Before the events of Part 15
The heat was coming to an end, but the trees were still green. Miss Stone stood at the window of her room, gazing out at the sunlit, almost white shoreline that blinked into the blue of the lake. There, at ease, dragons slowly splashed about, occasionally picking up the fine, quartz sand with their wings and fluffing it on their backs. Small dragons kept themselves busy in the forest, and the young cattails swarmed around their mothers farther along the bank, almost at the edge of the dense forest. The whole scene was both tender and delightful. For as long as she had lived here, Louise had never ceased to admire the large, densely scaled reptiles, which stared at her with intelligent eyes as soon as she approached them. When she shifted into her animagic form, she saw them in a different light: some surrounded by fire, others in a bright blue water aura. They were beautiful. And Louise became increasingly aware of Harry's fascination.
Stone had been living in this house for several months now. She was so used to having interesting things to do, communicating with dragons and the beautiful scenery outside her window. The only depressing thing was that she wanted to go shopping, to buy something nice and bright. Like new robes, hairclips, or jewels for artifacts. After a couple of apparitions to Cosua Alley, Louise found out that Madame Malkin now took orders at home. And the rest the girl found in those shops that had dared to open after Voldemort's attacks. On one dull sunny day, Louise talked to the dragons, flew around a bit and decided to apparate for the shopping. As soon as she stepped outside the defences, she was stunned and fell into the darkness.
****
She woke up in a damp and dark place. The dense smell of wet stone and fresh moss hit her nose - this brought Louise to her senses. She tried to sit up - it worked. Her arms and legs seemed to be in one piece. She felt around the walls and found a large bed with damp linen where she had just been lying, strong doors and no windows. Louise didn't call for help. She simply took the hairpin out of her hair and tried to open the door. The wand must have been taken from the girl, because Louise couldn't find it, so spells were out of the question altogether.
After the fifth attempt the stiletto broke. In desperation, the girl started kicking the door, but she didn't even think it would be easier in animagic form. Something crunched in the lock. A second hairpin went into action. After three broken stilettos and half an hour of persistence, Louise finally emerged from the room and, sneaking around, crossed the corridor with its many doors. All of them were locked. Down the stairs went further. There were more corridors and doors.
Another door opened quietly. Louise cautiously peered inside, hardly breathing with excitement. There she was surprised to find Albus Dumbledore sitting opposite the Dark Lord. They were talking quietly, but it was clear from the patter of their conversation that the Headmaster was in charge, and he was giving orders to Voldemort. It was also clear that she was being held in the cellars of Nott Manor.
Then someone's hands were on Louise's shoulders, clutching a beautiful bone-handled dagger. She froze in horror. Then Bellatrix's voice boomed like sour milk:
- "So, girl, you want to play hide and seek? I've been looking all over the castle for you. Come on, let's go this way. Hee hee hee!
With these words she pushed the girl into the room with Dumbledore. The two mages turned around in sync. The first came a Crucio from the "great and bright" wizard... The second came an Imperio to Bella...
****
Present tense
The basement rooms at Potter House were always scrubbed clean. The goblins, in rebuilding the house, had insisted that some of the necessary rooms be placed lower down. They'd carved a floor or two into the cliff face to house the torture chamber, the ritual chamber, and other storerooms. Kreacher and Dobby were nestled in a couple of rooms.
The stone cell had seen none of the potential arsenal of torture for which the Potter and Black ancestors had been famous. But today the silence was broken by the clanking of chains and the clanking of shackles. Dobby and Kreacher were dragging two tall men, followed by Sirius and Harry, tired and sooty, into the basement quarters. The prisoners were placed in the basement, tied tightly to stone pillars and fitted with anti-magic bracelets. Sirius took his wands, and also gave both mages a good stun with his Stupephai. He and Harry went up to the kitchen. They had to get themselves and their thoughts in order by talking about what had happened at the graveyard.
