not so much as a spark ever came from it.
Harry didn’t have many friends, he had gotten angry with a lot of people his first year because they kept expecting the boy who lived to be some powerful wizard and called him a liar when he tried to show them he couldn’t do magic and didn’t belong here.
First year had ended up pretty lonely after that. Only his roommate Neville still talked to him and he was a very shy and withdrawn kid. He’d confronted Harry, he’d thought Harry was making fun of squibs. Harry had been so frustrated he was nearly in tears he showed Neville how he couldn’t get the wand to work. Yeah he could do the potions and Herbology, he could study books and do essays but he could do a single spell. Neville thought maybe Harry was like him. He struggled with spells too.
Quirrell dragging him down to some weird mirror at the end of the year is an experience Harry never wants to repeat. He had no idea what was going on and had nearly lost his supper when he saw the face on the back of Quirrel’s head. He’d tried to physically defend himself and the man had turned to ash. Dumbledore later told Harry it was because of his mother’s love that Quirrell had burned. Harry just pointed out that he still hadn’t done any magic and wasn’t a wizard.
Second year had brought Luna into Harry’s life. She had been looking for her missing shoes and Harry had been hiding out reading in an empty alcove. She had told him she was sorry his magic had gotten locked away but that he would be okay anyway. It was so blunt and at least she didn’t think he was lying about not being able to do spells. They had been friends since.
Ron his other dorm mate had insisted Harry help when his sister was kidnapped, he dragged Harry along no matter how much he protested. It had been luck that they ran into Lockhart he’d thought, he felt less lucky when the man tried to erase their memories. Harry had tried to offer ron his wand, it didn’t work for him anyhow and the kid’s wand had just been completely destroyed. But no ron pushed him through a little hole and Harry was forced to look for another way out. He knew he shouldn’t have been speaking to that snake in the painting on the stairwell, how was he supposed to know it was a different language? It all sounded like English to him! At least that had only been the week before. He usually avoided everyone except Luna and occasionally Neville.
What he found behind the door with the snakes was not the way out he’d been hoping for. Thank goodness the causing that “Help will always be given at Hogwarts for those who ask for it” wasn’t just more waffle from the army headmaster that insists Harry is a wizard. A flaming bird dropped the sorting hat in his head and pecked out the eyes of the snake. Harry had been very lucky when he stabbed the snake. He’d claimed to get away from it and stabbed it right through its ruined eye. When he went to check on Ron’s sister because the snakes head was way to close to the girl he’d layed the sword down in what he realized later was a puddle of venom from the fang that had broken off when the beast fell. He used the fang to stab the book the ghost like bloke didn’t seem to want him to touch. Then the flaming bird helped him get Ginny, ron and Lockhart back to the school.
Harry had felt bad for Dobby when he saw him with Mr. Malfoy. He’d liked the little guy when they met, especially because he believed Harry when he said he couldn’t do magic. He didn’t mind loosing that sock at all and gained a wonderful friend.
Third year was better and worse than it could have been. Petunia was more than Happy for Harry to be away from Privet Dr as much as possible so she’d signed his permission slip for Hogsmede in exchange for him spending all but the first week of summer with a friend and not returning til the next year. That summer was great Dobby had decided Harry was his now and joined him with Luna and her Dad to look for new creatures.
The news about Sirius Black had made people go crazy when they realized Harry wasn’t at his Aunts. Harry didn’t care though especially when Xeno had told Harry he didn’t believe Stubby Boardman had done the things they say he did. That there had never been any evidence of a trial and a single finger made no sense. Harry hadn’t understood what he meant then but Xeno hadn’t ever lied to him and had been the only magical adult he had met so far that actually listened when Harry talked.
Remus, Professor Lupin at first had been confused because Harry didn’t do spells in class, it wasn’t until he’d asked Harry to stay after that he found out his old friend’s son couldn’t cast magic. He didn’t know what had happened to Harry because he clearly remember the boy had done accidental magic when he was little, but figured it was something that had happened because of the attack. He was just thankful Harry was alive and not an obscurial. He spent a lot of time out of class telling Harry about his parents, he even answered Harry’s questions about Sirius Black. Harry told him what Xeno had said about it and Remus had begun to question if they hadn’t gotten it wrong all those years ago. He like everyone else had no idea how to reach Sirius or find him though.
Harry had gotten a mirror for Christmas that year, a note had said he just needed to tap it a certain way with his wand and it would reveal its secrets. Luna helped Harry check it for bad spells and was with him when he tried it out. Harry had questioned Sirius extensively when they spoke for the first time.
