For disclaimer and author notes please see chapter 1. Additional AN: a minor bit of bad news is that I have run out of my pre-written chapters (I was 8 chapters ahead when I started, now I am down to just this one and the next). If real life continues the way it has been the past few weeks, I may end up skipping a week here and there. I'll try and mitigate that by posting as and when I finish one, rather than doing it only on Sunday.
1988-06-24 08:00 UTC, Kithurst Close
Harry and Hermione were in the living room, watching cartoons on TV, by the time the adults had woken up, washed and brushed, and came down.
Remus had popped in a few minutes ago, and as Mrs Granger came down the stairs, he stood up and smiled at her. "I hope you don't mind me barging in. I know you invited me last night, and I assume that offer still stands! I generally join these two kids for breakfast".
"Oh it's perfectly fine Remus, you're welcome any time. But what do you mean 'two kids'?" She did not think Hermione was having breakfast with Harry so often.
Remus nodded toward Sirius. "Oh Sirius may be my physical age, but there are times when his mental age regresses to something much lesser!", he laughed.
Mrs Granger laughed, then turned to Hermione. "What time did you two wake up?", said Mrs Granger.
"About an hour ago, mum", said Hermione. "But before that, we both found we were awake at 5am or so, and we spent some time chatting here. Then an elf came and talked to us about learning magical fighting, then we had some hot chocolate, and then we went back to our beds."
For some reason, Mrs Granger missed the bit about the elf. "Hot chocolate? But we ran out, and I was going to get some today. Where did you find any?"
"Oh Sirius's elf brought it in for us. Probably from Sirius's kitchen", she giggled, looking at Sirius.
"Very likely", said Sirius. "Meanwhile, it seems your mother has been frozen. Harry, perhaps you would like to explain elves to her?"
"And to me", said Mr Granger, not to be forgotten!
So Harry explained.
"Umm, elves, or rather house-elves, and I don't know why they're called that because I don't know if there's other kinds, like maybe an 'office-elf' or a 'garden-elf'? Anyway a house-elf is a small being-"
"A sentient being, mum, not an animal like a dog or a cat. Fully sentient and able to converse in English", interrupted Hermione.
"Thanks Hermione", said Harry, making a mental note to ask her what sentient meant, later. He turned again to Mrs Granger, and continued the explanation.
"They love to help us humans. Some bad wizards take advantage of this and turn them into some sort of slaves, treating them badly, etc., but the good wizards and witches don't do that. They treat them OK I guess, though Sirius tells me no one treats their elves like we treat Kreacher."
"Can we see these elves?", said Mr Granger.
"Sure. Kreacher, could you come here a second please?", said Harry. And Kreacher popped in.
"Kreacher, as you know by now, miss Hermione is magical, which means her family is allowed to know about magic. This is Mr Granger, and this is Mrs Granger". Then he turned to the Grangers, and said "This is Kreacher, who is the Black family elf. He normally resides in the old Black manor in London, but he is trained to listen to his family and will come when they call him".
"And what is this about learning magical fighting?", asked Mr Granger, looking at Kreacher.
"Oh that was not Kreacher", said Harry. "Hobby, are you free?", he called out into the air.
Hobby popped in immediately. "Hello, master Harry and miss Hermione. Good morning Lord Black, sir, good morning Mr Granger and Mrs Granger", he chirped brightly.
Hermione smiled a distracted "hello" back at him, but she was clearly thinking furiously. Something did not add up.
Meanwhile, her father had a bee in his bonnet.
"Hello Hobby, I am Hermione's father. I wanted to ask what you meant by suggesting that they learn magical fighting".
"Oh no Mr Granger sir, I did not suggest it, that was master Harry and miss Hermione. But I did say I know of a way for them to learn it without underage magic being detected".
Then of course, they had to explain underage magic to the Grangers, but once that was done, Sirius spoke up.
