Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, JKR does…
This is going to be a regular time travel story, but it will be believable unlike many other stories I read which I found unbelievable, over-exaggerated and discontinued. Like soul-bond, inheriting skills they owned in the future etc. But in this story there will be none of it, but planned events and fun.
And this fanfiction will have Harry/Hermione pairing, but it will not be rushed into romance and it will not happen until the end of third year. If you are against Harry/Hermione pairing please don't read this and there will be Weasley bashing and minor Dumbledore bashing but eventual truce. I know there are a lot of stories like this but please don't judge me from this because I am writing this from my personal view.
Thank you for all the support until now as I was suspicious if this story would even get any reviews and I am sorry if I disappointed you anywhere.
Gringott's Bank-
Harry, Hermione and her parents were walking into the Goblin bank, because he needed money for the shopping trip that he was about to attend with the Grangers. Dan tried to convince Harry that he would pay for the purchases, but Harry wasn't budging as he had enough money that he ever rarely spent. And also because this was his opportunity to become socially adept and adjust to the current world and he wasn't going to waste this chance. Just as they were about to talk to the chief teller, another Goblin came and greeted them and this turned out to be the goblin he knew very well, Griphook.
"Impeccable timing Mr. Potter, I was about to contact you to arrange a meeting." Griphook said in his usual business-like tone.
"Hello Griphook, sir. Can I ask why you were trying to contact me; is this about my special request?" He asked politely. Hermione was surprised by Harry's polite tone to Griphook remembering about how Griphook tried to get them all killed during the Horcrux hunt, but she decided to inquire him about it, at a later time.
"No Mr. Potter, this is not about your unusual request, but your request will be granted nonetheless for the negotiated price. Currently Sharptooth is setting up all the preparations for your special request and we do hope that it will be a pleasure to do business with you. May I ask you why you are here before we get to business?" Griphook asked eyeing the Grangers behind him and he nodded thankfully and he understood what Griphook implied.
"I was here to make a withdrawal for my trip with the Grangers and make an exchange from Galleons to muggle money." He said in the same impassive tone.
"Well in that case I would suggest for you to get a bank statement for your vaults' current status; may I?" Griphook said, but stressed the word 'status.'
"Sure, we can spare a few minutes while the exchange happens, but I have to ask what this current status of my vaults mean?" He asked back as they all began walking to Griphook's office.
While Griphook tasked another goblin with the withdrawal of the money and the bank statement, "Mr. Potter, how much do you want to withdraw and how much should be exchanged into muggle money?" Griphook asked in an objective manner.
"3000 Galleons should be withdrawn and 2000 should be exchanged…" He replied evenly and handed his vault key to the other Goblin and he immediately went away.
"Yes, Mr. Potter coming back to your previous question. Last year when you corrected all the discrepancies regarding your family vaults and took care of your assets personally, the Potter family businesses all became ready to be restarted again. But years of neglect and disregard for your assets caused all the eighteen commerce companies to be closed or out of business. And last year I looked into all the documents in detail and I was able to find the problems, eleven of your shops were in debt and the license were either expired or provoked and to cut short the loss of your funds I had to close them all down. But the remaining seven were salvageable and with my authority as the business accountant for your assets at Gringotts I was able to restart five of your shops and within five or six months they became profitable assets and the capitals were transferred to your vault. And we have taken the fee for the job from your vaults." Griphook explained and he nodded impassively while Hermione and her parents were listening closely while they entered the office and sat down. He was mildly interested of the situation, because he couldn't do this last time around, so he decided to listen carefully just for a few minutes.
"All I need is your authorization signature to restart the last two salvaged shops and to grant access to the Potter family contingency subsidiary funds until your 'commerce funds' gets to one hundred per cent functionality again. These are the documents for you to sign." Griphook said and handed him a bunch of papers taking them from the drawer.
"Shouldn't I be of age to sign these documents?" He asked while skimming through the pages.
"You do remember that you were partially emancipated when you joined Hogwarts as you are the last heir of the Potter family. The only reason you were not given the responsibility was because you refused to wear your family ring and accept the formal documentation to be submitted in the ministry." Griphook explained to him.
"Well I at least need some semblance of a childhood, before I become an adult." He murmured, but everyone in the room heard it anyway.
"Can I bring this to you tomorrow morning, because I would need to read all these thoroughly before I sign them and I am wasting Mr. and Mrs. Granger's time here too." He replied absentmindedly as he was skimming through them.
