Dear Readers:
I need help. I had a computer crash and I lost my email address. This means I lost my Bata's address. I know her name is Nancy McCarty but I have no clue what her address is. Nancy if you are reading this please e mail me. Please………………… If anyone knows who I'm talking about, could you give me her address or contact her and tell her that what has happened.
And if I don't, is there anyone willing to Bata for me until she contacts me? It isn't that I'm trying to get rid of her. I love how we work together. I just hate this story to be put on hold because of my mistake. There is no telling how long we will stay out of contract.
There is a bit of time, I do have one more chapter after this one edited. I just want to cover all bases. I finally broke through this writers block. I hate for it to close down now! The reason Merlin has stalled is because of a crash…ekk bad year for me and computers.
Thanks
Marti
Chapter Fourteen
Picking up the Pieces
Mad Eye arrived in France the next day just in time to go with Harry and the others to visit 'New Atlantis,' as the locals called it. It turned out that this Atlantis was built after the real Atlantis went into the ocean a few thousand years ago. The wizards and witches that survived the event traveled to the area to start over. It has been their home ever since.
The group arrived at New Atlantis by portkey. To keep the city hidden from the muggle world, it was built on an island a few miles off the coast of France that was hidden from view of the muggle world.
Remus helped Harry to his feet after landing on the outskirts of the city. "Thanks," Harry said as Remus helped him to his feet.
"The trick to portkeys is to start kicking your feet the moment you feel the pull. It keeps you up right," Remus said.
"Now you tell me," Harry said as he dusted himself off.
"Sorry, I forgot you grew up in the muggle world," Remus said messing Harry's hair.
"It is okay, Moony," Harry said using Remus nickname.
"Don't worry about it kid," Remus said and they went to join the others that were standing nearby waiting for them.
"Where to first?" Ted asked.
"I want to check out the shops," Susan said.
"No, the museums," Hermione said.
Harry looked at magical poster nearby and said, "How about a tour of 'Old Atlantis'?"
"Not a bad idea," Remus said.
"It does sound fun," Andi said.
"Well let's go find out about it," Ted said as he and the others went off.
"Come on, Padfoot," Remus said pulling on Sirius' leash. Sirius growled and walked along beside Remus trying to pull free of his hold.
The moment the group left, the couple from Texas walked out of the shadows. The woman looked at her husband and said, "Are you sure about him being one of them?"
"I'm sure of it. He's one of them. Did you pack our tools?" the man asked.
"I did, but I think we should let this one go. France doesn't believe in hunting werewolves like we do. In fact, this is one of the places in the world that werewolves are treated like humans," the wife said.
"I don't care. I swore on my daughter's grave that I would hunt down every one of those monsters and skin them. I'm not about to let any of them go. This wolf is going to die by his next full moon. I don't care what it takes to take him down," the man swore as he pulled out of his pocket a Colt 45 and checked his ammo. The gun was loaded with sliver bullets. The woman didn't comment. She just followed her husband out of the area and into the city.
**************************************
Minerva had a meeting with the remaining staff members, but Severus didn't show up. She went looking for him and found him passed out on the floor with bottles of Fire Whiskey scattered all over the place. The room reeked like the Boars Head. Minerva stood there her lips forming a thin line as she stared down at Snape.
Slowly a smile appeared on her face as she pulled her wand and levitated Snape off the ground. She then waved her wand again a large tub of water appeared below him. She then let him drop into the water without hesitation. The water was ice cold and the moment he hit, Snape woke up. He sat up coughing and choking on the water as he fought to sit up.
Minerva knocked some bottles out the chair next to her and sat down. She waited until Severus gathered his sensed. "What are you thinking?" he yelled. "I could have drowned."
"We can only hope. What is the rule about alcohol in this school?" Minerva asked.
"Screw the rule, "Severus said as he fought to get out tub. His head was splitting and his mood was as vile as the taste in his mouth.
"I don't believe you. The moment Albus is gone," Minerva started in but she stopped as she looked up to see Snape resting in the tub with his wand pointed right at her.
He had this cold empty look in his eyes as he said. "Don't say that man's name in my presence ever again," Severus voice was barely above a whisper, but you could hear the hate in it.
"What did he do?" Minerva asked the anger she was feeling about things suddenly vanishing. This wasn't Snape going off on some rant. Something was really bothering him.
