Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you can recognise from any books or TV series or movies. I do however take liberties with the plots or mentions provided by JKR or other writers. The only profit I'm getting out of it is improving my English.
Title: Secrets & Keepers – Supernova
Rating/Warnings: R/M [AU; identity crisis; teenage rebellion; canon typical violence; profanity; discussion of and references to past events of gore nature; references to off-screen original character deaths; pure-blood propaganda; references to past sexual abuse of a minor - no description of thereof just statement that such a thing took place]
Characters and pairings: Hermione Granger with the Granger family and wide assortment of original characters (some of which were referenced in Secrets & Keepers – Collision Curse) and surprise guest appearances from canon characters. References to Collision Course pairings and a couple of minor OC pairings. No Hermione's pairings aside of brief mentions about her crush on Lockhart.
Summary: Hermione learns the hard way that there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around. It's a story of multiple crises starting from identity, trust in one's loved ones, the trust which one's friend put in one. It's a story of doubts which people voice about other people. It's a story of friendships that are forged in crisis. It's also a love story as much as a story about love. A pre-PoA AU.
Word count: About 8700.
Spoilers: Canon spoilers for PS/SS, CoS and pre-Hogwarts PoA. Linked to but doesn't require reading of Secrets & Keepers – Collision Course.
Chapter summary: Arcturus talks with Hermione about Dumbledore.
AN: I had great fun writing this chapter because as serious as it is Arcturus keeps it funny (depending from the point of view). It's a necessary moment of levity between two very emotional chapters. And there are only four chapters left. Like I already promised Hermione gets her retribution for chapters 13, 14 and 15 in chapter 16.
The story updates on Tuesday and Thursday.
I hope that You will find this story enjoyable. I would be the most grateful for constructive criticism.
Beta read by Regnbuen
Secrets & Keepers - Supernova
Chapter fourteen: 8th July 1993
8th July 1993, 39 Grimmauld Place, London
Arcturus directed her towards the kitchen at the end of the hall, and once there to the table right on the opposite side to the door. The room was painted in a pale yellow colour with white trimmings and accents. The cupboards, just like the table and chairs, were white, and surprisingly the kitchen was filled with Muggle appliances. There was a fridge of modest size like the one in Hermione's own kitchen, a big stove with couple of ovens, and next to the sink by the windows she spotted a modest sized dishwasher, Mum's dream for which she was constantly saving money, but she always kept finding things that were more important than buying one.
While Hermione seated herself at the table, on the comfortable and invitingly looking window seat that was filled with pillows, Arcturus headed towards the kitchen and with an ease that seemed quite weird of a man of his age and upbringing in such typically Muggle place he prepared a pot of tea.
"So what do you have against Dumbledore?" asked Hermione curiously once Arcturus placed a tray with a pot and cups on the table and seated himself on the opposite side of the table to Hermione.
"Doctor it to your own liking," he said simply before he poured himself a cup and added a spoonful of sugar. Then he sighed quite heavily before he finally muttered, "It's more like what I don't have against Dumbledore."
"But he's Dumbledore," protested Hermione, without much of a heat, the idea of Dumbledore hiding a godfather from Harry didn't sit very well with her amongst other things she resolutely decided not to think about at the moment.
"And therein lies the problem," replied Arcturus grimly. "But in order to understand my complicated feelings towards the Headmaster first we need to travel back in time to the turn of century. Albus was the classmate of an uncle of mine, Phineas Black and while they ran in different circles as classmates often do, they were aware of each other and each other's connections. Albus was the oldest of three children of Percival and Kendra Dumbledore, an old pureblood and a supposed Muggleborn."
"Supposed?" asked Hermione sceptically. "You mean that she tried to pass as someone of magical ancestry?"
