the day after disaster
the scene opens to a very normal-looking house on a random street
a man finishing tightening his tie could be seen walking down the steps of his house
he was a plump man with brown hair, not too long or short, just the average length
he stopped by the kitchen once he got down to the end of the staircase, the wailing of a baby could be heard
"When is this," Harry thought as he saw the events play out on screen, he couldn't place his finger on the year or date right now, much less why the Dursleys are being kept in the spotlight
"WHO THE FUCK ARE WE WATCHING" yelled out a random voice behind harry catching everyone's attention
it was a boy with fair skin, blonde hair, and red eyes, seemingly at the same age as harry
near him a few people could be seen shaking their heads and sighing
Ron had his face in his hand
"why, why did he have to be here" came rons soft mutterings
harry didnt really understand but just patted his friends back consolingly
"hello, hello, testing, testing,123" came a voice out of nowhere startling everyone, aside from a select few who harry noticed to be those like moody who had seemed to have a great sense of paranoia
"ok good, it's me Maya, this theater was created with a system that allows you to hear what the screen displays, as well as letting me make announcements when need be, anyway getting back on track, first of all, heir Chardon, please calm down, all will be explained in due time, secondly this is the perfect time to show you what will happen when events like this happen, would everyone please turn to look at the screen"
looking at the screen, the audience could see that there was a white filter placed on top of what they were already seeing, and there was a large circle with 2 rectangles upright side by side within that circle, colored black
"Once something happens that distracts a majority of the audience or if I'm making an announcement, the screen will be paused like this so that you all can settle whatever it was that caused the commotion without having to miss any of the viewings," said Maya
"any way we will be moving on now, so yeah, see you all later" before the voice was no more and the white layer was lifted from the screen
the man moved into the kitchen where a toddler could be seen seated at the table, their wailing shattering any hopes for silence for the other houses nearby
those in the room also covered their ears due to how loud it was
the baby at the table was wailing and smacking the table
"little tyke" the man said fondly while pinching his cheek, which only cause a greater outburst from the baby
murmurs of "horrible parents" and "incompetent muggles" could be heard from the audience, especially from Molly Weasley who was muttering using the former saying
a second later the screen cut to the man walking outside the house to the man inside his car, and him stopping in front of a big building
the man entered the building and was greeted by the clerk
"good morning Mr Vernon"
"morning melissa" he replied
Vernon went into the elevator nearby,pressed a button, and went up
"THE MUGGLES KNOW LEVITATION SPELLS?!" a random voice cried out leading to a huge commotion
people were in chaos, shouts of "THE STATUE OF SECRECY WAS BROKEN?!?!" and "what the fuck?!" could be heard all around the room, the only ones not panicking being those in the ministry and those who either lived or were once part of the muggle world, they were trying to calm everyone down
"OH FOR GODS SAKE CAN YOU ALL PLEASE JUST STOP OVER REACTING TO EVERYTHING, WE ARENT EVEN AT THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS YET" boomed mayas voice
"first of all no, the muggles have not yet found out about magic, and secondly I'm speeding this up to the ending part because this is a very unimportant part"
and before anyone could respond the screen turned to static, and then showed a vastly different scene
the blackness of the night hung over all with the only things visible being those near the lampost or houses
a car pulled into the driveway of a house, the number of the house being displayed in the shot clear for all to see
no.4
a man got out of the car, his face worried
he went inside and saw his wife sitting on the couch with a dinner plate, watching the television
"oh its them," lily potter said in realization, her eyes widening at the fact that her voice boomed through the speakers
everyone turned to face her, all equally as confused
"finally i get the chance to explain this" mayas said from the speakers "basically whenever someone has something important to say, or some necessary discussion is taking place, then the enchantments in the room will redirect all the sound produced during the speak sessions as i like to call them, and force them through the speakers so that everyone in the room can hear them"
"ah i see" lily said "then I suppose i should come out with it then, the people we are seeing right now are my in-laws, I couldn't recognize them before because i didn't see petunia during the morning scene and i am very unfamiliar with the rest of the family"
whispers flooded the hall but quickly died down, after all to most this was a seemingly unimportant couple who were being shown
Vernon sat down next to his wife and accepted the plate he was given, though contrary to what he would've done the day before or any day before this one, he left his food there and with a worried face turned to his wife, who was calmly watching the news
"petunia, dear, i must ask you something" vernon said with a worried look on his face
petunia turned her head inquisitively
"have you heard anything firm your sister recently?" he asked timidly
petunias nostrils flared
"Vernon!"
