Novel named: the protagonist system (scribblehub) Starting at ch: 61 where Harry Potter arc starts. Before this is high school dxd and maybe other worlds.
Ch: 61-65
I opened my eyes and I saw that I was already on the Dursley's doorstep in my basket, which meant the old bastard had already cast his magic with the blood wards. It was also f-f-frickin' c-c-cold!
The first thing I did was cast a heating charm on the blanket and my stiff limbs felt a lot better. I cast another on my bassinet and I felt the feeling return to my fingers and toes. That sure was telling about the competency of the wizarding world that they hadn't even bothered to ensure I would live past them dropping me off in the middle of the night.
I checked the invisible clock in my head and it said it was 4 in the morning. That meant I had about two hours to do what was necessary before Petunia opened the door to pick up the milk and the newspaper beside me.
The funny thing was, were they already there when Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid had dropped me off or were they dropped off on the doorstep beside my already present basket? What kind of people, wizard or muggle, left a baby in a basket on a doorstep at the start of November?
When I cast magic detection, I knew what had happened. I had a notice-me-not charm cast on me. Well, cast on my magical sync amulet. That was where the blood wards were locked as well, and so was the second block on my magic that Dumbledore had cast. The first was on myself to reduce accidental magic that James and Lily had put on Harry to make their lives easier.
I dispelled the second block and felt my magic flow through me in a greater amount, which told me that I was a right terror when I threw a tantrum with that much magic inside and it was still suppressed by the first magical block. I dispelled the first block and gasped as my body glowed and magic swelled up and filled me. Being a magical prodigy really boosted me by removing my restrictions.
I calmed down from the rush and my magic did as well. With that much magic available, there was so much I could do, even as a fifteen month old baby. I cast an extensive diagnostic on myself and saw the damage to my forehead and found the soul leech horcrux and the residue of my mother's protective spell that contained it and stopped it from possessing me.
The next thing I did was transfer the piece of Tom's soul from my scar into my amulet and the blood ward spell automatically linked to it and latched on, instead of locking it to myself and Petunia. That had worked out even better than cancelling the wards themselves. Even the mail redirect ward had been sucked up and set to stop any mail from going to Tom Riddle, which was hilarious, because the monitoring spells and devices Dumbledore cast on my amulet were also keyed to his soul.
With those worries taken care of, I cast the specific healing spell on myself. The damage I had suffered from the cold, and the magical backlash of the killing curse the day before, disappeared. My famous scar faded away and this was where my partial-metamorphmagus ability came into play. I changed my messy bird's nest hair into normal hair and the color to dark red instead of dark brown.
I would change it back and add the scar to my forehead whenever I went on my adventures, because I had to do them as Harry Potter. I would also need to transfigure my previous noble clothes into an appropriate size to wear as the dashing hero. The robed cape I already owned would go well with it, too.
When I cast magical detection again, the blood wards around Privet Drive glowed brightly, which made me chuckle. Having a dedicated soul piece attached to them had super-charged them and expanded them to the point that nothing and no one that wanted to cause me harm could appear anywhere in the neighborhood, let alone come to the house.
My baby giggle was fairly loud as I thought about Albus Dumbledore or any of his agents not being able to come near me in the future. His own set protections for me would keep him and his people away, which was not what he intended at all. Poor old Dumbles won't know what's what where I was concerned! Ha ha!
Now I just had to convince Petunia that taking me in was going to be beneficial to her and her family. That was easily achievable, because I was going to bribe her with some of the jewels and gold I had pilfered on the last world. To that effect, I checked my extra-dimensional space and saw my backpack and everything it had inside. I giggled my baby laugh again at everything I had stuffed into it, including the piles of old-fashioned furniture, my crafting supplies, plane parts, and the mounds of treasure.
Surprisingly, it also had the things I bought in the shop. I had assumed I could only access those while between worlds and seeing the seven books of the Harry Potter children's stories, my lightsaber keychains, and even the pink werebunny costume, made me laugh again. I couldn't resist changing my current t-shirt for the one that said I had saved the world and only got that stupid t-shirt.
I also took out a couple of diamond and emerald necklaces, bracelets, several individual jewels, and a golden sceptre that was encrusted with gems. It was huge, so I shrank it down to make it look like a baby rattle and held it in my hand. I tucked the bribes along the edge of my blanket and held the baby rattle in my little fist.
The invisible clock in my head told me it was only another hour before Petunia would find me, so I had a bit of time left to do a little more manipulation. I created a fake letter from Lily Potter that explained about Albus Dumbledore ignoring her wishes to leave Petunia alone, because he had blocked her magic to make sure Lily was alone and she was never allowed to associate with her muggle relatives.
I added in a few words about how Dumbledore had manipulated her into marrying a 'right twat' and that she regretted that she could never get the ignorant old codger to fix Petunia and restore her stolen magic. That should set Petunia on a particularly long rant about interfering old men and hopefully on the path to accepting me, since I now looked more like Lily than James.
I cast a compulsion on the letter so that Petunia would see it in Lily's handwritting and tucked the letter under my little pillow and closed my eyes to wait. With luck, she would see some of the shiny gold and jewels when she saw me. If not, I would have to pretend to wake up and shake my baby rattle at her. That it would unshrink as soon as I wasn't touching it, would definitely get her attention.
*
Petunia sighed as she put her sleeping Dudders back in his crib. Four feedings a night was exhausting her and she couldn't wait to wean him off of her poor sore breasts and could feed him normal milk instead. She checked the clock and saw the time, sighed again, and left the bedroom to go downstairs. She would need to grab the paper and milk before she started making breakfast.
She opened the door and started to reach down for the newspaper first and froze at the sight of the large wicker bassinet and the handsome sleeping baby face inside of it. Her eyes immediately saw the dark red hair, the letter tucked on the side, and she was sure that was a large diamond necklace. She shook her head at the crazy thought and put the newspaper on the baby's belly.
Petunia caught her breath, because the move had dislodged an emerald that was the size of a golf ball. She reached for it and picked it up, her mind not quite making sense of it. It couldn't be real. It couldn't. A gem that size was worth thousands... no, hundreds of thousands.
Her eyes dropped back down to the basket and her eyes caught all of the different things tucked on the sides of the blanket. It was a fortune in gold and jewels. A literal fortune. She felt faint and slowly knelt to stop herself from falling, only for that to put her that much closer to the bassinet and the treasure contained within.
The baby stirred and opened its eyes and Petunia caught her breath. Lily's brilliant green eyes looked back at her from the baby's face and the baby gurgled happily and lifted its hands towards her. Petunia gasped at the small golden rattle in the baby's hand and she knew without a doubt that it was worth more than their car.
The baby held it out to her and shook it at her, clearly giving it to her, so Petunia took it. As soon as the baby's hand stopped touching it, the baby rattle expanded and became a gem-encrusted golden sceptre that was two feet long. She stared at the thing as the baby giggled at her, amused at her shock.
Petunia shivered at the second fortune in her hand and she didn't know what to do with it. The baby waved a tiny hand at her and made a grabbing motion, so she handed it back. The thing shrunk again, to her surprise, and the baby giggled and waved it around.
"I think I need to take you inside." Petunia said and grabbed the bassinet's handle, stood, and went back into the house. She left the milk on the doorstep and shut the door, because she had something much more important to do than replenishing the milk in the fridge.
*
I pretended to fall asleep and watched her with my magic as she put the bassinet on the kitchen table. I lightly held the shrunken sceptre and knew she would want to test the shrinking option again and waited patiently as she gently gathered all of the things I had stashed around my blanket. When she was done, she stared at the pile of gold and jewels on the table.
Petunia took the sceptre and set it beside the pile and continued to stare at it. She gave me the sceptre back twice more and seemed at a loss about what to do next. I used magic to move the letter Dumbles had left for her and she snatched it up. She frowned at the terse wording and looked slightly angry, so I did the only responsible thing I could do.
