Back To School
Meanwhile at the FVCM base
The mentors watched their pupils develop and felt a mixture of pride, concern and fear.
Seeing them brought back memories that only appeared in their nightmares.
What happened years ago with the "original 141" still tormented them. They knew that they were training to fight a war, but the guilt of doing so could not be repressed. They felt that they had done it before, it was worthless, but at the same time, hope underlay their thoughts.
Because they knew that this “new 141” would be better than the original, because they had something that the original never had.
Reasons to continue.
The “original 141” had been formed to prevent threats but also in part Slade, Oliver and Michael were soldiers, they fought a war and then did things for which they had not been trained since for them in the Malvinas there was a code of honor but when They were part of the “original 141” there was nothing since they were times of “peace” so they had no reason other than because it was their job to fulfill the missions.
But mission after mission they lost reasons to continue until finally the “original 141” disintegrated and they became “military contractors” (which is a nice way of saying mercenaries) so when they received Dan's call to train Hermione and the others before they found out about Klaus' plans they knew that his priority was to make them better than they were.
They were watching the broadcast when Mallory approached them.
"Do you remember what I told you the last time we saw each other? TRUE?" Mallory questioned them.
"That you would kill us next time, now, I ask you, why are we breathing? "If you hate us so much," Oliver responded sharply.
"Soph..." Michael tried to speak, his eyes reflecting guilt and sadness as he looked at Mallory.
"Save it, Machini," Mallory cut him off in a bitter and cold tone, "and to answer your question, you three are still alive because you are training these guys, but let them tell you something."
"What thing?"Slade asked.
"If any of those guys die, after they bury you I will kill you three, your deaths will be your fault," Mallory warned and threatened, "because it was Klaus' idea to contact you because if it had been up to me, it would be Trunk, Sandman and Frost the ones who would train those kids.
They stared at her each having mixed emotions, they knew she was right but they also knew that Sandman, Frost and Trunk couldn't have trained them.
They did not underestimate the abilities of their former unit companions but they knew that Trunk, Sandman and Frost were the archetype of soldiers who prioritized the interest of the mission over the lives of their companions, which did not make them the right ones to train the boys.
They, on the contrary, were more rebellious, they did not believe in that old system due to their experiences in the Malvinas and their hunt for wizards loyal to Voldemort in the past.
They knew that the approach they were teaching them was the correct one apart from the fact that the three of them would train, help, advise and even in the deepest part of their minds they knew that they would gladly give their lives to save their students.
"We know, but you know something else, these guys have brought us back and for them we will do what, if we have to break someone's legs, we will break them, if we have to make someone suffer, then we will make them suffer, yes We have to kill these bastards to protect them" Slade responded "and if we have to die for them, then we will, because I assure you one thing, their lives are worth more than ours."
"Anyway, Rogers," Mallory answered, changing the subject, "how's your training going?"
"We have had two months to train them, they are quick to learn, they know how to discipline themselves to do the training and exercises, they have motivation, they get stronger day by day, a bruise, a cut, whatever it is means nothing more than a lesson learned and a mistake that “It will be corrected the next day,” Oliver responded stoically. “We teach them to move forward regardless of the blows both on the battlefield and in life.
"You really are an expert in that, right, Salvatore?" Mallory said disdainfully “What else?”
"We have taught them to hit first, to hit hard and without mercy, I assure you they will make these sewer rats tremble with their mere presence," said Michael, his tone of voice gaining more courage" but we still need to teach them a style of combat that saved their lives.
Mallory, upon hearing that, wandered thinking about what that method was.
His face turned into a grimace of concern and disgust when he knew what that method was.
"Have you really lost your mind? They are children, that method is too dangerous for them to know," Mallory told him, annoyed and worried. "These kids will return to a school where a sector of the students wants them underground and the others are too stupid to think for themselves, what would happen if one of your boys lost control and by "accident" and a bruise would be the least thing these boys would do to any idiot they come across and they know it well.
That was true, the style they were going to teach him called “HATE” (Hate Against the Enemy), was an even more violent combat style than the style they taught them since the style they taught them was focused on offensive and defensive movements. as well as incapacitation techniques that bordered on death but at best.
But the “OCEE” style was made to cause pain to the enemy and kill him with movements based on speed to end the life of the opponent by applying brute force in the blows, where the movements ranged from blows in vital areas of the body to locks or movements with which they could assassinate their enemy.
"That's why we will teach them that they should only use it on Death Eaters. Do you think we are so unconscious, Mallory, that we would teach them something that would be dangerous for them as well as for others," Michael responded in an unfriendly tone. "Besides, they know how to handle situations."
