J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.
Chapter 3 – History of Horror
Impossible as it may seem, Albus Dumbledore was wrong. Harry did have help, just not enough to accomplish everything he needed to do as Albus Dumbledore was a formidable and unscrupulous opponent with decades of experience in not only Magic but manipulation, scheming, power-grabbing, blackmailing, using people shamelessly, lying, bribery, destroying lives and too many nasty things to mention even if you knew about all of them which no one but Dumbledore did.
However, there were three people who knew enough about some of the dastardly things one Albus Dumbledore had done to people but especially to their family personally that they had banded together to not only save Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom but to chip away at Albus Dumbledore, piece by tiny piece until they at least severely hurt him. They knew they probably couldn't totally destroy him but they'd settle for their personal vengeance and help for their heirs.
So who were these people and how did they come together to help two abused boys? Glad you asked because you will be told.
The first person was known in life as Regulus Nigellus Black. Yes he was a ghost and he had finally managed to contact Harry Potter while the boy was living at the Leaky Cauldron before his third year at Hogwarts began. He was in more danger than usual and since he was finally in a place where the ghost could contact him, he could begin to help him. Fortunately, despite all that Dumbledore had done to keep the boy ignorant, Harry was a bright boy and just played along always looking for an escape much like he had with the Dursleys before he knew he was a wizard. Before that fateful Halloween during his first year he had sized up what was going on but had to again play along and hope to survive.
Once the boy accepted that the ghost wasn't going to do him any harm, he listened while the ghost began to tell the tale. He started at the beginning because that is always the best place to start and began to tell the Horrible History of a once proud family. Regulus was a ghost and lived from 1906 to 1959 when he died due to severe respiratory problems. He was the second son of the then Lord Black Sirius, II and the younger brother of Arcturus the eldest son and heir. They had had a sister Lycoris, but she had died in 1965 due to a broken heart and after having suffered much at the hands of the enemies of her House.
Their Father Sirius was, to put it bluntly, a real bastard. His Father had been the notorious Phineas Nigellus Black known today as the most hated Headmaster Hogwarts ever had. Actually there were many who were much worse but they had lived and died in other centuries and Nigellus' (as he preferred to be called) was the latest one in living memory and would remain so until some else receive the mantel.
Sirius I was the elder brother of Nigellus who had died young in an accident with only Nigellus as a witness. He had drowned despite his younger brother's valiant but feeble attempts to rescue him as Sirius I was 8 years old and Nigellus was only 6. A house elf had been blamed and promptly tortured to death before a thorough investigation could be done.
Sirius II had been named after his uncle and was a very cruel man, a dreadful husband and terrible father. He was also selfish and reckless and cared only for his own pleasure. He was also very bad with money and had nearly lost half of the vast Black fortune until ill-health had seen him confined to his bed. Fortunately for the family fortunes, Nigellus had died when Arcturus, who was very good with money and had all of the virtues his sire lacked, was 24 years old. Nigellus had almost disinherited his son and heir in favor of Arcturus but at the last minute had been reminded of the scandal it would cause so made Arcturus the handler of all financial matters while Sirius was named the titular Lord Black with very limited powers.
Being the kind of man he was Sirius II sulked, brooded and did as much as possible to make the lives of Arcturus and his other children as miserable as possible. Arcturus had already been married when Nigellus died and it had been a love match. Melania McMillan had given Arcturus two children, Lucretia and Orion before she had met an untimely and unexpected death giving birth to her third child, a stillborn son. Arcturus had been away on business when his wife went into premature labor in her fifth month while just lying in bed in the middle of the night. She had been taken so unaware that she hadn't had time to call for a house elf and just went into labor, expelled the child and then passed out into unconsciousness and bled to death.
It was considered a terrible and unfortunate tragedy but Arcturus (and others) thought differently and Sirius II had been entirely too openly happy. Nothing could be proven or even remarked upon, by the family at least, because he was Lord Black and you didn't cross let alone accuse a Lord Black of wrong doing even if you had proof.
Arcturus wanted to remarry to give his children a mother but Sirius II forbade it. He still had some limited power to order Arcturus in some things and poor Arcturus was constantly traveling on business to recreate the empire his Father had so carelessly lost. One time Arcturus had returned home only to find out that his only daughter, the light of his life and the image of her Mother had been married off by Sirius to the biggest rogue in Magical Britain, Ignatius Prewett.
