Harry and Merope to the Rescue - Chapter 38

Disclaimer:

I don't own the HP universe, unfortunately.

Eight Years Later (July 24, 1991)

The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and so forth, until years had passed since Harry and Merope had first arrived and saved Little Harry from the Death Eaters and The Cupboard under the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.

Harry was now more likely than not going by the name Hadrian, as it had grown awkward to continue to address Little Harry as, well, Little Harry. Merope was still, of course, referred to as Mary, even with Dumbledore's passing it was just simpler to not revert back to her original name, though Hadrian still addressed her as Merope when they were alone, just as Merope addressed Hadrian as Harry when they were alone.

Little Harry was now affectionately called Talon by close friends and family, due to the discovery of his animagus form, a golden eagle. At first, everyone wanted to call him Emerald, due to his only identifying feature being his bright green eyes, but when Moony mentioned the name Talon, it stuck, and so that's what they chose to call him. He was unable to change at will yet, but his form had been discovered during his mental exercises one day and Padfoot had promised to help him learn how to change when his body was ready for it, as Talon's father, Hadrian, had never felt the need to attempt becoming an animagus, and therefore, not as prepared to help him with the process.

Talon was still known as the Boy-Who-Lived by most of Wizarding Britain, but he had at least been able to make true friendships with other children his age. His best friend his age was Neville Longbottom, whose birthday was the day before his. His other friends included all the Black formally Weasley children, Nymphadora 'Don't-Call-Me-That' Tonks, Draco Malfoy, Susan Bones, and Luna Lovegood.

Luna Lovegood and her family had joined the group of friends after Talon's dad had been visiting the Lovegood family and had inadvertently saved Luna's mother from dying during a failed experiment.

He knew many other children, but he understood they or their parents mostly only wanted to be around him for his fame, so he didn't spend much time with them or tell them of his nickname, so they continued to call him Harry. He made sure he was always polite, even if it was Pansy Parkinson, Talon thought with a shudder, because his dad had told him that one never knows when being rude to the wrong person can make an enemy for life. While he understood that, he still didn't want Pansy clinging to his arm the way she always tried to do when they attended the same social functions.

Talon was currently alone in his room reading a book filled with muggle fairy tales and myths, while Basil sunned herself on the window seat. Basil had grown rather large over the years, she was nearly four feet in length and still had more growing to do. Talon was almost positive he wouldn't be allowed to take her to Hogwarts with him, which was a bit depressing for him, but he knew the climate here at Potter's Refuge would be more comfortable for her than the climate at Hogwarts over in Scotland.

His mind began wandering, so he decided to put his book down for a bit and marked his place. What was most on his mind was the conversation he had had with his parents at the start of the summer, when they told him the truth about what had happened to his biological parents, how they had died to protect him and how Hadrian and Mary had found him and took him in.

~FLASHBACK~

"Talon," said dad with a somber look on his face. "Your mum and I have something to talk to you about." Dad gestured with an arm and indicated for him to sit in between mum and him on the sofa.

Feeling a little nervous, Talon took a seat where his dad indicated and glanced between them both expectantly.

Dad cleared his throat and said, "As you know, we have never hid the fact that we adopted you from you, but wanted to wait until you were older before explaining to you all of the circumstances of how you came to be adopted."

Talon nodded and dad resumed, "Well, your mum and I spoke about it and decided that you're old enough, as you'll be starting Hogwarts this year, to be told more details other than just the fact that your biological parents died while protecting you and that you became the Boy-Who-Lived after you managed to defeat the dark idiot who attempted to kill you next."

~END FLASHBACK~

That was when Talon was told all about Voldemort's history and how he came to Godric's Hollow on that Halloween night and killed his family and attempted to kill him, all because of a stupid prophecy that the idiot had only heard the first half of, causing said prophecy to become self-fulfilling.

Then he was told about that idiot, Dumbledore, who had tried to take control of his life and had placed him with his abusive muggle relatives, how the free Death Eaters found him there and killed those relatives in an attempt to find and kill himself, and how Dad and Mum had arrived just in time to rescue him and adopt him.

Thankfully, this Dumbledore bloke was dead and no longer the headmaster at Hogwarts, so he didn't have to worry about the man trying to control him anymore.

What they weren't sure about was if the Voldemort idiot was still floating around without a body, or if the fact that his soul anchors were destroyed had caused his spirit to disappear or if he would have to regain a body and be defeated again. Talon shuddered when dad had told me that he had once been one of those soul anchors, but that dad had been able to remove it from him without hurting him.

Dad explained that was why they had felt the need to train him well in defense and helped him to hone his wandless abilities, rather than try to hold him back and force him to use a wand, though, he would have to keep that ability hidden at Hogwarts. Only his close friends and family knew he had the ability to do wandless magic and they knew better than to tell outsiders.

Dad also explained there was no reason for Talon to worry about Voldemort, because at the slightest hint that the Dark Idiot could be back, he and mum were more than prepared to deal with him and that the prophecy didn't matter. While Talon had more than enough power and talent to defeat the idiot, it was not something that he had to do because of a prophecy and that without the soul anchors, anybody could kill the idiot at this point. Talon was thankful for that bit of news.