"Sure Mr. Potter, take all the time you need, but make sure that you sign them and submit it here before you return to Hogwarts." Griphook said and at that moment the other goblin came with a bag which had both the muggle money and the Galleons and handed him the bank statement.
He went through the bank statement which provided him with detailed fund transfers that was being taken from his vault for the businesses and the profit deposited in return and the interest. Then the amount of money that was transferred to settle all the debts and the amount of money that he lost over the years were all listed and he really wasn't interested in them so he skimmed through them not paying full attention. He was going to turn his page but stopped when a sharp intake of breath from Dan Granger and an almost inaudible gasp from Emma Granger stopped him.
"You get an annual profit of 30,000 Galleons from just five shops, which is around 150,000 pounds sterling?" Dan asked clearly shocked, but before he could answer Griphook said proudly at the effectiveness of the goblins' work.
"Those are Mr. Potter's monthly profit statements, not annual." Griphook corrected the elder Grangers whilst their mouths hung agape and Hermione got a headache with all this chit-chat. And he suppressed a sigh to not to look annoyed, because he didn't want to miss this shopping trip with them and he was wasting precious time.
Before Harry could conclude the meeting with Griphook, Dan saw something else in the statement and decided to voice it, "Harry, is the statement under some kind of magic or anything?"
"No Mr. Granger, why do you ask?" He asked curiously.
"Because your statement says that you have a little over one hundred and seventy million Galleons in your vaults." Dan asked with a stutter while Emma looked at him in complete shock.
"Mr. Potter, is one of our richest clienteles in this regional bank and do not be surprised, because his assets will only grow bigger in the future." Griphook replied for him.
Harry didn't want this conversation to go any further because it was getting rather uncomfortable, "I will get the signed documents to you tomorrow, sir. It was a pleasure doing business with you." He said and stood up while the Grangers followed his actions.
"Likewise…, Mr. Potter." Griphook said and gave a toothy grin that made the elder Grangers' uneasy and he walked out of the office while the Grangers followed.
Within minutes they made it out of the Bank and just as they made it out Mr. Granger let out a sigh while Mrs. Granger partially recovered from her daze and was trying her best to comfort her husband, while she too was equally shocked of what she just witnessed. With that they all went to the Leaky Cauldron and walked out to the normal world and from there they all got into the car.
In the Car-
It was overly silent in the car, he and Hermione were sitting in the back seat with Hermione's parents in the front and he could mildly understand their situation. Because in the Wizarding world it was normal for everyone to easily guess him to be the heir of a rich family, but here they didn't know about his family's wealth. The reason he even listened to all of his family's commerce companies was, because last time around when he got to know about their existence it was already too late. As the government was changed twice and many other commerce laws were implemented during the time of depression and transition, that made the progression of reopening the companies to be impossible and none of the shops were reopened. And the Goblins didn't help him either, because of the mayhem he created on their getaway during the Horcrux hunt after retrieving Helga Hufflepuff's cup from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. And besides his financial status wasn't very great to restart the shops after the war, due to Dumbledore's and the Order member's continuous meddling with his family's vaults for accessing funds during war period.
"Mr. Granger, I can explain what happened back there." He began softly.
"There is no need to Harry, because I am not offended or mad at you; I am just confused at the Wizarding world's behaviour." Dan Granger said and when he saw the curious and confused look on both the children's face on the rear view mirror he decided to explain, but was cut off by his wife.
"What my husband is trying to say is that, at least in the normal world there is a little transparency for the day to day activities. But in the Wizarding everything is so closed off and under wraps and that makes us concerned of our daughter's future." Emma said cutting off her husband.
"We placed our faith in your overly old headmaster and sent our daughter to a world that treats their princes like lowly stooges and now we are in a situation to rethink about our decision. Look at yourself Harry you have so much wealth and does that help you, you are still treated like a servant in your relatives' house what does that say about your system and if you are like this what will happen to our daughter. It is good to know that rich people are not treated like royalty, but from what we saw an individual person's civil liberties and rights are not very great in the wizarding world." Dan asked rhetorically and continued not letting him to defend his point. He cringed lightly at the last sentence, because it was half untrue as the rich families dictated the government, but there were rights for an individual.
"We are not saying that we regret our decision of sending our daughter to Hogwarts, but sometimes as parents we have second thoughts, we say this because from the experiences we have from the last two years we can say that the Wizarding society is still stuck in the Victorian era." Dan ended decisively.
