A Magical Adventure (HP/GOT/MCU)

16th Aug 1992

Diagon Alley

School letters arrived on August 12th. Harry, Neville and I had already gotten most of our supplies, but Hermione still needed the full kit, as did my sister, who was starting Hogwarts this year. So here we are, on our way to Diagon Alley. I had already confirmed that Lockhart was holding a Book Signing today at 'Flourish and Blotts'. Likewise, Dobby had informed us last night that Lucius intended to take Draco shopping today.

A shimmering blue portal opened up, and our family alongwith the Grangers (whom I had collected from their homes) stepped out in front of the hidden entrance to the Alley.

"I'll never get tired of this," Mr Granger commented, looking back at the fading wormhole.

"You're telling me. I used to think the Floo was the best we could ever have, but now...." Dad shook his head with a smile.

Making our way through Diagon Alley, we stopped at Florean Fortescue's, where we met up with Neville and his Grandmother, lady Augusta Longbottom. As he only needed to buy his books, Neville's Gran allowed my parents to chaperone him as she did not want to wade across the unwashed masses at the bookstore thanks to Gilderoy Lockhart's Book Signing event.

We were just about to leave the ice cream parlor when Rachel gave an excited start, and leapt up from her seat.

"Ginny! Luna! Astoria! Over here!" She started waving her hands.

I turned around to see a bunch of Redheads, a blonde haired girl with big blue eyes with a man who could only be her father, and the Greengrass family plus Tracey Davis making their way to the shop.

Rachel ran forward and greeted her friends.

"Everyone, these are my friends - Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Astoria Greengrass," she introduced them.

I had already known Astoria for years, but it was nice to finally meet the other main characters of this world.

"Hello," said Luna, with a dreamy expression.

"Hello," I replied, bemused. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny shyly shaking Harry's hand.

After the round of introductions and greetings was over, everyone split up to cover more ground. The Grangers, the Lovegoods and the Weasleys headed to the Bank, while Rachel, escorted by my parents joined the Greengrass family and started towards Madam Malkin's. We all decided to converge at 'Flourish and Blotts' in an hour.

As Harry, Neville and I had already gotten most of our shopping done, we spent our time lazily slurping our butterscotch ice-creams while wandering the Alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. The newly released Nimbus 2001 being proudly displayed through the glass window of 'Broomstix' had already attracted a crowd of quidditch enthusiasts. Particularly Terrortours pulled us up short and caused us to stand staring at the window display for longer than we realised. The display showed a massive world map with flashing dots for the magical communities around the world. At random times, a dot would expand to show scenes of a magical community. While we watched, we saw Tibet, Transylvania, Wanaka in New Zealand, Salem in the United States and the Aboriginal community of Outback Australia.

At long last, we turned our steps towards 'Flourish and Blotts'. As we approached we saw a large crowd, mostly filled with middle aged witches, jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows announcing the book signing of Lockhart's Autobiography.

The Grangers, Weasleys and the Lovegoods were standing outside and we moved to join them. Mr Weasley seemed to be in an animated discussion with Hermione's parents about telephones. The Grangers being dentists, of course didn't know the technical aspects of the device, but they were trying to provide him with a general overview.

"If you're not going to enter the establishment, kindly move away from the entrance," a bored voice drawled.

Looking over, I spotted a tall man with a pointed chin and nose, long platinum blonde hair and a sneer on his face that screamed that everyone in front of him was his inferior. There was no doubt in my mind who this man was – Draco Malfoy's father. The resemblance was too uncanny for him to be anyone else. Plus, Malfoy junior was standing behind him.

"Lucius," Mr Weasley intoned, drawing his children to one side.

"Arthur," the man sneered, then, "oh, look, muggles. How delightful."

Okay, that's it. I was thinking about maybe having mercy on this inbred cretin, but not anymore. Some people are just incapable of adapting, so Nature can't be blamed for weeding out the undeserving.

Lucius Malfoy strode forward, but if he was expecting the crowds to part at his approach, he was sadly mistaken. Between the too small doorway and the far too many people trying to enter it at the same time, the resulting crash was inevitable.

First Luna was knocked to the ground. When her father, Xenophilius Lovegood stooped to assist her, he was bumped from the side, causing him to sway into the path of two witches, both of whom were knocked off-balance. After that, it was a simple game of dominoes.