I rolled over in the bassinet and my pillow moved just enough to reveal the second letter. Petunia dove on it like a bloodhound and tore it open. Her eyes seemed to dance as she read about Dumbledore's manipulations on her and Lily and her anger was almost palatable as she finished reading it. Her hands shook and her mouth changed several times from snarling to sucking on a lemon.
That was perfect for my needs and I rolled back over to let out a happy gurgle and let my hand flop out of the bassinet and let the sceptre go. It grew to full size and Petunia stared at it, then at me, then at the letter.
"I need time to think about all of this." Petunia said and stood, looked at the stove, looked down at me, and walked across the kitchen to start cooking. She left the kitchen briefly and brought the milk in from outside, then went back to work.
I felt and heard the heavy weight moving upstairs and then heard it clomping down the stairs. I didn't do anything in reaction to knowing the bane of Harry's normal existence was approaching. I wasn't just any Harry Potter, I was the best Harry Potter. I wasn't going to suffer at the hands of an ignorant bigot and thought of several ways to charm the man to get him to like me.
"Petunia! What in the bloody hell is all of this?!?" Vernon shouted when he saw the bassinet and the pile of gold and jewels on the kitchen table.
"That stupid old man dropped off Lily's little boy on our doorstep last night after she was killed." Petunia said. "The fortune was tucked inside the blankets."
Vernon picked up the sceptre and his eyes almost glowed with greed. I had to hold in my laugh at finding such an easy way to start influencing Vernon and wouldn't need any compulsions or charms.
"Are they all idiots?" Vernon asked. "This almost looks like the Queen's royal sceptre!"
Petunia shrugged. "I don't think they realize how much those things are worth, not with so much of it hidden inside a child's bassinet."
I decided it was time to say something profound and took a brilliant red ruby the size of my fist out of my inventory. "Mummy." I said and rolled over in the bassinet and dropped the ruby onto the table with a clatter.
Both Vernon and Petunia gasped as the huge gem bounced and slid across the table towards Petunia. She darted forward and scooped it up before it fell to the floor. They both stared at the ruby that was more expensive than any of the other single jewels.
"I think it would be in our best interests to keep the little tyke around." Vernon suggested.
Petunia carefully added the huge ruby to the pile and reached into the bassinet to take me out. She lifted me up and cradled me in her arms "What do you say, Harry? Do you want to stay around here for a while?"
I pretended to wake up and smiled at her. "Tunie."
Petunia stiffed slightly and then smiled a warm smile. "Lily really did tell you about me?"
I nodded slightly and held my arms up. "Tunie! Home!" I said loudly and activated the one-time transfiguration spell, My Home Is My Castle.
The entire house glowed brightly and both Petunia and Vernon let out surprised shouts as the whole place started to change and expand. The kitchen was now the size of the bottom floor of the house and everything around us changed to become the best magical castle in the whole world. When the glow faded, Petunia and Vernon looked shocked.
"H-H-Harry, what... what did you just do?" Petunia asked.
"Tunie. Happy!" I said and waved a hand in front of us and called forth the 5 house elves. "Floppy! Moppy! Cookie! Butter! Nanny!"
The elves popped into existence and Petunia gasped. Vernon just looked constipated.
"I bees Cookie and I doos all the cooking." The female elf wearing the chef's outfit said.
"I bees Moppy and I doos all the cleaning." The female elf wearing the maid outfit said.
"I bees Butter and I doos the household chores." The male elf wearing the butler outfit said.
"I bees Nanny and I takes care of the little ones." The female elf wearing the nurse outfit said.
"I bees Floppy and I doos the gardening." The male elf wearing the gardener outfit said.
The two adults looked too stunned to say anything, so I clapped my hands and gained everyone's attention.
"Cookie, finish Tunie's brekky." I ordered and the little elf popped from there and over to the massive stove.
"This bees a proper kitchen. Cookie approves." The elf said and started to magic the food into larger portions.
"Moppy, check clean home." I said and she nodded and popped away. "Butter, need box." I pointed at the gold and jewels on the expanded table.
"Right away, little masters." The butler said and snapped his fingers to make a cardboard box appear and started to load everything into it.
"Nanny..." I started to say.
"I bees checking the other little master." The elf said and popped away.
"I bees going to check the grounds." The gardener said and popped away.
"What... what... what the bloody hell is going on?!?" Vernon asked with a shout.
"Mummy loves Tunie." I said and put a tiny hand on Petunia's neck and cast specific healing on her. "Home safe. Family safe."
Petunia had tears in her eyes as all of her soreness and tiredness disappeared. "Oh, Harry!" She said and cuddled me close to cry tears of relief and happiness.
"Tunie be happy now." I said and hugged her neck.
Vernon looked conflicted until the elf cook put a huge plate of food in front of him at the table. He gave Petunia a pat on the back and sat down to dig into the great food. Petunia calmed down and went to put me down into the sole high chair, and hesitated.
"No worries, miss." The nanny elf said as she popped in and a second high chair appeared. She floated a wide awake Dudley into his and he giggled and laughed until he settled down, then a huge bowl of mashed food appeared in front of him. He let out a shout of joy and dug both hands into it and shoved it into his mouth.
Petunia stared at her son's antics, because he had absolutely refused to eat anything she made and demanded her breast milk.
"Youse no need to worry no mores. We bees here to help now." The nanny elf said and snapped her fingers.
I floated out of Petunia's arms and landed in the second high chair. A bowl of food appeared in front of me and I couldn't let Dudley show me up. I dug my tiny hands right in there and shoved as much as I could into my mouth. It was a surprisingly delicious mix of egg and mulched sausage with a hint of bacon.
Petunia sat down beside Vernon and her own plate of food appeared. As she ate the great food, her shocked face slowly changed to show a genuine smile.
Ch: 62
When my bowl was empty of the delicious mulch, Vernon was already elbow deep into reading the morning paper and Petunia looked very happy. I couldn't tell if it was the full stomach or having house elves taking care of the dishes and cleaning up her son's mess for her.
"MILKY!" Dudley yelled and slapped his hands on his high chair.
Petunia sighed and stood. "All right. At least I'm not sore this time and it won't hurt so much."
I felt really bad hearing that and was glad I had healed her earlier.
Petunia walked over to Dudley and scooped him up, then she froze for a moment. Almost as if she wasn't sure she was going to do it, she stepped over to me and scooped me up, too. I was so shocked she would include me that I didn't try to protest as she carried us across the room.
"The nursing room bees on the left." The nanny elf said and led us out of the kitchen.
"This place is gorgeous." Petunia whispered and looked around at all the nice dark wood panelling and the high ceilings with wood accents and thick beams that would put mansions to shame.
"Castle Home be bestest in the world." Moppy said and walked by us with a feather duster in her little hands. "It has everything youse bees needing."
Petunia nodded and we entered a very cozy blue room with big plush couches, dressing tables, cribs, stacks of baby clothes and nappies, and stuffed toys galore. She barely acknowledged the nanny elf and sat down on one of the couches, only to sink into the puffy goodness and let out a soft laugh as she reclined.
"I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming." Petunia whispered and adjusted Dudley and myself on either side of her, pulled up her top, and revealed a special bra with removable cups. She popped them off and she hugged Dudley to her left side and then hugged me to her right.
Dudley sucked that big nipple right in and started to happily suckle. I stared at the thing and felt very conflicted about it. I mean, I was not really a baby and was just stuck in a baby's body. Could I really drink milk out of her breast like that?
"Donts bees shy, Master Harry. Mummy milk is best for youse for now." The nanny elf said and she pushed my head right onto Petunia's nipple and it popped right into my mouth. "We bees working on changing youse out to bottles over the next few weeks and gives mummy a break."
Petunia sighed contentedly as my mouth started to suckle automatically and relieved some of the pressure she felt. "Thank you, Nanny."
"Its bees my job to takes cares of the little ones. You part of that til the littles are old enough, then Moppy and Butter helps takes cares of youse." The house elf said and walked over to the piles of clothes and picked out a few different outfits.
