Yule Break and Other Details
It was December 18, 1975. With the next day being the date that the Hogwarts Express would bring the students back and with the students not really paying much attention, Gary had assigned the homework due after the holiday and let them start preparing for their Yule break.
And so, with a couple hours more than he would normally have, Gary made his way to Hogsmeade for some mead at the Three Broomsticks.
Everything being as it was, Gary had his senses extended and, rolling his eyes, he sensed an ambush hastily arranged. Using his own mental abilities, he found what the plan was.
It took a few moments of arguing with himself for him to decide which way to go. And, considering it would change the future greatly for the good from what he could discern, he allowed the two waiting in ambush to "capture" him and take him to a house at the outskirts of Hogsmeade.
It was 5:00 and Gary was rudely "awakened" by a glass of water thrown in his face, followed up by a few hexes which took some acting to pretend they had any effect.
When he opened his eyes, he faced a very animalistic face. "I'm so glad our guest of honor has awaken. In only a very few minutes the moon shall rise and life, as you know it, will be changed forever." The face had a vicious smile.
Acting confused, Gary asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"As to what I want … it's not really what I want, it's what my employer wants: You out of his way. The Dark Lord has named you a hindrance to his plans, which I will be removing. And as to who I am? I am Fenrir Greyback."
Deciding to go for the "naïve out-of-towner" image, "That's supposed to mean something to me?"
Fenrir took offense to that. "You'll find out very quickly, meat!"
Wanting to roll his eyes, Gary nonetheless started looking terrified, which seemed to please the soon to be transformed werewolves.
As soon as Gary noted the change start to happen, he wandlessly cut the restraints and retrieved his Wand. With the weres mid-transformation, they had no chance to defend themselves when Gary put each of them down with overpowered piercing hexes through the brain.
He was certain that he's catch some flak from the Headmaster, but a chance to take out this particular threat so early in the timeline was worth the acting: Fenrir had turned hundreds and killed thousands before he was put down in most other timelines.
Sending off a Patronus to the DMLE and to the Headmaster, Gary sat back and waited.
Very soon he heard pops outside. There was some banging on the door and a cry of "Ministry Aurors!"
Gary calmly went to the door and opened it. "Glad you're here. We've got three dead werewolves." Just as the Aurors were coming inside, the Headmaster arrived in a ball of flame, Fawkes hovering above him.
"Garrick! I received your Patronus. What happened?"
Gary gave a small smile. "Three werewolves who thought I'd make a good dinner?"
Albus looked at him and then followed the signs of activity until they were in the room where Gary had been tied down.
The lead Auror asked, "What happened here?"
"I was walking to the Three Broomsticks when I got attacked from behind …" Gary took the Aurors and the Headmaster through the specifics and the timeline. Every statement made checked against the evidence. Gary had given permission for a check of his previous spells (necessary for anyone other than him to do anything with the wand but no one knew that) and they spells cast matched up to his testimony.
The Aurors were very impressed when they were told it was Fenrir Greyback that was laid out in front of them. Spells cast proved it. The Lead Auror finally said, "We will be contacting you. There was a reward for the capture of this one, so you're due a few Galleons."
Gary shrugged. He thanks the Aurors and then walked with the Headmaster out of the cottage toward his original destination, the Three Broomsticks.
Albus finally asked, "Did you have to kill them?"
Gary answered with certainty, "Yes. Yes I did. The moment they tried to kidnap me, they lost the right to protection from the rule of law."
Albus glanced over. "I noted you said 'tried to kidnap' and not 'kidnapped': An interesting turn of phrase."
Gary chuckled. "Yes. I could have avoided it. If it had been a death eater trying to recruit me, I would have captured them. If it was a death eater trying to kill me, I would have captured or killed them – as circumstances dictated. Three werewolves? The only choice that was certain to work was the kill. What wizard can guarantee their holding spells to work against an enraged were, let alone three?"
Albus sighed. "I can't disagree with you, but I still feel it's a massive loss of life – potential thrown away. Killing has always been anathema to me."
