Chapter 138: Remuneration

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2 July 1993, Ministry of Magic, London

Dumbledore was a master when it came to politics, especially when it came to talking people into doing things that benefit him. He had mastered the art of subtly moving the world, one person at a time, like chess pieces. He had the full view of the board, or at least he thought he did.

People often say that chess represents battle and that people who mastered that game could be amazing battle commanders. They are, without a doubt, wrong. The thing about chess, it's a game where every variable is in front of you. There's no room for something really unexpected. Your opponent has the exact same information that you do. Their possible moves are known to you by just analyzing the board. There was no such luxury when it came to battle.

And it was a battle. Sure, it was a battle of words, of opinion, but it was a battle, nonetheless.

Albus Dumbledore had gone too far. He made the entire world think that Harry was going to be the second coming of Voldemort, and thus, he made any light family, also known as the progressive faction, wary of his potential and suspicious of any contact he could have with a dark family. The dark families, or the traditionalist faction, would be salivating over him, hoping to gain influence over him. The neutral families, or the conservative faction, would want nothing to do with him. In this little speech, Dumbledore made people want to pay attention to every move Harry would make.

The ministry wasn't going to let go of their possible control over him. Their commitment to the law wasn't going to stop them. After all, the laws of mortal men are rendered worthless in front of real power.

Win or lose, Dumbledore made sure that the whole world would watch Harry. It was such an uncharacteristic and unsubtle move that it made him question if there was some kind of hidden plan. Harry would have tried to analyze the man using his Arcane Hearing, but he always had trouble when it came to his magic. Dumbledore's magic was more akin to an extremely loud tuning fork. It gave Harry a headache every time he tried to focus too much on it. The only thing he could notice being different would be the note being played, and he theorized that it had to be the man's emotions.

No, his Arcane Hearing wouldn't help him see his trigger points, but Harry was smart enough to not need it so much. The man outwardly looked fine, but he was more hunched than usual, and walked slower when he was presenting his case. His words were slower than they used to be, and the content lacked the subtlety, to make everyone make their own conclusions and not come up to them on his own.

Furthermore, his facial expressions were too uncontrolled.

The conclusion was simple. Dumbledore was tired, probably exhausted because of the unstable political climate ever since Azkaban's destruction. The man wasn't sleeping enough, and that meant that he had to use potions to stay away. Common side effects include tiredness, lower emotional stability, and impaired cognitive function. Huh, that explained a lot about his behaviour in his hearing.

But that didn't matter. He had the ammunition, and now, he knew exactly what he had to do!

Well, he wasn't going to take that lying down. If the headmaster wanted to ruin him, the last Potter would return the favour with some interest.

Harry just walked in front of the judges and spoke up for the first time, "You know, for a meeting that's supposed to decide the suitability of my guardian, no one really took my opinion on the matter. No one even asked me about my life before Hogwarts, not even Arcturus, for that matter, and definitely not Dumbledore. And I understand why you all think that my opinion doesn't matter; I'm a minor, and thus not mature enough to make my own decisions. But even then, this is supposed to be a court of law, not a court of pretty words. Arcturus Black has every right to be my guardian. He's my closest magical relative since he's my grandmother's brother. He also happened to be my godfather's grandfather, and anyone else who might be blood-related to me has agreed to give him custody. I have been living under his roof for less than a month, which doesn't even make sense for Dumbledore to make accusations of abuse. But I see now that you don't care about any of that. You don't care about how illegal his actions are, only if his words are true. Am I possibly more talented and more powerful than the horrible man who called himself Lord Voldemort?"

He had everyone's attention with that, and he was going to milk it for all it was worth, "Yes, I am."

With those words, the entire room started to mutter. They didn't see Harry confirming Dumbledore's words. The headmaster's eyes looked triumphant, even if he had a surprised expression on his face.

The last Potter suppressed a grin and continued, "Yes, I am powerful. I am talented. I have a grasp over my magic that could surpass that of some NEWT students with only two years of magical education under my belt. Just like Lord Voldemort, just like Tom Riddle."

