The Privy Councilors 7/33

[herumtreiber]

Title: The Privy Councilors 7/33
Chapter: Speculations
Author:herumtreiber 
Genre: AU to HBP, romance, adventure
Disclaimer:  I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length:  ~4,460 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Luna/Neville, Ron/Hermione, Narcissa/??? Harry is about to be sent to Azkaban. The story explores Wizengamot politics and the fight against evil Dumbledore - where he gets vanquished early and does not prattle on and on - but is he gone? Plus de-aging. Someone returns whose name begins with a S. (And my revenge on characters whose accents are hard to read – like Hagrid and Fleur ;-)


Table of contents




6. Consequences - 1

When I look into your eye
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change

And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain
We've been through this such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain
But lovers always come and lovers always go
And no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
(November rain, Axl Rose)

In Luna's house, she was talking with Neville. They were in the parlor and Luna's father had just gone to look for erumpents. Neville loudly pondered how felicitous it was that his name was Xenophilus "Lover of the strange." Indeed that described Mr. Lovegood's character to a T.

Luna added, gingerly poking her garland collar, "We also have Draco Malfoy, the Dragon or serpent of bad faith. Indeed, if it is fate or anything else, we have to thank it for its opportune warnings."

Neville sighed and felt compelled to protest on behalf of his new mate. "So you are ready to discriminate just on the strength of a name. Just because someone belongs to a family you don't like, you feel empowered enough to look down on them. Sounds like the Death Eater philosophy to me!"

Luna replied nervously, "It's just that the names are so convenient, as if to make sure we know who we can trust. Draco has been a bitter enemy until lately, and I don't really think someone can change so much in such a short time. It worries me! The way he transfigured Mad-Eye and then proceeded to make it eternal."

Neville pointed out, "Moody was threatening Ron, Hermione and indirectly Harry. Draco has grown very protective of the three of them. He was incensed and fought Moody. His mad dash for power ended abruptly, and Draco decided to punish him. You and I know that he would have just received a slap of the wrist, even in the new government. We know that Moody deserved more."

"He would have kidnapped Ron and Hermione, and possibly tortured them. He does not deserve pity."

Luna continued angrily, "And the Golden Trio loves him! What they want can't be denied!"

Neville began to understand a bit of Luna's motivations. He added, "Yes, they have become very close during this time. Draco is seemingly accepted and appreciated as someone who can help them in their schemes and pranks. They are thick as thieves, in a way that you or I are not."

"Still, we are Harry's special friends. We've supported him through hardships and troubles, we've been there for him. He is there for us, as indeed are Ron and Hermione and even Draco. When they told us about the Privy Councilor positions, do you think they had to tell us we were councilors too?"

"No, they didn't have to. They chose to, they accepted us into their midst and we have been kept abreast of the perils and rewards. In this short time, I think Draco has behaved in very good faith."

Slowly Harry woke up from the fainting spell he'd had. He felt a strong body over him, two arms tightly wrapped around him and that intoxicating smell.

He could see that it was night, and the ceiling reflected a nocturnal view of a forest, presumably in the Southern Hemisphere.

Here laying on the arms of Draco, near him to drive away any sad thoughts, is where he wanted to be. Then the recollections hit him with the force of the Knight Bus. The strange diary, Draco writing on it. Harry sighed and despaired.

Suddenly a thought struck him out of nowhere, what if it was a diary from future Draco?

Harry could well imagine Draco twenty years down the line, having been forced to marry a Pureblood spouse. Probably her name would be one of those silly Pureblood names, like Wysteria, or Serpensortia or Astoria. Draco would duly have an heir, and after seeing him off to Hogwarts, he'd feel lonely. He'd recognize that he'd lived a loveless life, and he would take steps to rectify that.

Using a Malfoy artifact, he'd send the diary back in time, to a moment when he could effect a small change that would bring later great differences. That explained why Draco said that he felt drawn to the diary, after all, it was already his diary! Harry's head started to ache as he sought to comprehend the small paradoxes of time travel.

Draco also mentioned that he got the sense that the diary knew about his circumstances. Well, of course it did, considering it was him talking to himself!

Comforted by this reasoning, Harry fell asleep.

