Chapter 220: Greener Pastures

If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

3 May 1994, Hogwarts, Scotland

The first thing Harry noticed was the smell. It was a peculiar mix of antiseptic, dried herbs, and something faintly sweet, which he couldn't quite place. His head felt as though it was stuffed with cotton wool, and his thoughts were sluggish, meandering through his consciousness like a slow-moving stream. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt incredibly heavy as if they had been glued shut. With a monumental effort, he managed to peel them open, only to be met with a blur of colours and shapes that made no sense to him.

As his vision gradually focused, he recognized the ceiling and suppressed the urge to smile and groan at the same time. He was in Hogwarts' hospital wing. That meant that he was both safe and that he had gotten hurt again. Damn it, Daphne was going to be mad at him again.

Harry tried to move, but a sharp stab of pain coursed through him, anchoring him to the spot. He groaned, the sound echoing strangely in his ears as if he were hearing it from underwater.

Gradually, as the fog in his mind began to clear, the memories of what had transpired came flooding back. He remembered the maze briefly, the struggle with Pettigrew. It was so far back, almost three months from his perspective, but it felt further. It was hard to explain the fact that his soul remembered enough for him to instinctively take into account the years he spent in the garden, the one he forgot about. After that was Sirius and if that wasn't bad enough, he was followed by Grindelwald. Harry had never felt like he was prey looking up at a predator.

Harry knew that Dumbledore probably matched the Dark Lord in magical might, but there were ways to hurt him, ones that would stop him from killing him on sight. Grindelwald had no such weaknesses, hell, he'd been ready to wipe Harry from existence and changed his mind for some unknown reason afterwards. Harry didn't buy the fact that the man kept him alive because of his potential. There was something else. Something more.

He needed to figure out what happened in the castle while he was gone. Grindelwald mentioned something about Neville being captured by Sirius and casting a killing curse in public. And that's not mentioning the fact that Dumbledore had just tried to curse him with a fate worse than death. Like hell would he stay in the same place as that bastard?

Harry tried to sit up, ignoring the protestations of his body, and immediately regretted it. The room spun wildly, a carousel of light and shadow, and he fell back onto the pillow, gasping for breath. His entire body ached as if he had run dozens of marathons without a moment of rest, and his head pounded with a ferocity that made him wince.

However, he was successful and was immediately accosted by a blonde missile, "Harry!"

The last Potter winced as his pain flared once more, "Daph, you're killing me here."

Daphne Greengrass blushed slightly, "You stupid boy. What the hell were you thinking?"

Harry grimaced, "What are you talking about?"

"In the maze. I woke up in a haze and I saw you looking so sad with that weird disk in your hand and what you said… The way you said it… I thought you were going to die."

The last Potter looked back at the events of the maze and stiffened when he realized what she was talking about. He had been so sure that he was going to die that he didn't want to leave Daphne without a goodbye. The things he said. Oh, Merlin! No wonder the blonde was distressed!

Harry's voice took a soothing tone, "Don't worry about it, Daphne. It was just a mistake on my part."

Daphne's reddened eyes seemed to light up in fury, "What the hell happened in that maze and why were there two of you in the hospital wing?"

"Well, I don't know about the body double thing. A man took you hostage and put you under the Imperius Curse. He said that he worked for Dumbledore and if I wanted you to live, I would have to bind myself to an artefact, the golden disk you saw. The disk took me somewhere else and I'm assuming Dumbledore wanted to fake my presence in the castle by having someone impersonate me being injured in the Hospital Wing."

Daphne stiffened and her jaw dropped. She stayed silent for minutes, processing what he had just said, "You really thought you were going to die. That's why you said what you said. You were saying goodbye."

Harry didn't answer her and refused to meet her gaze. The blonde wasn't deterred, however, "You were going to sacrifice yourself for me."

And just like that, she gave Harry a quick hug before running away from the infirmary. He suppressed the urge to groan. He could understand that the blonde was emotional, Merlin knew that he was too. But she was also his only source of information about what happened.

Of course, that was when an older voice spoke up, "Thank you for letting us know, Mr. Potter."

Harry stiffened as an invisibility cloak was removed, revealing an older severe woman with red hair and wearing a monocle. Amelia Bones. Was the head of the DMLE seriously listening to his conversation?

Damn it. He must be really tired if he didn't pick her out with his Arcane Hearing. He didn't try to activate it, subconsciously knowing somehow that it was a bad idea in his current condition, "You're Amelia Bones."

"And you're a very brave young man, Mr. Potter. Now, let's revise a few things about your statement. Can you give a description of the man who allegedly put Miss Greengrass under the Imperius Curse?"

"I can do you one better; I can give you, his name. Peter Pettigrew. I recognized his face from a few photos of my parents' friends. He was one of them. He said that he owed Dumbledore something and that this was his way of being free."

The woman's face hardened, "Did he say anything about where he was going afterwards?"

"No, but he's probably regretting his decision, right now."

"And why is that?"