"As she had a right to do," said Arcturus with a nod. "I'm uncertain of her actual roots but when pressed my grandfather admitted that as a student Kendra although of Muggle surname and background showed signs of magic that was particular to members of a died out house of de Caprice. The last known descendants of it were two squibs so it's highly possible that one of them might have father one of Kendra's ancestors although I have no idea which one nor have I devoted my time and attention to finding that out. Her heritage doesn't really matter as much as her children. Three of them she had, Albus, Aberforth and Ariana, roughly two years apart between each other. When Ariana was six she was viciously attacked by three Muggle boys for doing accidental magic in front of them. I'm uncertain of the extent of the trauma she suffered other than that her condition afterwards was so severe that Percival, abandoning all of the sense and sensibility of a wizard of his upbringing had went after them in a savage and well-publicised attack that was considered as an act of prejudice against Muggles. For that he was sentenced to a life sentence in Azkaban where he eventually died."
"And their children?" asked Hermione pensively.
"Kendra moved them away to Godric's Hollow, a wizarding enclave in the West Country. It was never a purely wizarding village but the ratio of wizards to Muggles was always skewed heavily in the favour of the former. The Muggles of the area however never found their magical neighbours threatening so they only considered them as slightly barmy but helpful when one required assistance of doctors or builders or whatever. Not that it mattered to Kendra. What I think mattered to her was that her family was unknown in that part of the country and that she could raise her children there without being judged for her husband's actions. She went as far as rebuffing the efforts of the most of her neighbours in allowing them to befriend the family and as far as I can tell she only had one close confidant there, Bathilda Bagshot."
"Wait, do you mean Bathilda Bagshot, the author of History of Magic?" asked Hermione curiously.
"The same one," nodded Arcturus. "The old bat is still alive even," he added with a grimace. "Completely batty though, has been for a while. Reliable for talking about stuff that happened fifty or more years ago but any closer than that the more senile her ramblings get. Believe me I tried."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"Because I was looking for dirt on Dumbledore," replied Arcturus grimly. "Something which I considered as necessary even when I was still rather young. I heard many stories from Uncle Phineas about Albus. Even as a child of your age he was quite bright and powerful, a house-misplaced Ravenclaw, as my Uncle believed him to be, while my Grandfather and his Headmaster considered him as a house-misplaced Slytherin. He was insanely bright, very powerful for his age and very ambitious, on top of that he had a clout that his parents had lacked and was capable of easily securing a favour with everyone and their house-elves. And that was when he still was a student so my family quite diligently paid attention to him because he always seemed like someone who would end up making a mark on this century."
"Well, he has," admitted Hermione.
"Eventually," snorted Arcturus. "As a relatively fresh graduate of Hogwarts I was given by my father the responsibilities that he despised. One of them was the family seat in Hogwarts's Board of Governors. During my Grandfather's tenure as Headmaster I was all but a regular member of the board until the very last term of his tenure. You see, Hogwarts's Board of Governors is a body whose primary job is keeping a leash on whichever Headmaster or Headmistress that helms the school. It consists of twelve people but there are three, four members that have an actual saying in how the school is run. One of them is the Head of the Board, their responsibility is dealing with the Ministry of Magic on the subject of magical education, and ever since I can remember it has always been led by an idiot with very little clout, as was the position of the Deputy, also handed to bumbling idiots. The remaining two are the Secretary, a position that for many years remained in the hands of people that could quote laws and decrees regarding magical schooling. In my days it was in the hands of Damocles Greengrass, an acquaintance, and a very, very, very distant relative of mine. Then there's position of Treasurer, that in my days, as a regular member of the board had been passed around like a hot coal until I applied for it."
"And?" asked Hermione.
"Then I realised why it was such an unpopular position," replied Arcturus dryly. "All hard work and no prestige on the top of regularly dealing with a Headmaster or Headmistress. My Grandfather during his tenure was a decent manager, the budget was the law and because the budget was shitty he therefore gained the notoriety of the Worst Headmaster that Hogwarts has had. He believed that Hogwarts shouldn't look for alternative funding other than what it received from the Ministry, private donors or from accepting Muggleborn students. That was another thing for which he gained his moniker. Upon Damocles's pressing he eventually conceded to allow the entrance of one Muggleborn per year free of charge provided that the child showed a promise via evaluation received by both their Muggle and also Hogwarts's teachers."
