Marauders and Pirates
Act I:
Ace D. Portgas;
In which Spade comes into being
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." - Anatole France
"Ow." Ace D. Portgas groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness, fleetingly wondering just what did he drink the night before to have such a terrible headache. But, as he became more aware, he realized that he did not drink enough last night to warrant a hangover. In fact, the last thing he remembered was him grabbing onto his brother as- "Luffy!" He shouted suddenly, his body jerking into a sitting position imediantly at the thought.
"Your awake!" A man burst excitedly, making Ace's head snap to his left to see a black haired man with grey eyes and a gaunt look to him, the man continued. "Finally! I've been stuck watching you three ever since Moony went out to get Prongslet! Do you have any idea how boring it is to watch people sleep for hours without doing anything?"
"Er.." Ace frowned, eyes quickly flicking to the left to see his brother and his brother's crew member sleeping on simple hospital-like beds that matched his own. The sight made him relax enough to realize it was rude to have not answered the man, who seemed to have taken care of the three of them over the past few hours. "I apologize for any trouble I and my companions have caused you." He said, bowing the best he could whilst remaining sitting.
The man gave him an odd look at the bow but otherwise waved off his apology, "This got me out of cleaning so it's fine." The man studied him for a moment before asking, "Is it with or without the 'S'?" The man explained when all he did was send the other a mildly puzzled look. "Your name, assuming that it's the same as the tattoo on your arm."
"Ah, It's with out." He answered after a moment, becoming more confused because he was infamous- especially his tattoos. "My name's Ace D. Portgas."
"Sirius Black." The man returned, then added with some mischief in his grey eyes. "Or Sirius O. Black if you prefer."
Ace blinked, opting to ignore the jibe in favor of the name. "Your an emotional color?"
"An emoti..." The man, Sirius, trailed before bursting out into a bark-like laughter. "Yeah, I guess I am."
"SANJI! MEAT!" Luffy shouted, springing up into a sitting position as he woke- the yell waking up the room's lone female, who also settled for sitting as she regarded the new man. "Ne? Who are you?"
"Sirius Black." Sirius answered simply, eying Luffy with a certain amount of wary amusement.
Luffy nodded solemnly, "Your name is weird, were your parents stupid or something?"
"Luffy!" Ace growled, hitting his brother's head. "Apologize to our host!"
He paused when he heard laughter, turning he saw that it was, once again, coming from Sirius. "It's alright, I've long since have held the same opinion of my parents- not necessarily for the same reason though."
"I'm Luffy D. Monkey! And I'm going to be the Pirate King!" Luffy declared to the room before pointing to the quiet woman. "That's Robin Nico, my archeologist." He was next to be pointed at. "That's my brother Ace D. Portgas." He paused before, with all seriousness, asking. "Now, can we have meat?"
Sirius' eyebrows rose briefly before he shook his head, not unlike a dog. "Molly's particular about keeping meals during the specified times and, unless your willing to face the possibility of going deaf, you won't dispute that."
"Oh.." Luffy deflated.
Sirius twitched, seeming to be a tad distressed at seeing the energetic teen suddenly become so dismayed, and pulled out a stick that he waved while muttering. "Accio Chocolate Frogs! Accio Every Flavored Beans!" The three of them started when two bags came flying into the room and landing in Sirius' hands, Luffy going starry eyed as one was offered to him. "Those beans really have every flavors," Sirius warned as Luffy's hand eagerly dug into the bag. "I once had one that tasted like boogers."
"Gah!" Luffy, who had stuffed a large hand full of multi-colored beans into his mouth, choked. "That tasted horrible!" He cried before immediately trying the same thing again.
Sirius watched the teen, disgust and amusement warring before he simple shook his head when amusement won, turning to Ace and Robin to offer the opened bag. "They have one good jump."
"Wha-" Ace started, starting when the brown- chocolate- frog he had opened suddenly leapt away from him, an extra hand sprouted to catch it before handing it back to him. "Thank you Robin."
"Mr. Dog," Robin said, making Sirius start. "If you don't mind my asking, where are we?"
Sirius stared at her a moment, "Mr. Dog? Oh, you're at my family's house- an order member found you unconscious not to far from here and brought you here."
"Sirius as in the Dog Star right?" Robin said by way of explanation.
Sirius nodded then turned towards Luffy, who was alternating between shoving beans in his mouth and gagging. "You said Pirate king, what do you mean by that?"
"I'm going to find the One Piece treasure Gold Roger left behind!" Luffy answered.
Sirius' head tilted, not unlike to a confused dog Ace noted, before asking. "One Piece? Who's Gold Roger?"
"You don't know Gold Roger?" Robin asked, as he was preoccupied with saving his brother from choking to death when Luffy heard that. "Where exactly are we?"
"Number 12 Grimauld Place, London England." Sirius answered, "Why?"
"England?" Robin frowned. "You wouldn't happen to have a map would you?"
Sirius, now frowning also, waved his stick again. "Accio world map."
"No!" Luffy growled suddenly as a folded piece of paper flew into Sirius' hands. "There's no world map! That's Nami's dream to create the first- so there can't be a world map until she makes one!"
Robin ignored him, laying out the map that Sirius had given her before gasping. "Mr. Straw-hat, Mr. Flame, look at this."
They both obeyed, although Luffy was still angry, and he noticed the seven oceans first, which made him stop and read their names. Upon seeing none of the Blue seas, he frantically searched the map, paling when he saw large masses of land titled 'North America', 'South America', 'Asia', 'Australia', 'Europe', 'Antarctica' and 'Africa' but no Red Line. Anywhere.
"Wha- how can this be possible?" He asked in shock.
Robin shook slightly, although it was contained to her hands only. "Kuma. It has to be. When he was sending us away you two grabbed on also, maybe that disrupted something enough to send us here."
"I knew it." Luffy declared suddenly, after closely scrutinizing the map. "This map is...incorrect! There's no South Blue, North Blue, East Blue, West Blue, Grandline or Red Line- whew, Nami's dream is safe! Ne, why would some one go to the trouble of creating a false map?"