Snape started to laugh. "As if you care, you haven't looked past your nose in years, none of us have. We let him do what he wanted to this school. We said it was because he new more then we did. Did he? Was he that perfect," Snape said as he finally managed to pull himself out of the tub.
"No, he wasn't perfect. And again, I'm asking you, what did he do? You know better then any of us. What was he really like?" Minerva asked as she watched as Snape dropped down on the couch and looked around for something to drink.
Snape gave up finally and looked at her. "He felt that I wasn't good enough for Lily. He wanted her with 'Potter'. -- I loved her. I would have done anything for her, but that old …" Snape threw the bottle he had found still with Fire Whiskey in it across the room. It shattered as it hit the stone wall. "He set me up and let her find out about mark. She never listened to me about why I took it. He was the one that suggested that I do it. He wanted me to be his spy. He said it was for Great Good of the Wizarding World."
Minerva had tears in her eyes as she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"No, you didn't. I wasn't one of little lions. So, you didn't bother paying attention to me. Do you know why I protect my snakes? --Because no one else does! You don't' care, none of you care about them. They are evil to the core and they don't count. You don't care that most of them run to the dorm room crying because they were just called evil and worthless. Do you know what it takes to keep them from going out in the halls every day to curse the next person that picks on them? Do you!" Snape yelled fighting get to his feet but his body wasn't listening to him at this moment. He was just too drunk to stand up. So, he just slumped there on the couch rage pouring out of him.
"Why didn't you say something? We could have stopped it," Minerva said.
Severus laughed at this. "I did remember. The first five years I was teaching here. I really tried to change the way people saw Slytherin house but you and the others didn't hear me. You only heard what he was saying. So, I gave up. I protect my snakes and I sold the rest of my soul to him," Severus said sadly lowering his head. He couldn't look in her in eye. He played the part of the dark potion master well, but it was an act. He, like other members of Slytherin house, got good at showing their emotions towards others that weren't part of their little group. Only his snakes saw the true Snape and even they didn't see every part of him.
"What do you mean?" Minerva asked.
Snape looked up at her like she had two heads. "I brewed potions that controlled everyone around here. Albus had you jumping through hoops because that is what he wanted. If he wanted someone in love, they were in love. If he wanted them to hate each other, they hated each other. If he wanted you loyal to him, you were loyal to him. I brewed it all. The deal was he didn't drug my snakes, but then again he didn't have to. They were exactly what he wanted them to be…" Snape said.
"Evil and cold because he forced them to be," Minerva said a clear picture of Dumbledore for the first time in her life. She felt sick in her stomach and wanted to find him a curse him to end of time for the damage he had done to ever child that came through these walls.
"10 points for Gryffindor House!" Snape said suddenly smiling as he realized that it was first time he ever said those words. Next she will hear him say that would be when Black is declared a good citizen and should be given an Order of Merlin First Class Snape thought with sarcasm.
"It isn't funny," Minerva snapped at him.
"No, it isn't," Snape said finding another bottle with Fire Whiskey left in it and empted it.
Minerva looked at him and said, "Do you leave any for me?"
Snape nodded waved his wand and a new bottle appeared with two glasses. He filled them up, handing one to her and taking the other for himself. "Here 's to us, two of Albus' puppets!"
"Here is to the death of the Puppet Master!" Minerva said and she downed the drink. It wasn't the best, but it would do. It would chase the way the feeling of being—well she didn't like how she felt at this moment. However, she promised herself that from this point on, it wasn't ever going to happen again.
*************************************************
After talking to Snape and finishing up small details around her office, Amelia Bones went to Minister of Magic's office to fill in Temporary Minister of Magic Amos Diggory about the investigation of Albus Dumbledore. She walked into the office and dropped down in the chair tired and worn out.
"That bad," Amos said looking at Amelia intently.
"You can say that again. Do you want me to start with Dumbledore, Crouch, or Fudge?" she asked Amos.
"You pick," Amos said sitting back in his chair.
"Well, I'll start with Fudge. He was close to bankrupting us. There are not enough funds to keep us going through to Christmas. Our retirement funds are gone and we will be lucky if we won't have to let half staff go," Amelia said.
"Even if we take everything he has?" Amos said.
