An Effective Abstraction
By Muirnin Cocan
Chapter Three - A Time to Mourn (Part A)
Hermione slept poorly the entire night. Not only was her mind in a whirl regarding (as she referred to it) the bloody damn Prophecy, but also about their forthcoming trip to Gringott's Bank and then last but not least on her mind was the accidental kiss…
She felt her cheeks flush as she thought about the kiss. Yes, she did realize that it was accidental… but if she was to be honest with herself… and she normally was; She wanted the kiss to happen as much as she would like it to happen again.
At almost 17 years of age, Hermione Granger had not had much experience with relationships; save her ill-suited friendship with the famous Viktor Krum or being best friends with Ron and Harry. She was conscious of the fact that Ron still to this day disliked her companionship with Viktor Krum, probably because Ron had a crush on her… However, Hermione knew deep down that there was no way that she would ever become romantically involved with her red haired best friend. Ironically, Viktor had given her an idea about how to deal with Ron.
In a long letter that Hermione had written to Viktor just before Christmas Eve, she had gone into a detailed account of her friendship with Ron, Harry, and discussing the bouts of jealousy that Ron had shown towards her. The brief response that she had received from Viktor had been his recommendation as to how to handle said 'attention' from the Gryffindor Keeper. He had told her that should Ron finally gather the nerve to ask Hermione out for a date that she should accept, but make sure that by the end of said rendezvous that Ron should be aware of her true desires and for the youngest Weasley son to not solicit any further attention.
In addition, Viktor recommended to her that she stop deceiving herself in regards to Harry Potter. She had laughed when Viktor had been straightforward and told her that since she was in love with young Potter she should go ahead and pursue her heart's desire. Admittedly she still denied her heart however, after watching time and again Harry's life be threatened and all forms of hostility against him by the wizarding press she realized that she would do anything to make his life easier… even if she had to deny her love for the raven haired Wizard.
She looked out the window and could see the first hints of dawn approaching. She swung her legs over the edge of the comfortable bed and sat there with her head in her hands. When it had been decided that she would be staying the night Harry had sent Hedwig off to retrieve a change of clothing from her mum. By the time Hedwig had arrived at the Granger's home the notice about her requirement to attend the meeting that day.
Taking care to wash and change into the clothing her mum had sent the night before, Hermione began thinking about the letter from Gringott's. Upon dressing, she went back into the guest room and picked up the letter and re-read who would be attending.
Gringott's Wizarding Bank
2 July 1996
Mr. Harry James Potter
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey
Dear Sir,
As the sole surviving heir to the Prestigious Potter Estate
You are required to be in our offices at 10am 3 July 1996.
Also required to attend with you is:
Petunia Evans Dursley (your legal Muggle Guardian)
As well as the following individuals::
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Cornelius Oswald Fudge
Hermione Jane Granger
Rubius Hagrid
Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Remus John Lupin
Narcissa Black Malfoy
Draco Lucius Malfoy
Peter Pettigrew
Severus Snape
Andromeda Black Tonks
Nymphadora Tonks
Arthur & Molly Weasley
William Arthur Weasley
Charles Prewett Weasley
Fredrick Gideon Weasley
George Fabian Weasley
Ronald Bilius Weasley
Ginevra Molly Weasley
Please be prompt - Anyone not able to attend please contact our office immediately.
Sincerely,
Monshekgarb
Goblin Liaison for House of Black
Banhabarlic
Goblin Liaison Prestigious Potter Estate
She laughed to herself seeing Bellatrix Lestrange and Peter Pettigrew on the list of 'attendees'. The fact that Peter Pettigrew was supposedly dead, (if you chose to believe the magic community, which she did not!)
However, the fact that they were both Death Eaters… running within Lord Voldemort's inner circle. They would both have to be either extremely greedy, be completely mental or (and this part scared Hermione desperately) overcome with such a desire to see Harry dead and try to kill him at Gringott's. Especially with at least one Auror - Nymphadora Tonks, the Minister for Magic - Cornelius Fudge as well the only one that Lord Voldemort was known to fear - Albus Dumbledore.
What puzzled her was that Severus Snape was included in the list.
She knew that all three of the Black sisters were expected, even though Bellatrix was also wanted for escaping Azkaban, however, Hermione dreaded seeing Draco Malfoy as she recalled the last time she had seen him was being stuffed into an overhead compartment after suffering a number of hexes and curses thanks to members of Dumbledore's Army. She sincerely doubted that he would show any type of retribution in front of the Headmaster but knowing what a dullard, Malfoy could be she also wouldn't put it past him.
