Chapter 388: Poking the Dragon

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3 May 1995, St. Mungo's Hospital

Harry sat next to Arcturus' bed in St. Mungo's watching as the man calmly breathed in and out. He hadn't left his side ever since the attack, which was almost a day prior. Daphne had gotten back home afterwards, shaken by how many corpses were around. The news of the attack was bound to spread quickly and her parents would have been worried sick if she came back late.

Still, it was harrowing, seeing him like this. Arcturus had always been this larger-than-life figure, not because he was particularly powerful, but mostly because of the way he carried himself. It was as if he knew deep down that he was untouchable, and when it came to politics, he sort of was. He walked into a room and knew that he was almost always the most important person there—commanding respect and attention with every step.

He still didn't know for sure what happened to put Arcturus in this state. Apparently, he was accosted right after leaving Gringotts by a bunch of Lycans, none of whom had even survived the encounter. There had to be more to it, he was sure. This was obviously a targeted attack. They waited for him to just step out of the bank's protections. They also must have done something to stop Arcturus from apparating. The man would not have entered the conflict if he could avoid it. As much as he liked to deny it, Arcturus had a distaste for violence.

Oh, he had no problems ruining someone's life completely or hiring people to fight for him, and he was more than willing to fight and kill an enemy, but never as a first resort. It must have been the Great War that made him like this. Seeing this sort of violence would probably change anyone's perspective.

So, this meant that this was a premeditated attack. They wanted to attack Arcturus. But how they would have known about his meeting in Gringotts? Sure, it would be very easy to figure out that he'd have to go to the bank eventually, especially after his numerous trips to the ministry to deal with the legal mess that was Harry's status as a living but legally dead person. But this exact date and time, with this many people. The Lycans had to have known about the specifics of the meeting, and that meant that someone talked.

Given that the goblins were probably the only people who knew about the meetings, he'll have to make a visit to Gringotts soon. Alas, this wasn't the time to do any of that. First, he needed to know that Arcturus would be alright. That was his main priority, after all.

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait for long, as a healer finally entered their private room without any issues, "Mr. Potter. I was just about to send you an owl. Have you been here all night?"

"Yes," Harry simply stated, without even looking at the man.

"Alright," the man spoke up awkwardly, probably not knowing how to proceed, before steeling himself and continuing, "My name is James Cole, I am the healer currently in charge of your guardian's case."

"Will he be alright?" he asked abruptly, finally turning towards the healer.

James Cole was a tall man in his late thirties, with neatly combed silver hair and blue eyes. His robes were clean and simple. Apart from the hesitation at the start, Harry could tell that the man was definitely a professional, probably the head of some department. The hospital really wasn't taking any chances with someone of Arcturus' status.

The man's tone was professional, "I genuinely do not know. We did our best. We healed the curse damage from the cutting curse he took to the back, but there will be some scarring I'm afraid. There was also the various cuts and bite marks in the Lycans, who while tricky, were not his most critical injuries."

"Why hadn't he woken up then?"

"The most damage he did was self-inflicted. The strain on his magical circuit was immense, especially for someone his age. There were signs of slight atrophy because of his lack of use. He must have thought that he still had the circuit capacity that he held in his younger days and overworked them. It's something you see commonly in veterans who haven't fought in a while. They often think that they have more magic than they actually have, probably the ones they held when they fought, and they pay the price for it. Magical exhaustion cases can be very tricky, especially at that age and the body often simply shuts down to heal itself, but it's not always successful. I've seen people with more damage survive, and some with far less damage perish. My alerts have told me that he's stable, which is what I expected, but whether he remains that way is not something I can tell at this time."

"Is there anything I can do?" Harry asked neutrally.

"I'm afraid not. As much as I wish it was, otherwise, there's only so much we can do. I've already started him on a potion regimen that was proven to accelerate the healing of his condition, but there's nothing else I can really do."

The last Potter nodded, "Thank you, Healer Cole."

Harry didn't trust himself to say anything else. It wasn't often that he felt so powerless. As much as he regretted it at the moment, Harry never really took the time to learn to heal properly. Of course, the fact that the healing guild had banned almost all knowledge of the subject bar a few introductory courses and a few spells, didn't help matters.

To have access to their full wealth of knowledge, he would have had to swear vows that he did not really care for, like not taking sides in fights, and not using his knowledge in any other way bar healing, like with experimentations and the like, and that was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

No, Harry would have preferred to just build up the entire field from scratch from those few basic books and spells. He wouldn't have been as good as current healers, but he might have found something that they hadn't, maybe some other method, which could have worked instead of feeling this useless at the bedside of his guardian, hoping that luck would be on his side.

Thankfully, the healer must have noticed that he didn't want to say anything else and just nodded and excused himself. However, he froze right as he was at the door, "Ah, yes, Mr. Potter. Ministry Fudge is outside. Should I let them in?"

Harry did his best not to release an exasperated sigh. Of course, even in a hospital, the game of politics would never be over. He simply nodded, making the man release a sigh of relief, "Will do. Thank you, Mr. Potter. I'll keep you updated on any changes that might take place."

