Chapter VI: Aftermath: After the trail

Alastor Moody walked to Harry just as the magic suppressing handcuffs were removed from his hands. Moody handed Harry his phoenix core wand. Harry accepted the wand with a smile. “Thank you for your testimony, Auror Moody.” Harry said sincerely.

“I did my job as an Auror, if I had suspected you of any nefarious intent. My testimony would have been very different.” Moody said with a gruff tone.

Harry smiled at the Auror as he started walking away. Harry saw his grandfather Fleamont Potter give him a nod, which he returned with a small smile.

“Thanks for the support Lord Black”, Harry said as saw the Black patriarch walking towards him. “We have a lot to discuss, Peverell, you will receive my owl soon.” Arcturus Black said in a serious tone.

“I’m looking forward to it.” Harry replied.

Harry saw Dumbledore walking towards him, hesitated for a few moments and then walked away. He hasn't yet decided if I am a dark wizard, Harry mused.

Harry walked towards the atrium of the Ministry avoiding the journalists who wanted to get an interview with him. He will decide to whom and when he will give his audience. He was quite interested to see how the events are covered in the Daily Prophet And he will plan the next steps accordingly. All he wanted to do now was to lie down on his bed and have a well earned sleep.

Harry floo’ed to the Leaky Cauldron, from where he apparated to his home.

—--

Harry slept well that night. A majestic owl swooped through the window, landing on the desk near the bed, Harry woke up and looked at the offending bird. It was carrying a letter. Harry gave it a piece of meat and retrieved the letter. It was sealed with the Black family crest. Harry broke the seal and read the contents of the letter carefully. Arcturus Black had extended him an invitation. The letter would act as a Portkey the next day at precisely noon, if Harry chooses to accept the invitation, and a friend of Black will also join the meeting. Harry wondered who this friend was.

Harry freshened up and started making his breakfast, just as he finished cooking and set up the food in the dining table another owl swooped in. It was a standard Hogwarts messenger owl. Harry fed it a small piece of bacon and read the letter. It was from Headmaster Dumbledore. He too had requested a meeting.

Harry penned his responses to both of them immediately. To Arcturus, he confirmed that he will be in attendance the next day. To Dumbledore, he replied that he would meet him at the Hog’s Head Inn, in a week.

Harry exhaled. The real game was just beginning.

—--

The early morning sunlight filtered through her curtains, Bellatrix woke up, quickly freshened up and she rushed to the dining hall. She ate her food ignoring the attempts by her sisters and parents to talk to her. The events of the past still haunted her. Voldemort's torture, the compulsion spells he had forced upon her, the way he violated her mind made Bellatrix clench her fists in anger. Never again.

She went to her room and got dressed in simple duelling robes. She then made her way to the Black library. The Black library was a large room, big enough to be repurposed as an auditorium and host at least 500 guests. The one in Blackwood Manor was larger. But this one was not worse in terms of quality, it had magical knowledge collected by generations of Blacks.

Bellatrix was interested in books on Combat magic and Dark magic. She also pulled out some books on mind-magic. Especially Occlumency and Legilimency. She spent an hour practicing the training methods listed for learning Occlumency and Legilimency, reinforcing the barriers in her mind. She had already learned it, but now she learned with determination. It was no longer just another skill she learnt, it will be the first line of defence against magical enslavement. She also learned Legilimency, offense is always the best defence.

After an hour, she pulled a book on advanced battle spells. She was already very good at duelling. She would be considered one of the best non-professional duelists in the country, but that was not enough. It did not help her when Voldemort overpowered her. She needs to improve her skills, magical power and her knowledge of spells. She descended to the training room in the basement of the Black family home. The training chamber was designed for dueling and spell practice, its stone walls lined with protective enchantments, layers upon layers added by different people to withstand heavy practice. She placed the book she had brought from the library onto a nearby table and flipped to a page detailing advanced combat spells.

She started with a simple but very effective spell. Confringo. She aimed at a training dummy and let the explosive curse fly. The impact made by the spell sent shockwaves through the room, shattering the target into splinters.

