Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any form other than my copies of the books and movies so any characters you recognize are the work of J.K. Rowling and not myself. I do own this story though and I do not give permission for anyone to repost it on this site or anywhere else under this name or any others.
"Don't worry so much Prongs, I'm sure I'll be fine at home!" Sirius chuckled, "It's not like Mother dearest will want to spend time with me, I'll go home and spend most of the time in my room like I used to. They just told me to come home with them for some reason, it's not like they have ever actually wanted me around so I'm sure I'll be back at Potter Manor with you in no time!"
The Black Heir was grinning widely at his friends in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express, he needed to get them off this topic before they dug any deeper. For Sirius Black was not heading to his family home of 12 Grimmauld Place like he had told his friends and the Potter's, nor was he heading to Potter Manor like he had written to his deranged parents. Not this time! Not after how horrible they had become! He was sure it was only a matter of time before they dragged him in front of their 'Lord' or crucioed him for not going willingly and embarrassing them with his 'childish antics.'
Thankfully, Dumbledore understood how madly devoted his parents were to the Dark Arts and he was allowing Sirius to reside in one of his homes for his own safety. He just had to lie and misdirect all of those who would get in the way so that no one would know where he went. The final part of his portion of the plan was to leave the platform quickly once the train had arrived. The Potters and the Blacks could not see him while they were picking up their children at all, the Potters would want to walk him over to his parents, and his parents would never let him out of their grubby, greedy hands.
Sirius still found it hard to believe sometimes exactly how far his parents had gone. Regulus was even rotten to him this past year while he was at Hogwarts. The little minion of his parents had been sorted into Slytherin just like they had hoped. His own sorting had greatly disappointed his parents, his mother most especially as she had drilled the family legacy and ambition into his psyche from such a young age. And he still had the ambition. But becoming the greatest prankster to ever go through Hogwarts was not a worthy enough goal for the Sorting Hat or his parents.
But with his OWLs now completed he was granted more autonomy in their world. He would be able to emancipate himself if he had recommendations for his responsibility and character as well as enough money or a job to support himself. Those were not happening though. No one could say with a straight face that Sirius Orion Black had character and a responsible nature! And all of his money was directly tied to the Heir of House Black, not to Sirius himself.
The Headmaster would be providing him with a furnished home and a small stipend to buy groceries with in the muggle world so he wouldn't even need the money in his vault until it came time to shop for his upcoming 6th year. However, he would be able to empty that vault now that he was a post-OWL student, the goblins set a limit to ensure foolish children did not drain their inheritances with frivolous trinkets. Gaining interest and investing were much more along their plans for wizarding money.
…
Most of the Potter family was gathered around the table this morning for breakfast. James Potter was absent from the table but none of the family expected to see him until eleven or later, he claimed the summer hols was the only time he could sleep in so he would take advantage of it without impunity. Little Alice was chattering away to her parents and grandfather while they waited for the elves to bring in their meals, she would be advancing in her riding lessons from her pony to the horse that her parents had gifted her for her 10th birthday a few days prior. Her parents, Elliot and Victoria, were indulging her and listening intently though they had already listened to this same excited retelling of her last riding lesson just after the lesson had occurred.
Lord Gregory Potter was waiting anxiously for The Daily Prophet to arrive, a progressive law regarding the informing of muggleborns of the magical world at 5 instead of 11 had passed at the last Wizengamot session and he was interested to see how it was received. It was a pet project of his with a few fellow Lords and they had campaigned hard to convince others that it was a sound decision. Oddly enough, they had had to fight against Albus Dumbledore who, as Headmaster, should have wanted more knowledgeable and informed students.
With this new law they could even start a magical primary school to educate all magical children from 5 to 11 so they all started at Hogwarts with the same level of education. As things stood now, pureblood students from wealthy families had a generous lead against poorer purebloods and half-bloods who could not afford the expense of private tutors and taught their children themselves; muggleborns were the worst off only having the time from their 11th birthday to catch up on years of pre-Hogwarts education. For some students that was only a month! It was absolutely preposterous that such a discrepancy was allowed to continue when the means to fix it were available.
"Finally," Gregory interrupted Alice's tale, "The owls are arriving!"