The Prewetts were the Pureblood equivalent of what American Muggles would call "white trash" and lived up to the reputation of being a disgrace to Pure Blood. Ignatius was what could be called (again by Muggles) as an "adventurer" meaning he didn't really work for a living and lived on his wits but without any great success. He was heavily and dangerously in debt to the wrong people and had lured a very drunken Sirius II into a Muggle card game known as poker. Naturally he cheated and Sirius lost big – very big.
Arcturus controlled the purse strings and the only thing that Sirius II could use to pay his debt was exactly what Ignatius had wanted and demanded to have in payment. He wanted to immediately marry the fair Lucretia, she of the huge dowry. Not only would Ignatius be able to pay off his debts he could live in luxury as she would come with not only lots and lots of cash, but jewelry, silver, artifacts, rare books and property. Ignatius would be set for life.
But Sirius II didn't like to be made a fool of especially in public even though he was a fool. However, he saw a way out of it to not only get revenge against Ignatius but also to hurt his goody-goody son. He immediately married the unwilling Lucretia off to Ignatius and told him he could collect the dowry the day after the wedding night. Ignatius' mistake was that he hadn't taken the time to find out how much the dowry consisted of but – what the hell – everybody knew the type of dowry the Black girls received, especially an only daughter of the heir.
After a horrible wedding night (for Lucretia) Ignatius hurried to Gringotts to claim his wealth only to be told that Sirius II (who controlled the amount of the dowry) had only given Lucretia G1,000. Ignatius owed the wrong people G1,500. After calming down he came up with a solution to his problems as well as a way of getting revenge on Sirius II for "ruining his life" – he sold his lovely 16 year old wife to a well-known elderly pervert with a taste for deviant sexual practice and when he tired of the innocent he was to sell her to a brothel – and a Muggle one at that. The pervert thought it was a very good prank and agreed.
So Ignatius paid off his debts and had 100 galleons left over to leave Britain forever before Arcturus came back and got his own revenge (and oh did he ever but the details are too gory to tell). Arcturus returned several months later (because no one had the decency to tell him about the tragedy) and spent several more months looking for his daughter. By then the damage had been complete.
The pervert (who soon met with a very unfortunate and extremely painful accident) had used the girl for only two months before her mind, body and spirit were completely broken. True to the terms of the original sale, he sold her to a Muggle brothel where she knew only horror and degradation. No one ever knew the full extent of her suffering and humiliation because it would have been too painful for the girl to relive and Arcturus probably would have killed his Father (like he had the pervert and Ignatius). Lucretia had been rescued but spent the rest of her life in an almost catatonic state and never left the safety of her suite in Castle Black because…well she just couldn't.
Sirius II had laughed and laughed at his son's pain. He bragged about how he enjoyed hurting Arcturus and his "little princess" and said just wait until Orion was old enough to ruin. He laughed some more until Arcturus brought down all of the laws of the Black Family on the head of his Father.
According to the Family laws, a sitting Lord Black can make an ironclad agreement in his Will which cannot be broken, especially when it concerns the line of succession and the continuation of the Black Family. Although for "appearances sake" Sirius II was Lord Black due to his Father's Will and doing some irrevocable Family Magics he had no power other than to be known as Lord Black and to arrange marriages but only for the good of the family and family members. He had violated and threatened to continue to violate it in the future thus endangering the future of the family.
Nigellus had had many portraits done and the main one at Hogwarts was summoned to the picture in Castle Black, told of what Sirius II had done and together with Arcturus, the entire family, the solicitors, Goblins and even the Minister of Magic, censured him. He became a virtual prisoner in Grimmauld Place the worse of the Black properties since Muggles had built around it when the City of London expanded. He was humiliated but not down and swore he would still ruin his son and his remaining heir's life.
And he did. Arcturus had to leave Britain on a dangerous mission to save the Family fortune once again. The great Muggle war known as WWII was raging while Grindelwald carried on his war with the Magicals of Europe. Arcturus had to travel out of Britain and feared he might be in real danger of dying but he had to go otherwise all of their lucrative ventures in the Far East might fall to the Japanese and cause untold damage to that area of the world both Muggle and Magical.
He didn't trust his Father but had to trust someone and Regulus was also trapped out of the country and had been since before the war. That only left his Cousins Pollux and Alphard as only a male relative could stand in for Lord Black and be trusted to do what was best for the Family. There had been another Cousin – Marius – who was all that you could ask for in a man and a relative but alas he was a Squib and had been exiled so he was lost to him.
