The Contract

Chapter Forty Two – The Purging



Professor Albus Dumbledore was angry. He paced his office back and forth, back and forth, without accomplishing much of anything. No one had seen those boys since the night before, and even when they had finally broken through the magical barrier that boy had put up, the quarters were empty. As he looked up, he saw Fawkes return. “Just where have you been?” He asked with as much anger as he could manage, his blue eyes hard and cold.



The bird shrilled happily. Its blue eyes twinkling in a maddening way. Coming closer, Dumbledore reached out for its neck, it blinked out of existence before he could pluck that bloody bird. Looking past the perch through the window, he could see night falling. ‘Entirely too long for information! Where is Scrimgeour?’ Then verbally speaking to only himself, he turned away from the perch and began pacing again.



“…worked so hard! Years and years this has been coming. Damn him for making it this far. That idiot Scrimgeour should find them first. I told him what was at stake, but he isn’t quite as in love with his position as Fudge. Should have worked harder to keep that man in office. I tell you…” on and on it went. Pacing, complaining, plotting…until a knock on the door gave entry to that same Minister of Magic he had been complaining about.



He seemed a bit white faced and out of breath as he entered. “Dumbledore, the Aurors can’t find the boys. No leads whatsoever! Its been more than twelve hours, but really, man! Do you have no idea where they could be?”



The bearded face shook in rage. “If I knew where they were, minister, I assure you I would not be worried like this!” He walked back to the desk and picked up the blackened collar. “Draco Malfoy first put this Dark Magic collar on Harry Potter, then removed it before the designed time, this was designed to stem his power, you imbecile! Now, because there was only enough time to saturate his core, Harry Potter’s magic is tainted! He’ll be as bad as Voldemort ever was!



“They are both certifiable and must be found. Harry Potter is a very strong wizard, as you know. But this collar was used as a dampener. He could be at the least semi-controlled. Draco unleashed that boy on society. And when he shows the same tendencies he did in the dungeons, you will know that I speak the truth! Now, I recommend that you check every possible lead. Pull people off of other cases and move on any incoming information.”



“We are doing all of that!” Scrimgeour said with exasperation.



“You are not doing enough! Have you contacted the papers? Set out wanted posters around the large and small cities? Contacted the Muggles?” Coming closer to the seated man, he said, “You must do whatever is necessary to find those two. If you do not do so, you will find that I have resources of my own that may come to light.”



Scrimgeour swallowed hard. The aged ex-Auror could feel the anger coming from Dumbledore in waves.



***







: They are planning to hurt my human. I cannot allow this to happen. I hurt so bad from their magic. I must save my human.



And with stupendous effort, she sealed the two plotting men in the Headmaster’s office until she would be forced or asked to release them.



***



The two talked on for another hour before agreeing that Dumbledore was right. It took a hex or two to prove his points, but that was what he did best, play dirty to get what he wanted. He had done it before during the old war, and he would do it again. If that damned phoenix couldn’t break his spells, Harry Potter couldn’t either. Of that he was sure.





~@~@~@~@~@~





Since Draco and Narcissa were now gone, the healer looked to Harry. “Young man, reveal yourself.” Sirius removed the Glamour from Harry and they both looked back at her. “Thank you. Now it seems as though people are still expecting great things from you. Arthur and Remus have told me most of what is happening around you. I highly recommend that you return to your home and get the rest of the information. I have known Molly Weasley since childhood, but have been her friend since we became adults. She has a plan, I promise you. Go, shoo, restore those Glamours, get Arthur and Remus and go…save the world or something.”



And when they left, they planned to do just that.





Just outside of St. Mungo’s, the four men apparated to Grimmauld Place. Molly was dozing in front of the fire when they finally made it back. Walking to her, he touched her shoulder gently. She startled awake and was immediately pleased to see her surrogate son standing beside her. Climbing wearily to her feet, she opened her arms. For a young man of seventeen, who’s job it was – on a regular basis – to save the Wizarding World, it was hard to be seen accepting gratefully the hug she was giving him.



It pleased her to no end that he did. Stepping back, she asked about Draco. “He’s fine. It was just a panic attack, nothing more. Babies are not injured.”



“Then where is he?”



“Oh, well, he is with the Goblin Horde of Gringott’s Bank.” He actually stepped back as he expected her wrath.



“That’s good then, he’ll be safe. Now what about you? How can we keep you safe?”



He looked at her for a moment without saying anything. “I suppose the best thing is to start telling me everything you know.” So they did. For over an hour, the four adults, Remus, Molly, Arthur, and Sirius told him everything they knew. Wide eyes met with some of the more obscure information. “Excuse me, I have to go get something that Draco brought. I left it in the cellar.”



Sirius went with him. When they arrived, they both gagged at the smell. “Don’t you people smell this shite when you are upstairs?” Harry asked him.



“Actually, no. Did you?” Admitting that he didn’t either, he took a deep breath. Sirius watched him closely. Several things happened in quick succession.