Then they saw on the screens the actions of their students, how they managed to overcome the situations they were facing, how they destroyed their opponents, they felt that it was a small victory to see them perform so well.
But the problem came as quickly as that small victory because in the situations that Hermione, Neville and Theo were experiencing, the worries grew in them.
Seeing Hermione about to be hurt made him want to cross the screen, she was his “niece”, with her they experienced what it was like to be part of a family, they knew what they would feel if they had children, that need to protect her came to light. light; As well as their concern for her since they did not know what could happen to her in a real situation if she suffered a nervous breakdown as she did at that moment, that uncertainty terrified them, their legs trembled at that moment.
Neville, on the other hand, was a case that, like Theo, worried them, they were broken boys marked by not at all pleasant childhoods and painful losses that marked the two boys in their actions.
They tried to talk to Neville and help him after Neville murdered Cristol, when they found out they felt that the years of fighting fell on them like a bucket of cold water because even when they fought in Malvinas those boys were older than their students while Neville was 15 years ago he had already taken a life, they did not regret it for Cristol (they hated and hated anyone who carried the dark mark) but for Neville because they knew that when he murdered he did not come back from that, it was a mark like a scar that always would accompany; They were worried about that anger in him. Any anger that Neville had inside him was dangerous. If Neville couldn't pull himself together and keep his head cool, he or someone else would most likely get hurt in a real situation.
Theo, on the other hand, was concerned about the disinterest in his own well-being that he seemed to show towards himself. This worried them because he represented a risk to others since his, as they called it, “lone ranger act” would kill him or her. one of the boys protecting him, that was not a good thing, so they would have to take care of that.
"What self-control you have," Mallory said condescendingly to the mentors as they left.
While the mentors were preparing to teach the “HATE” and have a talk with their niece and their other students.
1 hour later
The team had returned victorious amid looks of astonishment from the FVCM board of directors since they had marked a milestone in their test since they had managed to defeat their enemies in less than an hour, something that few FVCM squads had achieved in its first field test.
The boys were relaxing, most of them had come out unscathed except for Neville and Tracey who had some discomfort from having received some paint shots on their body but nothing worrying, they were tired but at the same time happy knowing that they had achieved their goal and not There was nothing to worry about.
They were having lunch since it was already noon and after the test they were hungry, so as an act of good faith Klaus offered to invite him to eat at the base so that he could then return to their homes to rest and prepare for the next return to classes so they enjoyed the food they were given (but not before discreetly casting spells on them to detect potions or anything), after making sure that what they ate was not contaminated they ate to their hearts' content.
"Daph, I must say that that thing you did with the wall was incredible," Hermione mentioned, praising her best friend.
"Thanks 'Mione, it was incredible to do it but I'm fucking tired"Daphne responded while eating a French fry"our reckless friends also contributed theirs."
"Yes, but yours was more impressive, cousin," Cedric assured while eating a piece of chicken. "After the tournament I didn't think I would be so tired again."
"Speak for yourself because you were on a broom and they didn't shoot you, aerial badger, while they used me as bait," Tracey said, exaggerating.
"It wasn't that bad," Blaise replied.
"Wasn't it that bad? Hedonistic Italian, I remind you that your brother-in-law almost caused me to be crushed by a tree"he replied, pointing his fork at Fred.
"I told you I'm sorry," Fred replied.
"Anyway, we did a good job and earned this," he said, stealing two fries from Hermione.
"Hey! "Those are my potato," Hermione scolded.
"You slept," Tracey replied. "Besides, you got distracted, it's not my fault."
"Tomorrow, in training I'll make you fall on your butt," I mutter under my breath, eating a potato.
"So my butt, huh," Tracey stated. "If you want to put me on my butt, you don't have to wait until tomorrow, you could have it tonight."
Tracey's words caused a blush to spread across Hermione's cheeks, stained scarlet red by her friend's words.
While this was heard and seen by Neville, who was feeling very uncomfortable since on the one hand he was watching his ex-girlfriend (Tracey) interact and flirt with his current crush (Hermione), so asking Theo for a cigarette came out. to smoke.
They passed the time until they met three men who approached them, one of them was someone with dark skin, 1.89 tall, dressed like many of the soldiers on the base but had a black jacket that differentiated him, next to him a white-skinned subject 1.79 tall who, like his partner, had no hair and finally a subject 1.8 tall who had jet black hair but he had it shaved.
"Excuse me, are you from the new team? "asked the 1.89 man.
"Yes, we are from Task Force 141" Harry stated.
"Well, we were also part of the 141" I mention the 1.79 guy "I'm Owen McCarthy but my friends call me “Frost,” the guy over there with the idiot face is Sam Wilson but we call him “Trunk”" I mention, pointing to the guy. black hair "and finally our captain Maxwell Maguire aka “Sandman.”
