Half of a Heart's Desire: Entre Deux Guerres

Chapter 3: Come Together

Lily Potter's funeral, held amid the bleak beauty of a drizzling November day, was almost exactly as she would have wanted it to be. Although practically all of wizarding Britain wished to be in attendance, the guest list, for the most part, was restricted to close friends and family, though some Ministry dignitaries, including Bartemius Crouch and Millicent Bagnold herself, did manage to procure invitations. Horace Slugworth was there of course, in his dignified black cravat, greeting everyone who counted like a favorite uncle as he exclaimed how much he enjoyed the quiet retired life, and perhaps some of the tears he shed for his dear Lily were even sincerely meant. Still, some seats remained empty; Lily's sister Petunia and her family did not attend, or even respond to the invitation. James and Harry were the chief mourners, of course, and the funeral was held largely as per wizarding tradition, which Lily had always been eager to adopt. Sirius and Remus were pall bearers, and Dumbledore himself offered the eulogy. James spoke as well, and outdid himself, though his friends had worried that he would not be able to contain his emotion. Celestina Warbeck, a cordial acquaintance if not a close friend, offered a moving requiem. And Lily spoke herself, from her portrait, commissioned by the elder Potters as a wedding gift for their son, and carefully restored from its damaged state in the days before the funeral by the artist, Patina Chiaroscuro. Lily spoke not of own her life but of the future, of the hope of the wizarding world now to live in peace. She asked her guests to care for Harry and James in the days to come, as she herself would not be able to.

James and Harry remained at Hogwarts even after the funeral, as James finally began to be able to contemplate a future for himself and his son. Harry had had a few bad nights after the events of Halloween. Nightmares, of course, were not unexpected under the circumstances, but even with Harry's limited vocabulary he had apparently said enough for Dumbledore to suspect that Voldemort might share some sort of link with Harry through his scar. Nowadays, however, Harry seemed to be sleeping through as much of the night as could be expected for a child of his age, and was in far less pain, allowing his guardians to hope that Voldemort was either very far away or powerless to hurt him, or preferably both.

Sirius and Remus had made the necessary revelations to Dumbledore in the wake of the calamity, and the Headmaster had notified the Ministry to look for Peter Pettigrew's animagus form. Wizarding households were circulated pictures of Wormtail, and told, for safety's sake, to eradicate rats altogether, while Milicent Bagnold's communications to the Muggle prime minister included, along with descriptions and photographs of the dangerous fugitive Pettigrew, fabricated tidings of a plague-like blight carried by rats that prompted the Muggle government to step up its extermination program and strengthen quarantine measures into the United Kingdom. Yet neither Pettigrew nor his master could be traced, and rumors arose that they had likely migrated to the continent to lie low for the time being before they could gather strength again. Sirius and Remus grew ever more anxious, and were keen to participate in the hunt for their former friend, but James's wellbeing and Harry's overrode all their other concerns. Neither of them was ready just yet to leave him, and James was not eager to see them go.

Yet anxious as his friends were about James, in some ways, the bereaved young husband was the best situated among them to heal. James Potter was cheerful by disposition, and very little given to melancholy. Though in his younger years he had been capable of thoughtless cruelty towards those who did not claim his friendship, he was open-minded by nature to anything short of a willful avowal of darkness. He had given his trust in the most unlikely of places, and found himself, for the most part, amply rewarded. His choice of best friends - the scion of an ancient family with well-known leanings to the dark side, a supposed dark creature, and an obscure, relatively untalented admirer - had always been a testament to his openness. He was capable of great empathy, had helped each of his friends through incredible trials in their lives, but as an incredibly bright young man and the much loved and indulged only child of a well-regarded family, he had faced few challenges in his own life, and had had little reason to learn responsibility early in life. Quite possibly the only thing in life that he had ever worked to earn had been Lily's admiration and eventually her love, and even there, through years of violent rebuffs, his confidence that he would prevail had never flagged.