Alphard was a…how does one put this? He was an *#&$$&#&#&. He was dissolute, liked to think he was a rebel of sorts, was lazy, all show and no substance and you just couldn't trust him. Arcturus thought he was probably like Sirius II when he was young so that definitely meant he was out.
Cousin Pollux was much better but was a weak man. However, he was all there was left other than female cousins or their (shudder) husbands. No it had to be Pollux or nobody. One good thing Pollux had going for him was that Sirius II had married him off to a shrew and Pollux never forgave Sirius II. Irma Crabbe was a true horror and had produced a daughter, Walburga, who could have scared a Harpy. Both witches probably had much in common with a Harpy.
Cedrella was the other daughter and she was the female equivalent of Alphard. She was also known as a "loose woman" and had disgraced herself at Hogwarts so much that she was in danger of being expelled. Only her family name (and bribes to Headmaster Dippet and his slimy Deputy Head Dumbledore) kept her from disgrace and disaster. However, how long before she did something unforgiveable was anybody's guess but she would do it eventually.
Cygnus was the only son and a true idiot except he was known for being wishy-washy. One minute he was nice, the next he was cruel. He wasn't very bright and was lazy with his only interest being Quidditch. He couldn't play it to save his life but he still adored it. Rumors were already going around in society circles that Cygnus had "problems" with sanity. Every other generation the Blacks did produce the occasional "child with health problems" and they were either sent abroad for their health or "died tragically" because in the House of Black it was better to be a Squib than insane. Sirius II was probably borderline which explained his behavior and Walburga was showing signs it was said.
Arcturus left Pollux "in charge of the Family" and made him swear that he wouldn't let Sirius II marry off Orion like he had done to Lucretia. He made him swear. He then left. He was gone for three years not only due to the war but he had come down with a Muggle fever which nearly killed him and he spent a long time recovering because he found himself in a Muggle hospital.
Finally he came home shortly after all the wars ended - except the one in his Family.
Pollux had kept his word to Arcturus – sort of. He made certain that Sirius II didn't marry off Orion to anybody considered unsuitable to the Black Family. Instead he married his poor boy off to Pollux's horrendous daughter Walburga who was four years older than Orion but "at least he married well."
The excuse had been that it was thought Arcturus had died and thus Orion might become Lord Black since Sirius II was in failing health. To "protect Orion and the Family" Walburga had suggested the marriage with her younger cousin and Sirius II had no objections. Orion had plenty but he was shouted down and told to do his duty, marry his cousin, produce an heir and prepare himself to become the next Lord Black.
Sirius II once again got to laugh at his son's (and grandson's) misery. He laughed and laughed and taunted away until Arcturus had his Father dosed with the draught of living death to shut him up. He lingered in this position until he finally died in 1952 and Arcturus officially became "The Lord" but the damage was done not only to Arcturus but to Lycoris and Regulus.
"My sister Lycoris was a lovely girl with a good heart" the ghost had said. "She was smart, funny, kind and everybody loved her – except Father who hated everybody. She had many suitors and even Father couldn't complain about them and he had tried on occasion to force her to marry some old pervert but Arcturus managed to scare them off. There was one man who she truly loved and she loved him passionately in return. He was of the heir of a Noble House, well-thought of, respected, intelligent, kind and had a great future. They loved each other and Father just couldn't have that so he refused his permission for Lycoris to marry."
"Now in some families there are family trees displayed listing all births, deaths and marriages in the family. Our Family Tree was started centuries ago but unknown to most people in the Family there are two tapestries. There is one in the heir's residence which lists all legal marriages and offspring and the main one which is kept hidden in the Lord's antechamber in Castle Black. That lists all offspring including Squibs and children born on the wrong side of the blanket and cannot be tampered with. Remember this information as it will be important" the ghost said.
"Father went even further – just for spite – and forbade Lycoris from marrying anybody. Before Arcturus could stop him Father did a ritual to that effect which basically wouldn't let Lycoris take any wedding vows. Therefore if she did follow her heart and run off with her lover, their children would be illegitimate and couldn't inherit anything. No man, especially the only heir, would ever do that as most families need legitimate heirs to inherit because their family law states that an heir must be legitimate."
The ghost then smiled and said "There is an old saying that 'love will find a way' and in this case it did. Lycoris couldn't marry her love BUT he could marry her. And he did. She couldn't say the words or take the necessary wedding vows but he could and he did. He married her and that was all that was needed to fulfill the requirements. They had two sons and one daughter, although the eldest son died young of a childhood disease and the daughter married badly and was disowned."