Soon she became aware of sounds emanating from the kitchen below, so Hermione began making her way downstairs. Checking her watch, she saw that it was only just past six in the morning.
Harry stood before the stove turning the bacon and attending to the eggs that were in another pan. The percolator had already finished brewing the coffee and he had already placed orange juice on the dining room table.
Hermione stood at the entrance to the kitchen amazed at the fact that Harry could cook. Noting that someone was watching him, Harry turned to see Hermione standing there dressed in a simple black skirt and a floral silk blouse.
"Good morning Hermione." Harry said trying to show a lighter exterior than the night before. "You look very nice today. I'm glad Hedwig was able to make it back in time."
"Oh Harry! Yes, good morning to you as well, although I am a bit surprised to see you up so early." Hermione said giving Harry one of her dazzling smiles.
"I don't sleep well during the summer." Harry stated honestly.
Hermione rushed to his side and quickly asked "Your scar isn't hurting is it Harry, because that would be very bad."
"I'm not having any pain from my scar… I just keep having nightmares…"
"About Sirius's death…" she finished.
"Am I that predictable?" Harry asked as he began plating up the eggs and bacon.
Hermione walked to Harry's side and laid a hand upon his arm. "No Harry, not predictable, just expected. I have to admit that I too have been having … er… dreams regarding Sirius… Remembering how we rescued him; time I spent with him at Grimmauld last summer."
Harry felt a hint of jealousy at the fact that she had spent more time with Sirius than he had the previous summer. Hermione sensed his emotions and gasped "Oh I'm sorry Harry… I didn't mean…"
"It's alright Hermione. There are always going to be people who have spent more time with Sirius as well as those who spent time with my parents. There isn't anything I could do about it…" he shrugged then said, "I guess I just need to stop feeling sorry for myself and realize that I can't have everything the way I want."
As Hermione took her seat at the table, taking the cup of coffee he extended she asked "What do you want Harry?"
"Anything that I want is merely wishful dreams at this point; not even worth bothering to mention." He said as he sat in his seat, filling his plate up.
"You don't actually believe that Harry… you just can't." Hermione said near tearfully.
"If I have to be honest with myself, I will be honest with you in this matter as well… Of course I believe that. According to the Prophecy, either I am the only one that can kill Voldemort or he is going to kill me… How am I supposed to defeat a dark wizard who has had 40 years more experience and training than I… not to mention the fact that he has a load of Death Eaters who make it their life's work to do nothing else but make havoc with everything surrounding my life. All, just to see if they can make me break."
Harry slowly sipped his hot cup of coffee and then added, "No matter what I do Hermione, I honestly don't think it will ever be enough. But at what cost! My parents, Cedric, Sirius… they are all dead because of me" he said showing more of the angry edge that he had spoke with the evening before "Who's going to be next… How in the name of Merlin am I supposed to handle it if anything happened to the Weasley's. I already know I wouldn't be able to handle it if something should happen to you… I nearly lost you a couple of weeks ago… I don't want to go through that again."
Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, his aunt walked into the dining room, overhearing everything Harry had said. Quickly Petunia walked over to him, wrapping her arms lovingly around him, and held him tight.
"I have never known anyone who has endured as much as you have and survived… You Harry, my dear boy, will endure to the end… I have no doubt about that. And know this, from everything that both you and Hermione here have told me, and I am sure there is a great deal more you haven't" she looked deep into the reflection of her sister's eyes and with a deep sincerity that comes from being a mother she added, "you are not to blame for anyone's death in this war… You are an unfortunate victim in someone else's deadly game of power…" Petunia said earnestly, "I may not have been the mother to you I should have been these last 15 years… but know this Harry, I may not be magical… but I will protect you as only a mother could. I may not be Lily, but you have made me see myself through your eyes the last day or so… I am ashamed to have been that person."
Harry stared disbelieving his aunt. She sounded sincere, yet deep down he couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't acted like this last year after both he and Dudley were nearly 'kissed' by the Dementors. "Aunt Petunia, I appreciate what you have said to me… but I am not going to expect you to change once Uncle Vernon and Dudley come back. That is only asking for trouble… and I know full well how painful that trouble can be."
