Chapter 6

Harry took a deep breath to calm his nerves and knocked on the door. The door was opened by a house elf who squeaked out "my name is Darda. How may I be serving you?"

Harry looked at the house elf and told her "my name is Harry Potter and I need to have a discussion with Neville Longbottom and his Grandmother as soon as possible as the matters that I have to discuss with them are quite urgent."

Darda nodded her head and replied 'please come in Harry Potter and wait in the foyer. I will contact Mistress and young master Neville."

Harry nodded his head and followed the elf. He walked into a spacious room and sat down on one of the chairs along the wall and mentally ran through what he would be telling Neville and asking him to do in the near future.

Anubis poked her head out and asked mentally 'master what is this place?'

'This is the home of one of my best friends Neville Longbottom. I am here to ask his help in the future and see if he is willing to help me train and fight the Death Eaters as well as against Dumbledore and his faction as well. I need you to check Neville to see if he has any blocks on him, as well as the standard checks to see of any compulsions as well, alright.'

Anubis nodded her agreement and asked 'do you suspect anything master?'

Harry shook his head and replied 'no I don't, but it never hurts to be careful as one of the people I know says constant vigilance.' Finishing his ruminations and conversation with his companion Harry waited for about five minutes until a slightly dirty and red faced Neville came into the room. Harry got up and said to his friend "you alright Neville? You aren't still injured from the fight at the ministry are you?"

Neville shook his head and said "no I'm alright, just a little winded from running here. Why are you here? All Darda said was that you were here and needed to discuss some things to my Grandmother and me."

Harry nodded his head then replies "yeah I do. Do you know if she is here? The things that I have to tell you and your Grandmother are quite serious."

Neville nodded and replied "she should be here in a few minutes." The two boys then fell into discussing what had happened in the fight and other topics with Harry carefully not mentioning anything to sensitive. One thing he did stress was how proud he was in how Neville stood and fought so well and praised him in how he was the second to last to fall n the fight.

After about five minutes of the conversation a formidable woman appeared at the top of the stairs and walked down with a regal grace. She came to the bottom of the stairs and spoke up in a stern voice "Neville introduce me to our guest."

Neville stood erect and said "Grandmother be introduced to Harry Potter. Harry Potter I introduce Dowager Lady Augusta Longbottom."

Harry nodded and addressed Lady Longbottom "my lady I am Lord Harry Black Potter and I am here to convey and discuss certain things that need to be held in strictest confidence from not only the Death Eaters and their supporters, but Dumbledore and his followers as well. I will require the use of a pensive to adequately convey these things and I am prepared to swear an oath that what I will show you is complete and the truth."

Augusta looked surprised for a few seconds then turned to Neville. "Neville show Lord Harry to the sitting room and wait there a few minutes while I ask one of the House Elves to get our family pensive." She then turned to Harry and told him "I swear on my magic that I will not betray your presence here and will conceal that you came here Lord Harry. I ask that you follow Neville to the room and await my presence."

Harry nodded and followed a stunned looking Neville to a room set off to the side of the foyer. He sat down on one of the several comfortable looking chairs that were scattered around the room. He and Neville waited for a few seconds in silence as Harry waited for Augusta Longbottom to appear and for Neville to gather himself from his apparent stun at the events so far. Harry smirked mentally 'Neville just wait for the show to begin, you won't know what hit you.' Deciding to take this time to ask Anubis about what he had found 'Anubis what have you found so far?'

'The boy in front of you has a partial block on his magic that has been there for over a decade at least, other than that he is clean.'

Harry thought about that for a second then replied mentally 'will we need to have the healers at Gringotts remove it? Will removing it be as painful as it was for me?'

'The healers at Gringotts will easily be able to remove it. As far as pain goes it shouldn't be any more painful than a few seconds under the cruciatis, if that.'

Harry mentally nodded and grieved for a few seconds at the pain that his friend would shortly experience, but there was no helping it.' Having finished his mental deliberations Harry noticed the door was just now opening with Augusta Longbottom coming through with a pensive following behind her. He looked on as Augusta sat down in a chair that was next to Neville. Placing the pensive between her and Harry.

Augusta looked up and asked "now that we are here Lord Potter I ask you to inform us why you are here."