To my surprise, despite the milk being warm, it was surprisingly tasty. Whether it was because my taste buds were underdeveloped or because a mother's milk really was the best thing for my baby self, was debatable. I still felt conflicted about sucking on Petunia's nipple, despite how natural it felt.
I tenderly held onto her breast and tried to not stress her nipple or squeeze too hard as I carefully massaged the breast to get the milk to come out easier. Apparently, that was a skill I was an expert at, because Petunia let out a soft moan and her hand cupped the back of my head and she petted my hair. It was a really weird situation as I fed from her and I was glad it would be over in a few weeks.
"Babies bees doing good feeding and helping mummy. Sleep soon." The nanny elf said and she waved her hand over us.
I felt the gentle sleep spell being cast and I quickly switched my t-shirt out for a generic one of the same color and let the area spell take effect, even if it was going to focus on the amulet. Getting a good sleep before I had to leave would be good for me. I might have a lot of magic; but, I only had a baby's body. I wasn't going to be doing a lot of activities for very long.
*
Petunia watched as the two babies let out soft sighs and they drifted off to sleep. She was tempted to stay there with their comforting weights on her, mostly because it was quiet for the first time in a while.
"I bees taking them to beds." The nanny elf whispered and snapped her fingers. Both babies lifted up and turned over, then floated over to two separate cribs and settled down inside. "Youse be napping, too?"
Petunia shook her head and sat up. Her left nipple felt like it had been under constant assault and was red and slightly inflamed, like usual after her Dudders had fed from her. Her right nipple... she didn't really want to think about how wonderful that felt. Whatever magic Baby Harry had used, made it the best nursing experience she ever had.
The nanny elf handed her a small jar of bruise creme. "Youse be applying that each hour and wipes with cloth and wash. Helps with eager babies being eager."
Petunia nodded and popped the two cups back onto her bra and pulled her top down. "Thank you."
"You bees welcome." Nanny said and made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go bees mommy somewhere else now. Three hours for sleeps, then I bees changing nappies, then youse can play with them."
Petunia nodded, almost absently, and left the nursing room. She needed to talk to Vernon about what had happened that morning and what was going to happen from now on. She went back to the large kitchen and Vernon was still there reading the newspaper and was smoking a huge cigar that had a pleasant musky smell.
"Vernon, we have to talk." Petunia said.
Vernon grunted and took a long draw on his cigar. "Pet, there's a lot to talk about, especially about that box of jewels." He said and blew out a cloud of smoke that seemed to dissipate right away. "I don't know where Butter got these things; but, they're great. They have all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks."
Petunia sat at the table beside him and sighed. "Did you read both letters?"
Vernon nodded. "I'm sorry the whiskered wanker did that to you." He said and then smiled. "But, it did let me meet you and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Petunia looked around at the expanded kitchen and back at his face.
Vernon chuckled and it rumbled inside his large chest. "That's still because of you, Pet. Would either of us have ever seen anything like this if you weren't who you are?"
Petunia had to think about that. Did she have to be bound and tossed away, just so she could have a life that was away from the craziness and to find someone that liked her for herself?
Vernon watched her face and nodded as she came to the same realization he had. "I've already asked Butter what everyone else sees when they look at the house. They see our old one. Number 4 Privet Drive."
Petunia blinked her eyes for a moment. "We're living inside a castle... apparently the best in the world... and all anyone else sees is our old house? Really?"
Vernon nodded. "Butter said the magic of the place will only let them see the old house, even when they're inside. I'm not too happy about that." He said and frowned slightly. "We aren't allowed to show off anything that could give the secret away."
Petunia had to think about that. "Maybe we can have the elves set up certain rooms to match the illusion of the old house. We can make them into as posh as the rest of the castle is and no one should question it."
"That's smart thinking, Pet! We can still show off this new wealth and not let anyone else in on it." Vernon praised her and Petunia blushed.
"I'll get Butter and Moppy working on that while you're at work." Petunia promised.
Vernon put out his cigar and reached over and patted the cardboard box. "I'll take one of the smaller necklaces, a bracelet, and the smallest sapphire with me. I'll shop around at a few of the upper class stores during lunch to get some appraisals and will let them know we have some family heirlooms to sell off. With luck, we might even get an invitation to an auction for rare items."
Petunia felt proud of her husband for an idea like that. "Who's thinking smart now, hmm?"
Vernon chuckled and took her hand as he stood. "Our lives are going to change so much, Pet."
"For the better." Petunia added. She would make sure it was.
Vernon smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll see you tonight."
"Good luck at work." Petunia said.
Vernon grabbed the three small things from the box to tuck into his pockets and left the kitchen with a bit of swagger in his step.
Petunia couldn't help but smile at that and she stood up. "Moppy? Are you busy?"
The maid elf popped into the kitchen. "Whats can Moppy bees helping you with?"
"Can I get a tour of the house? I mean castle?" Petunia corrected.
"Youse is the mistress of the home! Of course youse can!" Moppy said and took her hand. "I bees showing you all the bestest rooms first! Thens the walk-in closets! Thens the bathtub rooms!"
Petunia softly laughed at the excited elf and was dragged out of the kitchen to be shown the magnificence of her castle home.
*
I woke up and felt clean, dry, and toasty warm. I opened my eyes and looked down to see I was swaddled in a thick blanket and mentally laughed at being like that old saying, snug as a bug in a rug.
"Little master woke early. Naughty naughty." The nanny elf said and smiled down at me.
I had to giggle at that and she grinned.
"Youse already changed and dressed, so mummy can take youse." Nanny said and picked me up and walked over to the door of the nursery. It opened without her touching it and she held me out.
Petunia walked around the corner and saw me being presented to her, let out a soft laugh, and scooped me up into her arms. "Dudders?"
"He bees sleeping. More milk to go through." The elf said and waved and shut the door.
Petunia walked into the kitchen with me and looked over at the tea pot.
"I bees getting you some teas." Cookie said and did several snaps of her fingers to get things going. "Butter bees bringing it to the sitting room."
"Thank you." Petunia said and walked right back out of the kitchen. "Sitting room... hmm... where was... oh, there it is." She said as a door opened for her.
It was an opulent room that was much too fancy for a middle class neighborhood and by the look on Petunia's face, she liked it a lot. The ornate tea set was already there and Butter made her a cup.
"This place is unbelievable, Harry." Petunia said and sat down on a nice chair and accepted the offered cup. She took a sip and looked down at my face and blushed a little. "Goodness, your eyes just pop right out of your handsome face, don't they?"
I beamed a smile at her and she smiled back and cuddled me close.
"I know things are bad for you right now, after... after..." Petunia's smile faded and she looked sad.
"No hurt." I said and struggled to get free of my blanket.
Petunia saw me struggle and put down her tea to unwrap me.
I reached up to pet her cheek. "Quick. No hurt. Bad man gone."
Petunia took a deep breath and let it out. "I suppose I should be glad for that."
I nodded. "Goddie Hollow." I said and spread my little hands. "Big boom!"
Petunia blinked her eyes at me for a moment. "That name. I just remembered there was a small cottage in Godric's Hollow where Lily spent her honeymoon. Is that where you were?"
I nodded again. "Whiskered wanker pretend to hide us."
Petunia giggled at me. "Language, Harry."
I beamed a smile at her. "Wanker! Wanker!"
Petunia laughed and hugged me. "I shouldn't laugh. It's disrespectful."
"It okay. Tunie happy." I said and hugged her neck.
"I shouldn't be. I was so angry at her for abandoning me to that world." Petunia said. "After reading that letter and knowing how she really felt..."
"Mummy sad. Want to fix." I said and looked into her eyes. "You be fixed?"
Petunia let out a sigh. "Harry, I... I don't know. If Lily couldn't do it, I... if I had magic..."
"You choose. I fix." I said and her eyes widened. "I save you. Have proof."
