Interlude - A changing world
Hermione Granger hadn’t really been in the mood to participate in Gryffindor’s party. Most of the lions still perceived the Tournament as fun, not as Harry fighting for his life. Sure, by now everyone believed that Harry was an unwilling participant (well, maybe except Ronald and some other idiots, they weren’t really talking to many students anymore) and offered their help, but they didn’t seem to understand just how hard the Tournament was. Any of the champions could have died because idiots thought having teenagers fight against dragons was entertaining.
But hey, if they wanted to have fun, they should just go ahead. She was just happy and relieved that he was still breathing.
Neville, Katie and - surprisingly - Lavender were among the Gryffindors who walked up to her and asked how she was doing. It was nice to see that at least some of her housemates worried together with her and looked out for her wellbeing too. Neville coming over and telling her that Harry would manage all the tasks and stay fine (cause he always survived everything) was not unexpected. Lavender doing the same and asking her how she was feeling was definitely a strange occurrence. Strange, but good. And Katie Bell… that just confused Hermione. They rarely ever talked, but Katie knew Harry well, and it seemed like Harry talked a lot about his closest friends. She was the one closest in age to him on the team (and just a bit more than a month older than Hermione… maybe she should talk to her more often, that would probably be easier than with Lavender and co.) and so she understood him quite well. It wouldn’t surprise Hermione if Katie knew about Harry’s feelings before Harry… or anyone else. Ron certainly hadn’t known, and neither had she, so it was a safe guess.
“How are you, Hermione?”
The girl looked up, surprised by the person approaching her.
“Hey Katie. I don’t know, I think I am managing well. It’s not like it’s the first time Harry was in danger but still… You want to take a seat?”
She made some space on the couch next to her, which was placed in the quietest corner of the Common Room. The only thing keeping her from going to bed was that she wanted to see Harry return. For that she even endured the annoying party.
Katie smiled and sat down next to Hermione. Despite the fact that they were the closest in age to each other respectively, with Katie being the youngest and Hermione being the oldest of their respective years, they rarely talked. She often intended to, but Katie was having her own struggles to socially connect, and approaching a member of the “golden trio” wasn’t really that easy. Except Harry, but that was something different.
“I get it. I’ve heard all about your adventures, but this time it was just for everyone’s entertainment. I mean, damn, he came in prepared, but still. The organisers are just some cruel, sadistic idiots.”
Hermione nodded. She’d been thinking the same - though maybe with an even less friendly and age-appropriate language.
“And they don’t understand.”
She looked at the partying group.
“Yeah, they don’t. But it’s a cultural thing, to an extent. Look at Quidditch. You think those bloody bludgers are fun? I’ve been raised both muggle and magical, so I understand both sides. Broken bones or concussions are no big deal with magical healing. Crack your skull and you’re back in class three days later. For them entertainment is always violent.”
“And many don’t see when violent is too violent. I know. I’m still angry at them. In Harry’s place half of them would have wet their pants.”
Katie laughed and nodded.
“Oh yes. Imagine McLaggen shaking in fear. You know when Harry returns?”
Word had spread about a Wizengamot Session, especially after Amelia Bones mentioned something when shouting at Dumbledore. It didn’t take long for smart students to figure out that young Harry might actually be seen as emancipated. No one knew what would happen in the Ministry, but Potter was surely involved.
“No idea, it depends on how long everything takes. And no, I won’t spoil the surprise. If all goes well, you’re in for a surprise tomorrow morning when the paper arrives.”
“Okay okay, keep your secrets. Is it always like that with you three?”
Hermione saw the girl’s grin, she knew that Katie wasn’t really offended, she was just joking around.
“I guess so, yeah. Though with Ron behaving like he does I don’t believe it’s us three anymore.”
“But hey, you have Neville and Susan Bones from what I’ve heard. That’s an upgrade I reckon. And little Luna Lovegood is trying to join you guys too, Cho tells me, but she is quite shy.”