"Like that time? What was it like hunting the Death Eaters? "Luna asked intrigued.
"It was difficult to define, there were incredible moments but others were too horrible" Trunk assured "we were a large group, we had freedom of action in the best of cases, we had the support of spies who provided us with the logistics of the places we went and The organization gave us the freedom to act according to brutal force with those garbage.
"I understand, any advice you can give us," said Blaise.
"Be careful and don't trust this scourge, they will take advantage of any possible weakness that you show" Sandman advised.
"Show them that you are not afraid of them, maintain a challenging and provocative attitude, they are based on fear, you be the hope and the challenge against them" said Frost.
"But above all, be careful with the damn “shadow company” Trunk warned.
"Sam," he scolded, using his real name Sandman.
"Who or what is the “shadow company”? “In the records we read about the war they were never mentioned,” Hermione said curiously.
"Shit, the “shadow company” are the worst of the worst, they are the most sadistic and violent remnant of the Death Eaters who managed to flee after the fall of Voldemort in 81. They formed underground for three years after that war they began to radicalize and show themselves in 84 in rallies in favor of the supremacy of pure blood in Eastern Europe in Serbia, Russia, Norway and Albania and in areas of Guyana, Chile and Ecuador, they organized terrorist attacks in towns or cities and began to light up the alarms and 141 was called to confront them. When we received the call we thought it would be something simple, just a group of terrorists without brains or strategy, which would be wizards and witches that we could take down in a matter of months as we had done with other cells, but it was not like that." Sandman said in a tragic and painful tone "they were unlike anything we had ever faced because what is worse than a madman?
"A madman with intelligence to back it up," Theo responded.
"Exactly, when these bastards fled they were forced to live among the non-magical so they learned from us and began to adopt methods similar to ours military preparation, rigorous training and terrain logistics as well as learning to use weapons, bombs and non-magical vehicles, our spies tried to find a pattern in their attacks until they were able to detect a faint magical signature on a pipe bomb that caused a large explosion in the south of Ireland" Frost stated "with that signature we were able to identify their attacks and We tried to avoid them but it was at that moment that everything started to go to hell, they had the training and they knew that when we found their attack pattern we would go to them, they knew it and they made us believe that we had the advantage the element, but those bastards They knew how they would kill us one by one until they killed us all.
"You have to be careful with them guys, the shadow company is not a game, they will have to kill him if or if they want to win and end this nightmare once and for all because if they defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters the shadow company will not stop their plans "They go beyond the current war," Sandman warned.
"Nothing changes, it's still just the list of damned people to kill just got longer," Hermione responded with a snort.
"Luckily they will have extra help," Trunk stated.
"In what sense? "Harry asked "no offense but we're pretty good.
"We know, but you already have silver and gold trays full of shit to deal with, we will chase some of these bastards, we will make noise you know so that when you come in you don't expect it, think of this as a concert, we are the band that opens the concert and prepares the stage, you are the main band"Frost assured confidently.
"Until then guys, take care of yourselves and don't give Slade gray hair, if he gets old he'll surely be a grump," Trunk said amused, walking away with Frost and Sandman.
A few minutes passed until the boys decided it was time to go home to rest.
Harry and Daphne left Hermione in Crawley and then returned to Potter Manor in Brighton after all it was 20 km and it was almost half an hour by car luckily for them as it usually happened on weekdays the roads were not full of cars so The trip was somewhat calm.
On the way Daphne suggested to Harry that they pass Godric Hollow's to leave flowers on the Potters' grave, Harry liked the idea so at noon almost afternoon they went to Godric Hollow, they stopped at a flower shop and bought a bouquet of flowers. lily flowers to place on the Potters' grave.
They said a minute of silence after leaving the bouquet of flowers and then left the cemetery towards the car to return to Potter Manor.
As Harry was about to get into the car, he saw that the helmet he had thrown away almost two months ago on the day of Ron's funeral (and the day he got the most drunk in his 15 years of life) was being worn by a furry tabby kitten. black and white and blue eyes like his “bed”, Harry stayed looking at the cat until the cat woke up and he stayed looking at him until the cat knew he approached him.
Harry picked up the kitten which snuggled into Harry's arms. He looked at it looking for a collar or something but it seemed like it was an orphaned cat that due to its small size was a newborn and had no owner so he decided to take it with him. They were the quasi-permanent residents since the twins, Ginny and Blaise, “invaded and disturbed the peace” of Mrs. Zabini (Blaise's mother) and Francesca (Blaise's older sister). ) so a company wouldn't hurt.
"Here," Harry said to Daphne, handing her the kitten.
