Capítulo 1563: 25
Chapter 25: Damage Control Part 2Notes:
Good morning! Here is the latest chapter.
I hope all of you like it :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
An hour later, it was by now night, Sirius Black was able to walk out of Amelia Bones' office as a (more or less) free man. Sure, he'd still have to face the Wizengamot for the murder of the muggles and giving Voldemort the secret of the Potters (killing Peter was an obsolete charge now), but since Peter Pettigrew had already confessed it was a mere formality. Until then he was free to leave the ministry, but not the country. His wand was still evidence for the time being, but he planned to grab a spare family wand at home. Amy - he was certain that she still had a crush on him - was offering to apparate him home, and he took her up on that.
Since Amy didn't know where Grimmauld Place 12 was, she apparated Sirius into the general area and accompanied him while they were walking up to the correct spot. Then - since the Fidelius was still active - he told her the secret and then they entered.
The house was nothing like Sirius had expected, because it was cleaner and less dark than the last time he had been here. How…?
Then Kreacher appeared, eyeing Sirius for a few seconds before bowing.
"Master Black. You're no Lord like the Heir had promised."
The elf was surprisingly friendly - in relation - and had apparently followed Harry's orders to clean up the place.
"No, I'm not, Kreacher. Not yet at least. I just got freed and will claim the ring as soon as possible. Amy, any way you can bring me into Diagon Alley without being seen? I'd like to visit Gringotts as soon as I'm dressed and have a working wand."
He then addressed the elf again.
"In what state are the Lord's chambers and do we have Grandpa Arcturus' old formal robes here? My father's won't fit, and the old bastard had no style whatsoever."
Sirius had to admit, it took a lot of concentration to not yell at the little creature in front of him, but apparently Harry had changed the little beast to the better. His parents had always used the thing to harm and torment him, but - as far as Amy knew - the elf adored Harry for his power and dominance. Maybe when he was Lord, then he could radiate that dominance and power too. One thing was for sure: the pain the elf had caused him didn't come from its own dark nature, but from his parents.
After being informed that the Lord's chambers were in an usable state and that he would find his clothes prepared there, Sirius thanked (yes, he couldn't really believe it himself) the little old elf. But before heading up there to dress up, he took Amy with him into a room on the third floor.
His father's - no, his office (Arcturus had always lived in the Black Manor in the countryside, not the townhouse, otherwise that would have been Arcturus' office as head of the family) was a big room with an ebony desk, even more impressive and extravagant than Dumbledore's old one, shelves filled with probably highly illegal and dark tomes and a big fireplace. Sirius made a mental note to brighten up the room at least a little bit (but not too much, he was Lord Black after all - or would be soon).
The huge shelf directly left from the desk was what he was aiming for, because it was hiding the small armoury. Oh yes, the House of Black had more than one in each and every Manor. There always was the big one with some mediaeval armour and weapons, the dragonscale battle suits and the wizard staffs (which were hardly used these days, wands were much more efficient), but the smaller, hidden one was always stacked with family wands and high-quality protective gear and enchanted trinkets. Thankfully he knew exactly where this one was, even without the knowledge coming from the Lord rings.
Many years ago he had sneaked into his father's office to look for a book about forbidden and forgotten potions they (the marauders) could use for some pranks, when his father entered the room. Since he didn't want to be on the receiving end of his father's anger, he hid behind an armchair while hoping that the old man didn't start working but left quickly. Thankfully Orion Black only opened the armoury to take out a ring with advanced compulsion protection (he wasn't the Lord so he had no ring already protecting him) before heading to a meeting with someone (Sirius hadn't know with whom and couldn't make that out from his father's murmuring, only the properties of the trinket).
Once the old man was gone again, Sirius waited a few minutes before then trying to find the exact mechanism to open up the hidden room. That wasn't hard, much to his surprise. He was pretty sure that his father had touched a book to open the hidden door, but which one was it?
Sirius nearly burst out laughing when he spotted the right book - or at least the one he expected to be the right one. Between all the magical books there was one from a muggle author. Even if someone were to sneak into the office to look at the books, no one would take a muggle book but rather one of the dark tomes. All the other Black's hated muggles (well, Dromeda was obviously an exception, and so was Uncle Alphard, but the principle still stands), so no one would even touch that book.
