Intuitively, Harry knew that he had pushed Dean too far, so he backed off. His instinct told him that he needed to get to Ginny to find out if Dean was telling the truth, but pity for Dean kept him in the dorm. Putting himself in Dean’s shoes was really quite easy. What if he learned his own father was actually alive somewhere? He would do anything to determine his location and see him. What if the first time he saw his father, the man was crumpled into a hapless position on the floor screaming for death to ease his pain? Like Dean, he too would be on the verge of losing his mind.
As his concern for Dean continued to wrestle with his desire to seek out Ginny, Dean took the matter out of his hands entirely by roughly closing his bed curtains thereby sending a clear message that he wanted to be left alone. Taking this as his cue, Harry shot out of the room and down the dorm stairwell. He slowed down once he reached the door of the boy’s stairwell and carefully opened it so that he would not collide with Ginny as he had the previous night. His anticipation molded into confusion when he did not find Ginny on the other side of the door.
He continued his search throughout the common room but was sorely disappointed. As he considered his options a disturbing thought crossed his mind, what if something had gone wrong with Ginny’s Volcency and she was in danger? He couldn’t remember the dream actually ending; he had just sort of woken up. In his haste to get to Ginny he recklessly ran up the girl’s stairwell. He recalled that Hermione had once said the fifth year girls were on the fifth floor. No sooner had he reached their door, than the stairs underneath his feet melted away, sending him sliding back down and spitting him out of the girl’s stairwell.
He kicked himself for forgetting that the stairs had been charmed to extricate any male intruders. As he desperately sought another means of getting to Ginny he neglected to notice the figure creeping up behind him. He was so focused on his thoughts that he nearly leapt out of his skin when a small hand rested on his shoulder. The hint of jasmine in the air stilled his hand which had been reaching for his wand. Without a word, Ginny took a hold of his hand and led him towards the portrait hole. They walked down the dark corridor with Ginny in the lead, as he still had no idea where she was taking them.
She slid open a classroom door, the same one that Hermione had taken him and Ron to earlier, and went inside. He followed closely, still unsure why she had taken him out of the common room in the first place. He slid the door and with a small click it closed. Another click behind him caught his attention and he quickly turned around to see what Ginny was doing. A small glow from a lantern illuminated the classroom, revealing a stoic faced Lupin with Ginny by his side.
“So you’re in on this too?” Harry asked in disbelief. Hadn’t the events of the Christmas break taught Lupin a lesson as far as Ginny was concerned?
“I’m afraid not,” Lupin responded gloomily, “I’ve only just been informed of the disturbing activities of Ms. Weasley and Mr. Thomas.”
Harry felt slightly relieved; he did not want to fight again with Lupin, especially not about the same topic.
“So the dream,” Harry asked hesitantly, “was it real?”
“What you perceived as a dream was actually Ginny putting thoughts in your head,” Lupin explained, “and I’m afraid that it was quite real.”
“Well at least that explains why I haven’t gotten a decent nights rest,” Harry said, offering a grim grin as he took a seat.
“It’s not funny!” Ginny responded heatedly. “That man is going to kill Dean’s father and you two are just short of asking me to get you a pot of tea!”
Harry shot Lupin a raised brow, unsure of how to go about handling Ginny’s outburst.
“I assure you Ginny, once Dumbledore returns I will immediately disclose all the information you have given me,” Lupin reassured her.
“That’s not good enough!” Ginny cried out. “We need to find him, we need to rescue him!”
“Do you have any idea of where the house in the dream actually is?” Harry asked, humoring her in a vain attempt to get her to see how flawed her plan was.
“No,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Do you have any idea whose house we were in?” Harry continued.
“No,” she echoed her previous statement.
“We do not even know if this house is in this country,” Lupin pointed out.
“You’re just going to let him be killed?” Ginny asked in a highly accusatory tone, throwing an icy stare at Harry.
“If he was going to be killed,” Lupin interjected, “why would he have been kept alive for so long?”
When Ginny couldn’t formulate an answer Lupin continued.
“Ameen is much stronger than you give him credit.”
“That’s his name?” Harry cut in.
“Ameen Khalali,” Professor Lupin nodded adamantly, “he was in his third year at Hogwarts when we were in our first year.”
“You knew him?” Harry inquired.
“Not per se,” Lupin clarified, “that he was royalty was a strictly guarded secret, so naturally the whole school knew about it.”
“Naturally,” Harry agreed.
“When he finished school, it was rumored that he had a falling out with his parents,” Lupin continued.
“Over what?” Ginny asked.
“Well he met a young lady who he fell in love with,” Lupin responded with a strong air of regret.
“A young lady that just so happened to be a muggle?” Harry asked slyly, knowing full well what Lupin’s answer would be.
