Everything is Relative
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC.
Deep in thoughts, Harry returned home, where the extended family was already waiting for him in apparent concern.
"Everything is all right," he said, noticing the worried expressions from all sides of the parlour. "Four Unspeakables came to my help fighting six Death Eaters including Draco Malfoy. Three of them were kicked off the Astronomy tower. I suppose that the Aurors are just collecting them. The other three were sent away by the Unspeakables…"
"What happened to Draco?" Minerva interrupted him, sharply.
"He was sent away," Harry replied in a firm voice. "To a ministry holding cell I suppose. I just wonder…" He slowly trailed off, before he continued, pensively. "The other day, I heard Filch say something to Draco about lingering on the Astronomy tower every evening. I didn't further think about that comment but wonder if he had a girlfriend. Do you think Filch could be an Unspeakable? Whisker was the one who saved my life tonight, and even before, when I was fighting the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, he sent Fawkes to my rescue. At least that's what he said," he corrected himself. "How could a normal Unspeakable even have known about the incident? Filch could know, because he's working at Hogwarts. I don't know. It just seems plausible…" He slowly trailed off.
"That would explain why we observed an Unspeakable walk up to the castle a couple of times," Dudley spoke up, wide-eyed.
"I'd have never expected Filch though," Susan added in apparent surprise.
"If Mr. Filch is an Unspeakable," Minerva said, seemingly pensive, "which is really hard to believe, then he must be a fantastic actor. I wonder who he is in reality though if he's not Argus Filch in the first place."
"Oh right," Petunia spoke up, smiling, "you must know all witches and wizards who have studied magic in Britain."
"Yes," Minerva confirmed, thoughtfully.
"That would also explain why Mr. Filch refused to take the second magic potion," Severus spoke up, smirking.
"Sirius," Amelia suddenly spoke up, wearing a painful expression. "I better go to the hospital. Our daughter seems to want to actively participate in the conversation."
"Just take her to your rooms," Minerva advised Sirius, as she stood from her seat in apparent determination. "I'm going to call Poppy. She has already," she glanced around, "helped Severus, Harry, Neville and Susan into this world."
"Auntie, do you need help?" Susan enquired in apparent excitement.
"No thanks dear," Amelia replied, before she left the parlour with an enthusiastic Sirius in tow.
"Poor baby," Severus stated, "with a Marauder as his father."
"Hey," Harry protested, glaring at the Potions Master, who did not take the pun but merely cast him a challenging look.
HP
To Harry, it seemed to last an infinity, before Sirius returned to the parlour with the new-born in his arms.
"May I introduce Lily Sophia Black," he introduced his daughter, wearing a proud expression.
"Congratulations," everyone chorused, while Harry and Susan walked over to get a first glance at their goddaughter, who had just a tiny bit of black strands of hair along with blue eyes.
'She's so tiny but really cute,' Harry thought, when the baby's lower lip began to quiver and she began to scream in a voice that seemed to not match her size.
"Well, I better go and have her fed," Sirius announced and left the parlour, gently talking to the baby as he went.
"He'll make a good father," Petunia said, and everyone agreed.
"Oh well, good night everyone," Harry said and set to take Lucy outside before heading to bed. 'That was an eventful day,' he thought, while he waited for the canine to do her business. 'I was saved from a killing curse by an unknown Unspeakable, only to become a godfather just a few hours later.'
"We're going to teach Lily Sophia to become a Freg Animagus, won't we?" he whispered to Lucy, who licked his nose in confirmation.
HP
"Nott Senior and the Carrow twins died during the fight at Hogwarts last night," Regulus informed the extended family, when they all returned to the manor the following evening. "Crabbe and Goyle Senior are going to be sent to Azkaban right away, considering that they were already sentenced to a life-long stay at the prison, and Draco Malfoy will have a trial during the next week. Moody promised that he'd see to it. Harry, I'm afraid that you will have to attend the trial as a witness."
"Of course," Harry agreed, nodding in confirmation. "Will Unspeakable Whisker be there as well?" he asked, feeling slightly uncertain to attend the trial just by himself.