"After learning all that you have endured Harry, I refuse to allow that type of abuse to go on any longer. You are my family Harry, just as much as Vernon and Dudley and I will not let them cast you out just because you do not fit into Vernon's bigoted preconceived mold." Petunia patted Harry's hand and went over to sit at her normal seat. "Now, we will deal with the Dursley men when they return… for now we have this marvelous breakfast that you have prepared and a new adventure for myself… I haven't been to Gringott's Bank before but I remember when mama and papa took Lily, I waited with mama in Diagon alley while they were in the bank making some sort of an exchange… That experience scared me to death. Nevertheless, I am older now and I will have you both with me… I'm sure I will find it all the more interesting this time around." She gave Harry and Hermione probably the most honest smile of her life.
Hermione started to tell her first adventures in Diagon Alley and all about how her parents who are both Muggles reacted to the place. Her description of her mum sounded very much the same as Petunia. "My dad sort of bonded with Mr. Weasley… he has this strange compulsion to all things Muggle."
"Oh yes! I remember him… of course I was terrified when he and his boys blew up our fire grate… Then my poor Dudders got a hold of that sweet from the twins and well I am sure you heard all about it from Harry here…" she gave a slight shiver at the memory, "I'm sure that I will have a proper introduction to them today… I'm actually looking forward to meeting Mrs. Weasley, she seems like a very nice woman and appears to be rather fond of Harry."
Hermione gave a slight chuckle "Well, if you must know she does tend to think of Harry as her 7th son… she has the 6 boys and then Ginny who is the youngest… but the way she dotes on Harry…"
"Smothers me more like" Harry said softly, a blush rising on his cheeks.
Petunia looked at him with a touch of her own embarrassment. "Well dear, someone needed to given the way I treated you in the past." She gave a quirk of a grin and said; "So you will just have to make do with having two women who dote on you…" a quick glance at Hermione made her pause as she mentally corrected her statement and thought three women who dote on you.
The humor was not lost on Harry and he did finally give a smirk of a grin as he finished eating his breakfast and within an hour they had finished their meal, cleaned up and were in the car on their way. They had chosen to take Hermione's car since it would be easier than to navigate the confusing distance to Diagon Alley.
It was only half past nine, when finally they arrived at a car park a short walk from the Leaky Cauldron. Harry could see that his aunt was a bit on edge and lent her his arm for support as they walked into the dark tavern. Tom, the bar-keep was his usually welcoming self as Hermione, Harry and Petunia walked into the pub. Some how Tom always knew everyone that had been there before by name and he made a point of making this known.
"Ah welcome, welcome Miss Granger, it's been awhile… Oh and Mr. Potter, such an honor in deed. It's been years since you have come to my humble establishment… what can I get for you all today." Tom said jovially.
"Nothing right now Tom, we are just coming through with my aunt for some business. If we have time we will see you on our way out." Harry said feeling Petunia's grasp clench his arm a bit tighter. He glanced over at her and she had a nervous smile.
"Not a problem dear boy, this must be Lily's sister… I could tell she has the same smile." Tom said causing Petunia to gasp at his description of her. No one had ever compared a resemblance to her late sister before, causing Petunia to blush at his statement. He turned to Hermione and added, "I'm surprised not to see your parents with you Miss Granger… I hope they are doing well."
"Oh yes, I will be sure to let them know that you asked after them… my dad especially enjoyed the butter beer last time he was here." She grinned, her mother had been shocked at how easily her father had gotten along with everyone; well except Lucius Malfoy but then Arthur Weasley had been fighting with him on that occasion. "They would have come with me today, however they did have patients to attend to… If we come to pick up our school supplies I will make sure that my parents come with me."
They walked out into the back alley and Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks in the very familiar order. Both he and Hermione took pleasure at watching his aunt's face as the portal opened. "I didn't see that happen last time I was here…" she gave an embarrassed smile, "although before, I sort of kept my eyes shut afraid that I was having a nightmare."
"Well, I hope you keep your eyes open this time Mrs. Dursley, if you are planning to be more a part of Harry's life you will need to get accustomed to some of our…" she chose a word just for Petunia, "'abnormalities' although I prefer to describe them as colorful characteristics…" She smiled at Petunia and patted her on the arm.
As Petunia took a good honest look around at Diagon Alley she could see why Hermione would make that description. There were many people in all forms of dress walking the street, visiting the various shops and discussing their daily lives with each other. Her first thought was that this must have been what Victorian England was like, then chuckled to herself and said aloud, "Yes… colorful indeed. My word, I had no idea!"