Daphne looked at the kitten and smiled slightly, the kitten was quite cute and despite the obvious time on the street that it had due to the few marks of dirt, its fur was very soft so she wrapped it in her lap.
Harry looked at her and smiled, imagining that in the future (quite a long time since they were 15) this is how Daphne would see herself cradling or holding her child on her lap, which filled Harry with hope and optimism.
"2It's cute, don't you think?" Daphne said softly.
"Yes, it is," Harry agreed, starting the car and heading home. "What do you want to call it?"
"I was thinking of calling him Lucian," Harry said.
Then the kitten let out a meow of approval at the name he received from his new owners.
Finally, after a long time, the couple along with their new cat companion returned home to rest.
DAYS AFTER
01-09-1995
The weeks passed almost in a blur as if every day passed too quickly.
The boys began to learn the OCEE during their training, this being harder than at the beginning since they began to train having routines that consisted of increasing the strength in their blows and muscles as well as the aggressiveness of the blows.
This meant that during the weeks since they began training and learning the HATE, the boys finished their training extremely exhausted, with bruises, minor cuts and blood on the mat due to the aggressiveness to which the combats were subjected.
Luckily the cuts and bruises could be healed by the healing spells that Tracey learned and improved every day, the more she was able to leave her friends without scars or bruise marks which was a great help, she was also delving deeper into healing spells focused on reversing the effect of violent and lethal curses such as the liquefaction of organs and perforators that caused the victim's blood and tissue to begin to rot quickly and painfully for the victim until they died due to rot or shock to which gave the task of finding a way to heal those wounds or stop the effect long enough to reverse the effect before the damage to the victim has become permanent and the aforementioned dies from those lethal wounds.
Luckily for him he had asked Harry to tell Grindelwald if he knew or had knowledge of spells that would help counteract the effects of the aforementioned curses.
For the piercing curse with the effect of putrefaction of blood and tissue, he recommended that he first use the spell that he taught him to prevent healthy blood and tissue from being contaminated with the dark remnants of the curse and then be able to extract the damaged tissue and blood. u contaminated.
In the case of the liquefaction curse, he recommended that the person who had received the liquefaction curse first be put under an ecstasy spell so that the victim's organs would not be contaminated with the remains of the curse in the organs, then he would be should cast the spell “Organe Regenaretete” whose effect first protected the healthy organs of the body and then regenerated the organs that were damaged. What did happen was that the person entered a 12-hour pharmaceutical coma where the patient had to lie flat. because he was constantly vomiting up the remains of the curse and would sweat a lot until the person finally woke up.
Currently Harry and Daphne were getting ready for the trip to Hogwarts as the start of the school year was just around the corner and they were already prepared to deal with whatever awaited them.
They knew that on the one hand there would be a new DCAO teacher, so they were attentive to find out if they would have a prospective teacher like Lupine or Crouch Jr (who despite his defects and the fact that he was a terrorist and criminal) until Now they were the best teachers they had ever had which wasn't saying much considering Lockhart and Quirrelmort so depending on the situation.
They, along with the group, would decide to form and train the students to fight or let their companions continue with their lives quietly while they clean up the system from the political to the battlefield.
With fire and blood.
They know that a revolution is never peaceful and they are not interested in staying on that path given the peace in war that they are living, but they know that acting rashly only causes havoc and death, they had to keep a cold look at everything for which they would wait. and they would conspire in any case, along with their political allies and their family, they had a lot of power but they had to use it wisely.
In recent days, Harry left Sirius in charge of the Potter family votes as a representative in the Wizengamont to ensure that all projects in which Harry was interested or saw a political, social or economic benefit were taken advantage of.
He had learned from another source that Remus was traveling on a typical Dumbledore mission, where Remus would search for the werewolf packs and convey Dumbledore's offer to him, but the problem with that proposal for Harry is the same problem as It has all the ideology of Dumbledore.
And if Dumbledore sinned something, it was that he did not know how to handle the political power that he had because he either used it to try to keep the fascists of the dark faction happy and the cowardly yokels of the light happy in their ivory tower or he didn't. nothing since contrary to the rest of the magical world, magical Britain was deeply stagnant with respect to other countries in terms of bills.
For example, in countries like Argentina or the United States, werewolves have the same rights in terms of rights as magicians since the reformers in both countries understood that a percentage of their population was being segregated for suffering from a disease for which They made projects that allowed werewolves to educate themselves, have access to a house, as well as in their work, no matter what it is about, during times of the month when there is a full moon, they must notify their bosses in advance that they will be on medical leave. During the day of the transformation and the week after, just like werewolves in those countries, they have free access to the wolfsbane potion to control the transformation, something that in magical Britain just trying to propose it is considered political “suicide” given the bad reputation of werewolves thanks to the infamous and depraved Fenrir Greyback.
