"The Purpose of War is Peace" - Pablo Escobar from Narcos

The hospital had descended into what could only be called utter silence. Medice Bones could only stare in shock at what her spells and potions had revealed. She couldn't figure out how to release the results to the three students on the beds and their guardians.

Hermione tried to look discreetly at the results on the parchment that Medice Bones had copied down from various spells on them. Ron, who had a premonition that this was just the calm before the storm, stared at Harry with open concern. Harry's face, meanwhile, looked like it had been etched on stone. He just stared blankly ahead, no emotion in his eyes, jaw hardened.

"These are the most concerning results I've seen in a bit." Medice Bones was certainly not planning on cushioning the blow. The results had scared her more than she could explain.

She did a complex pattern over her three patients again and the same glowing patterns appeared.

The three paterfamilias and the Headmistress stood there with concern openly showing on each face.

She took a deep breath and started with Hermione, pointing at a specific sign hovering right on top of the layers of symbols she said, "See how the symbols all over her body are related to venti? Now see here, at the outermost layer, they don't show any affiliation at all. See the fluctuating powers in the symbols? They're all pointing towards locked familia magicae."

Lady Pallas, not even hesitating, raised her wand at Hermione and began casting at incredible speed. There was a flurry of glowing, light beams around Hermione.

"There seems to be an adequate amount in her core itself. I sense her being a ventum ducem. There is nothing wrong with her core." She continued casting at an incredible speed, her other hand also coming up and also making casting actions.

The other adults whispered between themselves with occasional looks towards the three teens, making it clear what their topic of conversation was. The two male teens stared with thinly disguised worry and suspicion at Lady Pallas and Hermione.

Suddenly a bright ball of magic appeared in front of Hermione. It was a bright Electric Blue and as Lady Pallas casted, the ball grew and instead of seeming like a mass of light, it now seemed like a pale blue sphere that had flashes of white zapping across it. As the picture (that's what Ron thought it looked like) got clearer, the sphere grew more translucent as if she was attempting to look inside the ball of light.

As they watched, a disturbance in the light became evident. It started out as a shadow, and became clearer and clearer till a red chain like structure became obvious. It spanned all around and the net only let out some of the light while keeping all the flashing inside.

Medice Bones was furiously noting down god knows what in parchments, her eyes almost stuck between Lady Pallas's wand movements and the glowing ball. By this point, Lady Pallas was sweating lightly and breathing heavily, her wand arm shaking slightly.

With a sharp down jab, she finished her spell and the structure pulsed a little before the light stabilised. She looked at the sphere carefully before turning to Medice Bones.

"That is an approximate visual of her core. See the chains in it? That appears to be some sort of block. It's blocking her from using her mageía génnisis, what you call familia magicae. The blood red says it is tied to her blood. Someone of shared blood did this. To her bloodline." She looked pained as she said this. That is when it dawned on Harry what she said. If someone of her blood had done it, that would mean that someone of the Pallas bloodline had done it.

Hermione felt scared. More scared than she had in forever. The only thing that she felt made her belong in the Wizarding World was her magic. She had friends here. She wasn't the know-it-all freak here. If something was wrong with her magic, what would happen? Someone from her ancestors had done that to her. Made her afraid she wouldn't belong. What if they never unlocked it? What if she had to live with locked magic forever?

"A purification ritual." Everyone looked at the owner of the voice. Lord Aditya, a man of clearly very few words who hadn't commented on a single thing outside of Harry himself, for the first had said something in accordance to another being in their presence.

"A purification ritual that goes back to the gods themselves. It purifies everything that does not belong to the host. If needed I would be honoured to perform it for, how do you say it now, Heiress Pallas." Lord Aditya offered. The adults in the room understood the gesture for what it was. An opening for friendship and civility. The three young wix were entwined and nothing would separate them. This was the time to form bonds of friendship between the three houses to maintain peace.

For Hermione though, it was more than just an olive branch. It was her best friend's family accepting her as family too. Helping her with rituals they must have hoarded as family magic or secrets. It was recognition of her place in Harry's life by his family.