"yes i know we dont talk about them, but...., the streets, the buildings, everywhere, theres all this nonsense talk that would only make sense if..."
"well the only thing that i know is that my sister recently had a child with that husband of hers, Harry's the babies name" said petunia looking very displeased even mentioning them
Lily and James frowned at the way petunia was talking about them along with several others, though they kept their mouths shut, after all the quicker they finished this the quicker they could get to the important parts
"besides vernon, its not like we will be involved with all that nonsense"
vernon just nodded his head and silently went back to his dinner while the news reported on a sudden star shower
the scene fades away and now we see the street the house is situated upon, the lampost around the sidewalk flickering a bit, and from the shadows an old man stepped forward
t'was dumbledore
people began murmuring to one another trying to guess why dumbledore was there
he brought out a lighter and flicked it twice
somehow the light from all the lamposts on the street left their area and converged on the lighter, which the old man closed
now in complete darkness the man walked a bit forward before meeting the eyes of a cat with curiously square-shaped markings on their eyes
"may i ask how long youve been there?" dumbledore asked with a smile
a second later the cat transformed into a stern-looking woman with glasses on her face
more murmurs began as minerva came on screen
"Albus you and i both know you let the info slip to me for a reason, though did you really have to come by so late, my back hurts" the woman said with a thick Scottish accent
the man merely chuckled and beckoned for the woman to follow him as he started walking further down the road
"today is an aspicious day minerva, the fall of the dark lord meant a countless number of feasts and memorials to be held, and i, being myself was asked to do a number of speeches, is it any wonder i can only be here so late"
many people looked deep in thought, seemingly remembering those days
minerva merely straightened her glasses at that before taking a deep breath
"so then, being to all those places, you must know what im about to ask since countless people must have asked already, is it true?"
dumbledores face dimmed at that before nodding
Minerva took in a shaky breath
"so lily and James, both of them are....."
Dumbledore nodded solemnly again
Minerva took a few more shaky breaths
"and what happened to harry albus, where is he"
dumbledore was about to answer, but a faint sound of an engine running could be heard, which dumbledore turned his head to
in a few seconds a bike came landing onto the street from the air, and its rider, a huge man wearing a helmet stepped off with a small bundle in his hands
"ello there professor dumbledore, i just got back from the potter's place..or what remain of it, found little harry, sirius was there as well, consoling harry, lent me his bike, said he had some unfinished work, oh ello there professor minerva, didnt notice you there, sirius's helmet is suprisingly dark" hagrid said
many people in the room straightened at the name of Voldemort's follower
"sirius black was consoling a baby?!"
"must have been an act"
"why would he give his bike to hagrid instead of killing him?"
"they must have been in cahoots!"
"or maybe he was so mad he didn't reacognise who he was giving harry to"
a multitude of questions and bogus answers floated around the room, with the smart people having pits in their stomach form, especially amelia bones
padfoot was growling but calmed down with a few scratches, just like his human self did, whcih made harry wonder for the 90th time in his life how this man could have been accused of murder, before being harshly reminded of the small scars on his side from when sirius went a bit too far in their practice
the potter couple had sullen and confused looks on their face which harry noticed
'i never did explain Sirius's state did, i'll need to rectify that next break'
"hagrid?!" minerva cried out in suprise, i thought you were in your shack tonight, i checked there myself"
"ah but you see professor, glamours are very easy to pull off, especially at night, and before you ask, these are still dangerous times"
that seemed to end that conversation
dumbledore motioned for hagrid to hand over baby harry
the old man looked the baby in his arms
the number of people who squealed in the audience at his baby form was far too many
looking around harry saw that Padfoot and moony were struck by his baby appearance, reminiscing about old memories, of a far better time than now, that's for sure
his parents, or rather his father seemed to have taken the audience's squeals with pride, though harry couldn't tell if his mother shared the same sentiment because his dad was glowering way too much
"so you've always been this ugly?, why am i not suprised" malfoy said
"pot calling kettle black then" harry shot back
the soft sounds of a camera clicking could be heard in one of the seats with the best view along with the soft sound of film being used for recording
"so about his forehead.." hagrid started
"".....I have no idea" dumbledore said
"Albus theres no way you know nothing about it, your the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the headmaster of hogwarts, you should have some sort of clue about this" Minerva said heatedly
"im slightly concerned by the fact that you could say that in half a minute, but not as concerned as i am about this mark"
the lightning scar stood out even in the darkness
one too many gawking expression's could be seen around the entire theater, looking at the scar as though it was some ancient powerful relic
also the number of people who turned around towards harry to compare the scar's was too many, like seriously, get a hobby, stop gawking at a teenage boy as though he's Jesus goddamn christ
"that's-"
"the killing curse movement, yes" dumbledore said, cutting off mc gongall
"can it be removed?"