"Why would he do that?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Pureblood," said Arcturus with a shrug. "A very status conscious pureblood that believed that Hogwarts should accept only those Muggleborn students that could either afford the schooling or showed enough promise that they could continue being funded by the Support for Muggleborns Committee. The statute of Hogwarts demands that the Headmaster or Headmistress accept every student that applies for Hogwarts as their school, Muggleborns included, but the statute also allows feeing them, their parents to be precise, for finding placement for students that have no familial connections to Hogwarts graduates. The Committee when it was first initiated was a response to what they perceived as a too hefty cost of schooling, it used to run on donations, very little on Ministerial donation and far more heavily on donations from citizens, most often former graduates of similar background. But they could never afford supporting more than five Muggleborns per each class when they were at their best and at their worst they could only support one such a student per year."
"What about the others?" asked Hermione grimly. "Were they thrown into the Forbidden Forest?"
"No," snorted Arcturus. "The families of those that could afford it paid for the schooling of their children, those that showed promise in any field found the support of their teachers in finding donations. Aidan O'Leary was such a student. He came from a poor Muggle family but from the first year he showed a lot of promise in the field of Herbology, but somehow he managed to slip through the cracks of the system as another far more promising student had received the support of the Committee at the time. However with the support of his Herbology teacher he received funding from private benefactors."
"What about those that couldn't afford it?" asked Hermione.
"Well, they finished their first year at Hogwarts, but if they were mediocre students and not socially smart enough to secure connections with any family that was willing to contribute to funding their schooling, they eventually had to be reassigned to the other schools. Another thing for which my grandfather gained his moniker," said Arcturus and he grimaced.
"So if I was at Hogwarts at the time and I failed to come on top of my classes and then if I failed to secure a benefactor I would have been simply relegated from the school to a different one?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"No," replied Arcturus. "If we're treating you like you would have been treated a century ago you would belong to the list of named beneficiaries. The cost of your Hogwarts schooling has been paid in advance by Miranda…
"Wait," Hermione interrupted him. "My parents are paying the Hogwarts fees," she protested.
"Do they?" asked Arcturus sceptically.
"Yes," said Hermione quickly. "Dad was a bit taken aback by the cost but they're paying the whole thing. Five hundred galleons per year."
"Interesting," muttered Arcturus.
"Why are they paying if I'm a named beneficiary?" she asked sceptically.
"An excellent question," said Arcturus sourly. "But before I will try to answer let me come back to my dealings…"
"Do we have to?" she asked pointedly.
"It will make more sense if I first finish that and then answer your question," he replied and after she nodded slowly he continued. "My Grandfather as a Headmaster and for many years prior, member of the Board of Governors, always believed that Hogwarts should be completely Ministry founded and the only wizarding school in the realm. He was a frugal administrative, too frugal even, till the point of whispers being made that the only reason why teachers weren't getting their raises was because he was squirreling something on the side for himself. That, wasn't true because his problem lay elsewhere, he simply was against treating Hogwarts as a company that should generate an income. It was a bone of contention between the two of us for many years that eventually culminated in his announcement that he would retire once the school year would finish. He was eventually replaced by Armando Dippet, a good teacher and decent administrative far more open to my suggestions. Under his command Hogwarts underwent a major change in budget and little by little started funding itself. It wasn't much, mind you, but compared to my Grandfather it was a vast improvement, and Dippet had enough clout to put his foot down when necessary. The Ministry wants to borrow something from Hogwarts? Sure we can do that, for a fee. What? You were never asked for a fee before? Well that's too bad, so either improve Hogwarts's funding or pay for borrowing what you want."
"How much of that was really Dippet and how much was you?" asked Hermione pensively.
"In the beginning?" asked Arcturus sheepishly. "It was me, Dippet was a decent administrative but no genius. He learned fast though and required onl minimal coaching. He quickly saw that supplementing Hogwarts's budget improved the mood of his teachers. Potions and Herbology in particular benefited from his approach. Then there was his unofficial Deputy Headmaster, our Head of House, Horace Slughorn, a man of many connections and a sixth sense for acquiring funding."
