How the Dark Lord Played the Wizarding World

Minerva McGonagall was a woman on a mission. She was there when Albus Dumbledore abandoned Harry Potter on the muggles' doorstep, and she wasn't happy with the aged wizard. At all. She'd spent the last fifteen years haranguing the old man, trying to get him to move Potter somewhere safer, where he'd get the care he so desperately needed. When she wasn't harassing the Supreme Mugwump of the ICP, she was prowling around the Dursley residence in her cat form, watching as Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin verbally and physically assaulted him nearly daily.

She had noticed the starvation the teen suffered, as evidenced by his emaciated body, from the time he'd entered the school at eleven, and she had gone to Madam Pomfrey to let her know of the child's neglect. Together, they worked to ensure that he had nutrient potions with his food every day. Pomfrey would call the raven to the infirmary, where she would do regular physical exams and catalog all of the damage, both muscular and skeletal, to present to the Wizengamot when the right people were in power. She would then dose him with a variety of potions to help mitigate the damage before sending him on his way.

All of this was done under the headmaster's nose, since, if he found out, he'd put sanctions on Poppy to prevent her from treating Harry again. He'd already had her under a stringent fidelity oath that prevented her from contacting anyone outside Hogwarts for medical care to the students. Albus Dumbledore treated the school like his own little fiefdom, and he was the benevolent ruler.

One evening, during an Order meeting in Harry's second year, Minerva looked intently into Severus' eyes and dropped her barriers, allowing the man into her mind. The Potions Master was shocked at the gesture, and humbled by her trust in him not to abuse the privilege. Skating through the memories she had pulled to the forefront allowed the man to actually witness the abhorrent treatment that the Savior of the Wizarding World was receiving at the hands of his caretakers. Backing out gently, he gave the older woman an imperceptible nod, letting her know that he understood what she was asking.

From that moment, Severus met with Minerva in Snape's quarters to discuss what they would, or could, do to help Harry Potter. It was at one of these meetings that the Head of Gryffindor House met Lucius Malfoy and the Dark Lord Voldemort. She was stunned to realize that, not only wasn't either man a psychopath, but that they were genuinely worried about Harry Potter's welfare. So they made plans contingent on how things fell out during that school year; whether there would be a life-threatening crisis that only the boy wizard could handle, according to Albus.

Each year, the 'tests' became more and more hazardous. Fourth year was the worst; the Triwizard Tournament had very nearly killed the teen. With the end of the Tournament seeing Cedric Diggory the Triwizard champion, Harry was able to finish out his year relatively unscathed. Fifth year was equally quiet; the Defense post had gone to Delores Umbridge, who had held frequent detentions for the more vocal students who had tried to start small rebellions in the school. She also targeted those who had, in one form or another, harassed or slandered Harry Potter. Sixth year would see Dumbledore with yet another plot up his sleeve. The Order meetings were concentrating more on keeping Harry captive at the school, so that he could be 'trained' to defeat the Dark Lord.

The training outlined by Albus and Moody sounded particularly vicious, so, together with Severus, Minerva was able to collect a few hairs for polyjuice potions. The Dark Lord would have his lieutenants masquerade as Order members, while a couple of the Slytherin students would be Potter's friends. The plan was foolproof, and Minerva smirked as she listened to the panicked members trying to figure out ways to find the boy and return him to his 'loving' home.

"How did you get the hairs for the polyjuice?" Harry asked Draco. They were sitting in the library, studying arcane magic, when the question just popped into the brunet's head.

"Oh, that would be professor McGonagall," the blond replied diffidently, his eyes on a particularly nasty spell. "She collected hairs from a couple of Order members, as well as your weasel and the mudblood." A stinging hex had the Malfoy heir jumping and yelping. He glared at the raven as he rubbed his side. "What the bloody hell was that for, you pillock?"

"You know I hate that word, Draco," Harry replied with an angry scowl. "I know that you can't help yourself, but please try. Insulting Hermione also insults my mother. I don't care that you don't like Hermione. In fact, I recently found out that she was a spy for Dumbledore. So, could you please refrain from using that word?"

Grimacing, and knowing he was completely deserving of Harry's response, he sighed. "I'll try." He saw the grin on Potter's face, and couldn't help but smile back. "If you knew your mu...er...muggleborn friend was spying, why did you leave with her so eagerly?"

"I would've left with Satan himself, if it would get me out of that house," Harry snapped. "Besides, I have to keep up appearances, don't I?"

"There's a Slytherin buried very deeply within you, isn't there?" Draco asked with amusement. The barely heard "not the one I want" from the other teen had Draco snorting in hilarity, laughing harder as his friend blushed deeply.

