Chapter 12
After the magic cuffs were removed, the children were left in the care of Tom while Severus headed downstairs to work on a few potions that needed to be restocked. Tom had offered to watch the children and would eventually wake them when it was time for lunch. During that time he would go over the paperwork that would help remove the creature restriction. He glanced over at the boys and smiled fondly as they shuffled on the makeshift bed Severus had conjured up. Draco and Harry were snuggled up to each other like a pair of puppies. The dark haired child had shifted so that his head was tucked under Draco’s chin, and the little blond had wrapped an arm protectively around the frail child’s shoulders. Nagini had positioned herself in a barrier like fashion around the pair; close enough for comfort and protection, but far away enough so that the boys could move if they so wished to. Knowing that they were content, Tom turned back to his task at hand.
While all was well at the manor, no one was aware of the chaos taking place in the dungeons of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Screams echoed through the cold caverns of the castle as a man lay on the ground writhing in agony. Blue eyes that were as cold as the Arctic stared back at the captive man on the ground. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was not having a good day. He had woken up with every intention of making his daily rounds to the families of his pawns, the Weasleys to be more exact, then coming back and going over plans as to how to get the Potter spawn completely under his control. The boy had not come when he was summoned which had led the headmaster to panic for a brief moment. The cuffs he had placed on the child’s wrists after the troll incident had been used as a way to control the boy’s magic while also being used as a way to summon the child at his beck and call.
The little brat had learned early on that fighting him was futile and only resulted in pain. Hermione Granger and the youngest Weasley boy, Ronald, had been given the task of keeping an eye on the savior and keeping him in line at all times. They were to report any suspicious activity the boy displayed and he would be punished for it. In addition to the magic control, the cuffs forbid anything that took place behind closed doors from being revealed. He had opted to place the same compulsion charms on the child as he had done with Molly and Arthur, but thought better of it seeing as the last thing he needed were worried or suspicious muggle parents. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to since both the Granger girl and Weasley boy idolized the headmaster and never questioned his motives. They also knew when to ask questions and when to keep their mouths shut.
Dumbledore was no fool to think that people would think his methods of warfare were morally ethical, but as far as he was concerned as long as their world could be rid of Tom Marvolo Riddle the better off the world would be. The man had a soft heart when it came to creautes and the likes, and had been prone to digging into crevices where he ought not to be. During his school years, the half blood would often be found with his nose deep in a book regarding some wizard law or tradition that had been long ago banned. The boy was too inquisitive for his own good and it had irked Albus’s nerves as much then as it did now. Most rituals and traditions were not dark, and Albus knew that much. He was aware that it was the intention of the caster that determined what was light and dark. He also knew that most people in the wizarding world were ignorant of this fact and were sheep to their very core. They followed those with power and success, and it wasn’t until the defeat of Grindelwald that the headmaster had figured that out. They praised him for his bravery and held on to every word that came out of his mouth without question. That was how he liked it and how he needed it to be.
He made sure to put as many ethical restrictions on creatures as he could for the simple fact that most of them lived by their own set of rules and societal guidelines. This meant that they had their own governments and councils which left Albus as an outsider. They didn’t have to blindly follow him as they could migrate wherever they saw fit without any regard to the wizard world altogether. The thought of powerlessness never did sit right with the great wizard and often left a sour taste in the back of his throat. So in order to gain control, he was the one who came up with the rules and regulations that needed to be followed as well as the punishments that befit the crimes of not doing so.
Over the years, the headmaster had managed to completely ostracized the were population, making it near impossible for them to live the same life of luxury that magic wielding people had. That meant in order to get the necessities they needed, there needed to be a connection with the right sort of people. The relationship was manipulation and blackmail at its finest. And lately the Riddle brat had been getting on his nerves by trying to abolish the system that had been in place for years. It seemed almost every meeting of the Wizengamot there was some talk about creature liberation. The topic was starting to get old, at least to Albus, but there seemed to be a few members who were beginning to vote in Riddle’s favor. Or at least were becoming more willing to hear him out on his viewpoints. Thus far there had been at least four of the sacred 28 to side with the movement for law reform. Malfoy, Greengrass, Rosier, and Abbot were all backing up Riddle. While most seemed to be on the fence about the idea, some were more willing to side with Dumbledore on the notion that things need not be changed. He knew that he could get some of the more powerful houses like Black, Longbottom, and Shacklebolt who held a large number of seats in the house, then the majority would rule and the notion would be dropped.