"It would help a bit but not too much. It seems our dear Minister has a gambling problem. He bet on everything and anything. I even found out he bet on muggle horse racing. He wasn't good at it either. He lost more then he won. I also found out that he and Delores were lovers." Bones shivered at the memory. The idea of those two together would give her nightmares for weeks. "I found out the same time his wife did. She ended up breaking Kingsley's nose. He was the unlucky one that just so happened to be standing near her at the time. He asked her why she did it as he held his nose, and she said 'Because you're a man'. I believe she will have to be kept from the court room as Fudge sits trial. She'll most likely kill him. " Madam Bones said sadly.
"Oh, dear, I hope Kingsley is okay?" Amos said.
"He is but I don't think he will go anywhere near Mrs. Fudge ever again. Now, onto Crouch, the son is rolling over on his father. It seems there is no love there between the two. The only reason Crouch got his son out was because his wife blackmailed him to do it. Barty's part in Dumbledore's plot was as large as Fudge's. He helped to put Sirius Black away. It was also discovered that he had threatened several members of the Wizengamot to vote Fudge's way. Barty was the bully of the threesome. If they wanted something done, he was the one that did the dirty work. The Wizengamot is debating as we speak about over turning over every law passed since Fudge took office. It could be good for us or could make things worse. It depends on where the power structure ends up. Right now, it is up in the air on who has the upper hand."
"And Dumbledore?" Amos said. He knew about the Wizengamot because he spent the last few days listening to complaints from the members about corruption among its members. So far, they had kept it out of the public's hands, but sooner or later it was going to get out. When it does, there might be a power blacklash for the members that were voted in."
Amelia removed her monocle and rubbed her eyes. She finally put them back on and looked at Amos. "If it was up to me, I'd throw him through the veil because that man is the cause of all our problems. He has played god with our lives," Amelia said and she placed the book in front of Amos.
Amos looked it over and his face paled. He closed the book and said, "I want to burn this."
"We can't. It is the one piece of evidence that could put him away forever," Amelia said.
"It could also destroy us," Amos said.
"I know. Everyone's names are in that book. He decided what we did, who we married and if we were light or dark. The ones that didn't fit his plans were murdered. This was until You-Know-Who was killed. He then put in prison, ran them out of the area, or destroyed them publicly. It didn't matter. If it looked like you were going to cause him trouble, he got rid of you."
"Why?" Amos asked stunned about all of this.
"I think-no, I know-Albus is crazy. And yes, that is a very blunt term but I'm not in the mood to sugar coat things. I have been up two days now without any sleep and I'm worn out. The potion he was taking is known to destroy not only a person's power core but their mind as well. From what Severus told me, he has been taking it since his early twenties," Amelia said.
"I don't understand. Why take it at all? He is known to be one of the most powerful wizards of our time," Amos said.
"Because he wanted to be just that, the most powerful. Did you know that any wizard that he thought could over power him was given potions to suppress their power core? I had to send Kingsley to France because I found out. He was feeding that potion to Harry Potter. Severus says that Albus was worried that Harry was becoming too powerful. He kept feeding the potion to the boy all during school. Severus said it wasn't working. Albus didn't know why and from what I read he was starting to worry. There is some kind of plan to destroy how everyone sees Harry, but the plans were vague." Amelia said.
"Oh, dear, the public would really have fit about this one. Harry is considered a hero to a lot of people. The mail room has informed me that Harry Potter's fan mail has grown. The boy is receiving more mail than usual. The letters are not only from girls wanting to marry him, but parents offering to adopt him. I had to double the staff that takes care of his mail," Amos said.
Amelia sighed. "I'm thankful that Andi hasn't told Harry about his fame yet. It is the one thing everyone agrees that Albus didn't mess up. Harry isn't in the right frame of mind to deal with all of it. I'll talk to her and see if we can remove some money from the Potter Estate to pay for the cost. She has the power to control Harry's vaults at this moment. I believe she restored Filch's law firm to control investments for Harry at least until Sirius name is cleared. She is then planning on turning all of that over to him. " she said.
"How is Harry?" Amos asked.
"I believe he is settling in with the Tonks family. Auror Tonks wrote me that he took the truth about Albus hard. She said he is fine but now that could change. I have ordered her to stay with Harry as long as necessary. This way she can guard him and not make it so obvious," Amelia said.