Petunia watched as my t-shirt changed from the bright blue one to the black one with the 'saving the world' saying on it. She stared at it and stopped breathing for a moment. She adjusted me to hold me with one arm and her fingers traced over the words.
"H-Harry... you... can you really..." Petunia said in a soft whisper.
"I give magic kisses." I said and she looked up from my t-shirt.
"You... you can't mean..."
"You want, me give." I said and did my best hero pose, which looked ridiculous because I was a baby. "I, Harry Potter, best Harry Potter!"
Petunia snorted and then laughed as she hugged me again. "Yes, you're the best Harry."
"Tunie smart! Tunie magic, too!" I said and hugged her neck as I planted a kiss on her cheek. I made her a temporary party member and chose the magic upgrade for 30 Karma points.
Because this world was a magical one, I also had options for different things. I upgraded her to double her magical potential for double the points and changed her body to match a normal magical's durability to handle the magic safely. It also opened up her ability to see everything a normal witch or wizard could see and use.
Petunia glowed as her magic was unlocked and she stiffened as the energy flowed through her. "Oh, dear god. I can feel it. I can feel..." She stopped talking when I removed her from my party and stopped kissing her cheek.
"Told you. Tunie magic, too." I said and gave her another kiss. "Tunie strong."
Petunia looked surprised for a moment, then she smiled. It was almost evil. "I'm strong, am I?"
"Magic huge!" I said and pointed at a lace doily on the coffee table. "Want frilly thing!"
Petunia gasped when the doily flew from the table to land in my hand.
"You do! You do!" I prompted her. "Butter!"
"Yes, masters." Butter said and snapped his fingers to make the doily reappear on the coffee table.
"Go, Tunie! Go, go, go!" I cheered.
Petunia gave me a wide eyed look for several seconds, then it changed to a determined look. "All right, Harry. I'll try."
"No try. Do. You do it!" I encouraged her. "Believe it!"
Petunia nodded and reached a hand out. "I want that doily!"
Only Butter and I were not surprised when the doily jumped from the coffee table into her hand. Petunia's mouth dropped open and she stared at the frilly thing in her grip, shock on her face.
"See? Tunie did it!" I said and hugged her neck. "Tunie strong!"
Petunia had tears in her eyes when she hugged me back.
Butter nodded and snapped his fingers to put the doily back on the coffee table. He poured another cup of tea for Petunia and popped away.
Ch: 63 Slightly Changing The Future
I begged to go play in my room after that, because Dudley was awake now and Petunia needed to concentrate on her son. The nanny elf brought me to my room and it was huge. There were various baby toys scattered all over and she put me on the floor.
"Tunie needs help." I said and the elf gave me a raised eyebrow. "You know I'm faking the baby talk, don't you?"
Nanny nodded. "We bees keeping youse secrets, Master Harry."
I stood up and nodded. "I'm glad. Pretending is hard enough with Petunia and Vernon." I walked over to the closet and opened it to look at the clothes. None of them were as nice as my noble clothes, so I took out my noble outfit and the nanny elf made an odd sound.
"Youse going to do something?" Nanny asked me and her little hand caressed the expensive cloth.
I nodded and shrunk the outfit to my size and took out the expensive cloak. The elf made another odd sound and cuddled the cloth to rub her face on it. I chuckled at her reaction to it and took out my mythril sword. She was too distracted to notice it, thankfully. I shrunk it as well and quickly dressed in the expensive clothes and put the sword on my hip.
The elf picked up the cloak for me and I shrunk it to fit. She hooked it around my neck for me and nodded in approval. "I bees letting the others know youse have such nice things."
"I'll make you all reams of cloth when I can." I promised and she looked really happy. "Can you ask Moppy if she can find Sirius Black for me?"
Moppy popped in and gave me a very piercing look and then she nodded and smiled. "Youse looking like a proper master now."
"Thanks, Moppy." I said and took a dramatic pose, which still looked ridiculous because I was a baby.
Both elves giggled at my antics.
"About Sirius..."
"He bees in London near the bridge following the rat." Moppy said.
"Wonderful! I need a spare room for a teleportation circle." I said and Moppy took my hand and led me out of my bedroom and down the hallway to enter what I thought was a supplies closet. It was a huge empty room with nothing in it. "This is perfect. Thank you."
Moppy stood there and watched me create the squares of stone and I assembled them in the right order. I changed the coordinates back to normal ones to set per place and not numerically. I brought the London Bridge image into my head and stepped into the circle. I put a bit of magic into it and i disappeared in a flash of light.
I appeared on top of the London Bridge and looked down at the busy street below. I cast magic detection and added more power to it to look for magical signatures. I found one a quarter of a mile away and concentrated on it as I made myself invisible. I teleported from there to reappear twenty feet away from my target.
There he was, Sirius Black, and he was running like a madman through the streets of London. It was no wonder there were so many witnesses to his crimes, because he wasn't trying to be discreet at all. I quickly followed him and it didn't take long for him to find Peter and they started their confrontation in the middle of a very busy muggle street.
Now I had a huge problem. I couldn't allow Peter to get away and cause a bunch of problems in the future, and I couldn't allow Sirius Black to be free, because he would demand custody of me and I would be plucked away from my castle home and stopped from participating in my documented adventures.
With that in mind, only one thing could be done. I cast several shield spells around the muggles watching and waited for Peter to yell about Sirius betraying James and Lily, then he cut off his finger and pulled a wand out of his sleeve and aimed down at the pavement.
"Bombarda!" Peter said.
"Bombarda!" I said with Sirius' voice at the same time, shocking Sirius and Peter.
The entire street exploded around the pair of wizards when the gas main was hit and Peter Pettigrew blew apart from my Bombarda spell. Sirius dropped to his knees because his revenge was completed, quite gruesomely. He started to laugh hysterically, because of all the damage Peter had caused, and all that was left of him was the finger he had cut off.
A group of red-robed Aurors popped in around the area and started to look after the muggles crying out in pain. Thanks to my shields, none of them had been killed and only hurt by the flying debris from Peter's spell and the gas main exploding underneath them.
I left when the Aurors arrested Sirius and he kept muttering that he had killed James and Lily. With that small intervention on my part, I ensured I could stay with Petunia and also ensured that Peter couldn't cause harm to anyone else, especially the Weasleys. Heaven only knows what that death eater did to that family over the years and obliviated them afterwards.
I teleported back home and appeared in the teleportation circle and Nanny was there. I dropped my invisibility. "I made it." I said and felt a wave of exhaustion flow over me. Nanny scooped me up in her little arms before I collapsed and carried me back to my room. She stripped me off and put my baby clothes back on me, then popped us down to the nursery.
I was swaddled up and put in one of the cribs, told to not push myself so much, and given a light kiss on the forehead. I barely managed to whisper a thank you and drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.
*
Petunia had a wonderful day. She and the two house elves chose appropriate rooms to recreate the illusion house and made it look like it belonged in a high-class neighborhood. She spent a bit of time with her son, had a light lunch, and then spent the afternoon relaxing in the illusion living room and watching television.
She didn't have to cook, clean, or do any chores. She could do whatever she wanted and she didn't have to feel guilty about it. It was the first day she had off in years and it was all thanks to Harry.
Vernon came home after work and he wore a huge smile. He was barely in the door before he started to spout about finding a great jewellery store and them appraising the things he brought for top dollar, showed him the rates of how they qualify items, and then tentatively agreeing that they would sponsor them for an auction next week to sell their family heirlooms. For a small percentage of the profits, of course.
They were going to be millionaires!
*
I woke up and was changed, fed more mulched food that tasted like steak and potatoes for supper, and had another breastfeeding session with Petunia. She blushed when she presented me with the slightly damaged left nipple that Dudley had wrecked earlier and she whispered about spreading the damage around.
"Tunie no hurt." I said and healed her, then did my duty to drink what I could, and took another forced nap when the nanny elf put us to sleep.
When I woke up later, I was cleaned and changed again. I was brought to the living room and put into a playpen next to the one Dudley was in. It was a relief, because Petunia and Vernon were watching television and I could pretend to be a baby easier when I wasn't under constant and direct supervision.
