What Does It Take To Make You Walk Away By: phoenixgirl26
Not long after Ron left, Hermione and Harry decided it was time for them to leave as well. But Harry and Hermione weren't just going to leave their hiding place in the tent, they were going to leave the country.Rated: Fiction M - English - Drama/Family - [Harry P., Hermione G.] N. Tonks, Kingsley S. - Chapters: 23 - Words: 41,444 - Reviews: 347 - Favs: 1,983 - Follows: 790 - Published: Oct 19, 2016 - Status: Complete - id: 12196621
Chapter one
It had been five days since Ron stormed out of the tent, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The first two days they hardly spoke, mainly short responses if asked a question. Neither of them knew what to do, how to continue looking for the horcruxes. One thing they did do was stop wearing the locket, after the way it had been affecting them they decided to keep it in a pocket. Harry would occasionally take out the other destroyed horcruxes in the hope he would work out how to destroy the locket, but so far nothing came to him.
Harry was sitting outside the tent, he was just sitting, staring at the trees, thinking.
'Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?'
'Sure, you don't have to ask,' Harry waited until she sat beside him, 'You're leaving as well, aren't you?'
'No, I made a promise to you that I would stay and I'm keeping that promise.'
'You don't have to Hermione, this isn't really your job, it was left to me. You could leave, go find your parents and stay safe in Australia.'
'I'm staying with you, but what I need to talk about is this job, also something personal.'
'Then start with the job, do you know where we might look?'
'No, I don't think we should. Hear me out Harry because I've done a lot of thinking over the last few days. I don't agree with the fact that Professor Dumbledore left this on your shoulders. There are many trustworthy people that could help, you don't need to do this, especially alone. But also, I never liked the fact that he left you with the Dursley's. After the triwizard tournament, then what happened in the graveyard, you should not have been left alone and isolated. After Sirius,' Hermione took Harry's hand in hers, 'You were grieving and left with people who couldn't help you even if they wanted to. I lost my respect for him from our fourth year, but now, and I hate saying this, I do not believe he cared for you as he made you think he did.'
'I know he didn't, he was using me, manipulating me, but it's not like I could do anything, I had no parents or an adult who could say anything. If Sirius got his name cleared before…' Harry sighed, 'then he would have said something, I know he would have.'
'Yes, he would have made sure you lived with him, where you should have lived all your life. But about these horcruxes Harry, let's just stop. We can send a letter to Professor McGonagall, Mr. Shacklebolt, they were in the order and trustworthy. They would know how to help with this, we don't, we don't even know enough to protect ourselves. We on the run, so why don't we just leave and let them handle this job. You've just turned seventeen, this isn't a job for people our age.'
Harry sighed again, 'I don't know what I'm doing Hermione, how could he believe I would figure this out. He didn't tell me anything let alone how to destroy one when we found one. I think you're right though, we can't do this and we shouldn't. Why does it need to be me to find them even if there is a prophecy?'
'It doesn't and I don't think the prophecy is still active. Think about it Harry, you vanquished him that night, you got marked, I think the prophecy was fulfilled that night. If it was made after then that's another story but it was made before you were even born, so it's done. I did a bit of research about prophecies after we were at the ministry. Even when a prophecy is fulfilled the orb remains, it's just a record of when one was made. I think that's why Dumbledore didn't tell you, he didn't want you to figure out it was finished that night.'
'I've thought about that as well, I was marked and he did disappear. What if we're wrong though, what if I am the only one that can finish him?'
'I don't believe that, yes his horcruxes need to be destroyed, then he will be mortal, anyone could kill him. But think of this, unless you're willing to use the killing curse, how could you destroy someone so dark? He could kill you a dozen ways using dark magic and you, none of us our age can do spells that could protect us.'
'Okay, say we let others know, then what do we do? We can't go back, I'm undesirable number one remember and you're also wanted for not registering as a muggleborn. I'm also worried that if I did kill him then they might just chuck me in Azkaban.'
'We leave, you and me, we go, maybe Australia or some other country. This brings me to what else I want to talk to you about.'
'I've been thinking of leaving. Every year since I found out I was a wizard I've almost died, so have you because we're friends.'
'Yes, you deserve a proper and safe life, we all do, but we can't get it here.'
'No, we can't, yet it's our home and we have to leave.'
'We do, now, tell me the truth, how do you feel about Ginny?'
'I don't know, when we first left I was always worried, I kept checking the map. Over the last few days I haven't looked once, I haven't really thought about her. She has her family, I know they will keep her safe, but…I don't know, I just don't think I like her the way I thought.'
'I'm the same, I thought I liked Ron, but ever since he left I realised I don't. I did a lot of thinking about Ron and me, we would never work Harry, look how often we argued, look how often you had to come between us.'
'I never wanted to say anything, you know how jealous Ron gets of me. If I did say something he might have believed I wanted to go out with you and was trying to stop him. I feel the same about Ginny though, we're too different, I'm a quiet person, she's not, we would end up arguing all the time because I wouldn't want to go out like she would. Why do you think our feelings have changed so suddenly?'
'I have no proof but I believe you and I have been dosed with a mild love potion or a potion that makes us attracted to them and no one else. I believe it started in our fourth year, that's when I first got upset with Ron, and it was the first time you paid attention to a girl, you wanted to ask Cho to the ball. If they wanted us it was then that things changed, I went to the ball with Viktor and you asked Cho but went with Parvati. It was a few days later that I noticed how Ron acted around me. I know Ginny has always liked you, I believe she got so jealous when you said you wanted to go with Cho that she was desperate. Ron left five days ago and now we both don't feel the same as we did.'
'Okay, say that's true, wouldn't they know we would find out, eventually, or it could stop working then we would leave them for betraying us?'
'They could have, or they could have made the potion stronger. You and I are alike Harry, if we were married then had children we would not abandon our family.'
'No, we wouldn't, it's a dream of mine to have a family one day, if I survive.'