Maybe he shouldn't have done it, but he was stressed and bordering on freaking out at the thought of having been transported to another world. His fist met with skin, a satisfied feeling rising up briefly as his brother clutched his head in pain only to be smothered by the other, more dominate, feelings of fear and panic. "We're not from here." He stated, not sure entirely sure of who he was talking to but feeling the need to say it aloud and noting with distant surprise that his voice stayed calm and even.
"So you guys are all pirates from another world and have special abilities that you got from eating a fruit." Sirius said, a tad incrudious. At their solemn, uniformed nodding he sighed. "Right, I believe you because Moony and I decided to trust you- Moony is the one who found you and brought you here."
Sirius added, running a hand through his hair before continuing. "Well, as your not- for lack of better wording- of this world, I guess I should tell you a few things- it's only right as your presence has been demanded at the order meeting." Sirius muttered the last part, as if objecting to their inclusion or the demand. The man gave himself a shake before speaking once more. "You three are currently in a world of magic, this stick is a wand and I am a wizard. Not everyone is a witch or wizard though, the non-magical folk are called muggles by us. Currently we are at war with a dark wizard named Voldemort- he doesn't like any 'pure' wizards and believes anything else is unworthy of living, who used to be gone but was resurrected earlier this year. The ministry, that's our government- there are many of them but we're really only concerned with the magical British ministry, is denying his return because they are idiots who care more for their reputation then protecting the people they lead."
Sirius scowled at nothing before continuing. "This house is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, it's an organization that is fighting against Voldemort regardless of what the Ministry wishes us to believe. The ones on Voldemort's side are called Death Eaters, they freely use what are called Unforgivable Curses. There are three Unforgivables- 'Avada Kadava', 'Imperio' and 'Crucio'. Avada Kadava is, simply put, the killing curse- it's green in color and unstoppable so if it's coming at you, dodge. Imperio basically make's the victim a puppet to the caster, you will obey their will and it will feel good- you can beat it if your own will is stronger though. Crucio is the torture curse, it attacks all of your nerves at the same time- you can't stop it like Imperio but if the caster is taken out then it immediately stops, you can work through the pain but not many can so it's never mentioned. That's basics concerning the war." Sirius said, paused to let it sink in before continuing.
"The are other magical beings aside from witches or wizards, in this house alone there is a house-elf and a hippogriff. The house-elf's name is Kreacher, he's employed to the Black family- he's a nutter who's life's goal is to have his decapitated head hung on the wall. The hippogriff's name is Buckbeak, he's currently taken residence in my mother's room- he's a proud creature so if you see him you bow to him, don't approach until he bows back. There are ghosts at Hogwarts- that's a magical school- and goblins at Gringotts. Gringotts is the wizarding bank, the goblins also have their own language called Gobbledygook- their not very fond of wizards. Uh...there are three coins we use as money-galleons made of gold, Sickles made of silver and Knuts made of copper - there are 17 Sickles in a Galleon, and 29 Knuts in a Sickle, meaning there are 493 Knuts to a Galleon." Sirius stopped then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Nothing absolutely vital comes to mind that you should know, that may just be me though- Moony's always been better at these sorts of things."
"What about our Devil Fruit powers Mr. Dog?" Robin asked, eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to memorize everything that their host had said.
Sirius thought a moment before hesitantly saying. "Your abilities are odd by the general standard, you'll be better off if no one knows about them. Besides," Sirius offered them a grin. "Isn't it funner to have an ace up your sleeve just incase?"
"Why would Ace be in my sleeve? I don't even have sleeves." Luffy asked, frowning.
Ace hit him, though softer then the first time. "It's a figure of speech idiot."
"Sirius Black!" A very female shout sounded. "Where are you hiding!? You know that there is a meeting right now that you're suppose to be at!"
Sirius pulled a face, causing them to show various forms of amusement, before responding in an equally raised voice. "I wouldn't miss the meeting for the world, Molly!"
"Sure you wouldn-" A plump red haired woman, Molly, started with a scowl only to cut herself off when she saw the three of them. She angrily whirled on their host. "Sirius! Why didn't you tell anyone they were up!? You can't be so selfish to keep things like this to yourself! Honestly, it's a wonder that you're Harry's godfather!"
Sirius' eyes narrowed and he rose stiffly, "I knew there was a meeting so I decided to just have them come- as it's mandatory for them to come when they wake- so I won't have to talk for them, how is letting them having a say for themselves selfish?" He realized suddenly that this rebuttal was about more then just them. "My being his godfather has nothing to do with you, it was a decision made by his parents." Sirius didn't allow her to reply as he had turned his attention back to them with a smile, albeit strained. "Ready to be prodded and stared at?"
"Born ready." He returned, deciding if Sirius was just going to brush past the entire incident then he would follow his example.
Sirius offered him another smile, this one more genuine, before leading them out of the room- he noticed that Molly was not included. "The portraits are magical so the can move and talk, none of them are really pleasant so you may want to be quiet." Their host informed them softly once they made it to a larger hall then the one they had exited out of. He shared a glance with Robin before grabbing Luffy and covering his mouth as they walked, knowing that his brother had most likely used up all his silence during the brief walk. They entered a kitchen, not the best kept but what used to have be grand, and saw that many different people sitting about the table.
Sirius started pointing them out as they took a seat- leaving one open for 'Moony' when he returned- helping them ignore the stares. "That's Dung- he's a thief who's our connections to the other side of the law, there's Arthur Weasley- he's Molly's husband, Bill- Arthur's son, Snape- slimy git whose working as a spy, Dumbledore- the leader of the order and headmaster of Hogwarts, Figg- our squib(that's a non-magical person born into a magical family) that has connections in the muggle world." The door opened and Sirius started pointing out those people instead. "There's Tonks- she's my younger cousin, Kingsley- he's in charge of my arrest, Moody- he's a famous ex-Auror(that's basically the fighting force of the government) that was in the order during the first war and ther-"
"I see our guests have woken." A man, Moony as he sat in the seat Sirius reserved for him, said with a slight smile. "I'm Remus Lupin, I'm the one who found you- It's nice to know you're alright."
He bowed slightly, "Thank you for your act of kindness, this would have been so much harder should we have been left on our own." He straightened, voice raising slightly so everyone could hear as they were watching anyways. "My name is Ace D. Portgas, this is my brother- Luffy D. Monkey and his archeologist- Robin Nico."
"His archeologist?" Moody inquired, staring down at the in a way that made him stiffen slightly.