This was the first time in his life that he had ever found himself in a situation approaching real despair. He missed Lily terribly, with a visceral, violent, ache. He still could not fathom that someone he had loved as a brother, whom he had trusted with all his secrets and with the safety of the family he loved above all else, could have betrayed him in this manner. But unlike Sirius, or even Remus, going after Wormtail was absolutely the last thing on his mind right now. He was not used to the bitter sting of disappointed hopes; for him this was a new sensation, and unlike his friends', his mind had not made the leap towards a need for retribution. His instinct was quite different; he was determined to protect and secure what remained his. He had lost Lily, and Peter, but Harry still needed him. And he still had Sirius and Remus. He was determined not to lose them in a mindless hunt for vengeance. Sirius would have said that James had softened in his old age, but that was not the case. He was just as ready as he had ever been to stand up in defense of those he cared for. He would protect Harry and Sirius and Remus with his life. And he wasn't about to let them needlessly risk their lives for his.

Like Dumbledore, James was well aware that his son was at risk, for having accomplished what no grown wizard could have hoped for. Yet as much as James respected Dumbledore, and the wizarding world would have said with one voice that whatever else James Potter was, he was, before all else, Dumbledore's man, he did not intend to allow even his own mentor to make a weapon of his son.

Dumbledore believed that what Harry had done once, he would have to do again, more permanently. If Voldemort had identified Harry as a threat, he would target him again, and compel him to fulfill the prophecy one way or another. It was Dumbledore's intention to prolong this interlude as long as possible, to allow Harry a chance to grow into his full strength before once again facing his destiny. As much as James applauded the intention, he did not quite sympathize with the Headmaster's motives. Of course Harry would need to be protected from any gathering threat. But he would receive that protection out of a father's love, and not as a pawn to secure the future of the wizarding world. Harry was already carrying enough of a burden on his shoulders.

Hogwarts, safe as it was, could not be a permanent solution. Dumbledore had no position to offer James on the faculty, and it was unlikely that James would have accepted. Dumbledore had once entertained hopes of eventually luring Lily on to his staff, but he knew that James, at least at this point in his life, was not suited for a teaching position. Unfortunately, there was almost nowhere in the wizarding world that would be as safe for Harry to remain in. Dumbledore needed to discuss the options with James, who had insisted that Sirius and Remus also were also to be a part of the conversation.

"The most important thing right now is to ensure Harry's safety. We know now that he is the one who must fulfill the prophecy."

"He is just a little boy who has lost his mother, Headmaster. It was Lily's sacrifice that thwarted Voldemort, wasn't it? It was nothing that Harry did himself. And you said yourself that the prophecy might easily have come to nothing."

"Nevertheless, he has now been marked by Voldemort. That choice has given the prophecy force, and we must accept that Harry is the chosen one. We all understand what you and Harry have been through in the past few days, but..."

"With all due respect, Headmaster, I'm not sure you do understand. I'm not sure anyone in our world understands. Everyone is celebrating, because they think Voldemort is gone. Those of us who think he will return are plotting, treating my son as a chess piece because of the ravings of an attention-seeking fraud. Who is mourning Lily? Who remembers that the Boy Who Lived is a boy who is crying for his mother while his father is stuck in deliberations about what must be done to ensure the safety of the Wizarding World?"

Quite apart from James's emotions in this matter, this was a challenge Dumbledore ought to have foreseen but somehow hadn't. James had never questioned the empirical fact that Voldemort was threatening his little family, and had taken all the necessary precautions, but he had always ridiculed the basis for the threat, especially after he had encountered Sybil Trelawney in person. In the heat of the moment on Halloween night, he had not queried Dumbledore's expectation that he would find Harry alive, but now in planning for his future, James was reluctant to admit that his son still held the key to Voldemort's destruction.

Dumbledore, of course, quite sympathized with James's position; he was not overly enamored of divination himself, and would not allow it to be taught at his school were it not for the need to protect the very same seer who had made this particular pronouncement. He was reconciled to the fact that she would likely never make another prediction worth hearing, but since the Dark Lord had become aware of this particular prophecy and its maker, he could not afford to send her into the world and take the risk of Voldemort or his followers attempting to use her to obtain the prophecy.