Hermione nodded. Luna Lovegood was quite quirky, but who was she to judge? She didn’t believe in the majority of the girl’s conspiracy theories or magical creatures, but just a few years ago she thought the same thing about dragons. And Luna was very nice. A brilliant partner for conversations, if you had the mental capacity to follow her lines of thought. Luna still kept her distance most of the time, but approached her or the entire group in the library or after meals for a quick chat.
“I know, but it is strange nonetheless. It was always us three.”
Katie rolled her eyes.
“Come on, Hermione, that was bound to turn messy as soon as Ron started eyeing you a while back. You two are way too different and always fighting. And no matter what he believed, he could never come close to have what you and Harry have. Besides, to me it always seemed like you wouldn’t even be friends without Harry.”
Hermione blushed, simply because she knew that Katie knew about Harry and her. Her facial expression told her as much. And yes, she was right. Ron was lazy, stubborn and at times egoistic. Sure, he could be nice and brave too, but those were rare occasions. Their interactions were loads of arguments about studying or flying or chess or the importance of Quidditch and so on. With Harry though… She could talk about her family with him, geek out about something she had read without getting judged and so on.
“Yeah… you’re probably right. It is still strange. And I’m really hoping he won’t mess up the rest of the year for us, like the Yule Ball.”
There. She said it. Without even intending to. And then she buried her face in her hands. All but admitting that Harry and her were in a sort of relationship
But Katie just smiled.
“Thought so. Not gonna lie, Harry was becoming a cutie, but you and he… If there is such a thing as soulmates, you probably are.”
“Thanks, Katie. Please, keep that to yourself for now. It’s a bit complicated. The Tournament is a mess, the stuff you can read in the papers about tomorrow is just chaos and then there is the fact that Harry and emotions is a complicated topic.”
She didn’t want to say more in case Harry never said anything to Katie, but the Chaser just nodded, appearing a little saddened.
“Yeah, I guessed. We all made our assumptions, Alicia, Angelina, Oliver… the twins probably know a lot more but hardly mention anything. Muggle upbringing, clueless about magical traditions and customs, quiet and shy, afraid of any sort of physical closeness, never mentions family, just ‘relatives’. Or to summarise, he was brought up by muggle relatives who not only kept him in the dark about everything, causing him to be completely overwhelmed as soon as he started at Hogwarts, but who didn’t want him. My guess is that they are relatives of Lily Potter who resented him for his mother’s death or hated the magical community and bullied him, if not worse.”
Katie then just laughed at Hermione’s utterly confused look. Sure, it was not a topic to laugh about, but seeing their local genius so taken by surprise was just amusing.
“You’re… quite accurate with that guess. Hm. Didn’t think Harry talked that much about his relatives for anyone else to make that assessment.”
“You underestimate just how much time Oliver tried to explain some confusing tactics to us and no one paid attention, or how often we took breaks when he made us go through drills for eight hours. So much smalltalk.”
Honestly, Hermione had never given that too much thought, but judging by how long Harry was away for Quidditch training every week it made sense. He never talked much about it (aside from complaining about Oliver Wood and his insanity), but every now and then Harry knew some random gossip about upper year students. That made so much sense now.
Hermione smiled. It was good to know that Harry wasn’t as alone as he sometimes believed to be.
But then, before she could reply to the Chaser, a house elf popped into existence before her.
“Miss Granger? Professor McGonagall asks that you please come and get Mr Lord Potter. Maybe with his…”
The elf eyed Katie suspiciously and leaned forward, whispering to Hermione.
“...his invisible thingy coat. Or was it cloak? Filky doesn’t know.”
“Oh, he’s back? Probably wants to avoid the mess here. I’ll be on my way momentarily, thank you.”
Both girls got up at the same time, Katie promised Hermione to make sure no one would notice her sneaking up to Harry’s dorm or them entering later.
“Thank you, Katie. I’ll let Harry know what you did. Enjoy the evening.”