“I’m afraid so,” Lupin nodded gloomily.
“Did he marry her?” Ginny interjected her query.
“He did,” Lupin told them, “despite the fact that his parents had forbidden him from doing so.”
“I suppose his parents were not too pleased?” Harry said sarcastically.
“Not at all,” Lupin confided. “Rumor has it that they disowned him as a result.”
“This is all good and well,” Harry said with some boredom, “but who kidnapped him and why have they kept him alive for so long? As a matter of fact,” Harry turned to face Ginny, “how is it that you managed to find him?”
“Those are excellent questions,” Lupin said with an approving nod before turning to stare at Ginny as well.
“Alright already,” Ginny sighed loudly. “Over the summer Dean’s mother took us to visit the palace where she works as a secretary. While she was busy with some work Dean and I snuck off to find the employment records in her boss’s office.”
“Why would you…” Harry began.
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Ginny asked with her hands on her hips. As Harry cowered she returned to her tale.
“Until this summer, Dean had assumed his stepfather was his real father. Dean’s stepfather was in a motor accident and needed blood from his relatives. Mrs. Thomas refused to allow Dean to give blood. Instead, Lionel his half-brother gave blood. When Dean asked her why she stopped him from helping his father… ”
“…she came clean,” Lupin guessed thoughtfully.
Ginny nodded. “She told Dean that his real father was a wizard. Years ago, the palace employed a janitor who she found infuriating. This janitor would become her future husband and Dean’s father.”
“Ameen as a janitor?” Lupin cried out. “I can’t even imagine such a thing.”
“Well now she realizes that he was never a janitor, she assumes that he was some sort of wizarding police sent to guard the royal family.”
“Did you ever find those employment records you were looking for?” Harry asked.
“We did, but there wasn’t much to go on. He used an assumed name, Ofuma Baguma, as his alias. The only thing we knew for certain was his age, that he was a wizard, and that he had come from Africa.”
“How did you find out his real identity?” Harry couldn’t help but to ask.
“First, we looked through all the African genealogical books, but we couldn’t find Ofuma Baguma. When we realized that no such wizarding family by that name had ever existed, we began a new search. We looked into the Hogwarts school records for African sounding names, using his age as our timeline.”
“That’s how you found him,” Harry shook his head in awe.
“Not quite,” Ginny said wistfully. “We found four wizards that met that description.”
“His guard duty,” Lupin said with a knowing smile.
“Excuse me?”
“His guard duty,” Lupin explained, “the wizards the King sent along with his son, for his protection of course.”
“I suppose so,” Ginny said in surprise.
“How did you narrow it down to him?” Lupin asked in genuine interest.
“That was purely by luck,” Ginny answered. “We came across an old school paper that had a picture of all four of our potential candidates together. We sent it to Dean’s mother and she identified him for us. Armed with his real name we began to search the African genealogical records once more.”
“I don’t imagine it took very long to find him,” Lupin commented.
“Not long at all,” Ginny agreed.
“Meanwhile, you had been contacted by Gaia who told you that she and a wizard that she could not identify had been taken by an unknown Death Eater,” Lupin stated. “Of course the reason she could not identify the wizard is because he thought in a language that she could not understand. Once you knew who Dean’s father really was, the dates fell into place and you realized that Dean’s father was the wizard that had been kidnapped. Then you convinced me to teach you about channeling and the rest is history.”
“Almost,” Ginny admitted without remorse, “there’s just one question I haven’t been able to work out. I’m sure Voldemort kidnapped him because he is a prince and Gaia because she is a Volcen, but why is that Death Eater still keeping them alive? What purpose does that serve?”
“In regards to Gaia,” Lupin shook his head sadly, “I can provide no answer, but as for Ameen…I’m rather certain of Voldemort’s logic.”
“Enlighten us!” Ginny cried out enthusiastically, taking a seat next to Harry and leaning forward so as not to miss a single word.
“Ameen will one day be king…”
“But he was disowned,” Harry pointed out.
“That is of no consequence,” Lupin brushed off Harry’s statement. “The Kingdom is magical; it passes to the next rightful heir regardless of human trivialities. Ameen is the next rightful heir, and once his father passes away the Kingdom will mark him as King.”
“You talk about this Kingdom as though it is alive,” Harry noticed.
“Africa is rooted in old magic that runs so deep we could not think to comprehend the power that binds the royal lineage.”
“If they are so powerful, why was Ameen sent to study magic here?” Harry wondered.
“Old magic, though powerful, lacks innovation and direct use. For example, there are no charms for summoning an object or spells for disarming an opponent. That is entirely dependent on the creativity and ability of the individual witch or wizard.”
Harry felt relieved that he was not part of the olden days. He was fortunate that he was part of an era in which the study of magic and its applicability to everyday use was valued.