But Dumbledore knew that the prophecy he had heard, powerful as it was, had held little innate force until the events of Halloween. In acting precipitately as he had, Voldemort had himself invoked the prophecy that now held the key to his downfall. He had marked Harry, and at this point, it was futile to deny that Harry was the chosen one, with the power to defeat Voldemort. Yet Dumbledore also understood, as James seemed not to, that Harry would not be forced into this destiny; when the time came, he would choose it freely. That day would have to be postponed as long as possible, and the path towards it carefully prepared. Dumbledore had no intention of allowing a child to fight a man's war, or placing on him the burden of a predetermined fate. But at this point it was futile to deny that all of their efforts would center around young Harry Potter, however reluctant his father might be to admit it. This was a discussion that could continue ad infinitum, and was ultimately incidental to the decision they had to make today.

"James, I'm sure that's not what the Headmaster meant. But you must concede that there are still any number of Death Eaters on the loose, and more are slipping through the cracks every day. Harry's an obvious target. We do have to do everything we can to keep him safe."

It was Remus, the peace-maker of the group, who had interceded. Dumbledore gratefully acknowledged his assistance.

"But if Lily died to protect Harry, and that protection allowed him to defeat Voldemort, shouldn't that still keep him safe?"

"Harry will always carry the mark of his mother's sacrifice, James. It's likely that will provide him with some protection against Voldemort in the future. But it certainly doesn't mean that he's invulnerable."

"I'll be there to protect him. He'll be perfectly safe."

"We'll all be there. We would die to protect him."

This was from Sirius. James gave him a wan smile in acknowledgement; Sirius's promise hit little too close to home. It was Dumbledore who interrupted the strangely awkward moment between the two friends who were more than brothers.

"There is another matter we need to discuss. I was going to postpone it for the time being, but since it is pertinent to our current discussion we probably should begin to address it now. You three do realize that Voldemort managed to survive the killing curse when it rebounded on him?"

"I'll take your word for it, Headmaster, but how is that possible?"

"You may as well ask how Harry survived, Sirius. The killing curse in its current form is a relatively recent refinement, and it was thought to be infallible. But there are some very ancient forms of magic that protected against its precursors. Lily invoked one such form, a binding magical contract based on her own sacrifice - a life for a life draws on a notion of balancing that is at the heart of nearly all magic. There are other, darker defenses possible - acts that defy nature can provide protection against the end that nature intended. It is not a cost that most wizards are willing to contemplate, but Tom Riddle has never been an ordinary wizard."

"A horcrux."

It was Sirius who spoke again, in a hushed tone. Remus looked up, sharply, to see that Dumbledore was eyeing Sirius speculatively.

"May I ask you what you know on that subject, Sirius?"

"Everything the library at the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black could teach me, Headmaster, which, you must admit, is a great deal."

"A rather morbid subject for a fifteen-year-old's reading, I should have imagined."

"Thirteen, you mean. It was all Regulus's doing. He dared me to bring him one of the books from the cursed shelves the summer before I left. Of course I wasn't about to let him have it without knowing what he was up to."

"Be that as it may, do you know how one is made?"

"I don't know the incantations involved, if that's what you mean. I know that to do it you must take a human life. It's no surprise to anyone that Voldemort's done that, surely. It's not like we didn't have armies of inferi to remind us of that."

"Tom Riddle, then, is his name?" It was James who interrupted this strand of conversation.

"Yes. Not too many people know it, but he was once one of our brightest students here at Hogwarts. Prefect and Head boy. Of course after he left Hogwarts he pursued an entirely different course of study. By the time he emerged as Lord Voldemort there were very few in the wizarding world who would have recognized him. Immortality was his ultimate aim, of course, but he subjected himself to some very dark transformations in his quest for a perfectly invulnerable self. For many years now, I have made something of a project of tracking down as many memories as I can find about Riddle and his quest. Remus here has been helping me research into the transformations he had undergone."

"Was that why you were always poring over volumes and volumes of dark materials, Remus? Why didn't you tell us what you were up to?"

"Well, I never really found anything that was going to help us immediately. And I felt a little silly not to be out there fighting with the rest of you. I never once actually faced him. It all seemed rather arcane and academic at the time."