At least that must have been his father's line of thought, Sirius personally thought it was a dead giveaway. Thank god Remus had read Ulyssees like a dozen times (Sirius had given up after the chapter which was written like a tragedy. Who wrote something so crazy?), otherwise he wouldn't have recognised it.
Now, Sirius was standing in front of the bookshelf again and reached for James Joyce's Ulyssees, which then opened the door. He had to look for a suitable wand now.
Since his grandfather had died after his parents - and from what Sirius had been able to gather, in his own Manor - his wand wasn't stashed here. The two Blacks had always been so alike in many ways, Siri was sure his wand would be a match. And so would be Reg's, but his body was never found. Uncle Alphard's wand was almost certainly not in here,
His mother's wand he didn't even dare to touch, but he tried his father's wand. Sure, it worked, but he had to force it to work properly. Just as stubborn as the old man himself. He put that one aside, if there was no better one he'd take it.
After a few more minutes of touching wands and flicking them, the wand of Phineas Nigellus Black was by far the easiest to wield. Vine wood and phoenix feather, twelve inches, flexible (all the wands were properly labelled, not only the name of the owner but its materials and wandmaker too).
The Lord's chamber was a room which Sirius had never wanted to enter in his life (despite being the Lord's chamber, his parents had slept in there either way. His mother had been quite ignorant when it came to who the head of the family was. That's why getting blasted off the family tree by her was worthless, she had no right to do that.), but here he was. Actually, it wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be, but maybe it had just been Kreacher cleaning up. As far as he could tell it was usable, clean curtains, new bed sheets and the floor was shining. Then the house-elf popped into the room.
"I hope that you are pleased with Kreacher's work. We still have a few sets of Lord Arcturus' robes, I have cleaned them and put them on the bed. Shall I make dinner, or did you already have it?"
"Oh please, dinner for two would be great. Correction, Harry wouldn't be too pleased if I wouldn't offer you some too. Some of the things he said about elf mistreatment really got me thinking. Please, you deserve a proper break after all this work."
And it was true, when Harry had visited Sirius in Azkaban (and in some of their correspondence afterwards) he had mentioned Lucius' elf called Dobby and how he had been treated. For Sirius that was no big deal in the beginning, he was used to it, but it got him thinking. And if he wanted to make this place usable then he'd need all the help he could get.
Once Kreacher had popped away, Siri turned to Amelia, smirking.
"Well Amy, I never thought I'd get you into my bedroom. Hogwarts broom closet sure, we've been there, but the bedroom? And as much as you'd probably like watching me undress, I'm just out of Azkaban, so no fun yet. Could you wait outside for a minute before we go and have dinner?"
Amelia's reaction was something between a glare and a grin, then she called Sirius "the same cheeky old Sirius" and proceeded to leave the room. If she was honest to herself, she wouldn't mind if she would start something with Siri - again. She wasn't sure if he had been the sole reason she stayed single all those years, but to a degree for sure. Once the war began, things just…fell apart. They were both too busy. There never had been a proper break-up, no fight, nothing. It just…stopped. And then, when things started to calm down and she wanted to resume their relationship, he got sent to Azkaban. But now…maybe.
Against all odds, they didn't end up in bed, both were so tired they just fell asleep on the couch after dinner (in the middle of the night) and Kreacher popped them into rooms (he had prepared a guest room for Amy though the cheeky elf had considered for a moment to bring them into the Lord's chambers together, but he saw that his new master (who tried his best to ignore the pain the elf had caused him and follow Harry's directives in regards to elf treatment) was still fragile).
On the next morning, a potion-free Arthur Weasley woke up in a bed in the potions wing at St. Mungo's, and the first thing he realised, aside from the fact that his mind was clearer than it had ever been since Hogwarts, was that his oldest son - Bill - was sitting next to his bed.
"Dad? What's going on? Amelia Bones sent an auror to tell me that you're up here, but they refuse to tell me anything without your permission. Where's mom, and do the others know about you being here?"
"William Weasley, don't you dare talking to any of your siblings just now! I don't know yet who's on the side of your mother here and potioning people too. As if potioning me wouldn't be bad enough, Molly and Ginny are potioning Harry too. Idiots! They're gonna end up in front of the Wizengamot and your mother will end up in Azkaban. What a…"
He then proceeded to rant about his wife and her damn plots, while Bill could hardly contain his shock and surprise. In his earlier years, he had seen his father get angry, but after a while the good old, fiery Arthur Weasley was gone. Potions… How was that even possible and how much of his life was a lie?