"'That is understandable. He is too important to our world for anything to happen to him. I still wish it was he could go to Hogwarts at the start of term, but I understand the Tonks' reasons for pulling out of the school. I am hoping by next term, they will feel the school is safe again and Harry can return," Amos said.
"I hope so too, but for now I'm with them. I would rather have my niece safe across the sea then in danger at Hogwarts. Then again, Hogwarts is traveling to France this year so, the danger could easily go to them," Amelia said.
"Well, let's hope not this term. I think we have enough to deal with at this moment," Amos said.
"Yes, I agree," Amelia said and they continued talking not only about Albus up coming trial but Delores Umbridge and the others that attacked at the Wizengamot.
It took four more hours to deal with everything. Madam Bones finally stood and shook Amos hand. "Well, I think I can finally go home and get some sleep. I will see you later," she said picking up the book and placing it in her bag.
"Sleep well," Amos said and he walked Bones out. He too was going to go home but he had one stop to make. He had to see Arthur about a job opening.
**********************************************
Arthur Weasley was sitting at his desk reading the formal letter from the school board for the tenth time. It seems Albus had lied to him once again. He had told Arthur that his family had qualified for scholarships. It turned out that this wasn't the case and according to the board. He owed over 60,000 gallons for his kid's education. He had until the start of this term to find the money. He didn't know where he was going to get it. He didn't make that kind of money. He might have to sell the Borrow to cover the money he owed.
He was thinking about what he was going to tell his children when, Amos walked into his office. "Hello, Arthur, how was your vacation?"
Arthur stood up and offered his hand to Amos. "It was good to see Charlie again. Thank you for asking, Amos or should I call you Minister?"
"You can always call me Amos, besides this job is only temporary. The chances of the public picking me as Minister are slim," Amos said as he sat down.
"You could get it. You are well liked," Arthur said.
"Well, we will see, once the things with the Wizengamot calms down. Right now, I just have to keep things running until the next person is picked to take my place. And that is why I'm here. I want you to take Barty's place as Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation. Before you answer me, I think you should know that I'm being forced to close several departments. Yours is one of them. I am picking you for Barty's job because out of all the department heads that will have their departments closed down, you are the one that I can trust the most. You will have to go to France for the Tournament and be a judge. I think you will be prefect for the job. Are you up for it?"
Arthur looked at the letter his desk and nodded. "I'll do it."
"Good, you will get a slight raise, but it won't be a lot. I am sorry to say that Minister Fudge has left us in a bit of pickle when it comes to funds. I promise as soon as things calm down. A raise should be coming your way," Amos said.
"Money isn't everything to me. You should know that, as long as I have my family, I'm happy," Arthur said.
"Yes, and you have great family. I'm really sorry about you and Molly," Amos said.
"Thank you, I hope you don't mind, but I don't want to talk about her right now," Arthur said sadly.
"Of course, and I'm not prying. If you ever want to talk, I'm willing to listen," Amos said. He looked at his watch and said, "Well, I have to run. We can talk more about your job tomorrow," Amos said.
"Tomorrow sounds good," Arthur said.
"Until then take care," Amos said and he stood up left.
Arthur sat back in his chair to think things over, when suddenly a letter from Ginny arrived. Arthur read the note and his eyes went wide.
Father,
Please come home right away. We have a situation at home. No one is hurt but you must come home.
Love Ginny
Arthur rushed to gather his things together and made his way to the fireplaces. He usually didn't use them because of the fee that was put on them for their use. He quickly paid the clerk and rushed to one of the fireplaces. As he appeared in the family kitchen, he found Bill, Charlie, the twins and Ginny standing around a huge pile of gold. The gold was on the table and spilling on the floor.
"Where did this come from?" Arthur asked.
"The bag that Mr. Black left, Bill didn't have enough money to get everything we needed so, I was going to take some of it out of the money he left. I figured it wouldn't hurt. The bag looked empty when I reached in to pull the money out so, I turned it upside down on the table. Gold started spilling out and didn't stop. I finally dropped the bag," Ginny said pointing to the bag on the floor.
"Father, I checked out the bag. It is one of the endless bottom bags sold at Gringotts. The person who buys one, sets an amount, and the money comes directly from the Black vaults. I contacted a friend at the bank and he says Sirius himself set this amount. He also says if we like, we could transfer the rest of the money to our vaults," Bill said.