"And here come the elves, Father. Please do eat before perusing the entirety of the paper this time. I do not wish to have Mother's portrait scolding me again for allowing you to put politics before your health! She's already done it once this summer for allowing James to grouse so vehemently about that Snape boy from school, she said it's unbecoming of his station."
"Fine, Elliot, I shall simply remove the mail from the owls and set it aside. I still find it hard to comprehend how you bend as well to your mother's scolding now as you did when she was alive! She can no longer cast a stinging hex for your cheek you know," he chuckled warmly. His Mia had a strong will about her and an even stronger hex when she needed one. Gregory opened the window to allow the owls entrance into the dining room and carefully removed the letters, stacking them according to their intended recipient.
"Elliot, do you know why Orion Black would be contacting you? I thought with Sirius home he would have no need to converse with us."
"No Father, Sirius is really the only thing we have in common. Hand it over, I can read it while you eat so Mother doesn't come down on me again."
"No, no, we mustn't enrage your poor mother's portrait. She gets enough excitement from chasing after the boys running around when they're both here so she can give them a good scolding."
Elliot opened the letter and held it down against the table to allow him to read whilst finishing his breakfast.
Dear Potter Family,
I write to you in the hopes that you can find it in yourselves to read the letter written since all efforts to send a letter to Sirius in the past year have resulted in upset owls returning home with burnt feathers. I know that he is angry, so angry with his mother and I. I am not certain what we have done that is so offensive even the family owls must suffer for our deeds but I am hopeful that you can read this letter and inform Sirius since our efforts have failed.
We would like Sirius to know that we love him dearly. That every moment he is away tears into our hearts. Regulus has told us stories of Sirius's pranking escapades with the Marauder's from the past year and we believe his ingenuity and skillful planning are remarkable. Regulus was able to observe Sirius from afar in the Great Hall from his place at the Ravenclaw table even though he could not approach him without receiving a glare. Cassiopeia does not have much to contribute to this letter sadly. We have regaled her with tales of his childhood antics as much as we could but at four she simply cannot remember a time when he was home with us regularly.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we wish to inform Sirius that we will be removing him as the Black Heir before the end of July. We have sent numerous letters these past months trying to get through to him and bring him home but as he will not we have no choice. A Black Heir must be appointed and they must learn the duties and responsibilities of the Black family which Sirius has shunned and shown a clear disregard for for the past five years.
Sirius will always be our son. Our first-born child and for many years, the shining star guiding us to be the best parents we could. He will be welcome at home whenever he should wish it, even though we believe he no longer considers our home his own. Should he wish it, he can always write to his cousins or his siblings should he only desire to cut ties with Walburga and myself.
Orion Sirius Black
Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Black
"What? But… Father this letter makes no sense whatsoever! Read it! It sounds like Orion believes Sirius to be residing here at the Manor this summer as usual, but he said he was going home with the Blacks' so they shouldn't be sending us a letter like we can talk with him in person while they can't. If Sirius is neither there nor here, where has he gone to?"
"Alice sweetheart," Victoria murmured, "Can you run up to your brother's suite please and wake him. Tell him it is very important, we don't care if he isn't dressed yet, just come down here immediately."
"Yes Mother. Will Siri be alright?"
"I hope so, we just need your brother's help to figure this out."
"When did you last see Orion and Walburga? Have you seen any indication that Sirius has been lying about the way that they treat him when he is at home? Because this letter sounds like a parent with no clue why their child is mad at them and I've never heard anything against them except what Sirius has hinted at but never said outright.
"Orion is at the Ministry for work every day and is he well-respected for his work as Head Unspeakable and seen as quite formidable in the Wizengamot since he took over for Pollux when he came down with Dragon Pox. And Walburga manages that orphanage and the most efficient elf training business in years.
"Now we aren't necessarily close to the family personally but Lords Lestrange and Malfoy and Ladies Greengrass, Davies, and Smith all interact with them almost daily and none of them would turn a blind eye if they thought Sirius or any of the children were being abused. They are friends but at the slightest hint of trouble they would turn on them to protect the children."