Dumbledore interrupted.

"It was necessary, Remus, and our knowledge will undoubtedly remain our most valuable weapon. What we need to do now is to delay his return to a corporeal body for as long as possible."

"How would he do that?"

"I have no doubt he will eventually find that he is able to possess the bodies of animals, and even humans. But none of his hosts will be able to support him for very long, so he really is rather vulnerable. One obvious way would be for him to achieve what he has been trying to do all along, and become immortal."

"But that's impossible!"

"Of course it isn't, Sirius. All he would need is the Philosopher's Stone."

"Very good, James."

"But there aren't any Philosopher's Stones still in existence, are there, Headmaster?"

"There is one that I know of, belonging to Nicholas Flamel, a dear friend of mine. I am certain that Voldemort knows of its existence. Fortunately, Nicholas and Perenelle have led a very quiet life in recent years. Voldemort never did succeed in following their tracks from when they left Paris four centuries ago, but it is quite likely that he knows where the Stone is."

"Then why didn't he try to obtain it?"

"He has tried, James, though it was not his primary objective at the time. I can only speculate, but I believe that he considered his problem solved, or very nearly so; the exact process of securing his return was not an immediate concern since he had no intention of losing his corporeal self. Even so, most people never discovered what he was after. You do recall that Voldemort's followers did not quite succeed in penetrating the high security vaults at Gringotts?"

"So the Philosopher's Stone is quite safe then."

"I wish I could be certain of that, James. Our Gringotts goblins value their independence, and they have stood up admirably to Voldemort, even if our Ministry has sometimes lamented their neutrality. But there are smaller, more vulnerable bands of goblins in Eastern Europe who don't have the same stakes in finance. They generally avoid wizards altogether, but at the right price, I fear they may be persuaded to share their secrets."

"What are we going to do about it, then?"

"Unless we have a reason to believe that Voldemort has returned to Britain I don't think we need to move it. There are very few places in Britain that would be any safer. I would keep it at Hogwarts if I could be sure that I would be here to guard it, but with the rebuilding efforts and my responsibilities in the Wizengamot now that the war is over I cannot guarantee that I will always be present. It would be much harder and more conspicuous for Nicholas and his wife to obtain the elixir they need from here. And I would rather not draw attention to it by constantly shifting its location. None of the Death Eaters will be able to breach Gringotts without a lot of assistance."

"You said this was the most obvious way, Headmaster. Are there other ways for Voldemort to return?"

"I'm fairly certain that there are other methods, James. This is where I hope Remus will be able to help us."

"There was one ritual I found, many years ago, in fact, when I was still looking for a cure for my lycanthropy. There were some theories that posited that the condition would not follow if one were to fashion a new body altogether. Unfortunately, the consequences of fashioning a new body were entirely too steep, but it did appear to be possible. There was one case, over a thousand years ago, where a witch's body was destroyed in a fire when she was out of her body possessing another mind. It was before the magical arts were divided into the modern fields we recognize. This ritual seemed to be a combination of a potion, some advanced transfiguration, blood charms, elements of necromancy. Dark magic, of course. If I remember correctly, the incantation went something like this... Bone of the father, unknowingly given, will renew your son; Flesh of the servant, willingly given, will revive your master; Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, will resurrect your foe. Rather gruesome stuff. I imagine there may be other rituals along the same lines."

"And Voldemort knows about this?"

"When it comes to the Dark Arts, Sirius, we must assume that Voldemort knows more than we do. He has resources we simply do not have or could not use."

"So how can we stop him?"

"We have to be as vigilant as possible. We certainly cannot prevent him from extracting sacrifices from his willing servants, but there are other things we can control."

"The bone of the father - is that literal or figurative? Because if it means precisely what it says we should be able to prevent this rather easily, I should think. How difficult would it be to trace a graveyard?"