It also gave me time to think about what I had to do next. Since Dumbledore already brought me to Petunia's, that meant he had full access to the cottage and everything the Potters had there. He would have already taken the cloak, the vault key, and probably any magic books and items. I would need to get them back.
I also knew Neville's family was going to be attacked within the next few days as the death eaters looked for their missing master. I would have to wait until I was alone before I asked one of the elves, probably Floppy, to check on the Longbottoms and to let me know when someone shows up to attack them.
I chuckled at realizing I didn't have to get the items myself and could ask an elf to do it. When I was eventually released from my play prison and allowed to roam a bit, I cast a subtle notice-me-not on myself and crawled out of the room at a good speed.
"Butter." I said and stood as the elf popped in front of me. "I need the Potter vault key, my father's invisibility cloak, and any other family items Dumbledore stole." I said and he nodded. "You might as well include anyone else that has our family's things and get those back, too."
"I bees putting things into closet beside youse room." Butter said and popped away.
"Floppy." I said and the gardener popped in. "How are the grounds?"
"Grounds bees perfect, Master Harry. No work for mes yet." Floppy said.
"Why don't you pop over to the Longbottoms and talk to their elves? They have some great greenhouses for different things and I'm sure you can get some ideas to start your own."
Floppy vibrated at the great idea. "Youse bees a genius, Master Harry! That bees years and years of work!"
I chuckled at his enthusiasm and patted his shoulder. "As payment for their help, tell them you'll monitor the Longbottom property and will bring me over to help them if anyone bad goes there to harm their family."
"I bees telling them the Great Harry Potter Sirs be watching out for thems!" Floppy said and popped away with a soft crack.
I chuckled at hearing that years before Dobby would ever say it. I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled back into the room as I dropped the notice-me-not spell. I had an evening to spend with my family and I was sure that they were going to enjoy it.
When I overheard Vernon saying there was an auction for jewellery next week, I held in my laugh and cast a notice-me-not charm on myself again and left to go to the kitchen. I added a few more things inside the cardboard box and finally let my laugh out. I had added another handful of different gold items, gems, and an ornate crown to go with the sceptre. The matched set should double their worth at auction.
*
Alice and Frank Longbottom had noticed the strange house elf dressed as a gardener that had been visiting their house elves for the last two days. He was going through their greenhouses, almost like he was taking a tour, and their house elves shared some clippings and seeds with him. They didn't mention it to Frank's mother, Augusta, because she would have put a stop to it.
They were really glad they hadn't said anything, because as soon as the house wards alarm went off that said they were under attack, the elf shouted that he would be right back with help. Then he somehow teleported out, even with the wards locked down.
Frank wasn't idle, though. He had made sure his mother and son were safely ensconced in their bolthole to protect them and Alice was already casting shield spells on the windows and doors, as were the house elves.
Ten minutes of tense quiet later, there was no assault. The door hadn't been blasted off, there were no dark wizards and witches after them, and they didn't suffer from a debilitating attack that would ruin their minds and make them blubbering messes for decades.
Frank reluctantly dropped the spells he had cast on the large front doors of the house and Alice sidled up to him with her wand at the ready. He nodded to her and she nodded back. She opened the doors and Frank took aim... at nothing. The pair slowly walked out, tense and alert, and made their way to the front gate.
To their shock, four bodies were arrayed in front of the gate. A quick inspection showed that their wand arms had dissolved away, as did their hearts from the roundish hole in their chests, and their sleeves on their left arms were torn off to reveal the faded dark mark.
"I'll call this in to the DMLE." Alice said and ran back into the house. She was back a few minutes later. "The floo isn't working."
"Of course it isn't. That's how they work." Frank said and stood. "Stay here and lock the door. Don't open it until I come back. I'll apparate to the ministry and tell Amelia about this myself."
Alice stepped back and watched as Frank spun on the spot and nothing happened. "Anti-apparition wards?"
Frank nodded and cast a detection spell. He walked over to one of the bodies, a muscular fellow, and summoned the small wardstone out of his pocket. A finite cast on the thing ended the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.
"Leave it as evidence." Alice said and Frank levitated it back into the pocket.
"I'll be quick." Frank said and spun on the spot as he apparated away.
Alice walked back to the gates and stopped when she saw a familiarly dressed little gardener sharing a high five with the other house elves. She smiled at him and nodded, making the elf blush and pop away. She softly laughed and went inside the house to let Augusta know that everything was okay now.
They would never know that their son Neville had sneaked away from Augusta and had seen the whole thing from the upstairs window. Unlike them, he knew the truth. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had saved them. Neville would remember that night for years, because Harry had happily waved to him with his glowing magical sword before he disappeared.
*
The jewellery auction went by swimmingly and Vernon unloaded the box of treasure for millions. It set him and his family up for several lifetimes and he would never have to worry about money ever again. He stayed at his job for two reasons. One, he was good at it and enjoyed the work. Two, it kept him busy and he wasn't sitting at home doing nothing all day.
Petunia quickly discovered that she was about to have the same problem. As soon as she had her babies weaned off of regular feedings and only had to contribute some occasional donations to the bottles of milk the nanny elf prepared for the babies, she started looking at what she wanted to do with her life. Her family was rich and she didn't want to waste the opportunity.
Would she become a debutante? A socialite? A self-important snob? Those questions made her giggle to herself and she imagined doing all of that. She knew she didn't want to become the last one, mostly because she knew she would lose any friends she already had.
With that in mind, she chose the best one for her mindset. Socialite. She would host parties, lavish her friends with gifts, and she would become the best mother, wife, and neighbor in the world... and learn magic. Somehow.
*
Over the next few weeks, several death eaters that were going on trial for their crimes of supporting You-Know-Who, ended up without their magic and confessed all of their crimes. It was a mystery about what was going on until one of them, Lucius Malfoy himself, claimed his dark mark must have burned the magic out of him.
He was found guilty, as were the others, and they were sent to Azkaban prison for five years. No one expected any of them to last a single year without magic to protect them, and they wouldn't. It would never be discovered that someone had eventually visited the prison and quietly put them out of their misery.
Ch: 64 Adventures In Babysitting
November 30, 1981 was a date to remember. It was the day I received my very first fan mail. By first, I meant there were 136 letters and various packages in the castle's mail room. Both the butler named Butter and the maid named Moppy were ecstatic to have so much work to do. They cleaned and checked each letter and package and put aside the ones that had curses and portkeys.
I nodded at their diligence and told Butter to put them in a box to be sent to Auror Amelia Bones at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, since she was the only one not swayed by bribes or the pure blood mentality of superiority. I would add my own name to the box in a letter that thanked her for working to keep myself and others safe. In crayon, of course.
A lot of the cleared letters were thanks from witches and wizards for ridding the world of Voldemort. Surprisingly, there were two marriage proposals. The first one was from the Parkinson Family that I burned without responding to. If she was anything like she was in canon, Draco could have her all to himself.
The second proposal was from Greengrass family, since their negotiations with the Malfoy family had fallen through and they still wanted both the protection of a strong family name and the gold it would bring into their lives.
"I can't believe they actually admitted that they're selling their daughter! Ha ha!" I said and put it aside.
I knew it would be for Astoria, their second daughter. She was inflicted with their family's blood curse and was pretty much a throwaway daughter for them to marry off, because their eldest Daphne was the Greengrass Heiress and would need to keep the family name.
"Maybe I could pop by and give her a quick healing?" I asked myself, rhetorically.
I pushed that thought aside and went back to work. A lot of the letters didn't require an answer, so I would make up a form letter and would sign it with my own name in crayon. People always appreciated a personal touch, even if I was only 16 months old.
The first package I opened was a small one and had a pair of women's underwear inside. They weren't even lacy or anything, just plain white. Thankfully, they were clean and weren't stained. The note inside said she would wait for me to grow up, so she could add a few special stains to them.