"I suppose you mean Grimmauld? That place is in good shape now, and Kreacher has done a wonderful job. It would be an ideal place to learn magical fighting. Remus and I-"
"Umm sorry, I am not sure I will have that kind of time available", interrupted Remus. "I would really love to, but business is booming, and I am not pulling my weight as it is." He looked at Harry apologetically. "Harry, I'm really sorry! I will make it up to you somehow, once things settle down; is that OK?"
Harry gave him a hug. "Of course uncle Mooney, no problem; I understand".
"But that leaves us with a slight problem. I am decent at magical fighting, but I am not that good at many of the other things, and you really should not be learning only the fighting without some grounding in the basic subjects".
"What are those subjects", Hermione asked eagerly.
"Oh, transfiguration and charms, mainly. Potions and herbology are also first year subjects but are less important for fighting".
"If I may interject, Lord Black sir", said Hobby. "I did not mean Grimmauld. I think Nick and Penny would be perfectly happy to be introduced to miss Hermione, and they already love master Harry anyway."
"Oh excellent, why did I not think of that!" Sirius made a doh face, then grinned.
"Who are Nick and Penny?"
Remus decided to take this on. He knew "Flamel" was a known name even in the muggle world.
"Well, Nick is Nicholas Flamel. And yes, by your gasp, Mrs Granger, you have heard of him from the muggle history side of things. The fact is, he is real, he is a wizard, and he does have a Philosopher's Stone. He and his wife Perenelle, who likes to go by 'Penny', are over six hundred years old."
"And Harry knows them?"
"We all know them. But we have the feeling that is only because of Harry", smiled Remus, looking fondly at Harry.
You have no idea how close to the truth you are, Mooney old boy, thought Hobby.
And so it was decided that they would ask the Flamels if they would teach Hermione and Harry whatever they could, to help them protect themselves - even if only a little - if something bad happened again.
Hermione had not spoken much, except to ask what subjects were to be taught. Something was clearly up.
"Hobby, Harry is not your master, why do you come when he calls?"
"Aah, that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about today, miss Hermione. You see, an elf is bound to answer a call from his or her family, but can choose to answer calls from anyone else too, as long as his or her master allows".
Then he turned to Harry. "Now, master Harry, my master regrets very much that he did not tell you this much earlier. Your ordeal of two days ago would have been much much shorter if he had". He paused.
"I would like to tell you - all of you, including the Granger adults, not just miss Hermione - something. This could be very important for your safety".
He had their undivided attention. Well, Sirius and Remus were merely looking interested, the others were interested and surprised.
"The thing is, my master is a much more powerful wizard than any others you know, even Dumbledore. Between us, we know that he got Lord Black out of Azkaban. So if anything similar happens again, you need to call me. I will come, and I will work out where we are, and I will tell my master where you are so he can come. It doesn't matter how many, and what kinds, of wards there are. It doesn't matter if the house is under a Fidelius" - here Hermione looked up; you could almost hear her making a mental note to ask what that is later - "I can come in, and I can tell my master enough to let him come in."
Remus was very thoughtful. "Hobby, your master has agreed to let you answer any of us?"
"Yes Mr Mooney sir".
"And you are saying he can get into a Fidelius charmed location".
"Yes Mr Mooney sir. My master is that powerful".
"OK, but if it's under the Fidelius, how will you tell him where it is so he can come? Because that should be impossible, as far as I know of the Fidelius".
Hobby paled. He started stuttering, "I- I- Err, I am sorry Mr Mooney sir, that is a family secret of my masters, and I am not permitted to discuss that."
Hobby knew that was lame, but it seemed no one was willing to call him out on it right away. Mooney contented himself with giving him a sharp look, held the stare for a good few seconds, then turned and walked out of the room without a word.
1988-06-24 22:00 UTC, Kithurst Close
"What was it you wanted to speak to me about, Sirius", said Mooney. He'd just apparated in after his workday was done.
"I wanted to sound you out on some odd things I have been seeing and hearing".
"Odder than someone managing to get around the Fidelius?"
"No, but odd enough. And combined with the Fidelius thing, makes for a much bigger puzzle".