"I have given the information that I received from you to Croaker," Regulus replied, absentmindedly pushing an errand strand of hair out of his face. "Apparently, he was already aware of it. He said something that it was Team 13 who came to your rescue last night. Not only Whisker but the whole team will most likely attend the trial."
"Oh, that's good," Harry replied, feeling slightly consoled by the fact that he was not the sole witness.
HP
On Monday the following week, the trial against Draco Malfoy took place. Harry was glad that he did not have to go to the ministry just by himself, as Petunia was going to take the Gaunt seat on Dudley's behalf, Remus represented him on the Potter seat, and Sirius attended as the head of the Wizengamot, while a very old wizard, whom Harry did not even know, sat on the Black seat on his behalf. 'He said it was an Unspeakable. Apparently, it's not Regulus though,' he thought, as he readied himself to travel to the Ministry of Magic.
"Check if Filch is at Hogwarts, while I'm at the ministry," he instructed Dudley, before he stepped into the fireplace.
"Will do," his cousin replied in apparent understanding. "After each class, I'm going to look for him."
"Thanks," Harry mouthed, before he was whisked away in a woosh of green flames.
Due to the absence of Amelia, who was still at home with Lily Sophia, Alastor Moody led through the trial with the support of Sirius as the head of the Wizengamot and Albus Dumbledore as the Minister of Magic.
Harry was sitting in the first row of the audience, which was otherwise empty apart from a group of four Unspeakables in Unspeakable robes, who were occupying the last row. 'I wonder if Filch is one of them,' he thought, as he observed how Draco was brought into the room in chains and accompanied by four Aurors. 'I really don't like him, but as Minerva said the other day, perhaps he's just really a good actor. If so, he didn't have to be so mean though,' he mused, suddenly realising that the trial had already begun, when Alastor Moody called him up as the first witness.
"Do you want me to take Veritaserum?" Harry enquired, as he approached the old Auror.
"I don't believe that's necessary, as you're not the accused but merely a witness," Moody replied, giving him a sharp look. "Nevertheless, I expect you to tell nothing but the truth."
"Of course," Harry promised, somehow feeling excited at the thought of Draco being sent to Azkaban.
To his disappointment, Draco was only sent to the wizarding prison for five years, due to the fact that he was sixteen and would only be of age in the magical world in four months' time.
'Oh well, at least it's five years,' he thought, 'and by then, Voldemort will hopefully be gone for good.'
HP
"Filch was at Hogwarts the whole morning," Dudley informed Harry, when they met at home after the last afternoon class. "I checked multiple times."
"Oh, so Whisker is not Filch," Harry said in realisation. "How strange. I was fairly sure that it was him."
"Could he have used a time turner?" Hermione spoke up, thoughtfully. "Like I did in our third year?"
"That might be possible, but would he go to such lengths?" Harry asked, sceptically.
"To secure his identity?" Luna spoke up, wide-eyed. "He certainly would. The identity is one of the main advantages of an Unspeakable."
"Why don't you simply corner him and ask in private?" Susan suggested.
"He'd only obliviate you," Hermione reasoned, giving Harry a concerned look.
"He probably would," Harry replied, letting out a deep sigh.
HP
Voldemort only seemed to realise that Draco's plan had failed, when the Daily Prophet reported about the youngest Death Eater who had been sent to Azkaban.
"They all failed me!" he shouted at the small group of his remaining Death Eaters. "All members of my inner circle are back in Azkaban or dead, and what is the worst is that it's all their own fault. Absolute idiots!"
"I'm sorry, my Lord," a thin voice spoke up, and Harry looked over the dozen masked Death Eaters in a faint attempt to see to whom it belonged.
"Sorry is not good enough," Voldemort roared. "Perhaps I should abandon you all and resort to family connections in the future."
Harry listened in surprise to the words that came out of his own mouth, feeling relieved but also confused, when the vision ended.
"Voldemort seems a bit depressed tonight," he informed the others, who were looking at him in apparent concern, only to add in amusement, "He threatened his remaining Death Eaters to abandon them in favour of family connections," he added, glancing at Petunia. "Whatever that means."