No one but Remus would listen though when Harry tried to ask about Sirius’s trial and what happened to Pettigrew. They all told him he was too young and not to worry about Sirius they’d protect him. Harry was only worried Sirius would get caught.
He had Dobby sneaking food to Sirius and making sure he was okay. They all looked for the Rat but Ron’s pet had been run off or killed by someone’s cat.
Sirius had finally gotten the rat but When Harry had gone to meet up with him to take it to the authorities Snape had come and messed things up, the rat got away. Snape had gotten knocked out in the scuffle so Harry told Sirius to go and hide somewhere far away. There was no way Snape would tell everyone he’d seen Sirius. Harry had told the truth about Pettigrew when he was questioned by Dumbledore and the Minister but Snape had insisted he must have been confounded.
Remus had decided to not continue teaching, Snape had leaked the secret of Remus being a werewolf and he was going to make sure Sirius was okay. They continue to look for Peter. He did give Harry a really cool map though. He’d taken it off Ron’s brothers and let them think he destroyed it because it was a security risk. But it had been made by Sirius, Remus, Harry’s Dad James and the rat that must not be named. So Remus figured if anyone deserved to have it Harry did.
That summer was another great one. He saw Sirius and Remus a few times but they’d had to be very careful. Harry spent most of the summer with Luna again. She was teaching him Runes and Arithmancy. Neither class needed a wand and she had studied ahead for her electives. Harry didn’t mind. It was better than the muggle subjects his Aunt insisted he do. It was a condition of him being allowed to still live at privet drive. Even the headmaster had agreed when she threatened to throw Harry out because he’d be uneducated and unable to get a job without the basic education. He didn’t know how they’d gotten stonewall to go along with it but he did his work and sent it back every week. If you put muggle postage on the envelopes owls will drop it off at the owl post office, they take all the muggle post to the muggles and pick up all the muggle post for wizards and witches. Harry thought that was pretty neat.
Harry was also learning to dance. He didn’t know why Luna insisted he learn but he’d learned to just go with it when she asked. She never asked for much and dancing with her wasn’t so bad at all.
He could do without the nightmares and headaches he’d been getting though.
4th year was going to be the worst year he could feel it. As soon as the headmaster said there was a competition that year Harry knew he was screwed.
Even though the goblet couldn’t bind him to the tournament Dumbledore still could insist he participate.
Harry might be a squib but he’s still stuck with a shard of Voldemort’s soul and is still able to speak Parseltounge. He slowly walks out of the tent and hears an odd voice not like the basilisk in 2nd year but like someone who’s native language isn’t the one they are speaking. The voice is complaining about all the two legs and her poor eggs being in danger.
Harry replies that at least she has the advantage because those stupid two legs expect him a squib to try and get the gold egg that doesn’t belong in her nest. She can blow fire, he can’t even ride a broom.
Hearing that there is a gold egg in her nest put there by two legs she sniffs it out, upon discovering the false egg she uses her claws to fling it from her nest hoping to hit the two legs that dare speaks to her.
Harry was caught off guard and for once thankful for all the gut punches Dudley delivered over the years as it was the only reason he didn’t immediately throw up and make an even larger fool of himself in front of the spectators when the egg slammed into his gut and he caught it.
He still didn’t get a perfect score as the judges penalized him for speaking Parseltounge and scaring the spectators but he had gotten his egg the fastest, with no injury to himself or the dragon and eggs a his score was still higher than the other three champions.
Classes were miserable as always, he never did anything but people still assumed he must be so far ahead of them since he was the boy who lived and obviously must get special training and just didn’t want to make anyone feel bad they weren’t to his level. A crock of crap if you asked him. The only special tutoring he did was the correspondence work for stonewall that his aunt had arranged for him. At least she had done that but probably just so they wouldn’t get stuck with an uneducated lout of a burden when he was finally able to escape these cray wizards.
The Yule ball was a joke, but at least his friend Luna agreed to go with him. She was the only sane person in this school. She actually believed him when he said he wasn’t a wizard. Also she was fun, she showed him all sorts of cool creatures and they spent plenty of time exploring the castle together. Even if it had started off with him helping her find her missing shoes her first year. She was the best friend he could ask for.