"But I just want to say that I wasn't trying to deceive anyone, I just wanted people to be my friends for me than for my money. That's why I didn't tell you anything, I am sorry if I…" he said shyly, but before he could finish he was cut off by Emma.
"Harry, we invited you into our home, because you became our daughter's first friend and when she told everything about you and your life during last summer we genuinely wanted to help you. We did not consider your money or your fame or your heritage into account when we made that decision and we certainly won't again." Emma explained softly to the shy child.
"We are now going to 'Silver light' mall to get you a new wardrobe." Emma said in a clearly happy tone almost forgetting all their pervious conversation. Hermione squealed happily with a hungry look on her face which honestly scared him and deep down he knew that he had made a mistake.
Dan chuckled after seeing the reaction on Harry's face from the rear view mirror when his wife told their shopping destination during their daughter's happy squeal. And he prayed that the boy must be coming back in one piece but he doubted it and said, "'Silver light' it is" and drove the car faster.
Two and a half hours later-
Harry had several bags hanging from all parts of his body and he was absolutely exhausted. For the last two and a half hours he was the dress-up toy for the two females for their various selections. The clothes ranged from regular wear, party wear and formal wear to sportswear while varying from summer to winter selections with formal dress robes with various overcoats and scarfs of different materials for different seasons. Dan chuckled inwardly at the young boy's misfortune, because every time he laughed openly his daughter and his wife shot him a glare which shut him up instantly. At the end of the shopping trip Harry was invisible due to all the plastic bags hung over his upper body. And then he paid for all the clothes and when Mr. Granger was distracted he handed the man in the counter some extra money and told them to reduce the amount from the bill of the Granger's purchases. And the cashier nodded mutely as this family has made huge purchases and was regarded as the highest priority customers for the last hour. Once they finished with him the Grangers purchased for themselves and he was surprised by how short it took for them to select and buy and fortunately neither noticed the inconsistency in their bill as they were amused by his appearance.
Dan Granger seeing the boy's confused and bewildered expression decided to shed some light on the matter and said, "They noted all the clothes they wanted to buy when they were searching for you and once they finished they wore it once and checked it and bought it immediately. The only reason it took so long in your case was, because you were oblivious to their ploy and acted as their dress-up toy, so they used the chance to have some fun." Harry sulked at the explanation given by Mr. Granger and was seriously thinking if it was possible to understand women at all. Dan liked Harry, because the boy was humble and kind, Dan always wanted a son to spoil and advice like all fathers do and he considered Harry in that place and it was obvious to Dan that his daughter has taken a liking to this young boy and he never forbid his little princess anything.
"How do they remember all the clothes through the hundreds they saw?" He asked curiously. Dan sensed the boy's obvious dilemma and hidden question, so he decided to help the young boy save a lot of time and trouble and said.
"Son, you will have to realize something very important. We men will never be able to understand women psychology and behaviour, because they are a mystery and the best bet is to let them be a mystery." Dan said wisely and he went back to his sulking, but a question came back to his mind and he asked.
"Is there way for us to handle this problem?" He asked hopefully.
"There is and the only way is…" Dan began and he hopefully let his expectations to be raised, "…to get used to it." Dan completed and all his expectation came crashing down to the ground and he face palmed.
"Honey, we are done. Shall we move?" Emma asked and Dan complied. Harry could barely see where he was walking, so Dan smiled and gently caught him by his shoulders from behind and guided him to the car. Emma and Hermione were walking in front, but they both sensed the glares sent at them by Harry, but they smiled amusedly and walked with their heads held high.
Leaky Cauldron-
When they reached Leaky cauldron via Charing Cross road entrance, he asked Tom to shrink his bags. And then he placed them all in his trunk while eyeing for his godfather who was obviously hiding, because the black dog was absent in the room. After that he led Hermione downstairs as she accompanied him to his room and then they had a few good talks, while he noticed that Ron was searching for 'Scabbers', while the Weasley twins and Ginny looked restless with the elder Weasleys nowhere to be found. And by the time they were done it was already afternoon, so the Grangers said their goodbyes.
"Are you sure that you don't want to spend the rest of the holidays with us?" Emma asked him while Dan was thinking the same thing.
"Within a week and half I will be back at school, so it's okay. And besides I can't thank you enough for all the help you did for me today." He replied sincerely. Hermione and Emma each gave him a hug while Dan gave him a pat on his back and smiled at him.