"Who would turn on who Grandfather? Alice woke me up and said to come downstairs immediately because of some letter," James said as he walked into the dining room in his pajama pants and dressing robe. "What's going on that you had to wake me up this early?"
"Son, it's not early, it's already past 8 o'clock in the morning," Victoria laughed, "We received a letter from Orion Black though, it has us severely confused. Could you read it please and see if you can answer our questions?"
"Yeah, yeah, let me see it," James held out a hand as he sat at the table, grabbing a muffin from the basket as he did. He bit into it as he began reading and ended up choking on it when he read the part about the Blacks loving Sirius. He held off eating once he was able to swallow again and put the muffin down so he wasn't tempted into eating it.
"This doesn't sound anything like what Sirius has said about his parents in years. And where is he if he's not here or there?"
"Do you mean to say that Sirius hasn't always been so vocal against his parents?"
"Well, yeah. When we were on the train first year he was really upset that he'd miss his sister being born and he was worried about his mother going up all the stairs in the house. He said Regulus was only 7 but he was always following him around and helping in his pranks around the house. That all sort of… faded out, I guess? He stopped talking about it slowly then he started talking about the bad stuff.
"It was like he got more distrustful over the year, then it was worse when he came back for second year. He seemed kind of paranoid. Said his parents weren't really happy he was in Gryffindor and he was scared about what would happen when he went home again when summer hols started again. That's why I pushed so hard for you guys to let him come here that summer, then for him to stay here longer for the hols after that."
"We didn't know that! It was only recently that we heard him say anything about how the Blacks treated him. We all just thought you and Sirius wanted more space to run around so staying here at the Manor instead of the Black Townhouse in the middle of London made more sense. We talked with the Blacks before we agreed that Sirius could come over! It's not like we just said yes and let a kid come over without any notice to his parents James."
"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. Of course you had to talk to them, what if they thought he was kidnapped? What if he has been kidnapped? If he's not here or there, where is he?"
"Calm down, James, we'll get this figured out. Go get dressed, nicely! I'm going to firecall the Black Townhouse and invite the family over here. We will find out what's going on."
…
It was just a week later when Dilly woke Elliot past 3 o'clock in the morning.
"Master Potter Sir! Master Potter Sir! Yous needs to wake up Sir! Master Siri is here! Master Siri is hurt Sir!"
"Dilly? What time is it? Turn on a light, please. What is going on Dilly?"
"Master Potter Sir, Master Siri is here! He's downstairs in the Floosie Room but he's hurt Master Potter Sir! He's saying meanie Blacks cursed him for not following a Dark Lordie!"
"Victoria wake up," he murmured as he shook his wife's shoulder, "Come on love, we need to go see to Sirius. He may need a healer and we need to find out where he was."
"I'm awake dear," she yawned as she spoke though, showing just how much she wished she was not awake. The two covered up with dressing robes and went down the stairs quietly to the Floo room hoping that Sirius was not badly injured like Dilly had exclaimed. Despite their fervent wishes, they entered the room to find Sirius bloody and battered, unconscious and laid out on the sofa like he usually would for a nap after the boys played Quidditch all morning.
"Call St. Mungos, I'll take him up to his usual room so come up once the healer arrives. He needs a lot of help, those muscle spasms are a classic sign of Cruciatus exposure."
"Be careful, Elliot, I don't want him hurt more if you rush up the stairs," Victoria fretted before turning to the fireplace. Elliot carefully lifted the boy he thought of as a second son and walked sedately to the stairs and up to the guest room Sirius occupied more often than his room at the Black Townhouse.
"St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries!" She shouted, "Help! I need a healer to come to Potter Manor immediately!" The Welcome Witch hurried to the Floo after sending a Patronus off into the hospital so quickly Victoria couldn't even discern what type of animal it was.
"Madam, are you sure that you can't bring the person here?"
"Yes I'm sure! Just send the best you have! Galleons are no issue but get over here!"
"Of course Madam, Healer Vaisey will be right over. She's our foremost healer on emergencies and she's quite accustomed to house calls. I sent my Patronus to her and she should be down here momentarily. Why don't you step back? I will keep the connection alive on our side so there is no delay."