Harry nodded and replied "please call me Harry. I also want to thank you for your time and taking that security oath Madam. As for why I am here I want to show you and Neville some memories. To assure you that these are the truth and not false memories I Lord Harry James Potter-Black swear on my magic and life that the memories and all that I say here will be the truth." Seeing her nod Harry got up and deposited several strands of memories detailing his adventures for the first four years of Hogwarts as well as his upbringing with the Dursley's. They went through the memories one by one with Harry explaining some of the background to the various adventures. Sitting back in the chair after they had finished viewing the memories Harry looked at Neville and Augusta Longbottom and said "those were the memories from my first four years at Hogwarts and were what led me up to this year. I wanted to show you and Neville where I come from and to utterly demolish the myth of the boy-who-lived or that I am a delusional glory seeking brat as the Daily prophet has so stridently called me. Up until the fourth year I was Dumbledore's unthinking dupe, bur fourth year changed that as I started thinking for myself in the back of my head, but doubts were cropping up about the infallible almighty learned leader of the light Dumbledore."

Augusta had paled several times form viewing the memories especially from his treatment from his 'relatives' and the various confrontations he had faced. She bitterly recalled all the times she had tried to gain custody of Harry due to her Neville and Harry being god-brothers, but she had come against the granite certainty from Albus Dumbledore that 'Harry is in the safest location right now Augusta' safest location for him my ass. She recalled various mutterings from Neville about the various things that had happened, but they were nothing like this! Didn't that wrinkled old coot care about the people in his care as headmaster? Not to mention the matter that some of the "children" are as bad as that bitch Bellatrix LeStrange and Lucius Malfoy. This generations Death Eaters amongst the school running wild and that bastard of a Headmaster sits on the throne and smiles indulgently while they spread their message of hate and intolerance. All these thoughts ran through her head and more as she finished the recounting of the memories. She let what she had seen sink in and then looked at Harry "why only show your memories of up until your fourth year?"

Harry looked at them for a few seconds then replied "I showed these memories for a couple purposes. One was to destroy for all time the myth of the boy-who-lived and his childhood. I then showed the first four years as I wanted to show how my distrust and suspicions for the Headmaster started and the basis for them. Up until the fourth year I was the perfect Gryffindor golden boy and looked upon Dumbledore as my savior." Harry went silent for a few seconds as he recalled the near idolatry he once had for Dumbledore, then spoke once more "the memories I will show you now will deal with the summer before this year and the various things that happened this year. Here I will show you where my current distrust and dislike of the ministry as well as Dumbledore have forced me into the decisions that I fell I must undertake now." With that being said Harry got up and retrieved his memories from the bowl, then deposited his memories of fifth year into the pensive.

Harry Augusta and Neville once more went into the pensive as Harry explained the things happening from the dementors attacking him and his cousin, the show trial from Fudge, the imposition of Umbridge. The torture from use of the Blood Quill, the founding of the D.A., how proud he felt as Neville amongst others showed their tenacity and emerging confidence; the disheartening and hurtful avoidance of Dumbledore. The visions sent from Voldemort, the realization that they were real with the saving of Arthur Weasley, the 'remedial potions sessions' with Snape and his mental assaults in it. Finding out that Umbridge sent the dementors, the attempted cruciatis from her, and the vision of Sirius being tortured. Finally the battle at the Department of Mysteries and the running fight therein. Seeing Sirius fall through the veil brought a silent tear as the loss hit Harry once more. Finally the battle and the Headmasters final mistake in telling him that there was a prophecy about him and Voldemort and how he kept it from Harry so he could have a 'childhood'.

Augusta went white faced with rage and she burst out "what the hell are Dumbledore, Fudge and the ministry thinking! Bad enough to put you through that mockery of a trial, but to send a incompetent stooge to torture students for saying something that the Minister doesn't want the people to know about? I can see where your distrust and dislike of the ministry and Dumbledore come from Lord Harry." She ran past her mind's eye through the training of the D.A. and the battle and felt a swell of pride at the actions of her Neville. She turned to Neville and her voice was filled with respect that few if any had ever heard "Neville I want to take this time and say how proud I am of you. You showed true bravery and a skill with magic that impressed me and fills me with pride. Even your father never fought that well." She then embraced him with pride in the young man showing in her every line. Finishing the hug and getting her emotions back into control she turned to Harry and asked "is there anymore?"

Harry nodded and replied "there is. What I am about to show you must be kept in the strictest confidence. If Dumbledore or the ministry were to learn of this I don't want to think of the consequences." He then got up and retrieved the memories then deposited the memories of his arrival to the Dursley's and then getting his blocks removed, finding out about the drain of the blood wards, snippets of his conversation with Athena and Tyr, meeting Sirius, his parents and finally the trip to Egypt and what he found there. He then sat back and waited for the two to come back out. After about fifteen minutes they came back out and Augusta had a shocked look on her face and Neville was flabbergasted. He waited for the shock to ease and got back up to retrieve the memories. He then sat back down and looked at the two of them and waited for them to speak up.

