AN: Hey everyone. Sorry it's taken so long but this chapter did not want to be written. I've deleted it several times and started over but I could never find something I was completely happy with. So instead of remaining stuck and agonizing over it for another 6-8 weeks, I'm going to give you this short chapter and begin to wrap this story up. I'm guessing it'll only take another chapter or two before it's finished.
Chapter 11
Two days after their meeting, Amelia had everything in place concerning Harry's 'living' status as well as his guardianship. When the official from child services looked to see who was being given guardianship, her eyebrows rose. That was until Amelia pointed at who the minor was and his relation to the guardian. In worked in Amelia's favor that Dumbledore had steamrolled over their authority in Harry's case ever since his parents were murdered as he blocked their every move in investigating anything about the living arrangements of the now young man. With a little grin at getting one over on the old meddler, Madam Crenshaw couldn't sign and approve the papers fast enough. With Amelia signing off on them too, anyone and everyone was effectively blocked from interfering in Harry's life ever again.
The first week of November saw Harry pretty much doing the same thing he had been doing for the last several years...laying low. He spent most of his time going back and forth between his and Moody's house. As Harry didn't plan to be in that house past his majority, he forewent customizing the Hogsmeade house to his needs and instead traveled to his grandfather's house and used the the training facilities there to remain in top form. Now that Tom was finished, Moody began training Harry in how to take down Albus. If anyone knew Albus' fighting style, it was Moody as before the revelations of the life Harry had before Hogwarts and during, they were friends and allies for many years and had fought side-by-side on many occasions.
On the third morning after the meeting, Harry joined Moody and Lefty for breakfast as they has some things to go over with him. During Harry's education, Lefty tutored him in Runes and Arithmancy and discovered Harry was a natural in the subjects so part of the reason he was there that morning was to leave some of his old curse breaking training texts to see if it was something Harry might want to do. Moody, Minerva, Poppy, and Lefty were all confident that Harry could be anything he wanted due to his intelligence and talent with magic so they were giving him as many options as possible. It was already decided that they would steer him away from becoming an Auror as Moody didn't want the same life for Harry that he led.
As they were having their normal grousing session about the world at large, an owl delivered Moody's copy of the Prophet. As soon as he unfolded it, the large headline grabbed his attention.
DARK LORD DESTROYED BY THE BOY-WHO-STILL-LIVES
Moody read the article and nodded along. Amelia did an excellent job with it and effectively blocked Fudge or Dumbledore from taking any credit. On the other hand, a crap storm was about to hit Magical Britain.
He folded the paper back over and slid it to Harry. "You might wanna take a look at the headline this morning Junior."
Harry opened the paper and his eyes grew wide at the headline. He then began reading it and nodded along just like Moody did. When he was done, he slid it to Lefty. He didn't say anything until Lefty was done.
"What do you think Junior?"
Harry smiled. "She did good Pops. Better than I expected."
"Aye"
Lefty asked. "So...Albus is next?"
Harry nodded.
Lefty grunted and then after thinking for a minute, replied. "You know he'll stay holed up in that castle don't you? It's his seat of power so to speak."
Moody snorted. "It ain't just his seat of power, as headmaster he draws some power from the castle itself. It'll be hard to take him down there."
Lefty nodded. "Not to mention his minions."
Harry nodded. "I know but as Pops said the other day, I'll have more support than we think among other things."
Lefty glanced over. "You gonna take him in the castle? What about the young uns there. They could be caught in the crossfire. Me grand-daughter is a firstie this year."
Harry gave Lefty a serious look. "They are the only reason I just don't go storming in there but I also need them as witnesses. If I wait until Christmas break to go after him, Other than Nana and Poppy, I don't have any backup or people who will tell the real story."
Moody snorted. "Plus you want to catch the Weasleys at the same time."
Harry smirked. "There's that too. But...well...did I ever tell you how I cut off Tom's head?"
Moody shook his head. "I figured it was a diffindo."
This time Harry shook his head. "All those rituals, Tom was virtually magic proof. A severing curse would have barely left a mark."
Lefty asked. "Then how?"
Harry smirked again. "How'd I kill the basilisk?"
Moody chuckled. "Godric's sword? It came to you again? So that means you are..."
Harry smiled. "Yeah...the Heir of Gryffindor and maybe Slytherin. Bearclaw said something about Rights of Conquest after ending Tom for the final time but I haven't gone back to find out."
Lefty frowned. "What does having a bleeding vault have to do with it?"
Harry laughed. "There's not a vault...at least I don't think so and being his heir doesn't really mean much unless I need the sword or...am in Hogwarts. The Headmaster isn't the only one who can draw power from the castle. How do you think I survived all that crap when I was there? The castle protected me. It took me a while to figure it out but I always got a burst of power when I needed it there. I sometimes think the castle was still helping me in the graveyard but I don't know if it could help me that far away."
Moody nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me. You always said you felt unusually connected to the castle. My only concern is will it be enough? Albus ain't gonna be a pushover."
"I know Pops. That's why I think we need to stir the pot a little before going. Make him mad and reckless."