He woke up to the combined poking of Draco and Hedwig. He glared at them and tried futilely to go back to sleep, but they wouldn't allow it. Idly Harry wondered whether if he bought Hedwig finer treats, she would treat him with the respect he deserved. Judging it a lost cause, Harry accepted Hedwig's post, which was a copy of the Quibbler. He querulously asked, "Why are you so insistent on me getting up?"

Draco answered, "Severus is going to visit. He'll just stay for a while and then go to Hogwarts. I wanted to have time for you to dress up and tell you that we discovered some loyalty spells and mind-controlling potions affecting Severus." "Why did you faint?"

Harry replied irritated, "The emotions of the day overwhelmed me. Talking about Snape, wouldn't he know how to defend against potions?"

Draco answered surly, "The potions were used by Severus. Dumbles' need to dominate his spy grew so big, that Severus had to do something or else he would have been reduced to a toy. He preferred to have some control over himself. He ingested potions that allowed him to retain his core. Because they were an outside source, Dumbles' magic was powerless and Severus retained some free will."

"The contrary pull of the potions and the spells must sure have been hellish to withstand. It's no wonder that Severus had such a short temper."

Draco opened the Quibbler to page 4 and led Harry to a small article concerning their Wizengamot performance. He was surprised to note that the article was clear, truthful and even a little sympathetic to them. He was also interested to read that the author was N. Tonks.

Draco almost looked like the cat that got the canary, if the cat would be platinum blond and have grey eyes and lissome physique. He must have copied that look from Crookshanks.

Hermione's half-Kneazle was currently with her parents, and Ron and Draco had a bet about when she was going to ask for her cat. Harry chanced to hear them arguing about this topic and decided to make a bet himself. Of course, Ron and Draco narrowed their eyes and looked surprisingly thuggish and similar, but they agreed. They knew Harry would probably win. He could be oblivious to most things, but not Hermione.

Draco graciously informed Harry that he had invited N. Tonks to the Manor, for an in-depth interview with Draco about the latest happenings. It would be a good arena to get to know his cousin.

Eventually they made it to the dining room, where many of the other inhabitants were. To Harry's eyes, Ron, Hermione and Draco repeated the contented cat look.

Remus looked ready to pounce on someone, and Harry dreaded the confrontation Lupin-Snape that would surely occur. Narcissa was busy lecturing two elves, one of which Harry was alarmed to note, was Kreacher.

Harry entered into a discussion with Hermione, Ron and Draco. He was intrigued about his invisible wand and how they had made it so.

Hermione started, "At the beginning of the plan, Draco brought the wand. A loyal elf nicked it from under Dumbles' nose. We still were not sure whether we would be able to rescue you. We wanted you to have some means of defending yourself."

Ron continued, "But the moment the Aurors noted the wand, they would confiscate it. I thought it would be so much better if they couldn't see it. I shared this with Hermione and after researching some volumes having to do with clothes, she came upon the idea of using demiguise hair."

Hermione went on, "That's the material of your Cloak, Harry. I discovered a nifty spell which I used to cut a small strip of cloth off your Cloak, enough to provide a cover for your wand. Now comes the tricky part, and Draco did it."

Harry interrupted them, saying "But then you've ruined my cloak! Now it will have a strip that is visible to see!"

Hermione thwacked him upside the head and said angrily, "Who do you think I am, Harry? Have you heard of hems? That's the part I took the strip from. The rest of your precious Cloak is safe. Men!"

Ron added hurriedly, "We had the invisible strip, the wand, but how to connect them? Draco remembered something about a tale his mother used to tell him. He's great doing precision manual work. He used a thin and long thread made of demiguise hair to actually sew the demiguise cover snug around the wand."

Draco recollected, "Let me tell you, it was very difficult to sew something you can't see! It was only the movement of the needle that allowed me to proceed. I pricked my fingers several times and lost a little blood. However, at the end we had an invisible wand, and if the need arose, you could defend yourself. The wand is also free of any tracking spell."

Harry fidgeted and said, "Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart! But I have a question: is there a way not to lose the wand? I mean, if it falls from my hands, I don't know how to pick it up because I can't see it!"

A Twin that had been eavesdropping replied confidently, "We have just the remedy for that, Harry! It's part of a failed product line. It's an unguent that you can spread on your hand and rub a little on the wand. Then the wand will return to your hand when you want it."

Harry beamed, "That's wonderful! Thank you, Gred!"

Gred replied, "No, I'm Forge."