HP
February 1959
Rebecca Lestrange eyed Paul's bride with a combination of interest and disgust. 'It's bad enough that he marries anyone but me, but how can he marry a muggle?' she thought in pure exasperation, as she glanced around, realising that the whole wedding ceremony seemed to be a muggle event. 'Oh well, I should have guessed as much, considering that the event is taking place at a muggle address,' she thought, somehow feeling stupid. 'I wished Artemis was here, so we could go through this together,' she thought, somehow missing her best friend.
Six months of Unspeakable training on top of the exquisite education by her father during the school holidays enabled her to use Legilimency subtly enough to not have people realise what she was doing.
When the bride was sufficiently distracted by the ceremony, Rebecca used an instant, when Rose let her eyes wander over the crowd of guests, even if unfocused, to subtly enter her mind.
What she saw in the muggle's mind came as an absolute shock. While she had expected scenes of falling in love with Paul, she observed in horror how a dark figure grabbed the eighteen-year-old muggle fiancée of Paul Evans, as soon as she left his house, and apparated away with her. Rebecca observed in horror how the muggle was consecutively raped by none other than Voldemort. Shortly later, the young woman realised that a baby was the result of said rape.
'If I only had known sooner, I could have warned Paul that the woman only wants to marry him to have a father for her baby,' she thought, feeling completely shocked. 'Oh well, that's not exactly true, as she was already his fiancée, when it happened,' she reasoned with herself. 'On top of everything, the baby is the child of Voldemort, the evillest wizard there is,' her mind screamed, only to recall, 'Voldemort is wrong though. Rose is not the heir of Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Paul is the heir. He's not muggleborn like everyone assumed at Hogwarts, and Voldemort got that mixed up. So much about pureblood dominancy if he's even too stupid to do proper research. Oh well, Rose probably doesn't even know that Paul is a wizard,' she realised in exasperation.
Rebecca's thoughts went haywire. While she wanted to hate the woman by all means for stealing Paul from her, she could not bring herself to not feel sorry for the muggle. 'It's a miracle that she's alive at all, after Voldemort got her into his hands,' she realised. As soon as she could, she unobtrusively left the wedding and returned home, deep in thoughts, resolving to keep in contact with Paul and Rose if only to prevent the baby from becoming evil like his or her father.
HP
When Devil ended training for the newbies on Monday, Rebecca urged Artemis into the ministry canteen, where she cast extensive security and silencing charms around the two of them, before she told her best friend what she had discovered during the wedding.
"The baby is Voldemort's?" Artemis asked in apparent disbelief.
"Yes. I'm sure. We've seen pictures of him often enough to recognise him, and he also told Rose as much, when he falsely informed her that she was a Squib," Rebecca confirmed, feeling slightly impatient. "What if it becomes evil like him?"
Artemis let out a scoff. "Why would the baby become evil?" he asked, incredulously. "A child's behaviour is usually trained by the parents but not by heritage," he replied, quirking an eyebrow. "As long as Voldemort doesn't have contact to the baby, it should be all right."
"And if not?" Rebecca asked, shaking her head in annoyance. "Sorry Artemis, but I'm not going to leave anything to chance. I will do some research and cast charms at the baby to negate its magic if it has any. Will you help me? Please?"
"All right," Artemis finally gave in. "Perhaps we must cast the charms together, so that they'll be strong enough anyway," he added as an afterthought. "Voldemort's magic must be quite strong."
"Thanks Artemis, you're the best," Rebecca replied, feeling very much consoled at her best friend's promise.
HP
During the following months, Rebecca kept good contact to Paul and his wife and was even asked to become the baby's godmother, which she, however, politely refused. Nevertheless, she visited Rose on the day, on which she had given birth to her daughter, Petunia. After fawning about the brat for a few minutes, she wandlessly cast a sleeping charm at the mother, before she cast a series of strong charms at the baby to bind her magic. Only when she felt contented that the baby's magic was sufficiently bound, she unobtrusively enervated Rose again, who cast her a confused look and apologized for drifting off for a moment.
"Are you sure that you don't want to become her godmother?" the muggle enquired, giving her a sad look.
"I'm sure," Rebecca replied in a firm voice, considering, 'I can't be the godmother of the baby if I have to bind her magic every now and then to prevent her from becoming evil like her father.'