"Why unofficial though?" interrupted him Hermione.
"Because he loved the perks but hated the hard work. That was given to the official Deputy, Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore dealt with administrative side of the equation while Slughorn handled the social side. He was a miracle worker that wrangled out of the Ministry the support for Third Class masteries, something which sadly went away from Hogwarts with him. Granted only the best and most dedicated students could apply and graduate from that, but over the years he spent at Hogwarts he had built quite a network of very grateful students."
"And Dumbledore?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"I will have to give him that," said Arcturus sourly. "Dumbledore was a very good professor and due to his talents he was one of Dippet's treasures. A one man orchestra whose talents had stretched over all the core classes, he could substitute for any teacher from those subjects. He had a sixth sense for approaching every class and was a very benevolent and forgiving Head of the House."
"That's good, isn't it?" asked Hermione.
"It's neither good or bad," said Arcturus with a grimace. "At the very least it has gained him quite a following of very obliged and grateful former students over the years. Dippet recommended both him and Slughorn for the position to the board when he started talking about retiring, many years before he actually did so. Slughorn point blank refused. He liked social acclaim but hated administrative work, he always felt more at ease as a grey eminency rather than a man in charge. Can't fault him for that really. Then there was the whole business with destroying Grindelwald, and by the time Dippet actually retired Dumbledore was widely considered as his most likely successor."
"Which you didn't like," interjected Hermione.
"It's not a matter of liking as much as wariness, Hermione," replied Arcturus stiffly. "I didn't know him all that well and the things I did know about him made me wary of the man. He point blank refused the offer of becoming the next Minister for Magic but he didn't refuse the Wizengamot seat that was also offered. For a man that claimed that he didn't want political power he quite quickly made his way from a regular member through key positions in Wizengamot until he was elected as my contra-candidate in the elections for Chief Warlock. A job I coveted not only for its own splendour but for my vision of the reforms."
"Then why you didn't run for it?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Problems of personal nature," said Arcturus with a grimace. "They showed me quite keenly that while I was ready for the reforms my family was not."
"Why?" pressed Hermione.
"My father was an elitist, he never publicly supported Grindelwald but his ideas were right up my father's alley," said Arcturus grimly. "He believed in the superiority of wizardfolk over Muggles, and as a pureblood he believed in the superiority of those of magical ancestry over those that didn't have one. And while I was raised as an elitist I was blessed with securing the affection of a woman of a noble ancestry for my family bloodline and less regarded egalitarian beliefs. Granted it took her a lot of time to convert me completely but at the time when talks of the upcoming election rolled around I was ready. However in my arrogance I failed to realise that while I was an egalitarian my family was not, what was even worse at the time, I had no heir that would eventually take over my position."
"Because you didn't trust Orion," said Hermione with a nod.
"Not with this, not without eventually undermining everything I would have worked towards, and then there was the Dark Lord," he said with a grimace.
"How did you find him?" asked Hermione curiously.
"On our first meeting, way before he had risen in power, I found him an interesting individual of considerable talent but too little political value. Then there were his ideas which weren't up my alley so I point blank refused to support him. Told him that he was a man of too little political value. The mistake that I made in my arrogance was telling him to come back when he had more to show for than his own talents," said Arcturus and he reached for his tea before he took a very long sip.
"And he took it as an invitation," said Hermione.
"Unfortunately," said Arcturus grimly. "By the time he returned to darken my doorstep he was a man of many connections with quite a following. However, he petitioned for a private audience and I reluctantly granted him that. Luckily for me, as rotten as he already was at the time, he was conscious of where he was and with whom. He knew that if he tried to do something in my own house the wards of the manor would have fried him on the spot. That's why I felt comfortable with telling him no once more, and once again I fell victim to my own arrogance. During the meeting I led him to believe that I would eventually support him and take his mark if he managed to convince the entire family to do so."