Lefty's eyebrows rose. "How so?"
Harry smirked. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, why not give my own interview. We still got a lot to clean up...we get the hornets stirred up and attacking anything and everything then while they are distracted, we move in and finally get rid of the problems."
Moody nodded. "Might work but it might make them more desperate and desperate is dangerous."
Harry nodded. "True...maybe you could have Amelia come over. She's more in tune with the politics side of all this. I would welcome her advice as we help her clean out the rest of the garbage."
Moody gave an evil grin which for him was smiling gleefully. "I'll call the lass and set it up."
"Thanks Pop."
**ALM**
Two days later, Amelia, Harry, Moody, and Lefty were meeting for lunch at Moody's house. With Amelia's limited time, they chose to work as they were eating instead of following the traditional customs of holding all business until they were fed. It worked better for the group as all of them were more direct in how they dealt with others and had little time for beating around the bush. They were polite enough to allow Amelia to open the discussion.
"So...Alastor said you wanted my opinion on something."
Lefty snorted while Moody grinned. "Yeah Aunt Amy." Her eyebrows rose at that for the double meaning it contained. The first was that it probably would be how he would have referred to her if James and Lily had survived that night all those years ago. And while she was several years older than James, Sirius, and Lily, they all had grown close during the men's Auror training. The other meaning dealt mainly with his relationship with Susan. She was well aware that Susan was considering their relationship to be long term and had even stated that Harry was starting to act the same way. Despite all he had been through, Amelia knew Harry and Susan would have a happy life together as they complimented each other. She was also aware that Harry told Susan more than he revealed to anyone else, even his grandfather and she knew how close they were.
"Now that we've got Tom out of the way, it's time to get rid of two more problems. I think if we were to go after them outright, there would be a lot of backlash from the public. I know we've pretty much cut Fudge's legs out from underneath him by eliminating his supporters but Albus is a different matter. Too many people think the sun shines out of his arse for us not to have people after our blood for removing him."
Amelia nodded. "You're right on both counts. Fudge is floundering and turning to Dumbledore for advice and support. I'd say that the only reason he is still in office is because of Albus, so to me the main problem is getting rid of Albus."
Harry nodded. "I know it's gonna have to be done the hard way as Albus probably won't leave the castle if he feels threatened. According to Pops and Nana, he'll probably try and mobilize his Order to come to his defense as well. I'd even imagine him saying something like Tom's not really dead or some such rot and try and say I was the bigger threat now."
Moody snorted. "He'll push for custody of Junior to try and bring him back to the 'light'."
Harry nodded. "Which puts you at risk Pops."
Moody nodded. "That was always the case Junior."
Amelia sat back and frowned. "Then you need to declare who gets custody of Harry should something happen to you. Under normal circumstances, I would say Minerva but she's in a precarious position already with her position at Hogwarts. The only other option would be to wait until Harry reaches majority."
Harry nodded and sat silently for a minute before his eyes glanced at Lefty and then Amelia. "I don't think the country can wait that long and I sure as hell aren't going to put Susan on hold that long. It's not fair to her to be sneaking around like we have to now."
Amelia's eyes rose at that. "Sneaking around?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Nothing like that Aunt Amy. She's happy with our relationship but it's hard on her not to be able to talk about her boyfriend or even admit who I am. And quite frankly, I'm tired of having to hide from everyone. Not only that, who wouldn't want to tell their friends that they landed the boy-who-still-lives and kicks arse while doing it."
Amelia snorted and threw her napkin at Harry as he chuckled. After a moment he said, "But really Aunt Amy...I don't want her to regret choosing me."
Amelia nodded. "I see your point and agree with most of it." She threw him a smirk afterwards. "So what do you have in mind?"
Harry took deep breath. "I could do an interview."
Amelia snorted. "I imagine during this interview, you would make you opinions about certain people well known?"
"Um...yeah!"
She snorted. "I'll agree it'll probably go a long way to achieving your goals. With your popularity right now after getting rid of Tom, people would listen to what you had to say but you'll have to tell them everything in the process."
Harry nodded. "I realize this."
She continued. "It will put certain people in more danger. You might want to leave Minerva and Poppy out of it for now. Susan too for that matter because when you do make your move on Albus, you'll want to have hidden resources."
Moody growled out. "A wise precaution and one we already considered. As far as the custody issue, we already decided it would have to be you if you'll agree. You're the only one of those we trust with enough political power to stand against them."
Lefty added. "We considered me taking it but the only way I could protect Harry would be to leave the country. The two problems with that are the lad won't leave his lass and it would put my grandchildren at risk."
Amelia sat quietly for a minute. "Harry?"
Harry sighed. "It's not something I really like. I don't like the fact that I can kill a Dark Lord and still have to hide behind your robes if something happens to Pop. I mean I pretty much take care of myself and only come here to train now but I also understand that until I hit seventeen, there are those who could try and get control of me. Dumb ass did it when my parents died already so he could use the same illegal means to try and become my guardian again but who knows what he would do to me to try and get me to sign over my estate during that time."