"Rest?" Arthur said shocked.
"Yes, Sirius said it was payment for a life debt that he owed you. It seems you saved his life back when you worked for the Order. I was told it was his way of paying you back," Bill said.
Arthur remembered that mission. It was right after Charlie was born. He was put in the hospital for a few weeks because he was burnt badly from several bad spells. Sirius would have died if he hadn't gotten them both out of there when he did. Sirius had promised he would pay him back one day. He just never thought he would be paid back like this.
A barn owl flew into the room right then and dropped a letter on the gold. Arthur picked up the letter and read it. The letter was from Sirius.
Arthur,
Sorry about not warning you in my last letter about the money. I didn't set this up until after talking to Madam Bones about things.
Now, I know you are a proud man and you are thinking of sending the money back. Don't! I told you back then I would pay you back for saving my life and I am. Money is nothing to me. It always was and always will be. It is just something I can use to make other people happy. I'm doing this to help you and your family out, use it. I have several reasons for doing this other then I owe you for saving my life. One of them is because of Harry.
I talked to Harry about you and your family. Minus Molly, Ron and Percy, Harry has nothing but good to say about your family. He says he always felt wanted in your home. He said the little he spent with you was one of the best times of his life. You don't realize this, but you did a lot for my godson. His life at the Dursley's wasn't the best and never felt wanted until he met your family. This means a lot to me. I also know you never looked at Harry as a means to get somewhere in life. He was just a hurt little boy that you tried to help. And I thank you for everything you tried to do for him.
My other reason is because I remember how you helped me in school my fifth year. You didn't know what I did. You just found me alone up on the towers ready to do myself in. You could have walked away like everyone else did but you didn't. You sat their hearing me out and talking to me. You made me realize that I might have messed up but if my friends were true. In time, they would forgive me. You were right, they did and I never forgot that night.
You are good man Arthur. I wish sometimes I could be more like you. I can't look at a person the way you look at them. Then again, I was raised as a Black. This should speak for itself. If there is a person I want Harry to look up to it is you. You are exactly the person I want my Godson to be like.
Back to the money, I told you the reasons I'm giving it. It is up to you to use it. I know you will use it wisely. If you choose to give it away, it is your choice. You just can't send it back to me. I made sure of that. I don't want it or need it. Like I said at the start, money is nothing to me. It always was and always will be.
Thanks for over looking the Black in me….
Sirius
Arthur read the letter several times. He remembered that day. He was Head Boy and he found Sirius sitting alone on the tower drunk. He was saying he was going kill himself. He said something about almost getting his best friend killed because of a prank. He didn't everything out of Sirius, he never did. He did manage to talk Sirius into going to bed. He promised things would get better and his friends would forgive him. He never realized how important that one event was to Sirius until now.
Arthur looked at the money and thought of his children's schooling. He looked around his family home. He could sell it and maybe put one of the twins through school, but he knew he couldn't do both. He also knew that Ginny's school days were over because there was no where he could send her. But with the money Sirius had given him and with help from the new job, he could send all three children to school. He might even be able to help Molly send Ron. Ron might not be his son by blood, but he was his son. He couldn't stop caring about the boy just like that. Besides, what kind of example would that be to the men would he was raising if he turned his back on Ron. He needed to show his sons how to act during all situations. So, he needed to show them not turn their back on Ron or Percy. No matter what Molly had done.
"Bill, could you take this money to the bank and have it put in our vault. Then please have Gringotts contact the school board and set up payment for the outstanding bill they have in this family's name. Please, make sure they know it is for Ron's education as well," Arthur said calmly.
"Yes, father," Bill said as he and Charlie started to gather the coins.
"You are paying for that prat's schooling?" George said.
"Yes, because inspite what Molly has done, he is still your brother. He will be unless he chooses not to be. I'm not throwing him or Percy out of this family. It is going to be up to them what they do," Arthur said calmly.
George was about to say something about this but Fred shook his head. "Come on, we have work to do upstairs." Fred said to George.
"Come on sit down, I should have supper ready soon. We can do without desert," Ginny said taking her father's hand and guiding him to his chair.
Arthur couldn't help but smile at this. He enjoyed an evening with his family. He loved the changes in the house. It felt like a new start for all of them. Maybe his life was starting to turn around at least that is how it looked to him at this very moment.