This was another reason he needed the Potter brat under his thumb. Harry’s connection with the Longbottom heir would be of use to persuade Augusta to his cause. Most people assumed that because James, Frank and Alice had been friends and worked together as aurors that their views were the same. Dumbledore could not deny that they agreed on a fair number of things, but the Potter were a light family whereas the Longbottoms had always remained a neutral factor. The same went for Shacklebolt. Kingsley may work as an auror and with the light in the Order, but he had proven himself to be a just man and refused to see things as simply black and white. Everyone knew that the Blacks classified as dark as well as the Malfoys, but Albus knew that he would never be able to manipulate Lucius into his plans. Both wizards had a mutual hatred for each other as well as untrust. However, with Sirius being locked away in prison, Albus could eventually get Harry to let the headmaster look over the Black proxy seats and vote in his stead until the boy came of age and could claim his lordship.
Sirius was the last living Lord of the house after the death of his parents. Since the man had no desire to marry or have children, he had agreed to name Harry as the heir to the Black house and fortune. If Sirius had disregarded the title all together after graduating, his young brother Regulus Black would have taken over. Unfortunately, the rest of the world knew that the youngest Black child of Orion and Walburga had been a loyal follower of He Who Must Not Be Named, and had died in his clutches. To the rest of the world, Regulus Arcturus Black was no more which left Harry as Lord Black.
Albus looked down at the skinny, frail body shivering at his feet. The man’s black hair had lost its shine a long time ago and was now matted together and coated with dust and dirt. It fell over eyes that were sunken into his skull. Those gray eyes looked up at the headmaster with pure hatred. Pale skin was now grey and was so translucent that Albus could count his veins. The tattered robes did nothing to fight off the cold in the dungeon cells. Albus tilted his head as he looked down at him.
“You have been quite difficult today, young one.” He received a death glare from under the shaggy bangs. Albus chuckled while twirling his wand between his fingers. “Now, now no need to be hostile. Just tell me what I need to know and I’ll ease your suffering.”
The old man had swatted down in front of his captive and ran a cold finger down the man’s sunken cheeks. The touch gave off a gentleness that his prisoner knew meant no good. When the man’s wrinkled finger came in contact with his skin he jumped back and hissed as if he had been burned. The headmaster frowned a little at the motion as if he were genuinely hurt. He grabbed the man’s chin harshly in his hand and forced him to look at him. Albus liked the fear in his bluish gray eyes.
“I know he’s still been in contact with you.” His grip on his chin tightened causing him to wince. “He’s no fool and he very well knows that you are alive. He’s been communicating with you hasn’t he?”
His prisoner shook his head as much as he could with the hold on his chin. Albus snarled and let go of the man’s face. He stood up and looked down his nose at him. He then moved at a speed the captive didn’t see coming and kicked the man in his jaw. The only sound made was a pain grunt as the man’s bone broke, its crack reverberating off the walls. He fell to the floor in pain and breathed deeply in order to fight the stars dancing behind his eyes.
“We can keep this up as long as you want, child.”
Albus began to twirl his wand again but this time a light began to glow from the tip. The frail man winced against and whimpered softly. The headmaster tsked and shook his head.
“You do only do this to yourself,” he said with a tired sigh. “We wouldn’t be in this position if you would only tell me the truth. It does set you free, you know?” He chuckled at his play on words. He knelt down again and pushed the tip of his wand under the man’s chin. “Just so you know though, no matter how little fight you have left in you,” he smirked, “You don;t get to die until I saw you can.”
With those words, he looked into the pain’s eyes and cast a silent Legilimens. A second later the dungeon was filled with tortured screams.