"We will pick you up that morning from here and give you a ride to the train station." Dan said and he nodded happily.
"I will see you later, Harry." Hermione said waved at him as she walked with her parents and he waved back at her while he used his Legilimency and on her and said.
"I will initiate the plan, today in an hour…" He spoke to her telepathically using Legilimency.
"Good luck, Harry…" She mentally replied hoping that things will go alright, because if it does Harry will have a Godfather who will be free and a place to stay away from the Dursleys.
After the Grangers went, he immediately made his way to the room, because he was hoping that his godfather was still in the room, because if his godfather misinterpreted the letter and decided to flee, then his carefully laid out plan was definitely foiled. He made it to his room with the wand at the ready and just as he entered he sealed the door with a 'locking charm' and cast a 'silencing charm' on the door and on the windows and on the floor below just as a precaution. Then he carefully searched the room and found that the dress and food were gone, so he sighed and finally when he made it to the bathroom he saw a black dog sitting in the corner while looking at him intently.
"Sirius, I know it is you. Please transform back…" He asked softly acting as if he was afraid and uncertain, all the while pointing his wand at his godfather. The black dog transformed into a tall man with black matted haired and sunken face, but looked fresh as if he just came out from a shower and was also wearing the clothes he bought for his godfather.
Sirius didn't look back at him, but looked to the ground and asked him, "How did you know?"
"There is an enchanted portrait of my parents in my family vault and it was fairly up to date till their deaths, so Dad told me that the secret keeper for their home in Godric's Hollow was changed. And he strongly stated that you would not do such a thing, while he also mentioned that you convinced him and mum to make Peter Pettigrew to be their secret keeper while you were a much obvious choice. He also told me about him, you and Pettigrew being 'unregistered Animagus' and about your respective forms and nicknames." He replied evenly. It was true that there is a large portrait of his parents in the vault and that his parents in the portrait only knew about the incidents and events from just a week before their deaths. Last time he only came to know about the portrait after the war and he explained everything to his parents about the events from years onwards. But he still didn't get any time to tell them anything this time around, but it was at arm's reach so he didn't worry of the inconsistency in his cover.
"Do you believe him, Harry?" Sirius asked expectantly while hoping that his godson did.
"Yes, why shouldn't I, he is my father after all." He replied still in the same unsure tone.
"Since, when do you know about this?" Sirius asked him curiously.
"When I heard that you broke out of prison, I learned that they were hiding some things from me regarding you, so I decided to ask dad about it a few days ago just after we came here to the Leaky Cauldron." He said again, but this time he lowered his wand. Sirius took this opportunity to close the distance and hugged him strongly, while he inhaled the scent of his godfather and found it similar to the shampoo and soap he previously purchased in a muggle shop during his brief stay in Leaky Cauldron.
"I am sorry, pup. If I had not gone after Peter looking for revenge then I could have proved my innocence and claimed guardianship over you and you wouldn't have had a horrible life with your relatives." Sirius told while still hugging him dearly.
"How do you know about my relatives' treatment of me? And please don't blame yourself Sirius if I had been in your shoes I would have done the same thing." He said carefully while Sirius separated from the hug and continued.
"I watched you for an entire week, pup. And I am not a fool Harry; I can see when one is unwanted in a home, having gone through that myself in my own home. You working in that coffee shop till late night are bad enough, but that fat arse of an uncle taking everything you earn is unacceptable. And I am not sad for myself; I am disappointed in myself for what happened to you which could have been prevented, if I had only thought things through a little." Sirius said looking sad. While he was glad that Sirius only followed his illusion that he placed on anyone who followed him, but still he wasn't sure if his godfather trusted him completely, as there was a chance that his Godfather may have followed the real him and found out about his suspicious activities.
"Well I did find you near my home…" He mumbled out while thinking to ask another question.
"How did you escape?" He asked his godfather and he really did not know how he did it last time around as he didn't ask Sirius about it.
"It was a regular day in prison and then the warden came for his rounds and mocked all the occupants as usual and when he came to me I noticed him carrying the newspaper and I asked him if I could read it and he lent me the paper and mocked me for it too. And that is when I saw…, this…." Sirius said and took a crumpled piece of paper which mentioned about the Weasleys' trip to Egypt and a moving image of the entire Weasley family.