I watched amusedly as nearly half the crowd quickly ended up on the ground, including the aristocratic Lucius Malfoy and his sneering spawn. In fact, his pin-wheeling arms caused a number of our own group to end up on the ground. Harry, Ginny and both the Weasley twins were sent sprawling, with the rest of the Weasleys being knocked back a few paces.

"Are you okay?" I asked Luna as I helped her back to her feet.

"Yes, I'm alright," she replied, rubbing the arm that she had landed upon.

We then bent down to help retrieve the various packages that had fallen to the ground and return them to their rightful owners.

"Here," Mister Malfoy said, thrusting a small, leather bound book at Ginny, "you dropped this."

Long red hair whipped back and forth as the small girl shook her head.

"That's not mine," she managed to whisper.

"It must be yours then," Mister Malfoy insisted at Luna.

"Oh, is it?" she replied in an airy sort of voice. "I didn't know. Thank you, then."

"Actually, Luna, I believe that's mine," I said, taking the small diary that Lucius had just handed her. I made a show of putting it in my jacket pocket, but as soon as my hand was out of view, I stored it in my ring. "Sorry about that....must've slipped out. Thank you, Mr Malfoy," I said with a smile, looking him in the eye. "I'll be sure to return the favour, someday."

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16th Aug 1992

Hogwarts

I walked out of the portal and stepped onto the school grounds. The light from the setting sun cast long shadows as I started making my way up to the castle.

The reason I was here right now was because of the horcrux that came into my possession this afternoon. Truthfully, I wanted nothing more than to chuck the vile thing as far away from me as possible. Because of drawing my mana manually for years, I had developed some magic sensitivity even without the Magesight spell. And right now, all my senses were telling me that this thing was just...wrong.

With enough time and practice, a spirit mage can learn to completely duplicate his thoughts, memories and feelings, essentially creating a pseudo consciousness or soul. This diary, however was an aberration. It was created by mutilating a soul, a vessel of pure cosmic energy. Unlike the physical body, souls are eternal. When the body perishes, the spirit (soul + memories/consciousness) undergoes cleansing, and the renewed soul enters the next cycle.

By tearing his soul into pieces, Voldemort made certain that there would be no afterlife for him. When he is destroyed, it would truly be the end. This is why the Imperius, Cruciatus and the Killing curses are labelled Unforgivables, because instead of the body, they damage the spirit. And to wizards, nothing is more sacred than the soul.

I was met in front of the Entrance Hall by Professor Snape, the man looking as miserable as ever. I guess some things never change.

"Mr Carter, the Headmaster is waiting for you. Follow me."

It felt bizarre walking through the deserted school, when the only times I could remember it, it was filled with children of all ages. Even during the Christmas holidays, the school was never truly empty.

"I'm surprised to see you here, Professor," I said, following him past the empty Great Hall. "Do you usually spend the summer holidays in the school, sir?"

"Usually, no," He answered, climbing the Grand Staircase. "However, some concoctions require brewing over extended periods of time, months even. I was preparing one such potion, hence the necessity of staying here for the summer."

We soon reached the gargoyle that guarded the hidden staircase to the Headmaster's office. Upon recieving the password from Professor Snape ('lemon drop') it moved away and one short escalator ride later, we were standing in front of the oak door with a Griffin shaped brass knocker.

The door opened without a sound after Professor Snape rapped on it. Inside, Dumbledore was seated at his desk, writing a letter. He finished it presently, deposited the quill into the inkpot and looked up with a smile.

"Good evening, Ben. It's wonderful to see you again. Please, take a seat."

"Thank you, Professor." I sat down as Professor Snape took his leave.

"I hope you had an enjoyable summer so far," he said. "How's Harry settling in?"

"It's been indeed quite productive, sir," I replied. "As for Harry, I believe he is enjoying his stay at our place. We even had a small gathering to celebrate his birthday."

The headmaster smiled at hearing this.

"That's good," he stated. "Now, given the speedy delivery of your note, I understand you have something important to talk about?" He smiled with a twinkle in his eyes.

Coming back home from the Alley, I had opened a mini portal over Dumbledore's desk and dropped a note asking to see him at his earliest convenience. The Headmaster paid back that small prank by having Fawkes flash over and drop his reply on my head.

"Yes, sir. But first, did you manage to acquire that horcrux destroying weapon we talked about?" I said.