"Thank you!" Victoria waited impatiently for Healer Vaisey to arrive. It felt as though years had passed when the fire flared as she arrived, though she knew the wait couldn't have been more than a minute or two.
"Thank Merlin! He's upstairs, come, follow me. His name is Sirius Black, he's 16. His parents and my husband and I have been worried about him for the past week, he told each of us that he was staying with the other but went somewhere else entirely. Since we had no idea where he went, just that he had willingly left Platform 9 ¾ we had been waiting and hoping to hear from him soon. One of the elves woke us when he Flooed in but he was bloody and my husband said his shakes look like Cruciatus exposure."
The two had now entered the room where Elliot was waiting for them. It was clear to see that he had removed the blood and torn clothing, though the actions did nothing to make Sirius look better. If anything seeing how many cuts covered his torso and how his muscles seemed to contract painfully with no rhythm or purpose only made the couple more agitated.
"Thank you for cleaning him up sir, but could you both please step to the far wall? I do not wish for your magic to interfere with my readings."
"Yes, of course Healer Vaisey," Victoria said, pulling her husband away from the bed as he seemed to be stuck staring at Sirius. "He'll be fine Elliot, why don't you go wake your father? He should be made aware of Sirius' arrival. Once we know how bad it is and what we can do we'll contact the Blacks too. Right now we'll have enough people pacing and worried over the boy."
"Right, Father, then the Blacks once the healer has finished the diagnosis, then James once Sirius is as well as can be for the night. He won't appreciate the early wake-up call even with Sirius safe now but it would be worse to let him sleep in and find out on his own." Elliot carefully left the room, making sure to stay as far from the bed as he could so as to not interfere.
"Has Mr. Black been acting strange at all, Madam? You said that he had lied to both you and his parents about his whereabouts for the summer, was this normal for him?"
"No, it was not at all normal. But we think he has been acting strange for a long while, actually. According to my son, Sirius spoke fondly of his family and parents when they started Hogwarts 5 year ago but as time has gone on his feelings have changed dramatically. Suddenly the little brother who loved to imitate him became a Death Eater in training and the loving parents became horrible people who hated Sirius.
"But the Blacks have never hated him and have spent the last few months trying to contact him almost constantly. He has shunned his family for no discernable reason we can find and seems paranoid about returning to their home. When he wrote that he was going home with his parents this summer we were ecstatic thinking that whatever troubles between them had been resolved. Only to find that he lied to both of us and went off on his own."
"I found and have healed all of the external injuries as well as the Cruciatus exposure your husband noted, but I also found evidence of compulsion spells layered over him like a web. I don't believe he's had much control over himself at all this past year. Probably not more than basic hygiene, study habits, and friendships would have been under his control and not dictated by the spells though they could have been influenced by them regardless.
"He has trust and loyalty spells to the caster as the base, whoever it was wanted to reinforce that so every few layers is more trust and loyalty. It looks like the other major ones are hatred based. Hatred of magic? No, hatred of dark magic specifically. This one looks like hatred of his own blood, you said he had problems with his parents? This spell would have made it almost impossible for him to like or agree with them on anything.
"The rest seem to dictate single actions or feelings and are only placed once. Avoidance of the caster, I believe, maybe so no one would suspect the caster of spelling the child. Fear? No, more pervasive, paranoia. Paranoia also connected to his own blood, to work with the hatred I would assume. Anger towards someone, no, a group. Maybe to work with the hatred of dark magic, a compulsion to hate the people who use it as well?
"Whoever layered these spells is extremely proficient. They knew how to lay the spells down so that by the time they had complete control no one would notice anything odd about his behavior. I am going to note the magical signature of the spells as I remove them for my records. It may be unlikely, but there could be more than one caster and this will give us definitive proof. I will be sending my report to the DMLE whether you wish it or not. This is more thorough and less detectable than the Imperius and the caster should not be allowed to roam free. If they were this proficient with Mr. Black, there could be dozens more out there.
…
The entire Head's Office was in disarray. Papers were stacked upon the desk and the various towers were near toppling, and new letters were coming in every hour to add to the madness. The portraits of the past Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts spent most of the day shouting at Minerva McGonagall, the newest Headmistress of Hogwarts. Only a week prior she had been the Deputy Head but this fiasco Albus was involved with was turning everything on its head.