"See that rat in the hand of the young boy, the rat with a bald spot and one less toe…." Sirius said and he looked carefully and acted like he was scrutinizing the picture in the paper.
"That's Peter Pettigrew, I am sure of it…!" Sirius said firmly.
"Then I waited for the warden to open the gate, so to change the cell which happens occasionally when another new occupant is accommodated in the prison, I'm usually selected because I am one of the least chaotic and most cooperating of my fellow occupants. When I had the right opportunity I pickpocketed the warden and used the key to reopen the gate of my new cell, after that I transformed into a dog and evaded the Dementors and I jumped into the sea and swam like barmy." Sirius continued and finished.
While he wasn't really listening, but he was sure that he could recount the tale and also he was more interested about the traitor, "Ron's rat Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew? But that's impossible, because the same rat lived in my dorm room for the last two years, if that was Pettigrew then he could have killed me in my sleep on numerous occasions." He replied faking his shocked expressions.
"Harry, I know that rat is an Animagi Peter, I am sure of it and you have to believe me." Sirius said sounding a little desperate.
"Sirius, I do believe you, but do you know that Ronald Bilius Weasley is downstairs with his 'Rat' right now…?" He asked and that got Sirius immediately trying to rush out of the room to go after Peter.
"You cannot just walk down there; everyone will think that you have just gone barmy. I will get the rat, but promise me that you will wait here and you will not kill that rat, and when we are hundred per cent sure that it is really Peter Pettigrew, we will interrogate him then we will use it to get you exonerated." He said carefully while asking Sirius a promise.
"I promise…" Sirius said almost disappointedly and with that he walked out of the room dispelling the security charms.
Twenty minutes later, he walked into the room with a struggling rat in his hand and the struggle only increased when the rat saw Sirius sitting on the bed. He actually just went to another room and freshened up a little and simply caught the transformed wizard carefully and walked back into his room.
"We may not have much time; Ron may suspect that something is up…" He said casually not really worried. He lent his wand to his godfather and Sirius immediately used the 'Homorphus charm' on the rat and the rat transformed into a dirty looking Peter Pettigrew.
Just as the rat transformed into Peter Pettigrew, Sirius immediately placed the traitor in a full body bind spell and conjured some ropes using 'Incarcerous spell'. When Sirius turned he found Harry writing a letter and when he peeped he noticed that the letter was addressed to Albus Dumbledore.
Sensing the obvious question in Sirius, he said, "Dumbledore might be the only person who could help us right now".
And with that he finished the letter and he got his wand back from Sirius and pointed it at the letter and muttered, "'Nulla Porta Fabrica'" And with that the letter was bewitched into a portkey keyed to them. The normal use of 'Portus' spell would send a signal to alert the ministry and they would have immediately known about it and that would have got him in trouble, but the spell he used was an old unfiltered version which would not alert anyone of anything, so the ministry would be in the dark about his activities. And he reversed the spell on the letter and sent it to Dumbledore's office and once that was done he turned to his godfather.
"Now what do we do?" Sirius questioned him curiously.
"Now we wait for Dumbledore to show up…" He said and sat on his bed while Sirius sat down with him, but just after casting a 'stunning spell', 'full body bind spell' and tightening the conjured ropes on Pettigrew.
Dumbledore's Office-
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was currently sitting in his office and looking at the papers presented before him. He was in the process of selecting the new prefects from the recommended candidates and also the Head Boy, Head Girl positions. When he finished Dumbledore started thinking and he frowned immediately as he was not happy when it came to one Harry Potter; the boy was absolutely brilliant like his mother 'Lily' and overly keen and much more dexterous in nature something he suspected to be inherited from his paternal grandmother 'Euphemia'. The boy did not trust him like he wanted and expected him to, after his rough childhood with the Dursleys, it was never his intent to harm the boy, but even when he learned of the abuse the boy was put through he didn't take any effort to stop it though. Harry was too independent and suspicious of almost everything, also with a prodigious level of skill both physically and mentally, so the only way to manipulate Harry would be to earn his trust from Harry himself without insinuating anything. And for that he will have to wait patiently and handle the situation carefully to play out like he wanted it to.
Suddenly a letter appeared on his desk out of nowhere and he was thoroughly surprised as the letter came through all the wards of the school in general and penetrating the wards around his room, so the old headmaster used his wand to check if it was trap and finding none, he carefully opened it.