Lady Pallas bowed her head in such a regal and controlled manner that it took Hermione a few seconds to think that any human could ever be so graceful. "The Spíti tou Pallás would be grateful to accept your help and in return would gladly help when the Clan of Raghu requires it."

"Your politics can continue once we've seen to these young 'uns." Medice Bones who had now satiated her curiosity returned to dragon mode to stop anything but healing talks in her wings. She turned to Ron, put her hands on her hips (Ron was getting flashbacks of Molly screaming at him in a similar pose) "Wd. Prewett may I ask how you have a not insignificant amount of dragon venom in your blood?" There was absolute silence in the healing wing as everyone stared at Ron.

Ron looked at both his friends in askance of an answer but they were both also staring at him in shock. "Wot? Dragon Venom? I don't know. Harry here is the one who's battled a dragon. I've never been close to a grown one myself." He defended himself.

Now all eyes turned to Harry. Harry, who had grown redder with every word and now the colour shone even on his tanned skin.

Lord Aditya looked at Harry with wide eyes before very seriously and in a voice he would have described as whining if he didn't better, asked him, "Are you sure you're an only son? Maybe there's another out there. A distant cousin perhaps." He was begging towards the end.

Harry, just confused, said, "No. I'm sure. The only blood family I have left are the Dursleys. Muggles- or squibs- I guess."

"Perfect then. This is how the English line is going to end. Due to a stupid boy with no self-preservation skills or common-sense. This is great!" Lord Aditya looked more like he was talking to the gods or himself than the other people present. Everyone either looked amused or worried or a combination of both. Harry, on the other hand, looked mildly offended.

"Ron! Didn't that dragon bite you in our first year?" Hermione almost shrieked. Her voice was very shrill.

"Yeah, but 'Mione, Madame Pomfrey looked it over, remember. She treated it, the swelling went down and it doesn't hurt anymore. I doubt there would be poison left over from that." Ron explained back.

"I will be the judge of that Wd. Prewett. Dragon Venom can stay in your body for upto a decade before showing up as diseases like Dragon Pox." Medice Bones was putting together what looked like lists and lists of potions and what not for them from what Harry could see. Ron had close to two sheets while Hermione had only half of one.

"I've written down some potions and spells for you. To be used daily for a fortnight. Without fail. This is the only thing that will negate dragon venom mixed in your blood." Medice Bones waved the sheets in her hands.

Lady Prewett, who had been quiet for the entire thing, now looked at Ron with eyes that could be described as volcanic in their anger. Ron gulped as she said, "Oh don't you worry, Medice Bones. This one will do everything you say absolutely perfectly. Dragon Venom in blood. Pah! You owe me an explanation. Young wizard."

Lady Pallas chose just that moment to jump in, "I think they all do. This is a very worrying sequence of events. A battle. Injuries. Dragons. We need all the information." She looked over at the other adults, ignoring the three students entirely.

"I agree, Lady Pallas. But, I do think it would be better for these young wix to be properly treated before we accost them into sharing their stories with us." Headmistress Wilkins intervened.

"We do need to know their background post haste, Headmistress Wilkins. It does not do to let unknown wix into our homes in these times," Lady Prewett pressed.

"They are very young and have currently travelled into a time they did not know and have had themselves handed over to people they did not know. I suggest we keep our heads and give them time to adjust," Headmistress Wilkins kept defending the trio.

While the five adults kept squabbling, the young trio looked at each other with raised eyebrows and one clear question. Let them keep squabbling and not intervene in the hopes that they would forget Harry's diagnosis was left, or let everything be revealed and hope they could fix it.

After a minute of back and forth, Harry dejectedly lowered his shoulders and looked down, agreeing that maybe he would let them do their worst and see if they figured it out on their own.

After seeing Harry's approval (even if a resigned one) Hermoine quickly interjected in the adults' fight. "Maybe you should look over Harry first, Medice Bones and we could share our stories with you later today."

"Sensible witch you are, young Pallas. Yes, let's look over this wizard here first and then they can tell us all that has happened to them." Medice Bones agreed.

All adults murmured in agreement while Medice Bones started pointing towards various glowing runes above Harry's head.

