Chapter Text
After the fiasco at the Ministry Harry is allowed to spend most of the summer at the Grimmauld place. Dumbledore probably thinks I need something to cheer me up after the death of my last hope to get rid of the Dursleys anytime soon. Not that it works, but still better than staying at that hell hole I must call home.
Despite not being locked at the Dursleys, he is not feeling very social. He spends quite a lot of time alone, sullenly wandering through the empty rooms of what once was a great and beautiful house. He hates that everybody tiptoes around him, even his friends are unusually quiet and worried. It is as if they are waiting when I will break down and start crying and screaming. Ugh, the truth is, I’m not that sad, I’m angry, furious. How could I be that fucking stupid? It was an obvious trap! Harry beats himself. What did cloud my judgement? He spent weeks pondering that question.
Others think it was love for my godfather, but I know it is not the truth. I didn’t even know Sirius that well, we never spent so much time together, few letters and Floo calls, those few weeks last summer….
Pleasant surprise is, that even though they did not know much about each other, Sirius made him his heir. The house and everything in it now belongs to Harry.
He usually goes to the breakfast little bit later than the others. He does not need them to stare at him as he eats. When he comes to the kitchen this morning he finds it full of people. And not only those who currently live here, Weasleys, Hermione and Remus, but also few people from the Order.
“What’s going on here?” He asks loudly through the noise, noticing Kreacher in the corner looking very distraught.
“Oh, Harry dear. Good morning! The breakfast is on the stove, sit down, sit!” exclaims Mrs. Weasley cheerfully. “You need to have a proper meal, we are going to continue the cleaning we started last Christmas! There is still a lot of rooms full of dark and dangerous things. If we are to live here…”
“What! No, you can’t! This is not your house!” interrupts Harry. “You have no right to throw away stuff that belong to this family! This is my house, I won’t allow it!”
All the noise in the room dies down and only shocked silence and few gasps are heard. “But, but Harry! You must understand. I simply cannot allow my children to be here with all these horrid things!”
“With all due respect Mrs. Weasley, no one forces you to be here. You have your own house, why don’t you use it? How would you like it if I invited myself into your house and started to throw your stuff away?! You don’t even know what half of the things are, you just assume that they’re dark because they belonged to the Blacks!” Harry realizes that is yelling and everyone is just staring at him like he is crazy. Well, it’s not the first time someone thought that. “Well, I am Sirius’ heir and this house belongs to me together with everything in it. I’m forbidding you to throw anything away!” he can see the redness rising in Molly, Ginny and Hermione’s faces and he knows that soon enough they start to screech at him. Screaming is always their first reaction when somebody disagrees with them.
Before they can start, Harry has his final word, this time forcing himself to speak more calmly and quietly: “If anything will disappear from this house, you will pay me back and we all know you can’t afford it.
Kreacher!” he turns towards the wide-eyed house-elf “Make sure they follow my orders and call me immediately in case they will go against them!” with that he turns around on the spot and leaves the kitchen.
“Harry James Potter!” screeches the Weasley matron “You will immediately come back here and apologize! Right this instant!” Harry ignores her. Why does everyone always assume that they can make decisions for me? Who she thinks she is?! I’m not her child! She has no right to command me or live in this house. I know their place is a shack, but don’t they have a little bit of pride in them? How can you force yourself into someone’s home and then just assume you’re in charge? Oh, how I hope that they will all just fuck off back where they came from.
Harry climbs the stairs until he is on the fourth floor, there is no one here. They always used the lower floors so this one remained dark and dirty, but at least no one will bother him here. Suddenly Kreacher appears right in from of him “Master, allow me to thank you for defending this noble household in front these blood traitors and muggle lovers who invaded it. Kreacher is your faithful servant.” the ugly little thing bows so deeply it’s nose touches the ground “I will do anything you ask for Master! I knew the noble blood you inherited from your grandmother Dorea Black will show itself someday!” he says with almost fanatic glint in his eyes and bows again. Well, that might actually be really helpful. In the end everybody always says that the elf magic is much stronger than that of a wizard. I can surely use his help and if I can gain his full devotion, he can be a very strong ally.
“Thank you Kreacher, I’m glad that at least someone in this house is on my side. I will need you to find me the best room in the house and clean it. I don’t want to share a bedroom anymore.”