Forge said mystified, "But I am Gred, and why is Harry suddenly blond and Malfoy black-haired? And Ron, I hate to break it to you, but bushy-hair is not your style, not to mention Hermione and her blatant attempt to look Weasleyish dying her hair red. Hermione, we are not that red!"

Harry could see how Ron, Hermione and Draco surreptitiously high-fived each other. He had the sneaking suspicion that he'd entered a demilitarized Prank war zone.

Eventually the Twins were led away by a concerned Mr. Weasley, who was on his way to the first meeting of department heads since the restructuring.

HRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRHRH

Remus was a little skittish. He'd spend the night as a wolf, although it was only half-full. Paradoxically, he'd found freedom surrendering to the wolf's instincts.

He had come to some understanding with the other part of his being, the one that he had tried to ruthlessly expunge, delete, at the insistence of the so-called authority figures.

He found that the Change didn't hurt, when it was desired and supported by the person. When the individual had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the Change, though, a sense of inner imbalance and turmoil was created. This problem caused widespread pain, and also helped in diminishing the mental acuity of the person.

The door to the dining room opened and a person entered. Walking with the help of a cane, Severus Snape made his entrance.

Snape looked at Lupin intently. All other persons ceased to speak and waited to see what would occur. Narcissa checked the positions of her trusty elves.

Snape pulled a chair next to Lupin and sat down, he asked, "Will you need the Wolfsbane?"

Remus replied, "I don't think so."

Severus continued, "I'm glad. I had a lot of trouble brewing that potion. You see, Albus wanted me to add mind-controlling ingredients to the potion, so you would remain securely his weapon. I did not obey, having an inkling of what those potions do and how they act. Dumbledore lost some faith in me, but continued urging me to comply."

"It was really a chore to brew it, because of the interference of the old fool!"

Remus continued seemingly a propos, "I still miss her."

Severus commented, "I miss her every day, but I think that some day, we will be together again. There's a post opening up in Hogwarts: Defense against the Dark Arts. I would like you to take it."

Remus replied, "Really! But what about when the parents of the kids send Howlers to you, ordering that I be fired?"

Severus answered smugly, "They will have no reason to ask that, unless acting on their own stupidity. The councilors have made all laws against werewolves null and void. If they send Howlers, then I will also send them mine, with the small addition of a potion that will make them think they are ducks for the rest of the day. If they are going to sound so ridiculous, they might as well do it right."

Remus was content, he imagined that life had seemingly taken a turn for the better. If only Sirius could have seen this!

He grew pensive and lamented fate's cruel joke of taking away his best friend, when he had found love and family in Harry and him.

Severus interrupted his reverie, saying, "What's the matter, remembering bad things?"
"No, only good situations that ended tragically."

Severus replied, "Don't live completely in the past. They never really leave us. We are covered by their love. Their memories guide us and console us."
Severus ended gruffly, as was his wont, "And now, Wolf, I must visit with Narcissa and my godson."

Remus made his way outside. Deep in the gardens, he transformed – even though it was still day – into a magnificent wolf, with fiery amber eyes, he ran for awhile and howled, as is the wont of wolves, enjoying freedom. He even hunted a rabbit.

Narcissa left the Manor a little after Severus. She and Kreacher went to the Black Manor in Yorkshire, where the disturbing contents of some of the rooms of 12 Grimmauld Place were stored.

Having Apparated, Kreacher left and went to fetch the goblin Ashbolt. They needed the presence of members of three sentient species. They also needed to convincingly prove that Dumbledore had used the rooms in a completely inhuman way.

Presently Narcissa stated the list of grievances against the former headmaster, including his callous treatment of Lucius Malfoy, herself, Draco, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Lily and Harry Potter. Kreacher offered to bear witness for most of these offenses.

Ashbolt offered himself as witness for the financial manipulations indulged by the headmaster.

Then they all cut a small wound on their palms and let a few drops of blood fall into a cauldron. When they all were done, they intoned, "Ostendo penetralis!" This would insure that they would ascertain why he did the things he did in those rooms, it would show his intentions. Light went on to envelop the curiously shaped things in the room. Eventually they would coalesce and be ready for pensieve viewing.