While Talon wasn't exactly afraid about a possible Dark Lord after him and knew that he could hold his own due to the training he received from his parents in the Room of Requirement that was created there on the island, he really didn't have the desire to enter into an actual conflict. While he was extremely talented in the Defense Against the Dark Arts, he preferred potions (much to his dad's surprise) and wanted to invent potions that could lead to a cure for lycanthropy, so his Uncle Moony and the other werewolves wouldn't have to suffer so much. He also wanted to find a cure for his best friend's parents, who were currently stuck in St. Mungo's, after having been driven into insanity by Padfoot's cousin Bellatrix.

Talon was brought out of his musings when he heard a tapping on his window. He was a little surprised to see an unknown owl, but then he remembered that his dad had relaxed the wards on the island to allow for letters from Hogwarts. So he quickly got out of his bed and opened the window to allow the owl to come inside, which it did so with extreme caution after it saw the large snake occupying the window seat. Talon took the letter and offered the owl some treats, after which it took off as quickly as it could before the large snake decided it would make a tasty snack.

Talon opened his letter as he walked out of his room to find his parents and called down the hall, "Mum, Dad, my Hogwarts letter has arrived!"

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry….


Diagon Alley:

The Potters, Blacks, and company were all shopping for Talon's and Ron's school supplies, as well as all of the older children, when Hadrian noticed a certain stuttering professor, with a turban wrapped around his head, that appeared to be focused on the youngest Potter. Granted, Hadrian hadn't heard the man actually stutter yet, but the way he was focused on Talon made Hadrian suspicious. Hadrian and Merope exchanged meaningful looks before Hadrian subtly maneuvered his way around to put himself in a position to accidentally bump into the man.

"Oh! Excuse me, sir!" said Hadrian, as he grabbed the man's shoulders to steady him.

Quirinus Quirrell looked up startled and stuttered, "O-oh, t-that's q-q-quite all r-r-right. I sh-should have b-been p-paying at-attention t-to w-where I w-was s-standing."

Well, now that the stuttering was confirmed, Hadrian put his arm around the man to lead him away from the crowds and said, "Oh, no, it is I that should have been paying attention, sir. I insist on buying you a drink at the Leaky Cauldron as an apology."

Quirrell's eyes widened in shock and tried to decline, "N-no t-thank y-you," he said. "R-really, I-I'm q-quite f-fine."

Hadrian ignored him and turned to family and gave them a meaningful look that went unnoticed by the professor before he said with a smile, "I'll be right back, I'm going to take care of our friend here."

"All right, dear," Merope said. "We'll see you after you have made sure all is well." Then turning to the curious group, Merope said, "Now, let's go see about your school robes," as she led the curious group further into the Alley and towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

By that point, Hadrian had a firm grip on Quirrell and had cast a notice-me-not charm before silently apparating them away to the isolated clearing that he had previously used to take care of all of the horcruxes all those years ago. Before he let go of Quirrell, he made sure to place anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards before then freezing Quirrell in place and removing the turban.

"Fancying seeing you here, Tom Riddle," said Hadrian cheerfully.

"How dare you say that name," replied the face on the back of Quirrell's head. "I am Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizard that ever was and will be."

"No," replied Hadrian, "you're an idiot with daddy issues that had his heart set on ruling the world."

"You dare -"

"Oh, I dare a lot," said Hadrian, cutting off the idiot's rants. I'm going to make this quick, because my family is waiting for me, so I'm not going to allow you to go through all of your normal dramatics. Your horcruxes have all been dealt with and I've been waiting to see if you were going to show up or not. Now that you're here, I can take care of you once and for all and then the rest of us can all move on with our lives."

Voldemort was shocked speechless and before he could react, Hadrian had already placed his palm on top of Voldemort's face that was sticking out of Quirrell's head and used the power of the Stone to pull him out the man's body, and then he was just gone.

After a quick scan of Quirrell's mind, he saw that while the man had believed in some of Voldemort's ideals, he had never been a follower and would never have gotten involved with the idiot, had he not stumbled upon the spirit during his travels. So Hardrian stunned the man, returned them both to Diagon Alley under stealth mode, modified the man's memory and implanted the idea that the man wanted to leave Hogwarts and move out of the country, after which they went for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron, then Hadrian left him with a smile and returned to the family to resume shopping.


Ministry of Magic:

Mad-Eye Moody was sitting in his office finishing up his paperwork so he could leave for the day when Potter's patronus arrived to say, "Ran into the Dark Idiot today. He's officially been vanquished. I just thought you would want to know."

"Well," Mad-Eye mumbled to himself, "this calls for a celebratory drink." Then he unscrewed his peg leg and uncorked the bottle he had stored inside, held it up in a toast, then took a hearty swallow and sighed, before corking it back up and screwing his leg back on.

"I think I might go see if Walburga is free tonight after I get off work," Mad-Eye said to himself, as he waved his wand to straighten up his desk and store his paperwork for tomorrow.