"On the secondary tapestry tree it shows Lycoris as never marrying but on the main tapestry tree it lists the name of the man who married her and their offspring. Few people took notice of this and Lycoris and her husband left the country for several years and when they returned people simply forgot about her. I will admit that a bit of special spell work was also done and as it stands to this very day, no one knows about Lycoris' heirs, namely her grandson and great-grandson."
"As for me, well I grew up sickly. I had some serious respiratory problems which began in my childhood. I just barely lasted at Hogwarts until I took my OWLS and after that I was privately tutored. I left Britain in the 1920's and lived in Arizona for health reasons and to help in the family business. I was very good at it if I do say so myself. I never married due to my poor health and I died at age 53 BUT not from natural causes. That is the reason I didn't cross over as 'my work' was not finished and I had died before my time."
"You mean you were murdered?" Harry asked in horror.
"Yes. For now I won't tell you how or by who as we have a lot to discuss and I can only come to you at night and we don't know how long you will be allowed to stay here, alone at least as those damnable Weasleys will soon be descending on you and probably somebody worse."
The rest of the night Regulus told him about some of the other family members such as Dorea Black Potter who was the Mother of James Potter and the next person he would be meeting, hopefully the next night."
"She isn't exactly a ghost but she is listed as being dead having died one year after Arcturus did. She was also Dorea Potter's older sister. I will tell you now that…they did not get along…but don't hold that against her as there are two sides to every story. You can and must trust her as your life depends on it."
The next night Harry was woken up by a gentle shake and a soft voice introducing herself as the "late" Cassiopeia Black. They only chatted briefly as Harry hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and "Aunty" as he was told to call her couldn't stay long.
"I have to take measurements for certain things to be made for you and to do a quick medical scan on you to find out your real state of health. Don't worry we know . . . . Do not believe yourself as being weak as there was nothing you as a child could do to prevent the abuse done to you. Know only that it was Dumbledore who arranged for it all to happen. .THAT."
"Aunty" only spent the time necessary to complete her mission and explained it and since she was a person she could be detected at any time and she needed to complete her study to make the necessary amulets so that the two of them could meet without danger.
"It will probably take at least two maybe three days to make the amulets so before I or the other arrive, hopefully Reggie – that's what we call Regulus – will visit you and tell you more things which you need to know.
The next three nights Reggie came and talked with Harry for about two hours. Harry did need some sleep as he was being watched and people might notice him sleeping all day and wonder why he had been up all night not sleeping. However Reggie talked fast and Harry absorbed it all. He learned more things in two hours than he had during two years at Hogwarts. It was all things he should have been told but wasn't because Dumbledore wouldn't allow it. Harry learned about the Ancient and Noble and the other degree of Houses. He was told of his true place in the world and about the vaults he was heir to and not just having the trust vault. In the last half hour he was given a very brief history of the Malfoys, Weasleys and Prewetts, the family which the detestable Ignatius belong to as well as it being the Ancestral House of Molly Weasley.
The next night he learned the truth about the house elf system and how the four Houses at Hogwarts used to work. What was once a friendly rivalry between the four Houses had mutated into the bitter feuds of today. They had reached an all-time low since Dumbledore became Headmaster and he had gone out of his way to format downright hatred and distrust between them so that if a wizard from the 18th Century or middle 19th Century traveled to this day and age they would be shocked and horrified to see what they had become.
Reggie told of all of the subjects offered at Hogwarts in "his day" and even pre-1950. Dumbledore had "dumbed down Magic" and Britain since he came to power and it would only get worse. Hermione Granger was basically wasting her money (or rather her parents' hard earned money) buying books from Flourishes and Blotts hoping to learn all about Magic.
"Dumbledore has restricted the sale of any and all books he doesn't want people reading and due to his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot he has all 'legitimate bookshops' under a tight rein. Certain parts of Ireland and Wales aren't that bad but only if you know where to look. Knockturn Alley is a very good source – dangerous especially if you are a child and/or a Muggleborn – but the shops there just don't only carry 'dark and evil books which should be burnt' – but many books which would actually teach you something. Of course there are some shops and some books which shouldn't be sold to most people but not as many as people are led to think."
On the third night Reggie lectured on general things but was interrupted by Aunty arriving. "We don't have much time Harry" she said. "I need you to leave your glasses and wand on the nightstand and I am going to cast a spell on you that will remove those rags you wear as nightclothes and put you into these robes. You have an appointment with an optometrist who is sworn to secrecy. You'll be examined and get a proper pair of glasses which you can't use except in emergencies. No one should see them or know that they exist. Then you will get a pair of lenses with your proper prescription which I will be exchanging for the ones in your current glasses. However, if at all possible you will be fitted for magical contact lenses which can be spelled to help you in other ways."