The second task Harry had gotten lucky, at least his godfather believed him when he said he couldn’t do magic. Sirius had given Harry a mirror to contact him on and had been using polyjuice to get around without being recognized. He was able to get a wet suit and some gillyweed for Harry, he had been assured by the man at the apothecary that it wouldn’t have any harmful effects on his squib girlfriend and Sirius was desperately hoping the man wasn’t lying because he wasn’t able to get the scuba gear he’d hoped for. He charmed the wet suit so it was cut resistant and would keep Harry warm. He even sewed a pouch onto it containing a knife his godson could use. Harry couldn’t do magic but he could ask Dobby to bring him supplies which as long as it was after the start of the task counted as not bringing anything but his wand to the task. Harry was beyond angry to find Hedwig tied to a statue at the bottom of the lake but he couldn’t just leave that little girl there. She was too young to even be old enough for Hogwarts yet! The watch Sirius had given him for Christmas said his time was nearly up so he just cut the free and kicked off the floor of the lakebed hoping he could make it before the angry merpeople came after him. He’d waited until Cedric and Krum had shown up nearly before the time was up but it distracted the merepeople enough for him to take both his owl and the girl.
Harry swam what he thought was straight up but the giant squid had come up under him and pushed him a different way, try as might Harry couldn’t escape the squid and was not going to risk the 3 of them by using his knife on it. They were still heading up so Harry just went with it. His gillyweed ran out just as the squid grabbed each of them in a tentacle and they broke the surface of the lake. The next Harry knew he was set gently down on the platform in front of the judges with his owl and a shivering little girl beside him. Fluer the girls sister rushed over and thanked him while wrapping her sister in a blanket, Harry didn’t notice when Cedric and Victor finally came out of the water with their own hostages, he was too busy wrapping Hedwig in her own blanket and yelling at the judges for putting a creature of the air under the lake!
The maze was a nightmare, but Sirius had come through for him again and once her was allowed to walk into the maze he’d asked Dobby to bring him his bag. It was his school bag and had the knife from the second task, the mirror to call Sirius and for some reason Dobby had stuffed the sorting hat in there. He’d been under the thing twice, the first time he knew the hat had been about to announce he was a squib and couldn’t sort him but the thing had bellowed Gryffindor before he’d been able to say anything else, the second time had been with the basilisk, then it had let him use the sword. He’d really hopped he didn’t need the sword again but figured it couldn’t hurt to get some advice from a thousand year old semi sentient hat. Maybe he had other stuff in there that could help Harry?
The hat apparently once belonged to the founder Godric Gryffindor, Godric was a well traveled wizard and had been all over the world before settling down and opening Hogwarts with his best friend Salazar and their wives. The hat, who had chosen the name Haberdash (because it sounded better than hat and he liked it thank you very much) was full of other things besides a sword. He was enjoying this sojourn out of the castle quite a bit. He may not have eyes but Godric had enchanted him to aid him in his travels, he had an excellent sense of direction and what many muggleborns would call a spidey sense for danger. As such he was able to give Harry advice on which paths to take and how best to get past the obstacles. Thankfully Dobby had packed Harry’s wonderful cloak and it allowed him to quietly sneak past the living obstacles without notice. Though he did try his hand at the sphinx, Luna had made him promise to answer the riddle and tell her about it later. Once past her there was nothing and no one about except the cup. Just wanting this over with and not willing to delay it any longer serves them right that a squib won the tri wizard tournament in his opinion, he grabbed the cup and was transported. Thankfully he still had his cloak on and the hat.
Very quickly Harry moved to the side so he wasn’t where whoever brought him here expected him to be. Listening carefully he heard a strange voice say Wormtail. Very carefully Harry got out his mirror and tapped it with the useless wand, Sirius‘s face was a welcome sight but Harry quickly held his finger to his lips so Sirius would be quiet. He snuck closer to where Wormtail and the weird voice were. He heard the snake nearby and knew he didn’t have much time. He needed to be quick and was thankful for once when the hat sent the sword thunking him on the head. Knowing he didn’t have long he whipped off the hat and cloak as soon as the snake was close enough and swung with all his might, he beheaded the snake but wasn’t quick enough to avoid the curse that came his way.
The white place that looked a lot like the meadow he liked to sit with Luna in was strange. There was a weird gross thing that looked like a toddler sized bloody alien under the tree. He didn’t know what to do and no one was there to tell him. He did what he always does when he stuck and closed his eyes. Wishing with all his might that he was back where he belonged Harry woke up, he heard the weird voice screeching at Wormtail for destroying his plans and realized they thought he was dead. Harry looked around and seeing that they weren’t paying any attention to him he grabbed his cloak that was laying near him and covered himself. As quietly as possible Harry put the hat back on and picked up his mirror. It had disconnected when Harry let it go to swing at the snake. The sword was a few feet away having flown from his hand when he was hit with the curse. Harry slunk over to it and after grabbing it he slunk further away from Wormtail, once he was far enough he thought he could risk making noise he called for Dobby.
Dobby was a great friend and had taken it upon himself once Harry had helped to free him to ensure Harry was safe. He could sense that Harry couldn’t use magic and didn’t want to risk his favorite person and leave him defenseless. Dobby made sure his Harry Potter had everything he needed even when he was with the muggles. He always came when Harry called for him.