Sirius Black had turned up at Potter Manor tortured and bloody, but the worst part was that he had been spelled to the ears with compulsions. Her lion had practically been a puppet for years! And once they had been removed and Sirius had woken he had told a horrible tale of the Headmaster calling him to his office in first year and spelling him when the boy had said his family was loving and wonderful. Apparently a kind Black family just didn't fit with what Albus wanted so he created a new version of reality for the poor child. And when Sirius returned from home feeling as though his parents did care for him, Albus added more spells to make the compulsions stronger.
Albus had been arrested and was awaiting trial at the moment but no matter what he would no longer be the Headmaster of this institution or involved with it in the slightest. Children were more sacred than anything in the magical community, magic deemed it so herself. Minerva could not think of a single plausible excuse for why Albus had done this. He had everything! He was the Supreme Mugwump in the International Confederation of Wizards, the Chief Warlock of Britain's Wizengamot, and the Headmaster. Albus had the respect of most every witch and wizard in Britain plus a fair few of those abroad.
And who was going to go up against that upstart Voldemort now? Albus was the strongest wizard of their time but he couldn't fight a war from Azkaban, now could he? Luckily the attacks had stopped for now. He must be waiting and biding his time to see how far Albus had fallen before he made his move to take over Wizarding Britain while they were down.
No matter. She had enough to worry about here, with all the paperwork and the budget, plus the classes that she wanted to reinstate that Albus had cut for some reason. And she needed to find new professors for Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as appoint a new Gryffindor Head of House and a Deputy Head. There was not enough hours in the day.
Ding!
It must be another of the applicants at the gates, she thought as she allowed the wards to relax and allow entry. They would not allow anyone who meant harm to the school even when relaxed so it was perfectly safe to let someone in sight unseen. She had even worked to make sure the time it took for her to traverse the castle and reach the Entrance Hall was approximately the same time it took for someone to reach the Entrance Hall from the gates. She set off to meet with this new applicant hopeful that this one would actually be competent. The last few had been purebloods riding on their inheritance who hadn't studied anything since their NEWTs! That was no qualification to become an educator in the most prestigious school of magic in Britain.
Upon descending the main stairs into the Entrance Hall she froze. This couldn't be! Dumbledore had said he went Dark and he had been seen with a horrifying face since then but this was just an older version of her old schoolmate. The shock of seeing Voldemort in Hogwarts was just too much right then and Minerva McGonagall fainted on the stairs and tumbled down the last steps.
"Madam? Madam, wake up! Blast it all! Expecto patronum! Go to the infirmary please and tell the matron there is an emergency in the Entrance Hall, possibly an injured back or neck," stated the middle-aged man to the panther patronus. He had experience with emergencies enough to know not to move someone who had fallen so badly until you knew they were secure. He'd never before had someone faint at the sight of him! What a strange reaction! It's not like he was particularly large or even scarred dramatically, he was just a regular wizard. Perhaps stronger than most magically but she had no reason to know that or to fear it even if she could tell.
The sounds of steps rushing down the stairs alerted him to the matrons' impending arrival, "Matron, she fainted a few steps up and fell. I didn't see any injuries but I did not want to move her in case there was some that I could not see. I am not sure if something was wrong before she came down the steps, she seemed to freeze and then faint after seeing me here waiting for her. I'm here to apply for the Defense position."
"Well, why don't you follow me up to the infirmary. I know Minerva wouldn't want anyone wandering around the school unattended and you can talk to her once she awakens about the position. As far as I know this has never happened before but she has been quite stressed recently with the turn of events," Madam Pomfrey explained.
"Yes, I saw that in the Prophet. It's actually part of why I came to apply now instead of before; I had some issues with Professor Dumbledore when I was a student and the timing now just worked out since my children are coming up to Hogwarts age."
"Well hopefully you can last if you get the position. We've had one Defense Professor after the other for years and the children are the ones who suffer from the inconsistency the most. Every time we seem to have a good one they leave after one year and the next couple professors are horrible."
