Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Mistake:Revised
Chapter 4
What none of them had considered was the political fallout, Britain being without their Golden Boy. About a week after Harry left, the Daily Prophet finally caught onto the fact that he was no longer Britain’s celebrity. How they found out made it worse, through a rival newspaper’s headlines.
In the States Harry had made headlines after shutting down a huge smuggling operation of magical items, and potions from the Wizarding world into the Muggle world. Headlines proclaimed him as the new future for Magical Law Enforcement.
“Potter Steps Up the MLE Game”
“New Hero on the Block”
“Potter Cleans Up The Streets”
The Daily Prophet and other newspaper tabloids, as soon as they found out Harry was no longer in the country immediately swarmed his friends and family looking for answers.
“Potter Gone From Britain!”
“Gone Rogue, Working For Colonies”
“Witch Weekly’s Most Eligible Bachelor In The States”
This was the hailstorm awaiting the Weasleys, Hermione, Remus and other known associates of one Harry James Potter when the news finally broke that following Monday. All they could say was no comment and fend off the reporters as best they could. None of them wished to broadcast anymore of their lives for public entertainment.
The commentary of the newspapers began to get more and more speculative as time wore on. The nature of Harry’s disappearance was called into question and whether it had anything to do with the spectacular fights witnessed in public. Reporters hounded them all wherever they went, it got to the point no one could step outside the without being surrounded by the sharks.
“Friends & Family Suspiciously Close Mouthed”
“Golden Trio No More?”
“Trouble in Paradise?”
Until, a surprising letter appeared on the front page of every single newspaper throughout Britain. No one knew exactly how it had gotten there, just that it appeared to be impervious to tampering and would not be removed from the front page.
On it proclaimed a very important message that needed to be said, one the people of Britain would do well to listen to.
To the Magicals of the United Kingdom,
Does the life of one man mean so much to you that you need to keep tabs on every single aspect of his life? Are your lives so boring and meaningless that you would look elsewhere to some poor schmuck’s boring life to supplement it?
If it is, I pity you, for that is a life with no meaning and no substance and therefore not of worth for anything, just a waste of space and breath.
Yes, this is to all of you people hounding my friends and family in search of answers. My life is my own to do as I please, not to be reported by the second by stalkers, i.e. reporters so everyone else can be entertained by it.
Well, guess what? It ends now.
I, Harry James Potter do solemnly swear that if the magicals of the United Kingdom do not stop harassing my friends and family about my whereabouts and my life I will bring the full force of the International Magical Enforcement community upon you.
Believe me, as a head of the US MLE I have the power to back this up. This is not a threat, this is a promise; take this as your only warning: leave my friends and family alone or else face the consequences of your idiocy as Britain suffers in the eyes of the International Magical community.
In essence, this boils down to a simple sentence, GET A LIFE!
Harry James Potter
There were outrage and talk of dragging Potter back, showing him his “proper” place, especially from the government as they had been working under the assumption that any problems, dark wizards-in-training, would be taken care of by him. A movement was started to force him back to Britain, until the International MLE stopped it cold, Britain could not force Harry Potter to return to his homeland. It was then they realized how much of their influence and power was lost in the eyes of the rest of the world. The world would no longer follow Britain’s lead blindly, if ever again.
There was also no doubt Potter was behind this show of strength. The international magical community was already outraged at the mess Britain made of Voldemort with mishandling, i.e. corruption. If they had tried anything, what little remained of their international power would be obliterated. The message was clear, do not mess with Harry Potter or anyone he considered friends and family.
After this, none others dared doubt that Potter would follow through. He did after all defeat Voldemort and now had the International MLE behind him. Even as they all grumbled, they did so quietly as they left Harry’s friends and family alone.
With such a decisive letter from Harry, everyone expected some form of contact. But nothing ever came, and with each passing day hope waned and once again everyone was waiting, waiting to see if he would come back on his own.
Three people knew for certain that the chance of Harry coming back after his voluntary hiatus was very low indeed. Each time a meeting was called to discuss him; Hermione and Ron refused to look at each other as though by not looking at each other they could stave off the reality – they were the ones who drove him away.
In fact, only one person in all of Magical Britain knew exactly where Harry was, that person was Remus though he found out by accident when he was going through the rest of Sirius’ things to figure out what needed to be salvaged.
Remus found a deed to a penthouse apartment in an exclusive, discreet building in the middle of Muggle Manhattan. The Muggle world was the only place Harry could blend in, where he could be a nobody. Somewhere he wouldn’t have everyone’s expectations and responsibilities focused on him.
Sirius had bought the apartment as an escape route to irresponsibility. He was after all the master at being irresponsible, he knew it wasn’t worth it to be serious all the time, after all he was Sirius and he was almost never serious.
In Harry’s life he had always been serious and had never been allowed to be a kid and irresponsible. This could be his chance to escape, for lack of a better word. A place where he could learn how to be Harry, as cliché as that sounded, he had never been just Harry. His persona to everyone had always been Harry Potter – Golden Boy, Boy-Who-Lived, and later Defeater of Voldemort. He had never known anything else.