I chuckled and put the note aside and thought about pranking her. I could send her a clean nappy back with a note saying she'll need it by the time I was old enough for her. I looked over at Butter and he gave me the same happy look back. That made my decision for me and I made a note of it and set the package aside.
The next package didn't have a name on it and it had a cake and homemade fudge inside. I immediately suspected it and waved Moppy over. She checked the food and it had potions inside keyed for loyalty to Albus Dumbledore in the cake and the Weasley family in the fudge.
I made note of them and added it to the pile to go to the DMLE. I was sure nothing would come of it, though. It wasn't like it was illegal to potion people with things like loyalty and love potions. I wondered if I could get something like that introduced in the Wizengamot and added it to the note to send to Amelia.
There were several stuffed toys and letters with genuine wishes for my health and happiness. Those would get a personal letter of thanks and maybe even a photo. I made another note to have one of the house elves buy a wizarding camera to start taking publicity photos. Like Gilderoy Lockhart would say in 12 years, celebrity is as celebrity does.
I laughed at that and hugged the plush kneazle, set it back in the box, and put it in the small pile of things that required personal letters. It was the last of the mail and I looked around at everything and wondered what was missing. After a few minutes of thinking about it, I realized what it was.
There was nothing from the friends and family of my parents.
There were no letters from Remus Lupin, my supposed honorary uncle. I knew he was a werewolf; but, it's been a month since Voldemort's defeat and there was nothing. Did Dumbledore interfere with that? It was a question I couldn't answer, since the mail redirect ward on my amulet was still keyed to Tom Riddle.
There was also nothing from my godmother, Alice Longbottom. I suppose that was understandable, since she had a baby to take care of and they had been attacked recently. But, and this was a big but, why wasn't she trying to find out where I was or who was raising me if she wasn't? Everyone knew that Sirius Black was in prison for killing Pettigrew, so my godfather wasn't raising me, either.
That gave me the idea I should pay Alice a visit to check her for potions and compulsions. I could also stop off at a particularly spooky prison for a visit, too.
"Nanny?" I asked and the house elf popped in front of me. "Where are Petunia and Dudley?"
"Mummy and little one sleeps in the nursery." Nanny answered.
I smiled. "Perfect. Keep them that way until lunch. They both need the rest and I'm going out again."
Nanny nodded and popped away. She popped right back and took my hand to lead me out of the mail room and back to my own. She helped me get changed into my noble outfit, cape and all, and then handed me my father's invisibility cloak.
"Great idea. This saves me from using too much magic. Thanks." I said and put the cloak on. I left the hood down for now and we went down the hallway to the teleportation room. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Donts bees tiring out too fast." Nanny said and ran her little hands over the expensive cape before she stepped back out of the way.
"I'll be careful this time. I know my physical limits now." I promised and she beamed a smile at me. I put a bit of magic into the teleportation circle and disappeared in a flash of light.
The Longbottom Manor was a stately old mansion and was well maintained, even though vines grew everywhere over the first floor's outside walls. I chuckled at the obvious green thumb the family had and that Augusta would have ignored in the future to get Neville into Griffindor.
I cast magic detection and found three magicals inside the house. One older woman, one younger woman, and a baby. Thankfully, Alice was within my spell range and I cast a diagnostic spell at her. It wouldn't be as detailed as if I was touching her, though.
I saw in my mind the simple results of a compulsion charm keyed to me and a recently ingested hangover potion. I had to smile at that, because it seemed they were still celebrating. I was tempted to remove the compulsion and shook my head. I had allowed Sirius to be arrested specifically so he wouldn't try to get custody of me. Alice was already ignoring my existence and I would leave it alone for now.
With the important visit out of the way and confirmation as to why Alice was not adamantly searching for me, I teleported to the coast where I suspected Azkaban Island was. A quick magical detection spell later, told me where it was and that the Dementors were lazily floating around the outside. I walked over to where the ferry was supposed to be and it was gone.
That figures. I thought and carefully used another detection spell to look specifically for the ferry. I found it at a small dock on the island and sighed with relief that it was still outside the Azkaban Prison wards. I put up the hood of my invisibility cloak, cast silence on myself, and teleported to the ferry.
The scruffy man at the helm was asleep and I carefully stepped off the boat onto the dock. I glanced around and didn't see anyone, so I took my time and walked up the short road towards the prison. I felt the wards as I passed through them and they made my bones ache, which was a weird feeling. It did give me the idea to create a teleportation circle inside the strong wards to bypass that feeling.
I walked partway around the shoreline and found a great spot. I created another teleportation circle and covered it with a light coating of dirt, smoothed it out, and tied it back to the first one. I barely felt any drain on my magic, despite the other one being across the country. That was awesome, because it meant I could make one at Hogwarts and could travel back and forth for almost no magic cost.
With that done, I took my time and walked back over to the short road and walked up to the prison. To my utter surprise, Andromeda Tonks was there with her seven year old daughter, Nymphadora. The handsome and well-endowed woman was in a heated argument with the warden and two Auror guards about being allowed to visit prisoners at least once a month.
The warden remained calm and argued back that Sirius Black was a convicted death eater, You-Know-Who's right-hand man, and had been caught killing his best friend, admitted to killing James and Lily Potter, and harmed a dozen muggles in the process of blowing up a muggle street, breaching the Statue of Secrecy.
I actually enjoyed myself as I stood there beside them and listened to both sides of the argument. The thing was, both of them were right and neither of them were going to win the argument. After ten minutes of them going back and forth and struggling to hold in my laughter at Nymphadora's increasingly bored face making different animal snouts, I had a wonderfully fun idea.
I walked back down the road and out of their sight, cast detection to make sure no one was around and could see me, and I took off my invisibility cloak. I changed my appearance to look like Harry Potter, famous scar and all, and put on my fake glasses.
I also created an official-looking letter from the Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore to allow myself, and anyone with me, entrance to Azkaban to visit the betrayer of my parents. I added a slight compulsion to the letter so that whomever looked at it would see the official seals and things, too.
With my costume set and my back straight, I strode up the road as if I owned it, with my expensive cape billowing behind me in the wind.
Let me tell you, the shocked looks on everyone's faces almost made me burst out laughing. I thanked my system altered mind again for allowing me to keep my composure. Complete silence had fallen and no one moved or spoke as I walked over to them.
Little Tonks had made her eyes extra big and her mouth had dropped open about a foot. I winked at her and handed the letter over to the warden. The man cracked open the wax seal and opened the letter to read it. He let out a sigh at what it said and looked at me, at Andromeda, and back to me.
"Sowwy late." I said and shrugged, which looked ridiculous because I was a baby.
The warden sighed and folded the letter to hand back to me. "You need to show that every time you come here to visit."
"Kay." I said and tucked the letter into my suit coat before I turned to Andromeda and held my baby arms up to her. "Up! Carry!"
Andromeda was an experienced mother and immediately scooped me up to stop me from making more of a fuss and sat me on her hip to hold me with one arm. It wasn't until the warden nodded at the Aurors and they opened the doors that she realized she was being allowed in. Her mouth opened and closed several times as we were brought inside and given a short lecture on what to not do while in the prison.
A single Auror escort went with us to the top level and he cast a patronus charm to keep the Dementors at bay and reduced their pervasive chill. Nymphadora held Andromeda's hand like it was a desperate lifeline and she would be forced to stay if she let go. I hugged Andromeda's neck and kept my face partially hidden in her long dark hair.
We were led to the last cell in the block and there he was, Sirius Black, a sad lump sitting on his small cot with a threadbare mattress.
"Black! You've got visitors!" The Auror called.
Sirius shook his head. "I don't want to see anyone. I don't deserve it after what happened."
"So, you did do it." Andromeda said, clearly disappointed.
The different voice didn't clue Sirius in and he didn't look over.
"They're dead because of me." Sirius said and hung his head.
"Why, Sirius?" Andromeda asked. "What happened?"
Sirius shook his head again. "It doesn't matter. They're dead and it's my fault."