Two minutes later, the familiar form of Cornelius Fudge entered the room with a couple of Aurors standing by their sides. Harry rolled his eyes at the pretence. There was nothing anyone in this room could do if he wanted to harm the man. A few extra Aurors wouldn't change anything.

"Good morning, Minister Fudge. What can I do for you," Harry spoke up before any of them. He wasn't about to be bullied because he was in a bit of a vulnerable position.

"Ah, Potter. Quite the pickle we're all in. Very troublesome times, indeed. I'm very sorry for what happened to your guardian. It was very unfortunate. Arcturus is a pillar in our society, and this attack is a tragedy that all of magical Britain will suffer from."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Fudge, you didn't come all this way to pretend to grieve for a man you barely knew. Don't waste my time or yours. What do you want?"

It probably wasn't the best thing to say given the way the man's face turned red with embarrassment. To be fair, Harry could have been a bit more diplomatic about it, but he was quickly running out of fucks to give.

One of the Aurors growled, "This is the minister of magic…"

"… And I'm not interested in kissing his arse, not while my guardian is in a coma. Please just make it quick. I'm tired and haven't slept a wink last night."

The minister stammered for a bit before continuing, "We're here about the consequences of this little fiasco. Relations with the Lycans were on the mend for the last few weeks. There hadn't been any attacks, no deaths. With the final task of the European school tournament being held in Britain soon, we can't really afford any unrest. Unfortunately, that seemed to be out of the window. Arcturus massacred fifty-seven Lycans in Gringotts, and the rest are out for blood."

"They attacked him," Harry protested.

"No one knows what happened or why," Fudge simply shrugged, "We only know that there was a fight, and one man stood standing at the scene, and that was you."

Harry could see where this was going and calmed himself. The minister continued, "I know that this might seem unfair, but the ministry needs stability, especially with the ICW finally retreating from our political scene. Someone needs to be held accountable, and unfortunately, you're our only option. We need to look competent, to stop the civil war from reigniting and giving the ICW reason to interfere once more."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the last Potter stood up, walking towards the ministry slowly. He looked into the man's eyes with a blank look on his own and spoke up, "Let me get this straight, Arcturus was attacked by Lycans, he killed them and ended up in a comma, and you want me, who was on the other side of the alley during most of the attack and arrived after it was over, to be held accountable."

"I know it doesn't sound…" the man answered while stammering.

"Sound what exactly?" Harry interrupted, "Is that how it works now? You're seriously planning on knowingly throwing a completely innocent person under the bus for political stability."

The ministry was about to talk but Harry raised his hand, "Don't talk. Look, normally, I would have just gotten along with it, and come up with a convoluted plan to make you look like an idiot. Then, I'd get public opinion on you to drop with any sort of support, having you wish you had never even heard my name. I've done it before, made people look so incompetent that no one saw them the same afterwards. It wouldn't even be hard. Your decision only makes any sense if you're betting on Arcturus dying, and me not shutting up. Believe me, it wouldn't even be hard to prove that I wasn't anywhere near Gringotts when the attack happened. It would be so easy to ruin you, your legacy, your entire career, even."

The ministry actually gulped when he heard that. The Aurors tried to look intimidating, but he froze them with a look before turning back towards the minister and continuing, "Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood to have fun. My guardian is hurt, someone I deeply care for, and I'm done messing around. If you even try to arrest me, I will have no problem carving a bloody trail out of this hospital, killing you and every single Auror you brought, even the ones hiding right outside the room right now."

"You're lying… You'd be hunted down, a criminal, a killer… Your life would be over…" the minister retorted, mostly just trying to convince himself rather than Harry.

"You know who I am, what I'm capable of, well, what you think I'm capable of. Let me assure you that this is barely more than a drop in the bucket. So, I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me if I'm lying."

Whatever the minister saw in Harry's eyes made his entire body shiver, and he mumbled, "You're not lying."

Harry let go of the minister and gave him a dry look. The man still looked pale from the encounter and looked like he wanted to say something, only to be caught in his throat. He simply just turned to leave, with Harry speaking up, "Thank you, minister, for your help."

"Help?" the man answered confused.

"Of course, for letting such a large force of Aurors stay in St. Mungo's to protect Arcturus. It was such a kind thing to do."

"Aurors?"

"That's why you came, didn't you? To ensure that Arcturus Black would remain protected from any other attack. After all, it's very likely I'll be very busy soon, too busy to just stay in this room."

Harry enjoyed watching the realization settle in. Fudge had just been forced to make the Aurors stay as glorified guards in the hospital, and there was nothing he could do about that. The minister just released a defeated sigh before stiffening, "You're going to be busy? Doing what?"

"Why, hunting wolves, of course. I heard that it's a very satisfying experience."

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AN: I know that this chapter is a bit on the slow side and I do admit that what Fudge has tried to do is a bit illogical, but I had so much fun writing the chapter that I kinda ignored it and hoped it would stick. I haven't been this relaxed writing a chapter for almost two weeks. I hope I pulled it off, but I don't mind changing a few things depending on your feedback. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

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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.