'Yes, and they would know that. This feeling started two days after Ron left and it's been getting stronger every day he's away. I did a quick search of the tent but I never found anything so if he did have a potion then he took it with him.'
'I believe you and do you know why?'
'No, so tell me.'
'Well, um, red heads don't…um,' Harry shrugged.
'Yes, I am not attracted to red heads either. But honestly, me and Ron, it's impossible. I have to force him to study which makes me believe he'll never amount to much. I work hard because I want to strive to do the best I can. Then there's the way he eats, like a man that's starving.'
'He eats like a pig Hermione, Ginny's not much better, I can't look at either of them when I'm trying to eat. But the amount they eat, it's incredible that any one person could put that much away, apart from the Dursley's. I never said anything before, but it was disgusting. The thing is, they do eat like their starving yet they had never gone hungry in their lives, they wouldn't know what it was like to be hungry. So what do we do, Ron might not find us but he might?'
'We leave, straight away, if they did use a potion I don't want Ron or Ginny near us in case they try to dose us again.'
'Okay, I've been studying a lot of the books, one book I got from Sirius had the portus charm on it. Do you think we could manage to make a port key?'
'We could work it out, but we would need to be somewhere like here, somewhere they will have trouble tracking us.'
'Then we make a few, move around before our final destination.'
'Then how about I read up on those and you write to McGonagall and Shacklebolt. We'll tell her about the locket as well and tell McGonagall about the memories that Dumbledore collected. I don't want to take the chance of sending something like that, we might find a way to destroy it.'
'It's safer to keep with us, just in case the death eaters have complete control. Okay, let's do this because I'm sick of waiting to die, I want to have a normal life.'
Harry stood and pulled Hermione to her feet, for a few seconds they just stared at each other before they quickly turned away and hurried into the tent. Harry sat on one side of the table where their parchment and ink was, Hermione sat on the other side where the books were piled together. Between both of them they did what they needed to, to have a life without being hunted.
Chapter two
It took a couple of days but Hermione with some help from Harry were able to work the portus charm. They made five port keys out of their kitchen items from the tent, a spoon, a knife, a fork, a cup and a plate.
That evening an owl flew into Minerva McGonagall's private chambers, just as another owl flew into the home of Kingsley Shacklebolt. When they read their letters both knew what they were up against if they were to even be free of Voldemort, but first they needed to talk, what they didn't know is how. Hogwarts was under Voldemort's control, the ministry as well, both Minerva and Kingsley were always being watched. They would need to work on some way to contact each other without any of the death eaters finding out.
Harry had to work out about his vaults, so he wrote to the goblins and asked if there was any way he could still access his money from another country. If they could work something out for him and no one found out then Harry offered them any two goblin made items in the vault Sirius left him. Harry remembered that the goblins liked to retrieve any goblin made items so being offered two with the chance of retrieving more just might make them help but also make sure his name was never mentioned, or anything about his vaults.
Harry packed up the tent, Hermione placed it inside her bag then held Harry's hand. They were going to apparate a few hundred miles from where they were before putting their enchantments back up again. They hoped it would mask the magic around the port key, which would take them to France; that was the first stop they needed.
For two full days Hermione and Harry would port key or apparate to different places until they finally took their last port key, the longest which would take them to Australia.
When they realised how hot it was as they were in Australia's summer, they set their tent up but this time deep in a forest where they could get some shade from the scorching heat. Once they were done they went to get some food then work out what to do. They decided to relax for a while before working on what they wanted to do now they weren't in constant danger. It was a couple of nights later that Harry received a response from the goblins.
'They agreed to help Hermione, but they said that all I have to do is go to the wizarding bank in whichever country I'm in, my key will activate a vault here.'
'So all magical countries are linked, at least the banking system is.'
'Yeah, it is, at least we can live now until we can work out what we're going to do.'
'We've got a bit of time to work that out, we need to read up on how the magical world works in this country. After hearing what Fleur said about Beauxbaton's and France I realise that they had progressed a lot compared to England. I know Australia is a commonwealth country so it's still under the monarchy, but we have no idea how the magical world works or if they have modernised or stayed in the last century, like England.'
'Yeah, why is that Hermione? We have magic which means we don't need electric lights or dishwashers, but Hogwarts, the way the ministry is run, the clothes, quills. Why is England still living in the last century?'
'I don't know, it seems they want to keep everything like the old ways. Okay, yes, you can keep traditions that show us we're different from the muggles, but surely we can move forward. I heard a few muggleborn students or halfbloods who were raised in muggle homes say they will likely use muggle items or have muggle homes, that they couldn't understand why we can't combine the two worlds as long as we keep our world secret.'
'I think it stays the same because of those purebloods, like Malfoy. Most of them have no idea about the muggle world, they have never seen how far advanced they are. You've got Voldy and his lot believing that magic is might and nothing can beat it. You and I know what the muggle world can do, especially with weapons. I doubt a magical shield could stop a nuclear bomb or a chemical weapon. The muggles out-number us by a huge amount.'
'They do and yes, a nuclear bomb could destroy a place like Hogwarts, and the surrounding area. This is why I like talking to you Harry, we understand how both world works. Ron would never believe the muggles were more powerful than witches and wizards. I also could never just sit and talk to him like this, he always wanted to talk about quidditch or food. Doesn't he have any ambition?'
'No, well, he wants to play quidditch which is a great career if you have the talent. Going to the world cup showed me how they play, Ron would never make that, not when he's too lazy to get out of bed in the mornings to train. But what we were talking about, tell me your impression of the muggle studies class.'
'It wasn't very good, most of the items she showed us were from the thirties, and forties, the history was old, a few hundred years old. There was never one discussion about world war one or two, about aircraft carries, helicopters or fighter jets. Nothing on DNA, heart transplants or laser surgery. The magical world has no idea how advanced the muggle world is compared to them.'