The Diffindo Hex or the Gouging hex that will carve through almost any material, it was also very effective when used against humans. She also practiced the Entrail-Expelling Curse, The Bone-Shattering Hex. Each spell was cast with precision destroying costly training dummies that resemble human bodies. Her control becoming sharper with every attempt.

Nearly two hours later, her muscles ached and sweat dripped from her brow. She reluctantly ended her practice and walked towards her room. It would not do well to overdo and collapse on day one. “I will not be controlled. I will match Voldemort and the wizard who freed me. No, I will surpass them.” She thought to herself.

—--

Few minutes after Bellatrix came out of the training room, Golly, one of the house elves of Number 12 Grimmauld Place popped out. At Blackwood Manor, Arcturus Black was notified by the wards as the elf he had assigned to watch over Bellatrix popped in. He had tasked the elf to discreetly observe Bellatrix. “Leave your memories in the pensieve.” Arcturus commanded. The elf did so and disappeared with a pop.

Arcturus leaned over the swirling silvery substance and he watched Bellatrix’s pulling tomes from the Black library, some on mind magics and some on powerful spells. He observed her training in the basement, her fierce determination evident in every spell she cast.

A smirk crossed his lips. She had changed. She might one day become truly formidable. If she keeps this up, he decided that he will invite her to Blackwood Manor and train her personally.

—--

Exactly at noon, Harry held the letter in his hand as the portkey activated, he was yanked from his location with a familiar pull behind his navel and in an instant, he landed firmly on his feet in front of a grand manor. The manor before him was built with rough-hewn stone.

As Harry took in the sight of the manor, the massive doors of the manor creaked open and a small house-elf with large, intelligent eyes stepped out. The elf bowed deeply before Harry and gestured for Harry to follow. The creature led him inside through a vast corridor lined with tapestries and portraits, each portrait observing the newcomer, some with wary and some interest.

The hall was warm, the massive fireplace flickered. Harry was surprised by the bright white light. He wondered how these torches with fire produced light brighter and whiter than a light bulb. Interesting piece of magic, he mused. He turned to see Arcturus Black, the patriarch of the Black family walking toward him. He slightly reminded Harry of Sirius.

"Welcome to Blackwood Manor," Arcturus greeted with a slightly cordial but scrutinizing tone.

"Thank you for the invitation, Lord Black. I appreciate your intervention during the trial," Harry responded, maintaining an even, respectful tone.

Arcturus studied him keenly, his sharp eyes missing nothing. "Spare me the pleasantries, Mr. Peverell. You turned that entire courtroom on its head within moments. You made them dance to your tune."

Harry inclined his head slightly, he neither confirmed nor denied the observation. "That might be, but I acknowledge the support you provided."

Arcturus let out a dry chuckle. "And I acknowledge what you did for Bellatrix. You freed her from the Dark Lord’s hold. That alone earns you my consideration."

Before Harry could respond, Arcturus continued, "We have much to discuss regarding the Death Eaters and their leader. Our associate will be joining us shortly."

The fireplace roared with emerald flames, and a figure stepped through the Floo.

"Charlus Potter," Arcturus introduced. Harry’s breath hitched for a fraction of a second. Another member of his family—one he had never known before time had shifted.

"You handled yourself well in the trial. That was impressive," Charlus remarked in a friendly tone.

Harry gave a simple nod in acknowledgment.

With formalities set aside, the three men settled onto the sofas.

"Mr. Peverell, you were unknown to anyone until a month ago. There is no record of your name in Hogwarts," Charlus began.

"I was privately schooled," Harry answered evenly.

"How did such an important family remain hidden for so long while all of Wizarding Britain believed them extinct?" Arcturus inquired.

"I have no idea," Harry said, controlling the sudden burst of anger. "My parents were killed when I was a baby. I was raised by Muggles and I didn’t even know magic existed until I was eleven."

Both Arcturus and Charlus were visibly surprised by this. Silence stretched between them for a few moments.

"Both of us have seen Bellatrix’s memories from the attack at the pub," Charlus said at last. "I believe it’s safe to assume you are opposed to the Dark Lord and his ideology of pureblood supremacy?" His gaze bore into Harry’s.

"People with similar ideologies killed my parents," Harry replied curtly. Then, turning to Arcturus, he added, "I expected the patriarch of the Black family to be a believer in pureblood supremacy."

