The Adventures of Harrison O'Brien (HP AU)

Chapter 6: an update on Britain

Dumbledore was fuming. First, all of the money he had stolen from Harry had been taken back - with interest. The heirlooms and grimoires had been returned as well. He had only just finished reading his letter from Gringotts when Molly, Hermione and Ron burst into his office screaming about the injustice they had been served.

Were these people really so stupid? What was he to do? He hadn't ever intended for Harry to claim his heirships. He shouldn't have ever been notified of them: he'd blocked the mail from Gringotts to ensure he remained oblivious to his fortune. The Goblin who had helped him take control of the Potter vaults was no longer responding and he was millions in debt.

'That blasted boy. Without him back at Hogwarts the potions and compulsions cannot be strengthened. I should've kept a closer eye on him at the Dursleys.'

Ah yes, the Dursleys. They had kicked up a storm for the meddling old man as well. They too had lost all of their money due to their overspending and thievery. Vernon had lost his job after he was caught embezzling more money.

Now, to make matters worse, no one had heard from Harry in months. The entirety of the British Wizarding World was terrified as their saviour was missing. No one thought to ask Neville. Or Luna. Or the twins. They simply panicked.

Ron and Hermione hadn't even tried to hide their happiness. The entire school was extremely confused as the supposed best friends of their saviour, sat smugly at his disappearance. Though, people soon realised why:

They only cared for the money and fame. After that everyone stopped talking to them. People even started hexing them in the corridors.

—

Voldemort, however, was ecstatic. Draco had relayed the information of Potter's disappearance in a letter to his mother which was found by his manic aunt.

Finally, he had no one to stand in his way. He'd had an influx of supporters, none seeing any possibility of being stopped now that The-Boy-Who-Lived was missing.

The Dark were growing more and more powerful by the day as no one had the guts to oppose them now.

However not all of his followers felt the same, the majority were actually devastated by the disappearance of Harry Potter. Many had supported the initial aims of Tom Riddle, a man who wanted magic to be magic. But Voldemort was not that man. His irrational fear of death led him to horcruxes. One would have done the job, but 7 slowly caused his mental stability to deteriorate as the act of separating one's soul, also separates their mind.

Tom Riddle, a once honourable man, became a monster. Twisted morals, supremacist beliefs, murderous tendencies: the man had lost his way to a point of no return.

Many of his followers had found hope in the supposed saviour, Harry Potter. Wishing on every star that he could save them from their doom. Among them, The Malfoys. Lucius had been able to shake off the imperius curse in the recent months, but now, with Voldemort growing stronger he was far more aware of all of his followers. Narcissa knew she would not last much longer, the wives of the inner circle death eaters had all been subject to hideous treatment, leaving them as sex slaves to the true supporters of the dar. She knew she would join them soon. They had only been able to prevent it, with the advocation from Lucius and the smallest bit of sanity remaining in her sister. She needed to get her family out of this situation. Draco never wanted the trouble that came with being a follower of the dark lord. He wished to live his life in peace. Her husband had never had a choice, she wanted more than anything to give him one.

Both had hoped Harry would do that. Now, they weren't so sure.

----

Back at Hogwarts, Granger and the Weasleys were acting as though everything was fine, ignoring the crippling debt they had saddled to them for the rest of their lives. They were completely convinced that Dumbledore would fix all of their problems and they would be back to living the high life they had gotten used to.

Hermione was deluded into thinking she was going to graduate and immediately become the minister of magic, not acknowledging her muggleborn status, nor her lack of experience and certainly not her inability to act for her country and not herself.

Ronald was no different, he was under the impression that he would become a world famous auror. Despite not having anywhere near the grades nor physical aptitude to even qualify for the traineeship, let alone succeed.

Ginevra was the worst of them all. She was absolutely convinced that she would marry Harry when he returned from his training, that she would become Lady Potter and be rich and beautiful and powerful and... everything she would never achieve. She believed she was destined to be the best chaser in the world, despite, like her brother, lacking the physical aptitude. She was by no means a bad chaser, but she was selfish and only wanted the glory for herself, leading her to lose the quaffle because she refused to pass. She also wasn't strong enough to withstand bludgers nor the extended matches at Hogwarts level. She was delusional to think she would cope at a national, professional standard.

The blissfree state of this trio would soon come to an end. With the hogwarts population growing tired of their entitled attitudes and bigotry, they would all be blacklisted by every major family and their associates. They would suffer 'stray hexes' in the corridors and would find their items going missing. No one was willing to stand back and allow them to hide behind Harry Potter's name when they could see the lies told to their faces.

Everyone at hogwarts knew that Potter was not out training, some had connections abroad and saw correlations with Lord O'Brien, though few put the pieces together. Some did, yet they never told anyone - somewhat due to the lack of proof but also because they soon would follow suit, fleeing the doomed place that was Magical Britain.

----

A few months into the correspondence between Harrison and Blaise, Harrison finally have him permission to tell those closest to him about what he knew. Those included: Theo Nott, Draco Malfoy, the Greengrass Sisters and a few trusted older years. To say the group of Slytherins were shocked would be an understatement.

They never would've suspected that Blaise was in cahoots with Potter, who they now know to be Lord O'Brien. Draco was the only one to have heard of him, due to his family's connections and history with France where the O'Brien spell had made headlines. The group all decided that they would finish their education at Hogwarts before moving abroad like Harrison had done.

Though, Blaise had not finished relaying his message. Blaise took Draco to the room of requirement, paced in front of the portrait three times wishing for a place with a floo connection. He then asked Draco to call his Mother and Father through. Despite the confusion, they complied and once they had all settled in the now furnished room with some beverages and snacks, Blaise presented a letter.

Blaise could guess what the letter said, but he had no way of truly knowing the contents. So, when Narcissa burst into tears and the family shared a heart-warming hug, Blaise had to ask, "What does it say?"

"Harrison O'Brien has offered us sanctuary under the Black family and has allocated a property for us to move to in France if we wish to escape. He has correspondents in France who are willing to negotiate our citzenship and permanent stay there. He can organise for an official trial for Lucius to one and for all, declare the use of the imperius. He also has connections in the ICW who are willing to start an investigation into the ministry and hogwarts if we have any evidence which would be of use. He has given us a second chance!" Narcissa explained, still beyond confused as to why he would help them.

"W-why would he do this?" Draco asked, looking directly at Blaise.

"When I first met him, we spoke a lot about our pasts, and I hope you don't mind, but I mentioned the circumstances you were living in and he was appalled that he hadn't known. He has been setting this up for weeks, I suspect. He will do anything for family, especially those who deserve it and especially since he lost Sirius.

"Can you organise a meeting with him? We must thank him." Lucius asked.

"I'll see what I can do. But, please, take this offer. We are all planning on leaving eventually, we just need to finish our education. Start moving this into place discretely, we have just over a year of Hogwarts left and we can all leave. Take his offer."

The four discussed their plans for the future in a little more depth before sending a reply to Harrison, expressing their gratitude and some questions they had. The three Malfoys slept soundly, worry-free for the first time in years, finally being able to see an end to their struggle, a light at the end of an excruciatingly long tunnel.