"Well, I've got stuff too, but you first", said Sirius.
Remus sat back and composed his thoughts. "It's very strange", he said. "Sometimes I can convince myself I was only imagining it, but at other times, I can hear him clear as a bell, though not loudly of course. When he was asking you for pepper-up, the Phantom appeared to mumble to himself, very quietly, 'and once again she saved him'. What does that mean?"
Sirius was shocked. "You mean", he almost shouted, then composed himself. No sense waking Harry inadvertently. "You mean something like this has already happened once?"
"If so, wouldn't either or both of the kids have mentioned it to us?"
It took only a few seconds for Sirius to get angry again. "They must have been memory charmed! And this Phantom must have done it, otherwise how could he know?"
"Oh I don't know if he would do that. Maybe. But that was not my point", said Remus.
Sirius made an irritated 'well go on then' gesture.
"He clearly knew Hermione was magical. In fact, I'll bet making you buy this house has nothing to do with that school, as he said, but with Hermione being next door. This is not a 'seer', these are too specific to come from any seer I ever heard of".
"Yes. And that reminds me", continued Sirius. "Have you ever heard of a seer who knows a child's favourite foods? The books he wanted to read but was not allowed to? He knew the state of Harry's health, Mooney - he had the right set of nutrient and digestive potions brewed by Penny and kept ready. Seer my arse; whoever this guy is, has been spying on Harry."
"Do we trust him at all? Didn't you once tell me Nick and Penny swear by him, and trust him implicitly? Can you tell me about that again?", asked Remus.
Sirius nodded. "That's the only reason I am not panicking. We know his powers; if he meant to harm Harry, he could have killed him several times already. Even his elf Hobby seemed to be deeply affected when he heard the kids were kidnapped. And Nick and Penny specifically said he was only interested in Harry's welfare, and everything he was doing was geared toward Harry's long term happiness and well-being. I just wish I knew why", he whined.
"Still, it's definitely a mystery. Now, what was it you wanted to say?", said Remus.
"Well, this morning, I couldn't sleep. I woke up and - as I often do - checked up on Harry. You know he used to have nightmares when he first came to us; I'd got into the habit of checking on him at random times in the night then, though I stopped after a few months when he got better. I guess this incident shook something loose in my head and got me doing it again".
"Anyway", he continued, "Harry wasn't in his bed. But I could hear voices from the living room. So I crept down silently, to see who it was. Whatever it was, didn't sound like he was in danger or something, so I didn't want to rush in and possibly scare him needlessly".
He got a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was trying to remember something precisely.
"When I came to the door, I stopped to listen. The voices were clearly Harry and Hermione, and it seemed as if Hobby had just popped in, and Harry was explaining elves to Hermione. Then Harry said hello to Hobby. Hobby greeted him back, and then he did something very odd, which I have never seen before".
Remus was all ears, and made an annoyed noise when Sirius stopped. The fact that he had done the same a few minutes earlier was completely lost on him of course!
"He addressed Harry as 'Harry'. Not 'master Harry', as he usually does. Same with Hermione. This made me very curious, and I cautiously peeked in. Guess what?"
Remus growled again. "Get on with it, Paddy!"
"He said 'Nice to meet you', or something like that, just like you and I would. And then", here Sirius's eyes bored into Remus, as if to underscore how serious he was. "And then, he held out his hand for her to shake!"
"Well Hobby is an unusual elf. But he never shook hands with either of us when we met, as far as I can remember anyway. He merely bowed, if I am not mistaken."
"My point exactly, Mooney. We all knew that elf was not a normal elf, but now I am wondering if he was raised as an elf at all. It's almost as if he was raised as a wizard", hissed Sirius in a whisper, as if Hobby may be hiding around the corner, listening.
"Yeah; I remember you told me he taught Harry how to operate the TV remote".
"Yes, and I found out later that some of that stuff even Hermione's parents did not know - something that got you program listings on the screen, and subtitles for many programs. I think it was called 'see facts'. Dr Granger was astonished to see Harry casually perusing listings on the TV, and he complimented me on knowing all that, thinking I had taught Harry. I said nothing at the time, but later Harry told me Hobby had showed him."
