Originally Posted 4/15/16, last revised 10/27/16.
Disclaimer:I don't own Harry Potter, and while I've never met her and am not one of her subjects, I have nothing but respect for the Queen. Information about British law and letters to and from the Queen comes from online research and is accurate to the best of my knowledge.
Chapter 25: The Calm Before the Storm
"Paperwork," thought Sirius Black, "be it Wizard or Muggle, is a real pain." He'd just spent nearly six hours working with Harry, two members of the Crown Wizards' office, and a Muggle solicitor sorting out what would be needed to formally adopt Harry in the Muggle world. "Not Muggle," he corrected himself, "non-Magical. That's going to take a lot of getting used to, but looking at it from Her Majesty's point of view I can see why she doesn't like the term."
They'd had lunch with the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, and the discussion had been rather eye-opening. The Prince was just as quick as Her Majesty, if not more so, and certainly didn't beat around the bush.
"Tell me again why you Wizards look down upon those of us who aren't Magical?" he'd asked. "After all, there are so many more of us that even if we were lesser people than you, statistically we still have a greater chance of producing great things than you do."
And he was right, Sirius admitted to himself, as much as he hated it. Even growing up rejecting his family's pure-blooded nonsense he'd still allowed himself to believe that non-Magicals were somehow lesser beings, who would never amount to much in the world. Knowing what he did now, it didn't make sense even back then, and he certainly didn't believe it anymore. Heck, he was starting to believe that it was Wizards who were the lesser beings, at least when it came to society and ingenuity.
It was during lunch that Her Majesty had mentioned her dislike of the term, "Muggle," and that she intended to have it removed from the official terminology used by the Ministry and press, even if she couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't be used in private contexts, like other derogatory terms used by intolerant people to label nearly every ethnic group out there. Sirius wasn't sure how quick or successful she would be, but he knew better than to tell her that she couldn't do it.
Looking back at the binder of paperwork, he shook his head in disbelief. Based on everything he had here, it might take longer to get his own life in order for the adoption than it was for Her Majesty, through Governor General Bones, to get Magical Britain straightened out. Even if he could get all the paperwork pushed through quickly, he was still going to have to establish a stable residency in the non-Magical world, something that could only be done in real time.
The thought of living full-time in the non-Magical world was both intriguing and terrifying for Sirius, having grown up as a pureblood living entirely within the Magical world. Still, if that's what it took to formally adopt Harry, he figured it would be a worthwhile learning experience. Besides, once he had a place of his own, he could probably convince Moony to share it with him, at least until his situation got better. He knew his friend had trouble keeping a job with his "furry little problem," and that his living arrangements were never the best.
The only problem with this whole situation was that it meant he couldn't formally adopt Harry for at least a year, possibly longer, depending on how everything went. While it might be possible for Her Majesty to push things through faster, Sirius had decided that he wasn't going to ask for any preferential treatment, since that sort of thing is what had led to much of the current situation in the first place. Fortunately, a temporary solution had been suggested by the solicitor: Harry was petitioning to become a Ward of the Court, who could then assign Sirius to be Harry's immediate guardian. It wasn't perfect, since anything regarding Harry would still have to be approved by the court first, but after some discussion everyone felt that it could be worked around easily enough to ensure both Harry and Sirius were treated properly.
Looking over at Harry, who was also just finishing putting his own binder of paperwork together, he smiled and said, "As much as I'm glad we're doing this, I'm even happier knowing that adopting you Magically will be so much easier."
Looking first at his own binder, then at Sirius's, Harry laughed and said, "I would hope so. I'm not sure anything could be more complicated or tedious than what we've spent most of the the day doing!"
This drew chuckles from both the Crown Wizards and the solicitor, who stood and extended his hand to Sirius. "Mister Black," he said, "I know this is all rather complicated and confusing for you, but I assure you that it could be much worse. Still, I think once you've gotten yourself established properly there shouldn't be any major hurdles to finalizing the adoption."
"Thank you," said Sirius, standing and shaking the man's hand. "I appreciate you putting up with all my questions, seeing as how I know nearly nothing about the non-Magical world."
The solicitor shook his head. "Actually, I get most of the same questions from everyone I work with on adoptions, Magical or not," he said. "Unless you work with them regularly like I do, very few people know much about the ins and outs of adoption law. Even most solicitors don't get into the details like I do, so you're in good company."
Sirius smiled slightly, and said, "I guess that makes me feel better. Is there anything else I need to know before I start the process of getting my life in order?"
"I don't think so, at least not until you've established residency and the like," replied the solicitor. "How about you, Harry, do you have any more questions for me?"