Harry felt his aunt's slight nervous shiver and bent slightly to Petunia's ear, whispering he said, "Is everything alright Aunt Petunia? Do you need to sit down?"
Petunia patted his arm and said, "I'm fine Harry, just a tad nervous is all. Weren't you a bit nervous your first time here?"
"Well, I had Hagrid with me that first time and that was an adventure all in itself, I'll tell you… We came by way of the underground. Today is the first time I have been here by anything you would call normal. I don't think I have arrived here the same way twice!" He said with a laugh as he went on to tell her about his eventful arrival by floo and then his subsequent last trip by way of the Knight Bus. She questioned him about the Knight bus and that brought a number of comments from both himself and Hermione about the quirky triple-decked, massively purple Wizarding form of transportation.
Upon seeing the white building of Gringott's Petunia gasped as she exclaimed, "My Lord, however does that thing stand up?"
Both Harry and Hermione chimed together, "By magic!" Then Harry added, "If you think this is a bit wonky looking, you should see the Burrow… That place has so many dodgy bits to it, it seems to have magic written all over it. It is the Weasley's home and I think it's brilliant." He added proudly.
They were just coming up when they were spotted by Molly Weasley.
"Oh Harry dear, so good to see you" she said with her zealous mothering charm, giving him a crushing hug. "Everything going alright for you dear?" Not noticing Petunia presence she added, "Getting enough to eat dear?"
"Yes Mrs. Weasley… I would like you to meet my aunt… Petunia Dursley, this is Molly Weasley." Harry introduced, noticing for the first time a stiffening of Mrs. Weasley's posture.
Mrs. Weasley timidly shook Petunia's hand. "Ah… er… yes, we've seen each other before but never been formally introduced."
Harry noticed that Petunia had steeled herself and her resolve as she smiled at the red haired woman, "Yes, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs. Weasley. Harry has just begun telling me all about you and your wonderful family." The honesty in her eyes was apparent to Mrs. Weasley as her countenance softened. "I wanted to thank you personally for all the love and support you have given my nephew these last few years… He and I have come to an understanding and I am sure as a mother you will agree that he does need a bit more looking after." Her smirking grin was not lost on Harry.
He groaned causing them all to laugh.
"Hermione my dear, always a pleasure… where are your parents? I know Arthur will be most disappointed." Molly said giving Hermione an equally crushing hug.
"They had patients scheduled today… this meeting didn't give us much notice, so they couldn't cancel. I'm sure they will see you and Mr. Weasley at some point this summer."
"We'd like that… I must say that it has been nice being back at the Burrow." By this time seven additional Weasley's had joined them and Harry held onto his aunt supporting her at the overwhelming commotion. She was proving to be quite the trouper as she held herself proudly amongst so many who had been aware of Harry's mistreatments over the years.
In all honesty Harry was impressed at the apparent consorted effort all of the Weasley's as well as Remus Lupin who had joined them were trying to make Petunia feel as welcome as Harry was. Soon they were joined by Tonks and her mother Andromeda and then all became hushed when Narcissa and Draco Malfoy arrived.
Harry could feel a seething emanating from both Hermione and Ron reminding him of the loathing that the trio had always felt for the pureblood Slytherin. They took this appearance of the Malfoy's as a silent signal to begin walking into Gringott's and find the Goblin liaisons. Harry had never before been witness to any type of legal Wizarding matters and was finding it all very informative.
An overly large goblin walked directly up to Harry and introduced himself as Monshekgarb, the Goblin Liaison for the Nobel House of Black.
"It is a pleasure to actually meet you Mr. Potter," said Monshekgarb, who did show the same pretense that the other Goblin's he had associated with over the years had shown. Harry deduced that it was based upon his placement within the Wizarding bank. "We have a great deal to cover today and then we will be joined by Banhabarlic, who as you know is the Goblin Liaison to the Prestigious Potter Estate. But that will all come about after certain parties" he said with distain, looking directly at Narcissa and Draco Malfoy "have left our presence." The overly large Goblin then turned to Petunia who gave an unconscious shutter at being acknowledged, "Mrs. Dursley, Thank you so much for coming with your nephew on such short notice. We will endeavor to make this as comfortable for you as possible. We are just awaiting the arrival of just a couple more…" Looking up he noticed the timely arrival of the last few who were actually expected to appear. "Ah, here they are now. We will be meeting in the Attestation Chambers down the hall."
Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge and Severus Snape had just arrived followed closely by Rubius Hagrid who had immediately come over to Harry and gave him a one armed hug.
"Tis good ta see ya 'arry!" Hagrid said cheerfully.
"It's good to see you too Hagrid." Harry said muffled somewhat by the heavy coat he wore.
"Now if you will all follow me we will have this done in no time." Monshekgarb said, unwittingly cutting short any type of interaction between Harry and the three others who had just joined them.
When they had arrived at the Attestation Chamber, Harry was surprised at the interior of the room. It's walls were rather a deep slate gray marble conveying a somber tone in appearance yet exuded elegance in style. Arranged in rows, Harry and Petunia were directed towards the front with Hermione who had been clasped by the hand by Petunia to a series of large, comfortable looking over-stuffed chairs, which were upholstered, in a plush velvety fabric the same color as the somber walls.
Harry noticed a supercilious glare from Narcissa Malfoy at the superior treatment that the young Potter was being shown. He rolled his eyes as he sat down Ron seated to his right and his Aunt Petunia sitting between himself and Hermione. He did not notice that the rest of the Weasley's had placed themselves behind his row, but had noted that Remus Lupin had been directed to sit next to Hermione on their row.
In front of them sat a large black marble desk that was veined in gold and silver. Monshekgarb had seated himself behind this impressive desk; taking a moment to begin removing what Harry had suddenly noticed was a black velvet sheet from a rather large painting, hanging serenely behind Monshekgarb's desk.
The gasp from Hermione caused Harry to look again at the painting. There smiling down at them all was Sirius Black. Harry could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes and he willed himself not to show such overt emotion in front of Draco and Narcissa. He did hear from somewhere behind him Molly Weasley's silent sobs and understood that despite all the displeasure that she had shown Sirius while at Grimmauld Place, she too felt grief at the death of the late Marauder.
"What is the meaning of all this?" Shouted Fudge angrily. It became apparent to Harry that Minister Fudge had not been told a full disclosure in regards to the reason why they had been chosen to arrive.
Monshekgarb glared at the Minister for Magic for his outburst. "You were required to attend to this disclosure of the disposition to the Noble House of Black for a reason Minister Fudge. Now, if there are no further disturbances we will proceed.
"As many in the Wizarding world know, there are only a couple of ways to disclose the contents of a pureblood family's estate. There is also many muggle methods that are sometimes employed, but very rarely are those used by anyone within the Magical community.
"The method that my client has chosen is one that has been successful for several generations and one that he felt would be the most honest form of memoriam for his loved ones." Monshekgarb stopped at this and looked at Harry, directing his wording to him at the moment. "When a loved one passes on it is a difficult time for all involved, more so when their life is cut short due to… extenuating circumstances. Mr. Black wished for you Mr. Potter to have a lasting memory of him as well as a way to handle his family's fortune."
Harry nodded at this acknowledging the care that Sirius had taken in regards to the House of Black. Monshekgarb continued addressing all in attendance, "The portrait you see behind me" Harry suddenly noticed that besides Sirius smiling down there was another presence in the portrait. Sitting regally to the side was none other than Phineas Nigellus, Sirius's great-great-grandfather who had been the least popular Headmaster Hogwarts ever had.
"…was painted with the use of Verity Varnish, a type of paint that is used in all Wizarding portraits. It is the use of this type of paint that enables the artistic creation to infuse the life time of memories along with interaction with others for long after the subject has pass on…"
Harry looked at the deep grey eyes of his late Godfather and saw them twinkle with delight. A wide mischievous grin creased the familiar features and Harry felt almost of laughing aloud awaiting to hear what final prank the late Marauder had chosen to play.
"Now, as for the final disposition of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, I turn the time over to Sirius Nigellus Black."
The deep baritone voice that Harry could recognize anywhere began to speak. Sirius began to address everyone separately.
"Moony, it's good to see you…"
"Good to see you again Padfoot… it would have been nice for you to tell me that you were planning to do this."
"What and spoil the entire surprise… not on your life… But we will talk about that later…" The image of Sirius said giving a smirk and a unmistakable mischievous wink at the surviving Marauder, which caused Fred and George to chuckle unabashed.