Another point was the fact that Azkaban itself should not function as the sole prison for all British wizards and witches since a thief cannot be compared to criminals of the stature of Bellatrix Lestrange or any known Death Eater but rather They should be in an isolated prison where they have no contact with the outside world.
Because criminals such as thieves, swindlers and others of that type are in a certain way redeemable but criminals such as Death Eaters are not and are an extreme danger to people, which is why Harry had a project of two prisons in mind. .
Azkaban would continue to be "hell on earth" for the most dangerous and brutal criminals of the British Isles, but another prison would be created for more "common" criminals with reintegration programs, just as criminals did during the first years after serving time. their sentence they would be watched and monitored until it was ensured that they would not commit crimes again which sounded like a good idea on paper.
The problem lay on two fronts, that of the old vinegars (side of light) and that of the fascists (side of darkness).
The side of the old vinegars was perhaps the one that irritated Harry the most since, having what it took to change things, each lord who entered the Wizengamont did nothing more than sit on nice seats and only nod or pretend to pay attention. to what the others on his side said or others who in a certain sense wanted to change things but in a barely perceptible way, calling it “progressive changes.”
Harry still remembers how after a Wizengamont meeting he was intercepted by Deadulus Diggle, one of what Harry called “Golden Dumbledore's boys.”
Weeks before
25-08-1995
Harry was walking next to Daphne after a Wizengamont meeting where she participated taking her place as Lady Potter, since it was a written and somewhat forgotten rule that if the lord allowed it or she was by mutual agreement the wife of said lord or Either the Lady could attend the meetings.
What happened at that meeting was the typical bureaucracy, budget for this, unnecessary cuts, dismantling absurd laws and putting in their place fascists like Lord Selwin who was proposing a law so that Muggle-borns have been removed before their insertion in British wizarding society to become what I call the “good muggle-born witches and wizards.”
Which at first said a lot about the low-minded being that Lord Selwin was because what that sounded like was more like a center where they would take Muggle-born children so that this "insertion" would be more of a brainwashing so that those children Be the lapdogs of the high pureblood dirt.
Daphne, being the pureblood lady that she was and educated from a young age to put people like Lord Selwin in their place, spoke up and in less than 2 minutes left half the dark faction red with anger with what she said.
At a moment when Lucius Malfoy was going to say something, Harry looked at the man and in the back of Lucius' head a demonic voice sounded that told him "sit down or it will end badly for you" which was effective since that voice It came from none other than Harry, who took advantage of a gap in Lucius' mind caused by his "negotiation" at Potter Manor weeks ago, where Harry took advantage of the "gap" created by the magic of Potter Manor to erase the location of the mansion. from the mind of the white-haired Death Eater.
Since since their honeymoon, Daphne began to teach Harry Legilimency since although Harry was a very capable Occlumen, Legilimency was something too useful not to learn, so Harry decided to learn it and when he began to learning it he realized two things.
The first thing he learned was that Daphne was an excellent teacher and that she seemed to have a natural gift for teaching that kind of thing, which is why little by little Harry was mastering legilimency, although he is not a master of the subject, he does know how to take advantage of the gaps. mental in people's minds.
Right now the couple was heading to an elevator to return to muggle London and from there take their car to go to lunch at a restaurant where they had a reservation.
They were about to close their elevator when they feel someone calling them.
They turn to find a man who was around 70 years old by his appearance and was wearing the classic clothing of a wizard, contrary to Harry and Daphne who were wearing clothing that was not far from that used by Muggles since Harry was wearing a simple bluish suit with a dark vest and no tie while Daphne wore a simple elegant dark green dress with a snake necklace that wrapped around her elegant neck.
"Lord Potter, Lady Potter, we could have a word," Diggle said politely.
"Of course, Mr. Diggle, me and my wife were going to take the elevator," Harry nodded. "Would you like to join us?"
"Indeed my Lord Potter, my Lady Potter," Diggle agreed respectfully.
While this talk was happening Daphne discreetly tried to enter Diggle's mind which she achieved with relative ease and without being detected, understanding the low danger that Diggle represents given the very poor mental shields that the older wizard had.
The three entered and Harry discreetly cast a muffliato so that no one would hear the talk as a precautionary measure so that no one would overhear and a repelling charm.
Upon entering, Harry stood with his back to the wall facing the elevator door, Daphne stood to the right of him near Harry, and Diggle stood on the far left.
"Well Lord Potter, Lady Potter, let me congratulate you on your recent nuptials," Diggle congratulated you.
"Thank you, Mr. Diggle, I wonder what you need to talk to us about?" Harry nodded and thanked.