A discreet solicitor had sent off an owl to Harry asking to speak to him about special additions to Sirius’ will, Sirius had added a condition that three years after Voldemort was gone Harry would be given an opportunity for a new life anywhere in the world.
He had set aside money to finance the transformation - a Gringotts account linked into the Muggle world, IDs – including licenses, contacts for a job, transportation, and most importantly anonymity in the form of wards that would render the user invisible to anything and anyone through tracking, tracing and mail.
The solicitor laid out the terms for Harry, which according to Sirius was just to have fun and relax for the first time in his life. Harry had smiled for the first time in a long time when he heard these words, and it was from there that a plan formed culminating in his abrupt departure from Britain.
Sirius had long ago concocted this crazy plan to spirit Harry away with Remus, but Remus never thought he’d actually go through with it. Now, as he held the paperwork in his hands, standing in the old, disused office space of the Black family home he could only shake his head and chuckle, very fitting of Sirius to go out with a bang. How the fools, who called themselves Harry’s friends, would run around in circles attempting to find someone who was now essentially a ghost.
The irony was Sirius has gone to those very same fools to help him set everything up, however unknowingly. Nothing concrete would ever show up, as each person had helped with only a small piece of the puzzle. But without their help it would have been impossible, so in essence they had gifted Harry with a way of getting out.
Even if these conditions weren’t the idyllic ones Sirius dreamed up, they were the ones that had to be dealt with. Harry made the best of a bad situation and took the opportunity; with Sirius’ help Harry Potter was no longer chained to Britain and for the first time in his life – free.
Once again, Remus stared down at the papers before him and carefully putting them in a big envelope he sealed it shut and placed it back in the nondescript box on the dusty, unused shelf, sealed that too with a specially made seal only accessible to what had been four people in the world, now there was only him. Perhaps it was best right now; no one knew exactly what was going on, Harry could have the peace he so desired and a chance to get away from the mess his personal life had become. Remus could finish what Sirius could not and had passed onto him – protect Harry at all costs.
Waving his wand he cleared the dust, before flicking it once more and a layer of dust settled along the shelf, looking just as unused and uninteresting as it had been an hour beforehand. Nodding to himself, Remus stepped out of the dimly lit room, closing the door behind him with a click and headed towards the front door apparition point: time to go, the house check-up was done until the next time.
Moments later a loud pop signified the departure of the houses’ only caretaker now and the house slowly settled back into silence with only the tick of the grandfather clock, newly wound echoing through the house, accompanied by the slowly fading beam of sunlight drifting across the faded wooden floor.
What none of them had considered was the political fallout, Britain being without their Golden Boy. About a week after Harry left, the Daily Prophet finally caught onto the fact that he was no longer Britain’s celebrity. How they found out made it worse, through a rival newspaper’s headlines.
In the States Harry had made headlines after shutting down a huge smuggling operation of magical items, and potions from the Wizarding world into the Muggle world. Headlines proclaimed him as the new future for Magical Law Enforcement.
“Potter Steps Up the MLE Game”
“New Hero on the Block”
“Potter Cleans Up The Streets”
The Daily Prophet and other newspaper tabloids, as soon as they found out Harry was no longer in the country immediately swarmed his friends and family looking for answers.
“Potter Gone From Britain!”
“Gone Rogue, Working For Colonies”
“Witch Weekly’s Most Eligible Bachelor In The States”
This was the hailstorm awaiting the Weasleys, Hermione, Remus and other known associates of one Harry James Potter when the news finally broke that following Monday. All they could say was no comment and fend off the reporters as best they could. None of them wished to broadcast anymore of their lives for public entertainment.
The commentary of the newspapers began to get more and more speculative as time wore on. The nature of Harry’s disappearance was called into question and whether it had anything to do with the spectacular fights witnessed in public. Reporters hounded them all wherever they went, it got to the point no one could step outside the without being surrounded by the sharks.
“Friends & Family Suspiciously Close Mouthed”
“Golden Trio No More?”
“Trouble in Paradise?”
Until, a surprising letter appeared on the front page of every single newspaper throughout Britain. No one knew exactly how it had gotten there, just that it appeared to be impervious to tampering and would not be removed from the front page.
On it proclaimed a very important message that needed to be said, one the people of Britain would do well to listen to.
To the Magicals of the United Kingdom,
Does the life of one man mean so much to you that you need to keep tabs on every single aspect of his life? Are your lives so boring and meaningless that you would look elsewhere to some poor schmuck’s boring life to supplement it?
If it is, I pity you, for that is a life with no meaning and no substance and therefore not of worth for anything, just a waste of space and breath.
Yes, this is to all of you people hounding my friends and family in search of answers. My life is my own to do as I please, not to be reported by the second by stalkers, i.e. reporters so everyone else can be entertained by it.
Well, guess what? It ends now.
I, Harry James Potter do solemnly swear that if the magicals of the United Kingdom do not stop harassing my friends and family about my whereabouts and my life I will bring the full force of the International Magical Enforcement community upon you.