'I got that impression, but when it comes to the magical world I also know that unless you had money, prestige or the right blood type, most would never advance in their working lives. You know how they feel about muggleborns, I doubt those purebloods would ever allow someone like you, no matter how smart you art to become minister.'
'I thought of that after our careers advice. I would give them a chance and if I could not get a job I deserved just because they thought I was a mudblood then I might need to work on gaining my muggle education. You could do the same Harry, we could easily fake papers to make it seem like we did our schooling. My only trouble is that it would take a while, then university, I don't have enough money for that.'
'I do, I could cover both of us Hermione, I'm sure Sirius would like the fact that his families money is being used to help a muggleborn. You know, we could learn what we need but maybe we could use our magic to help in ways. We will have to tell the magical government we're here and if they are as behind as England then we explain we would rather live and work in the muggle world, but we aren't giving up our magical heritage, we will help if it's needed. If we can learn what we need of the muggle world and the magical world then maybe we can stop witches and wizards from being discovered.'
'I did think that maybe our worlds could join, but they would persecute us or blame us for things. It could end up being like the old witch trials. I realised that after hearing about the Dursley's.'
'Yeah, they would always blame me and my freaky ways when things didn't go their way. It's a shame but we would need to stay hidden, and even though I hate agreeing with purebloods or Voldy, but we do need to watch the muggles. Even though that lot want to control the muggles, which is wrong but more are finding out, families of muggleborns. You get too many like the Dursley's and they'd try to wipe us out. I mean, you're parents are fine, but not all are like that. Okay, we have some basic ideas, but we should find out what the Australia ministry is like, how their school and government work. You know what I think we should do first though?'
'No, so tell me.'
'Get some cooler clothes, I can't believe how warm I am.'
Hermione chuckled, 'Yes, it's quite different from England, but I also know the winter here is very mild, nothing like England and it only snows in the mountains. We are in the middle of their summer right now, so we're feeling the heat more now than if we arrived in spring or winter.'
'Then we need to acclimatise, okay, what about your parents, are you going to find them?'
'No, I mean I will find them but I'm not going to replace their memories. It's safer Harry, they have no idea about our world or what is going on in England. Ever since I started at Hogwarts we have drifted apart, I will always love them but they can't be part of my life, my magical life. We are safer keeping muggles in the dark about our powers. I will see them, without them knowing who I am, but I won't put them in danger.'
'It is safer, for them, right now they are just two muggles that has nothing to do with the magical world or the-boy-who-lived. Um, do you think the Australian ministry would know my name?'
'I would say they know that you or the-boy-who-lived survived the killing curse, I'm not sure if they know any more.'
'I just don't want someone here to tell that lot back home where I am. Maybe if I could speak with someone like an auror, tell them what's going on, how if they found me here could mean a war here like there is in England, so maybe they could help me stay hidden. But also if they knew some of the facts then maybe they could prepare for a war in the off chance it comes here, or they find out I'm here. Maybe the magical world here has something like legally changing your name, I could be Jimmy Black or something like that.'
'Then that's another thing we do, which means we will need to spend a lot of time at the Australia ministry. We can get the information on how this country works, read up on the school, jobs and if Australia is as far behind like England.'
'We can do that Hermione, but let's hope we can finish our education without almost dying every year. So how about we get started on dinner then talk about what we're going to do first, which I think should be buying a place to live, something we can enchant.'
'Yes, let's get started,' Hermione smiled shyly at Harry before heading into the kitchen. She thought about what he said, buying a place to live, they would live together.
Even though both knew they felt nothing for Ron or Ginny, Hermione never told Harry that she did feel something for him. She had seen some looks from Harry and wondered if he felt anything for her. Harry was very shy about personal things, she doubts he would say something to her, which meant she would need to bring up the subject. She would wait and see if she could find out if Harry felt more for her than just friendship, if he did then she would tell him how she feels.
Chapter three
The first thing Hermione and Harry did was locate her parents. Even though Hermione wasn't going to reveal who she was or give them back their memories, she did want to keep an eye on them. So they found out they lived in Tasmania, a small island just off Victoria. From what they could find out it had the coolest climate which they both liked as they realised just how warm Australia was during the summer months. With magic they knew they could visit a lot of places but decided to make Tasmania their home, at least for now.
Before they decided to buy a home they wanted to find out about magical towns, how the ministry worked then decide where they would live and work, magical or muggle. They set up their tent, cast their enchantments then went to the Ministry for Magic which was located in a city called Canberra.
One of the first things they did was find the records room for all magical towns and find out about the school. There were dozens of small magical towns and there were two versions of Hogwarts, yet the schools weren't situated in a castle, just large buildings that were built when Australia became colonised. The schools were also a lot smaller than Hogwarts, since they had two, and they only had two because of the size of the country. One magical school was in Canberra the other was in Perth. It seems that when England first started to send their prisoners to Australia, some witches and wizards decided to move there as well. So just like the first lot of Australians to be born from those prisoners, the first lot of Australian born witches and wizards arrived usually within the first year. They also found out that a lot of those wizards and witches were like Hermione, muggleborns, the first ones born in Australia.
One thing they noticed though the moment they stepped into the ministry was it didn't look like a set from an old fashioned movie. People did wear robes, but some wore pants and shirts, or a magical version of a suit, there were even some woman that wore dresses, but suitable for working or visiting the ministry of magic. They found out that robes were just for department heads and the minister, yet they did not have to wear them at all times, only during special meetings, like their version of a Wizengamot.
Hermione found out that they had their own way of copying files, like with muggles they would scan things into computers or just print out a copy on paper. Here they used something like a prophecy orb, but it was just to make copies of files that they could watch just by activating the orb, yet it would also give a paper copy if required. To Harry and Hermione it seemed like the Australian ministry were moving with the times and not remaining stuck in the past. They purchased a dozen of the orbs to keep some copies that they didn't need to have a paper copy. Next they went about making paper copies of rules and regulations for the ministry, how there court system worked, what jobs a muggleborn could get, and the school curriculum.