"Why not?" Rose asked. "Paul said you were one of his best friends."
"I know who her father is," Rebecca replied in a barely audible voice, before she got a grip on herself and said, "Oh well, I wish you and the baby all the best, and I believe that you'll be better off without me as the godmother."
Shortly afterwards, she took her leave and never visited the Evans again. However, making herself invisible under her Unspeakable robes, she kept a close eye on the family, and once a year, she kept casting charms at the baby to bind its magic together with Artemis. 'Perhaps, my magic alone would be strong enough; however, I'd prefer to be safe rather than sorry, and Artemis really is the best friend I could wish for,' she thought.
HP
After three years of Unspeakable training, their training with Devil was finished. "Congratulations, Felina and Whisker," Croaker addressed Rebecca and Artemis, "you have finished your Unspeakable training with success. We're happy with your overall performance, and we'd like to further employ you as Unspeakables if that's what you wish. Provided that you wish to continue working with us, which I very much hope, you will belong now to Team 13."
"Excuse me, sir," Artemis spoke up, seemingly pensive. "I'd like to speak with you about something, which should remain private. Felina already partly knows about it. I've been thinking of giving up my real identity for some reasons and take on a new identity."
"Please explain," Croaker replied, giving him an encouraging nod.
Artemis let out a deep sigh. "I'd like to take the identity of a Squib, and the other day, I read that they're looking for a caretaker at Hogwarts. I could try to get into the position as a Squib and still work for Team 13," he explained, giving Croaker a questioning look.
'A Squib?' Rebecca thought in surprise. "Life as a Squib is not easy," she warned him. "I Know that from my younger sister, who is a Squib and was abandoned to the muggle world by our family."
"Well, you know that I don't have a family anymore. My father gave the family name and everything to my older brother. Dorte, with whom I fell in love many years ago, married a muggle, some Mr. Norris," Artemis explained, wearing an expression of pure disgust, "and went off to Australia with him. I only have my life as an Unspeakable and you as my best friend," he continued, sounding sad.
"Whatever you do, I'm always going to be your friend," Rebecca promised, smiling.
"As of today, Artemis Nott is dead," Artemis continued. "He died fighting Voldemort in spite of his family reputation. I'm going to be a Squib." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "I've thought about a new name for a while. What do you think about, for example, Argus Filch?"
"As good as any other name," Croaker confirmed, smiling.
"I wanted to at least keep the first two letters of my name," Artemis admitted in a small voice. "Does that make sense?"
"It does and I like it," Rebecca replied, thoughtfully. "The name matches your personality. Are you going to change your look as well?"
"Yeah, wait," Artemis replied, smirking. "I've practised a lot, but it's still not perfect."
Rebecca observed with interest how his features changed to that of an older man with light brown hair.
"Wow, not even I would recognise you, and I've been your best friend since our first day at Hogwarts," she replied in amazement at his clever disguise.
"Very impressive, Mr. Filch," Croaker confirmed. "Do you want me to change the data with the Ministry of Magic? I will have the papers for your new identity issued right afterwards then."
"Thank you very much for your help," Artemis replied in apparent determination.
"What about you, Felina?" Croaker enquired, giving her a questioning look.
"I'd also love to continue working in Team 13," Rebecca confirmed, smiling, "even if I don't intend to deny my identity."
"Rebecca, are you sure?" Artemis enquired, giving her a concerned look. "Considering who your brothers are…"
To Rebecca's relief, he did not continue what he was going to say. "I know, they're really evil. Oh well, I could imagine changing my name, but I'm not going to pretend being a muggle or Squib."
"You don't have to," Croaker said, gently.
HP
From the first of August onwards, Felina and Whisker joined Team 13 of the Unspeakables. A month later, Argus Filch began his other job as caretaker at Hogwarts.
"Believe me, you're better off as a witch," he told Rebecca, when they met at the Unspeakables' Office on Sunday morning. "Even the elven-year-olds look down at me for not having magic. Stupid kids," he added, sounding grumpy enough for Rebecca to chuckle.
"Sorry for laughing dear, but it was your own choice," she quipped, feeling contented with their new roles.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome. My muse really appreicates the feedback.
Next chapter: "Horcruxes".