The Chaser just rolled her eyes, shrugged and said “Let’s hope so. We should really do this more often. Talk, I mean.”
“Absolutely.”
And with that, the girl cast a simple deflection spell, which didn’t make her invisible, but most people would now fail to notice her. It was not as strong as a notice-me-not, but it should be enough. Finding Harry’s cloak in his trunk wasn’t an issue, and within moments she had left Gryffindor Tower. Her destination was Professor McGonagall’s office, just a few floors down. After exiting the staircase she turned right and followed the corridor until reaching the portrait of Lionel the Enchanter, after which she turned left into a smaller corridor. The third door on the left hand side was the office of the Deputy Headmistress - it was more spacious than her official “Head of Gryffindor” office and located more central.
Well, this would have been the path she’d have to take if she wouldn’t have run into a very tired looking Harry just seconds after exiting the staircase. And yes, she literally ran into him. Or rather he ran into her. She was wearing his invisibility cloak after all.
For a moment the boy was confused. Very confused.
“Peeves? Or is that you, Fred, George? Not funny.”
He just shrugged and kept walking until Hermione pulled off the invisibility cloak.
“Hermione? Oh. True, McGonagall told me she’d send you. Yes, Professor McGonagall, I know. Sorry, tired.”
Hermione snorted. Yes, she was known for correcting Harry and Ron because they neglected the “Professor” title way too often, but not that often. Apparently tired Harry still had the ability to be funny.
“Oh shut up, you…”
She jokingly pouted - but just for a second, because they both burst out giggling. Then Hermione moved closer to Harry and draped them with the Invisibility Cloak. If someone were to look very attentively, they may have seen the sole of a shoe appearing in thin air every now and then, but the cloak was large enough to cover two teenagers rather well.
On their way back they held a whispered conversation in which Harry quickly summarised the outcome of the day (Hermione was very happy of course), before listening to what he missed at Hogwarts - basically, a lot of partying in Gryffindor. Ronald was still a prat and Ginny seemed more upset than before, the rumour mill was going crazy after Amelia Bones shouting at Dumbledore and many had annoyed her with awful attempts at finding out something. How did Harry possess his new skills, what was the issue with the Headmaster, how did he get all those allies and so on. Gosh, students were stupid and annoying.
In the end, Harry barely made it to bed before collapsing. But not before Hermione leaned forward, collecting all of her Gryffindor courage, and kissed him on the cheek before leaving his dorm room under the cloak. Which led to both of them going to bed blushing and simply happy. Happier than they should be after today’s dragon encounter.
Not much later, Lucius Malfoy floo called Severus Snape. He had arrived home a while ago and had a long conversation with his wife about their new allegiances and about how dumb their son was. It made Lucius happy to notice that Narcissa wasn’t unhappy about the former. The latter didn’t come as a surprise, truth be told.
“So Sirius is free now? A Lord Black, allied with a lot of light and neutral families. Not with Dumbledore but against the Dark Lord. And Potter helped you - not for your sake, but to utilise your sway. Smart kid. I better hope Draco won’t disappoint us now with his… reckless behaviour. We can profit from that, and avoid torture and bloodshed. Well done, husband.”
Narcissa smiled. She didn’t mind being closer allied with the House of Black, and having her husband come back shaking from the aftereffects from a few Cruciatus Curses was something she could gladly live without.
“Oh and Lucius, make our son apologise to the Muggleborn girl. No matter how much we believe them to be brutes, enough of those born to Muggles have power and brilliance. We will have to educate them in the right ways, but we can’t shun them. We want them as assets, not as enemies. No matter what you believe, show at least a semblance of tolerance.”
Lucius nodded. His wife was correct after all. Potter, Dumbledore and the Dark Lord were Half-bloods, Merlin be damned, even Severus was one, no matter how much he tried to hide it. They were indisputably more powerful than most Purebloods, simply with the extent of their raw power. And then there were prodigies like the Granger girl, who was literally smarter than everyone of her age and probably many others. And their numbers were rising. If they would continue shunning them, they would just destroy the old ways of the Purebloods within the next few decades. But if they educated them of the old ways, of rituals and forgotten knowledge, those smart and strong wizards and witches could be assets.