"Well, I see that Bella and Peter didn't show up… I knew they wouldn't… to busy kissing Voldemort's arse… but I do see that Narcissa showed up along with her evil spawn." The mention of Voldemort's name caused many in the room to shutter and the description of Draco caused Narcissa to stand up and shout at Sirius.
"We did NOT come here to be insulted!" Narcissa shouted angrily, pure contempt was evident upon her pale features.
"No Narcissa… You came to see how much money I was going to leave you… especially since that Death Eater you married is now housed in Azkaban…" his words caused her to bluster even more. "Well my dear cousin…" he said the word as if he had sworn, "I will tell you now so that you can leave us in peace… you and your filthy spawn of evil there will receive 1 knut… and NOT a bit more… if you wish to contest this you won't even receive that!"
"You BASTARD!" Narcissa screamed, "I have always been an honorable member to the Noble House of Black! Unlike you who have turned your back on our heritage by consorting with muggles" she words dripped with distain.
"That is where you are wrong Narcissa… You are the one who caused our family to be dishonored by aligning yourself with Lord Voldemort" he emphasized the last name to watch her squirm in discomfort. "We may have been a proud pureblood family at one time, but your husband's actions and yours as well being Death Eaters is enough to cause you to be cut out of the Black Family for ever. You can also inform Bella that she to will also receive the same as you!" His eyes flashed the deepest black showing his hatred for the woman.
"Why are Potter, the Weasley's and that Mudblood here?" Draco asked. "They're not even a part of the House of Black!" Harry could feel his Aunt Petunia flinch at this question by Malfoy.
"You will SHUT YOUR MOUTH unless spoken to Draco Malfoy. As to the reason they are here, they have been more family to me than my own blood and you will learn to keep a civil tongue in your mouth and NOT speak out of turn. You and your Death Eater family are through with these proceedings… You may now LEAVE" he growled the last part so loudly his voice reverberated around the room and with such viciousness that he had caused Draco to shake in fear.
Harry could hear Ron sitting next to him snickering at the way Sirius had spoken to Draco. Fred and George were also showing signs of great merriment at the treatment of the Malfoy's as both Narcissa and Draco had left the room in disgust.
"Now SEE here Black, you can not treat a respectable woman…" Minister Fudge started to say, but was cut off by an even louder response from Sirius.
"SHUT THE BLOODY FUCK UP!"
There was a gasp of shock at the language by Molly Weasley; a louder guffaw from Ron, Fred and George; a whimper of fear from Petunia Weasley; and what could only amount as an audible sneer by Severus Snape.
"Well I never…" Fudge started again.
"It is time for you to hear the REASON you pompous bastard why you were called to this deposition."
"Why should I listen to you Black? You are a liar and a murderer!" Fudge asked.
"You were told the truth at the end of Harry's 3rd Year at Hogwarts, but you refused to admit the truth then… Then you were told the TRUTH again at the end of his 4th year of Lord Voldemort's return and still you allowed the arrogance of your position to hear the truth! One of the main reasons for my placing the deposition of the House of Black in this manner is because my painting cannot lie when constructed with the Verity Varnish… AS YOU WELL KNOW!" His voice seethed with the contempt that he felt for this man.
He watched for a moment as Cornelius Fudge fidgeted at the realization of the truth.
"Now then… James and Lily Potter were my dearest friends; I loved James like a brother - because that is how his family had treated me; as part of the Potter family." The eyes reflecting off the painting held firm upon Fudge's blustering face as he continued. "You had only been aware that I was supposed to be the Potter's secret keeper, but we had chosen at the last moment to use me as a decoy and use Peter Pettigrew as the actual secret keeper. What James, Lily and I were unaware of was that it was not Remus who was betraying us but Peter Pettigrew… for that assumption I am forever sorry." His eyes moved towards Remus, "I'm so sorry again Moony…"
"We've been through all this Padfoot, you have apologized to me too many times to count… you don't need to apologize again." Remus said tenderly.
"But YOU still murdered all those muggles and Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge shouted causing the image of Sirius to turn his attention back to the contemptuous Minister for Magic.
"I did NOT do that! Peter Pettigrew was an unregistered animagus as were James Potter and myself. When I was thrown into Azkaban without a trial this information was not known by anyone other than three surviving people… Peter Pettigrew was a rat, James used to transform into a large stag and myself into a large black dog. The only other two people that knew were Lily Potter, who had been killed by Voldemort the night before and Remus Lupin. Now, before you start wetting yourself with excitement with the prospect of convicting Moony for withholding evidence from the ministry, let me remind you that you held an innocent man without benefit of a trial in Azkaban for 12 years!"