"That's an excellent thought, Sirius. It is impossible to say, of course, and there are problems of translation as well, but in magical rituals the most literal interpretation is often the most powerful - it's usually Muggles who run away with fanciful figurative readings. There may be alternatives, but I have no doubt that the most straightforward invocation of the ritual would involve his birth father's bones. I can't imagine Tom Riddle will enjoy the thought of having to rely on his Muggle father for this."

"And what about the blood of the enemy?"

"I won't lie to you, James. It's almost certain that Voldemort will want to use Harry's blood. Both for vengeance and because he will want the protection Lily's blood offers Harry. It may well be his undoing, if he uses blood so steeped in love, but I doubt he will think of that. It is magic of the sort he has always underestimated. But there is always a chance that Voldemort will use someone else. It is impossible that we will be able to keep all us who opposed him safe, especially when so many believe that he is gone forever."

"It comes down to the bone of the father, then?"

"Eventually, yes. For now it comes down to keeping Harry safe. He is the most at risk, both from Voldemort himself and from his Death Eaters who remain here in England. It is almost certain that at least some of them will try to avenge him."

"We will keep him safe. I could perform a fidelius for him, couldn't I?"

"That is one safeguard, James, but it does put you and others who know the identity of the secret keeper at risk. And I think all of us know by now that secret keepers are not invulnerable."

"So we'll have to find a way to protect the secret-keeper as well."

"I should tell you, James, that Harry would be best protected by the blood magic that Lily has already invoked. If he makes his home with Lily's blood relatives he can never be touched there."

"Lily has no relatives except for that awful sister of hers, Headmaster. She'd never let us live with them. They're the worst sort of Muggles. They didn't even come to the funeral."

"Would they take Harry? I believe they have a son of roughly the same age."

"You can't be suggesting that, Headmaster. I'm his father. I'm the only family he has now."

"You can't raise him in our wizarding world, James. He'd never be safe. And besides, it wouldn't be very good for him. He'd be a celebrity for something he won't even be able to remember."

"Then we'll go abroad."

"I think that might be worse. You'd be even more conspicuous as a foreigner living abroad. Besides which, Voldemort is still traveling on the Continent, and we aren't exactly sure where he'll end up. I'd feel safer if you were a little closer to home, James."

"Well, I'm not giving up my son. What else would you suggest?"

Remus suddenly smiled.

"Hiding right under everyone's noses, then, Headmaster? In the Muggle world?"

James blinked.

"As a Muggle? That's an idea."

"Do you think you'd be able to manage, James? A young father in an inconspicuous city neighborhood?"

"With his best friend."

"That's hardly necessary, Sirius."

"Of course it is. If I didn't go with you I'd visit so often your cover would be blown. What have I got to stay for anyhow, if it isn't you? Or should I just go kiss and make up with dear old Mum and Dad now that Regulus was foolish enough to turn Death-Eater and die?"

"I'd prefer that we fight this out just the once, so you should know that I'm coming too. You two couldn't manage without magic for a week."

As James stared at him, Remus started to equivocate.

"I mean, I'll get a flat nearby or something. Obviously I understand you don't want me too close to Harry."

"Remus, will you stop assuming that everything in life comes down to your furry little problem? Does it occur to you that I might be surprised that you would want to disrupt your life like that?"

Remus laughed.

"You know I can never keep a straight face when you say that. But why should you be surprised, after what you've done for me? And what do I have to stay for here? My stunning job prospects, or the throngs of people clamoring to be my friends? I'd half a mind to disappear into the Muggle world after the war ended regardless of how things turned out. This just gives me a much better reason and excellent company."

Dumbledore sighed, but the twinkle in his eye gave away his true feelings on the matter.

"I suppose I should have foreseen that this is how it would end up if I allowed all of you to enter this discussion. Three men and a baby. Not the most typical living situation, but Muggles have seen far stranger things. Of course, you'll have to take the necessary precautions, Remus, but with your friends around I don't anticipate you'll have much trouble. I suppose I should congratulate you on your achievement, whatever troubles they may be causing us at the moment."

James, Sirius, and Remus shared a look that Dumbledore knew from long experience to be a harbinger of every sort of mischief imaginable. It was Sirius, however, who put everyone's feelings into words.

"Those Muggles won't know what hit them."