Narcissa went alone to Sirius' room in the Yorkshire Manor. She remembered sadly her fractured relationship with his favorite cousin, how they were each other's respite from unyielding family members. A fanatical Bellatrix and a staid do-gooder Andromeda for her; his parents intent on making him a good Dark soldier, his brother Regulus seriously following them, for Sirius.

They were very close, until Sirius went to Hogwarts and was selected as a Gryffindor. While predictably his family was incensed, Narcissa's hurt was deeper. Sirius became the fast friend of James Potter and together with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, they terrorized the other students. They became a caricature of what Gryffindors do. They soon settled on Severus as a great victim, while the damned Headmaster knew and did nothing! Sirius taunted her and called her Death Eater spawn! Narcissa retaliated and there were many times when Sirius was admitted to the infirmary with grave hexes. He was too ashamed to admit that he'd been bested by a girl, and his cousin at that!

Eventually they graduated and went on their way. Narcissa discovered with chagrin that she was not able to help his erstwhile acquaintance, Lily. Her warning apparently fell on dead ears. Soon after, Sirius was imprisoned. Narcissa simply did not believe Sirius at his worst could do all those things. She shouted to Dumbledore that she would demand a Wizengamot trial using Veritaserum. That was her mistake, because Dumbles Obliviated her at once.

Nearly a year ago, Narcissa went to a pub near the center of London which had great selection of music from the 70s and 80s, a guilty pleasure she and Sirius enjoyed very much. Speaking of the devil, Sirius was there. Apparently he had heard of the music too. He had given the slip to his erstwhile guardians/coworkers.

After some recriminations, they remembered their good times fondly. They spoke of their concerns freely, and Narcissa understood how imprisoned, how edgy Sirius felt. He got an inkling of her desperation watching her only son follow in his father's empty steps, as the world tumbled around them.

They met three more times in that place, after Narcissa wily held the promise of maybe hearing all the worthwhile music that had come out while Sirius was in Azkaban.

After breakfast, in Draco's room, Harry asked him, "Aren't you angry with Neville and Luna for not voting with us?"

Draco replied, "No, I'm not. Every one of us has a valid opinion. If they were all forced to follow you or me, it would be awful. Their viewpoints must also be addressed, and if a contrary vote is the avenue they chose for it, then it's OK with me. I don't want a monolithic power like Voldemort or Dumbledore, I strive rather to get healthy and constructive disagreement. Obviously they felt that McGonagall was the best option, and expressed this in their vote, I could have lost just as surely. If you remember the vote was very close. In the coming days and months that may serve to give them some strength."

Draco continued, "Make no mistake, people noticed that the councilors disagreed and voted apart. They will try to exploit this. The thing is, they would try to use anything, like Neville's relation with his Gran, the ideas of Luna's father, the imprisonment of mine, Hermione's ideas to improve elves' conditions, Ron and his family. They'll jump on things like the rabid dogs they are, intent on reaching the top."

Harry inwardly considered this was a most mature view concerning disagreements. Apparently Draco eschewed the enforced conformity of either Voldemort or Dumbles. Surely he would not act this way if Voldemort's diary possessed him, right?

Draco seemed to have received some great advice that enabled him to break from his youthful mold of Malfoy Heir to the talented individual beneath. Surely the diary communicated with future Draco, though he couldn't visualize how he could keep communicating, when the very structure of the reality the other Draco inhabited kept changing.

It all came down to this: Harry needed to see the diary, to observe if it had Dark magic or not. If it was future Draco, then all was well and the diary could be left alone.

If it was Dark magic, then he needed to destroy the diary. To do that he needed to inspect it alone. Trouble was, that Draco was Lord Malfoy and the wards protecting his room would be the most powerful of the Manor.

Harry thought about telling the story to Hermione, but knowing her, she would probably research it, and perhaps uplifted by having found something, would blurt out the truth to Draco. Inwardly Harry realized he was being a little unfair to Hermione. Put simply, he had the feeling that the lesser number of people who knew, the better.

Then Harry had an epiphany of sorts: who had helped him constantly since second year (albeit that help had been dangerous and foolhardy)?

Who had access to Malfoy Manor?

Who was completely devoted to Harry?

The answer was simple: Dobby!

Harry made sure that he was alone in his room before he called Dobby. The exuberant elf appeared and promptly hugged Harry. Harry fell to the floor, and they started rolling around. Eventually Dobby got up and helped Harry.