"I wasn't responsible for that!" Fudge said floundering… he had ignored the truth for over two years and did nothing to correct that obvious lie.
"It's so easy to fall back into your old habit of blaming your position in the ministry isn't it… you were one of the first people to arrive, and you showed the same incompetence in being Junior Minister for the Department of Magical Catastrophes as you show to this day as Minister for Magic. You took all the evidence that you had before you and disregarded it… YOU did what was EASY not what was right! Did it ever occur to you that there was a reason why there was only one finger left when his robes were still there but not his body? Can you THINK of a spell that could cause that much devastation and yet keep his finger… where was his wand Minister?" He continued to glare at the pompous idiot and said, "You wonder why I laughed? Peter Pettigrew staged his own murder because he thought that any Death Eaters would think that HE had betrayed Lord Voldemort that night in Godric's Hollow…
"Do you know where he was for 12 years afterwards? He was hiding out as a young boys pet RAT named Scabbers in a Wizarding Family that he KNEW would never have any connection to Lord Voldemort but was associated with the Ministry… Do you remember that day when you saw me in Azkaban, I asked you for the crossword puzzle? There on the front page of the Daily Prophet was Wormtail sitting on Ronald Weasley's shoulder." Sirius paused as he looked at Ron and smiled "I do not blame the Weasley's at all for what happened. They had no idea that the simple looking garden rat that their son Percy had befriended so many years before and had given to his brother Ron when he started at Hogwarts was the actual murderer of all those muggles and he alone was responsible for betraying James and Lily."
Sirius went on to explain how he had escaped by use of his animagus form and how he had searched for Wormtail. He went into surprising detail about what he had learned about the night of the third task of the Tri-Wizarding Tournament.
"All the information that Barty Crouch, Jr. had held within his mind about Lord Voldemort and Wormtail, YOU Minister, allowed to be lost when you brought the Dementors in and allowed them to give young Barty the KISS. It's a wonder that you are still Minister with that kind of incompetence. I am sure that if the public was ever aware of the real details and not this hogwash that you have been feeding the press, there would be a vote of no-confidence against you so fast it would make your head swim." Sirius's image had a self-satisfied grin upon his face. "Oh and one last thing before I dismiss you as well… you should know that the convicted Hippogriff named Buckbeak has been in my possession for the last two years. He is also innocent of the crimes he was convicted of and I suggest that you remove any bounty that you have upon his head as well… Now Minister Fudge, are there any questions you would like to ask of me?" He asked with an evil sounding sweetness.
"No" Fudge said quietly.
"Good, be off with you, I have more important people to attend to." Sirius said turning and winking at Harry who cracked a smile at the visual impertinence. After Cornelius Fudge swept out of the room the image of Sirius Black scanned the room and his eyes fell upon a spec on the wall. "You can leave now too Skeeter… I hope you got all that." He said with a cheeky grin as a very familiar beetle had suddenly taken flight and flew out the door.
"Oh My God!" Hermione exclaimed, "You knew she was here the whole time?"
"Yup… sorry I didn't tell you Hermione, but it was just too much fun!" Sirius said proudly.
Harry's imagination was flooded with ideas of what Rita Skeeter would write about these proceedings.
"How can you allow her to write about what you just disclosed? She is always lying!" Hermione snapped.
"She didn't lie about what Harry told her last year, but to ease your mind I will let you know…" His eyes twinkled with delight again. "I've bribed her… I have allowed her to be part of these proceedings as you called them with the condition that if she leave when I told her to, printed only what I had said to Fudge and if she chose what I said to Narcissa and Draco, she would receive 100,000 galleons for the exclusive… If she failed to do as I requested," he smiled again and said "She would be denounced as an illegal animagus which would also cause her to be unemployable in her current profession."
"A little known fact about Journalists in the wizarding world is that if the news is reported by anyone who is an animagus; they as an animagus must be registered or they are not and cannot be employed… Why do you think it was so easy for her to comply with your threats last year… umm?"
"But what is stopping her from registering?" Ginny asked.