Arcturus met his gaze without hesitation. "I do believe purebloods are superior, but that does not mean I would let a madman rule over me. Goblins believe themselves superior to wizards, yet they do not seek to overthrow us."

Harry regarded him intently for a long moment before finally speaking. "I think it’s time we discuss why we are here."

Arcturus leaned forward slightly. "First, I must thank you for what you did for Bellatrix. The Black family always honors its debts."

Harry’s expression remained unchanged. "I did what I would have done for anyone, Lord Black."

“We were also intrigued by your resemblance to the Potter family,” Charlus added.

“I can’t help you there, I grew up with muggles until I was eleven, I do not have much knowledge about my ancestry.” Harry replied.

“We were also looking to counter the rise of a new dark lord. The fools at the Ministry will bury their heads in the sands until it is too late.” Arcturus continued. “The wizarding population in Europe had already plummeted to less than half due to Grindelwalds war. Another war will destroy us.”

“We would like you to invite you to join our efforts.” Charlus added.

Harry remembered The Order of the Phoenix in his original timeline and even though they were instrumental in winning the war, their efforts were hampered by playing catch up with death eaters who had no qualms using deadly spells and had thoroughly infiltrated the Ministry.

“How do you plan to counter? And what do you expect from me?” Harry asked a little suspiciously.

“No one knows the real name of this new Dark Lord, the only info we got was his self christened name Lord Voldemort.” Charlus said. “But we do have some idea about his support base.” Charlus gestured to Arcturus to speak.

“Most of the members are pure-bloods. ” Arcturus added. “I suspect they already have significant support in the Wizengamot. They had even approached my son when they could not contact me.”

“From what I gleaned from Bellatrix’s memories, I suspect he is building an army using attacks on muggles as training. ”

Charlus looked at him and said in a serious tone “We are in the dark, the first order will be to get more intelligence, then formulate a plan to counter both politically and go on a counter offensive like you did in the pub.”

“Let us meet next week, and formulate a clear plan, by then I will try to gleam more intelligence on the Death Eaters” Charlus said.

With that they ended the meeting, Arcturus walked Harry out, from where he apparated to his home.

—--

Bellatrix sat at the dining table, exhausted from the training and hours of studying tomes from the Black library. She was both physically and mentally exhausted. She noticed her sister Andromeda entering the room.

Andromeda placed a cup of coffee in front of Bellatrix and asked with concern, “How are you feeling now?”

Bellatrix took a sip of her coffee before replying with a smile, “I’m good now Dromeda.”

Before Andromeda could press further, Narcissa rushed into the room holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

“You need to see the front page news!” Narcissa exclaimed, thrusting the newspaper onto the table. Bellatrix and Andromeda leaned forward to read the bold headline.

“Harry Peverell Acquitted After Vicious Attack by Masked Wizards”

The article detailed how Harry Peverell had been ambushed by eight masked wizards, all of whom he had destroyed in battle. It went on to describe the subsequent trial at the Wizengamot, where Harry was accused of murder but ultimately acquitted. The article did not mention the identities of the eight dead wizards.

Bellatrix’s mind raced. There was no mention of her. Harry had kept her completely out of his testimony. She exhaled in relief, gratitude washing over her. The name Harry Peverell echoed in her mind. So that was his name.

A thought crept into her mind. Peverell is an old pureblood name. A powerful name. A name she could respect. Unbidden, an image from her dreams surfaced, the intense green eyes that had looked at her with love.

For a brief moment, the idea of Harry Peverell as a potential match flickered in her thoughts. But she quickly banished it. She cannot be distracted by such mundane matters, she had a goal. She will become powerful and will have her revenge, everyone involved in her kidnapping and placing her under compulsion will regret ever meeting her.

Still, she couldn't ignore the possibilities. The self-styled Dark Lord had an army of Death Eaters. If she was going to take them all down, she would need allies. Perhaps Harry Peverell could be one of them. He is powerful enough.

“Bella, are you listening?” her younger sister whined.

Bella focused on her sister and said, “Sorry cissy, what were you saying?”

She talked with her sisters for some time before retiring to her room, her mind planning her eventual confrontation with the Death Eaters and their leader.