After a few hours they apparated back to their tent and removed their glamour, 'What I scanned looks good Hermione even though I haven't gone through it all yet.'
'Yes, they have a much better school curriculum, one where you can do advanced studies once you're done your N.E.W.T.s. You can even get your masters decree if you remain at the school for the required time. You can even do healing, it's one of the electives for fourth year and up students.'
'I like the class on wards and enchantments, which starts from third year, but you do require ancient runes, same with curse breaking.'
'Makes sense Harry, rune symbols and rune stones are often used for powerful enchantments, like what's around Hogwarts. They have warding stones which have runes carved into them before they are buried around the grounds.'
'There ministry sounds good too, employees must sign a loyalty and allegiance contract, but they are also questioned under veritaserum before they get a job, even the minister.'
'Yes, which means that no one working there will ever betray the ministry, so no dark wizards like Malfoy. Do you think we should speak with them, about you-know-who?'
'I've been thinking about it, even if he wins in England there is no guarantee he would try to take over other countries. Britain is a small country compared to places like America, Canada, Australia, China and Russia, there are many that are a lot larger and have a greater population than Britain. I know Australia has nowhere near that type of population but the country itself is huge.'
'He'd be foolish to try to take those countries, especially if they are like here with their loyalty contracts, it's based on their magic. If you betray your country and ministry then your magic is bound.'
'There are always people that want power or money but it's good to know they can't influence the ministry. Okay, say we talk to them, just to give them a heads up on what they might face.'
'You know a lot about him Harry, more than anyone else. If McGonagall can get into that office she could study those memories, but you've felt him. So even if you don't like what that connection does, it could be useful.'
'Since we are making Australia our home I don't want him to make a move here, so I'll tell them everything if I have to.'
'Then how about we make an appointment with the head auror, for now we'll just use our fake names until we get inside.'
'It's only thanks to the family rings I got from my vault that is keeping our identity a secret, as well as our wands. I was worried about that when we first went to the ministry, I thought I would register as Harry Potter and not Jimmy Black. I wonder why my parents had these types of rings.'
'Your dad was an auror, maybe he used one for work, when they found out about the prophecy he might have had one made for your mother. Unless we could find a diary or something I doubt you will ever know.'
'Unless Remus knows, but I can't take the chance of contacting him. With Tonks being an auror, you don't think the aurors here would be in contact with other aurors?'
'I don't think so Harry, not unless their jobs intermingled, like a crime that they were both investigating. Maybe they keep up with what other countries aurors are doing but I doubt it would be closer than that. If you're worried we don't have to tell them our real names.'
'No, we'll tell them, there contracts make them loyal to here so I doubt they will do anything that could bring Voldy here, like telling anyone back home Harry Potter is in the country. That's another worry, what if they knew about that night, the prophecy, how he's tried to kill me a dozen times. What if they don't want me here, they might believe I'll bring dark wizards to their shore?'
'I won't lie Harry, it is a possibility, but think of what you said before. You know more about him and a lot of his death eaters than anyone alive. You could give them valuable information. It won't matter if he comes here or not, they would use that information to watch for anyone dark.'
'That's true, well, why don't you work on the appointment for two weeks which will give us time to learn what we need. But I might start writing down what I do know in case I might need to refresh my memory.'
'I doubt it, he's been a constant since you were eleven,' Hermione gave Harry's hand a squeeze, she wanted to tell him how she felt, but she just couldn't pluck up the courage. Some Gryffindor she is, she thought to herself.
Harry watched Hermione sit at the end of the table, they tried to keep their books and papers separate so they didn't have to go searching to find a particular book.
Ever since that day they spoke after Ron left, Harry noticed a shift in his feeling towards Hermione. He wasn't sure how she felt so he'd kept quiet. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. They had both decided to leave their home country, so all they had were each other. If he said he liked her more than a friend, it would be awkward if she didn't feel the same, eventually they might not be able to remain together. Harry didn't mind being alone, but he hated the thought he could never speak to Hermione again.
Ron was seething, he had left because he was angry. He only planned to go somewhere to cool down. He knew he couldn't be away from Hermione or Harry for more than a day or the potion would begin to wear off. But it was just his luck that he apparated right in front of a bunch of snatchers. By the time he escaped, which was three days later, he couldn't find the tent. He kept walking around, trying to feel the wards Hermione put up. He knew they would still be there for another day or so, but he never found them.
After two days of sleeping out in the open he realised they must have apparated using the cloak or left right after he did. Ron headed to the Burrow only to be told off by his mother. They would need to wait now and hope they could get to Harry and Hermione before they end up with feelings for someone else. Molly knew she would need to tell Ginny so she would understand if Harry didn't act like he used to towards her. She would go back to her shy smiles, her looks which told him she was still interested. One thing worried Molly, her daughter's temper, if she took this news badly it could mean driving Harry away when they saw him again. They knew they would see him, eventually, he had to face Voldemort which meant trying to get Ginny back into Harry's life before he died. Albus had explained that Harry would die, he had no choice, so they made plans so Harry would make Ron, Ginny and the Weasley family his beneficiaries when he died. Years of making sure the love potion was added to their drinks might all be for nothing if they didn't find out where Harry and Hermione disappeared to.
Chapter four
Harry and Hermione found a magical town where they could sit and have dinner, but also listen to the wireless. They knew most would be music or news from this country but they found at the end of the local news they would add a story of what was going on in England, what was going on with Voldemort. One thing they heard was considered just a rumour but Harry believed it was something Voldy would do. Voldemort had put a jinx on his name in the hope he could catch Harry and any member of the Order of the Phoenix who did not mind saying Voldemort. Hermione and Harry had gotten used to saying Voldy or you-know-who mainly to appease Ron who hated hearing the name. Now if the rumours were true, they realised how lucky they were. They weren't sure if the jinx would work so far from Voldemort but they weren't going to take the chance.