Gary patted Albus on the shoulder. "Don't stop being an optimist, Albus. But don't let that get in the way of ensuring those you are responsible for are protected."
Finally, the urge to walk was over and they accepted Fawkes offer to bring them back to the Headmaster's office. Gary caressed his long time friend before making his way out. "Oh – and moonset is 11:45 tonight or so. You might want to be the one to inform your Gryffindor prefect that Greyback has been removed from being a threat."
Albus nodded. "Thank you. I do believe that this is one aspect that I will enjoy, even if I find distaste in the rest."
Gary waved and exited the office.
It was after breakfast on December 19 and Gary was completing some of the paperwork to finish out the first term's grades. He heard a knock on the door. Absently he called out, "Come in!"
A tired-looking Remus Lupin walked in. Gary looked up. "Mr. Lupin! What can I do for you?"
Remus was somewhat hesitant but replied, "I was told by the Headmaster that you ran into Fenrir Greyback last night."
Gary chuckled. "A more accurate description is that I was kidnapped by he and his followers yesterday afternoon in anticipation of the full moon rising."
Remus nodded. "Yes. But the Headmaster told me that you killed him and the two with him."
Solemnly, Gary nodded. "Yes. Yes I did. A shame, but necessary."
Remus, who had been a bit antsy although he was trying to hide it, finally took a few breaths and calmed down. "Well, I wanted to say thank you. My family has … had poor relations with Greyback. They will be excited to learn he is no more."
"You and your family are welcome, but please don't misrepresent things to them. I didn't put him down because he was who he was or because he was a werewolf. I put him down because he attacked me. If I had seen him and recognized him as a threat, I would have contact the Ministry to come take care of him. The moment he attacked me, he lost the right to the lawful procedures dealing with his situation. I did not and would not kill him just because of his … condition. His intent and actions were far more a determining factor."
Remus nodded, oddly comforted by the way his Professor expressed himself. He quickly withdrew.
At 4:00, the Headmaster and Gary met up with each other. Albus asked, "Are you ready for Kings Cross?"
Gary nodded. "You will be on the platform side and I will be on the Muggle side. It will take me a few minutes to arrange things so that I am not noticed by either Muggles or wizards."
Albus' eyes twinkled as he said, "I would like to see the results."
Gary shrugged and grinned. "Give me ten minutes and then come out of the Platform to the Muggle side and see if you can see me. If you can't find me, I'll do something to at least demonstrate my presence."
"I look forward to the challenge."
Gary exited the platform and casually ensured no one was watching as he checked the limits of the Notice-Me-Not charm set up for the entrance. After extending it a short distance, he set up a temporary ward structure between the two pillars. The one closest to the wall and on a line just to the outside of the pillars he set up a detection ward which would activate the middle ward. Between the two lines (one inside and one outside) a ward was set up to remove tracking charms as well as a few other types.
The beauty of it was that the inner ward was only activated when certain magic types were present and the outer lines masked the view of the inner ward working so any stray lights would be disregarded by anyone not magical.
Gary then created another set of wards along the passageway to the outside. These would do the same for any non-Magical parent who didn't actually enter the platform. Gary then disillusioned himself and set up a miniature ward on the other side of the pillar, out of the way. Gary was now within a four to six square foot area that wouldn't be noticed by anyone.
When Albus came out, he casually inspected the area. Even when he cast a detection spell when no muggles were present, no trace of his Defense professor could be found. He did find the wards to detect and remove the tracking charms.
As Albus walked past Gary, the young God reached out and pulled Albus into his ward. Albus' expression made it all worth it.
"Merlin's Beard, Garrick! You nearly frightened the life out of me!" was Albus' comment.
Gary's grin was purely his Marauder heritage. "Sorry, old fellow. You'd skip by me otherwise. Within this small box, we are unseen and unheard. Not quite a Fidelius Charm, but pretty good. Unfortunately, it can only last a few hours – and that's only because the floor is made of granite in this area – or at least some of the stone within the concrete is granite. Otherwise, the maximum would be twenty minutes."