Dobby listened as Harry whispered his plan. He needed Wormtail so Sirius could be free and whatever that other voice was, it was bad news. Dobby couldn’t kill anyone but he could maim or seriously injure them and that was exactly what he did. He timed the blast to Wormtail just as he was close enough that it would send his head flying right into a statue of an angle knocking him out cold. The bundle he’d been carrying went flying and a sickening squelch crunch could be heard. Harry instructed Dobby to go get someone from the Magic law enforcement, not the school though. He checked on the weird bundle and discovered it was still alive. It reminded him of the alien thing in the white meadow. He dragged the bundle over by Wormtail and went to call Sirius in the mirror again but his wand had been broken. A check of Wormtail pockets found a few wands. For the first time he actually felt a tingle when he touched a wand. The white one gave him the creeps another felt oily but the other two felt warm and comforting to him. A check of Wormtail arm revealed the same tattoo he’d seen Karkarov showing Snape, Harry left that out so no one could deny it this time. He didn’t know what was taking Dobby so long but he decided to take a look around further. Haberdash had suggested they figure out where they were. He recognized the name on the headstone near where Wormtail had fallen, it was the same as the person in the diary. Haberdash told Harry everything he knew about Tom Riddle. The charms on him prevent him from telling anyone what he sees in a child’s head when they are sorted but it doesn’t stop him from relaying information he finds out sitting in the headmaster’s office.
Not too far from the graveyard Harry ran across an old rundown shack, it felt odd to him, sick and wrong. But he felt compelled to check it out anyhow and thankfully Haberdash was with him. He used the sword to push open the door and avoided the cursed snake nailed to it, a loose floorboard popped up and a small box could be seen underneath. Now Harry wasn’t stupid, curious but not dumb. He used the tip of the sword to poke into the box and pick it up that way, he absolutely hadn’t expected the screaming wail that came from it as the tip hit something more solid than a rotting box. Not wanting to get caught Harry stuffed both the sword and the box into his bag and made his way back tot he graveyard, no longer feeling the compulsion to wander off and wanting to make sure Wormtail was still where he left him.
Dobby hadn’t had any luck. All the Aurors were at Hogwarts for the tournament. Harry told him not to go to the school so he went back to Harry instead.
Harry was glad to see Wormtail and the weird thing were still where he left them. He didn’t dare touch the skin of the bundle he could hear its weeping breath so it was still alive. He knew what it was, he just refused to admit it. Dobby coming back alone was a surprise but in the end he decided that maybe the cup could take them all back to the school. He already had the wands tucked in his bag and couldn’t use them anyhow so he asked Dobby if he could hold onto the 3 of them and summon the cup to make sure they all made it back together. Harry made sure everything but his broken wand was tucked back into the bag. The broken wand he tucked into his pocket. He didn’t know if he’d get into trouble for the hat or sword so he kept those tucked away too and his cloak, the only thing he had of his parents.
The cup took the group back to Hogwarts and they nearly landed on the minister and the head of the aurors. Dumbledore was nearby as well and had swung around and pointed his wand right in Harry’s face. Harry who had already been hit by a green curse (he was not even going to contemplate what curse it actually was) and had quite enough of having a wand pointed at him reached out and snatched the wand from Dumbledore’s grip.
In the ensuing chaos Dobby blasted Moody away from his Harry when he recognized the tick the man had, it was the same as one of the death eaters he knew from his old bad master. Soon the polyjuice wore off and moody turned out to be Barty Junior. Men in weites grey cloaks with their faces hidden (at least he thinks they were men) came and took the weird bundle. Harry got Fudge to admit Pettigrew was alive and a death eaters and agree to give Sirius a real trial. Harry made it clear he’d bring Sirius himself and if anything happened to him he’d tell everyone that Fudge was a deatheater too for helping them. Harry hadn’t realized that some very enterprising twins had snuck close enough to hit both himself and fudge with a sonorous charm so everyone heard the conversation. Amelia bones was not happy when she interviewed Harry and learned his story, while she didn’t believe he was a squib she had heard the rumors of his first year and his second, to find out that fudge knew Pettigrew was alive and Sirius had never had a real trial meant she would be investigating the minister as well.
Dumbledore was very upset about the elder wand. He wasn’t about to draw attention to it though. He’d wait and ask Harry for it back later. While it wouldn’t be his anymore such power shouldn’t be in a child’s hands.