Luffy nodded rapidly and answered before they could stop him. "Yup! Brook's the musician, Franky's the shipwright, Usopp's the sharpshooter, Chopper's the doctor, Nami's navigator, Sanji's the chef, Zoro's first mate and I'm the captain who'll be the Pirate King!"
"Pirates?" Snape sneered. "That's something you're proud of? And Pirate King? That's like Black being part of the order, useless."
Sirius growled, "We don't bow down and kiss the toes of an insane hypocrite for a living."
"At least I am of some actual use to the order." Snape returned.
Sirius' eyes narrowed. "The same amount of use as your other master though, right? You're a slave," Grey eyes flicked towards the old man at the head of the table. "To both of your masters."
"And you are a discarded toy," Snape said, lip curling. "Broken by Azkaban."
"Severus, Sirius, enough." Dumbledore cut in as both started standing, the two obeyed- although they spat insults under their breaths as they retook their seats. "Now, Sirius, is there anything interesting you can say about your guests?"
Sirius gave one slow, hard blink- as if he couldn't believe that such a question would be asked- before replying. "Both Remus and I trust them, anything beyond that you will have to ask them- what has been told in confidence shall be kept in confidence until the confiders deem otherwise." The man's reply was both a warning to the others and a challenge to the leader.
"Very well," Dumbledore said after a moment of silent regard for Sirius, turning his attention directly on the three of them. "Anything you wish to tell us?"
There was a beat of silence before the three of them spoke in union- himself with a fierce tone, Luffy with a determined one, and Robin with her forever calm one. "I wish to join the order." Luffy was the only one to continue though. "No one has the right to decide who is or isn't worthy of living."
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. "Well then, welcome to the order of the phoenix."
"Absolutely not!" Molly burst. "He's too young!"
Remus cut in quickly, "Then maybe he can go to Hogwarts with the others to protect Harry."
"Mr. Dog's puppy?" Robin asked, earning odd looks.
Sirius, who's mouth twitched at the befuddled looks on the others' faces, nodded. "Godson, but I guess puppy will work just as well."
"Ne, you have a god-puppy?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.
Dumbledore spoke then, "I regret to inform you that both Severus and I must return to Hogwarts. Remus, Sirius, I leave our new arrivals in your care."
"Well, that was a bit redundant." Sirius muttered to them after most people left- only the two Weasley males and 'Dung' remained.
Bill nodded, "We had gotten a hold of floor plans for the D.O.M. too."
"Sorry mate," Sirius replied a tad sheepishly.
Bill waved him off, "It wouldn't feel like an actual meeting unless you and Snape have a go at each other."
"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers ‐"
Sirius was up and darting from the room, only to be heard yelling. "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!"
"Yoooou! Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"I said ‐ shut ‐ UP!" Sirius roared.
"Who was that?" Robin asked.
Arthur looked up from the 'DoM' floor plans. "Oh, that's Sirius' mother- She doesn't like him, or anyone really." The door opened, Sirius entered with a bespectacled green eyed black haired teen and a hovering Molly. Molly made a noise in her throat causing her husband to look up once more. "Oh, hello Harry."
"Did Moody make you fly here via Greenland?" Bill asked, as they put away the floor plans.
Tonks snorted, "He tried to, here let me help-" she said, reaching only to topple a candle onto the papers.
"Here dear," Molly said, waving her stick- wand- and repairing the damage to the paper. She caught the teen's, Harry, curious look and snapped. "You should have cleaned this promptly after the meeting."
Bill took out his wand and muttered, "Evanesco." Causing the papers to vanish.
"Harry," Sirius said, steering the teen towards them. "This is Ace, Luffy and Robin. This is my god-puppy." Sirius introduced, giving a lopsided grin that Luffy returned.
Luffy latched onto his hand enthusiastically, "Nice to meet you god-puppy, your god-doggy is really nice! He gave me a big bag of rainbow beans that tasted sooo much! I had a few meat beans, that made up for the vomit tasting ones!"
"Do I even want to know how you know what vomit tastes like?" He asked, eying his younger brother.
He didn't get an answer before Molly could be heard yelling, "Fred- George- JUST CARRY THEM!"
They all turned before ducking under the table- even though he was logia fruit user, he would rather find out how magic affected his abilities before trusting a knife to just go through him. A large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of some kind of drink and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, hurtled through the air towards them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface; the flagon fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere; the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius' hand had been moments earlier.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" screamed Molly "THERE WAS NO NEED‐I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS‐JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" said Fred, hurrying forward to wrench the bread knife out of the table. "Sorry, Sirius, mate‐didn't mean to-" Harry, Luffy and Sirius were all laughing; Dung left then, swearing as a cat- that looked to have ran into a brick wall- stared as he left.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age‐"
"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Molly raged at the twins as she slammed a fresh flagon on to the table, and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't charm everything he met! Percy‐" She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.
"Let's eat," said Bill quickly.
"It looks wonderful," Remus added, serving himself some stew.
After a moment of watching their host, Sirius sighed before serving them- Robin had used her powers under the table to prevent Luffy from grabbing everything. "That's butterbeer- it's has very low alcohol content, that's why anyone magical will drink it."
"Thank you for the food Mrs. Weasley." Robin said politely, delicately starting to eat her food as Luffy pounced on his own.
He rose a spoon to his mouth before his hand froze and head fell forwards into his stew. "He's not dead!" Luffy was saying loudly over a panic. "He just falls asleep a lot!"
"Mr. Flame has narcolepsy," Robin's calm voice cut through, though there seemed to be an underlying tone of amusement. "I apologize for not thinking of warning you earlier."
His head rose and he looked around, spying the frantic looks on most of the people's faces, "I fell asleep again." then grabbed Luffy's vest to clean his face off before continuing eating.
Molly turned to Sirius after a moment. "I've been meaning to tell you, Sirius, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a Boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you want." Sirius retorted.
"The curtains in there are full of Doxys, too," Molly went on. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow- as you no longer have to watch your...guests."
"I look forward to it," Sirius said sarcastically. Beyond that, he was distracted from defending his food from his brother- which his sporadic sleeping spells made quiet difficult.
"Nearly time for bed, I think," said Mrs. Weasley with a yawn.