Albus quickly determined that the man was correct. "Still, a beautiful piece of magic. Easily misused, which is why I am happy that instructions aren't readily available."
Gary rolled his eyes. "You already seem to be invisible at need – no reason to learn even another method." Albus' eyes twinkled – Garrick had seen through his comment. "But I can watch and see if anything untoward happens. Let up hope this is just paranoia and not necessary."
Albus nodded gravely. "I agree. But best be safe. I'll meet back with you an hour after the Express arrives – the students should be gone from the station by then."
Gary nodded. After seeing that no Muggles were looking, Albus stepped out of the square and quickly crossed over to the platform.
A very short time later a somewhat disgruntled-looking wizard appeared near the exit point for Platform 9 ¾. Gary (rightly) guessed that the wizard had arrived on platform and had seen Dumbledore – and Albus Dumbledore being present, alone, was too much of a deterrent for whatever he wanted to do.
Gary watched carefully as the first Muggle parents arrived. Trying to remain hidden, the wizard cast a spell on some of them.
Luckily, these parents walked through to meet their children on the platform side – requiring them to walk through the ward he had arranged. As soon as they had left, Gary non-verbally knocked out the wizard. Quickly checking, he noted the Dark mark.
Gary knew that this wasn't a well-known detail as of this moment – hopefully it would be soon as he sent more and more to the Ministry. So, except for the spell record, which could be innocuous, there was no proof.
Getting a grin, Gary snapped the wand and vanished it, while ensuring that the wizard had no gold or anything else on him. Conjuring some rum (thanking old Seamus for his perseverance in concocting the spell to make at least a fake version of it) he sprayed the man. When he knew he was good and smelling of alcohol, he hit the man with a charm which would make him confused.
Looking around, he saw a Bobbie down the way and motioned him over. "The man seems to be drunk. I didn't know what to do?"
The Muggle copper tried to get the man's attention but he came across as confused. Finally, he got him up and started walking him out. "Let's see if a night in the cells will sober 'im up," the copper said casually. Public drunkenness was a nuisance crime.
Gary shrugged and let the man do his job. He would send a message to the Aurors that a Drunk-seeming wizard was taken in by the Muggle Bobbies. Let them sort it out. He was certain that Tommy Riddle would "reward" his follower appropriately for failure. As distasteful as the idea was, Gary was not in control of every possible outcome.
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, working on the last paperwork before the end of the year.
His time was far more free than he had expected, given what was occurring out in the Wizarding world. However, with the information about possible targets being protected, attacks against Muggleborns had dropped to almost none.
Knowing that a terrible storm was coming, he was trying to ensure he had as few distractions as possible.
Suddenly, one such distraction appeared: A stag patronus which looked remarkably like the animagus form of one of his 5th year students. He waited for a moment and the stag emitted the expected voice: "Headmaster Dumbledore. This is Professor Septimus. Can you please see me when convenient in the Masters' Library regarding a question I have?" The Patronus then dissipated.
Albus looked at the empty spot and then at the small pile of papers on his desk and then he sighed. Carefully placing them out of the way, the Headmaster put those few parchments to the side and quietly left his office to make his way to the newest addition to Hogwarts.
The Masters' Library had been quite the success. While it had been used by various Aurors, cursebreakers, healers, and apprentices under various masters, it has also been used by a few seventh-years who had specific plans for their future and whom had achieved the requisite permissions.
These would be much better prepared for their future jobs than previous graduates and Albus was looking forward to the increased recognition of Hogwarts which would result from this.
It has also prevented him from going on that slippery slope: Hiding information that might be misused because of societal pressures.
As an educator, it was his duty to ensure that students were educated. But as an influential member of the Wizarding world and one of its acknowledged strongest members, he was also responsible for protecting information against mis-use. The new Masters' Library had allowed him to protect all such questionable material against misuse whilst ensuring those that needed the information legitimately could obtain it.