Neville was the first one to gain control of his emotions and thought back on all that he had learned this afternoon. He had always been somewhat on the outside of Harry's adventures at school mainly in his opinion because of Ron. This year he had finally stepped up and taken part in the most important two things to ever happen at Hogwarts. He originally joined the D.A. because he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't a squib like everyone thought and in support of Harry. The battle in the Department of Mysteries had been then most terrifying thing he had ever done, but he gained immense satisfaction in the thought that he had shown not only himself and his friends what he was capable of, but had beaten some of the most ruthless Inner Circle Death Eaters and come through with minor injuries. He thought on what possible reasons that Harry had come here for and come to a few conclusions. He cleared his throat and asked "Harry why did you come here now? I mean since you have the time device right now, why come here?"

Harry looked at Neville for a few seconds and nervously replied "Neville, Lady Longbottom I came here to ask for your support and help in the things I hope to do. The main thing I have to do is deal with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I intend to kill them in battle, and if I happen to capture some of them I will interrogate them using Veritaserum as well as Legilimency to see if they are willing Death Eaters. Once they have proven to be willing I will kill them. One thing I refuse to do is turn them over alive to the ministry as Azkaban is not and con not be secure from Voldemort and his forces. I realize that some people led by Dumbledore will say that this makes me as bad as them, but I do not think so. I will battle them using every magical means I can excluding only that magic that actually infects the caster from their use as well as the Cruciatis and the Avada Kedavra, I will not however be using the ministry guidelines on what is and is not dark magic. Once these things are accomplished I want change the ministry and how it governs magic users. I will not allow it to exist solely for the betterment of the purebloods or for that matter for wizards. This is a magical society and all sentient beings should be allowed to have a voice in how it is governed."

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it he looked uncertainly at the both of them and decides to continue "as for the specific of what I am asking there are several. One concerns you Neville. I have contracted through the services of the Goblins a series of tutors that will be starting next week. Until that time I would like you to accompany me to my ancestral castle, once there I intend to train for combat as well as review all of the material that has been taught to us. In this review I intend to concentrate on charms, transfiguration, DADA, dueling, physical exercise, dueling, Runes, Arthimatcy, Occlumency, Legilimency, rituals, blood magic, curse breaking, warding and finally the Dark Arts. In this upcoming period I will be concentrating on the Dark Arts, Occlumency, Charms, Transfiguration, Dueling and Defense against the Dark Arts as well as the ritual that I was told to do by the powers that Be. I hope you come as I will need people to back me up in the upcoming fights. I learned several things in our battle in the D.O.M.; one thing that stood out was that I need support in fighting as I can't do it alone. I have also been offered a chance to retest on my OWLs starting July first through July seventh. These tests will be on all of the subjects offered at Hogwarts, however since the I.C.W. is doing the retest there are several subjects that are not offered. I do not know if you will be able to take the retest with me, but I hope so. We will be concentrating on those subjects until the test takes place. After we have done so the instructors will come in and start intensive testing in all of the subjects. These instructors are under contract with Gringott's and will keep quiet on what they will teach as well as whom they are teaching. I came here now as I want you to come with me and get a custom wand as well as various other things in Knockturn as well as Diagon Alley." Harry finished speaking and leaned back waiting for Neville's decision, as well as Augusta's.

Neville took everything in and closed his eyes as he braced for his grandmother's reaction to what Harry had just said. Personally he decided he would stand by Harry through thick and thin as Harry offered the only viable way for the magical society could survive and flourish. No matter what he would stand by his friend to the end. Neville then looked at his grandmother and spoke with forcefulness in his voice that would have shocked anyone who knew him before this year "grandmother I have decided to stand by Harry and will follow him in his plans. It seems to me that his vision of the future is the only one that can stand the test of time and will save us from being either discovered by the muggles or having our society self-destructing."

Augusta Longbottom had listened to the way that Harry had spoken and was impressed despite herself at his vision of the future. She was not exactly certain in how he would reform their society, but knew that Harry would command an enormous amount of respect if he could defeat Voldemort. She decided to help him in any way that she could, and was about to say so when her grandson spoke up. She felt a thrill of pride and delight at the stand that her shy grandson took and was grateful that he decided on his own to take it without seeking her approval beforehand as he needed to take this stand on his own. She decided to speak up and answer her grandson first. "Neville I am pleased that you have decided to stand by Harry in the finest tradition of our house of allying with the Potters. I agree with you and will support you in any way I can." She turned her gaze to Harry and answered him "Harry I will support you as well. I will think on how you could reform our society and will help you there to the fullest of my abilities as well. I may not be able to take the front lines in battle anymore, but I do sit on the Wizengamot and will be able to take action there quite well. I am interested in how exactly you will be able to reform our society though?"