The two had reached the Infirmary and Tom stepped to the side to give the matron and patient privacy. Sure he was curious but it was none of his business so he conjured an armchair and pulled a shrunken book from his pocket to read. He always carried one so he could have something to do while waiting, whether he intended to wait for something or not. He was just finishing his third chapter when the voices on the other side of the privacy screen grew louder and more frantic.
"You have to believe me Poppy! You can't let him take over!"
"Whatever are you going on about Minerva?"
"Voldemort! He can't be allowed to take the castle!" Suddenly the privacy screen was shoved across the wing and into one of the empty beds, startling Tom who had been consciously trying not to eavesdrop on the two despite the loudness of their conversation.
"YOU! I won't stand by and let you have it! Just because Albus is gone does not mean the fight against the darkness will topple!" She shouted at the man while holding her wand out ready to duel if need be. Tom stood slowly, not wanting to make any sudden moves with someone so clearly deranged and armed standing opposite him.
"Matron, are you quite sure she didn't receive a concussion from her fall? She seems very confused."
"I'm not confused you ingrate! I know exactly who you are Voldemort and I will not let you take this school without a fight!" Minerva stepped forward to get a better angle for casting but stopped at the sound resonating in the room. The man had burst into laughter at her statement. He couldn't seem to contain himself in the slightest as he guffawed and bent at the waist clutching his stomach. He seemed to get himself under a measure of control after a few long moments but once he looked up at the two stunned witches his hysteria was set off again and he collapsed into his chair in a fit of giggles. Neither of the women could comprehend how this reaction was set off by Minerva's accusation and just stared at the man in confusion.
"Oh man, that was good. Do you do this for all professor applicants? This was a bit elaborate of a prank, did you plan it all ahead of time? I didn't really give you any notice that I was coming today so you must have. If I'm hired, can I help with the next one? It seems like a great way to break the ice. I must say, I was quite nervous about applying for the Defense position but if this is how you all welcome someone I think I'd fit right in," the man was still chuckling as he stood to shake the hands of the two seemingly master pranksters however his advance shook them from their shock and they held up their wands against him.
"I promise you, this was no prank. We will stand against you Voldemort and all who you brought here today to attack the castle. Make no mistake, we will not be defeated easily."
"Not a prank? Why in Merlin's name would you believe I am that Dark Lord trying to take over? I've heard of him, of course, who hasn't? But I've been out of the country since I graduated some 30 years ago and isn't he a pureblood supremacist? I'm a halfblood for Merlin's sake!"
"Well, prove it then," Minerva said after a look to Poppy, neither of them quite sure what to believe at the moment.
"Do you have a Floo handy? I can call some people to verify my whereabouts for the last 26 years, the first few years I travelled alone and didn't stay too long in any one place."
"Through that door is my office, the Floo address is Hogwarts Infirmary." The man moved silently to the office and closed the door behind him, he did not want the two possibly dangerous witches to have the knowledge of his homes address after how they had acted toward him. When he emerged from the office it was with a woman of entrancing beauty and five children ranging in age from Hogwarts bound to barely walking.
"Madams, this is my lovely wife of 23 years, Araceli, and our children. Soledad here turns 11 in a week; my heir, Alejandro; Adela and Roxana, our little explorers; and Mateo, our youngest. Celi, would you mind telling these two how we met and when? There seems to be some confusion as to my activities over the years."
"We met when you were visiting my brother Nico at the Torres Villa when you were both on holiday from La Universidad Nacional de las Artes Mágicas. You had been studying Magical Defense and Dueling there for a year at the time and my brother tutored you.
"If you need more information Madams, we left Spain after Thomas graduated with honors on an extended honeymoon. We had both wanted to travel while raising our family and we let the journey take us where it wanted. Most of the places we stayed, we learned magic, history, or a trade and many times Thomas would get work with the locals solving problems with their snakes or other reptiles to earn our place in the village.
"We returned to Britain to renovate and restore the Slytherin Keep just last week from Australia where we spent the last two years. Soledad has reached the age to attend Hogwarts and both my husband and I wished to see if there were openings in the staff if we could live here with the children. I am a graduate of La Universidad as well, in Magical History, with a specialization in Ancient Magical History."