“Of course Master! Kreacher will prepare the best room for you! The bedroom of my poor Mistress was the most luxurious one, however that beast destroyed it!” Harry remembered that Sirius was holding the hippogriff in his mother’s bedroom as if it was a stable. Who the fuck does that?! I know he hated his mother, but holding half eagle, half horse in a house, in a bedroom? There are stables in the garden for fuck sake.
“I can prepare you young Master Regulus’ bedroom, Sir. It is very comfortable as well. It is here on the fourth floor, together with a smaller library and a sitting room. If I may Master, I can block the whole floor for anybody but you and me, that way no one will disturb you.”
“Yes, that would be acceptable Kreacher. Make sure no one can enter this or the higher floors, move all the books into this smaller library and anything valuable to the floors above. We can go through the things later on, I want to see what I inherited. I’m done with them using this house as if it is their own. This is the first thing that is mine, I won’t let anyone take it from me!”
“Certainly Sir, as you wish. However, if you would be so kind and hear my little suggestion?” he looks at him imploringly, almost bouncing on his feet from excitement. So Harry nods. “The library on this floor is rather small. It was mainly used as Master Regulus’ personal library, I can also enlarge it, but the main library has the most light and most comfortable chairs. May I suggest to create a different entrance and have it on this floor? I can block the entrance to the main library, Master.”
“Yes, that will be okay, also take all the books from our guests that belong to the House Black. I know Hermione has quite a lot of them stashed in her room.”
“If you would follow me Master, I will now show you your new room.” Kreacher bows and leads him to the door on the left side of the landing. The room is dusty and dark with the blinds closed, but Kreacher just snaps his fingers and things start moving. The blinds move aside and the dust collects itself into a big ball in the middle of the room which disappears with another click of the elf’s fingers. Harry finds himself in a spacious bedroom done in Slytherin colors - green and silver with dark wooden floors and furniture.
He spends the afternoon reading and exploring his new rooms, the “small” library as Kreacher called it is bigger than the whole first floor of Dursley’s house and has hundreds of books and some very comfortable chairs. All food he gets is brought by Kreacher. The elf informs him that several Weasleys and the Mudblood tried to go to him, but they weren’t able to get through the wards.
Thank god the wards worked. I’m in no mood to listen to their babbling and yelling. I can imagine what they would say very well on my own. They are all for sure on Mrs. Wesley’s side, that’s given. Ans they can all go fuck themselves. Ron with his “ugh mate, how could you!” and Hermione with her haughty “this is not how the Saviour should behave!” I don’t know if I want to be friends with them anymore. Ugh! I sound like a twelve years old. But really. Everytime we talk to each other it is always about them or about how they assume I should behave. Wouldn’t good friends support me in whatever I want to do?
He is in his new library reading, when he hears the cough for the first time. “Who is there?” he takes his wand from the little table on his right and stands slowly, better be safe than sorry.
“Cough, cough. Hey! Open up the drapes, I can’t see anything!” Harry slowly walks to a pair of drapes hanging near the window to the garden. He opens them to reveal a painting of a dark haired young man, maybe twenty years old.
“Who are you?” they both ask at the same time.
“I’m Harry, Harry Potter. The owner of this house” Harry states proudly. He is extremely proud of his house even if it needs several good scrubs. It was what he was dreaming of as a child while being locked in the cupboard. He imagined himself being an owner of a big mansion, how his house would look like, how many rooms and most importantly windows it will have.
“Liar!” the portrait accuses angrily “This is not your house! It belongs to the Noble and Most Ancient House Black! You are not one of us. I’m Regulus Black and I know our family tree!”
“I am your brother’s heir and also my grandmother was a Black, Dorea Black. My father was James Potter.”
“Hmm, interesting. So you are the son of that idiot that convinced my brother to betray his family and support those extremists that call themselves the Light side. What a bunch of fanatics." he snorts disdainfully. "I’ve been here for almost 15 years, not talking to anyone, tell me what happened? Did we win?” We? Oh, right! He was a Death Eater.
“Hate to break it to you mate, but your Dark lord was defeated and is presumed dead.”