Harry nodded and decided on the spot to tell both Longbottoms some of his plans. "One of the things I will be doing in addition to hunting and killing the Death Eaters is killing Dumbledore's adamant supporters on the Wizengamot. Not all of them, but those that would support him no matter what he does and I will do my best to cast the blame for their deaths on Voldemort. I will also use the family votes of our hereditary seats on the Wizengamot to pass or repeal laws. One thing I will be enforcing will be the laws against muggle baiting and increasing the penalties on it. Another area of concern to me is exactly when we introduce muggleborns to magic. I intend to found a school for age's seven to ten to learn basic magic and at the same time teach them the ways of magical society. This way children will come in to Hogwarts already knowing each other, hopefully they will hold those friendships despite the division of sorting. Another thing dear to my heart is having muggleborns and half-bloods checked up on a regular basis. If any of them show signs of abuse to then remove all of the children from that household. Another thing that I think need to be done is to fund a magical orphanage that would search for all of the magical children already in a orphanage, as well as those rescued from abusive homes and have the children there kept safe and sound, as well as surrounded by people who are the same as them in having access to magic. Another thing that I would like to do is have the parents of muggleborns and muggle spouses put under a spell to keep knowledge of our world secret. The last thing I want to do is have the restriction on underage magic lifted for those muggleborn as well as half-bloods without access to a warded house, as long as they only use magic in their house and with a parent present. This way those parents can see what their child is learning and encourage them in their endeavors. As it is now those parents pay money to send their child off and learn something that they will never be able to see. I am sure most of them have second or third thoughts in sending their child off nine and a half months every year and then not be able to see what exactly their child has learned."

Augusta listened to this and nodded and spoke up "I will definitely support you in enacting those laws Harry. Have you given any thought to designating a person to vote for you on the Wizengamot until you come of age? I ask as I would like to put my name forth for that position."

Harry nodded and replied "that will pose no problem for me Lady Longbottom. I would be honored if you would do that for me as I was not looking to spending a large amount of time in the chambers listening to politicians speak ad nauseum. One thing that you should know is that I not only control the votes of the Potters, but the votes of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin. The vote and seat of Slytherin comes from me being the heir of the line as Voldemort was killed in 1981. The vote and seat was passed to me as I am the next in line, Voldemort was the heir previous to that time, and since the body he now inhabits is not his original it passed to me. The seats of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw came from my father. The seats of Hufflepuff and Slytherin came to me from my mother's line as she was not muggleborn as everyone believes, but a pureblood. Her family was wiped out by blood purists because they would not give up her sister who was a squib. She and her sister were adopted by the Evans and she grew up with that family. Disturbingly enough she was a relative of Grindewald."

Augusta was shocked when she learned of his mother and remembered the destruction of her family quite well. She was grateful she learned of this as she was a relative of that family and thought she was the last one. She then turned her thoughts to the fact that she would be voting with so many votes. She recalled the founders' seats only counted for five votes each, while some families voted twenty or more, but those seats carried a weight out of proportion the number of votes as they were the oldest seats known to exist. She thought over her knowledge of the laws of the Wizengamot and recalled a startling thought, if she recalled correctly the founders chairs if voted in unison can overturn any vote or law proposed. She decided to impart this fact the Harry. "Lord Harry there is a law if I am not mistaken that if the founder chairs vote in unison any law can be overturned or passed. If I am not mistaken only a super majority vote of eighty percent can overturn their decision. This will, if correct, aid you greatly in your political quest to change magical society."

Harry was shocked at this revelation and felt joy as he realized that reforming the government and society with this law could allow him to do this without as much bloodshed as he feared. "If this law is still on the books then you have my deepest and most sincere gratitude in bringing it up. This will allow us to change this society with less bloodshed I was afraid it might require." Harry thought about this for a few seconds then nodded as he could see only one problem on the horizon from this law if it was still valid. "One concern I have is if this law does exist and I become known as the one who holds the seats that make this possible then I will have a bigger target on my back than I have now." Thinking about that for a few seconds he continued "and one of the people taking aim at me is going to be Dumbledore of that I am certain. I don't know if it will involve combat or political maneuvering, but he will try to impede me in this. He has held absolute power here in Britain so long, as well as abroad. His power has been indirect as far as I can tell, but he will hold onto that power as long as he can. I am not certain if he has become completely dark or if he is a dark gray, but as far as I am concerned I view him almost on a level with Voldemort. The only difference is that Voldemort wants to kill his opponents off and Dumbledore wants to convert them into blind sheep. While Voldemort is the quintessential dark Slytherin, Dumbledore is a dark Ravenclaw as far as their methods are concerned."