"Not just yet, Molly," said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
"I did!" said Harry indignantly. "I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so‐"
"And they're quite right," said Molly. "You're too young."
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen—"
"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly- Sirius had pointed out the others at the table.
"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.
"You're too young, you're not in the Order," said Fred, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "Harry's not even of age!"
"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly, "that's your parents' decision. Harry on the other hand-"
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!' said Molly sharply. The expression on face looked dangerous. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"
"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with the air of a man readying himself for a fight.
"The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know," said Molly, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.
"I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly," said Sirius. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back" there was a collective shudder around the table at the name. "he has more right than most to ‐"
"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Molly. "He's only fifteen and‐"
"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some."
"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. "But he's still ‐"
"He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently.
"He's not an adult either!" said Molly, the color rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"
"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly," said Sirius coldly.
"I'm not sure you are!" said Molly. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"
"What's wrong with that?" said Harry.
"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" said Molly, her eyes still boring into Sirius. "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"
"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" demanded Sirius, his voice rising.
"Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and-"
"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" said Sirius loudly.
"Arthur!" said Molly, rounding on her husband. "Arthur, back me up!"
Arthur did not speak at once. He took off his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he reply. "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters."
"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!"
"Personally," said Remus quietly, looking away from Sirius at last, as Molly turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts - not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture‐from us, rather than a garbled version from… others."
"Well," said Molly, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well… I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart ‐"
"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly.
"He's as good as," said Molly fiercely. "Who else has he got?"
"He's got me!"
"Yes," said Molly, her lip curling, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"
Sirius stiffened, paling rapidly but Luffy couldn't stand it any longer. "Regardless of where he's been, Sirius is still Harry's godfather- that gives him priority over anyone else in concern for Harry's well being."
"What would a pirate know about civil matters?" Molly very nearly sneered.
His eyes narrowed, but Robin cut in with her calm voice- though it was anger laced. "More, it seems, then you- as we have remained civil while you have regressed into something more savage."
"Shouldn't Harry have a say in this- it does concern him after all." He added.
Harry pounced on the opportunity. "I want to know."
"Very well"' said Molly, her voice cracking. "Ginny‐Ron‐Hermione‐Fred‐George‐I want you out of this kitchen, now." There was an instant up roar.
"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.
"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron.
"Mum, I want to hear!" wailed Ginny.
"NO!" shouted Molly, standing up, her eyes over bright. "I absolutely forbid‐"
"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Arthur wearily. "They are of age."
"They're still at school."
"But they're legally adults now," said Arthur, in the same tired voice.
Molly was now scarlet in the face. "I ‐ oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron‐"
"Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" said Ron hotly. "Won't ‐ won't you?" he added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes.
"Course I will," Harry said. Ron and Hermione beamed.
"Fine!" shouted Molly. "Fine! Ginny‐BED!" Ginny did not go quietly.
They could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs, and when she reached the hall Mrs. Black's ear-splitting shrieks were added to the din. Remus hurried off to the portrait to restore calm. It was only after he had returned, closing the kitchen door behind him and taking his seat at the table again, that Sirius spoke. "OK, Harry… what do you want to know?"
"Where's Voldemort?" Harry said, ignoring the renewed shudders and winces at the name. "What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything."
"That's because there haven't been any funny deaths yet," said Sirius, "not as far as we know, anyway… and we know quite a lot."
"More then he thinks." Remus amended.
Harry frowned, "So he's stopped killing?"
"He doesn't want to bring attention to himself," Sirius explained. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."
"Or rather, you messed it up for him." said Remus, with a satisfied smile.
"How?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"You weren't supposed to survive!" said Sirius. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," said Remus. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" said Bill incredulously. "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," said Sirius.
"So, what's the Order been doing?" said Harry, looking around at them all.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," said Sirius.
"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly.
"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea," said Remus, "and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"
"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," said Sirius. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?"
"We're doing our best," said Remus.
"How?"
"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," said Bill. "It's proving tricky, though."
"Why?"
"Because of the Ministry's attitude," said Tonks. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."
"But why?" said Harry desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore‐"
"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem," said Arthur with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," said Tonks sadly.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" said Harry incredulously.
"Frightened of what he's up to," said Arthur. "Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic."
"But Dumbledore doesn't want‐"
"Of course he doesn't," said Arthur. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," said Remus. "But it seems he's become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it"
"How can he think that?" said Harry angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up ‐ that I'd make it all up?"
"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," said Sirius bitterly. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."
"You see the problem," said Remus. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware any things happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."
"That's the true name for Imperio." Sirius muttered quickly to them.
"But you're telling people, aren't you?" said Harry, looking around at Arthur, Sirius, Bill, Remus and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"
They all smiled humorlessly. "Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" said Sirius restlessly.
"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," said Remus. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."
"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," said Sirius, "And it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them."
"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though," said Arthur. "Tonks here, for one -she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage‐Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset, too; he's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."
Harry deflated a bit, "So none of you are putting out the news?"
"Who said anything about not spreading the word," Sirius replied. "Why do you think Dumbledore's in so much trouble?"
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.
"They're trying to discredit him," said Remus. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot‐that's the Wizard High Court‐and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."
"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards," said Bill, grinning.
"It's no laughing matter," said Arthur sharply. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to he's going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore's out of the way‐well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field."
"But if Voldemort's recruiting Death Eaters, word's bound to get out right?" Harry pressed desperately.
"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. "He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on those for the moment."
"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked swiftly.
"Stuff he can only get by stealth. "When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."
Robin spoke up then, "You said like a weapon, so it's not an actual weapon."
"Indeed." Sirius replied, eyes shining with an odd sort of longing- as if he wish he could say something- as the other adult wizards and witches looked shocked.
Robin smiled, "Knowledge is power, is it not Mr. Dog?"
"It is," Sirius answered readily, his eyes flicking to Harry then back to Robin.
She, of course noticed, and asked a follow up question. "Does this knowledge have anything to do with your puppy, Mr. Dog?"
"It does." Sirius answered more eagerly as the others remained gob smacked.
Her eyes shone, rather attractively he noted, at the puzzle. "Is it possible for this knowledge that Voldemort wants about your puppy to be housed in the DoM that Mr. Weasley and Mr. Dragon-Tooth had the building plans for?"