Harry and Hermione walked through the atrium of the Australian Ministry for Magic. They had their glamour's up, which changed just enough of them to make sure no one would recognise Harry Potter and his friend Hermione Granger. Neither of them knew how many people might know about Harry or the war in England. Being in another country some might not take any notice, but some might.
They stepped into the auror office, 'Hello, I'm Jean Evans and this is James Black, we have an appointment.'
'Oh yes, Miss Evans, Mr Black, take a seat, I'll let Auror Jones know you're here.'
Harry and Hermione glanced at the aurors who were at their desks, 'Notice they don't wear robes, but you can tell by the uniform they are important, they also looked dignified.'
'Yes, I noticed, I always believed robes were not the best to fight in. I know you never liked them, more than most but you did get used to wearing them.'
'I did Hermione, but the few times I was in a fight I'm glad I wasn't wearing them, they could hinder any movements you might need. Like in the graveyard, if I was wearing robes they would have hindered me.'
'You can go in now.'
Harry and Hermione smiled at the woman then stepped into the office, 'I'm head auror Steven Jones, I was told you two had information on dark wizards.'
'Yes, we do.'
'Please, sit.' he gestured so Harry and Hermione sat facing the desk and the man behind it.
'We know of many dark witches and wizards, but sorry, we didn't mean to mislead you, they aren't in this country,' Harry nodded to Hermione.
'Do you know the story of Harry Potter?'
'Naturally, he survived the killing curse. From what we've been hearing he is still surviving that mad man.'
Harry removed his glamour then lifted his hair, 'I didn't want to be recognised, I wasn't sure I would in this country, but it was safer. This is my best friend, Hermione Granger, not Jean Evans.'
'Even though I do not appreciate being tricked, I do understand why. So this is about…'
'Don't say his name,' Harry and Hermione yelled as their hands went up, 'Sorry, but he jinxed it.'
'Jinxed his name, why would he do that?'
'You see, no one likes to say his name, it incites fear. Albus Dumbledore, some of the Order of the Phoenix and me were the only ones who would say his name. Hermione had recently started to say his name. He hoped that if one of us said it then we'd get caught, as we are the most dangerous to him. Our other friend hated us saying it so we got used to say Voldy or you-know-who.'
'Very clever actually, so you're the-boy-who-lived? Some of us weren't sure if the story was true or had been exaggerated.'
'I wish it wasn't true, but yes, I survived the killing curse, thanks to my mother. She used an old form of magic that most do not believe has any real power, love. She willingly sacrificed herself for me because she loved me which gave me a protection. So really, I didn't destroy him that night, my mother did when she died.'
'Only some of the old timers believe in that branch of magic, maybe it's time we study it, it may come in handy. Now back to why you're here.'
'We don't know for sure, but from all the information I have and what I heard, he plans to take other countries. He has control of Britain's magical world, once he builds up his army of death eaters he will move onto others, we believe Europe and France in particular will be first. Now he is a halfblood and was raised in a muggle orphanage, so if he did history like all muggle children then he may have learned that Australia began because England sent their prisoners here. We thought you should be made aware of the possibility that he could come here. If he was interested then he would send some of his supporters first, especially to check out the ministry and the people like yourself, aurors, hit wizards, obliviators, unspeakables, anyone that could cause him problems.'
'We have spoken about the possibility, we have a lot of plans in order just in case. But any further information you could pass on would be helpful.'
'The main bit of information is he can't die, at least not yet or until his horcruxes are destroyed.'
'Horcruxes,' Steven blurted out then fell back, sagging in his chair, 'How many?'
'We believe six, apart from the piece left inside him. Now two are destroyed, I destroyed one when I was twelve, Albus Dumbledore destroyed one not long before he died. Hermione and I, with the help of another friend were hunting them. The thing is sir, we just became adults, we don't know enough to fight those types let alone know how to destroy something so dark. We only did six years at school and then it was so disrupted that we didn't learn enough. The one I did destroy I used a basilisk fang, and it was mostly luck, but it's not like I can just walk up the street and find a basilisk. Dumbledore used the sword of Gryffindor, I used that sword to kill the basilisk so it's imbued with basilisk venom, but the sword went missing not long after he used it,' Harry looked at Hermione and nodded.
'We found another but had no way of destroying it,' Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out the locket, 'This belonged to Salazar Slytherin, it's over a thousand years old and houses a piece of you-know-who's soul.'
'We used to take turns wearing it so we wouldn't lose it, but it made us angry. Our other friend, Ron, he was so bad that we came to punches before he left. I know it needs to be opened to destroy it, which means only a parselmouth can open it, I speak parseltongue, I haven't because we have no idea how to destroy it.'
'May I see it?'
'Of course, we just wanted to warn you how you might feel.'
Hermione handed over the locket, her and Harry watched the auror, they could tell he felt it.
'Damn…that's…damn.'
'Yes, we know Sir,' Hermione said.
'But you see the problem, he can't die right now and if the two people we told can't find the others to destroy them he could very well take over every country. It may take years but he's a very patient man, so we wanted to warn the people in this country and maybe they could warn others.'
'So others know about these?' Steven put the locket back on the desk.
'We wrote and told two people. You see, Dumbledore only told Harry who in turn told me and Ron, but we've been friends for a long time and we've always kept Harry's secrets. As Harry said before, our schooling was disruptive and because of this war we had to leave. You-know-who wants Harry dead and anyone close to him, which means me, but I'm also a muggleborn. They do not like the fact we can do magic so they try to kill us, imprison us or make us slaves.'
'I'm classed as undesirable number one, everyone on his side is looking for me.'
'Okay, I get you destroyed him as a child but why is he still after you?'