"And how did that work out for you?" asked Hermione with a barely suppressed snort.
Instead of answering Arcturus removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeve of the left arm of his shirt. His skin was pale and unmarred by anything. Apparently the gesture was supposed to mean something but Hermione wasn't sure what it was.
"No mark," said Arcturus in clarification. "Luckily for me the Dark Lord proved to be a misogynist, and while he hadn't failed in securing the loyalty of my cousin and his son he had failed to take into account that when I said the entire family I meant the entire family. I could and was prepared to play this game forever. Not that it didn't come back to bite me eventually. As the years passed the Dark Lord secured the devotion of Bella, easily achieved really, as madness gravitates towards madness. But Regulus," he paused and sighed heavily, "I was so ashamed of him when I saw the mark on his skin."
"And Sirius?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"Not marked either," replied Arcturus.
"Impossible," protested Hermione. "He sold the Potters to Vol- the Dark Lord, he murdered their friend and twelve innocent people."
"Debatable," snorted Arcturus. "And we will come back to that once we're done with Dumbledore."
"You're unbelievable," snorted Hermione.
"No, I just like cleaning up one mess at the time. It's more thorough that way," replied Arcturus with a small smirk. "Where I was? Ah, Dumbledore's rise in political power," he added pensively. "Not something that sit very well with me since I was always a firm believer that a man with one head shouldn't acquire too many hats. Burdening someone with too many responsibilities has never done anyone any good. Dippet was as much of a politician as long as Hogwarts business was concerned. Aside from being better than my grandfather was at the job he wanted no more recognition. He liked his work, his colleagues, he did a lot of good for Hogwarts."
"And Dumbledore?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Dumbledore received the honour early in January of 1965 while he was already Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, a deputy position to the Supreme Mugwump which he also received a couple years later. He was a recipient of an Order of Merlin, First Class and of similar titles in Germany and France. In January 1957 he turned over his long-standing post of Transfiguration Professor to Minerva McGonagall and instead took over Professor Stuart Terralot's post. Terralot was a replacement of Professor Merrythought, a widely regarded and acclaimed Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Stu while a decent instructor couldn't really measure up, neither with his predecessor or replacement, then there was his most unfortunate flaw…"
"Let me guess, stutter?" asked Hermione pensively.
"How did you know?" asked Arcturus with a small smirk.
"Stu Terralot," said Hermione with a snort.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Arcturus dryly. "The Terralots were an ancient and noble family from Italy whose younger son had fallen in love with Margaret Macmillan, a distant cousin of my wife. Stuart was her baby brother's name, poor thing died couple of days after he was born and Margaret wanted to honour the memory of him by naming her son Stuart."
"Yeah, right," muttered Hermione.
"I kid you not," said Arcturus with a smile. "But yeah, unfortunately he did stutter, and a lot at that, so everybody was relieved when he accepted a position as an Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic leaving the post empty."
"For Dumbledore," said Hermione with a nod.
"For anyone willing to take it," said Arcturus with a shrug. "Whoever accepted the position had quite big shoes to fill. Merrythought taught at Hogwarts for fifty years, and from under her wings flew out many competent Aurors, Hit-wizards and Unspeakables. Dumbledore wasn't the only candidate that Dippet had for the post but as a former student of Merrythought and defeater of Grindelwald he was the best one."
"So all of that worked in his favour when Dippet eventually retired," said Hermione.
"Yes, it did," said Arcturus with a grimace. "It's the Minister for Magic that appoints the Headmaster of Hogwarts, but aside of their own whims they tend to rely on the recommendations from the Board of Governors. The Board, per Dippet's recommendation and against his own wishes had recommended Slughorn as well as Dumbledore. Both received six votes each and we were unable to settle on one."