Half an hour later, scrubbed to a screeching halt, the men settled into the dining room. The late supper was not interrupted by words, silence reigned. Everyone was frowning and silent. After devouring a steak each, Sirius picked up a bottle of firewhiskey and headed for the study. Harry followed behind him. After drinking a glass of flamewiskey, the mages first asked Dobby about Louise. As it turned out, the girl was drugged with a sedative and restorative potion and was sleeping peacefully in her room. It was decided to question her tomorrow. Then sending the housekeepers away, Sirius sighed heavily:
- I understand you, Harry, but we need to act with a cool head. Dumbledore has been wracking our brains for too long, making Snape his lapdog. And I take it Voldemort was connected to Albus too.
Harry took another sip from his glass:
- "I won't be able to forgive the 'Headmaster' for everything he's done to Hogwarts and our lives. I want to know the truth.
- I agree. And I will help you. It's time for me to get my crazy mum's inheritance.
Sirius stood up and, with a snap of his fingers, summoned Kreacher:
- Small torture chamber, two hours. Prepare the very book I gave you and the vestments.
Kreacher bowed silently, sweeping the floor with his ears, and disappeared with a light clap. Harry looked questioningly at his godfather. He waved him off:
- Before my mother died, she gave Kreacher a book. It's the torture code of the Black family. My ancestors recorded in it all the torture they used on their enemies. I honestly thought I wouldn't need it, but I couldn't bear to destroy it. It was time.
****
Snape and Dumbledore were questioned one by one. The Black Code contained centuries of torture, but its main feature was that it could not be viewed by those who did not have their blood flowing in them. Any torture they could read was immediately evident on their bodies. Broken bones, stripped skin, bloody tears, torn out fingernails - none of it took the life of the Devourer or his master. Black needed information, and he was trying. Harry could see the cold determination, even alienation, in his eyes as Sirius once more cast a cunning spell on the wounds of his prisoners. And Potter didn't feel sorry for Snape, much less Dumbledore.
There had been many tortures, and after each of them both prisoners had lost an important part of their bodies. Finally it was Harry's turn. He rudely burst into Snape's mind, with a dragon's mental breath he swept away all shields and invaded further... An hour later the same thing happened to Dumbledore. Neither Sirius nor Harry regretted ridding the world of such filth. After what they had learned, hatred had burned the last vestiges of pity and nobility from their hearts and souls. The bodies of the untimely dead were burned with dragon fire and scattered over Chapala Lagoon. After this procedure, Harry's scar was gone forever, and he himself felt much better.
****
When Harry had seen Snape and his colleagues at the tree that ill-fated day, he had not thought to talk, much less show his skills to the potter. The gold coins that paid for his help to the College of Potions was reason enough to simply ignore the old acquaintances. But Dumbledore had already decided things differently back then.
As it turned out, Snape always carried Confidence Powder with him and this time was no exception. As a result, Harry not only had a nice enough conversation with the potionist, but also showed him his house. It was only later that Potter realised what he had gotten himself into. Harry felt suddenly tired and heavy, but then he thought he was doing the right thing and should reveal his location to Dumbledore. Even Sirius didn't suspect anything. Everything went naturally.
After that, the effects of the powder wore off, and the Headmaster's appearance went according to script: with rebukes full of superiority and hatred for the magical world that had thrown the boy into Azkaban and forgotten he existed for half a year.
Bringing Harry in wasn't difficult. Hogwarts, sensing the Headmaster's betrayal, cut off everyone's access to magic and practically closed down. Snape and Selwyn did the rest, controlling the black opals of Discord, which they themselves had scattered around the strategically important places. Having found an accomplice in Amadeus, the potter regularly placed the dark artifacts wherever there was a large concentration of students and professors: the Great Hall, the living rooms, the teachers' lounge, the teachers' bedrooms, and other rooms.
Harry wasn't supposed to see anything that day, but again chance and the Potters' damned new knowledge helped. And everything would have been fine, everything was going according to plan... until Potter found out that Neville had been hurt. His rage and magical outbursts were approved by Hogwarts, and showed what had eluded the others.