"But… Albus said… How is this possible? I apologize to all of you for this, I had been given information that my old schoolmate, Tom Riddle, had left school to immerse himself in the Dark Arts like his ancestor Salazar Slytherin and had then returned to Britain as Lord Voldemort. We have had devastating attacks for the past few years from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Sir, you look remarkably like my schoolmate would at this age and I apparently jumped to conclusions."
"You are not entirely wrong Madam, I was Tom Riddle in my school days. I took over the Slytherin Lordship during my 7th year and began the arduous process of going through a long backlog of family history and investments. In order to receive the lordship I had to take the Slytherin name as well and I used that opportunity to change Tom to Thomas. I just didn't inform the professors here of my name change since I only had a short time left so that part of your claim is correct.
"But you are mistaken in the belief that Salazar Slytherin was a proponent of the Dark Arts or that I left the country after graduating Hogwarts to pursue them. I applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position after graduation but Headmaster Dippet suggested I learn more and live my life before returning to teach, so I did.
"I toured Europe alone for almost 5 years. I used the time to complete my non-magical education in business while reading the history of my family through the journals left to me by each Head of House. I also updated the Slytherin investments and started bringing in more gold to supplement the money I earned working in a bookshop. From there I went to Spain to pursue my degrees in Magical Defense and Dueling, fell in love, and continued to travel through Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Australia with my wife and family before coming home.
"Whoever told you that your Dark Lord was me, was severely mistaken. They did choose wisely though. As Lord Slytherin the family name is not well thought of in most circles, and as I was out of the country for so long actions could be easily attributed to me without my knowledge or rebuttal against the accusations. How many people believe that Tom Riddle became Voldemort? I may need to make a press statement. Actually, I think I will make one no matter how many people believe the lie, an official announcement as Lord Slytherin returning to Britain."
"Albus told us, his Order of the Phoenix. We were fighting against Voldemort any time he had a raid that we knew about. We missed many of the smaller attacks, on random muggle neighborhoods, but we fought against him as much as we could. Who were we fighting against? Was Albus just confused and thought it was you when it wasn't? He would have known you were out of the country though as Chief Warlock, you would have a notice for your seats saying they were unoccupied while the Lord of the House was away.
"No, he couldn't have. That just doesn't, no! No, it is not possible! Poppy, it can't have been Albus right? He wouldn't. Why would he even want to? It makes no sense. It couldn't possibly have been Albus this whole time."
"Minerva, all of the attacks stopped. They all stopped, right after the DMLE took Albus in for questioning about the Black boy. If he could do that to Black when he was just 11, I don't think there is much he wouldn't do. I'm going to Floo the Head Auror, Alastor needs to know if the questioning needs to be expanded. They've only been asking about the spells he put on the boy and if he's done it to other children."
As Poppy left the Infirmary, Minerva collapsed back onto the bed she had woken on earlier. She had only really taken one step from the side of the bed in the whole confrontation with Thomas when she thought he was attacking the castle. How silly that seemed now. He was just a wizard hoping for a position in the school, not a Dark Lord here to destroy it. If anything the Dark Lord could have been in a position to destroy everything before. Albus had full control of the wards and the education the students received for decades. Had he damaged either of those in his tenure as Headmaster? Anything seemed possible now.
"I apologize for upsetting you Madam, that was not at all my intention when I arrived here today. Would you like to set up a meeting for later in the week to discuss the Defense Professorship? When things have calmed down?"
"Yes, yes, later in the week. Could you stay a few minutes to talk to Alastor, he was in the Order as well and will need an official statement from you about your whereabouts to prove you are not the one who has been attacking all those people. I am so sorry that I interfered with your whole family's day with this, I thought I was told the truth but it seems that I was a blind fool. If you all want to come to the castle Thursday, I can discuss the Defense and History positions with you and give you all a tour of the castle and grounds."
"Of course Madam, let me send them home and I will come sit with you while we wait for your friend to arrive."