"Why Slughorn though?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Man of one head and one hat, egalitarian beliefs but not as radically voiced as Dumbledore's, far better at making connections and a financial genius within his own right," replied Arcturus simply. "I wasn't the only person who believed that Dumbledore's other responsibilities would make Hogwarts suffer, and unfortunately we were right. Quite quickly after Dumbledore's appointment it became evident that while he gave Hogwarts the prestige, he did hardly anything else. All administrative matters had quickly befallen on his Deputy, a young and energetic Minerva McGonagall who had taken to additional duties like duck to water. By the time Sirius and the others headed to Hogwarts the lass was a de facto Headmistress of Hogwarts. Unfortunately budget was still something that had to be handled with Dumbledore."
"Which I'm sure provided a lot of tension between you two," commented Hermione.
"Tension just doesn't cover it," said Arcturus with a grimace. "We butted heads over everything. Like his idea to pay the teachers' salary annually, a very stupid idea that I eventually managed to knock out of his head after the grand disaster of seven Defence Against the Dark Arts professors of 1965/66."
"Seven?" whispered Hermione.
"Yup," said Arcturus popping the p with a coy smile. "A retired instructor from Auror Training that decided that teaching children would be less stressful than teaching Aurors. Supposedly a good teacher but not a single student was able to check it out as on the 1st September 1965, a couple of hours after the feast, he suffered a heart-attack so massive that on the morning of 2nd September he had been found dead. Albus, the idiot, paid him for the year in advance. Number two arrived within a week and was a recent graduate from the Second Class Defence Mastery program. A charming young lass that quickly developed a connection with the Head Boy, a very deep connection as it turned out, because in early November it was discovered that she had gotten herself knocked up and upon pressing she admitted whose child it was. So she had gotten the boot as well as a yearly salary. Her replacement, luckily for the female population had no interest in female students but when he was discovered in flagrante delicto with a sixth year Gryffindor prefect, a boy, he had been very sternly advised to resign before the word would get out. He too received the entire salary upon his arrival. Number four arrived over Christmas break. A retired former Auror with a young and already increasing wife, for a change. Two months into his teaching career she gave birth, to quadruplets, and very sternly put her foot down about having her husband help her. So off they went…"
"With the yearly salary," said Hermione with a nod.
"Number five taught only for two weeks before he fell from a moving staircase while he was sleep-walking and broke his neck. He also received the entire salary that was eventually inherited by his mother," said Arcturus sourly. "Number six was some sort of acquaintance of both Dumbledore and Slughorn, but he lasted no more than a month before he disappeared from Hogwarts with the yearly salary and a collection of rare books. Number seven eventually became Dumbledore himself."
"And he awarded himself with the yearly salary for the job," supplied Hermione.
"Yes, he did, and by the time the end of the school year rolled around I managed to successfully convince the board to threaten Dumbledore with a petition to remove him from the position if he wouldn't stop with the nonsense of paying annual salaries upon entrance rather than on a month to month basis. He eventually succumbed and even readily accepted the return of Professor Merrythought. Galatea held that position between the school year of 1966/1967 until the end of the school year of 1971/72 when she announced that this time she was retiring for good and no amount of cajoling and outright bribery would convince her to remain there," said Arcturus and he grimaced before he continued. "Meanwhile Dumbledore found himself another way to swindle money out of the board. The thievery had presented him with quite an excuse. He set himself to secure copies of all of the books that went missing. The board managed to dampen his enthusiasm by donating or lending some of their own copies but some of them had to be purchased eventually."
"And how did that go?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Very well for Dumbledore but not that well for me. When I was presented with figures that Dumbledore supposedly paid for them I was taken aback. You see, they were rare and valuable but considering their age most of them were largely outdated but were kept for the benefit of advanced students and professors themselves. One of them, an old alchemy text, written in a mix of Latin and Gaelic, and in mirror handwriting supposedly cost one thousand galleons. Luckily, as at the time I thought, Dumbledore purchased it from an aspiring potioneer, a younger son of one of the members of the Wizengamot. When I asked the lad himself about the cost of the book he confirmed Dumbledore's version but when I leaned quite heavily on his father he admitted to me during a private conversation that he sold the book for half of the price that Dumbledore claimed to pay," replied Arcturus sourly.
"Did you confront Dumbledore about it?" asked Hermione.
