The-Meaning-Of-True-Freedom [Chapter 177]

“Ah… Tonks, you are finally up” Harry said in a relieved tone and Tonks shot up and owlishly blinked at Harry. She tried to remember where she was and memories started to flash in front of her eyes. She finally remembered what happened to her and how she passed out.

“What are you going to do to me?” Tonks asked fearfully as she tried to scoot away from Harry in fear. The story Gellert, Narcissa, and Sirius told was somewhat fantastical and if she was being honest, she didn’t believe them, at least not completely, but there was probably some truth in their words. After all, she knew for certain that Harry had killed the Dursleys.

Tonks looked around, trying to assess her current situation. It was something Moody had taught her and while she would admit, she wasn’t as subtle as him, she wasn’t completely hopeless. Tonks realized that she was probably on the 1st floor and from how spartan the room truly was, the room was probably unused, including the bed.

Harry didn’t answer and he simply stood up from his seat. He closed the book in his hand with a snap and Tonks had to admit, Harry was looking pretty damn hot seated in that chair, with that book in his hands… ‘The fuck Tonks!! Pull your head out of the gutter! He is barely fourteen and there are other important things to deal with other than checking out the hot bod’ Tonks internally chastised herself.

“How are you feeling?” Harry asked softly as he continued to approach the bed.

Tonks felt her back touch the bed stand and realized that she was cornered. So, she subtly reached out for her Wand and she was internally relieved to find the Wand where it was supposed to be. Tonks started to wonder why they didn’t bother to disarm her… There was a chance that they forgot to disarm her, which was pretty unlikely or they probably don’t consider her to be a threat even with her Wand in her possession.

“Where am I?” Tonks asked instead of answering his question.

“At the Malfoy Manor. You are in a guest room” Harry answered with an understanding look on his face, but still Tonks didn’t feel relieved. How could she? After all, at this moment, she was behind enemy lines… “I decided to surprise you, but then all of a sudden you passed out, I wasn’t expecting that” Harry revealed and Tonks flushed slightly at that.

She didn’t mean to pass out, it simply happened… “I was so worried for you and I didn't know what to do, so I had to inform your parents” Harry revealed, and Tonks immediately shot up from the bed and pointed her Wand at Harry with a furious look on her face. How dare he try to use her parents? Tonks thought while seething in anger.

“What have you done to them?!” Tonks snarled, looking completely enraged as she walked up to Harry and placed the tip of her Wand at his throat in a threatening manner, but Harry didn’t seem to be bothered by her actions in the slightest, but Tonks was no longer paying attention to his subtle actions as there were other things on her mind right now.

“Relax Tonks, they are completely unharmed” Harry answered calmly, but Tonks didn’t seem to be placated by his words.

“Then why did you bring them here? Are you going to use them to keep me in line?” Tonks asked furiously.

“I have no plans of using them to keep you in line… I simply brought them here because I was really worried about you. No matter which side you are on, at the end of the day, you are still my family” Harry said compassionately and Tonks seemed to lose some of her composure at his passionate words. “I can understand why you don’t trust me, but believe me, I don’t have any ulterior motives” Harry added.

Technically he was telling her the truth as he didn’t have any ulterior motives, but he did have some plans for them...

Theodore wasn’t the best lawyer in the Wizarding Community, by any means, but his knowledge when it came to both the Muggle Law and the Wizarding Law, was simply unmatched. After all, he was one of the few who decided to familiarize themselves with the Muggle side of the Law while working in the Wizarding Community.

Then Andromeda Tonks, younger sister of the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange née Black and older sister of Narcissa Malfoy née Black. To be honest, there wasn’t anything impressive about the woman at first sight, but that was exactly the image she wanted to portray. Thanks to Narcissa, Harry knew that Andromeda was pretty good with a Wand, not Bellatrix-level good, but she was good enough to hold her own.

That was most probably why the Blacks never tried to get her or her husband killed during the War. That was what Narcissa believed and Harry seemed to agree with her on that. Then the woman was a pretty decent Potion brewer. She didn’t have any Masters or anything, but she brewed Potions for St. Mungos and some third-party apothecaries.

Being good at Potions was kind of a basic requirement for that. He did have quite a few people who could brew Potions within Lost Garden, but having one more wouldn’t hurt him… Then there was the fact that they were related to Sirius, so by extension, they were Family too and if Theodore and Andromeda decided to join the Lost Garden, then Tonks would follow.

“You are lying” Tonks hissed suspiciously, but she somewhat lowered her Wand.

“Why would I lie to you?” Harry asked with a confused look on his face. “How about this? We go down and meet your parents, and after that, you are free to leave. No strings attached” Harry offered, surprising her to the core. She was so surprised that she completely lowered her Wand arm without even realizing it.

“You are fucking kidding me” Tonks breathed out while giving Harry a suspicious look.

“No kidding! Come follow me” After saying that, Harry turned around on his feet and left the room. Tonks stared at his retreating back with a dumb look on her face before finally deciding to follow him. She simply couldn’t fathom what Harry was really planning. Did he really bring her parents here just because he was worried?