…
The rumble and sway of the train was like a familiar lullaby to the older students aboard the train to Hogwarts. Many had fallen asleep to this song over the years, full from overindulging on sweets from the trolley or finally relaxed after the exam session has ended and the holiday is about to begin. But three young men were not going to be lulled into sleep on this ride, it was the first time they had been able to see each other in over a month.
"Moony! Prongs!" Sirius shouted as he found the compartment with his friends, addressing them before he leaped forward and transformed into Padfoot. He landed atop both friends and proceeded to lick them in greeting until all three were thoroughly coated in dog slobber.
"Down Padfoot!" James ordered with a chuckle, "Sit! Now roll over!" Remus and James laughed loudly as Sirius listened to his orders like he was a trained dog and sat still once he finished with a big doggy grin at them.
"Evanesco," Remus intoned, vanishing all of the slobber present in the compartment, "C'mon Pads, turn back. We do want to actually talk you know."
"Fine! Ruin all my fun," Sirius grinned, settling onto the opposite bench, "How was your hols after I barged in and turned everything on its arse?"
"Great, Dad found out that the Board actually allowed werewolves to come to Hogwarts years ago as long as they stayed locked away on the full moon nights but Dumbledore didn't let any come until me. So now the Board wants me to work as a mentor for three first year werewolves that are starting this year! I don't know why Dumbledore only let me in before but at least I can help the new ones adjust to school and transforming here since he did."
"That's great Rems!" Sirius exclaimed, "Does that mean no more moonlit rendezvous for the Marauders since you'll be with the other wolves now?"
"No more sneaking out for the moons with me, I'll be in a locked and warded room in the dungeons with the other werewolves so the Board can be sure we aren't running wild. They want to monitor us a little more to make sure none of the students allowed to come to Hogwarts purposely infect or kill someone."
"Well that's safe at least, I mean, we tried to keep control of Moony for the same reason but we could have failed. Wards won't have that risk," reasoned James. "My summer was pretty bland after you stumbled in causing an uproar in the middle of the night. I did get to go to Dumbledore's trial last week with Grandad, he wants me to learn more about our position in the Wizengamot so I can take over smoothly when he steps down.
"Can you believe what he did to Wormtail? I mean, it was even worse than you Pads! He started when he was only a toddler with the trust and loyalty spells to turn him into a secret informant. Peter never had a chance to be himself, and he never really will. They sent him to the St. Mungos ward for the criminally insane since they can't even remove the spells without destroying his mind completely! He will always be loyal to Dumbledore so no one can trust him."
"I feel horrible for Peter, but it's weird since we never actually knew him since there never actually was a Peter, he was practically just a golem following Dumbledore's orders and letting him know when my spells weren't working. Some of the time, Peter took me to Dumbledore when I said I was confused because of the spells so that he could put the new ones on.
"And did you hear the part about Dumbledore pretending to be a Dark Lord gathering forces just so he could save Britain from a Dark Lord again and have everyone love him? Our friend was a Dark Lord's minion!"
"Dumbledore was off his rocker, mate!"
"I think we all knew that James, just from his robes," Remus joked, trying to lighten the mood. "How's things with your family Siri? Are they getting better now without the spells on you?"
"Things are good, really good. I was in tutoring with Bella most of the time, she's 18 now and doing really well in her Dueling Mastery so my parents had me working with her to get me up to speed. I didn't even get close to beating her once! She's wicked fast, I swear. Andromeda got prefect this year for Ravenclaw and Narcissa is hoping to be sorted into Slytherin tonight. Reg and I played pranks on the two of them whenever we got the chance. We stayed away from Bella though, she would have made us regret it.
"I think the worst part of the entire hols was with Cassie. She was born our first year and with the spells I hardly left my room when I went home and once I could, I started going to Potter Manor instead so I'd never even really met my sister. She really had a plan of torture for me though. We would talk and play games every other day, but only while both of us were dressed up as princesses ready for a formal tea party. I think Mum gave her the idea."
All the boys tried to stifle their laughter, but couldn't keep it up while looking at the other two trying to hold it in as well and the roars of laughter rang through the train car. Compartment doors opened to the hall to see what the commotion was from but all returned inside quickly when they realized it was the Marauders. Laughter like that was certain to mean humiliation by prank for the entire castle.
The End