"Why can't I just get new glasses and frames?"
"Because they would be taken away from you and your mind wiped of the knowledge of having them. Dumbledore has those ugly frames specially spelled to track you and there are a few other subtle charms on them. That is one of the ways he controls you. Besides those hideous frames are ones which James Potter favored and it help makes you look more like him than you really do. And it serves to infuriate Severus Snape and cause him to hate you every time he looks at you. It isn't you or even Lily Evans' son he sees but his mortal enemy James Potter. I gather Reggie didn't explain the feud yet?"
"No I didn't" the ghost said. "I'm waiting for the inserts."
Harry hadn't a clue as to what they were talking about but he knew he would eventually. The clothes were changed, he was taken off to for a quick exam, heard a perfectly respectable elderly witch curse Albus Dumbledore to hell and back for what he allowed to be done to a child and then he was back in his old rags and in bed within 20 minutes. Before she left Aunty made him take three vials of nasty tasting potions (was there any potion that tasted good he wondered) and said he would be taking the same for as long as he was staying at the pub or until the Weasels descended upon him.
In total he had another five nights of talks with Reggie, potions courtesy of Aunty and the insertion of tiny, metal objects behind his earlobes. They were amulets which alerted him to when a spell was being cast on him or when he was being administered a potion in his food. They would also help him fight off some of the charms placed on him by Dumbledore but definitely not all of them.
"He has them on those ugly frames and even your wand" Aunty told him. "I'm hoping to take you to a wand maker tomorrow night. He's very reliable especially after he's been heavily bribed and made to swear an oath not to tell you he's seen you or any other 'special customer' brought to him. You won't be able to take the wand or wands with you but if all goes well you'll get them at school. Of course then you'll have to hide them because your trunk is probably being searched. You do know that?"
"Yep, Ron manages to snoop every so often probably to search for 'contraband.' He doesn't find anything except the odd sweet or sickle/knut because I hide the stuff I want to keep out of my trunk. He does 'borrow' ink, pens and parchments. I'd give them to him if he asked and he knows it but I think he likes the thrill of the hunt and the excuse in case I or the others catch him. Hermione's in charge of rooting through my book bag to 'check my homework or to see my test scores' and since she does it in public she probably rationalizes it as not snooping but that's what it is and everybody knows it."
Harry felt much better after taking the potions and receiving the implants. His vision improved greatly but not too much because sad to say he told Aunty that every so often his frames broke and Hermione immediately grabbed them and fixed them. He noticed that she looked at the lenses as if checking them for something. It was still better than before and hopefully she wouldn't notice it. He couldn't be fitted for the contact lenses until his physical condition improved and if Hermione was checking for prescription glass she'd notice the switch immediately and report it to Dumbledore.
Soon the Weasleys descended as did Hermione. It was only then that Harry had been allowed out of the Cauldron (for his own safety) and to buy his school supplies. Fudge had provided his school books but the other things he still needed to buy because Mrs. Weasley had been given his key by Dumbledore at the end of the year for some unexplained reason. She would be watching him like a hawk as usual and Ron would make sure that Harry didn't look at any of the books Hermione was browsing through at the book shop or that he accidentally might learn something he shouldn't.
Reggie had told him about Sirius Black, III and his godfather. Harry wouldn't be officially told anything about the dangerous lunatic out to kill him and thus he wouldn't know anything at all until he got to Hogwarts or met the Dementors first. Reggie told him about Dementors, what they did and that the idiotic excuse for a Minister of Magic was sending 100 of the evil creatures to a school in order to capture Sirius Black. But even Reggie didn't know that they'd be on the train or would be making a personal visit to Harry Potter. Fate liked throwing surprises in Harry's life.
Hermione had broken down and got a familiar a rather huge, almost ugly half-kneazle who she adored and named Crookshanks. Ron immediately hated it and said it would eat Scabbers his mangy old rat (which Harry sincerely hoped would happen) and this would no doubt be the basis for the start of "fight season" otherwise known as the beginning of a new school year.
Other than meeting the terrifying Dementors, hearing the screams of his Mother begging for his life which he had only managed to suppress five years ago and meeting Remus Lupin (who Reggie had told him about), it was an uneventful train ride. But as always Harry knew it would be another hell year at Hogwarts and it was. At least now he had hope.