“What, no! You are lying! There is no way Tom is dead! He can’t be!” the boy looks very distraught upon hearing the ‘news’. Harry wants to ask why, especially after he called the Dark Lord by his first name, but before he can open his mouth Regulus commands him. “Tell me everything you know!” and Harry sees no reason why not to. He tells him that Voldemort is dead, when he died, even though he leaves out that he was the one who supposedly killed him. Regulus has many questions on how the wizarding world looks today, how is the Ministry etc.
They talked for several hours and it was obvious that Reggie started to get angrier and angrier at what he heard. “Fucking Dumbledore! Ruining our society and magic. Allowing muggles to infiltrate us and take our heritage. Did you know that the more time our blood is mixed with Muggles, the less magic we have? Hundred years ago even the weakest wizard was more powerful than most these days? It is all because of inbreeding with muggles!”
“Really? But if we won’t mix with muggles then we will become inbred and there will be degenerates everywhere!” That’s basic biology, Harry wants to add, but holds his tongue.
“Do I look like a degenerate to you?” exclaims Regulus angrily. “I have absolutely no muggle blood in me, no one from my family does, nor the other families of the Sacred 28. I’m not saying that we should breed only with other wizards, there are many magical beings in this world. This is how it was always done! The more creature blood you had in your family, the stronger children were born.”
“But how can this be? Creatures are not accepted in the society, they can not get a job and they are considered as second rate citizens by most. My uncle is a werewolf and I know he has trouble finding a job. He was a teacher at Hogwarts and when the parents found out he is a werewolf, they petitioned the Board to fire him or they will pull children from school.”
“People are stupid, they do not think for themselves, they just listen to the Ministry and people of power like Dumbledore. I always believed that he was the one who was behind the movement against creatures. He even wanted to pass a creature registration law, so everyone who is not a wizard must be registered at the Ministry. Our side was fighting tooth and nail against it.”
Harry doesn’t know what to believe. What Regulus says makes sense, but why would Dumbledore make people believe that creatures are bad and muggles are our hope? Despite what many have believed, he was not entirely supportive of the idea of exposing their world to muggles. Regulus had many good points on how the wizards were always those who adjusted their ways to make the muggleborns feel welcome and let’s not forget that Harry was raised by the worst kind of muggles. He knew not all of them were that bad, but fear and jealousy can turn even the kindest person evil and muggles had very advanced weapons that could wipe out the whole world.
You should go and talk about it with someone from the Order or Dumbledore. They will listen and can explain their side said Harry’s Gryffindor side (sounding suspiciously like Hermione), Will they thou? That was his inner Slytherin They never allow you to attend their meetings, they consider you a child even though they want you to protect them and kill Voldemort. And don’t forget that Dumbledore forced you to return to Surrey every summer even though he knew you were being abused! Why trust them?
For once in his life, Harry decided to ignore his brash Gryffindor side. He needed more information, but where to get them?
“Listen Reggie, what you are saying makes sense, but how can I know you are not twisting the truth? You’re a Slytherin after all and they are taught how to manipulate people from a very young age. Do you have any proof of what you’re claiming?” Harry asked cautiously, not wanting to offend Reg.
“This library is full of books, feel free to read them. They will confirm what I said. You can start with those in the bottom shelf next to the door. They are about the history of wizards and genealogy of the great houses.”
He spends most of his summer avoiding the others and reading and talking to Reg, who encouraged him to look into different books on pureblood culture, Wizengamot working, law or proper behaviour. He finds out that even though the Potters were not one of the Sacred 28 families, they were still considered Purebloods with quite a lot of wealth, political influence and several seats in Wizengamot. He wants to go to Gringotts when they will go buy their school supplies and get clarification on what happened with the Potter seats after his parent’s death, but the school books just appear in his room one day.
When he asks Kreacher what happened, the elf informs him that Mrs. Weasley went to the Alley alone to buy the supplies for everyone as she thinks it is too dangerous for them to go out. This resulted in another fight between them. Who does she think she is? She can’t hold me prisoner in my own house! I don’t need her permission to leave! So Harry decided he will go on his own.
He prepares to go on Wednesday, hoping to avoid the weekend crowd. However he is spotted as he tries to leave by Remus.
“Harry! What are you doing cub? You can’t go outside!”
Merlin’s beard, must he yell so much?! Of course the whole household comes running to the entrance hall to investigate the commotion.
Harry is trapped against the door with mass of people surrounding him and yelling “What happened? What is going on?”