"Obviously," snorted Arcturus. "I was assured that one thousand galleons was what he paid for it and when I arranged a confrontation between the four of us the lad had changed his tune and claimed that he got for it a one thousand galleons."
"Did he?" quipped Hermione.
"Most likely not," said Arcturus with a snort. "I'm uncertain what Dumbledore had on him but quite shortly after the confrontation the lad was offered a teaching position at a renowned, experimental Healer Training in the United States of America and hadn't been back to this side of the Atlantic since," he added sourly. "I could and should have pressed harder but I had other issues at the time and my own actual work. I dismissed it as a solitary incident but I remained quite wary of every financial claim that Dumbledore made since then. Then came the first part of the Lupin debacle, the boy's arrival to Hogwarts. It started in the late winter of 1971 when Dumbledore admitted to the four of us that he planned to invite a werewolf to Hogwarts. He presented a lot of convincing arguments in favour, he told us that the child was of magical descend, one of his parents was a Hogwarts graduate and that preventive measures would be taken to separate the child from other students on the days surrounding the full moon."
"So you conceded," said Hermione.
"Eventually," admitted Arcturus with a sigh. "Under Damocles's advice. We had no grounds to deny the child access to knowledge, not if it wanted to be taught, and not with Dumbledore's assurance that the safety of the other students would be protected. We didn't ask for the name of the child, to not allow personal bias to affect our decision. But the boy's entrance to Hogwarts hung by a thread as soon as Dumbledore had given us the cost of adapting the school to the boy's special needs."
"Let me guess, one thousand galleons?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"How did you guess?" asked Arcturus in mock surprise.
"I had a hunch," she answered with a shrug. "He ended up at Hogwarts so how did you solve that problem?"
"We did not," said Arcturus sourly. "I had. The other three, cowards," he snorted, "immediately decided that suddenly the decision to adapt the school or not belonged to me. Although I was advised by Damocles to consider it in the boy's favour. You see he had a vexed interest in a successful conclusion of that experiment," he added with a grimace.
"What kind of an interest?" asked Hermione curiously.
"Damocles had lost his first, pregnant wife to a werewolf attack that happened just off the grounds of their estate. One would think that such a tragedy would have turned him against the entire population of lycanthropes," replied Arcturus. "Weirdly, it did not. He wasn't very vocal with his beliefs and he was far from being a radical supporter of werewolf rights. However he believed that every case should be considered on individual grounds. Most werewolves live in packs, some younger, some older. Most of the packs aren't problematic. They hold their own territories and they hardly ever leave them. They have their own culture, their own customs and history. They educate their children to the best to their ability. Some of them carry wands but most rely on the wandless magic they or their pack members can produce. They don't bother wizardfolk and most of the wizardfolk don't bother them. The problem are the outcasts, those from the packs hardly ever survive being cast out of the pack. The leaders know that one rebellious pack member can endanger the entire pack so they deal with disobedience with extreme prejudice."
"That's…" started Hermione.
"Harsh but necessary," interrupted her Arcturus sternly. "Consider it from their perspective. One bad apple can spoil the entire basket and one hot-headed idiot is capable of endangering the entire pack. In the face of eradication of the entire community, getting rid of a troublesome individual is the wisest thing they can do. It's not exactly right but it's a lesser evil."
"But?" asked Hermione because she felt one coming.
"The problems arise when one bad apple actually does spoil the entire basket," said Arcturus sourly. "Happens when the pack leader is too old or too frail. A man of charisma and physical strength is capable of poisoning the minds of younglings and threatening the old wolves. Such packs hardly ever live long because if they aren't eradicated by wizards then the surrounding packs take care of the problem. But every once and again you get someone like Fenrir Greyback. A wolf of a taste for human meat and blood, a psychopath that usurped the power of his old pack and led it to its eradication. A survivor of a handful attempts at his life, by both wizards and wolves. He was responsible for many vicious attacks over the years and killed and sired many. Sadly, mostly children. Some, luckily for them were claimed by the packs from the area but some, like Lupin had been, had no support system in the form of a pack. Damocles in them saw a chance for bridging the gap between wizardfolk and lycanthropes."