"Entirel-" Sirius started to answer with no small amount of satisfaction.
Molly cut him off as she burst into the room, "Sirius! I believe that is enough! Everyone, bed!" They all hesitated, staring at Sirius- the adults were wearily regarding Robin- before he winked but nodded in a clear indication of later.
"You three, follow me and I'll show you where you can sleep." Sirius said, standing and exiting the room.
"Luffy, Ace do you mind sharing a room? We have enough- but only two unused ones are clean enough to be comfortably inhabitable."
Luffy shook his head, "Nope! It'll be like camping!"
"That's Robin and this is your guys'." Sirius pointed to the door across from the one they had stopped at, his voice raised a bit more then normally as he looked back down the hall.
Robin rose her voice also, catching onto something that the other wanted. "Mr. Dog, do you mind if we stay up a bit to talk?"
"Nope," Sirius replied readily, opening the door to lead them inside the room- it was huge with two queen sized beds, who needs two in one room- taking a seat against the head board of one. They followed suit, though Luffy flopped onto the other and started bouncing excitedly- it was then that the door creaked open admitting Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins. "Close the door."
"I'll keep an eye open Mr. Dog." Robin offered, arms crossing as the teens all settled about the room eagerly.
Harry burst after a moment, "What knowledge does Voldemort want about me?"
Sirius refused to answer until, irritably, Ron repeated the question. "The D.O.M.- that's Department of Mysteries- houses many odd things, within it's walls is a prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort."
"What's the prophecy?" Harry asked quickly, only to be ignored once more.
Robin, catching Harry's hurt look, spoke. "Mr. Dog has been banned from telling you Mr. Puppy such things, his way around this ban is to tell others while you're in the room- to allow you to over hear if you will."
"Then what is the prophecy?" Fred asked for Harry.
Sirius gave a lopsided smile, "That I don't know, I only know the general gist that says that Voldemort would mark his equal and something of the sort. James and Lily were too distressed to recite it exactly, but they said that 'Neither can survive as long as the other lives'." He suddenly turned serious. "That, no matter what anyone else believes, does not mean that Harry and Voldemort will have to kill each other. Prophecies are whimsical things- 98% are never fulfilled, 1.9% are self fulfilled and only .1% are true prophecies."
"Mr. Dog, Mrs. Weasley is coming to check up on them." Robin warned suddenly, making the teens dart out the room and into their own. She spoke again when they were alone. "Earlier you said that they thought you were a mass-murderer, can you elaborate?"
Sirius paled slightly but nodded anyways. "It was during the first war against Voldemort, Harry's parents- James and Lily Potter- were going to go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm- it's a spell that hides what it's casted on there is a Secret Keeper whose the only one who can tell others where the place is- and I was going to be their Secret Keeper. I changed with our friend named Peter Pettigrew at the last minute, thinking that I could be a distraction as I was the obvious choice. Pettigrew betrayed the though," Sirius snarled. "And when I confronted him, he exploded a gas pipe- killing thirteen muggles- after yelling out that I was the traitor and transformed into a rat, escaping into the sewers. I was then arrested and tossed into Azkaban- the wizarding prison guarded by Dementors- without a trial where I stayed for twelve years until I escaped."
"How could he transform into an animal and what are Dementors?" He asked quickly.
Sirius turned pasty grey color as he answered. "He, James and I all became animagi. An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can transform into an animal- I am a black dog, James was a Stag, and Pettigrew is a rat missing a single toe." Sirius paused, gulped then continued. "Dementors are skeletal creatures the glide about in a black hooded robe- being within their presence makes your relive your worst memories. Most people go insane within a week in Azkaban," he added, eyes going distant in a haunted way. "More then half of them commit suicide- they just give up and stop. Stop moving, stop eating then, eventually, stop living. Others have clawed out their eyes, trying to make the images stop and they're too weak to recover- Azkaban employs starvation tactics to subdue inmates. Most hurt themselves, claw at their body to feel something- to focus on anything besides the memories." Sirius' left hand clasped tightly to his right forearm. "Sometimes that doesn't work, then you use your teeth..." Sirius was slowly curling inwards, around his right arm, voice now a detached whisper.
"Sirius!" Luffy shouted suddenly, eyes wide as they watched their host regress into himself. "Can goblins do magic!?"
Sirius' head came up, he stared blankly for a moment before awareness came and he answered. "Yeah, it's common knowledge that they're good at creating weapons but the have the best glamour charms- glamour charms can change a person's appearance, goblin ones last until you have a goblin release it and they are undetectable by anyone other then goblins(who won't say anything due to their first loyalty being goblins and they know that only the friends of goblins even know about the charm)."
"You can't go out as you are," Robin mused. "But if you can get a goblin to charm your appearance.."
Sirius perked up, "I can write a letter to Ragnok to see if he will set something up, he can send a portkey- a sort of transportation- to deposit me inside Gringotts, I have to get money for you three anyways." Sirius said, waving off our protest of him not having to do that as he stood. "If all works out well, we'll go during Harry's hearing- good night."
"Merry meet Sirius, friend of goblins." A goblin, there's nothing else it could be, greeted when they walked into an office. "And friends."
"Merry Meet Ragnok, I am honored that you have decided to see me and my companions." Sirius replied formally.
Ragnok shook his head, "We are friends, it is no problem- nor do you have to speak so formally."
"That's a relief," Sirius sighed shoulders slumping in a way that made them all smile. "I felt like something crawled up my- er...anyways."
Ragnok's hands clasped in front of his mouth, "You requested a performance of the appearance ritual, do you have an identity in mind?"
"We talked," Sirius replied nodding to them- Luffy was occupied by the magical objects in the room. "And decided that I'll be Spade D. Portgas," He twitched, hearing the name was odd even if he had offered it.
"Spade will be Ace D. Portgas' twin brother," Robin said, smiling in amusement at his movement. "Luffy
D. Portgas will be their younger brother entering fifth year and I will be Ace's fiancé- Robin Nico. We were hoping if you would be able to create the necessary documents for us."
Sirius spoke quickly when Ragnok raised an eyebrow. "They're from a different world- literally- so they don't have any legal papers, they don't exist. We were planning on passing off as my grand-uncle Eduardus Black's illegitimate grand sons so I can access my vault without the ministry kicking up a fuss. Also, Ace and I are planning to be Arours- Robin just wishes to have the qualifications only."