Harry shook his head. "No, sir," he answered, "I think if you told me anything more right now my head would explode." Turning to Sirius he added, "I don't know how you're still functioning. I barely have to do anything compared to you, and I'm still feeling a little overwhelmed."
Sirius smiled at Harry and said, "I guess it's just a matter of wanting it bad enough that I'm not going to let anything stop me. I'm finally free after fourteen years, and the only thing I know for sure that I want right now is to make sure the two of us can be a proper family. If that means suffering through all this paperwork, then that's what I'll do."
Harry's eyes shone as he looked at Sirius, then engulfed him in a hug. "Thanks, Sirius," he said quietly, "I don't think I can say how much that means to me."
Sirius patted Harry on the head and said, "I know, pup. Me too."
The solicitor smiled at the two of them and cleared his throat. "If that's all, I believe I'll be going now. As much as I am more than willing to do Her Majesty a favor on short notice, it is getting late and my wife will be waiting for me to have dinner. If you need further assistance, my contact information is in both of your binders. Also, Mister Black, I'll have someone in Her Majesty's service forward my bill to you, since you don't currently have a viable billing address."
"Of course," said Sirius as Harry released him, "I'll make sure to give you my address once I have one. Thank you again, and good evening."
The solicitor nodded, then looked to one of the Crown Wizards who said, "I'll see you out, sir," before leading him out the door.
Harry and Sirius sat down, gave a sigh, and then looked at each other, saying, "Now what?" in unison. They stared at each other blankly for a few seconds, before Sirius started laughing, causing Harry to lose it as well. Even the remaining Crown Wizard found it funny, and joined them for a moment before everyone recovered.
"If I may make a suggestion," said the Crown Wizard, "why don't you return to your rooms to drop off your things and freshen up, and then we can head down to the cafeteria for dinner. Her Majesty is busy this evening, and I figure you'd rather not just sit around your rooms on your own."
Harry nodded at Sirius, who nodded back. "Sounds like a plan. Shall we?" He picked up his binder and stood, as Harry did the same, before the three of them exited the room to return to their rooms.
On Saturday, Magical Britain was either extremely busy, or did very little, depending on who you were. While most of the people outside the Ministry stayed inside their homes, trying to figure out how to react to the news that Voldemort was back, the activity level in the Ministry actually increased, as plans were set in motion and information that had been gathered over the past couple days was assessed and acted upon.
Amelia Bones was probably the busiest person of all, going nearly non-stop for the entire day. For starters, Captain Lee made an unannounced visit first thing in the morning to discuss the plan for attacking Voldemort. Once he had departed, she put together some notes for a press release to be issued that afternoon, but held off issuing it as she hoped to include her other business for the day in it as well.
After that, she had met with Scrimgeour to discuss her proposed new werewolf rules, as well as her decision regarding Miss Wetherell. That had resulted in a rather heated argument about the pros and cons of letting werewolves mingle with "normal" society, which she had only won after she pointed out the fact that Miss Wetherell had already been doing so safely for nearly three years, and was only discovered because of the intense security sweep initiated by Her Majesty after the Charter was revoked.
Once Scrimgeour was at least willing to give her ideas a chance, she had then presented them to Mister Halford, asking for the Crown's opinion on the matter. After looking it over he had given it his provisional blessing, although he felt that it needed to be sent up the chain for further review. Given that it was still just her preliminary idea, she wasn't worried about possible changes, right now she just wanted to have something in place as a framework for giving a few volunteers a chance to test the waters. It was at that point, shortly before lunch, that she presented her ideas to the remainder of the Wizengamot, who had been tasked with advising her with regards to any changes that needed to be made in the immediate term.
That had taken most of the afternoon, to the point where she was afraid she would miss the deadline for getting the press release in the morning paper. That would be a rather big problem, since part of the announcement was that the Ministry would be completely closed tomorrow for a final security sweep before the MMS handed things back to the Aurors. Fortunately for her, the Wizengamot had finally agreed to her idea of a pilot program, with the understanding that nothing permanent would be enacted until the results of that program were analyzed.
Thus, it was nearly five o'clock Saturday evening before she finished the day's press release, and sent it off to all departments along with a copy to be published in the Prophet. "I wonder if this is going to cause more or less of an outcry than today's release," she thought. "What are people more afraid of? Voldemort being 'out there' somewhere? Or werewolves being allowed in their midst?"