"I don't count that as such a big deal; in fact what's unusual is Dr Granger not knowing about it. It's not 'see facts', it's Ceefax, very likely a play on 'see facts' though, and it's a pretty common thing for us, Sirius".
"Regardless, a house-elf teaching muggle technology to a child has got to be weird!", maintained Sirius hotly. He felt as if his point was being unmade by Remus.
"Anyway, there's more. Somewhere along the way, he referred to me as 'Sirius'. Again, not 'Lord Black', not even 'Mr Black'. Just 'Sirius'".
"And then", Sirius had more to say, it seemed. "He said something like 'Alright kids'. Ever heard an elf do that? And after that, it was clear he had given orders to Kreacher to bring hot chocolate, and they all sat down - just like you and I and the kids would - and had the chocolate".
By this time Remus was also looking as if he had started to believe Sirius had a point.
"It does seem very funny. So we have a very mysterious master - who, don't forget, got you out of Azkaban - and an equally mysterious elf".
"Yes. A master who has strong opinions on things and has made sure his elf also thinks the same way. Not that I mind; I'm just saying."
"Oh and about Hobby, I think, despite all these points you made, you missed the most important one", said Remus seriously.
"What?"
"Remember when I suggested we give Greyback a fair chance?"
Sirius was blank for half a second, then he drew in a sharp breath. "His eyes flashed green for a second!"
"Yes. And that, my friend, is something I have never heard of, and cannot be explained in any way whatsoever, regardless of how close he and his master are, and how much of his personality his master gave the elf".
1988-06-25 21:00 UTC, Malfoy Manor
Curiously, around the same time the next day, a completely different - in all imaginable ways - pair were discussing something. While the starting point of their discussion could not be further from what our marauders had started with, they would, eventually, come to some surprisingly similar, yet not at all the same, conclusions.
"Why did Dolohov do this? Was there any provocation for it?", asked Narcissa.
"I do not know. I wish I had had the time to interrogate him. But I've been hearing rumours of unrest among our Lord's faithful. Unrest directed at me!"
"Why? What's their grouse? We've done more for-"
Lucius interrupted her, saying, "it's not what we've done. It's what we've not done. They see the Phantom as a symbol of our failure, and since I have always set myself up as the leader, second only to our Lord, then - in his absence - it is my failure. To put it bluntly, they expected me to do something about the Phantom, but saw me docilely acquiesce to his conditions instead."
Narcissa pondered this for a bit. "I'm willing to bet the people in that camp are those without families, or at least without young children".
Lucius smiled grimly. "Yes, and I do get support, even if it is only tacit, from those that do. You saw them yesterday, well most of them anyway".
"But", he continued, "make no mistake. If the dark lord were still with us, having children would not be an excuse! In any case, I need to get back my leadership position. I don't want to be seen as having 'lost it'".
"Yes, I think it is time we got back into the game. We ought to be able to protect Draco well enough not to worry about that. I mean, Macnair managed to get him only because we were very lax. We can easily fix that. Once we do, we need to direct our attentions, not toward any of the people that the Phantom is interested in protecting, but against the Phantom himself. That would not even violate his conditions, as far as I can remember them!", said Narcissa.
Lucius thought a bit. "I think that is true; I don't recall his letters ever saying he himself was to be left alone."
"And therein lies a tale", he continued. "I have something rather puzzling to talk about, in this context".
He looked at her for a second, gauging her mood. He knew she was aware of all the young girls he had kidnapped at various times over the years. Most of the wives knew, and even the ones who didn't, knew now because of the Phantom's open letter a couple of years ago. And in any case, that was all history now; no one was doing those things anymore. And they wouldn't, not while the Phantom was an active threat, even if he regretted not being able to teach Draco the wonderful pleasures of torturing muggles.