"Lord Potter, I think it would be more convenient if we talked more," Diggle responded, almost looking askance at Daphne, which Harry didn't like, "in private."
Harry schooled his features as he pulled out a cigarette for himself and another for Daphne who took it, lit her cigarettes and responded.
"I don't see why my wife's presence would be a problem, I mean we live in a society where men and women have equal rights," Harry responded.
"That's why in their companies, the salaries of male workers are equal to those of women even though the burden of men is heavier," Diggle answered, irritating Daphne and Harry.
This has been a point of controversy since the complaints did not come directly from the workers of the companies belonging to the “Potter Company” since many were satisfied with the treatment and payments they received from the Potter family, but rather The complaint came from the other companies belonging to other families or businesses of that type since they consider that by doing so the Potter family and its allies were enriching themselves at the expense of the income that the other businesses and families would lose.
Harry, unlike them since he had taken control of his family's companies, had equalized the salaries of male and female workers which had been a matter of conflict before Harry took control of his family, but with the help of Matthias, Daphne, Remus and Ted along with their other allies had managed to resolve all the internal conflicts (which their competitors took advantage of to enrich themselves at the expense of the descent of the Potter family) of the company, so everything was going so that "Potter Company” would return to the top, add to that the creation of the BBC, which turned out to be a success. By the time he was 15, Harry had built up the family businesses.
Part of his victory was due to Daphne, which is why she assumed the position of vice president of the “Potter Company” since she had a good head for business and knew how to “read” the scene in a way that men, especially British magicians, could not. “read”, which was something that benefited both of them.
"Mr. Diggle, what me and my wife do with OUR businesses, it's our problem and not yours," Harry responded.
"Not to disrespect you, but I'm just saying as advice from someone who was a very good friend of your grandparents Lord Charlus and Lady Dorea, may they rest in peace," Diggle responded defensively. "In addition, I will speak honestly to you about something that I doubt." what his “allies” would do.
Harry took a drag on his cigarette and answered.
"You said it, Mr. Diggle, a friend of my grandparents, not my friend," Harry answered.
"Apart from the fact that if you doubt that I speak sincerely to my husband, then you don't know me," Daphne stated. to Gringotts who did a good job contrary to many “others”.
"I understand but you have to understand that your actions could lead to problems with male workers and other companies like “Malfoy Enterprise” Diggle responded.
"Mr. Diggle, the day I worry about fragile ego problems, fragile men like Lucius Malfoy, will be the day I put on a ridiculous robe with sparkling colors, which I have no intention of doing" Harry responded coldly "when I take control of “Potter Company.” "I set out to bring the company to modernity, so I had to close certain old businesses, but since I couldn't just fire those workers, I opened other businesses for those workers and I have had successful results thanks to that, because I am a believer in two things, first if a worker earns what is fair for his work, regardless of whether he is a man or a woman or his blood status, those workers will perform better and that would benefit both of us and second, my company is a modern company and we are true believers in equality. of genre.
Understanding that he was on point regarding the talk so far, Diggle decided to change the subject.
"Lady Potter" Diggle began "I must say that I found “interesting” what you said to Lord Selwin in the chamber, but I could not help but notice your obvious lack of respect for the law that Lord Selwin proposed, which is perfectly valid and Lord Selwin is a respected member of our society.
"Respected, eh, as I recall, Lord Selwin's son and his heir during the war were almost found guilty of quite worrying charges that almost made him land in Azkaban, apart from the fact that Lord Selwin himself has been linked to a certain group of “Joyful” guys in silver masks who caused terror in our society" Daphne responded laconically.
"Lady Potter, that case was dismissed years ago and both Lord Selwin and his heir have made good charitable donations to charitable and non-profit foundations," Diggle answered.
—Donations to charities that were financed and created by members suspected of being Death Eaters and whose donation funds as far as I am aware never reached said charitable foundations, forgive my skepticism but that sounds like an extremely fraudulent form of fraud and illicit enrichment more than What do you call "charitable and non-profit foundations" - Daphne responds with barbs - apart from the fact that I don't see the point of purebloods "educating" children under 11 who at that age are extremely impressionable and even influenceable. manipulative, that sounds a lot like brainwashing to me.
—Do you not respect our roots, do you not believe that our traditions and culture deserve to be known and respected? —Diggle said indignantly.
Perhaps Daphne's face did not reflect it, maintaining a serious and cold face, but her blue eyes reflected a cold and dangerous fury that Harry knew well, so he took his wife's hand in a sign of support and decided to speak up.
—I think you have gone too far Mr. Diggle, as I said before, you are a stranger to me and my wife and what you do is an insult...
—I'm only speaking to you because I was a friend of your grandparents...
