Chapter 7 - Ch07 Faction

It was noon when the group reached the end of their discussion about Harry's life. The current situation was clearer to the women, and the queen among them saw the opportunity it presented to both herself and her summoner.

"Harry" started Semimaris "You have decided to stop following others, and create your own path in life. You are in effect creating your own faction, changing the make-up of the coming conflict."

"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Until now, I would say there were 4 factions in magical Britain. The light side, currently led by Albus Dumbledore. The dark side, formerly led by Lucius Malfoy, and currently led by Voldemort through Malfoy. The ministry, currently led by Corneluis Fudge. Finally, the neutrals, those who didn't side with either the light, the dark or the ministry, and prefer to keep to themselves. Now, there is a fifth faction, led by you."

Hearing that last sentence, Harry blinked and looked at her in confusion.

"There are thousands of witches and wizards in magical Britain. Each of these factions must have at the very least hundreds of people. Right now, I have 6 people. We aren't a faction, we are just a small group."

"You were usually associated with Albus Dumbledore" Semimaris calmly replied. "You may not like it, but due to the events of 1981, along with some of what you have accomplished these past 4 years, you must have gained your own share of followers and supporters. People that may like you more than Dumbledore, have more faith in you. You may not think that to be the case because of how you were treated in your 2nd year and when you were entered in the tournament. But can you tell me, with absolute certitude, that everyone aside from your small group of friends was against you?"

Harry opened his mouth, hesitated for a second, and closed it. Semimaris nodded.

"Due to your dislike of attention, I doubt you paid close attention to what everybody else did. I hope you understand it is an attitude that you should no longer uphold. These people, they will be necessary subordinates and allies for the coming war, both on the political scene and on the battlefield."

"Wait. I can agree that they can be helpful in combat, but politically? How would that work?"

"The ministry didn't want to acknowledge the return of the dark lord. The dark lord himself didn't want his return to be known this early, but your survival and escape partly destroyed that plan. For your inquiry, both the ministry and the dark lord's agents will try to completly discredit you if they can't get rid of you with an arrest or expulsion. I am pretty certain that headmaster of yours is going to present himself as your advocate, something that would reinforce anyone's view of you as his protege. Since we will help you prepare your defense, you will be able to handle it without his help. It will send the message that you don't need Dumbledore to take care of yourself and troubles that come your way. It will reach the ears of your possible political supporters."

"Ugh! Things are more complicated than I though" he said while rubbing his forehead.

"Of course they are! However, before we even start building your faction, we have to etablish our base. Right now, you have no place of your own to safely reside, you don't have anyone else you trust enough to go to, and I doubt you want to explain to anyone how you came to have us around you. Do you even have enough money to sustain yourself until your school start again? What about after that?"

"Money shouldn't be a problem. I have a vault full of galleons, easily a few thousands. I've heard that my parent's house in Goldric Hollow has been turned into a historical site or something like that. I'm not sure they had any other properties, I never really got a reason to check. I guess we need to go to Gringots. They should have records of everything my parents owned, or copies. I doubt they entrusted everything to the ministry during the war, with spies and the like. We could check this afternoon. You will also be able to see Diagon Alley, the main commercial area of magical Britain."

That had the girls slightly perk up. They were quite curious about the magical side of the world, and the Leaky Cauldron wasn't really representative of how the rest should be. It was decided that Scathach and Caitlyn would accompany him to the bank, and help him make some basic purchases in the alley. After lunch, as the 3 of them were about to leave, Harry took out his invisibility cloack. Scathach and Semimaris were quite interested in it and scanned it.

"Harry!" Scathach called him while frowning. "You said that this cloak belonged to your father, and that it was returned to you by your headmaster, right?"

"Yes" he replied slowly. "Is something wrong with it?"

"... That old bastard! That's how he was able to see us in 3rd year. I bet he didn't really borrow it, but took it from my parent's house after that night" he almost snarled.

"I think it would be wise to check all your belongings" said Semimaris.

15 minutes later, all his stuff had been scanned. On top of his cloak, his trunk, glasses, photo album and firebolt were charmed. Aside from the trunk and glasses, they were his most precious possessions, and wherever he could go, he wouldn't leave them behind. His glasses, he would always keep on himself. If not for the bounded field Scathach and Semimaris erected around the room, his location would have easily been found. The charm on the cloak was destroyed, and the others were placed on an old shirt that VI took with her outside and tossed on top of a moving van. A maintenance van, and it got stuck on the ladder on top of it.