Too bad for Dumbledore that Harry hadn’t realized asked Dobby to take his bag and put it in his vault at the bank. He knew he had Voldemort‘s wand in there and that sword. He’d get the hat back later but for now he didn’t want to risk that wand being found. And honestly the sword had been very useful already he’d destroyed 3 things that had that wailing black smoke. Whatever was in that box, the snake he cut the head off of and the diary he stabbed with a gang 2 years ago. He wasn’t taking any chances if there were more of those nasty things around.
Having Dumbledore’s wand in there too didn’t matter to Harry, it had actually let off a few sparks when he’d grabbed it out of the headmaster’s hand. It felt cold but better than any wand he’d held before. Honestly the old man could get a new one, that’s what he gets for making Harry compete in this stupid tournament and go to this school even though he didn’t have magic!
He’d pulled the twins aside to thank them for what they did with the sonorous charm. He knew they wanted to open a joke shop and made a deal with them, they stop testing on first years and get their Newts and he’ll double his winnings from the tournament to invest in their shop. But they had to stop bullying Slytherin students. Harry didn’t care for most of the house because of how they treated him but the twins pranks and stuff made it worse not all those kids were bad and Harry thought things might be better if they made a truce with the other house.
Luna and Harry spent the rest of their time until it was time to board the express exploring again. Dobby had shown them a really neat room full of old things. The house elves said nothing in there belonged to anyone that they knew of and they could take whatever they could use. Harry had found himself drawn to what Luna revealed was Ravenclaw‘s diadem, a chat with the Grey Lady and she gave them permission to take it so long as Harry used that sword to stab it. Neither had touched it with bare hands, dragon hide gloves were good for more than gardening and potions. They decided it would take too long to properly go through the room with the little time they had this year and made an agreement to explore it next year instead. In the mean time Dobby happily put the diadem in Harry’s vault with his bag.
Sirius had been in contact with Harry every day. He wasn’t cleaning up his parents house in London so Harry could come live with him after his trial. Somehow Dobby had gotten the house elf there named Kreacher to help and even be nice to Sirius. Harry wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that was about.
Harry only returned to the Dursleys to tell them he wouldn’t be back. He asked for all of his papers and anything that had been left with him when they found him or that may have belonged to his mother. Petunia begrudgingly gave him a large envelope full of all his records and the letter he was left with. She even gave him an old school trunk that she’d kept in the attic. It was his mothers first one and still had he stuff in it from before 5th year. Apparently her parents had gotten her a better one when she made prefect 5th year. Petunia had kept it when their parents died out of spite but now she just wanted rid of anything magical.
Harry hailed the Knightbus and asked it to take him to a street over from Sirius’s home. Remus would be waiting for him and they didn’t want people to know where Sirius was until his trial was over.
Dobby had told Kreacher about how great Harry was and all about how he’d gotten rid of the nasty book, sliced the head off the bad snake and even got the wand off the headmaster. His Harry was the best ever. Kreacher would hold out hope that Harry could help him with Master Regulus’s last order. If he was so great he could kill the snake and destroy the book that sounded a lot like the locket then maybe he could help Kreacher too.
Sirius wouldn’t listen to a word Dumbledore said. He was furious Harry who couldn’t cast a single spell had been forced into that tournament. An age line was obviously not enough of a safety to keep someone from tampering with the goblet. Besides Moody had known Dumbledore for years, how could he not realize he was an imposter! As soon as Dumbledore tried to tell him that even if (not when) Sirius got free that Harry still needed to live with those horrid muggles, Sirius was done. He may not have been able to fulfill his duties as godfather before now but he refused to leave Harry in that house a second longer than necessary. Even Remus had agreed with him once they had really gotten to talk to Harry about everything last summer. Dumbledore thought Sirius had fled the country but in reality he’d gone straight to Grimmauld and had Mooney meet him there. They had put up a fidelius with Dobby as the secret keeper. That elf was fanatically loyal to Harry and would never betray a secret that would upset Harry or harm him. Besides no one would consider the house elf was the secret keeper. Only the two elves, Harry, Sirius and Remus knew the secret.
Sirius had originally wanted to just throw away everything in Grimmauld but Harry had suggested just having the elves store the stuff for now. They could go through and decided if anything was worth keeping later when Sirius was in better shape. This had pleased Kreacher who had even found a way to remove Walburga and the other portraits from all the walls. Those were now in the attic covered in sheets and charms that wouldn’t allow them to see or hear and more importantly report on anything that happens in the house. Sirius knew there was a headmasters portrait that matched one in his home, he did not want it reporting anything to Dumbledore. It had been the first thing he ordered Kreacher to do, free the painting and make sure it was tucked away where it couldn’t move to another frame. Kreacher had been happy to comply he hated that the Headmaster his mistress loathed could contact those in the house through that portrait.