"As everyone else is either non-magical or dead, Eduardus' children would be in line as the heir apparent- if not then it would have been the Malfoys." Ragnok responded. "So you will be looking like the elder?" At Sirius' nod he continued, yelling briefly at first. "Gragnot! I have an assignment for you! I'll need both of you to stand in the middle of the room, the others stay back." He turned to the younger goblin who entered. "Gragnot, you will be creating four sets of legal papers- one for a fifteen year old male named Luffy D. Portgas, a twenty-one year old Spade D. Portgas, a twenty-one year old Ace D. Portgas and a twenty year old Robin Nico. The adults will have Arour qualifications and have the men be in the end apprentice part of their training."
Gragnot took a look at them all and nodded before leaving, Ragnok stood then, muttering gibberish- gobbledygook possibly- under his breath making a circle of odd letters- runes, Sirius mentioned earlier a brief run down of what would happen- appear around the two of them, each having their own. Ragnok spoke again- though it was more of a chant, hands raising to hover closer to his circle and causing it to glow a bright red. The chanting grew faster as the hands swept away from him and towards Sirius, making Sirius' circle glow a bright blue that enveloped the other's body, the glow dimming as the chanting slowed until both stopped. Sirius- no, Spade- looked almost exactly like him, the difference being that Spade had a few less freckles and his eyes stayed their grey color.
"Cool!" Luffy shouted, eyes wide- even Robin's expression was a bit shocked. "Spade looks like Ace!"
Ragnok nodded after eying his handy-work with a critical eye. "The ritual will last until you have another goblin take it off, we can go to your vault right now- Gragnot should be done by the time we return."
"How does the ritual work?" Robin asked.
Ragnok loaded them into a cart before answering. "It works like a non-permanent blood adoption, it take the genes of a person- it works best to have someone present that you will be changing into- and melds them with the target, making the target a combination of their original self and the intended one."
"It's genes not just appearance?" Robin asked. "So they are basically, truly, related now?"
Ragnok nodded, "For all purposes, yes. Here we are, Vault 711." Ragnok announced, climbing out of the cart to touch an odd looking door that hissed and slid apart to open.
"Si-Spade- your rich!" Luffy shouted, remembering that they decided to call Sirius only by Spade once the change had been made.
Spade shrugged, "It's just been gathering dust and interest for twelve years, so yeah. You can all grab a handful of the silver coins for spending money." Spade added as he piled handfuls of gold, silver and copper coins- all which had their own mountains- into a bag.
"You're just giving us money?" Robin inquired quietly, voicing their shock.
Spade rose an eyebrow as they left, Ragnok starting the cart again- he noticed that it was a bit like traveling through reverse mountain. "Yeah, it's not like I need it. If you wish, think of it as a thank you for allowing me to be able to go outside again."
"Wow, Nami would never give away money." Luffy said, eyes shining as he peered at a silver coin in his hand.
"Ragnok, here are your papers. Also, Kringnott wishes to speak with you." Gragnot said, offering a folder to said goblin before leaving with a bow.
Ragnok turned to them, "I must apologize, but I have business elsewhere."
"I understand," Spade replied, smiling. "It was nice seeing you again, and I thank you for all your help."
Ragnok returned the smile, "Likewise my friend, I shall forward your papers to the ministry in the regular fashion. Have a nice day." With a final nod, the goblin left the four of them in the entrance hall of the bank.
"Alright," Spade said, hand clapping. "We need to get Luffy school supplies and all of us need wands."
Luffy perked up, "Ooh! Can we do the wands first?"
"We need to go to Ollivanders'." Spade said, mostly to himself as he exited the bank. "This is Diagon Alley, there's Flourish and Blott's- it's a bookstore that most everyone goes to, Madam Malikn's- she a seamstress for robes, Eeylops Owl Emporium- an owl shop, Florean Fortescue's Ice cream shop, Gambol and Jape's Wizarding Joke Shop, Magical Menageries- a pet shop, Slug and Jigger's Apothecary- you buy potion ingredients there, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Potage's Cauldron Shop and there's Ollivander's."
A eerie old man with bulbous glasses stared, "I have not had you before."
"We come from a more remote background, our father never saw it necessary for us to use wands- we are all here for some." Spade replied smoothly.
The man, Ollivander by the shop title, nodded to Luffy as a measuring tape assaulted the laughing teen.
Thus began the two hour wait for them to all get wands; Luffy had a eleven inch holly wand with a unicorn hair core, Robin had a ten inch Birchwood wand with a threstle hair core, He had a twelve inch oak wand with a phoenix feather core and Spade had a twelve inch dogwood wand with a phoenix feather also. After Spade paid, they went to Madam Malikn's to get robes then Potage's and Slug's shops for school supplies, Robin had them linger at Flourish and Blott's, then Luffy chose a large magical hybrid fruit bat as a letter carrier instead of an owl before Spade escorted them through the Leaky Cauldron, onto the Knight Bus and back to number twelve Grimmauld Place.
Molly pounced when they entered, "Sirius! Where have you been!? You were-"
"Whoa! Is that really you Sirius?" Harry asked.
Spade tilted his hat- that both brothers said he had to have as a member of the D. Family- up, it was black leather hat with a red feather tucked into a gold ribbon that encircle the hat along with a nearly invisible black string connected to it that hung around his neck incase the hat fell, and grinned. "The name's Spade D. Portgas but, yeah, it's me." Spade winked at the teen, "Nice to meet my 'cousin's' godson."
"Like wise." Harry replied, taking in the appearance- eyes flicking to him briefly. "But how?"
"Magic, Goblin Magic to be precise." Spade answered before asking. "So, how'd the hearing go?"
"He got off!" Ginny and the twins shouted, starting to dance and chant.
Spade grinned, ruffling the disgruntled teen's hair before turning more serious. "Has Kingsley, Tonks or Moody been by?"
"They'll be by soon." Arthur said. "Si-Spade, Malfoy was meeting with the Minister earlier."