The satchel containing the papers Draco insisted they bring were sent floating up the stairs.



The torches erupted into hot burning flames that illuminated every crack and crevice in the room.



The thick brick cellar walls seemed to glow for a moment.



Sirius stepped back to the doorway.



The floor seemed to develop pores, much like a sponge that soaked up the blood, gore and any other foul liquid that was on it when the magic started.



The cleaning seemed to start in the center of the room, growing in circles around the floor until it got to the walls. The brick and mortar were seen to be new as the magic crept up the walls to the cellar ceiling. Swirling masses of centuries old filth were sent into the home, to be hidden from view.



From a distance, Sirius heard Molly let out a scream of surprise. A few moments later, the other adults were coming down the staircase to see what was happening.



Level by level, floor by wall by ceiling, the house was cleaned of the filth. The rodents that inhabited the home vanished. The dirt and ugliness that plagued this home continued to dissipate with Harry’s magic cleaning spree.



The adults looked at one another then back to Harry. As his magic climbed the inside of the home, his hands raised away from his body, making a wide arch until finally his hands met straight above his head. Turning to the people he adored. He stumbled a bit before catching Sirius’ arm. “I’m okay, just give me a…”



Sirius carried Harry up and into the newly cleaned and beautifully restored living room. Molly stopping long enough for a cool flannel and tea. Remus stopped long enough to get the satchel. They would regroup near Harry, but let him rest, assuming that his had used too much magic in the cleaning. The adults went through the papers. While they were researching, Severus returned.



A quick kiss to Remus and shocked look around gave him pause before he discussed Hogwarts with the others. By way of explanation, Remus pointed at Harry who was lying asleep on the couch.



Nodding, Severus sat beside Remus and held his hand. “Apparently, Scrimgeour was seen entering the Headmaster’s office an hour ago. I attempted to enter before I left, in order to see if I could discover any new information. However, the room has been sealed. Of course, the Headmaster could have changed the password, but it seemed more… permanent feeling than that.”





As Severus finished this statement, Fawkes swooped in and sat on Harry’s shoulders. He began to sing to the exhausted man and jumped to keep his balance when Harry turned over to look at him. “Hullo Fawkes.” He said sleepily. The bird tweeted again. Looking across to Severus the bird seemed to motion for Severus to follow him.



Agreeing, Severus stood, followed by Remus and Sirius to walk towards the front door. When they got to the place where the portrait of Sirius’ mother had once hung, Fawkes fluttered his wings until he was eye level with the hole. Singing again, he turned, almost suspended in air, as in attempting to get one of them to look at what he could see. Finally, Sirius moved forward and looked in the hole.



“There’s a room behind this wall!” He said almost shocked.



“What do you see?” Remus asked.



“Not much, there is only a single candle burning.” Taking a step back the three men tried an ‘Alohomora’ on the wall. “I suppose we could blast our way in.” He offered.



But as he raised his wand he heard a sleepy voice behind him. “Or you could just say, ‘Hey Harry – got any ideas?’ So I could try Parselmouth on it.”



Remus smiled, “Harry, do you have any ideas?”



“Sure…” Harry began to hiss, asking the wall to open to him. The men watched as the wall rose up into the staircase. “Can I go back to bed again?” Harry asked with a lopsided grin.



“No, Potter, you can’t. Just go in with us and help to be sure of what we found. Lumos Maximus!” Severus said to the room. Much as the torches in the cellar came to life, this room did as well. It too seemed to have been cleaned with Harry’s purging. Entering, they cast revealing spells on the room and items before looking too close. They found no hexes or booby traps to speak of, and it only took several seconds to realize that this was a hidden potions lab, fully stocked with stasis spells on ingredients that were impossible to get. The large ornate desk sat in one corner. A quill over a parchment of notes. The heading revealed, Reversal of Lycanthropy, by Albus Dumbledore 1944 as the heading. The stack was several pages thick of notes, spells, and potions that did not work. The edge of a single piece of parchment was just a bit out of the drawer.



Severus slowly pulled it from its prison. With a gasp, he realized that the author believed this potion to cure Lycanthropy. Studying the page, he turned to Sirius. “Would you allow me to take this stack for review?”



“I don’t mind, but then again, the house is Harry’s.”



“Sure,” Harry yawned, “I don’t understand any of this stuff. Can I go back to bed now?”



With a smile, Sirius said, “Yes, cub, you can go back to bed now…” And with a stupendous yawn, Remus escorted him back to the living room.



Once they were away, he asked Severus what he had found. Showing it to him, they both agreed to not tell Remus anything until Severus could be sure the potion worked. Neither noticed that this date was the last date of anything in the room It had been sealed after this discovery.







Rather then the living room, Harry had opted to go upstairs to a bedroom. He fell gratefully on the bed and, because he knew the house was safe for the babies, less than ten minutes later Garen deposited Draco into loving arms for a nights sleep.