But the main thing was that Amelia Bones was handling the investigation. That woman was fair and anything but corrupt, she'd bring out the truth. Which meant that he could look out for his father.
At the same time, Ginny Weasley was eating breakfast in a ministry holding area, accompanied by a woman from the WCS. Up until now they were missing the parental approval to properly interact with the girl, though the first impression was that she had been brainwashed into a very obsessive behaviour in regards to Lord Potter (after all the girl couldn't stop talking about him in a very…interesting way, making it seem like she only loved the idea of "the-boy-who-lived" instead of the person "Harry"). Once either her father was cleared by the healers or the Wizengamot had appointed a temporary guardian (because her mother would go to Azkaban and it was unclear when her father was well again), they could start getting her some therapy. Because one thing was obvious: Ginevra Weasley was definitely not well.
Albus Dumbledore was sulking. How could things have gone so horribly wrong? Harry was destined to fight Tom, and with all he had done the boy should have grown up to be a weak wizard, lacking both confidence and skill, bound by his core bondings and distracted from studying by his best friend Ronald. Then he would have failed against Tom, the prophecy would have been fulfilled and he could have killed Tom himself. He would have been the strongest wizard in the world, the only one suitable to lead the magical world into a new era. A purer era. This should not have happened.
Maybe the Horcrux was taking over.
But why would Harry have killed the diary horcrux then? It made no sense at all.
Fact was, if Harry was moving against him, he was against the light, against him, against his plans. Harry was turning dark. He must be.
Slowly, rumours started to spread through the old families. Some heirs had already written to their parents in the evening, others in the morning. Fact was, that by lunchtime almost all the pureblood families in the wizengamot (and many other families) were well aware of what had happened. The Prophet (not Skeeter though, she was arrested too, only after all the high-priority targets) even issued a special edition, making all of Harry's houses and actions the previous evening public knowledge. In regards to damage control though, barely anything had been leaked. Sure, Dumbledore was in Ministry custody after the showdown at Hogwarts so all could be cleared up, but no mentions of his true crimes or any other arrests. Probably Amy's work.
What surprised Harry was the fact that the Prophet quoted Dumbledore out of the Ministry custody (Minnie mentioned in the morning that Amelia was already working on finding out who had allowed that to happen), where he stated his displeasure in regards to Harry's actions, something along the lines of "he had too much power and no sense of judgement, he is undoubtedly turning dark and taking others with him."
Upon reading that, Harry just shook his head. He had destroyed a horcrux, he had killed a manifestation of Voldemort. And now he was the dark wizard? That made no sense whatsoever. Maybe the old fool was getting senile these days. Or he was just as evil as Riddle himself, only wanting power, the difference being that he was acting like the good guy.
The time at Hogwarts was not getting easier for the duo, especially after this display of power and skill. Every few minutes they had to turn someone down when they got asked how they possessed those skills or if they could train with them. The hardest one was Neville in that case. Sure, he had known that they had trained over the holidays, but that was way beyond their skillset. At some point his girlfriend, happy that her best friend was more or less back to normal (sure, they had had their differences even before the diary, but that they would have resolved long ago), told him to forget it and accept that those things were obviously way above their league.
Luckily most of the teachers ignored the skillset of the duo too, first of all because with Remus, Severus, Minnie and Flitwick the most important ones already knew the truth. They did meet with Professor Babbling though, since they wanted to learn more about the techniques she had used.
"Well, Miss Granger, Lord Potter. It seems like you are much more than one might expect. Minerva already warned me that you might approach me. You have her praise, but that isn't enough. If you want private lessons, you come back after dinner and write an exam in Runes so I can judge your skill. OWLs or sixth year exams?"
The two looked at each other, after nearly two years of advanced studying (plus Mione's knowledge from the previous timeline) they were now pretty sure which exam to pick.
"NEWTs would be the best, I think. Both for Harry and I. Shouldn't be an issue."
That left the professor flabbergasted. She nodded and sent them away so she could prepare the exams for later. What would the results of those be?
Neither Harry nor Hermione had disappointed with their performance, as they both scored nearly perfect scores in the theoretical exams (it was late and the week had been exhausting, those had just been imprecise answers) and perfect ones in the practical application. Now Babbling had to devise a lesson plan for what was basically a Runes Mastery. She had stopped questioning everything surrounding Potter and Granger by now.