Perhaps he would soon have properly educated wizards to discuss solutions with. He had never felt completely comfortable preventing valuable information from being known by those who could responsibly handle it. The new contracts prevented mishaps.
Albus casually strolled into the Library and took the necessary steps to enter the secure area that was the Masters' Library to find his Defense professor carefully looking through a large stack of parchment.
"Garrick. You require assistance?" the Headmaster asked.
The Defense professor looked up at him. "Yes. Thank you for coming. I've been doing a bit of research and I find myself at an impasse."
Albus sat down and asked, "And what are you researching?"
With a solemn look, the man replied, "Hogwarts."
Albus was taken aback. "What about Hogwarts is confusing? I believe it is fairly straightforward."
Garrick sat back and looked steadily into his eye. "My question is this: Who has the authority to order things done at Hogwarts? The Ministry? Wizengamot? The Headmaster alone? Who owns and runs Hogwarts?"
Albus sat back and considered that question. "Well, it quite depends actually."
"On what?"
"On exactly what aspect one is speaking of. As regards educational standards, Hogwarts answers to the Board of Governors and the Ministry's Examination Authority. As regards what is legal and who is responsible for enforcing the law, Hogwarts generally defers to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As to whom can come or who can stay here, I believe no one's authority supersedes my own as Headmaster."
Garrick nodded. "That was my conclusion. But my question is: Who is your boss? Who do you answer to?" Albus thought about it but Garrick did not wait for a response. "And so I started reviewing the relevant information. The Ministry's authority is easily established: William I's establishment of Councils to help him rule; the Magna Carta, and its hidden section dealing with matters magical; the Treaty of York, Magical section, which put all Magicals in the land under the authority of the Scottish throne or the English throne, the various Laws regarding Parliament, the British Bill of Rights of 1689 which established the Wizengamot as the Parliament which sets Magical law, and the Treaty of London which established Limited Autonomy for the Magical Portions of Scotland and England which was concluded following the treaties which established the Statute of Secrecy. All of these treaties and laws specifically lead to the Ministry for Magic and its relation with the Prime Minister's office. But where does Hogwarts fit into any of this?"
Albus replied, "I would assume that as a Magical institution, it would fall under the Wizengamot as a magical institution. That has been the assumption for quite a long time. It is only by tradition that I maintain absolute rights as regards who may live or stay here."
Garrick shook his head. "And in that regard, Headmaster, you are absolutely 100 percent wrong."
Albus was startled. "How?"
Garrick moved from the large pile of parchments to the other small pile which was also on the table. His gloved hands found a particular place on the document. "Were you aware that Gryffindor was a member of the Scottish Royal family?"
Albus was surprised. "No, I was not."
Garrick nodded. "According to the Charter of Hogwarts, in exchange for Gryffindor giving up any claim to sovereign power in Scotland and removing himself from the lines of succession, Gryffindor was named Earl of Hogsmeade, with the Baron of Hogwarts and the Baron of Hogsmeade answering directly to him. His authority in these areas was absolute. Hogwarts was created when there were many kingdoms. By mutual agreement of all crowns, Hogsmeade was declared completely neutral. Any Magical claiming residence there could not be forced to fight for one crown against another. And Hogwarts was specifically forbidden from fomenting rebellion against any one crown. With Magical nobles from different Kingdoms sending their children here, it was agreed that there could be no influence from any crown or government beyond ensuring that acceptable educational standards are maintained. Only if you began preaching sedition against the Crown could anyone force you out and take over. Note that I said Crown, not government. You can make any statement you like against the Wizengamot, as the Magical Council of Great Britain, or any Parliament, but against the Crown – never. Such would be sedition and treason."
"And what does that mean for Hogwarts?" Albus asked curiously.