Andromeda didn't look convinced and Nymphadora clung to her side.
I tucked my face by her ear and whispered. "Come back later?"
Andromeda nodded and looked at her cousin. She tried a few more times to speak his name and sighed, motioned to the guard, and we left the top level of the prison to go back down to the ground floor. She thanked the man for his help when he held the door open for her. The Auror smiled and nodded to her, bid her a good day, and closed the door behind us.
"That was scary!" Nymphadora said with a shiver as we walked down the road.
"It was terrifying and you were very brave to face it like you did." Andromeda praised her and turned her head slightly to look at me. "It didn't bother you at all, did it Harry?"
I beamed a smile at her and tried to do my pose. "I, Harry Potter, best Harry Potter!"
Andromeda barked a laugh and Nymphadora giggled.
"Proof!" I said and took out the letter.
Andromeda came to a stop and held me carefully as she read the document that made the warden back off and let us in. She looked a little stunned at the wording and the blanket permission to visit the prison whenever I wanted. She looked at it, at me, and back at it.
"Go Christmas?" I asked and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Turkey for Pafoo."
Andromeda closed her eyes for several seconds and her breathing evened out. She nodded and handed me the letter back. I put it away and she continued to walk with Nymphadora holding her hand, only she was more restrained by it instead of comforted by it.
We rode the ferry back to the mainland and the man gave Andromeda a wide smile and showed off a few rotted teeth. She didn't say anything and just flashed her wedding ring as she passed the man. He shrugged and sat back on his chair to wait for the next person to show up. We walked a short ways and Andromeda came to a stop to hug Nymphadora to her side.
"I hate this part." Nymphadora said and held on tightly as she held her breath and closed her eyes.
I did the same thing and we apparated from there to appear in the backyard of a modest house in a rural suburb. Nymphadora made a gagging sound for a second, realized Andromeda wasn't holding her, and ran off like a racehorse out of the gate.
Andromeda laughed at her reaction and started to walk inside the house, then she paused and turned her head slightly to look at me still sitting on her hip and hugged to her side. She had apparently forgotten I was along for the ride and looked like she didn't know what to do with me.
"Andi funny." I giggled my baby laugh. "Harry down."
Andromeda looked conflicted about that for a moment and put me down.
I didn't run off like she expected and I reached up and patted her thigh. "Be back Chrissy day."
Andromeda nodded and I walked off a few feet, waved, and teleported to the other side of her house and put up the hood of my invisibility cloak. I heard her shout and used magic detection to watch her search the backyard for me. She gave up after a few minutes and went inside.
I walked around the house to the backyard again and cast a notice-me-not on the back corner of the yard and quickly made a teleportation circle. I added the location coordinates to the others and used it to go back home to my castle. I let out a laugh at pulling a great prank and walked out of the room, still invisible, in case Petunia was around. She wasn't, so I went to my room to change.
I created more rolls of expensive cloth in different colors for the elves and Nanny popped in and scooped them up. She beamed a smile at me and popped away. I chuckled at that and started to undress. Nanny popped back in and helped me, quick as can be, and she popped me downstairs to hand me off to a happy Petunia. She hugged me, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and sat me in a high chair next to Dudley.
"ICE CREAM!" Dudley yelled when the bowls appeared in front of us. He let out a scream as he dug his beefy hands into the frozen treat. That didn't stop him from scooping it into his mouth, though.
I shook my head at him and held my hand out to the table. One of the spoons jumped to my hand and I started carefully using it. It took me a minute and two mouthfuls of chocolate ice cream to realize I was being stared at. I lifted my gaze from my bowl at saw Vernon and Petunia with shocked looks on their faces.
I couldn't resist doing what I did next. I scooped up a bit of ice cream, took aim, and flicked the spoon at Petunia. The bit of ice cream flew across the table and went right into her mouth. She jerked as if slapped and stared at me even harder as she swallowed.
"GOAALLL!" I said and put my little arms up into the air.
"GOAALLL!" Dudley copied me and giggled a baby laugh.
Vernon made an odd sound and his body shook slightly. He did it again and I was stunned. It was something I had never heard from him before or ever expected to hear.
It was a laugh. Vernon actually laughed. Petunia smacked his arm and he laughed again, leaned over to kiss her cheek, and went back to eating his ice cream. She shook her head at him, gave me a pointed look, and started eating hers as well.
Ch: 65 Which Witch is Which
Amelia Bones sat at her desk and she read the well written letter again. It contained a few things she would have to investigate, a few things she wasn't allowed to investigate, and a few things that made her laugh. She would save the pantie versus nappy prank story for a great conversation piece.
The letter was signed by Harry Potter himself, in red crayon no less, and he had sent her a picture of himself. He was absolutely adorable in his fancy and expensive suit with a cape-like robe and a glittery jewel as a clasp. She would have to contact his guardian to find out if she could get a similar outfit for her little niece, Susan.
That was another thing the letter had and one of the things she wanted to investigate. Harry apologized that he was too late to save the Bones Family from Voldemort and his death eaters while he also pointed out that Peter Pettigrew and Severus Snape were both spies for the Dark Lord and had given him the information on the Order of the Phoenix members.
Since Pettigrew was dead, Amelia could only go after Snape for it. Then again, Albus Bloody Dumbledore had already stepped in and saved the greasy-haired potions master from being tried and sentenced to prison. Admitting he was a spy for him and was essential in the downfall of Voldemort, had bought the both of them a lot of leeway and gave them credibility.
Amelia didn't know it was because of Snape giving up the prophecy that the downfall happened in the first place. If she did, she would have charged both men with conspiracy to commit the murders of both the Potter and Longbottom families... and wasn't that last one a surprise attack for the record books.
The surprise being that it failed and four of Voldemort's fervent followers had died in the attack. The scene alone didn't make sense. Someone had stepped up and dealt with 3 evil wizards and 1 witch. She had been left for last, so she had inherited everything from her husband, and all of it folded back into the Black family's coffers.
Amelia chuckled at that, because the last Black family member was sitting in prison for killing his friends. All of that money and prestige was going to waste and no one could capitalize on it. As far as she knew, Narcissa Malfoy used to be a Black and her baby could be an heir. Then again, she had fled the country and moved back to France as soon as her husband became a squib.
Surprisingly, the Malfoy Mansion had been sold off for a fair market price and then sealed off. Since the new owner's name wasn't known, they couldn't be contacted and asked to allow the DMLE access to tear the place apart to search for the secret room full of dark artifacts it was rumored to contain. Of course, the rumors originated from their political rivals in a bid to discredit them even more.
That fact made Amelia chuckle again, because most of the Conservative Faction in the Wizengamut were currently sitting in cells in Azkaban prison for being a part of Voldemort's campaign of terror. They had also squibbed out and there was no explanation, besides what Lucius Malfoy had claimed about how Voldemort must have taken their magic to try and save himself.
Amelia didn't believe that for a second. All of them still had the dark mark on their arms, faded though it was. It was impossible for them to claim they were cursed with it after they were interrogated and viritaserum had been given to them. Their claims of the law exempting pure bloods didn't apply, because they were without magic. Squibs were kicked out of pure blood families automatically.
She shook her head at that horrible practice and put Harry Potter's letter aside and looked in the box it came with. His reasons for sending his problem mail to her and no one else, had made Amelia feel warm inside and gave her a sense of accomplishment. The idea to start legislation against potioning people was a great idea as well and something she could definitely get behind.
Amelia glanced at the photo again and smiled at the ridiculous hero pose Harry tried to pull off. His cape flapping in the wind was a nice touch, as was the castle behind him. Her thoughts of him having a good home life after what happened to him, eased her heart about the whole thing.
She took out the food that was potioned and noted the potions were keyed to both Dumbledore and the Weasleys. Amelia didn't need confirmation of Harry's idea and knew he was right about how there wasn't much she could do, except perhaps sending the Weasley family head a strongly worded letter that any repeated attempts to potion the Boy-Who-Lived, would be added to the criminal file she had already started on them.