And just with that, the entire room was stunned to silence. The identity of Lord Voldemort was a mystery that very few people knew about. People speculated, of course, but they never had any confirmation. Dumbledore refused to elaborate whenever he said anything about the man's past, and the Dark Lord didn't look anything like Riddle. He was too inhuman, too monstrous.

"You see, Dumbledore liked to make that parallel. But when it comes to it, he doesn't care about my well-being, any more than he cared about Tom Riddle's. A young boy, obviously abused, living in a religious orphanage, where everyone, even the matron, knew that he was different. And yet, when he came to him, begging to stay anywhere else, Dumbledore refused. Even as the war started to spill into the muggle world, he didn't allow the young boy the luxury of safety. Is it any wonder why that young man grew into the monster that became Lord Voldemort? Is it any wonder why he hated Albus Dumbledore so much? Because the way I see it, all this death, all the destruction he caused, could have been avoided if Albus Dumbledore could have done his job as an educator instead of fearing the potential that a young child could have."

Dumbledore protested, "I will admit that I made some mistakes, but this is not relevant to this hearing."

"Of course, it is," Harry responded, "You're doing the exact same thing now, but the only difference is that I found someone who was willing to adopt me. So, you're resorting to this hearing to make things go back the way you wanted. Only it goes both ways. You're the one who made the comparison with the Dark Lord, it's only fair that I elaborate on it. The thing is, I'm not using this to defend Arcturus Black from your accusations, I'm saying that you should have no right to make that kind of accusation in the first place."

"I am the headmaster of Hogwarts…"

"And you have also just proven that laws mean absolutely nothing to you. Why should they mean anything to me?" Harry answered with a grin.

That rendered the man speechless, and the last Potter relished in his small moment of victory, "Like I was saying, Albus Dumbledore, in a way, created Lord Voldemort with his actions. Wouldn't you feel resentful if there was a man who kept denying you again and again the luxury of being happy, of being safe? The truth is that no one checked up on me when I was in the muggle world, that's the ministry and Dumbledore alike. Because if he did, he would have known that I was miserable there. I didn't belong, and I knew for a fact that I didn't. Is that truly too much to ask that I wish to live in the world my parents lived in, that my family has been a part of for hundreds of years? I am happy in the wizarding world, and Arcturus Black was the first person who even noticed that I hated the muggle world. He didn't offer the opportunity of being my guardian, I asked for it because I just didn't trust anyone to start pulling strings in an attempt to gain influence over me."

Umbridge still didn't look concerned, "Hum. Hum. It sounds to me like you don't trust the ministry's authority over you."

Harry shook his head, "The ministry is fine, but you have to admit that Albus Dumbledore has too much influence in this place. He's the chief Warlock, the unofficial leader of the progressive faction of the Wizengamot, the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, and the headmaster of Hogwarts. All it would take was a single owl from him to force me to do anything he wanted. But let's assume that this wasn't true, that Dumbledore wasn't there. I would still have issues with the way this hearing was going. I look around and see department heads, members of the Wizengamot, and important ministry employees, just watching a guardianship hearing about a child, as if our entire nation wasn't facing a nightmare with Azkaban's destruction, with Merlin knows, how many inmates on the loose."

"So, it's Dumbledore you don't trust," Scrimgeour commented, trying to change the subject. They obviously didn't like being criticized, even if Harry could hear the small smidge of approval in the man's voice. Pressing on further wasn't going to endear him to the other judges…

"Of course, I don't trust him. I'm surprised that any parent thinks it's a good idea to put him in charge of their children, especially with his recent track record. I almost died twice in my first year, one of them was during detention of all things. A troll almost killed a muggleborn girl and for some reason, he made this weird unwarded deadly obstacle course on the third floor, whose location he announced to everyone on the very first day. By Merlin, that same muggleborn was possessed for a year by a dark artifact and he didn't do anything about it. She still hasn't woken up by now."