Believe me, as a head of the US MLE I have the power to back this up. This is not a threat, this is a promise; take this as your only warning: leave my friends and family alone or else face the consequences of your idiocy as Britain suffers in the eyes of the International Magical community.
In essence, this boils down to a simple sentence, GET A LIFE!
Harry James Potter
There were outrage and talk of dragging Potter back, showing him his “proper” place, especially from the government as they had been working under the assumption that any problems, dark wizards-in-training, would be taken care of by him. A movement was started to force him back to Britain, until the International MLE stopped it cold, Britain could not force Harry Potter to return to his homeland. It was then they realized how much of their influence and power was lost in the eyes of the rest of the world. The world would no longer follow Britain’s lead blindly, if ever again.
There was also no doubt Potter was behind this show of strength. The international magical community was already outraged at the mess Britain made of Voldemort with mishandling, i.e. corruption. If they had tried anything, what little remained of their international power would be obliterated. The message was clear, do not mess with Harry Potter or anyone he considered friends and family.
After this, none others dared doubt that Potter would follow through. He did after all defeat Voldemort and now had the International MLE behind him. Even as they all grumbled, they did so quietly as they left Harry’s friends and family alone.
With such a decisive letter from Harry, everyone expected some form of contact. But nothing ever came, and with each passing day hope waned and once again everyone was waiting, waiting to see if he would come back on his own.
Three people knew for certain that the chance of Harry coming back after his voluntary hiatus was very low indeed. Each time a meeting was called to discuss him; Hermione and Ron refused to look at each other as though by not looking at each other they could stave off the reality – they were the ones who drove him away.
In fact, only one person in all of Magical Britain knew exactly where Harry was, that person was Remus though he found out by accident when he was going through the rest of Sirius’ things to figure out what needed to be salvaged.
Remus found a deed to a penthouse apartment in an exclusive, discreet building in the middle of Muggle Manhattan. The Muggle world was the only place Harry could blend in, where he could be a nobody. Somewhere he wouldn’t have everyone’s expectations and responsibilities focused on him.
Sirius had bought the apartment as an escape route to irresponsibility. He was after all the master at being irresponsible, he knew it wasn’t worth it to be serious all the time, after all he was Sirius and he was almost never serious.
In Harry’s life he had always been serious and had never been allowed to be a kid and irresponsible. This could be his chance to escape, for lack of a better word. A place where he could learn how to be Harry, as cliché as that sounded, he had never been just Harry. His persona to everyone had always been Harry Potter – Golden Boy, Boy-Who-Lived, and later Defeater of Voldemort. He had never known anything else.
A discreet solicitor had sent off an owl to Harry asking to speak to him about special additions to Sirius’ will, Sirius had added a condition that three years after Voldemort was gone Harry would be given an opportunity for a new life anywhere in the world.
He had set aside money to finance the transformation - a Gringotts account linked into the Muggle world, IDs – including licenses, contacts for a job, transportation, and most importantly anonymity in the form of wards that would render the user invisible to anything and anyone through tracking, tracing and mail.
The solicitor laid out the terms for Harry, which according to Sirius was just to have fun and relax for the first time in his life. Harry had smiled for the first time in a long time when he heard these words, and it was from there that a plan formed culminating in his abrupt departure from Britain.
Sirius had long ago concocted this crazy plan to spirit Harry away with Remus, but Remus never thought he’d actually go through with it. Now, as he held the paperwork in his hands, standing in the old, disused office space of the Black family home he could only shake his head and chuckle, very fitting of Sirius to go out with a bang. How the fools, who called themselves Harry’s friends, would run around in circles attempting to find someone who was now essentially a ghost.
The irony was Sirius has gone to those very same fools to help him set everything up, however unknowingly. Nothing concrete would ever show up, as each person had helped with only a small piece of the puzzle. But without their help it would have been impossible, so in essence they had gifted Harry with a way of getting out.
Even if these conditions weren’t the idyllic ones Sirius dreamed up, they were the ones that had to be dealt with. Harry made the best of a bad situation and took the opportunity; with Sirius’ help Harry Potter was no longer chained to Britain and for the first time in his life – free.
Once again, Remus stared down at the papers before him and carefully putting them in a big envelope he sealed it shut and placed it back in the nondescript box on the dusty, unused shelf, sealed that too with a specially made seal only accessible to what had been four people in the world, now there was only him. Perhaps it was best right now; no one knew exactly what was going on, Harry could have the peace he so desired and a chance to get away from the mess his personal life had become. Remus could finish what Sirius could not and had passed onto him – protect Harry at all costs.
Waving his wand he cleared the dust, before flicking it once more and a layer of dust settled along the shelf, looking just as unused and uninteresting as it had been an hour beforehand. Nodding to himself, Remus stepped out of the dimly lit room, closing the door behind him with a click and headed towards the front door apparition point: time to go, the house check-up was done until the next time.
Moments later a loud pop signified the departure of the houses’ only caretaker now and the house slowly settled back into silence with only the tick of the grandfather clock, newly wound echoing through the house, accompanied by the slowly fading beam of sunlight drifting across the faded wooden floor.
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