Headmaster Dumbledore,
Professor, I am in need of your help. I am currently staying at the Leaky Cauldron at room No.11 and I am with one, Sirius Black. There are some interesting things which you would like to listen. Please come as soon as possible and don't break the door just knock.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter
Dumbledore was alarmed after reading the letter, he was sure that this was not a prank, because no student would be able to send a letter to his room directly unless it must have been Black. This may be a trap, but he doubted it because Leaky Cauldron was too public to be a trap and even if it turns out to be a trap he will show them why he was called the 'Leader of the Light', so he decided to go immediately.
"Fawkes!" Dumbledore called and the Phoenix gave out a trill and then flew and sat on his arm and immediately them apparated to Diagon Alley in a spiral of flames.
Dumbledore immediately appeared in Diagon Alley and he got into Leaky Cauldron while Fawkes flew away and kept flying around the inn. Dumbledore was under disillusionment charm and climbed up the stairs heading for room No.11 without even sparing a glance at the Weasleys at the tables whom didn't notice anything out of place.
As he reached the door of room No.11 and knocked according to the instruction. Harry was not really surprised that Dumbledore reached this soon, so he calmly opened the door and snuck his head out to find no one, so he asked.
"Are you there, Professor?" He asked curiously which was almost amusing.
Dumbledore decided to drop his disillusionment and become visible to the boy who looked fine, so he said, "Yes Harry, I am here".
"Blimey, Professor you scared me. Come in quickly…" He said acting surprised and he ushered the old headmaster into his room.
Dumbledore entered only to find Sirius Black with a wand in hand, but Sirius wasn't pointing it at him instead it was on a person on the ground and after a brief inspection he recognized the man to be Peter Pettigrew. Immediately he speculated with what information at hand and came to the immediate deduction that Sirius Black was indeed innocent, but Dumbledore was a cautious man, so he did not want to jump to any conclusions, so he decided to ask everything to know about the current situation.
"I can see where this is going, so I will ask your side of the 'incident' Mr. Black." Dumbledore spoke calmly and impassively.
Sirius instantly began telling them everything, from how he convinced James Potter to change the secret keeper of the Fidelius Protection to Peter, till how he confronted Peter after the death of James and Lily and how peter framed him and escaped via the use of his Animagi transformation. Meanwhile during the banter he also blamed Dumbledore for what happened, because if the old headmaster had just given Harry to him then he wouldn't have gone after Peter, instead he would have been patient and given Harry a normal childhood. Dumbledore for his part did not have any explanation to give and he took the berating from the angry godfather without giving out any counter.
"We will need to get the truth from him directly, so be patient and wait here until I come back with a candidate as witness for this…" With that Dumbledore walked to the window and opened it and Fawkes flew inside and sat on the perch. Dumbledore instructed his phoenix/familiar to keep an eye on the tied up man and if the man tries to escape by turning into a rat then attack and capture him while Dumbledore walked out of the room.
Twenty minutes later there was a knock and he went and opened the door to find Dumbledore and Amelia Bones standing outside. He let them in and he closed the door and just as he turned he heard a gasp from Amelia Bones.
"Sirius Black you are under arrest for…" She never got to finish as she was interrupted by Harry.
"You will not take away my godfather from me." He almost yelled, but stated firmly putting a convincing act on his face. Dumbledore only saw conflict in Harry's mind, so he decided to diffuse the situation before it escalated.
"Harry, calm down…" Both Dumbledore and Sirius said in unison, he visibly acted as if calming down. While Amelia Bones was shocked of what just transpired in front of her, so decided to get the facts right before she acted further.
"Will somebody inform me of what is happening here? Why is Sirius Black here with Mr. Potter and why is he defending Mr. Black?" Amelia asked in an enraged tone.
"Things are more complicated than you think, Amelia." Dumbledore said and pointed his gaze to the left side of the room's corner only to find a man tied up and upon a closer look she recognized the man to be Peter Pettigrew.
"Goodness me, that is Peter Pettigrew and if I remember correctly he is supposed to be dead. Albus, will you please explain to me what is going on here?" Amelia asked as she sighed and held her head in pain and Dumbledore complied.
"Amelia, I think it is time for you to administer the Veritaserum to Mr. Pettigrew and I am sure that you will get your information from him." Dumbledore said and Amelia looked between Sirius and Peter for a minute and then sighed and complied.
"Veritaserum…?" He asked to everyone in general in a questioning tone.