Dumbledore opened a drawer in his desk and silently took out a box covered in cobwebs. He fetched his wand and gave a gentle tap on top, at which the cobwebs neatly disentangled themselves. Opening the box, he retrieved a sheathed dagger and a cracked ring and placed them on the table.

"I must, once again thank you for warning me about the ring, Ben," emphasized the headmaster. "Even knowing that it was cursed, I was sorely tempted."

I inspected the ring with Magesight. The ring itself was now inert, with no remaining magic on it. The stone fixed on it however, was an entirely different sight. It was giving off a glow the kind of which I've only seen twice, in Dumbledore's wand and Harry's cloak.

He unsheathed the dagger and carefully laid it on the table. It was beautiful, more like a piece of art than a weapon.

"As for the weapon, I already had a blade forged from goblin silver, so it wasn't an issue. The problem lay with the basilisk venom." He explained, leaning back in his chair. "It was impossible to find in Britain, or even Europe, for that matter. Thankfully, an old friend of mine, Benedita Dourado, the former Headmistress of Castelobruxo, happened to have some on hand. As you can see, it has been put to good use." He pointed towards the destroyed horcrux.

"Well then, it's a good thing we can add one more to the pile," I said, retrieving the diary from my ring and gingerly placing it on the table.

He cast a long look at the diary before turning his gaze to my storage ring.

"A folded spatial dimension attached to an object," he deduced. "It's been quite a while since I last saw something like that. Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes, sir." I answered.

"Congratulations, then. And well done. I know how hard it is to open independent spatial dimensions" He said with a smile. "So, I assume this is Riddle's diary.... the one he used in school." He took the small book and started examining it.

"Indeed," I replied.

Dumbledore let out a great sigh.

"To think that a sixteen year old would commit an act of such great evil." He shook his head. "How did you come by this?"

"Lucius Malfoy tried to foist it on Arthur Weasley's daughter, Ginny. I intercepted it." I answered simply.

His brows creased and a brief touch of anger appeared on the Headmaster's visage, before it receded with a deep breath.

"It's a good thing you were there, then," Dumbledore said emphatically. "The effect of such a dark object on the psyche of a young child...one can scarcely imagine it. The poor girl would've been scarred for life. To not be in control of your own body....over your own mind....there can be no greater feeling of despair."

We sat in silence for a while as Dumbledore kept turning the diary in his hands, before he finally set it down.

"Very well, might as well get it over with," he said, picking up the dagger. "Please stand back, Ben."

I stood up and retreated a few steps as Dumbledore prepared himself and swiftly drove the basilisk venom infused blade into the diary.

There was a long dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurred out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Dumbledore's hands, flooding the table. The headmaster flipped over the diary and struck it from the other side. The horrifying screech reached a crescendo before abruptly cutting off, leaving the office silent, except for the sound of the ink still oozing from the gaping diary.

"That was dramatic." I gave my honest opinion.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "Thankfully, with this we're one step closer to ending Voldemort for good." He waved his hand and all the ink vanished without a trace. "What are your thoughts regarding the basilisk?" He asked.

"Honestly, I say let sleeping dogs lie," I said with a shrug. "The basilisk has been in the school for centuries. Surely, in all this time there have been other descendants of Salazar Slytherin who attended the school. And yet there were no incidents where students were unaccountably harmed or killed," I said, knowing this because I had checked the school records in the library dating back centuries.

"It was only when the git, Tom Riddle came here that he weaponised the snake, which thus far had been a model resident. I say we leave it in peace. Although, it might be a good idea to seal the entrance to the Chamber," I offered my two cents.

"My thoughts exactly," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I do not believe that someone who was friends with people like Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff would leave something as dangerous as a basilisk in a school full of children for some nefarious purpose. No, it is far more likely that the basilisk was meant as an additional security measure in case the overzealous witch-hunting muggle authorities of Salazar's time found their way here. Perhaps it would be best if we just let the beast sleep. After all, what right do we have to deprive this creature of its life and home, simply because we're afraid of it?"

"Well said, Professor." I nodded. "By the way, I need your help with something."

"Of course, my boy," he said, examining the now ruined horcrux. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking about the stunt Lucius Malfoy pulled today. I believe he deserves a little punishment for that, don't you think?" I gave a mischievous smile. Dumbledore returned it with a smile of his own.

"What do you have in mind?"