She didn't have long to wait to find out, as Barnabas Cuffe appeared at her office less than twenty minutes after she sent him the release. "Amelia, are you insane?" he had practically shouted at her as he came around the corner, only stopping when her Auror guards put their wands under his chin.
"That's Governor General Bones," she replied, "at least while we're on the record." Seeing Cuffe settle down, she waved off the Aurors and continued, "Have a seat, Barney, and we can talk off the record if you'd like."
Cuffe bristled at the nickname he knew that she knew he hated, but sat down calmly and merely grumbled, "It's Barnabas, Amelia. Now, off the record, are you insane? Letting werewolves run around in public? Are you trying to start a riot?"
Amelia stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, you nearly had me there, Barnabas," she said after a moment. "If I know you, you probably think this will give you something to sell papers with for at least a few weeks, if not longer. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."
Cuffe glared at her for a moment, then signed. "Well, no, you're not wrong, but I still think you're going to cause a panic if you go through with this."
"Worse than Voldemort being back?" she asked. Before he could answer, she continued, "Think about it: I'm not suggesting we just let werewolves run wild in the streets, nor am I making this a universal change right now. I'm just announcing a pilot program and asking for volunteers, to give everyone a chance to see what does and doesn't work while keeping the numbers limited to a handful. But if it works, and we can get all the werewolves to participate, we could potentially reduce the number of werewolf attacks here in Britain to nothing. Heck, within a few generations we could completely eliminate lycanthropy altogether!"
Cuffe stared at her, his eyes going wide. "You're serious about that, aren't you?" he said. "You think we can eliminate lycanthropy altogether? What if a werewolf doesn't want to cooperate?"
"This is off the record, right?" At Cuffe's nod, she went on. "Assuming the trial run works, I intend to make the final program mandatory, with stiff penalties for non-compliance. If a werewolf intentionally infects someone else, they'll be given a significant prison term before they get one last chance to comply with the program. If they do it again, I think they should be put down like the rabid dog they are."
Cuffe sat there digesting her words, not expecting the final piece. Finally he nodded slowly, before responding, "That... that's... quite a plan. Do you really think the werewolves will go for it?"
"I think most of them will," Amelia replied. "The one thing that werewolves want more than anything else is to be accepted, whether it's by their pack or by society. This gives them that, and even protects them from being discriminated against, and the only thing they really need to give up is their anonymity. And even that can be limited to those involved with the registration program. I'm not expecting them to all sign up overnight, but if we can demonstrate that it works, and give them time to get used to the idea, I think the vast majority of them will go for it. And the more werewolves who are under control using this program, the more resources it will free up to deal with the few remaining rogues who don't cooperate."
"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" he asked. "What brought this on?"
"Someone we detained in the security sweep turned out to be a previously undiscovered werewolf, and before you ask I won't tell you who they are," she said, giving him a hard look. "What I will say is that they have been a productive member employee of the Ministry for almost three years since being bitten, and if it hadn't been for the intense scrutiny we put everyone under on Thursday they probably wouldn't have been discovered even then. And if one werewolf can safely be a part of society, why can't more? Besides, despite being called a curse, lycanthropy acts more like a disease, and I know for a fact that denying peoples' rights due to a medical condition isn't going to survive Her Majesty's scrutiny."
Cuffe thought about everything she had said for a few minutes, and found he had to agree with her assessment of what was likely to happen. "OK, I can see that something's going to change, whether anyone likes it or not. Is there anything I can do to help that won't hurt my bottom line?"
Amelia grinned, thinking that the Prophet might as well be named the Profit instead. "Just stick to the truth, and don't try to sensationalize it. Go ahead and do your research on lycanthropy and werewolves, and anything else relating to them that you like. Just make sure you double-check your facts before you go to print. I'm not telling you to only print favorable stories, just make sure that if you print something you can back it up, and you'll be OK."
"In other words, nothing that could get us sued under the new libel laws you threatened me with yesterday," said Cuffe. "I get it," he sighed, as Amelia smiled and nodded. "You've given me a lot to think about, and certainly some good angles for investigative reports if nothing else. Who knows, maybe I can get Rita to do a straightforward, honest piece if it's interesting enough to her." He shook his head, grimacing slightly. "Anyway, I've got a paper to print, and I'm sure you've got plenty to do yourself. Good evening, Governor General."
"Good evening, Mister Cuffe," Amelia replied, nodding as he left her office. She considered their conversation and decided that she would have to give him something to run with if he actually followed up and made good on his offer to help. Changing the law was one thing, but changing the hearts and minds was another, and good press, especially if it was theoretically independent from the Ministry's own propaganda, would go a long way towards making it happen. She considered working on her draft legislation some more, but decided it was better to prepare for tomorrow's activity. Despite technically being an excuse to keep people out of the Ministry, she intended to do just what she'd announced, and do a top-to-bottom sweep of the entire building looking for anything out of place.