"It is a powerful truth potion, Harry." Sirius answered while Dumbledore looked at him as if wanting to explain. Meanwhile Amelia Bones administered the Veritaserum on Wormtail and began asking questions.
"What is your name?" She began with the most basic question.
"Peter Pettigrew!" The dirty looking bald man said in a struggling manner.
"How are you still alive?" She asked clearly curious about the man's status.
"I was never dead in the first place…" Wormtail replied bluntly.
"Did you frame Mr. Black for crimes he may or may not have committed?" Dumbledore intervened and asked to the bound man.
"Yes!" Peter replied and Amelia was stunned and shocked by this, but when she looked at Harry and she immediately assumed that he knew this for a while now.
"Did you commit those crimes that you framed Mr. Black for…? If then why?" Dumbledore asked again seriously.
"Yes, I did! Sirius came after me and I knew I would have been dead if I didn't do something, so I ignited the gas line of the muggle neighbourhood with a 'blasting hex' and that caused an explosion killing all those muggles. The explosion caused the sewage line to be destroyed; I transformed into a rat and escaped among the other rats." Wormtail replied still struggling to get out of the binding.
"Why were you running away? Are you an unregistered Animagus?" Amelia regained from her shock and restarted asking questions.
"Yes, I am an unregistered Animagus. I betrayed James and Lily to the Dark Lord as I was their secret keeper to the Fidelius protection that protected their home. When they were murdered Sirius knew that I was the one who betrayed them and he came after me to kill me." Wormtail replied still struggling all the while. Just as Pettigrew finished, Harry rushed past the three people and punched the bounded man in the face breaking the man's nose while sending him down to the ground from his chair.
Sirius immediately caught hold of him and restrained him, while Amelia shook her head in sadness while Dumbledore still had Pettigrew at wand point. Dumbledore could understand Harry's reaction, because honestly if he was in Harry's place he would have done the exact same thing. Dumbledore knew that getting Sirius exonerated would effectively put Harry out of his manipulation, but he had no choice, because if he didn't do it then Harry may never trust him. And honestly he was losing hope in the plan of controlling Harry, while his mind was contemplating a new way which was to guide the boy in the right path by giving him the resources to help him fulfil his destiny. Meanwhile Harry was grinning inwardly for his acting skills, he always wanted to do that to Peter and this would solidify the point that he was teenager with mood swings, so acting like a man of age thirty for quite a while can be overlooked easily.
"Is Sirius Black in any way guilty?" Amelia asked carefully.
"No…" That was all Peter could reply as the Veritaserum was wearing off.
"Where were you hiding till now?" Amelia asked again this time more than a little enraged.
"As soon as I became a… rat… I went to the Weasley family… and they took me in as their pet. I lived there until Harry Potter….caught me this…afternoon." Wormtail said in a struggling manner. And he smirked inwardly, because he had thought ahead and used a memory charm on Pettigrew to make it look like he was only following Sirius's request.
As the potion was wearing off, Dumbledore cast a non-verbal stunner that made Peter go limp, while Fawkes eyed the man carefully just in case Wormtail makes a move.
"Does this mean Sirius is free?" He asked hopefully while putting an innocent look on his face.
"No Mr. Potter, I'm afraid not." Madam Bones said disappointed to deny the boy his godfather.
"Why not, Madam Bones?" He asked a little shocked, but with the same innocent look.
"Peter Pettigrew has the 'Order of Merlin' title to his name, so convincing a lot of people will be difficult. The only way to do that is to give him and Mr. Black a proper trial and that will take some time." Amelia said hoping to convince the young boy who was so hopeful for a life with his Godfather.
"Can't you just say that to people and get him free." He asked innocently while Amelia cringed.
"Normally she can, my boy, but the circumstance is different. You see in many people's eyes Sirius is still a mass murderer while Peter is a hero who died for his friends. And Sirius was thrown into Azkaban without a proper trial, sentenced by Barty Crouch .Sr with the supported of former minister of magic Bagnold and the support of former undersecretary Cornelius Fudge himself. In short they wouldn't let their political image being torn apart like that and they would do anything to keep it that way. Barty is still in a high position in the ministry and especially being the head of the 'Department of International Magical Cooperation' and with Cornelius being the Minister of Magic and this will be a very difficult task and almost impossible." Dumbledore explained and he was thoroughly shocked and kept his head down, because he didn't take this into account while he planned.