'There is a prophecy that says one of us has to kill the other. The thing is, Hermione and I believe the prophecy was fulfilled the night my parents died. It said marked as his equal,' Harry again showed his scar, 'The prophecy was made before I was born, Dumbledore heard it but he had no idea which baby boy it meant, as there were two, me and a friend of mine, whose parents were aurors, cursed into madness. So whether the prophecy is fulfilled or not, he only heard the first half and I did destroy his body that night, so to him I'm the one he has to kill.'
'I believe I should get some people together so we can find out as much we can, as you can tell us. One thing I would like to know and I know others would as well, your scar and how you survived. Okay, it could be love which may be real, but there could be other factors. Would you consider one of our unspeakables examining your scar?'
'I don't mind that or passing over the information, but we would like a guarantee that you wouldn't make us leave the country. We left our home, our friends, everything and we've found a nice town to live in. All we want is to live like normal people, something I've never had. I was raised by abusive people that hated witches and wizards. I get to Hogwarts and Dumbledore manipulates and uses me. He set up tests, dangerous tests, he wanted to see how I would go against Voldy. I was eleven years old, I faced him and ended up killing the teacher he was possessing, who was also dark. I almost died every year at Hogwarts, I would survive one encounter than found myself in another life and death situation. I've saved the school, I saved the philosophers stone with the help of Hermione and Ron, I saved Ron's little sister, then with help from Hermione we saved my godfather who was innocent but no one believed us. I saw a friend murdered in front of me, then watch as my godfather is killed. All that was my life and all I want now is to be normal. But I will help if it's needed, I just don't think the magical world's safety should be placed on my shoulders alone. I'm only seventeen, especially when I was raised in the muggle world and have no idea about the types of magic that is out there.'
Hermione reached across and took Harry's hand in hers, she squeezed to let him know he always had her. She knew what Harry's life had been like and she knew he was suffering because of it. She wanted what he wanted, for Harry to have a normal life. It was time the adults did more and let Harry rest. That was why she came to detest Albus Dumbledore, for the life he forced Harry to live. She wanted to be here for Harry, especially now she realised she was in love with him and had been for a few years. They had finally talked and were now together, but Harry has never said more than that he cared for Hermione, she hoped he felt more or he will in the very near future.
Chapter five
'I can tell you're young Mr. Potter, yet your eyes tell me more, that you have had a very hard life. Alright, I will speak with a few people, organise for you and Miss Granger to have dual citizenship. I'm sure if the war is over, one day, you would like to go home, whether to live or visit.'
'Yes, maybe a visit, but even if he was destroyed we would not return there to live. Apart from Albus Dumbledore making Harry's life hard and dangerous, there were others that acted as friends when they just wanted to be known as the-boy-who-lived friends. The ministry over there is corrupt, even before he took control. Harry was lied about, ridiculed and blamed for things he didn't do. They do not respect muggleborns, we're second class citizens to them. We want to start a new life here, we just need some help to achieve that.'
'Then I will work on your dual citizenship, as of now you can stay. I will organise a meeting so we can find out exactly what we might be up against. You said you told two people about the horcruxes, can you tell me who?'
'Professor Minerva McGonagall, she's the transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, she was our head of house and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, she's trustworthy and a very powerful witch. The other is Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror. We trusted him as he was my guard a few times and we did get to know each other, he's a good bloke. We figured we needed two trustworthy and powerful people who would know what to do, to keep this secret and find others that could help. Working in two different places could help as well. Kingsley might be in hiding right now, but he's with people who are trying to stop Voldy. But he has people inside the ministry who are passing information. The death eaters are running Hogwarts, so McGonagall will stay to make sure the students are safe.'
'Then maybe we can work on contacting them or you're auror friend. Where are you staying at the moment?'
'In Tasmania, but we're using a tent, until we spoke to you we weren't sure if we could stay. We do want to buy a house, probably in a magical town. I organised to access my vaults from here, the goblins helped with that before we left. They used their own magic to seal them from access over there, I just need to go to the bank here. I gave them two goblin made items if they kept our whereabouts to themselves. I just hope I can trust them.'
'From what I know of goblins they don't get involved in our wars or troubles, yet they do like to retrieve any goblin made item. Since you gave them two I believe they would see that as a binding agreement. Okay, I will send you an owl to come in and I will have someone escort you through so you don't need to go through security. It will probably be a few days to organise everything.'
'That's good, it will give us time to look for a home,' Harry and Hermione stood, Harry held out his hand, 'Thank you Sir.'
'Yes, thank you Sir,' Hermione also shook the aurors hand.
'I should be thanking you two,' Steven watched the two teenagers leave. He couldn't believe what he heard even though he only heard a small amount, but what he did hear was shocking. He needed to speak with his aurors, he needed to speak with the Minister and others in the ministry. If they could work on a few things then hopefully their country would never be invaded by Voldemort or his death eaters. He knew Voldemort was building up an army, everyone magical in Australia and other countries were keeping a close eye on the situation in England, in the hope it does bring a war to them.
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day looking at homes around the three magical communities of Tasmania. Even though the places that were magical they were very small towns, they realised that Tasmania was a lot larger than Britain and it was only one small part of Australia.
The second day they continued to search until they found a beautiful country home with lots of land around it, including a lot of trees which would help with the heat, but it was also close to the ocean so they would get a nice sea breeze. One thing they both liked about it was how peaceful it looked. Harry organised to buy it and thankfully it came with some basic furniture. They would replace that in time, but it would do for now.
When the house was ready, they packed up their tent, did some shopping and headed home. Even though Harry hadn't told Hermione how he felt, she would be living with him, just not sharing with him. Harry loved the idea that Hermione would be living with him and he hoped he could get up the courage to tell her he loved her. Harry thought it was too soon for Hermione to hear that, even though Harry realised he had been in love with her since he was twelve.