"The fact that she has been working as an illegal animagus for so many years… Too many of her 'scoops' as she would call them were under her disguise… Even now, if she prints this article, and I have no doubt that she will, it could call into question how she got the details… This way she can say she heard it directly from my portrait and nobody will think she was here… She could have gotten the interview after the proceedings are over… Which believe it or not, I would have granted her if for no other reason than to see Fudge get his just rewards."
"I always knew my great-great-grandson was a scamp, all that nonsense that you go up to at Hogwarts used to make my blood boil, but my word this has been fun." The other image in the portrait of Phineas Nigellus said with what looked like the closest thing to a smile that had ever graced his face.
"I'm just glad that I had the good sense to have my mother" he uttered the last word with an abhorrence that was born from his continual loathing of the woman, "banned from this portrait."
"I suppose I should be grateful that you allow me here" Phineas said with a sneer.
"Now, why on earth would I ever ban you?" Sirius said cheekily, "Actually, I figured that the Headmaster would appreciate another image for you to be able to go to." He said looking over at Albus Dumbledore and receiving a slight nod.
Monshekgarb snapped his fingers and a tray of tea and biscuits appeared upon the desk. "The rest of this will be handled a bit differently than before. Each of you will be called up to my desk and Mr. Black will explain your part of the Estate. Then you can either stay or go, that will be your choice."
As the tea and biscuits were handed around the room Harry watched as Andromeda and Tonks went up towards the portrait. They were each handed a piece of parchment by Monshekgarb and Sirius spoke softly to them. Harry couldn't make out any of what they were saying, so he turned to his aunt who was shakily trying to drink her tea.
"How are you holding up?" Harry asked her softly.
Petunia sat for a moment pondering his question, and then responded, "I have never been a part of a stranger situation, but other than my normal discomfiture I believe I am doing fairly well." Hermione gave Petunia's hand a gentle squeeze with which she returned a smile.
Ron looked at this interaction and stared at Harry. "Uh, mate? What's up with all of this?"
"Everything is fine Ron, Aunt Petunia and I had a very long talk yesterday after my Uncle Vernon and Dudley left to go to Aunt Marge's for a few weeks." Harry didn't bother to mention that Hermione had been there as well since he didn't want to answer a bunch more questions but decided to add, "Hermione drove us here today and she and my aunt have had a chance to talk."
"Oy, that's scary." Ron said thinking about what an embarrassment to would be for Hermione to have a long discussion with his Mum and then thought that Harry might not appreciate his dislike to the idea, so he added quickly, "Hermione driving that is." The last thing wanted right at that moment was the chance that he says something idiotic that would cause some sort of bickering to begin… especially between himself and Hermione.
"She's actually a pretty good driver." Harry said then smirked and said, "At least she didn't land us in the Whomping Willow." This got a smack on the arm from Ron and brought a chuckle out of Harry.
After a few minutes more, Harry saw that both Tonks and her mother were walking away from the portrait and after Tonks gave a brief squeeze to Remus's shoulder, they left the room. Hagrid was the next to walk up to Sirius, and the gentle half giant was blubbering away. While he could still not hear all that was said Harry watched as Sirius would say something and Hagrid would nod or then blush a bit. Their discussion was much briefer than the one he had seen with Tonks and her mum. Hagrid left the room after that as well.
Monshekgarb directed Severus Snape to come forward to which the man, who reigned over the Hogwarts dungeons, swept up the aisle, his robes billowing out in normal fashion. What had started out much the same with Monshekgarb handing a sheet of parchment to Snape turned into a screaming match between the potion master and the late Marauder.
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc
Author's Notes: When I originally wrote Chapter 3, it came out to be just over 13,000 words without the disclaimer or the author's notes… After posting the original chapter 3 on my Yahoogroup Muirnin's Musings, I decided to split the chapter into half…Now came the big problem… Just where to split it… I chose this part because we had already had a couple of confrontations that had been rather fun to write… However, I wanted to leave you with wondering. What Sirius would give our resident Potion Master…Well, you will find out in part B.
Now many of you had questions and concerns that I tried to answer you in my review replies… If anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to leave them in the reviews as you have done already… I will generally answer or respond to MOST reviews… However, please if you are going to leave anything… at least have the good sense to not leave it in any form of Net speak… I detest that and I will ignore your review and not send you a response… I think I am intelligent enough to be able to figure out what you are exactly trying to say… Even readers whose first language is not English have left better reviews… Ok, enough of that rant…
Let me know what you think…You are also welcome to contact me by owl... Melendra is very good... Take care all…
As Always,
Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."
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