it took dumbledore a second to answer
"not with what knowledge we have right now, no, it's a very peculiar thing, it's as though it is a sign of something greater than we can imagine, like a mark that was left after someone hastily attached something to him"
this was news to the audience
"perhaps it's simply an after effect of living through a killing curse"
"pah, you seriously belive that, i bet you that boy stole some power from he who must not be named"
"are you insane, he's a baby right now, he doesn't have the intelligence nor the will to do something like that"
"i'm sorry but do you honestly think that a child who could survive the killing curse would be someone normal?"
and on and on the discussion went, afterall no one had thought about what the after effect's of the killing curse were
"Man it's only the first episode and people are already this worked up, and we skipped like 70% of it, how do you think they'll handle the years that come after this?" ron asked
"hopefully awed silence, more likely to be panicked discussion's" harry replied "actually can't you just see the future reaction's?"
"first of all, they're danger based, secondly this is a domain made by time themself, im pretty sure any abilities related to them would go wonky, and im not gonna be the one to find out" ron replied
"At least were all on the same page for once" Hermione remarked and then quickly returned to scribbling down on the piece of parchment
Harry looked over her shoulder and saw that she was fully concentrated on her little note pad, she had made a mind map, writing drown what they knew and what was unfurling out on the screen in front of them
right now there were 3 main points in it:
.Killing curse after effect?
.How did dumbledore simply place harry there?
.what is the scar?
The last point was highlighted roughly with 10 different colors
"that... is concerning to say the least, are there any visible side effects?"
"Currently no, and I believe that it will remain that way until he turns at least 16" Dumbledore replied to the now very worried McGonagall
"what do you....., Wait a minute, how many...?"
".....There were quite a few incidents so the potter couple went for the maximum number that was safe"
"what are ya two on about?" Hagrid cut in, confused
The potter couple suddenly found the ground very interesting, much more interesting than all the gazes fixed on them, Harry among them
"Hagrid have you ever heard of a mana lock?" Dumbledore asked kindly
and with that the entire room took a shuddering gasp, quills flew across paper at the speed of sound, discussions noise levels only possible by magic
Harry looked around uncomfortably and confused, Hermione shared his confusion but Ron's face was filled with awe, shock and a hint of envy
he saw his .....friends?, very good acquaintances share Rons emotions as well, with Neville having disbelief painted on his face
below him Padfoots mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish with Remus's following suit, both of them flickering their sight between harry and his parents
there were thousands of reactions that could simply be summed up to the following:anger,denial and shock
Harry could feel Mad eye's gaze upon him, his magic felt his gaze peircing through the mortal parts of him into the unfathomable, yet he did not go any further, seemingly finding what he was looking for
heightening his ear's with his magic he could faintly hear mad eyes soft mutterings to himself
"but that exercise may be too strenuous...unless I remove that part...."
Harry dropped his face into his arms with a groan, now he would have to deal with added training during the holidays with his current bullshit
just great
Hagrid's eyes widened, looking down at the baby
"that...., that's just inconceivable !" he cried out in shock
"so is surviving the killing curse, yet here we are" dumbledore replied calmly
Minerva cleared her throat
"While this has been... a revelation filled night, I belive we should discuss the greater elephant in the room, namely Harry's future living arrangements" McGonagall said
Hagrid nodded at that while Dumbledore winced
"If I remember correctly Alice was Harry's godmother, and yet from the fact that he's in Hagrids arms and not at the Longbottom's I have to assume there was a complication"
Neville and Harry whipped their heads in shock out of their stupor and turned to each other in gaping disbelief
Draco and Ron only needed a second for that reactions implication to set in before they looked horrified
"Mate did you really not...."