Amelia worked for the rest of the morning and recorded everything down, especially the portkeys, because their destinations just so happened to match the home addresses of several prominent prisoners that used to be active members of Voldemort's terrorist organization. That was another charge to add to their sentences and she was quite happy about that.
A few letters sent to their wives to ask if they knew about it, since they were sent both during and after the trials, might calm down their very vocal protests over arresting their husbands. It might also stir them up and she could sweep up the whole lot of them. She hated allowing criminals to walk away without punishment.
*
Life in the castle became a happy normal routine over the lead-up to the Christmas holidays, thanks to the elves and their hard work. Vernon was losing a bit of weight and gaining muscle after I had healed him, which made Petunia pay a lot more attention to him.
It was a little thing I had Cookie the cook slip into both Dudley's and Vernon's food to stop them from gaining weight and give them proper nutrition for healthy bodies. I did the opposite for Petunia. She was always thin and bony, so some weight gain and nutrition were starting to show on her as well, which made Vernon pay more attention to her.
It was quite odd to see how happy that made them. Vernon laughed on the regular now and Petunia did quite a bit of teasing with her increasing curves, especially her breasts. The background whispering by the house elves that they were hoping for another little one to appear from that behavior, made me laugh in my head.
Who would have thought such a simple thing as being obscenely rich and good looking could change their personalities so much? Me, of course! The best Harry Potter!
Now it was time for me to set up the background for the presents I would give out at Christmas. I waddled into the living room and Petunia smiled warmly at me from the comfy couch. I held my arms up to her and she scooped me up and hugged me to her chest.
"Hello there, little man." Petunia said and tickled me.
I giggled my baby laugh and she laughed, too. "Tunie bank. Want presents."
Petunia shook her head. "It's too early to give you presents, Harry. You need to wait for Christmas morning in a couple of weeks, just like everyone else."
I took out my Gringotts vault key. "No, me bank. Buy presents."
Petunia blinked her eyes at me for several seconds without speaking, then she sucked in a sharp breath. "You mean the special bank Lily used to go to during school? The one in that magic alley?"
I nodded. "Books. Brooms. Wands."
Petunia gasped. "Oh... oh, god. I didn't think... I mean, I knew you fixed me... I just thought I'd have to wait for..." She stopped talking and gave me a pointed look. "You already know something about what's going on, don't you?"
I nodded again. "I, Harry Potter, best Harry Potter."
"How?" Petunia asked me.
"Elves smarter than old wizards." I said with a huge smile. "New witches smarter than elves."
Petunia looked surprised for a second, then she huffed and laughed. "I suspected you were a lot more mature than you've been letting on."
I nodded once more. "Magic stronger than anything." I said and created a little ball of fire in my hand, had it do a little dance, and then changed it to ice and reformed it to look like a miniature Dudley and made it permanent.
Petunia stared at it for a moment and then picked it up. "It's cold but it's not melting."
"Permanent." I said and she caught her breath. I made three more little figures, one for her, Vernon, and myself. I was in my full costume, too.
Petunia took them from me and set them on the coffee table. "Harry, these things... how..."
"Magic." I said and patted her cheek. "Get books. Wand. Practice."
Petunia looked at the figures and back at my face. "We can go in the morning after Vernon leaves for work."
I beamed a smile at her. "Have fun. Magic ice cream. Dudders scream like banshee!"
Petunia snorted and then laughed. Dudley reacted like that with normal ice cream. She could only imagine what he'll do with magical flavors. "All right, I'll bring him, too."
"Nanny will follows." The nanny elf said and popped in to show off a double pram, which was a 4 wheeled carriage to carry babies.
"Oh, thank you! That's going to help so much while we're out shopping." Petunia gushed.
Nanny blushed and ducked her head. "Youse bees welcome."
"We'll need a bag with supplies as well. Extra nappies, bottles, and some snacks until we stop for lunch." Petunia said.
"I bees doing that right now." Nanny said and popped away.
"It's so great to have house elves taking care of everything." Petunia said and hugged me. "Thank you for arranging it."
"Make Tunie happy." I gave her cheek a kiss. "Happy wife. Happy life."
Petunia smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek back. "Wise words from the mouth of a baby."
I tried to do my hero pose again and she laughed.
*
Petunia was in awe. She had seen it before when she was a little girl of 12. At the time, she could only think of the resentment she felt that she wasn't allowed to have anything of that world. The magical world. And now... now because of Harry... she could have it all if she wanted. And she wanted it.
The first stop was the goblin bank and Harry mentioned something about stopping all outgoing withdrawals that didn't go through him first. The goblin gave him a squinted eye and then chuckled. He said there was no one accessing that account because the key had been reported lost.
Harry took out the key and said it wasn't lost, someone stole it and he got it back from the thief. That got the goblin's attention. Thieves were bad for business. When the stolen key was checked, it had been Albus Dumbledore that had reported it and asked for a replacement as Harry's magical guardian.
Harry said to cancel that new key, since his magical guardian was right there with him, and had Petunia hand over the letter Dumbledore had given her. The goblin did a quick check, saw that Petunia was magical, and he stamped the cancel order on the new key. If the thief came back to the bank to use it, or tried to make other arrangements with it, they would deal with them.
Both Harry and Petunia thanked the goblin and asked to go to the vault. They rode on the mining cart and both had a great time on the underground roller coaster. Petunia took out a lot more gold, silver, and bronze coins than she really thought she needed, just in case, and they left there and went back to the surface. Then the shopping bonanza began.
Petunia was a whirlwind as she went through every store they had, some just to browse, and she spent a lot of time in the secondhand bookstore. The clerk was very pleased when she cleaned out sets of Hogwarts books for every subject they offered for the last ten years, even all of the electives, except for Muggle Studies. She could pass the NEWT of that with her eyes closed.
As each trunk was filled, an elf popped in to take it home, saving her from having to carry anything. She thanked them every time and the elves always left with a blush and a happy smile. They stopped for ice cream and Dudley really did scream like a banshee as he dug his hands into the most delicious ice cream he had ever tasted, peanut butter and jelly!
The last thing Petunia had to buy was a wand. Needless to say, Ollivander was quite surprised to see both Harry Potter and his muggle aunt enter his store. He immediately refused to sell Harry a wand before his eleventh birthday, no matter how famous he was. Both Harry and Petunia laughed, because they both knew he didn't need a wand to perform magic.
Petunia told the old man that she wanted the wand for herself and Ollivander was stunned. She had to stifle her laugh at the look on his face and said she didn't have a lot of time before she had to go home. That shook the man out of his trance and he pulled out his measuring tape. Petunia gave him a very pointed look that seemed to go right through him.
Ollivander mumbled something about not needing the distraction and started the wand-finding process. It only took ten minutes to find a compatible wand and Petunia gasped at the blue sparks and the feeling of magic rushing through her. She happily paid the 7 galleons and felt reassured that she really was a magical being like she had always wished she was.
Petunia didn't notice Ollivander's slightly blank look as she picked Harry up and hugged him. She left the shop and thanked Harry again, especially for giving her the very thing she always wanted. She still regretted losing all those years to jealousy and anger; but, she was moving past it with increasing speed, thanks to Harry's help.
The drive home passed quickly and they entered their castle. Petunia almost absently went to the nursery, dropped onto the fluffy couch to recline, and pulled off her top and bra to let both Dudley and Harry suckle away.
Even though it had been weeks since she had nursed and they had been weaned off of her milk, Petunia was pleased that both of her boys latched onto her and relieved the pressure she hadn't realized she had been building up. She cuddled them both, told them she loved them very much, and that she was very happy to have the both of them in her life.
If she had looked down, Petunia would have seen a blush on little Harry's face. After the babies were put to bed, she went into the kitchen to have a cup of tea, and saw a small folded card in front of where she usually sat.
Petunia picked it up and her heart melted at what she read scribbled in blue crayon. I luv u 2, Tunie.