“If African witches and wizards are so far behind the recent trends of magical education, why does Voldemort want Ameen?” Harry reiterated. “He can’t hope to benefit from Ameen’s people after all.”
“That’s where you’re wrong Harry,” Lupin cut in. “Ameen will someday rule the entire African wizarding Kingdom. It is the largest wizarding community in existence. Besides that, they hold the key to old magic. Whereas others, like us, have largely forgotten the usefulness of such magic, they alone are trained in the ancient rite. Some wizards, such as Aberforth Dumbledore, were sent to Africa for magical education. Even Voldemort himself sought knowledge from there after his years at Hogwarts were completed.”
“Won’t their government realize that Ameen is under Voldemort’s control?” Ginny finally spoke up.
“The people of Ameen’s Kingdom believe that the rift between him and his parents is the reason that he has not returned to Africa. If, however, they were to learn that he has been kidnapped and is being held hostage…”
“What would happen?” Harry asked with foreboding.
“I have no doubt that the Shaman would lead an attack on England the likes of which we have seen only once before,” Lupin responded.
“When have we seen it?” Ginny asked immediately.
“The muggles refer to it as the Black Plague. Millions upon millions were killed in Europe as a result.”
Ginny gasped in horror, “Why would they do such a thing?”
“A minor transgression occurred between the royal families. But this,” Lupin shook as goose pimples appeared along his arms, “the kidnapping of an heir, I shudder to think the repercussions if the African Kingdom learns of it.”
“Do you think they could really go to war with England?”
“Just England Harry? Perhaps they would start here, and then work their way throughout Europe…mind you, they still haven’t gotten over that slight altercation of the past.”
“Surely with all the new magic we’ve learned, we are much better prepared to go to battle?”
“Harry, don’t you see. When you were just a child Voldemort attempted to kill you with new magic, your mother sacrificing herself for you was a form of old magic. In the end, old magic is sure to trump new magic.”
“Why did we come up with new magic than?” Harry asked, highly annoyed.
“Well our old magic almost disappeared when we went to war with India two thousand years ago. It took a thousand years after that war before we established new magic and the greatest witches and wizards England had to offer formed a school, Hogwarts, to impart magical education to as many English witches and wizards as possible.”
“Why did we go to war with India?” Ginny asked.
“The Realm of India was far progressed as a society, much more so than the monarchy that ruled England at the time. Our monarch was obsessed with ideas of pure blood lineage, and he insulted India’s Sovereign Queen who was by his terms, a ‘mudblood’.”
“I thought that we were more progressed as a society than India?” Harry commented.
“You are referring to the muggle technology, Harry. They are more progressed because of necessity. There are far fewer witches and wizards in England than there are in India. I have noticed that the amount of muggle technology that exists in a society is directly correlated to the wizarding population that exists in that nation.”
“That’s why the largest wizarding community is in Africa,” Ginny said, catching on to Lupin’s meaning.
“Because they have the lowest muggle technology available?” Harry guessed.
“Correct!” Lupin replied leaping from his chair. “The three most powerful wizarding communities today are the African Kingdom, the Realm of India, and the Chinese Empire.”
“Unbelievable,” Ginny muttered, “Why is it that we don’t learn about this in school?”
“We don’t come off too well in that perspective, so the founders decided to leave it out. Besides, we no longer have any true knowledge of world history past two thousand years ago, we would have to ask the other wizarding communities for that…and well, we’re still a bit too proud for our own good,” Lupin lamented.
“Voldemort’s not trying to take over England,” Harry stated ominously as the puzzle pieces he had been mulling over for weeks began to fall into place, “he’s trying to take over the world. That’s why he has Ameen, to start a world war. He’ll use the Giants and dementors to attack and involve the other wizarding communities. He’ll use Gaia who he incorrectly assumes is the new Voltara to control the Volcen’s and use their abilities for evil. That will free up the Death Eaters for whatever task they have been assigned. Don’t you see? We’re on the verge of World War Three.”
“World War Three, Harry? Perhaps if we only look at this century, however, it’s more like World War Twelve in the recent history of England,” Lupin corrected, “and we’re only two thousand years old.”
“Of those wars, how many were started by a mad wizard who wanted to take over the world?” Harry asked.
“A considerable few,” Lupin responded, “though I fear none will prove as successful or deadly as Voldemort.”
In Adversity We Know Our Friends by Wise Owl
Chapter Notes: Alrightly then...let's try this again! The story got rejected because I accidently put the entire chapter in bold! My bad!!! So I'll give you a sneak peak of what's to come...enjoy:
“World War Three, Harry? Perhaps if we only look at this century, however, it’s more like World War Twelve in the recent history of England,” Lupin corrected, “and we’re only two thousand years old.”