With this conversation in mind he called Severus via floo.
After describing the events of the day in length, he expected the Potions Master to be surprised - but this was not the case. It seemed like Severus Snape wasn’t fully loyal to the Dark Lord - if at all. He seemed delighted at Dumbledore’s failures but at the same time amused and actually a bit proud at Potter’s behaviour. But Lucius only knew this because he was very familiar with the man, it had taken him many years to even glance past his mask, not even the Dark Lord knew him that well. To be fair, their master knew him for a few years, Lucius had well over a decade to understand Severus Snape, and that is just the time after Hogwarts.
“So you intend to ally yourself with Black and Potter?”
“I think so. I can make deals with them, more reasonable deals than with Dumbledore, and without the Dark Lord’s bloodshed and the Cruciatus.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’ve been told that my son is an idiot. Stop antagonising Potter, it’s not worth it and it just reaffirms Draco in his behaviour. Deal with my son’s behaviour please.”
Severus nodded. This was going to be interesting. With the majority of the Slytherin parents now backing Lucius he could stop being so unreasonable for his cover’s sake, and maybe - if Black and Potter actually managed to bring down the remainders of the Dark Lord - he could dismantle all that was wrong with Slytherin house.
But he wouldn’t admit any of that to Lucius. He wouldn’t tell the man that he was going to betray the Dark Lord. He couldn’t, not after having lived as a spy, with a permanent mask, for many years. The risk was too high.
Lucius realised that he wasn’t going to have an open discussion with Severus, the man was too wary, so he quickly came up with some reason for having to end the call. Besides, he promised Potter to write a formal apology to Miss Granger, and he would do that as quickly as possible. No matter the blood status, Draco’s behaviour was too extreme, and if anyone but old Dumbledore would be Headmaster, the Aurors would have started a formal investigation and maybe charged Draco. And honestly, he was a bit scared of Potter and his guardian. After that show with the dragon he definitely respected the young Lord Potter, and Black had always been a skilled opponent in the last war. There was a good chance Draco would end up maimed or dead if he would continue throwing dangerous curses at Potter and his friends. Not an outcome Lucius wanted. His son was an impulsive idiot, but he was his son and heir. His own blood. Many saw him as a cold and distant aristocrat, but behind closed doors he tried his best to be a caring father.
Lucius sighed.
Maybe he should order his son home for Yule, no matter the ball at Hogwarts. It seemed like making his son understand via letter didn’t work out so well.
A lot of discussions and debates happened on that evening behind closed doors. Cornelius Fudge asked Lady Bones for full transparency, and she followed that request. Together with an Unspeakable they went through the facts and devised a plan. Well, not much planning to do actually. Black and the goblins already gave them a headstart on the Horcruxes, the dark Houses in the Wizengamot were turning their back on Voldemort with Black making a move and public opinion would be behind the current government more than ever once Rita Skeeter published her article.
At the same time Albus Dumbledore tried to recreate the Order of the Phoenix - both against Tom and against Harry and Sirius. Well. That didn’t work out. Moody wasn’t ready to join, he’d rather back Harry and Sirius. Shacklebolt and Tonks, both potential newcomers and connected to the old Order by blood and association, and close to Dumbledore as well, declined the offer even before attending the meeting. For once the Ministry was doing something good and they had no intention to betray Bones or go behind her back. Aberforth just kicked Albus out of his pub. Other old members like Elphias Doge and Dedalus Diggle showed up, yes, and so did Molly Weasley (never a member, but her brother were), but they all politely disagreed with the Headmaster. Harry was brilliant and kind, a nice boy in a stupid situation who moved heaven and earth to rectify what was done to his godfather. No one understood why he was suddenly the “uncooperative asset” needed to win the war. Dumbledore was upset that he and Sirius had problems with him, but didn’t feel the need to explain what they were doing wrong.