Dobby had gotten Kreacher to agree to put the locket in Harry’s vault too once he told him about the diadem. The two elves were scheming now. If bad old master had one and regulus had sort of been trusted with one who else might have one? Kreacher was a Black family elf, he could access anything that belonged to the Blacks so long as he had permission, Bellatrix and Narcissa had never told him he couldn’t go to their vaults, and Dobby knew where to get the keys. They wouldn’t take anything unless they found another one of the evil things like the book and locket. And then they wouldn’t take anything just put it with the others. Harry was Sirius’s godson, as good as his heir so they could consider him a Black too and so it wouldn’t be stealing just moving things around for family.
If the goblins thought it odd that two house elves were at the bank visiting multiple vaults they said nothing. They had the right keys and only entered vaults they were allowed to enter.
The first week of summer saw Harry escorting Sirius to the ministry, they couldn’t charge him for breaking out of prison because he’d never been officially convicted of any crime. A test of his old wand showed only defensive spells and he agreed to pay the fine for his unregistered animagus form. All in all he was free and the ministry owed him reparations for wrongful imprisonment. Peter was given the kiss when a check of his wand (which Harry gave to the aurors) showed he had cast the killing curse at Harry, combined with his confession about the night Voldemort attacked the Potters and his rat form he had hidden amongst children with and no one wanted to risk him escaping.
Before they could leave the ministry one of the grey cloaked men stopped them and asked if Harry would come with him. He explained there was something Harry needed to see. Harry didn’t want to do it right then, there were already too many people around and who knew what the reports would print if Harry Potter went off with one of these guys. He did promise to come back the next week, but today his godfather was finally a free man and they had plans to celebrate.
The fallout from the two trials saw Fudge sacked as minister, when his undersecretary tried to run for minister herself Rita Skeeter had a field day releasing all sorts of information about the toad. She herself ended up on trial for possession of illegal artifacts, bribery and falsifying her records.
Amos Diggory, Cedric’s father had been elected the new minister. He’d gotten over his son not winning the tournament and was just happy he was safe and alive after realizing what would have happened if Cedric had touched that cup and won.
Sirius wanted to go to the bank before home, he had some shopping he needed to do but mostly he planned to get some muggle money and take his godson out for pizza.
Harry wanted to stop off at his own vault as well. He’d like his bag back and needed to make sure everything in it was okay. He also wanted to get rid of that diadem as soon as he could. He didn’t think the goblins would appreciate him doing it in the bank so he was glad to see Dobby had listened and put everything except his money that was in the vault neatly in his bag.
Pizza was a new experience for Sirius and Harry, Remus had tried it before though. The 3 guys had a wonderful evening eating their fill and enjoying the freedom to do so.
Back at home that night Harry was surprised to find more than the diadem in his bag, Dobby and Kreacher explained about the locket and cup. Harry called for Sirius and Remus and explained about the items, they weren’t happy about it but agreed he could stab them with the sword. Kreacher was so happy he cried when the locket was finally destroyed. Remus tucked all the items into a little pouch and said Harry should take them with him back to the ministry next week.
Harry didn’t even tell them about the ring he’d found in the box, the metal band was ruined and he added it to the pouch but the stone was fine and he decided to keep it. It felt cold like the wand and his cloak did, cold but welcoming. It was an odd feeling but at the same time he also found himself unwilling to speak of the stone or that he had Dumbledore’s wand still. He didn’t even have a desire to mention his cloak to anyone. Something told him the three were important and his, but not to share it with anyone else. Harry didn’t know why but he hadn’t been led astray by his feelings yet.
The trio got a kick out of the poor sorting hat, Haberdash had not been happy to be stuffed into a bag and forgotten about. He missed the rest of the action!
Haberdash was the one to insist Harry try out the wands he now had, he agreed using the one from the headmaster were others could see was a bad idea but he still had the two from Wormtail pockets. Harry vowed the one from Voldemort was going to be put in a case where no one could get to it. He thought about breaking it but honestly maybe someday he’d want the reminder that he beat the stupid dark lord without magic.
The other two wands Harry learned from Sirius and Remus had belonged to his parents, it explained why they’d never been found after that night . Wormtail must have been there when the attack happened and gathered all the wands before Sirius or Hagrid had gotten there.
They asked him why he wanted to try them and he told them that he’d actually felt something holding them, not like before. He explained he’d been hit with them at green curse again in that graveyard, about the white meadow and the ugly alien. He showed them the scar he usually kept well hidden under his fringe and it was finally healing. It had never looked so close to healed before. He also showed them the second scar, it was another just like the one on his head and it was right over where his heart would be. But it to was healing like his forehead. He explained that once he woke back up he felt different, like he was full of something he hadn’t known he was missing and the wands had not felt like sticks like his first one had. The stupid one that Ollivander had insisted was meant for him because it had the same feather as Voldemorts.