Back in England, Minerva had been able to sneak the memories out of the headmaster's office, then she transfigured some items to replace them. Hopefully Snape would never want to look at them, if he did he might believe Albus took the real memories before he died. She was an expert at transfiguration, something Severus was not so she doubted he would find out that the memories in his office were fake. Next she worked it so her fireplace would allow her to leave, but she knew she could only do that occasionally. She did not want to leave the students with the death eaters. Minerva had been able to contact Kingsley via Bill Weasley, they worked on a meeting with just the two of them to decide who they could trust with this vital piece of information. They realised there were a few they could call on to help. Remus, Tonks, Arthur and the two older Weasley boys, and even though Minerva knew how much trouble they had been at school, she knew the Weasley twins would help in any way they could, they also cared for Harry. Kingsley and Minerva thought Bill could be a big help as well since he was a curse breaker.
No one had heard from Harry or Hermione, Molly and Ron were looking everywhere, Ginny was trying to listen in on the death eaters at the school to find out if Harry had been captured. So far no one was having any luck. Molly, Ron and Ginny never told anyone that they were missing or that Ron had left his friends. Ron would leave the house before his father got home, they had a story ready if anyone saw him, eventually he would allow himself to be seen, he just didn't want to yet. Ron was going to say he went to get some food and was captured, by the time he got back Hermione and Harry had moved on. They never stayed in one place more than a day or two before finding another place as they believed it would be too dangerous. He was going to say they would have left him some sort of clue to where they were but he never found them because there were more snatchers around. Hopefully people would believe him when they realised he wasn't with Harry and Hermione.
Back in Australia Hermione was helping Harry write down everything she could remember about Voldemort, or what Harry had told her about him and his death eaters. She had the books she summoned from Dumbledore's office the night he died, they had the information on what they believed was the horcruxes. One thing Harry mentioned was could someone like the Australia aurors watch his memory of watching other memories. Hermione was not sure as she never read much about memories and how they work. Harry decided he would mention it to the head auror and go from there.
They received an owl asking them to come to the ministry that day, at two, so Hermione and Harry made sure they had everything, Hermione keeping it in her beaded bag. They held hands then apparated to the ministry, arriving in the apparition point of the atrium.
Two aurors were waiting for them, they stood on either side of Hermione and Harry then walked off in silence. Harry glanced at Hermione who raised her eyebrows but decided to just go with it since the head auror said they only wanted information.
'Ah Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, welcome back.'
'Thank you Sir,' Harry said shaking the aurors hand, 'I have to say, you're two aurors are very intimidating. I've met a few in my time and none made me feel like yours did, but then they were friends so I never got to see them act like aurors.'
'They are meant to intimidate which means they are doing their job. Now we'll get to introductions before we get to the questions.'
Harry and Hermione were introduced to the Minister, heads of other departments and two unspeakable before they took their seat at the large conference table.
'Head auror Jones explained what you told him which makes all of us very concerned.' the Minister said.
'We understand Sir, knowing that mad-man can't die is worrying.'
'You said six, or you believe there is six. Could you tell us what they are?' the Minister asked.
'Okay,' Harry nodded to Hermione, 'Well, the locket,' Hermione placed the locket on the table, 'It had once belonged to Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts but Voldy stole it after killing a woman who owned it. The diary belonged to Voldy when he was a teenager, he spelled it with his memories but it was still a horcrux, I destroyed that when I was twelve,' Hermione placed the old book on the table, 'The ring which belonged to his wizard grandfather and uncle, Albus Dumbledore destroyed that,' Hermione placed the ring onto the table, 'A goblet that belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, another founder of Hogwarts, the woman who owned the locket owned the cup, but we have no idea where it is. Nagini, he's familiar which is a very large snake, a python, which he keeps with him but he does send her out to do his bidding. We believe the last is either an item that belongs to Rowena Ravenclaw, another founder, or Godric Gryffindor, another founder. As far as anyone knows the only items in existence that belongs to Gryffindor that's his sword which usually hangs in the headmaster's office, but recently went missing, and the sorting hat which also stays in the headmasters office until the sorting ceremony.'
The group around the table realised that the search for Voldemort's horcruxes may not be easy and takes years to find. If the knowledge of these items gets out, he may move them or even make more. They wanted to make sure their country and people were safe, so helping Britain as much as they could would benefit both countries, and maybe others.
Chapter six
'I have a suspicion about another one but I have been unable to confirm it,' Hermione whispered then turned to Harry, 'I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure, you would end up worried.'
'I am worried anyway Hermione, why would this other one be any different?'
'Dumbledore told you he made a living being one, Nagini, I think he was trying to tell you something.'
'Hermione, just tell me, what was that old coot keeping from me this time?'
'You speak parseltongue, you feel Voldy's emotions, you've had visions, you see through his eyes. The killing curse doesn't leave a mark, yet you got the scar that night.'
'Holy fuck,' Harry fell against the back of the chair, 'Me, he made me one?'
'I'm not sure, but it seems to point that way. No one could explain why you feel what he feels, how you saw Mr Weasley get attacked that night. You saw his fake vision which lured you to the ministry to rescue Sirius.'
Harry put his hand up on his scar, 'When he's near me it hurts, he touched my scar that night, in the graveyard, I thought my head was splitting in two. It hurts when his really angry. That's why Dumbledore didn't train me, he knew I had to die.'
'Mr Potter does not need to die.'
Harry and Hermione looked towards one of the hooded men, 'But if Harry's a horcrux then how would Voldy die if a piece of his soul is still here?'
'There is a ritual that combined with a crystal can pull the other soul out, the crystal will draw the soul into it. It was used hundreds of years ago when a reincarnated soul did not join fully with the new soul, it caused two distinct personalities and almost caused both souls to die. This ritual will force the unwanted soul out, now as it's only a portion of his soul then it would not take as long or be as painful.'
'I don't care about the pain, I just don't want to see through his eyes anymore.'
'Is there a chance we could stop Mr Potter feeling pain but keep the connection, at least for now?' the Minister asked.
'We would need to examine Mr Potter to determine that sir.'
'Why would you want to leave the soul in Harry?' Hermione asked.