—My grandparents—Harry cut him off—are dead, they were murdered on a bridge in Manchester at the hands of Death Eaters and they are buried in my family crypt.
Daphne squeezed Harry's hand knowing how difficult what happened to his family was for him so she would not stay silent.
—Regarding tradition, I grew up in a family that deeply respects traditions and our roots and our history, the blood of my family is thick and goes back as much as that of my husband for decades, even centuries, I grew up and was raised in "Based on that, but my parents always taught me to create my own identity, my own thinking and my own ideology as long as it lived up to my family legacy," Daphne responded sharply.
—As an aside, both I and my wife—I take Harry's word—believe in a phrase “not everything old is good” which is why, although we respect old traditions, we obviously believe that our history and culture deserves to be known for certain reasons. Traditions must disappear.
—Does that justify this or is it just an excuse like what you think about prisoners like Bellatrix Lestrange in Azkaban prison and your thoughts on what should happen to them? —Diggle questioned him for the last time.
"If they want, the Muggles can destroy us without breaking a sweat and that's all I'll say about that," said Harry, watching as the elevator door opened, knowing that they could now get out. "And about the other thing, I'll just say that the sick dogs are treat and cure but mad dogs should be executed, with that said good afternoon Mr. Diggle.
The two were when Daphne stopped halfway and looked at Deadulus.
"Oh by the way, tell a certain professor with a long beard and colorful robes who, curiously, was illegally declared my husband's magical guardian," said Daphne, making Deadulus's face turn into a grimace of surprise at the shameless way in which Daphne expressed herself. from Dumbledore—don't get involved in my family's business if you don't want problems, believe me, I don't forget my husband's pain at the expense of the “greater good” that your friend with the long beard and bright robe proclaims.
Now
The days passed and they were not approached by any other "Golden Dumbledore's boys" luckily for them, but unfortunately for them the way in which the "Potter Company" was being managed was bothering many, since workers from said Companies were complaining because they were asking for working conditions similar to those provided by “Potter Company.”
Even some workers from these companies completed their employment contract and then applied for employment at the “Potter Company”, which did not surprise Harry or Daphne since the working conditions of other companies that belonged to the dark faction had the working conditions of said companies. In the words of the workers themselves, they were, to put it kindly, “very poor” since many lacked the minimum guarantees that employers grant to workers in magical companies in other countries or muggle companies.
That partly helped them since they had information about how their enemies' businesses worked because they know that to win the war they must defeat them on three fronts.
The first front on the battlefield.
On the second front in the Wizengamont chamber and politics in general.
The third front was the business front, there they had to find a way to cut them off.
Since everything was cyclical if they were defeated on the battlefield and those who were arrested in the end would use either their money or some law that I myself promoted to get their way but Harry and his team would not allow that since they think ensure that every Death Eater who survives the war spends the rest of his miserable life in a cell.
Right now they were going down the stairs heading to the dining room and then using the flow network to go directly to the station.
When they went down they found most of their family present except the Tonks and the Grangers who were at work while the others were already there.
They greeted everyone and Harry sat at the head. Daphne sat next to him and they began to eat their breakfast like the others. After lunch was over when everyone was crossing the floo network, Neville and Harry were called by Sirius, Remus and Matthias. .
"What's wrong, godfather?" Harry asked.
"We wanted to give them both a gift, we know that they are both equal parts of the last blows of the war," Remus spoke calmly, "and we know that it hasn't been easy for either of them, that's why we want to give them this."
Sirius took out an “unusually” wrapped package from his jacket, saying so kindly, he gave it to Harry, when he received it the package was the size of a photo frame.
When they opened it or rather broke the wrapping, they found a frame where there was a photo where in the center you could see James Potter and Lily smiling at each other, you could see the belly of at least 5 or 6 months of pregnancy, next to them. There were Alice and Frank Longbottom who at that time were also expecting their first and only child, on one side you could see Remus's old love, Marlene Mckinnon making funny faces along with Remus, on the other side there were Matthias and Annabelle which in At that time they were waiting for Daphne, Sirius and Amelia seemed to be trying not to fall by hugging each other, which was an unequivocal indication that the two were quite drunk, especially because of how they were staggering.
It felt strange for both of them to see their parents so happy and happy without knowing what awaited them, it was curious and sad at the same time, since in all of them they saw the glimmer of hope that everything would turn out well in the end.
They wondered what would have happened to their lives growing up with a family like that? Would they be different than they were now?
It was difficult to know, because as Remus said, they were hit by the last blows of the war and that made them what they were.
Two broken boys with a thirst for blood and violence in their being, they were both the same but at the same time different.