Once Sirius Black woke up, the morning after he got freed from Azkaban, he felt…good. More or less at least. In comparison to the past decade or so sleeping in the vicinity of dementors, everything would feel good, sure, but he knew that it was more than that. He was free, he'd meet Prongslet soon and he'd be able to ruin the lives of all those who had done him harm. Dumbledore, Fudge, Crouch, Malfoy and many more.
Sure, becoming Lord Black was not really something he had expected, but truth be told, by now he actually wanted it, and all the power that came with the title.
He got up and the first thing he did was to get a hot shower. Sure, there were cleaning charms, but the feeling of a hot shower was so much more efficient, at least psychologically speaking. He then trimmed his beard (still a full beard, just now evenly cut and no longer wild) and cut his hair to be at least even and stepped out of the master bathroom, back into the bedroom, where by now Kreacher had prepared a set of dark blue robes, the most exquisite ones he had here.
After putting those on and grabbing the spare wand he picked yesterday he went downstairs, where he could already smell the freshly brewed coffee. Sure, most of his family members had despised coffee and rather enjoyed tea (he did that too, but just not in the mornings), but nonetheless was Kreacher able to brew quite the good and strong black coffee. Since it was already around ten in the morning, Amy had left him a note, saying that she had to get some work done, but he should send her a Patronus message once he was ready to head to Gringotts.
Once he was ready, he thought about the day of Harry's birth, when Lily had put the little boy into his arms and asked him to be the godfather. That thought made Sirius smile and feel enough happiness to create a corporeal Patronus - a Grim obviously - and send it to Amy, telling her that he'd be waiting for her.
Twenty minutes later, the Head of the DMLE and Lady of House Bones knocked on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. Only seconds later, the little house elf opened the door and welcomed her.
Sirius was actually looking quite dashing and - yes, she winced at the stupid word pun - like a very serious man. Definitely Arcturus Black's grandson and heir. She would apparate him into a side alley next to the wizarding bank, as the news of his innocence (though not yet confirmed by the Wizengamot) hadn't hit the news yet. Thankfully she had been able to keep the editor, Barnabas Cuffe, from publishing any article in regards to yesterday's happenings, except Harry's fight with Riddle. The rest, including the orders she had given in the Great Hall, were protected by DMLE spells, hindering people from speaking about ongoing investigations. Sure, those were only something like minor compulsion charms (way more complicated though) and could be broken, that's why she went to Cuffe. He had been relentless at first but then yielded once she had told him everything (under an oath obviously) and promised him an interview with her as well as maybe one with Lord Black (if Sirius accepted, which he by the way did). That was why Siri couldn't yet go out in the open. But with the goblins it was something else, they knew the truth. Harry had told them when he had opened James' and Lily's wills. So she just made an appointment with the Black account manager, Sharpsword. He was delighted to hear that and gladly told Amelia to bring him the future Lord Black as soon as possible (while unhappy about it, he understood that Azkaban wasn't easy to survive and Lord Presumptive Black needed his sleep).
Thanks to a side entrance, the goblins managed to get the Lord Presumptive into the bank without anyone noticing. A teller accompanied the two of them to the offices of Sharpsword (normally they'd ask Amy to wait outside, but in this case they needed an adult to participate in the claiming of the Lordship, just like with Harry and Minnie) and after an exchange of formal goblin pleasantries they started with the reading of Acturus' will. It actually stated that Sirius, and no one else shall become Lord, and that he'd be able to pick an heir of his choosing, but preferably Harry. Seemed like he couldn't stand the Malfoys either.
Just a few minutes later both Sirius and Amelia spoke the traditional phrases to make Siri the Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black:
"I, Sirius Orion Black, Scion of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black hereby proclaim myself the Lord of my House following ancient tradition and my predecessor's will."
Amelia watched him slip the ring on his finger and then lifted her own hand, which held her Head of House ring.
"I, Amelia Anna Bones hereby witness Sirius Orion Black taking his Lordship and back his claim. He follows his predecessor's will and is the righteous Lord of Black."
What followed was a brief discussion about the finances of the House of Black, Sirius changed his will so Harry would inherit everything and he tasked a goblin team to rid all the Black houses and Manors from dark artefacts, which wasn't cheap at all. With that they concluded their meeting and Amy was about to apparate Sirius back home, when he intervened.