"Those were isolated incidents. My experience with children of all ages and my tenure as an educator is more than enough for me to come to the conclusion that Arcturus Black's guardianship over young Harry is a very bad thing," the headmaster then turned to address the last Potter, "I was a close friend of your parents, and I can tell you that they would not approve."

Harry snorted, "They would rather see me happy than miserable and under your thumb. But I'm glad you talked about your experience when it came to children. Does that include your sister?"

The look of shock on Dumbledore's face was amazing. Unfortunately, Harry couldn't really appreciate it because of the immense pressure that fell on his shoulders. He knew that he hit Dumbledore where it hurt. The man had, for the first time as far as Harry knew at least, lost control.

The entire room started to shake but Harry channelled his crest to appease the pressure slightly, "It's funny really, how hard it is to really have a secret. You see, my mother was a curious woman. She was bored in Godric's hollow and asked around about her neighbours, the magical ones to be exact. She was so amazed to see Bathilda Bagshot living there before she died in the fire, that is. That woman had so many stories, about her dear nephew, about your family, about you. What a tragedy, a young girl who was attacked by muggles who witnessed her magic and her father was sent to Azkaban for killing her attackers. The magic that she feared using and actively suppressed, and the brilliant young man who was saddled to take care of her, his little broken sister. Only for her to die. It's funny, isn't it? You keep spouting about how much Arcturus could turn me into a monster, and yet, he never killed his own sister, not like you did, anyway. You're not even denying, are you? What makes you qualified to decide anything about my guardianship anyway?"

And just like that the pressure intensified. Harry could barely stand up. He could taste the coppery taste in his mouth. He felt insignificant, an ant in front of a storm…

"DUMBLEDORE!!!"

And just like that, the pressure disappeared. Dumbledore had just attacked him in front of dozens of witnesses, didn't he? Harry looked up and saw Scrimgeour and Arcturus pointing their wands at Dumbledore, and so were a few of the audience members, including Augusta Longbottom.

"I apologize. It seems that I had a lapse in control…" the headmaster started.

"You attacked an underaged wizard in front of witnesses, Dumbledore," Umbridge remarked, "His words may have been provoking, but he is a child. You are the headmaster and if a few words from a minor could make you act this way, then maybe Mr. Potter has a point to doubt your judgement in the matter."

And just like that Harry knew that he had won. He was going back to Arcturus. The judges couldn't vote for Dumbledore, because that would be like approving his actions. This hearing has escalated to a defamation battle. Dumbledore wanted to make everyone wary of Harry and bring him under his control. Well, with his little speech, whose content would spread like wildfire, no one would look at Dumbledore the same again.

Now, he only needed to seal the deal.

Harry took a deep breath, "Thank you for your intervention and I would like to apologize to Professor Dumbledore for my words. They were uncalled for and I'm sorry. With that done, I just wanted to describe what it was like living in the muggle world. Have you ever been in a place that you never really fit in, that you knew you didn't belong, even if you didn't know why? That was it for me. I was alone. My aunt and uncle just didn't understand and simply ignored me. My cousin wasn't a bad boy, but he was too spoiled for my tastes. I often cooked my own food, walked to school, and wore secondhand clothes that were obviously too large for me, but I didn't mind any of that. A lot of people have it worse than me. What I hated the most was the fact that I was alone. I had no one. I didn't matter to anyone. If I died, no one would have mourned my death, no one would even notice. I believe that after that much time on my own, I have the right to choose my guardian and I chose Arcturus Black to be that guardian. It shouldn't matter what my potential is, or how powerful I am. What matters is what would be a good place to grow up, to not be alone anymore. The question I'm asking you, Judges, is if you were in my shoes, what would you want? If that was your child, standing here in my place, would you rather he has a home, or just live in a place alone and ignored, in a place where his very nature is hated? Thank you."

Harry turned and walked towards his seat, unable to stifle the small smile on his face as his eyes met Dumbledore's glaring ones as if saying 'Yeah, asshole, I can do it too'.

They both knew that the judges would be voting for Arcturus to keep his guardianship over Harry.

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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.