This of course sets off Lady Black who promptly starts to scream: “Filth! How dare you to disgrace my noble home with your presence! Leave you-!...” Harry uses the momentary chaos to run back to the safety of his own floors.
Harry lays in his bed still fuming about having to stay in the house when Kreacher pops in. “Master! The Old man is here, he wishes to talk to you, Sir.” Dumbledore?! They called Dumbledore on me? That meddling bitch, I’m sure it was her. How dare she tattle on me like I’m some misbehaving child and Dumbledore my parent! We are not in school, so he has no authority over me!
They sit in the kitchen alone and the Headmaster proceeds to list all the supposed bad things Harry did: being rude to Molly, not talking to his friends, not allowing them to clean the house, trying to leave alone…. Harry stopped listening after the first few seconds of accusations. He just sits there staring at the dirty wall behind the Headmaster’s shoulder, silently fuming. He knows that no matter what he says, it will be ignored, so he doesn’t even try to stop the lecture.
“You have nothing to say my boy? I know you are sad because of what happened with Sirius, but you can’t vent it on those around you. Molly loves you as if you were her own son and wishes just the best for you” Dumbledore says, his grandfatherly act full on, including the annoying twinkle in his eye.
He silently scoffs with derision How can she think of me as her son? She doesn't know me, never did. Yes, I visited them for few summers, but I spent most of that time outside with her children. We did not talk about anything serious, we…. She is no one to me, just a mother of my friend, nothing more. She has no right to meddle in my life or tell me what to do . Anger is bubbling inside him at the injustice, but remains quiet, looking at the table.
Dumbledore is quiet for a while and then continues: “You know we can not let you leave this house, right? Voldemort’s supporters can be anywhere.”
No response from Harry.
“You’re not giving me another option Harry, I will alter the wards of this house to not allow you to leave. You won’t be able to leave until the morning of September 1st.”
“What?! You can’t! I will not allow it! I am not your prisoner, I am Heir Black!”
“Yes you are. Sirius left you everything, but that does not mean you are an adult” the old man continues unperturbed by Harry’s outburst. “This is for your own good Harry, you’re blinded by your grief and I don’t trust you to not make something radical.”
For my own good? MY GOOD? Is it good for me to be locked inside like an animal in a cage? Basically grounded, allowed to meet only those people they choose for him? He laughs deprecatingly. How naive of me that I finally thought my life will be different. Nothing changed, maybe this house is fancier, but I’m still in the same situation as I was with the Dursleys. Even worse maybe, those at least did not pretend they like me and do it for my own good! I won’t stand it! Decision made, he raises his head to say the old coot exactly what he thinks, but the man is gone. Harry is sitting in the empty kitchen all alone.
He makes a run for it.
He runs to the door, heart beating frantically and grabs the big ornate handle.
The door does not budge, no matter how hard he pulls, no matter how he twists the thing, the door remains stubbornly closed.
He can feel tears pushing into his eyes, tears of rage and misery. He can’t let the others see him like this, he wouldn’t survive the humiliation.
So he does the only thing he can, he runs upstairs to talk to the only one who would understand his current feelings.
It was obvious that Regulus hated Dumbledore and the whole “Light ideology”. He ceaselessly talked about how the Light followers led by Dumbledore purposely convinced the public that the dark faction wanted to kill all the Muggles and rule them all and tried to discredit Tom Riddle who was their leader. It was also pretty obvious that Reggie admired Voldemort a lot, describing him as a very charming and intelligent man. He painted a completely different picture of Riddle than the one Harry knew, but one Harry could actually see happening.
He still remembers the pale boy he met in the Chamber of Secrets, how, well charming, there is really no other word for it, he was. He could see how he could inspire devotion of his followers and get the attention of the masses. According to Reggie, Voldemort was very active in politics and as an heir of Slytherin bloodline he had quite a lot of power in Wizengamot. His main goal was to ensure, that the wizarding world stays hidden from Muggles and wizarding traditions and customs are preserved.
For example, Harry never heard of Samhain and Yule before, apparently these were the holidays the wizarding world celebrated instead of Halloween and Christmas. When Regulus was at school, Dumbledore decided that in order to make the muggleborns feel more welcome, they will celebrate muggle holidays.
One thing is sure, not everything is as it seems. The dark side agenda was never as radical as he believed, Harry actually agreed with most of their points.