Taking a Ministry memo sheet, she scribbled a quick note to Scrimgeour before folding it up and sending it winging away to him. It was time to start putting plans in motion.
Saturday had also been busy for the MMS, as they prepared for their assault on Voldemort's base of operations. There had been three groups, working in parallel, each with their own equally important task.
The first had been taken on by Major French personally, as his prior service in the SAS gave him both insight and credibility in dealing with them to prepare for the evacuation of Little Hangleton early the next morning. He was initially alarmed when a couple of his former comrades had commented on his disappearing on a Magical Mystery Tour, but quickly realized that they meant it in the mundane sense of the term, and not the very real nature of his current posting.
It had taken the better part of the morning to go over everything, but when he was finished he felt confident that once the SAS had evacuated everyone, Little Hangleton would be as devoid of life as the graveyard they'd located just outside the Riddle Manor. There had been a little grumbling by some of the men about playing second fiddle to an unknown military unit, but once the Major informed everyone that the entire operation, including his presence at the briefing, was covered under the Official Secrets Act, nobody dared question him further.
The second task, which took most of the day and would continue up until the operation commenced, was taking the various pieces of intelligence they had on both the area and the people involved, and putting together the plan for maximizing damage to the enemy while minimizing casualties. By the time they broke for dinner they felt they had a very good plan, but understood that once things started happening there was no way to guarantee that it would actually work. As Helmuth von Moltke was often paraphrased, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy."
It was the third task that was both the most difficult on its participants, and the one that held the greatest risk. After re-interrogating the Death Eaters in custody again, other than Snape, there was the question of whether or not they could be used in any way to assist the operation. While Snape had been cooperative from the start and had by now convinced them that he truly wanted to see Voldemort taken down, the other three prisoners were "true believers," and held no remorse for anything they had done.
However, as the interrogations wound down, one of the Death Eaters began to crack slightly; not that she felt remorse for her victims, but instead was concerned about how her execution would affect her daughter, who was only sixteen. After some discussion with both the mission planning team, as well as the Crown Wizards, it was decided to offer her a chance to help in exchange for a chance to spare her life.
"Madam Edgecombe," said Captain Lee, as he entered the room where she was being interrogated. "I have a one-time offer for you that may spare your life. It's only good until I leave this room. Are you interested?"
Madam Edgecombe looked at him warily, then at her interrogators. Looking back at Captain Lee she said, "What's the offer?"
"At some point in the near future, we wish to send a message to the so-called Dark Lord, and we want it to be hand delivered. Naturally we cannot do so ourselves, but as one of his marked followers you would be able to do so."
"And he'd kill me on the spot for helping you!" spat Madam Edgecombe.
"That would be a risk, yes," said Captain Lee. "But think of it this way: if you don't help us, you will be hung. If you do help us, there's a chance you'll survive. Isn't a small chance better than none?"
Madam Edgecombe glared at him, then sighed. "What exactly would I have to do to survive?"
"First of all, if you agree to help you'll have to be Obliviated so you can't reveal anything we don't want you to. When the time comes, you'll be allowed to respond to Voldemort's summons carrying a letter for him. After that, you just need to keep your head down and surrender without a fight when ordered to."
"How do I know you won't take advantage of my Obliviation and just hang me anyway?" she asked.
"If you take the deal, we'll put it in writing before anything else happens," said Captain Lee. "We'll even provide you with a solicitor so you know it's legitimate."
She thought for a minute, then nodded. "I'll do it, but on two conditions." Captain Lee started to say something, but she continued on before he could get a word in. "One, I want a Portkey out rather than having to wait for you to arrive. Otherwise my chances are no better than without helping you."
"I'll look into the possibility," said Captain Lee, "but no promises. And two?"
"Two," said Madam Edgecombe, "I want to be able to see my daughter regularly while I'm in prison. And no Portkey, no deal."
"As I said, I'll look into the Portkey," he replied. "As for your daughter visiting, she'll be allowed to visit per normal prison regulations, assuming she wants to. I can't force her to visit you."
Madam Edgecombe considered his words before nodding. "Get me the Portkey and a solicitor to look over the details, and you've got a deal."
"I'll get back to you in the next day or so," said Captain Lee. Turning to her interrogators he added, "I'm done, and I don't think we need anything more from her, so please return her to her cell."