Augusta listened to this, and then nodded in agreement. "That is an accurate summation Harry. You forgot to mention that since I will be voting in your stead that that target will be on my back as well, if not quite to the same extent." She thought back on all that had been said today then turned to Neville and said 'I would like you to go with Harry shopping and then onto the training. Meanwhile I will accompany you to the bank as I want to upgrade our wards here at the house. The goblins will be able to upgrade them to almost the level of Hogwarts, especially as this manor sits on a junction of three ley lines." She thought for a few seconds then turned to Harry "one question I have is that in your instructions with the Powers that be is that they mentioned a ritual that they wanted you to undertake. Have you gained any information on this ritual? What are the downsides?"

Harry thought about the ritual and then explained "the ritual used to be done by everyone in the magical world. As far as I can tell from what I've learned the ritual was discontinued because the results were uneven. When you open your core to the magic inherent in the world some would gain a greater connection than others. This led to some muggleborns gaining a better connection that some purebloods. Another drawback that is more recent is that once this ritual is done we can't use muggle forms of transportation that do not use wind, water, or muscle power. If it is propelled by coal, oil, gas or electricity the transport will shut down and we will suffer a ... call it a backlash of sorts. This could consist of pain or weakness for a period of time. If it is powered by air, water, muscle power or magic there will be no problem." Harry thought for a few seconds then continued "there is another ritual that I have been directed to do. This ritual will consist of me dedicating myself to the service of the Power that Be. I am not exactly sure of what the drawbacks there are in this, but it is something that I feel strongly that I must do. From what I understand there are two aspects to this ritual. One is to become a dedicant and be sworn to following the directives of the Power that Be ... think of it as a baptism of sorts. The second stage is that of being confirmed and marked as a protector. A protector will guard the holy sites and the priests and priestess of the religion from harm, as well as having to oversee the priests and priestess so that they do not become power hungry. The protector is part warrior and part judge to see that the priests and priestess are reminded that they are guides, not leaders or rulers."

Neville listened to this then asked Harry "what are the tenets of this religion?"

Harry thought for a few seconds then answered him. "The tenets could be summed up to An it Harm None, Do what Ye Will." He thought about that for a few seconds then continued "this includes harm to self by the way. One tenet in addition to this is to protect the innocent from harm and to see that justice is done. This is one of the reasons that I do not like Azkaban at all as it causes suffering out of proportion to the various crimes that people are locked away for. Have a prison yes, but don't cause irreparable mental suffering. Have the inmates work at something degrading or something that benefits society. On the other hand those that have been found guilty of rape, murder, or excessive unwarranted torture execute. Not by the veil by the way as I feel that if the government is going to execute someone that they carry it out themselves and not by just tossing them through a veil. When a government official sees the body there and realizes that he or she had just ended someone's life they will make damn sure if at all possible that the next time something like that happens again that the person will be absolutely guilty. Especially since the magical world has Veritaserum to make sure that you have the guilty party."

Neville nodded and replied "I definitely agree with you there Harry. I will want to read over the exact tenets of the religion, but it sounds interesting and I might sign on one day, who knows."

Harry then turned to Augusta "now that you are aware of my companion here" stroking Anubis's head that she poked out the collar of his robe "I have something tell the both of you. When I got here I asked Anubis here to perform a scan on both you and Neville. What she found was that Neville is under a partial block of some sort. I don't know exactly who cast it or when, but it is there. I know of some healers at Gringotts that will be able to remove it as soon as possible. There is one downside however in that the removal of the block will cause him some pain."

Augusta's faced paled upon hearing that her grandson had a block on his magic and sent a mental curse at her brother in law for the torture of forcing the magic out of Neville when the block had most likely caused the negation of all accidental magic. She turned to Neville and asked "you do want the block removed right?" Neville nodded at the question and upon seeing his assent she turned to Harry "the healers at Gringotts will be able to remove the block you say?"

Harry nodded and replied "I know that they can as they had to do the same with me when I arrived there. It hurt like the cruciatis curse, but it ends soon enough." He chuckled darkly then continued "heck I even got paid for the procedure as my magic went wild and it recharged the wards of Gringott's."