With Dumbledore it was a different and utterly creepy story. After Harry disappeared ten years ago, Albus changed the basic plan. After collecting the Lord's Horcruxes, he went to negotiate with him. And when they failed, a duel ensued, the consequence of which was the death of the Dark Lord at the hands of the headmaster of Hogwarts. The spirit of Voldemort did not rest, but was silenced for the time being. Dumbledore, on the other hand, took up the Horcruxes. He destroyed all but one - the Gont ring (and Harry's, of course), a shard of soul from which he encased in a phylactery, merging it with the attracted remnant of Tom's soul. Then, through long and not exactly light rituals, involving familiar necromancers, raised from the shard lich - an ugly madman with very big ambitions. The scene in the graveyard after the third round was entirely played out by the uppish, who were under the influence of the Headmaster (as they thought the Lord was). The purpose of the process was for the old manipulator to rule like a grey cardinal, at the same time getting rid of the Chosen One. Using the Lich, the Headmaster recruited Ron and tagged him.
Albus was also aware of what Snape was doing because he had been working for him for a long time. A simple indoctrination was enough, and sometimes a second unforgivable one. Everything that went on in the castle was to the Headmaster's advantage, for it was a distraction from the Lord and his minions.
Albus never took the Headmaster's oath. The castle obeyed him, but never opened to the last move either. Without communication with the true Headmaster, Hogwarts was weakening: flooding in the cellars appeared, stones from the masonry of the east wing collapsed, rats and spiders overpowered almost every room, hiding during the day and coming out at night. Mrs Norris couldn't cope, but she was diligently carrying the strangled rats to Filch, who was already giving them to Hagrid. to feed to the pets.
When Dumbledore took the path of dark magic, one could not know for certain - that part of the headmaster's mind was hidden by a mental wall of fire and a misty forest, which Harry did not venture to enter. But Potter saw his relationship with Grindewald in all its glory. Thoughts of him flashed long, showing one picture after another of the past. Here was Grindewald, fervently proving to Albus that Muggles were not worthy to occupy so much land, that mages were superior beings who could and should rule the world. Albus was already imbued with his friend's thoughts, helped him, and even put some of his ideas into action. But after the first Magical War, when Herr Grindewald was successfully imprisoned in Nurmengard, Albus realised that it was perfectly possible to rule the country without sitting in the chair of Minister of Magic. He had spent years building a solid reputation as the Grey Cardinal, creating yet another Dark Mage without whom his entire plan was inconceivable, and the Order of the Phoenix, which was supposed to offer a credible resistance to the new Evil. However, he hasn't given up on the idea that Muggles should have equal rights with Muggles, and has successfully set up numerous diversions for almost thirty years...
When Harry and Sirius learned the full background of what was happening in the country and at Hogwarts, they were horrified. Harry, having left Dumbledore's mind, spat venom for a long time, no worse than the same Snape, who now looked more like a vegetable, lying on the cold stones of the ritual hall. It was unbelievable that a well-intentioned light mage could be so power-hungry and cruel. Though Harry's childhood, too, appeared to have been a result of Dumbledore's influence. He had raised himself an obedient puppet in advance who would only trust him, living with relatives who hated him, and when the Chosen One didn't want to set himself up and fight, the good grandfather decided to play by his own rules.
****
The luxurious white palace, called Malfoy Manor, was asleep. There were no lights in the windows, white peacocks dozing in the perfectly flat lawn, bushes of magical flowers tinkling softly in the breeze. The trees, closely intertwined, formed a dense hedge, encircling the large French-style park that the elder Lord Abraham Malfoy loved so much. A half-naked man stood on the third floor balcony, smoking a cigar and looking down at his left forearm.
Lucius Malfoy woke up in the middle of the night with the mark burning and twisting. For the past few years he had made do with the new potion that Snape had brewed. But when the potter shamefully retreated and disappeared somewhere, the mark stopped bothering him. And now it was inflamed again and it was itching madly. It didn't feel like a challenge, but the Lord had been reborn. And Lucius would surely be called back into service. What kind of service would that be? Lucius grinned bitterly - so many years wasted. The gift of politicians and financiers had gone to waste while the Lord tried to take over the world. But some twenty years had passed, the Dark Lord had never summoned Lucius, and now there was the problem - the mark. He made his way to the bathroom and put his hand under a stream of icy water. How many times the water had helped to take away the pain and Lucius could resist the lord's orders. The pain and itching subsided slightly. But along with that, the mark itself had disappeared! Malfoy senior jabbed a finger at the white skin. The hand was as clean as it had been for many, many years. Lutz was shocked and delighted at the same time. He rushed into the bedroom and woke his wife.