'You said he can see through his eyes, this could be used to get information.'
'I admit I've used it for that reason, but I've had trouble controlling this. You see, Dumbledore had Snape, a bastard, sorry, he was supposed to teach me how to occlude my mind, it was disastrous.'
'Professor Snape and Harry never liked each other, but he was cruel to Harry.'
'I found out that he loved my mother, she married my father who I happen to look like. But I also found out that my father and his friend's sort of bullied Snape when they were kids, he hexed them if he got the chance. He can't take out his animosity out on my father so he takes it out on me. If I could learn occlumency then it might help get you information. It's like last night, I found out he's been leaving the country a lot, but I'm not sure why or where he's going. I only get flashes sometimes, other times I see what he's looking at.'
'Then I will teach you, if this Snape and you did not like each other then it would never work. You need complete trust as one will be entering your mind, entering your thoughts and dreams. I am an unspeakable, we keep secrets, which I will apart from anything to do with…you-know-who.'
'Thanks, Snape used what he saw to taunt me, especially about my father. I don't have any real memories of my parents, so I sort of have these feelings, like dreams in a way, of how they used to hold me.'
'He always told Harry his father was arrogant and rules weren't meant for him, just like Harry,' Hermione grabbed Harry's hand again.
'I do not understand how a teacher is allowed to treat a student like that, surely he should have been sacked.'
'We were told he was Dumbledore's spy, he's a death eater that changed sides, it was to do with my mother. Now we know he never really changed sides, he was spying on Dumbledore, but also the order and me for Voldy. He used to give information to Dumbledore about Voldy and the others, but nothing really important. He acted the part while Dumbledore was alive. After he killed Dumbledore he went back to being a death eater again, he's in charge of Hogwarts.'
'So Albus Dumbledore used his position to get a death eater inside a school where he tormented students. That is disgraceful.'
'We agree Minister, plus he never actually taught us potions, just put everything up on the board and said go. There were people like Harry and I who were raised in the muggle world so we had no idea what we were doing at first, yet he never helped or explained.'
'If you don't mind me asking Mr Potter, why were you, the-boy-who-lived raised with muggles?'
'Well, I know what I was told but I have my own beliefs as to why. So we'll start with why Dumbledore left me with my muggle aunt who hated magic and hated her sister, she hated me as well. He used the excuse of blood wards, staying with my mother's blood kept me safe from Voldy finding me. The thing is I would have to walk to school which wasn't close, the wards only cover the house and yard. I would be made to shop for them and they were quite a distance from the house. When they went out for the day or on holidays I was left with a lady in the next street. I used to go down to the park just to get away from them.'
'Blood wards would only protect the house and its occupants, it would not even protect the neighbour's house. So tell us what you believe?'
'He wanted me raised the way I was so he could be seen as my hero, he rescued me from the abusive muggles, which would make me loyal to him. I would spend most of the year at Hogwarts, return to them for a few weeks then he would allow me to stay with my friend Ron, whose family were in the Order of the Phoenix. If we didn't stay there we stayed at headquarters. I was left ignorant of the magical world, I didn't know a thing about my parents, Hogwarts, magic, nothing. I was grateful at first, Dumbledore did give me a life away from the mistreatment by the muggles. Then dangerous things kept happening and I seemed to be the one caught in the middle of it. A troll was let in on Halloween when we were eleven. I wasn't in the best of moods since I just found out that Halloween was when my parents were murdered. Ron and I found out that Hermione was crying in the girl's bathroom and didn't know about the troll. We went to rescue her, which we did, the teachers were in another part of the castle. It was let in by the teacher who was possessed by Voldy, he was after the Philosophers Stone which was hidden in the castle and we saved it as well.'
'Well, Harry saved it, we just helped him get to the final room.'
'There were different enchantments to keep it safe, but Hermione, Ron and I got through them no problem, it was me at the end but it took the three of us to get through. It was a few weeks later that I realised those enchantments were too easy, three eleven year olds got past powerful witches and wizards enchantments. Dumbledore set that up as a test and taught us just enough so we'd make it through. But now I know I'm a vessel for a bit of his soul, if I died then it would be destroyed, which I believe was his plan.'
'What were the enchantments?'
'Devil's snare, Hermione conjured fire, she'd done it earlier in the year. Then a giant wizard chess set, Ron is a master chess player. There were brooms and keys, I was the youngest seeker in a century, I got picked my first year, I never miss the snitch. We came to an unconscious troll, Ron and I already fought one to save Hermione. Then seven bottles, some wine, some poison, there were two extra bottles, one that would get one person through the flames in front and one would get one person through the flames behind us. Hermione knew the riddle with the bottles was logic, not magic, so she worked it out and went back, I went on. The last enchantment was done by Dumbledore, the Mirror of Erised which I knew how it worked. Dumbledore had explained it weeks before, he found me sitting in front of it. I was able to get the stone before Voldy.'
'I would like to see your memories of that, because I believe you're right, they were made for you, it was either a test or he expected you to die so the horcrux could be destroyed.'
'Speaking of memories, can you watch my memory of when I was watching other memories?'
'Oh yes, we just need to use a spell to clear them up a bit.'
'Then you can see the memories Dumbledore collected of Voldy, how he came to the conclusion on what items he used and you may be able to work out where they are hidden. He showed me last year, before he died, we spent many nights in his office watching memories of Voldy from the time he was at the orphanage until he changed his name to lord daddy death eater. But I also went with Dumbledore to get one of the horcruxes, it turned out to be a fake but we found the real one. That memory could be useful as it would have information on the types of enchantments he uses.'
The group around the table realised that seeing these memories just might be what could help them find the horcruxes, in case the English witches and wizards can't. They were in a midst of a war, anyone fighting dark wizards would be killed, others will be watched. The Australians realised that it may be up to them and other countries to find Voldemort's souls, destroy them before he decides to take over every country, or wipes out the population of magical people in Britain.