He asked if it was possible that alien baby thing had been what made him a squib. Now that his scar was getting better and he didn’t have a constant headache could he try and do magic now?
Sirius and Remus didn’t know what to think. They were horrified that Peter had actually hit Harry with a killing curse. Harry had made it sound like it had missed and he’d pretended to be dead, they didn’t blame him for not telling people he had survived that curse twice. The weird alien thing he mentioned was something neither man wanted to contemplate. They knew they had to especially in light of the things Harry had destroyed tonight. Sirius and Remus knew what they were, Remus because he had extensively studied dark magic to get a mastery (even if he’d had to go to another country to get it and it didn’t count in England), Sirius because he came from such a dark family. Even they wouldn’t make such an abomination. In fact it had been a lecture from his grandfather about the abominations and how they drove you insane and the damage they did to your soul and magic where Sirius and Regulus had heard the term Horcrux. It was one of the only times Sirius could remember a member of his family advocating against dark magic.
This was definitely something that would have to be discussed with the grey cloaked man. Sirius refused to call them unspeakables. Just the idea of those guys weirded him out. He had been very thankful Harry had said he’d come back another day, though he wouldn’t be letting his godson go alone.
Remus who had already taught Harry or at least tried to had him try out the first year spells for charms. It was awkward for Harry because he was so used to thinking he couldn’t do it. He did eventually get his wand too to light and got so excited that he’d actually done magic that the became bright enough to nearly blind them all. He quickly figured out the charm to turn off the light.
That next week was spent taking Harry through every spell he should have learned up to now. He had the theory down very well so even if he’d not been able to cast the spells he had actually payed attention and done the studying. It was a matter of learning to trust he had magic and have confidence in himself.
Harry was reminded of his dorm mate Neville. Neville was a nice bloke. Harry didn’t mind him at all and while he wouldn’t say they were close he did consider Neville a friend. He wondered if Neville just needed some confidence too, though he had said it was his father’s old wand he was using. Maybe Neville should try Ollivanders. Sirius had explained to Harry that while sometimes heirloom wands worked for children, it wasn’t a guarantee which is why even purebloods took the children to get wands before Hogwarts. It was usually only if an heirloom wand had a stronger match or the family had financial trouble if a student didn’t get a new wand.
By the time Sirius and Harry were ready to return to the ministry he was pretty confident in all the spells for up to 3rd year. He couldn’t do 3rd and 4th consistently yet but Sirius assured him he had the whole summer to practice. He even promised Harry a trip to the bookstore so Harry could find books on spells not covered by Hogwarts to try out. Things like household or grooming charms were just the start.
The man in the grey cloak was named Croaker, Harry giggled just a bit because his voice matched his name once his hood was down and the charms to obscure his identity were not in use.
He took Harry and Sirius to a room full of crystal balls. One had Harry’s name on it. He was asked to remove it from the shelf and bring it with him to the next room.
The next room contained the weird ugly alien thing that had been in Wormtail’s bundle. Harry refused to admit even in his own head just who that was. The unspeakables he healed it as best the could from its injuries and fed it the draught of living death.
Sirius and Harry had already signed contracts to ensure they told no one what they learned in the Department of Mysteries that day which they were very glad of once they were told what the unspeakables had done. They were much better at interrogation than the Aurors were though. Using time tuners they had taken every single suspected death eater and all those in Azkaban and taken them back an hour, used truth serum and legillimency to get all the information they could out of the lot. Some of those walking free would find find themselves compelled to be sloppy about their illegal activities near those who would happily see them arrested in the coming months, those in Azkaban already had been obliviated a bit too much and had less of their faculties than Lockhart did at the moment. Chances are that with the excellent care Azkaban provides its inmates they wouldn’t live long since they’ll be unlikely to remember that food is necessary.
Croaker spoke frankly about the Horcruxes and what they’d done to try and find them. Especially since they knew exactly where Tom Riddle had put them. Imagine their surprise when not a single one was where it should’ve been, a fake locket with a note signed by RAB and I tell from the bank that an authorized House elf had removed an item from Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault and the same elf with another also accessed Harry’s personal vault the same day. It led them to where they are now. They had hoped to not involve Harry unless it became necessary before he was an adult at least. Tom Riddle would keep in his current state and wouldn’t be causing any trouble. But they worried if Harry was exposed to the Horcruxes.