Harry's face took a predatory edge, "It's very easy to trick a desperate man. They see what they want to see, and hear what they want to hear. Desperation blinds them, making them not realize that a single trick, a single miscalculation would topple everything they worked for. The look of realization afterwards was beautiful. I'm not worried about Peter Pettigrew. No, I care more about Albus Dumbledore. I will not spend a single minute in this castle as long as he remains in charge of it."

"Well, you don't have to worry. Dumbledore is no longer this school's headmaster."

Well, that took the wind out of his sails, "Repeat that, please."

"Dumbledore is no longer this school's headmaster. The board suspended him yesterday, pending an investigation by the school's administration. A man appeared near the end of the task, proclaimed himself to be Gellert Grindelwald, and said some very concerning things about Dumbledore. Of course, that was when Neville Longbottom arrived and cast a killing curse at Severus Snape. Thankfully, our resident potion master was able to handle it easily enough, but people were afraid. The events you just described seemed to corroborate with some of what the intruder said. He said that Dumbledore trapped you in an eternal prison of some sort until your soul was destroyed from channelling too much magic. Care to confirm this?"

Harry's eyes became unfocused, and he flinched slightly, "I don't know. I don't remember much about that place. I remember a garden and a small lake. I remember feeling pain… Next thing I know, I woke up here."

"Well, your injuries seem to corroborate the story. According to the reports here, your magical channels were very strained. You're very lucky that your ability to wield magic is not crippled. Don't worry, you can easily recover with time, but the healers recommend not using any magic in the next couple of weeks."

The last Potter became pensive at that last statement, trying to figure out what the Bones Matriarch wasn't saying. The truth was very simple. Harry's body had to adapt to the new nature of his magic circuits, which grew naturally with his soul. The disproportional contrast between his soul and body needed to mend for him to cast magic.

Until then, he would be in pain. Constantly.

Well, that sucked.

There should be a few pain-relieving potions that should work, but Harry's condition was so unique that he didn't know if the potions would work as they should.

He would deal with that later when the head of the DMLE wasn't in the same room as him. The woman was already looking at him with enough pity, and he chose to change the subject, "What about Neville? What will happen to him?"

"That's another case entirely, one that I should not discuss with a civilian."

"Is he going to prison? I don't think it was his fault…"

Harry didn't think a thirteen-year-old boy should go to prison, especially since it wasn't really his fault, and no one was hurt by his actions. He knew just how conniving Sirius could be when he wanted to be. He had this way of bringing out the worst in people, as if his madness was contagious, in a way. It would have been child's play to manipulate someone like Neville. That's not even mentioning the impact Neville's scar could have had on him. Harry would sleep easier with the monster now dead by his hands.

The Bones Matriarch's eyes softened, "Don't worry. I spoke to his grandmother, and she apprised me of his situation. It's a lot more complicated than I thought and since no one was harmed, and he's a minor, a certain amount of latitude is provided. We've spoken to Mr Longbottom and Mr Warrington, and we have a clearer picture of what happened. There will still be repercussions for the crime, but they won't be severe and that's the only thing I'm going to speak of regarding this investigation."

Harry nodded, "Thank you for letting me know what you can."

Amelia Bones smiled and left the infirmary. Immediately afterwards, Madam Pomphrey accosted him with what seemed like dozens of foul-tasting potions and salves. To be fair, they did help. The salves seemed to seep some of the burning from his body and the potions dampened the pain a bit.

They weren't perfect, of course, and weren't as effective as they should have been, but the pain was nothing like the last few days in the Gardens, like every spell he cast when he attacked those vampires and mercenaries, which felt as if his blood was replaced with burning magma.

Still, after so much time suffering, he couldn't really complain about someone taking care of him for once. The resident Medi-witch must have noticed the lack of complaints that usually accompanied his visitations.

First things first, he needed to speak to Arcturus and tell him about what happened to Sirius. He would not make the same mistake again and keep the older man out of the loop. After all his help, it wouldn't do to spit on his face. They would also need to make plans about what to do now that Dumbledore was out of the picture.

The sheer idea that he was no longer Hogwarts' headmaster would have been ludicrous the previous year. To be perfectly honest, Harry would have asked Arcturus to take him out and send him to another school just to get the fuck away from the old man. It was one thing to be manipulative, and another to attempt to murder everyone.

There was a lot that he held back from Bones, but it was better to pretend that he couldn't remember anything past the maze. He wasn't really ready to talk about it, about the gardens, about Sirius. Not yet.

Nah, he was too tired. He would think about all of this later, after his nap.

Harry's mood was interrupted by someone clearing their throat and his eyes widened slightly when he realized who it was, "Hello, Harry. I believe we have a lot to talk about."

Fucking Neville Longbottom ruining his nap.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Sorry if this chapter feels weird. I wrote this while I was in the hospital. I know that some of you will ask why Harry didn't just come up and say what happened in his prison, but that would mean that he would also have to explain how he escaped and that would start a whole can of worms. Pretending he doesn't remember is just easier, especially since the clear evidence of pain and Harry's body double, would be more than enough to go after Dumbledore. 

I have also updated chapter 218 (the confrontation with Grindelwald). The Colt is still destroyed but I think I did it a bit better this time. As usual, let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.