With a completely professional expression, devoid of any and all emotions she said, "now let's see here. Weak bones, definite malnutrition, extreme dehydration, and what looks like loss of vision due to some sort of extreme head trauma. Repeatedly. And scars that I have no clue how to explain. His blood gives strange readings. His magic too."

Harry's face was practically carved in smooth marble as he looked straight ahead, nary an inflection in his body language as his most shameful secret got revealed to everyone in the room. Even if two others had known it for years.

It's not like Harry hadn't tried escaping the Dursley's. He had. On multiple occasions. He'd tried telling teachers. Running away. Nothing worked. Somehow, they always found him. Oh, it was never the Dursley's who came to pick him up. From under the bridge, in the orphanage, from the London Streets. It was always the Police. They always found him, even if they never found or took the others. They found him, took him away, and dropped him right back into the hell he's tried escaping from for years.

He'd tried telling the police officers too, why he didn't want to go back. But it never worked. They would always say that it was necessary, that he had a roof over his head, that counted for something. Something about the way they said it had always sounded odd, something that when he had turned eleven he had suppressed so far, that he forgot that he had even forgotten it. The punishments that he got for running away were always negligible. He starved for weeks because of the misdeed of coming back.

So now, when he had the promise of family standing in front of him, hearing how his descendant was weak, and had broken because some muggles - sorry squibs (and wouldn't Aunt Petunia be horrified. She had some of the freakishness in herself after all) - had not fed him. He found himself keeping his heart from shattering inside.

He startled when he felt a hand on his knee. It was larger than Ron's. Rougher too. He looked down and jumped when he saw Lord Aditya knelt in front of him. "Scars show what you have overcome. You have lived through it to the other side. It is a thing to be proud of. Hold your head high." His voice was rough. An emotion Harry couldn't identify.

The others had turned absolutely still at the diagnosis. It was hard for them, all of whom cared greatly about children and the wix world. And to see a wix child hurt so, it broke something in them. Hermione and Ron just let out a breath that the Indian lord had accepted their friend. Although they knew there was an extremely slim chance of him being turned away, it warmed their hearts to see their best friend be accepted happily into the arms of his ancestor.

Lord Aditya turned towards the Medice and said, "If I put you in contact with our physician can you fix these? The physical problems and the blood and magic?"

"Absolutely Lord Aditya. But, I will be honest. I can do nothing unless I know the exact circumstances of how all this came to be. Head traumas themselves (without counting the blood and magic) can be dangerous. With those mixed in, Hekate only knows how delicate this could be. Unless I know all the information, I doubt you, your physician or I would be able to help him." Medice Bones replied.

"We'll tell you everything. Absolutely everything you know," Ron said quietly with complete confidence.

"Are you nuts? We can't tell them everything! The damage to the timelines, all that modern knowledge!" Hermione argued.

Ron put both his hands on her shoulder and shook her. "Hermione. They can help Harry. I don't care about any of that. They can help Harry!"

Lady Pallas surged forward in anger to protect Hermione from being manhandled, but Headmistress Wilkins stopped her. She gestured at her to look.

"Okay, okay. But only because they can help Harry." She told Ron before she turned towards the adults and said, "We'll tell you once, but we never want to talk about it again. Only because you can help Harry." It seemed to have become a mantra Lord Aditya noted. Help Harry. As if that's what they had done for so long, they had seared it into their minds.

Only thing that echoes in the minds of all the adults around the trio was, "What has that child gone through, that these two are willing to do anything to help him?"

"You are saying, this, this man you say, came to your house in the middle of the night to kill you. A one-year-old baby. Why?"

"This could potentially take years if you guys keep interrupting. We've literally just started. And we most probably don't know the answers to your questions."

"I'm getting hungry. Can we please move this along?"

"You're never going back to those - those - those pigs again. Never."

"Thank you."

"I'll send care packages to you in Hogwarts, dear. You need to fatten up. Don't worry Lord Raghu, if owls from India take too long I'll send him ones from us."

"Thank you, Lady Ciarra."

"Your touch burnt and killed him? How is that possible?"

"I thought we told you we don't have any answers. By any, we meant none at all. Just so we're clear."

"Actually I know of a few protections that could potentially do that. I need to research."

"There's two of them!"

