With a nod of his own, Dumbledore returned his attention back to the Delacours and put his hands upon his lap. "Harry was a magical baby the likes of which are hardly ever seen on the face of the planet. Instead of looking for moments of incidental magic in him, it was more a matter of enjoying the rare moments that he wasn't magically altering or disappearing the objects, toys or people around him."
Dumbledore smiled at Harry, who was once again forced to avoid radiating embarrassment. "This was of course unacceptable if Harry was going to live with his blood relatives and be safe from reprisals. Death Eaters were still running around unchecked, thus the blood wards were still completely necessary for Harry's safety. For that reason, I asked a colleague of mine to create an accidental magic binding potion for the boy. My only intention was for Harry to have less instances of accidental magic so that he could coexist with his relatives."
Dumbledore's expression became bleak at this point, and he shook his head sadly. My "colleague" as it turns out, decided that he'd rather have Harry die in a particularly cruel and painful fashion instead. He brewed and administered to infant Harry Potter an Eramus Servientus potion..."
The two adult Delacours gasped in horror while Fleur merely looked confused.
After Dumbledore saw Fleur's confusion, he continued his explanation for her benefit. "The Eramus Servientus potion has been highly illegal to brew for nearly eighty years now and it's never mentioned at any school worth attending. I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of it. It was originally created to defang extremely powerful and dangerous magical beasts such as Nundus and their ilk, but much later it was administered to the worst kind of dark Wizards in lieu of summary execution. It's a very powerful magic sealing potion that's designed to contain a magical creature's magic inside of its core both perfectly and indefinitely. This potion was administered to Harry Potter before he turned two years old.
Everyone in the room looked sick at this point, but they also looked extremely confused. Both of the Delacour parents were staring at Harry, while wondering how he was alive and sitting right in front of them.
Dumbledore was looking at the ceiling now and it appeared that he wasn't comfortable with the subject matter that he was moving into. When he finally did look down at the Delacours it was with an expression of grim resolve upon his face. "Harry and I have consulted a very learned, very experienced Healer, who has explained to us a great many things. Over the last few weeks they've all been verified by every magical means the medical field has to offer. Harry Potter... is a medical and magical miracle..."
All three of the Delacours just stared at Dumbledore as he shamelessly pause-acted for additional drama. They were leaning in and very clearly impatient to hear the rest of the story.
"We all know what should happen to any infant that doesn't have access to its magic," Dumbledore began in a chilling monotone. "What should have happened to Harry is not a pretty picture. As a magical baby strangled of his magic, the following things should have happened over the following two years, give or take a few months. He shouldn't have been able to continue developing at all without access to his magic. His organs should've started to break down on him and his brain should've rapidly atrophied to a mere mush. Harry should have been falling apart in a gruesome fashion by the time he was only three years old and dead in terrible ways by the time he was four. Instead, Harry Potter accomplished... the seemingly impossible."
Everyone in the room was completely captivated by this point, and they were staring at Harry as if he was a zoo animal.
Dumbledore nodded at everyone because he could see that they understood the scope of what they were hearing. He took one more very deep breath both for drama's sake and because he still had a lot to say. "Harry's magical core is strong... Gods... strong... is nowhere near the correct word in terms of scope. His core is absolutely gigantic and infinitely versatile. His magical core immediately started straining outwards against the barrier containing it over and over for Gods only knows how long. Over time Harry's core started creating thousands of infinitesimally tiny leaks in the bindings for mere seconds at a time."
"That wouldn't have been anywhere near enough," Adrien pointed out in a low tone of voice.
"No. it wouldn't have been enough," Dumbledore repeated meaningfully. "It wouldn't have been enough unless Harry's core started pushing enough power to create a Patronus Charm against his bindings, all day, every day, which we now know for certain it began doing." Dumbledore gestured at Harry again before turning back towards the Delacours. "Harry here has been straining his magic against the bindings on his core with that much intensity since he was a little over two years old, without ever stopping for even a second. His core has been straining to accomplish feats of power that could kill a man even while Harry was asleep, merely so that he could continue to exist and grow." Dumbledore sighed loudly and dramatically... "What I've described so far isn't even the most miraculous part of this story."
The Delacours' eyes had wandered to Harry just now, but at Dumbledore's words they snapped back towards the old man.
....
Join my P*atreon for 60 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.