The two of them finally arrived at the drawing room and Tonks immediately rushed over to her parents. She looked them over and realized that neither of them had been harmed. Though the two of them looked kind of uncomfortable, well, nobody could blame them for that. After all, they were sitting near the infamous Gellert Grindelwald. The family of three started to converse with each other.

After Tonks passed out, Harry ordered Gellert to bring the elder Tonkses to Malfoy Manor, so that he could prepare the play. Gellert returned only after a few minutes with the elder Tonkses in two. The two of them were obviously afraid, but they somewhat calmed down after Harry had a chat with them. He told them about Voldemort and since they were family, he offered them protection.

“Why are you doing this?” Tonks asked after she finished checking on her parents.

“Doing what?” Harry asked innocently and Tonks scowled at him before waving around her hands in the air.

“All of this! You freed him and his followers from prison! You rejuvenated them! You are forcing them to work for you! You are forcing the Malfoys to work for you! Why are you doing all of these?!” Tonks asked in a frustrated tone and Andi placed her arm on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Don’t you already know?” Harry asked in return. “To win a War” Harry answered simply. “This War is going to be unlike the last War. This War is going to be way more dangerous than the last one. This time there will be no bystanders. Everyone will be forced to join a side in the War. In the last War, there were the Death Eaters and everyone else, but this time, there are already four Factions” Harry started to explain.

“Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He is back, and I am certain that right now, he is consolidating his forces. That is probably why he is lying low” Harry explained and flicked his hand and moved the furniture to the side, surprising the Tonkses as they didn’t expect him to cast Magic Wandlessly. Tonks finally realized why he looked so careless.

After that, with a wave of his hand, he Conjured a bunch of large black chess pieces on the floor. The piece at the back was the biggest and sported a small crown with a serpent on top. The rest of the black pieces adorned a silver bandana at the top and behind the largest piece, a black mist started to form with the mark of a King in the middle.

“Then we have Albus Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix. It might look like he is fighting for the good, but good is a relative term. Besides that, he seems to have his own agenda” Harry continued his explanation with an indifferent look on his face.

Then again he waved his hand and Conjured a bunch of large white chess pieces. The piece at the back was the biggest with a phoenix at the top. Then a white mist started to form behind the largest piece before the mark of a kind appeared within the mist.

“Then we have Amelia Bones and the Ministry” Harry said while he waved his hand and Conjured a bunch of large silver chess pieces with the largest piece sporting the insignia of the Director of DMLE on top. Tonks didn’t miss that but refrained from saying anything for the time being. Then a silver mist started to take form behind the largest piece, and just like the other mists, the mark of a king also formed within the silver mist.

“Then there is me” Harry whispered in a lone tone and Conjured a lone large green chess piece with a lightning bolt at the top. “I was all alone, so I had to find my own allies” Harry said and with another wave of his hand other green chess pieces started to form around his piece. Then when the pieces finally stopped forming, a green mist appeared behind his piece before the mark of a king also appeared in the green mist.

“You aren’t the King?” Sirius asked dumbly while pointing at the green mist.

“No, Kings are weak, but Queens… Queens are the most powerful pieces on the board” Harry explained with a grin. “Kings are the idea we represent” Harry added simply before pointing at the black pieces. “Voldemort is their most powerful piece and their King is the idea they represent. Kill everything that is not Pureblood! Blah! Blah! Blah!” Harry finished while rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Albus Dumbledore is the Queen of the Light side and their King is the idea they represent. There will be no evil! Give everyone second, third, fourth chances and so on…” Harry finished with a groan before pointing at the silver pieces.

“Now, the Ministry” Harry sighed. “They are the most troublesome as they have the most to lose. That is Amelia Bones, their most influential figure for the time being. They lack raw power, but they have the resources and they can work within the existing system and that is also why they have the most to lose…” Harry finished with a frown on his face.

“The thing is, they simply want to maintain the status quo… If Voldemort or Dumbledore don’t make a move then they won’t do anything. That was exactly why nothing changed even after the last War. In the last War, a lot of issues came to light, which made it very hard to prosecute a Pureblood, but did they change anything in the last decade? No! Even the so-called Light Faction didn’t try anything” Harry finished before focusing his gaze on Tonks.

“Tell me Tonks, what were your chances of becoming a Senior Auror before Sirius brought your mother back into the Black Family?” Harry asked and Tonks looked down at her feet.

“Nonexistent” Tonks mumbled in a low tone.

“So, what idea does your King represent?” Andi asked. She could somewhat understand what Harry was trying to do and from the looks her husband was giving her, he could too, but the problem was, he wasn’t lying. Whatever he was saying, he was spot-on about the others, so she wanted to know what he was fighting for.

“Freedom” Harry answered with a nod of his head. “That is what I represent. We won’t be bound to the laws of others. We will make our own. I am not planning to take over the world or anything. Managing the world would be too hectic, I believe” Harry joked, earning a few chuckles. “You see, true freedom is nothing but a lie, a foolish dream, but not for me” Harry finished before releasing his Magic and his eyes started to glow eerily.

The Tonkses gasped at the display… “If you are truly powerful enough, then you are free to do whatever you want to do. You can believe whatever you want to believe and nobody would be there to say otherwise. You will be able to live as you wish to… So, are you with me on my path to freedom or will you stand against me?” Harry asked as he stared at the Tonkses…