Dobby said, "What are you doing in the Manor? Is you being held a prisoner?"
Harry answered rapidly hoping to calm the excitable elf, "No, I am a guest. I need your help, Dobby!"

"What can Dobby do?"
"Can you take me inside Draco's room, and nullify any notifying wards he may have? He is now Lord Malfoy."

"Yes, I can do that."
With what both Snape and Draco would decry as Gryffindor brashness, Harry ordered the start of his plan, "Take us there!"

Harry and Dobby appeared inside Draco's room. Harry noticed that there was a subtle theme of green and silver, but also blues and beiges were present. All in all, it seemed a nice room, and not at all Dark. Harry prepared to use the point me spell to find the diary. For a moment he thought the spell had failed when he remembered that his wand was invisible! He mentally smacked himself and touched the wand, ascertaining that it was pointing toward the bed, when the door suddenly opened and a figure entered leisurely, and watching him, soon stopped.

Draco was seemingly irritated as he asked Harry, "What are you doing here?"

Harry mentally hugged his friends, because Draco could not see the wand suspiciously pointed at his bed. Then he let his Slytherin side rise to the top and said nonchalantly, "I wanted to speak with you about shopping for my clothes. You see, I want to look my best in the Wizengamot sessions and in class, and I only have your clothes, which are great, but I want more. The door was closed and I asked this elf to open it for me."

Draco looked at Dobby and said mystified, "You look just like an elf we had until some years ago, his name was Dobinians, but I called him Dobby. He was the elf that took care of me and my things. I remember we constantly talked, or I spoke and he listened about things in the Wizarding World, the family, the planet. He was an amiable fellow, highly disliked by my father."

"Sometimes we would disagree because he wanted to be free and I thought that it was only right that elves should be servants forever. I realize now that was a very self-serving view for me to take. I hope wherever he is now he is happy, and free."

Harry could see that Dobby would start to bawl very soon, and hurriedly made his excuses and left with the emotional elf.

It all made sense now, Dobby being so knowledgeable about the Boy-who-lived and the different menaces, even if the rest of the elves were not, and his penchant for obnoxious plans that turned sour very soon. Most of all his being so full of passion!

He didn't know if Dobby caught that from Draco or the blond from the elf, at any rate he didn't want to be on the same island when these two met again!

After calming down Dobby, which involved calling for hot chocolate from the kitchen, mainly to sustain Harry himself in his quest for the diary, Harry was downcast. He explained to Dobby, "I can't use you anymore to get inside, he'll recognize you the second time."

Dobby answered, "Master Draco had a foolproof way to get to his rooms. He had a magical key that can bypass the wards. He used to put it behind the portrait of his great-great-grandmother Mathilda. That portrait and young Master bickered a lot, and Master Draco wanted the opportunity to harass the portrait a little."

Harry countered, "How do I know which one it is?"

"Master Draco used to say after he went to Hogwarts that the portrait looked like a professor of his. Apparently he disliked this professor and vice versa, because he was attacked by a variety of beings, including a hippogriff."

Harry laughed hysterically, "The portrait of this woman looks like Hagrid! I have to see this! On second thought, I might fry my brains permanently! And the hippogriff just scratched him!"

Dobby answered calmly – for Dobby. "The wound got infected. The infirmary didn't know what to do, so they asked Dumbledore for instructions. The Headmaster told them to do nothing, and pretend nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Draco visibly got worse. Finally Master Lucius couldn't take it anymore and visited Master Draco, together with a good doctor of St. Mungo's. They treated the infection, but young Master Malfoy almost lost his arm."

Dobby continued relentlessly, "The faculty treated the recovery as proof that Master Draco was lying about the severity of his lesions. They didn't care that a professor's badly delivered class had been about to kill a student, they didn't see the peril of causing political considerations to dictate the health delivery in the infirmary."

Harry grabbed his wand defensively and asked point-blank, "You are not Dobby, are you?"

"Why do you think so?"

Harry replied, "Because your answers are complex and reasoned, not like Dobby's answers at all. Mind you, I love Dobby, but he tends to speak in simple phrases."

Dobby replied, "It is me, Sir Harry Potter. Whenever I'm around the Manor, I am able to speak with more depth, it is because my family has been serving the Malfoys for 500 years and we became used to the magic here. Where the magical configuration is different, I cannot think as deep or speak as brilliantly as here."

The book and its secrets