"Well, your boss is the Queen of Scotland – and only so far as ensuring the prerogatives of the Earldom are not infringed upon and ensuring no treason against the Queen's rule is allowed to foment. Any attempt to teach that Muggles are without rights actually falls under the laws against sedition and treason. You cannot endorse Muggle-hunting or anything which would damage the citizens of Great Britain. Without an Earl of Hogsmeade or a Baron of Hogwarts – which was actually the position that Ravenclaw held, just as the Barony of Hogsmeade was held by Slytherin and the ownership of the Forbidden Forest was, by Royal charter, given to Hufflepuff – you, as Headmaster, cannot be controlled by any government. As long as you teach students to acceptable standards. This is the only thing that the Ministry can attack you with and such standards must be published and approved by the Wizengamot before they can be used against you."
Albus considered what his Defense professor said and considered what effect it had. To be truthful, he could see no real difference as to how he operated Hogwarts from what Garrick was pointing out.
"This is all nice and interesting, but does it matter much in the end?"
Garrick sighed. "It matters quite much. Consider this: The Treaty between the Goblins and the Wizengamot which prevents them from residing in Hogsmeade is, by Charter, illegal." Albus' eyes widened. "This could only be authorized, by law, by the Baron of Hogsmeade, Lord Slyhterin, with the approval of the Earl of Hogsmeade, Lord Gryffindor, and ratified by the Crown of Scotland. Note that the Acts of Union of 1707 were after the Treaty of London which gave the Wizengamot Limited Autonomy over all matters Magical within the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. By Charter, this does not include Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, or the Forbidden Forest. The Wizengamot can prevent goblins from living elsewhere in England and Scotland – but not these lands. The Ministry cannot force you to hire particular teachers. Hogwarts cannot, by charter, teach Pureblood supremacy, cannot prevent Muggleborns from being educated, and cannot teach or endorse Muggle-hunting by Magicals – something that Phineas Nigellus Black violated when he was Headmaster. You cannot treat Muggle parents as having less authority over their children's education than magical parents. That would be fomenting sedition against the laws of Scotland and England. And Voldemort is going to create a whole heap of trouble just by his plans. The Wards will prevent anyone with harmful intent from coming into the school – and with what we have done to protect the students, I am certain that there will be one or two students who will be having trouble coming to Hogwarts."
Albus sat back. "I had not considered that when the Wards were updated."
"Already we have students who have been paying attention to me – I am certain their parents encouraged them by order of Tom Riddle. My whole reason for my research was how to get around the problem of: How do we teach the students required while still ensuring the safety of Hogwarts?"
"Have you come to a solution?" Albus asked curiously.
"Yes."
"Tell me then!"
"Any student rejected by the Wards must sign a contract that they will treat Hogwarts as Neutral ground and will not commit any act against Hogwarts, its inhabitants, or its representatives while they are attending. When they leave, they can do whatever they want – we have no control over what they do outside of Hogwarts. But they must remain neutral or be expelled by the wards."
Albus sat back and sighed. "That sounds like a wonderful idea – my idealism applauds it. But you know that this will be approved by the Ministry."
Garrick gave Albus the Gimlet eye. "Did I or did I not just establish that the Ministry has no right to dictate such things?"
"I know it and you know it. But how do we prove it in such a way that the Ministry will accept it?"
Gary sat back and sighed. "And this is why I was hoping for a better solution. According to my research, the only choice is for you, as Headmaster, to contact the Queen. You have to delineate what I have just found, get her Royal approval to act as regent of the Earldom of Hogsmeade until such time as a lawful Earl of Gryffindor or Baron Ravenclaw is legally recognized by the Goblins of Gringotts bank. She will also have to either ratify the treaties that I have brought up – or by Royal Proclamation inform the Ministry for Magic that such treaties have no legal standing in the Earldom of Hogsmeade. I am certain the Goblins of Gringotts bank will be quite interested in whatever ruling she makes because at that point it would be legal for them to live there again, should she refuse to ratify. Oh – and you have to get a proclamation which informs the Ministry that they have no control over the Centaurs of the Forbidden Forest as no Muggle not in the know can enter the Earldom anyway, making the Statute of Secrecy moot in these lands."
Albus shook his head. "You're just asking me to kick over a number of anthills and sit back and watch the fallout."
Garrick grinned that mischievous grin. "Well … yes I am, I guess. Should be fun to watch."