"The first thing that caught my attention was how a girl that was in my dungeons for eight months, actually turned out to be Flint's boy, who had been missing only for seventeen days. Clearly, someone rescued the girl and replaced her with a transformed Flint junior.
It must have been the Phantom. But the question in my mind was, why did he treat this specific girl differently than all the others? Why not do with her what he did with the others?"
"Well, the rescue of the others happened on the 13th. The Flint boy had been missing since New Years Day, so clearly the exchange was made then. So the girl we had in our dungeons was not the original at the time of the rescue. And rescuing one of the 'enemy' was not something he wanted to do, so he just left her. Err, I mean him", reasoned Narcissa.
"Alright, but the question still remains. Why treat that girl specially, what happened on January 1st, and why did it happen only here, and why did nothing similar happen in the other five manors where similar prisoners were being kept?"
"Good point. Also, how? He could not have got into our dungeon - that should be impossible, regardless what powers he may claim. Maybe he has dark powers and has performed rituals to get him past any wards?"
"Cissy, you know there are light rituals also that can give you such powers, even if we suppress knowledge of them to be safe", laughed Lucius.
"So, anyway", he continued, "I have had my suspicions, and they were only deepened when we met that old Black elf yesterday, who said the Phantom was once Lord Black", said Lucius.
"I wonder how that could be true. In fact, I wonder who he is. I don't know of any Lord Black except Sirius who would throw his lot in with mudbloods", muttered Narcissa. "Do you think the elf was lying, and that it actually was Sirius?"
"I doubt it. If I had asked the question? Maybe. But you are still a Black - he cannot outright lie to you.
Anyway it doesn't matter who it is; just that it is someone. Since most of our wealth comes from the Black family, and Lord Black can - if he wished to - reclaim upto half of it simply by stating that he was unhappy about something in our marriage, I strongly suspect he has quietly claimed Dobby."
"What? How is that possible? Dobby was born long after our marriage so he is not Black property".
"I suspect that does not matter either. He could claim him instead of something else of equal value. The contract only specifies 'value', it does not specify what precisely can be taken".
"Sounds pretty far-fetched".
"There's more. There were two men among the prisoners, who had, apparently, killed themselves, and that in a most horrific way too. One day I suddenly realised that that was very unusual. This was a few weeks after all those events. On a hunch, I went back to where I had first picked them up."
"Stop doing those dramatic pauses and get on with it", she growled, unknowingly mirroring a werewolf who was doing almost the same thing at almost the same time!
"The two men were there. Very much alive. And quite happy, healthy, and apparently with no memory of their time in my dungeon".
"So it was not just the girl that was rescued on January 1st; it was everyone in our dungeons", said Narcissa.
Lucius nodded.
"Have you visited the girl herself? The real one? I assume you remember where you picked her up".
"I tried, but I felt powerful wards. I didn't want to risk alerting the Phantom just yet, so I stayed well clear and left. I can assure you those wards were not there earlier, and so I am sure the girl is there, safe and sound."
"She should be in Hogwarts by now; we cou- Oh we have no one there now, with Severus gone".
"Indeed. I would not suggest asking any of the students we might know; they're all too young - barely first years at this time", said Lucius.
"So, back to Dobby. How do we prove he has been claimed? Give him a direct order that he would not do if he belonged to the Phantom and see what he does?"
"You cannot have failed to notice that, for the past year or more, I have kept him somewhat away from our presence, and indeed have not given him more than a token order here and there to keep up the pretense. I do not want to give a direct order that he may wish to disobey, and thus force the issue. I would prefer to watch him quietly for now. And if we have to discuss anything, we do it within privacy wards, even within our own home".
"I don't agree, Lucius", snarled Narcissa. "I am pretty sure this Phantom killed Macnair, and I am equally sure the location was chosen to implicate us, though we escaped any legal or other official action. If he does indeed have a house-elf within our house, we have to get rid of that elf as soon as possible. However vigilant you and I may be, there will always be a slip here and there, and our plans for our world are too important for us to take that risk. We make sure he is loyal, or we kill him - there are no other alternatives".