So in the end, everyone left. Not everyone was happy how Harry and Sirius were treating Dumbledore, that they didn’t show him enough respect, but they had their reasons - Amelia Bones yelling at Dumbledore hinted that there were bigger things at work. And since the Headmaster wasn’t forthcoming, they didn’t want to join his mission. Not yet at least.
And at Grimmauld Place, Sirius and Remus were celebrating. Sirius’ cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted joined the duo after a spontaneous invitation.
Though, invitation wasn’t the right word.
Remus knew where the Tonks family lived and apparated them there once Sirius was done with Rita Skeeter. Sirius, the idiot, just knocked at their door and hugged his cousin as soon as she opened the door - and then was caught by a blasting curse. Never underestimate the Blacks. They’re mental and impulsive. Quickly, Remus explained to stop Andromeda from killing her cousin while Sirius groaned in pain. Ted, having joined the spectacle, helped him up and healed the cracked rib before laughing about his wife’s apologetic facial expression.
“Next time, you give me a warning, Siri. You’re lucky I didn’t curse you with something your mother or Uncle Orion preferred. Now come here and give me a hug.”
And suddenly Sirius held his crying cousin in his arms, comforting her and telling her to not feel bad. She, like everyone else, believed the accusations and was disappointed and hurt by his betrayal. To realise you were wrong for well over a decade hurt. A lot.
And well, as soon as they all reached Grimmauld Place, they spotted Rufus Scrimgeour in front of the door, waiting for them to come back. Kreacher had informed him about their temporary absence. He was holding a nice bottle of Firewhisky, from the looks of it at least a decade or two old.
“Ah, there you are. With kind regards from the boss. She’s still in a meeting with the Minister and sent me in her stead. Thought you might be up for a celebration.”
Sirius laughed. He and the older Auror definitely understood each other. Rufus was a good guy, honourable, experienced and rather relaxed. He liked to tell old war stories and was a great companion for drinking.
“Oh yes. Rufus, that’s my cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted. Andi, Ted, that’s Rufus Scrimgeour, an Auror who helped us to prove my innocence. And he likes a good drink.”
And so, a new era began in Magical Britain, even without most people realising it. Sirius Black was a free man, happy and celebrating with family and friends, ready to change the world for his heir and godson. The Minister and Lady Bones were in intense discussions with Unspeakables regarding the threat of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, ready to make the necessary changes in their policies to bring safety and stability - and drag their country out of stagnation. Albus Dumbledore was losing control and allies, there weren’t many who would follow his words without hesitation and explanation anymore.
But most importantly, the young teenager dubbed “the-boy-who-lived” was sleeping peacefully and without worrying. He was much happier, believed that he would survive the Triwizard Tournament and didn’t feel like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Because it wasn’t. Adults were finally doing their job and not relying on a kid.
And in a little village called Little Hangleton, a weak spirit, possessing an artificial body the size of a small kid, was growing more and more upset. Every few days Wormtail had to create a new body, and they were definitely not getting better. To be fair, even a fairly competent wizard with an unusual amount of power couldn’t have done a much better job, homonculi were just unstable and weak. That’s why the Dark Lord wanted to have his servant perform a necromantic ritual. But now, Barty had failed. He didn’t know how, but he did. And it seemed like none of his followers in the Wizengamot were capable of freeing the brilliant wizard.
And now Potter was apparently succeeding in the Tournament. That wasn’t the plan.
He needed help, but it wasn’t easy to reach out to his servants in such a state. So far he hadn’t managed it. That would have to change.
Lord Voldemort still needed the boy’s blood for his return, no other enemy would be as efficient as the one having killed his first body. But making that happen wasn’t easy. He would love to utilise Wormtail to go fetch Lucius or another likeminded and competent follower, but as of now he couldn’t have him leave his side, and he couldn’t just send a letter.
A plan would have to be made. But first…
“Wormtail! Assist me!”