Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 18: The Strange Incident
"That is a very gruesome picture you are presenting me with," Dumbledore spoke with a grave voice after hearing Madam Bones describe the second incident.
Three muggles were injured. Two of them had minor injuries, just some bruises and mild lacerations, but the last one had his hand ripped apart and had lost so much blood that he almost died at the care of the unit that arrived on the site.
All three of them were found under the effects of a powerful sleeping charm.
The first incident could have passed as a case of accidental magic and nothing more, but this was very different; there was a clear intent to harm those muggles in a specific way.
This level of control could not be accidental. Whoever did this…they knew what they were doing.
"This can't be Harry Potter," Dumbledore said.
"I never said it was him." Madam Bones pointed out. "However, the description we received from those three muggles, before we deleted their memories, was a clear match to the one from the previous incident. A strange young boy with dark hair and glasses. Although in this case, one of the muggles was also saying that the boy had a pair of eerie green eyes that seemed to glow like lanterns."
"Green eyes…" Dumbledore muttered. The description certainly matched Harry Potter, there was no denying that.
Madam Bones glared at the Headmaster. "Albus…I can tell that there is something you are not telling me. What is it? If we are to find this dangerous individual, regardless of whether he is Harry Potter or not, I will need all the information."
"Well…last night, Harry was supposed to be under the care of Mrs Figg. She is an old friend of mine, a squib who lived next door to his family and who I personally left in charge of watching Harry Potter."
"And?" Amelia urged him to continue.
"According to Mrs Figg, she fell asleep around dusk, and when she woke up, the boy was gone. Also, when I searched Harry's house, I found traces of some kind of magical ritual having been performed in his bedroom. I haven't been able to identify it yet, so I do not know its purpose."
"And you said that Harry Potter was never taught any magic. So he could not have known how to do any of this." Amelia asked to be sure.
"Harry shouldn't even know that magic was real. I spoke to him recently after a small magical incident that occurred at his home."
"A magical incident…when?"
"Around a month ago."
"Why wasn't this reported?" She was sure that she would have remembered a magical incident involving the Boy Who Lived.
"There was no need for that. I took care of the situation. It was a simple case of accidental magic during an altercation with his uncle." Dumbledore explained.
"What kind of altercation?" Amelia asked with suspicion.
"Nothing too serious. Anyways…I removed the boy's memories at the end so he wouldn't even know about the accidental burst of magic."
"You obliviated him?! Albus, why would you do that?" Amelia looked outraged. Obliviation on a wizard or witch was something reserved for the most extreme of cases, not for some accidental magic incident.
"It was for the best, trust me." Dumbledore brushed aside her concerns. "In any case, during my conversation with him, I determined that Harry Potter still knew nothing about magic. He didn't even believe me when I told him it was real."
Amelia became silent for a good minute.
"Could a wizard or witch have discovered his location and approached him during this past month?"
"Impossible. I placed a very powerful protection in his home." Dumbledore assured her.
"What kind of protection?" Amelia looked at him with suspicion.
"The details are not impo—"
"Albus!" Amelia exclaimed.
"Fine…" Dumbledore sighed. "If you must know, it is a blood ward that was based o—"
"What?! You used blood magic?!" Madam Bones looked completely shocked. "Do you have any idea how illegal that is?"
"I did not use blood magic," Dumbledore responded. "At least not directly. It was Lily Potter the one who placed this protection on her son. I merely transferred its power and tied it to his closest blood relative and their home."
"That is still blood magic…" Amelia muttered. "And what would this ward do exactly to protect the boy?"
"It is based on intent. Anyone with the intention of harming Harry would not even be able to find the house. A very effective but simple protection."
"What if they didn't have the intention of harming him?" Amelia asked. "Would they be able to pass then?"
"Well…in theory, yes, but…" Dumbledore had placed that blood ward to prevent Death Eaters from finding Harry, he never considered any other possibility.
"Why wouldn't you add a few other protections on top of that one?" Amelia said.
"Because…I couldn't do that. That is the home of a muggle family. Too many magical wards would interfere with their electronic devices. I had to keep it simple." Dumble knew that the family already hated magic enough as it was.
Amelia looked furious now. "And this is why you should never have placed him with a muggle family in the first place! A single intent ward is not enough to guarantee someone's safety."
"I also had Mrs Figg's…" Dumbledore added.
"A squib, yes." Amelia raised an eyebrow, finding the comment ridiculous, and she didn't even know that Mrs Figg was also an old lady who was obsessed with her cats.
"Albus, I believe there is a good chance that Harry Potter has been approached by someone from our world. Someone without harmful intentions towards the Boy Who Lived, but dangerous nonetheless."
"Merlin!, if that is the case…" Dumbledore said in a grave tone.
"If that is what happened, then that wizard or witch could be the one behind all those attacks. It's not surprising if those muggles were only able to see the boy, but not the one responsible. It's very simple for someone with basic magic knowledge to hide their presence from a few muggles."
Dumbledore stood up. "We need to find him immediately! Harry Potter cannot fall into the wrong hands. There is too much at stake…"
Hearing this, Madam Bones realised that the crafty old wizard in front of her was still hiding something important from her.
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