"Wait, Amy. Do we have a date for the trials set yet?"
"Yes, I haven't told you that yet. The day after tomorrow, we start at ten in the morning with your trial so you can join the Wizengamot afterwards. It'll take us two days though, maybe even more. Why do you ask?"
"Because I need some new clothes for the Wizengamot Session. How about that: you take me disillusioned to Twilfitt and Tattings, they have a contract with House Black. They couldn't tell anyone about me even if they'd wanted to."
Even though she wasn't too happy about Sirius spending too much time out in the open, she knew he was right. He would need some proper clothing.
After his measurements had been taken, Sirius and the shop owner had discussed what and how much he would need. Aside from two dozen high-quality robes with the Black crests on them, for everyday wear, he ordered three for balls and other formal events as well as two very high priced sets for the Wizengamot, one in black and dark purple, the other in grey and dark blue. Then some duelling robes, he liked wearing them too, they were cut a bit slimmer and made him appear more dangerous, and finally some matching wand holsters to the robes. Not a cheap visit, but necessary.
Madame Tattings promised Mr. Black (for she didn't know he was Lord, sure, she could have guessed that thanks to the clothing he chose, but discretion was important for her shop) that she'd deliver all of them on the following day, those were now high-priority.
The day following the attack on the Great Hall came slowly to an end. Sirius was back at Grimmauld Place, cleaning up the house with Kreacher so Harry would be able to live here. Yes, the goblins would start on the next day and the elf could have done the rest on his own, but burning and vanishing all the horrible things like the elven heads or the boggarts and doxys everywhere was fun. The most fascinating thing though was that now the paintings, including his mother's, were obeying his orders completely. Without picking up the ring, life would have been so awful here.
Harry and Hermione's day came finally to an end too, after finishing up their conversation with Professor Babbling. They had absolutely stunned the woman, since their skill in Ancient Runes was way beyond what Hogwarts taught. Thanks to the Potter library they had learned so much, more than most students learned during their seven years here. They were simply more efficient, higher motivated and had advanced books at their disposal. And not only that, they also used old school books, since the curriculum a few decades ago had been much more extensive, while the schooling time was the same. If they'd use only those, they could pass nowadays NEWTs with flying colours after fourth or fifth year, depending on the subject. Things had been much more efficient back then.
Upon stepping through the portrait hole into the common room, they already saw Ronald, McLaggen and a few other idiots standing there and waiting.
"Oh come on, you again. What is your problem?"
"Well, you little mudblood, we're here to teach you and your arrogant boyfriend a lesson."
If he wouldn't have studied Occlumency, making him better at hiding his emotions, Harry would have punched McLaggen in the face for insulting Hermione. But now, he shouldn't do that anymore. He was a Lord, and now he had other means at his disposal. He replied in a calm, but cold manner.
"McLaggen. This is your last warning, no, it's all of yours, not just his. I'll let this…remark slide this one time if you step aside and leave us alone. Whenever this happens again, I'll come for you with all my power. And not just in a duel. This could go as far as a blood feud between our houses, if you are a member of one. I don't have an issue with duels of satisfaction or ruining you with my economical or political power. But if you decide to not step aside now…let this be my last warning. I took down Voldemort (everyone flinched…was that really the house of the bold?) as a baby, I took him down when he was haunting the castle last year, and I took him down yesterday. You are no match for me and I am not afraid. You on the other hand…you should be afraid."
Most of their opponents took down their wands and disappeared into their dorms. They'd either give up or resort to hexing him in the back, he knew that, but McLaggen and Weasley, the two leaders, so it seemed, and three of their friends, stayed.
"Because of you my Mom and my sister have been arrested, you bastard! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"
Mione resolved that issue of the screaming redhead with a strong silencing charm, while McLaggen started spouting things like "my father's a Lord and on the Wizengamot. He'll see through your farce with those Lordships. No way you'll ever be a Lord, Potter!"
Harry just laughed and told him that his father could try that, and then he just turned around and went into his dorm, Hermione doing the same. Before stepping through the door he turned around once more and added that McLaggen did sound an awful lot like Malfoy with this whole "my father" thing.
Grinning, he went into bed, putting up even stronger wards around himself and his stuff. Who knew if the Gryffindor dorms were a truly safe place currently?
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