The adults nodded at his statement. Despite the uselessness of James and Lily's death, they did have the good sense to lock everything down until Harry was of age. Thanks to those precautions, Albus Dumbledore did not have any control over the Potter estate as it was all left in Bearclaw's custody as the account manager. Over the years since James and Lily's deaths, Bearclaw had refused Albus' demands for gold and access at least once a year. After Harry's third year, that increased to thrice a year due to Harry inheriting the Black estate as Sirius' only heir due to his status as Sirius' godson.
"Okay, since that's pretty much settled and will be dealt with quickly?" He shot glance at Moody who gave a quick nod despite the uncomfortable feeling it gave all of them.
Moody growled out. "We'll take care of it tomorrow."
Harry leaned back in his chair and then looked at Amelia. "Set up the interview. Preferably not Skeeter."
Amelia snorted. "I don't know Harry. She would make it a story to remember."
Harry grinned. "Oh...I'm sure she would but I don't trust her not to put some kind of slant on it that would end up making me look bad."
**ALM**
While all this was going on, Susan and Harry were still exchanging letters daily and he was sounding her out on how much he should reveal in his upcoming interview. She seemed to share his opinion on a lot of things and even suggested he expose the Weasley betrayal. In her opinion, taking out the trash meant destroying every bit of credibility any of the so-called 'light' had especially since the dark faction was all but destroyed.
As ideas were floated back and forth between them, it was decided that once all this was over, the Bones, Potter, and Black families would be joining the Greengrass family in the neutral faction. Mr. Greengrass' previous efforts in the Wizengamot assured Harry that they were like minded and it didn't hurt that Susan and Daphne had known each other since they were little and could vouch for them to her boyfriend. Once the 'Light' lord was removed, both felt that life in Magical England could only get better for everyone. Not just Harry and by association Susan.
**ALM**
Several days later, a lone reporter was making his way along Charing Cross road to an office building several blocks away from the Leaky Cauldron. The building was owned by Gringotts and they allowed Harry to lease the office suite for one day. As with any Gringotts property, the building had immense wards that didn't allow magical transportation and also didn't allow offensive spells to be cast. To Harry it was just what he was looking for as a neutral meeting place as Amelia already informed him that the Minister and Albus were searching for him.
For Harry, the rent was money well spent as he spent all afternoon with the reporter and covered many topics. Some of which would shock the Wizarding world to it's core as Harry began to bring pressure on several leaders of the establishment in an effort to erode their support and open the path to removing them permanently. The only requirement Harry made for the interview was the right to read the article before it went to press and make any changes he felt were necessary. With a story this big, the reporter didn't hesitate.
**ALM**
It took a week of back and forth between Harry and the reporter, sometimes due to the fact that he was waiting on advice from Susan and the others, but the story was finally ready and was going to the presses for their next issue. Once it was in the hands of the readers, their ideas of his life would never be the same. It would also change their opinions about many well-known people in magical England.
At the head table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore had a feeling of dread as he opened the paper and saw the headlines. Several others would also see their reputations tarnished by the article and some would even contemplate silencing the young man permanently to stop any legal efforts that might be brought against them that is if they could find him. The headline alone would draw everyone to read this edition and with the truth being so plainly laid out, many reputations would be destroyed along with the influence many had built over the years. In all honesty, Albus could plainly see what was happening here. Now that the dark faction was gone, Harry was turning his attention to the light faction and those in the Ministry who had allowed harm to come to Harry. Albus knew six months ago that things were changing as many of those who were on the fringes of the factions made a deliberate move towards the neutral faction. It had even damaged some of his plans as he lost votes he was counting on.
Now that he knew who was behind it, he would start making moves to regain control over his wayward pawn. His eyes moved back to the headline before he sat back in thought on how to accomplish his goals.
The Dark Disguised as Light
A Boy-Who-Still-Lives Tells All
By Jake Waters
The article began on page one and continued on the second page. Throughout the article, numerous claims were made against Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, the Weasley family minus Fred and George, Cornelius Fudge, and whoever else he could prove had wronged him. The list was long and very specific for each individual he claimed to be wronged by even going as far as swearing he could back up each and every claim with Pensieve evidence. The article also claimed that Harry stated that if it hadn't been for his maternal grandfather, Harry would be a mindless husk who was enslaved to Dumbledore along with the Weasley family who planned to potion him until he signed over the Potter and Black estates to them.
Before the article was finished, Harry claimed the kill of Severus Snape for acts against his family. He also named Molly, Ronald, and Ginevra Weasley as blood-traitors to the Potter-Black family for the potions and charms cast upon Hermione Granger with the intention of breaking the bond they shared.
In the last paragraph of the article, Harry claimed that his focus was now on removing the so-called light faction, especially its leaders, so that their society could move forward and recover from the influence of two dark lords.
**ALM**
As the article was making waves for everyone named in it, Harry was planning for every eventuality and was meeting with several people to help make sure the assets of the Potter and Black families did not fall into the hands of the traitors should he fall in the next confrontation. He knew Albus would be a formidable opponent at Hogwarts even with Harry's ancestry.