"We'll pass the word to Dumbledore," Spade nodded then turned towards them. "Now, I have to drill five years of knowledge into you," Luffy was pointed at. "Seven for you." Robin. "And seven plus three years of Arour training before the school term starts- follow me, we'll be using the ball room." Spade glanced at the others, "I won't ban anyone from coming. Arthur, Molly, if either of those three come can you send them over?"
The ball room was a wide open room with tables pressed against the walls on both sides with chairs lining along them, twin chandeliers shone over head although four large windows allowed adequate light in. The teens had all followed, directed to sit on a table near the door- Luffy accompanying them with Hermione given orders to drill him on their school knowledge along with Robin who listened- while Spade and himself stood at the center.
"We'll start with shielding and stunning." Spade announced. "The incantation for the shielding charm is Protego, the stunning spell is stupefy."
After the wand movements were demonstrated, he tried it. "Stupefy!"
"Protego!" A thick red jet of light crashed into an invisible shield, Spade grinned. "Nice, now in reverse- Stupefy!"
"Protego!" He said, the jet crashed into him- although it was significantly smaller then the start- and sent him reeling.
Spade didn't let up, "Again! Stupefy!"
"Protego!" He shouted this time, the jet crashed through his shield.
"Again! Stupefy!"
"Protego!" The jet crash through his shield, but dissipated before touching him.
"Again- Stupefy!"
"Protego!" The jet crashed into the shield, dug in a bit before disappearing.
"Almost- Stupefy!"
"Protego!" The jet touched the shield a moment before dissipating.
Spade nodded, "Very good, your getting this remarkably quick- although your shielding is slower but I have a theory for that."
The went on like that with various spells hammering against his shields, that sometimes gave way, before Spade decided his shields were adequate enough to be a mid-classed Auror. It was then that Molly bustled in, "Your school stuff has arrived, come downstairs for dinner."
"Wotcher Sirius, you're taking after me now?" Tonks greeted with a grin, the teens being distracted by the fact it was a party for Ron and Hermione being Prefects- Luffy attacked the food.
Spade grinned at her, "Apparently, but I'll go by Spade D. Portgas now. Moody- Kingsley!" He called to the other two order members, speaking again when they arrived. "I have a favor to ask of you, Ace and I are going to be transferring into the Auror division around the time school starts- can you cram three years worth of training to that time?"
"We'll sure as hell try." Moody said, a feral grin coming onto his scarred face.
And so began their training. Luffy was tutored by the teens while Robin learned from the other adults but he and Spade were attacked by the three arours- or former one in Moody's case. It was hell, especially when his necrolepsy came into play a few times, but it was important to fit in and defend himself here so he put up with it. It was as they saw the teens off onto the Hogwarts Express- Luffy appeased by the seperation due to an odd wristwatch communicator that Spade and Remus had made(they mentioned something about mirrors)- that Moody deemed them acceptable aplicants. Tonks translated that into them being good, bordering on spectacular as Moody hated giving out compliments.
That was why the two of them were in the DMLE building and talking to one Amelia Bones. "Where exactly did you say you two were from?"
"The Black Isles." Spade responded smoothly. "Our grandfather, Eduardus Black, had started the settlement of them but unable to announce their presence before the Black family disowned him for having a illegitimate child with an American muggle born witch named Clover D. Portgas. Our father took our grandmother's name- as did our grandfather- and ended up being a wizard, he studied magic in the states- where he met our mother- and it was only during our pregnancy that our grandfather deemed the Isles safe enough for them to move there. We, along with our younger brother Luffy, were raised there and then tutored by our grandfather when our parents passed on- though we took all required tests and went through our Arours training in the states. Our grandfather died recently, his will was that we return to his home country- so here we are."
Amelia eyed them, flipping through the large folder of paper work that had their names on it. "Your brother?"
"Luffy's fifteen and was also home schooled, he was ecstatic to be going to Hogwarts." Ace answered. "He has never been off the island before as he took care of our grandfather and grandmother."
Amelia nodded, "It is very good for him to interact with other children his age. Well," she sighed, closing the folder. "Every thing appears to be in order. As the only part of your training that remains is finishing your apprenticeship, I will assign Shacklebolt as a mentor both of you. You are dismissed."
"Thank you for your time Madam Bones." They said formally, leaving the room and hurrying to Tonks' cubicle where Moody and Kingsley were waiting for them. Spade spoke first. "Kingsley's our mentor."
Moody clapped Kingsley on the shoulder as Tonks hugged them. "Good luck, I remember mentoring him the first time- be glad it's not Potter instead!"
"Appreciate the vote of confidence." Kingsley replied. "Well, I was actually going to follow up on alleged sightings of the mass murder Black in Hogsmede and talk the Headmaster about security."
Spade perked up, "If we're talking about security with the Headmaster, would that mean there will be guards at Hogwarts?"
"Possibly." Kingsley allowed, leading them to the closest floo grate and tossing in a handful of floo powder. "Three Broomsticks!"
"Exactly the same, make sure to pronounce it right." Spade muttered to him before following. "Three Broomsticks!"
He followed quickly, "Three Broomsticks!" The sensation was comforting in a way, something he linked to his devil fruit powers being fire. Kingsley was talking to the barmaid, but Spade had waited for him by the fireplace.
"Kingsley told me we can wander about to look for evidence of Black." Spade informed him with a wry grin.
He shrugged his shoulders back, unused to wearing slothing over his upper body- much less a full body robe. "Any where you want to start at?"
"Zonko's." Spade replied, dragging him from the bar to another building. Within the building he was showed biting tea-cups, shocking quills, invisible ink, paper that insulted people, a stuffed ball that made different sounds depending on how it was squeezed and after that he was dragged to Honeydukes where he was faced with chocolate cockroaches, the all flavored beans, chocolate frogs, everlasting chewing gum and the like.
Kingsley raised an eyebrow when they came from the store, Spade carrying various bags and packages. "Having fun?"
"Course," Spade grinned, shrinking his purchases and tucking them into his pocket as they walked away from the village to Hogwarts. "Anything interesting about Black?"
Kingsley nodded, mouth twitching. "One witch swears that Black cornered her and stole her goblin-made silver necklace but, as she was a beggar and Black is in 'Tibet', I was disinclined to believe her story. A wizard said that Black holds private concerts in the shrieking shack for the violent ghosts with a band made of house-elves and goblins on Sunday nights."