"No Ron, I was perfectly aware of who my godparents were, like I am all things" Harry said, sarcasm coating every bit of his words
"It's just so unbelievable, familial ties are one of, if not the most important part of noble houses, and you're telling me you never knew of such a tie to another noble house?!" Draco cried out
Harry chose to not dignify his politic fueled panic and instead chose to focus on the screen ahead, already dreading the next break they would get
Dumbledore sighed
"The Longbottom couple have been incapacitated, death eaters broke into their house and cruciod them to insanity"
even from this barebones description of his parent's torture, Neville couldn't help but feel the need to vomit, with it bringing up unpleasant memories
Harry and Luna both reached out their hand to place it comfortingly on his back
Minerva took a shuddering breath as Hagrid looked away
a short prayer escaped her breath before she refocused
"what of Agusta, and little Neville?" she asked, her voice clearly straining to keep calm
"They are as well as one can be in this situation"
stray tears of relief and sorrow escaped Minerva's eyes
Padma would be the first to admit that they were excited about watching her classmate's life, there were so many rumors and no answers, so to finally get some felt like receiving closure
at least that's what it should have been
looking at the screen now, Padma felt no shame in feeling sick, oh yes they knew about the deaths that day, lord knows how many times their parents had told them about it, yet.....
'Someone was crying over them' as the difference she realized, the difference between tale and reality, in a tale, a persons death was accompanied by a brief description of a crying crowd, the emotion was implied but never conveyed properly
yet here, was someone she know weeping, she felt gut punched, it felt too.....
she did'nt have the words to describe this sensation, where her reality was slowly shattered before her eyes
'these were real people' she thought in shock, it seemed obvious now, hell she was classmates with 2 of the children of these families, and yet it never truly felt real.
no that wasnt right either, her face twisting in frustration why couldn't she see the fault, why couldn't she see that there was pain she kne-
....
'she knew nothing about them she realized
looking over at Harry's gang, she realized she knew little of the 2 people of importance now, she had never bothered socializing with them, one having a legendarily mysterious reputation and the other being slightly aloof
all she knew were from rumors
....it was an uncomfortable sensation, her gut churning, her mind spinning
she dug her nails into some nearby cushions to ground herself
she looked around, ignoring her sudden light headedness
most of her other classmates seemed to be faring the same as her
she slumped back in her seat, suddenly dreading how the rest of the viewing would go
dumbledore allowed her a brief respite before signaling hagrid to hand harry over to him
gently holding onto the silent baby, he looked over at the house they were stopped next to
Dumbledore took in a deep breath and began walking onto the porch
Minerva looked over after clearing her eye's , which we're now widening
"Albus you can't be serious..."
the audience went slack jawed which harry found slightly confusing
Ron nudged him closer
"most of the wizarding world assumed you were raised with magic"
His confusion turned to simple incredulous-ness before simply collapsing his face into his arms
"off to your kingdom again?"
harry just grunted
he needed more caffeine for this shit
"Agusta cannot handle 2 babies, not after what she has just been through, He is currently hailed as the miracle child that held out against the dark lord, he has innumerable enemies already, and these muggles are his last blood relatives"
"Albus I've been here all day, I watched how they acted and I can tell you that these people are not fit to raise their own child, let alone a magical one, besides in Lily and Jame's wills there must have been something about harry's custody"
"you think i didn't look into that?" he replied despondently "Lily and James's wills only had Sirius, Alice, Remus, Peter and Frank as possible candidates"
"then what about us Albus" she said fiercely hagrid behind her, speechless but looking equally as fierce
"Minerva" James potter called out
Minerva wiped away her face, she was not crying no, there was simply so much dust in her eyes
yes that was it
she looked over and-
......for a split second she was taken back to years ago, she was teaching James one on-one,his talent for her subject warranting it, he had just finished an extremely complicated transfiguration and was wildly prancing in joy, and she watched him fondly, both with a smile on their face
gods above knew how much she would give to see everyone that had been lost, with that smile on their faces
she came back from her impromptu stroll down memory lane to that smile, bust softer
"thank you, for looking after harry, you too hagrid"
she merely nodded holding back another torrent from leaking
this room needed a serious dusting in her opinion
"....."
he looked down at his hands
".....I already considered it, but we are just too old and too busy to take care of a child full time"
Minerva and hagrid went silent, their eyes still feirce, but there was a change, their bodies slumped, their hands clenched and unclenched in frustration
they knew they had no counter
**************chapter in development*****************************************