Harry told them his tale, the whole one. About the diary, the curse from Pettigrew and the white meadow, his scars, the snake, the box in the rundown shack, the diadem at Hogwarts, how his elves had gotten the last two. And about the sword he’d used to destroy them all. He allowed them to examine his scars and wondered why no one ever had. Dumbledore had kept anyone from being able to it seemed. No one knew where Harry lived outside of school, no mail reached him and he’d never seen a healer other than the school medi witch. Harry admitted that he’d only seen her at the end of first year with the Quirrell incident. Otherwise he’d managed to stay out of her clutches even if by the skin of his teeth sometimes or the incompetence of adults who should have insisted home see a healer according to Sirius.
Croaker said he could find no further dark magic in the scars beyond that because they were created by dark magic he doubted they’d ever fully go away. He asked Harry if he wanted to hear the prophecy, especially because all that was left to do was to decide what to do with Tom Riddle’s Homnuculus. He wasn’t considered human, he had barely a sliver of a soul and it was a fake body not his, as far as records are concerned as well as ethics in their opinion, Tom Riddle died 31 October, 1981.
Harry didn’t really want to hear it, but he knew he’d regret it if he didn’t. He heard Sirius mention Dumbledore under his breath and it didn’t take a genius to figure out whose initials were on that label. He figured if he knew he could make sure Dumbledore finally left him alone.
After listening Harry looked right at Croaker and told him he had Harry’s permission to act as his hand and dispose of the dark lord in question in whatever permanent way he saw fit. He did ask if they could let him know if the prophecy was finished, oh and prove it to Dumbledore too please.
Croaker agreed to Harry’s terms and took the pouch with the ruined Horcruxes, and the casket containing Riddle and walked them to the archway that was the only other thing in the room.
Harry finally had a normal school year, the ministry had stepped in and insisted on placing a teacher for Defense. Harry had been very happy to see Sirius and Remus at the school that year. The ministry under Amos Diggory had decided the travesty of a history class needed a new professor as well. Sirius had secretly been a history nerd and made the subject come alive in a way that even when he’d been alive Binns had never been able to do.
The students were very pleased to have Remus back for Defense, especially when he stayed on for a second and third year proving that the curse on the position was finally broken.
Snape had resigned the same year Sirius and Remus became professors, he was never arrested so Harry figured he wasn’t one of the bad Death Eaters. He found out years later that the man had gone to work for Croaker in research instead.
He’d only found out when a potion to repair nerve damage and another that helped to heal damaged pathways in the brain was administered to Neville’s parents and they not only reacted positively but were finally able to speak to their son. It had been too long for them to recover fully but they were able to go home with extra care.
Harry had stayed at Hogwarts until he finished 7th year. Dumbledore never spoke another word to him after he returned for 5th year. Harry continued to not cast spells in class, he didn’t want people to suddenly think he’d been lying all those years or that something happened when he brought back Pettigrew and that bundle.
He didn’t make sure Neville got a new wand though. Before 5th year Harry had asked him to meet up with him to shop for school supplies. He nearly had to drag the boy into Ollivanders but Neville had a lot less issues with spells after that.
Sirius had worked it out with the Examination Authority for Garry to take the practical parts of his exams that required a wand in private at the ministry for both his Owl and Newt Courses. He also got them to let Harry take the ones for Arithmancy and Runes. Harry didn’t mind the extra two, Divination had been interesting if you self studied it, muggle studies was too easy for someone raised muggle and Creatures was one of his favorite classes he didn’t want to push it by taking the e classes for more than 3 electives though so he’d kept up studying runes and Arithmancy with Luna.
He also kept his promise to the Weasley twins, he was a 1/3 owner and silent partner for Weasleys Wizarding Weases and it was an extremely profitable venture. Sirius and Remus had been jealous he beat them to it.
Instead when Harry finished Hogwarts Sirius and Remus resigned as well. The three of them opened their own shop. Harry had taken an interest in enchanted items like his map from Remus, the mirror Sirius gifted him and even the Pensieve he’d once seen in Dumbledore’s office. He had started looking at other items that he thought would make the lives of witches and wizards more convenient, in the end the three had done more to advance the wizarding world than any had in the last few centuries. The mirrors became a hand held communication device assigned numbers rather than names, pensieves became balls that could play a copy of a short memory over and over for loved ones to experience whenever they wished. People now had a device that one simply placed dirtied laundry into and in less than an hour their pressed and folded clothes were ready to be placed in the wardrobe, mirrors that were large and mounted on the wall and depending on the number you selected you could watch whatever live program, news or show was available at that time. They didn’t stop there though and Harry very much enjoyed traveling with his wife and father in law, while they looked for more creatures he sought out more wonders to create with magic or reverse engineer if the knowledge of how it was created was lost.