- Narsi! Narcissus, look!
Narcissa clutched herself into a lump in her sleep and looked frightened at her husband, who she thought was asleep.
- Don't look at me! At my hand!
Mrs. Malfoy gazed up and cried. After all these years, they were finally free. Why the Lord hadn't summoned them, and what had happened to him, they hadn't even thought about it, just hugging happily.
****
Draco Malfoy didn't sleep at all. He was oblivious to the firewhiskey, as he had been every night before. He wasn't much use; he was always just helping his father. And then there was that damned mark burning his hand like red-hot iron again. In his drunken stupor he hadn't noticed how the last mark of their belonging to the Revelers of Death had disappeared from his hand.
****
After a long night in the Valley of Dragons, morning came. The housekeepers cleaned out the torture chamber, rejoicing at the strength of their masters. Soon there was nothing to remind me of the night's torture and torture in the basement of Potter House. But no one went to bed. There were still a few things to do. Harry, having hastily tidied himself up, went off to the dragons to break the news and inspect the Hebridean blacks that were with him in the graveyard for damage. Sirius went to give orders for breakfast, and afterwards he curled up in the bath, soaking and thinking about everything. It hadn't been an easy night.
Louise woke up. A sweet scent hit her nostrils, the kind that only bright red roses could have. She opened her eyes and couldn't believe it when she saw the familiar walls again. She was back in her room in the Valley! Jumping up from the bed, the girl groaned and lay down. She felt stiff, her arms were shaking, her eyes were danced by a hundred stars, and her mouth was dry as the desert. Next to the bed on the nightstand there was a short note and a bouquet of red roses.
"Welcome back. Have a potion and come down to the kitchen. H.P."
The three vials of potion were quickly emptied, then Louise washed her face and put on a light dress and ran down the stairs. A small, unfamiliar housekeeper was wielding the kitchen with Dobby, while Harry and Sirius sat as if nothing had happened and drank strong, steaming, aromatic coffee.
- Good morning, Harry, Mr Black!
- Morning! How are you feeling, Louise! - Harry didn't wait and took the bull by the horns. - Can you tell me how you ended up in an ambush? I understand that not all dragons are guardians, and they couldn't smell the threat in vampires.
Louise felt ashamed. But she stuck her head up proudly and made her way to the table. Already seated, and sipping cool milk from her cup, she recounted what had happened during the previous evening. That was basically what Harry had thought, but now the puzzle was complete. He turned to the elves:
- Tyree! You will now serve Miss Louise! She is your mistress!
Louise looked at Harry stunned. The little housekeeper came closer and squealed:
- Tyree likes his new mistress! Tyree will be happy to serve Miss Louise!
- And to avoid a repeat of what happened yesterday, I suggest we do a binding ritual on the elf. Then he'll appear anywhere as long as you summon him. - Potter held out a silver dagger.
Louise sliced her finger:
- I, Louise Fay Stone, bind Tyree's housekeeper to me. I pledge to nourish him regularly with magic and to treat him well.
She held out the dagger to the elf. He repeated the procedure:
- Tyree swears to serve Miss Louise Fay Stone faithfully, not to divulge what he sees in the house, and to comply with all her wishes!
A blue flash of magic confirmed the vows.
****
Three days passed like that.
In the evening Harry was in for a surprise. Sirius had arranged for him and Louise to have an impromptu date and set up a sumptuous dessert table in the garden, involving Dobby and Tyree in the preparations, while he himself distracted the little tailgaters. It was all romantic and beautiful. The conversation didn't click at first. Harry stared at the girl, and she blushed at his frank glances. Then, when Potter asked about the artifact they had discovered in the chest from Sirius, Louise became chatty. Artifacting she was ready to discuss forever.
Much later, strolling by the light of the full moon, which cast its ghostly silvery light all around, Harry confessed that he had long loved Louisa and had been very worried when she had been kidnapped. She blushed softly again, but didn't push Potter away when he came close to her lips. Tails scurried away from Sirius and whistled something excitedly, flying over to the pair and petting like winged cats. Harry brushed them off and looked happily into Louise's equally shining eyes. And all was well.