"We are not saying that we won't, but this will take time, Mr. Potter." Amelia said carefully trying to reassure the boy.
"How long will it take?" He asked absentmindedly.
"Don't worry Mr. Potter, give us some time. Albus here is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot while I'm the head of the 'Department of Magical Law Enforcement', so we have some powers too. It will take some time to get the trial to begin and with this substantially large piece of information and evidence, things will go much better." Amelia said a little satisfied with what she had at the moment.
"Do not worry my boy, within a few months I will be able to gather enough votes to hold a trial for Sirius and with Amelia investigating Peter Pettigrew here, we will win. But until then you will have to be patient…" Dumbledore said in his usually annoyingly but calm grandfatherly exterior and he nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry pup, soon I will be a free man and we will have a lot of fun, trust me." Sirius assured him.
There was a silence and Madam Bones nodded at them and magically binded Pettigrew and used the fireplace to floo to her office. While Dumbledore turned to him giving out a scrutinizing look.
"Harry, apart from all this, why are you not at home?" Dumbledore asked carefully.
"Well, Aunt Marge visited… and she called my mother… a…. bitch. And I got angry and ended up accidentally blowing her up like a balloon and she flew away into the sky, so I ran away from home…" He replied sounding a little hesitant. Sirius burst out laughing when he told that he blew up his aunt and was on his knees and in tears due to excessive laughing. Dumbledore was honestly lost at what to reply, because a huge part of him wanted to laugh just like Sirius, while the other part wanted to berate Harry for being irresponsible and he vaguely understood Harry's position, so he sighed and let it go.
"Harry, if you had informed me earlier then I would have made some arrangements for you to stay, but now it is okay, as you are safe." Dumbledore replied and he nodded not meeting the old headmaster's eyes.
"Okay, now I am free for a few days, so maybe I can put a Fidelius protection on the Grimmauld place and connect it to the wards there, so it will become permanent protection there. And you and Sirius can lie low in there for the next few days and it will keep you occupied." Dumbledore suggested and Sirius immediately agreed and they started planning, but he was still sceptical of why Dumbledore was being so cooperative and helpful and he decided to keep a close eye on the man.
One Week Later-
They were both in No.12 Grimmauld Place, and they were cleaning the place furiously. Dumbledore added the Fidelius protection to the house's wards the very next day with the help of Dobby, who became bonded with him, so technically making the house impenetrable and Sirius became its secret keeper. He didn't want to bond with Dobby, but with Sirius's persuasion he agreed grudgingly. The first thing he did was to destroy the enchanted picture of Mrs. Black which caused some hysterical crying and weeping from Kreacher, but he didn't care, as he knew that with time Kreacher will come around.
It was a fun week with Sirius, as his Godfather really explained many things about fairer sex and gave him 'the talk' which was dreadful. Dobby almost cleaned the place spotless except for the dark colours of the house and he promised himself that the next time he comes here; he will make the place sparkle.
In a couple of days he will go back to school and he was genuinely happy that he made a difference in life this time around. Sirius invited Remus and explained everything that happened and Sirius introduced him to 'Moony of the Marauders'. And they talked and he listened to all the adventures that the Marauders had in their school days and he listened carefully to all the things about his mother and father even if he already knew it.
And he submitted the signed documents of authorization to the Gringotts the next day. And he took care of all the things and placed a few contingencies in place. And he used the opportunity to speak with the enchanted portrait of his parents and he told them everything about the future and then explained what was happening right now.
He also wrote a letter to Hermione asking if he they could come and pick him up in the 'London Borough of Islington' on the morning of September 1st and they came. And he told Hermione and the Grangers everything that happened in the Leaky Cauldron on that day after their shopping trip during the car ride to the station. Hermione hugged him tightly in happiness while Emma and Dan smiled appreciatively while they were genuinely happy for him.
Finally they were in King's Cross station and he and Hermione walked in through the barrier accompanying the Grangers. And he and Hermione boarded the train and loaded all the trunks and then they sat comfortably. He also introduced Remus to the Grangers and then the train whistled and began to move carefully. And with that he was in for another year in Hogwarts and he was sure that this was going to be a normal year and he was genuinely looking forward to it.
Sorry guys I know it took a long time, but I didn't know how to end the chapter. And reviews are appreciated and critics are too, I need to know where to improve in so please tell me. And thank you for supporting me this long.
Until next time,
Thank you…