"Soooo, McGonagall?" Harry asked desperately, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous topics. "Really? I thought she was firmly in the old man's pocket."

"Apparently not," came a voice from the doorway. A familiar voice that sent a shiver down Harry's spine. The raven haired teen blushed again, praying to Merlin and all that was holy that the Dark Lord hadn't heard the rest of their conversation. Tom saw the shiver and smirked, ruby eyes glinting in satisfaction. He had heard the conversation, and was eager to move the relationship along."She came to Severus three years ago with her concerns on your treatment. It seems that she would frequently prowl outside your relatives' house, in her cat form, and watch the way you were treated.

"When we finally met with her, she told us everything. She had tried to tell that old man that the muggles weren't the best place to put you, but he wouldn't listen. Typical of him. Anyway, it was from that moment on that we tried to figure out a way to rescue you. We had to wait until a pair that wasn't particularly sensitive to magic was put into place to watch you before we could snatch you."

"Thank you, Tom," Harry said with a blush. "I'm just glad I'm out of that hellhole for good."

"Who are our allies?" Harry asked Draco and Pansy. They were in the den, getting a head start on their lessons for sixth year.

"Well," Pansy replied, eyes thoughtful, "I know that the Weasleys are on our side."

"Really?!" Harry asked incredulously. "After the way that Ron bitches about Slytherins, I find that very hard to believe."

"He's on your side," Severus said as he entered the room. The teens jumped, startled at the sudden voice, and flushed as the dark man chuckled lowly. "He's incredibly Slytherin, and has been wearing masks almost from the moment he walked into the school."

"Then how do you know that he's on our side?" Harry asked cautiously.

"I had a meeting with him in second year," Severus told the teen. "The demon twins and he had come to my rooms to discuss some issues over which they had some concerns. It seems that the headmaster was plotting to try and keep you prisoner at the Dursleys. He was intending on not allowing you to escape them until you had to leave for school.

"Understandably, I was angered by this, since I'd been informed of your treatment by the muggles, and I went to speak to the headmaster about it. Of course, I couldn't let on that I was actually on your side, so I led him to believe that I was growing tired of the whining of your best friend.

"Albus finally saw it my way, and lifted the restrictions he would have put upon you. He then asked me how Ron had come by the information. I did not know, and told him as much. I found out later that the headmaster had called Ron into his office, and your friend did a masterful job of covering up his methods of information gathering. He spun a glorious lie about accidentally overhearing an argument between the headmaster and his parents.

"Albus, of course, tried to call him on it. Told him that it wasn't possible because of the anti-eavesdropping wards he'd had in place. Ron then told the old man that his mum's anger-infused magic was powerful enough to break the wards. Never mind that none of the kids were even in the house at the time."

"Ron did that?" Harry gasped incredulously. "For me?"

"He did," Tom told the raven, smiling at the gobsmacked look on the boy's face. "His entire family is on your side, and have been fighting for you ever since first year. I met with them at the end of third year, and we've been developing plans to try and keep you as happy as possible under the circumstances. It's because of the Weasleys that you're able to leave the house every year, earlier than the headmaster wanted."

Dear professor McGonagall,

Thank you so very much for all you are doing, and all you continue to do to ensure my happiness. I am more grateful than you will ever know that I have someone as strong and as caring as you on my side.

I'm sure you are aware of who has custody of me at present. I am safe, and they are taking good care of me. I am enclosing two deluxe season passes to every quidditch match; one for you, and one for whomever you wish to take with you. The passes are automatically renewed, and include luxury accommodations, should you wish to take advantage of them.

Please don't turn them down. I know of your love for the game, and I want you to have something that is only yours, that you may enjoy for a very long time. I know that you've had my back since before I started school, and tried to interfere as much as possible with my placement in the muggle world. I don't blame you for not being able to talk the old man around to your way of thinking; he's delusional, and has his mind set on a specific path to follow. Nothing for it, I suppose, but I'm glad that he wasn't able to twist you to follow his schemes.

I leave you with a warning; Hermione Granger is his spy, and reports anything she sees or hears that involves me, to the headmaster. Keep close counsel with all of my allies in the school, and keep your head down.

With great affection,

HJP

Minerva set the letter down on her desk and looked out the window of her quarters, eyes faraway and misty. The passes sat, undisturbed, on the envelope that the letter had come in, and she turned her attention to them, a small smile on her face. "I wonder if Elphinstone would be interested in going with me," she murmured. Shaking herself out of her introspective mood, she briskly scooped the passes and the letter up, storing them away in a heavily warded and protected keepsake box, which contained treasured memories of her family and friends, before leaving her quarters and heading down into the dungeons.