"Such a shame," Spade said dryly, the gates opened to allow them before closing. "I always wanted to see a fiddling goblin." He stopped and prodded Ace, who had slumped in his spot after entering the gates. "Ace- wake up."
He blinked, started to reach up to tilt up his hat but remembered that they had shrunken their hats- as Spade now was in the habit of wearing his own hat- for their interview. As they started walking once more he took his hat out, muttering "Finite Incantatem." To cancel the shrinking charm- noting that Spade's voice echoed the same thing moments later- and putting his normal sized hat back on, seeing that Spade's hat was also returned to it's proper place.
"I got the headmaster lemon drops." Spade announced, tossing a small bag to Kingsley.
Kingsley caught it deftly, "I will speak with the Headmaster, you may patrol the castle."
'Patrolling the castle' evidently translated into darting through as many secret passages and sliding down as many moving(!) staircases to Spade. They were walking through one corridor when a grating female voice sounded from a nearby classroom. "Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"
"Yes," Hermione's voice responded. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"
They shared a look before Spade waved his wand, muttering under his breath until a window appeared in the door to allow them to see inside the classroom. The toad-like professor, Umbrige if he recalled Remus' ranting correctly, asked. "Are you a Ministry‐trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"
"No, but ‐"
"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk‐free way-"
"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a ‐"
"Hand, Mr. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge. Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too.
"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Luffy.
"Luffy D. Portgas."
"Well, Mr. Portgas?"
"It's like Harry said, isn't it?" said Luffy, his famous hat on his desk. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free."
Spade rose an eyebrow, "He's adapting to school well it seems- not even wearing his hat."
"I believe Hermione got permission to implement 'shock teaching' during his tutoring." He responded in a similar whisper.
"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling at Luffy in a way that made him growl, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"
"It's not imposs-"
Professor Umbridge talked over him. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed ‐ not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half‐breeds."
"If you mean Professor Lupin," piped up Ron angrily, "he was the best we ever ‐"
"Hand, Mr. Weasley! As I was saying ‐ you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day."
"No we haven't," Hermione said, "we just ‐"
"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!" Hermione put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."
"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" said Ron hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads."
"Your hand is not up, Mr. Weasley!" trilled Professor Umbridge. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at a girl, whose hand had just shot up.
"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?"
"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively.
They shared a look of disbelief, but he spoke. "Even Robin had to practice a few times before doing the spells correctly."
"Without ever practicing them beforehand?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"
"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough-"
"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again.
Professor Umbridge looked up. "This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," she said softly.
"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?" Luffy growled, hands curling into fists besides his hat.
"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Portgas."
"Oh, yeah?" said Harry.
"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice.
"Hmm, let's think ..." said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. "Maybe ... Lord Voldemort!"
The class- barring Luffy who was actually picking his nose- reacted violently but Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face." Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."
They both growled but the classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry.
"Now, let me make a few things quite plain." Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned towards them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead-"
"He wasn't dead," said Harry angrily, "but yeah, he's returned!"
"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-po ints-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."
"It is NOT a lie!" said Harry. "I saw him, I fought him!"
"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."
Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated.
"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of her reach.
"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.
There was a collective intake of breath from the class and they stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face.
"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly.
Luffy stood up, his hat on once more only to obscure his face, enraged as they were told what had happened during the resurrection of Voldemort. "How dare you.." he whispered furiously, though it echoed in the silent room.
"How dare I?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Luffy's body started to shake, hands grabbing onto the desk. "Yes, how dare you disrespect a death." He growled, the desk creaking as his hands clenched. "You're a teacher, you're suppose to respect your students."
"Cedric Diggory is no student of mine." She retorted coldly.
Luffy broke the desk, causing a few students to scream. "That doesn't matter!" He roared, the broken wood in his hands flying to crash into the wall, and finally looked up towards her. "Regardless of whether you taught him or not you can't disrespect a person's death! You're continually disrespect his death by allowing his murder, Voldemort, to walk freely with no resistance!"
"We need to stop him before he destroys the class room," Ace stated, wishing he could allow Luffy to attack Umbridge. "He might hurt a student."
Spade nodded, canceling the spell and making the window disappear before they both walked into the room- seeing Luffy's fist half-way raised. Luffy froze when he caught sight of them, along with the class, but Umbridge was the first to speak. "And just who are you two?"
"Ace D. Portgas and Spade D. Portgas, we are Arours." He answered tightly, equally furious as his brother but able to hide it better. "We were patrolling when we heard the commotion."
Umbridge smiled thinly. "And what, may I inquire, are two Arours doing patrolling at Hogwarts?"
"You may not," Spade retorted flatly, hands stuffed in his pockets but the tensing and relaxing of his arm muscles indicated that he was rapidly clenching and unclenching his fists to control his own anger.
She was affronted, although some students- the ones who knew them mostly- seemed to be hiding smirks at the response. "Excuse me? I am the Mini-"
"You shouldn't say such lies Madam Umbridge." Spade cut her off, very nearly sneering. "You have chosen to change your position to a teacher and, as noble a pursuit that the job is, you have no authority over us ministry officials. We are well within our rights, Professor, to deny answers to an inquiry of someone whom has absolutely no affiliation towards our work. And I believe, as you are a teacher and no longer the Minister's under secretary, that we are not required to answer to you."
Her teeth gnashed together, "Potter, Portgas come here." She handed Harry and Luffy both a slip of paper. "Take that to your head of house," she turned towards him, ignoring Spade who gave an impish grin to the class who snickered in reply. "Would you mind escorting these two to Professor McGonagall?"
"Of course not," He retorted swiftly, striding out of the room with the three.
"What are you two doing here?" Luffy asked, placing his hat on once more.
Ace shrugged, "Kingsley is our Auror mentor, he let us wander as he's visiting the headmaster."
"You shouldn't let her get to you," Spade added, giving a sheepish look at the others' expressions. "Moony's words not mine- I swear the man's a saint with what he can put up with."
Harry quipped, "You're right, how can he put up with you?"
"Thems are fighting words Harry," Spade announced, eyes twinkling.
Harry nodded mock-solemnly. "It's a shame such an old man can't do anything about it."
"Shishishi~!" Luffy laughed. "Since Spade's your twin, does that mean Harry's calling you old also Ace?"