"Yes, sir," they replied, and began releasing Madam Edgecombe from her confinement as Captain Lee turned and left.
Shortly after two o'clock Sunday morning, the residents of the village of Little Hangleton were roused from their slumber to uniformed soldiers knocking on their doors. It took a little over two hours to get everyone evacuated, but by 4:30am the only people left in the vicinity of Little Hangleton were a few SAS observers, two MMS surveillance teams watching the old Riddle house, and the residents of said house.
The residents of Little Hangleton, once they got over being uprooted in the middle of the night and taken by fairly uncomfortable lorry to a nearby military base, were given cots to sleep on until morning. At 7am, they were invited to enjoy a hot breakfast while they waited to be given more information about what was happening, which further appeased their discommodiousness. Shortly after 8am, with most people awake and fed, the base commander arrived with a SAS Major to address the group.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please," said the base commander. Once he had most of the attention on him, he continued, "I hope you have found your accommodations acceptable for the time being, and once the briefing is over if there are any special requests I will do my best to fulfill them. But first, this is Major Niblock, who will provide some additional information about why you were evacuated from your homes and when you can expect to return to them. Major," he gestured to the Major, then stepped back.
Major Niblock stepped forward, surveyed the crowd, then began. "This morning, you were all evacuated from your homes because of a credible report of a National Security threat located nearby. Due to the seriousness of the threat, along with the very high credibility of the report, it was decided to evacuate you, the residents of Little Hangleton, prior to taking any action to further investigate and if necessary neutralize the threat.
"While I cannot provide any more details as to the exact nature of the threat, I can tell you that we believe it to be located just outside of the village, rather than inside the village proper, and that the evacuation is purely precautionary. While we are not expecting any damage to your homes or businesses, the Home Secretary was unwilling to risk the lives of British citizens should the threat prove to be real and greater than expected."
"When can we go home?" shouted a man from the crowd.
"I cannot tell you exactly when you will be allowed back," replied the Major, "both for operational security reasons and because I honestly don't know exactly when the situation will be deemed safe. Also, for similar security reasons, you will not be allowed to leave the base or communicate with anyone until such time as you are allowed to return home. I do know that you will be allowed back just as soon as the threat is either determined to be a false alarm, or if confirmed just as soon as it has been neutralized and the area cleared of any potential danger. I was authorized to give you a best guess of no more than 72 hours, but that's not guaranteed."
"Three days!" shouted someone else, "what about my job?"
"You can't just keep us cooped up in here!" shouted another.
"Her Majesty's government is prepared to compensate each and every individual here with fifty pounds per day for the inconvenience, plus any documented losses you can present to us after you are allowed to return home," said the Major. "That includes lost wages, average daily business revenue for those of you who own businesses in town, and any other expenses incurred as a direct result of your evacuation. Additionally, anyone who is unable to report to work because of this situation should come speak to me where we're finished, and Her Majesty's government will make sure that your employer is aware that your absence is to be excused without repercussion beyond the loss of wages. And again, if you can document those lost wages they will be reimbursed when this is over. Are there any more questions?"
"Are we going to be stuck inside here until we go home?"
The base commander stepped forward and said, "I'll answer that one. Later today, once we get some organizing done, we will arrange for groups to be allowed outside on the base under supervision. While I'm sure this is less than what you'd all like, we do need to maintain a certain level of security, both in regards to the current operation as well as the simple fact that this is an active military base."
"What about the kids? Where can they play?" asked a woman holding a toddler.
"We do have a playground on the base for resident children, and we'll make sure that your kids get to play there too. I'm also working on organizing a base tour for those who are interested, so that you can see at least a little of what goes on here under normal conditions. I'm sorry that I can't provide more, but again security dictates that things are kept relatively quiet until the situation is resolved. Anything else?"
There were some murmurs and grumbles, but nobody spoke up any further. "Very well," said the commander. "The Major and I will be over at that table," he pointed to a long table near the door they'd come in, "and anyone who needs anything is welcome to come and speak to us. We are in the process of setting up shower facilities for everyone, and should have that completed by lunchtime. Lunch will be served here the same way as breakfast; I'm working on something special for dinner, and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I want to say again how much both Her Majesty's government and I appreciate your cooperation in this matter, and if you have any questions or needs please let us know right away. Thank you."
The base commander looked around one last time, then nodded to the Major and the two of them went over to the table that they'd indicated earlier. After a minute many of the adults started gravitating towards them, forming an impromptu queue as they approached. It would be over an hour later before the queue was empty, and while nobody was really happy about the situation, they at least felt better for being listened to.