"Why can't you stay in Hogsmeade the month Hogwarts is closed?"

"Months. And it's not allowed, I reckon."

"I am the Headmistress here. Month. And yes it is. Many an orphan live in Hogsmeade in the children's inn while we refresh wards."

"It doesn't exist anymore. It has been more than five hundred years."

"You wrote in something that could write back to you? Shiva save us all. We're doomed."

"This is going to be a long, long day."

"Why would you be abandoned for speaking to snakes? It's a blood gift from our line. Your father most probably had it too."

"No he didn't. Someone would have told us!"

"Just like they contacted someone to take you in?"

"There's a basilisk under my school? Hekate save us. We need to feed it and talk to it. It must have gone crazy in the four hundred years since Lord Slytherin left!"

"You don't mean get rid of it?"

"Of course not. It's needed in the future. And we don't kill magical beings unless provoked here."

"It's a basilisk!"

"It's a defence for the school!"

"Guys!"

"Basilisk and Phoenix together to cancel each other out? Clearly did not work. Just diluted both of them. You need a cleansing."

"I forgot you were even there."

"Brave wizard. We'll give you and your friend a cleansing next Holi."

"A murderer? Is it your godfather?"

"Yes. Except he didn't kill anyone."

"You mean other than all the responsibilities he was given by your parents."

"A time-turner? Very irresponsible. You need to manage time without crutches or you'll never learn."

"That's why I gave it back."

"Divination without arithmancy? Doesn't everyone know Arithmancy and Runes? Do you not know how to write too?"

"We know numbers and basic math. And English. That's it, I guess."

"How muggle!"

"I don't understand your education system. We'll have to start you fresh from here. A fast course in the Scripted Scienca first."

"Scripted Scienca?"

"Hekate help us! Latin, Runes and Arithmancy."

"Hindi and Sanskrit too."

"Greek."

"I know Welsh already."

"Hmph."

"Your Auguriam teacher needs help. And a sobriety companion."

"Can't argue with that."

"Smart decision."

"My Firebolt!" "The Firebolt!"

"It's a broom."

"A werewolf? Why are they dangerous now?"

"Because they can't control it."

"If they accepted themselves, they would. Be stronger and sharper too, most probably."

"Irresponsible teachers. Irresponsible Headmasters. Irresponsible Leaders. I want to rethink your stay here."

"You promised."

"I thought he was a leader. He cannot arrange a council?"

"I thought we made it clear. We don't know."

"That tournament always spells trouble. I keep discouraging it. I cannot believe it was restarted after being banned."

"I know right?"

"They put you in unwillingly?"

"It was binding."

"Nothing is ever so binding. They could have arranged a mock tournament to remove you and done the entire process again."

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we move on now? There's a lot left."

"Ronald Prewett! You abandoned your friend over something so petty?"

"The only time I'm ever doing it. Never again. Do you hear me? Never again. I'm always by your side."

"You poor -"

"NO. We're moving on."

"I don't know about Occlumency but clearing your mind should have been easy for you. A hunter needs a clear mind to make the kill."

"I can't, okay! I don't even understand what clearing your mind means."

"Those dreams are not normal. We'll work on it. I promise."

"Thank you."

"Your teacher seems to get worse with every mention."

"Tell me about it."

"Always trust your instincts."

"- and now, we're here. In 1358."

NOTES:

Hi, everyone!

I'm so sorry for the super short update, but my classes have started and moving to a new country is hectic work!

Although this is short I can promise a longer UPDATE in two weeks, on the 20th of October, so stay tuned till then.
PS The update will be added to this chapter i.e. I will EDIT this chapter itself and NOT post a new one.

CHAPTER 3 can be expected in 2 months again i.e. 7th of DECEMBER. Hopefully a complete one with 10k words.

PPS Desperately need a BETA who knows how to write romance (even the slight intimacy between a couple since I'm pants at it). Go ahead and mail me at ivangalyne . Please do remember to add any works to it or links to them so that I know how you write!

Final Thing: Do you guys want a smutty scene between couples or just a blacked-out part for sexual intimacy? Answer the poll by the 5th chapter whichever gets the most votes we'll go ahead with that. POTENTIAL BETAS please keep note.