Harry, after Ron's death, in a way “lost himself” in business and politics as well as the plans for the war, little was left of the person he used to be, even in his face something had changed inside him, I used to see it. smoking more cigarettes than he usually consumed, in the training after the “exorcism” he became more brave and determined and even stronger both magically and physically, also his control over his emotions also became stronger almost only when he was with his family. He showed himself as he was but other than that he was someone extremely cold, especially in business and politics.
Sometimes it was difficult to talk to him when he was reviewing paperwork or immersed in those things, he was extremely cold and distant that sometimes it was scary to be around him when he was immersed in it because he didn't seem like the Harry I knew or even the Harry he was with. that they lived together.
Neville, for his part, seemed on the outside to have changed physically, he was the one that stood out the most, especially because in the danger room he is the one who works the most with the weights and bars, just as his strength had increased, he also magically became more powerful, but what It was "twisted" in his mind where, since Harry managed to control his emotions, Neville seemed at times to maintain iron control over them and at other times he seemed like a volcano about to explode. That scared him because he didn't know what would happen if he he would lose control like in the test in the FVCM field, since, as they explained to him, if he could not control them he could put his colleagues and friends at risk.
That paralyzed and scared him since he preferred to die than for his friends to leave, but that same thing could explode in his face, confusion was permanent in his mind.
He could no longer distinguish the lines that divided right and wrong.
Killing did not seem to bother him and that scared him. He also knew that it was not the right thing to do, but at the same time, given his situation, it was his only resource to live a life in peace, his mind was like an uncontrolled ship moving from one side to another. that diverged between oscillating and being at peace with what I had to do but in others I thought that they could explore another option but that I couldn't conceive when I tried to look for it.
They were in this lane and they couldn't back up no matter how much they wanted to because stopping and looking back wasn't an option unless they wanted to get more lost than they already were.
"Where..." Harry asked.
—Last year as part of the therapy after my “vacation” in Azkaban, I visited my old apartment, which Amelia rented in order to give it to Susan or to you if I found you, in the best of cases I left free and I want them to have "This," Sirius explained with a nostalgic air in his voice as he remembered his old friends.
—That was one of the last times we were together before everything went to hell, James, Amelia, Frank and Sirius had returned from a mission with the Aurors. They had informed us of a disturbance near Glasgow where presumably Death Eaters were involved. "Order and I, at that moment they also notified us and we were the first to take action," Remus said melancholy. With the Prewitt twins, Mary McDonald, Dorcas Meadows among others we chased the Death Eaters to an old abandoned hotel, a fight broke out there, they separated us into duos, I was together with Pettigrew, Dorcas and Mary were on an upper floor and the twins They were down in the hall, we heard how the Death Eaters were casting dark spells everywhere, we at that time followed Dumbledore's philosophy to the letter—Remus's tone hardened as he continued—we fought for about half an hour. When we began to hear screams, Peter transformed into a rat and went to check what was happening. When he didn't return, I followed his trail and found him leaning against a wall trembling with fear. I saw what he had looked at and saw how Dorcas had been crucified. , her legs were broken at an unusual angle but they were broken, she was bleeding in her stomach, her forearms had been torn open and the dark curls of her hair covered or tried to cover what they had done to her face...what they did to her face, they just don't want to know.
—Those miserable people brutalized her like they did with Scagettí, they subjected him, he resisted but in the end, we had to identify him from the few remains we found of him—Sirius commented—the point is, after that mission, we were all in a bad mood, the mood was low. the floors, but all it took was a meeting and seeing the hope that their mothers had despite everything to illuminate all the darkness that surrounded us, for that night there was no war, there was only an unusual group of wizards and witches in their twenties living the best musical era of the history of humanity.
"What we want to say is that even though it seems like the darkness is approaching and you have to not let the light in your hearts go out, remember why you are fighting and who the real enemy is," Matthias advised, giving him a hand. on the shoulder to Harry—but above all remember who you are, darkness and light are part of being human, muggle or wizard, it is the decisions we make that make us who we are, never forget that.
Harry and Neville looked at each other for a moment and nodded to each other.
Unknowingly they formed a tacit agreement between them, a gentlemen's agreement.
"Well then it's time," said Sirius, "you have to go."
Harry and Neville crossed the chimney, entering directly into a king's cross that looked like a pandemonium, shaking the soot and dirt off their suits, they walked among the people, greeting their acquaintances, either shaking hands or nodding their heads, behind them. The shy and underestimated boy and the skinny boy who were victims of abuse had remained men who, in the way they walked, interacted and spoke, exuded respect for their peers.
Before entering the train, Neville collided with a girl who tripped, but before she fell he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward as gently as possible so that she could regain her balance. When the girl regained her balance, she turned to look at him. Neville stared at him in the same way.