"And all that he needed was proof that a werewolf child could be taught to become a valuable member of wizarding society," said Hermione with a nod.
"Hence his support for the case," confirmed Arcturus. "He put me in a very tight spot and I had to find a way that would have pleased most of the parties. So I told all of them that I would think about it and that Dumbledore should hold up with delivering the letter until he heard from me. What I had ended up doing pleased most of the parties involved. I took the plan that Dumbledore presented to us and completely removed the costs he claimed were necessary. For a secure location for the boy's transformation he settled on the long unused Huntsman's Cottage, a house located halfway between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, secluded from both. The foundations were stable even though the house was quite old and rickety. But the initial structure was sound and with a little reinforcement it could contain one werewolf inside the house under heavy wards. For that I went to your grandfather to cash out an old favour, I leaned on him quite heavily and offered the supplies he deemed necessary. Anchor stones for the wards came from my own vaults and all the wardwork was done by both of us. I supplied the necessary furniture, not that I expected it to last long but all the kid needed was a bed to collapse into after the transformation. Of that I have no shortage either at the manor or other properties. Once done with the house we built a passage between the house and the school grounds. We found a nice and removed entrance point and procured a guardian that would discourage too curious students from heading down that passage."
"Like say a Whomping Willow?" asked Hermione pensively, convinced that there had to be a reason for the presence of such a weird tree on the grounds.
"An exotic species of fauna which one of my forefathers brought from his voyages. We had an entire copse of those on one of our very rarely used properties, so hardly anyone knew how to neutralise them. We use them in our basket weaving manufacture, it's a relatively small one but has always been very profitable. That particular willow very readily accepts anti-thievery enchantments, and baskets made from it are the most secure ones you can find on the market, even these days," replied Arcturus.
"And here you are, self-advertising," quipped Hermione dryly.
"Well, I can take pride from the fruits of the labour of the companies under my wing. Not that I have ever done any actual basket weaving. That particular honour belongs to Willow and Whomping, the pair of elves that run it along with their children and their grandchildren. They have completely taken over that house over the years and I saw no reason in butting in. Willow leads the company with an iron hand and with my blessing transformed the place from a summer family home into an elven manor with adjacent manufacture, and they were starting off in an old derelict stable," said Arcturus with a smirk.
"You benefit from their work," pointed out Hermione. "What about them? How do they benefit from it?"
"Obviously you don't know Willow," said Arcturus dryly. "One day I will have to introduce you to her, Louise, and Tommy, and many, many others. But not today. Willow always had a nose for business opportunities and was bored to tears with regular duties. So I gave her a free reign of that house because there's nothing worse and more dangerous than a bored and displeased house-elf. She found her calling in basket weaving and maintaining the trees, and with the help of her beloved they worked their way from dropping the labour of their work as a bonus to the merchants to a profitable business that transformed the house into an elven enclave. Per my orders, done on her suggestion, she took in every free elf that wanted to work there, offering them room and board, and when I say room and board I'm not having most common house-elves rooms that you can find all over the wizarding world in mind. No, Willow developed a taste for a certain kind of luxury and the manor reflects that. It's a bit queer but a happy worker is a profitable worker. I profit from their work but so do they, the manufacture grows, so does the house. More rooms mean more working hands, more working hands mean more work done and that means more profit. Not a single wizard aside of me and the manufacture representative are involved and he doesn't even know who the company belongs to. But we're straying a bit too far away from our original subject," he added.
"How did Dumbledore react when he realised that you cheated him out of a nice pile of gold?" asked Hermione quickly.
"Quite predictably he was put out by my scheming but quickly found himself another source of income," replied Arcturus.
"But why would he do that?" asked Hermione sceptically. "What did he stand, and still stands to benefit from his swindles?"
"Other than the obvious?" asked Arcturus with a snort. "He was always a man of an expensive taste, if not in robes then in books or rare ingredients. Then there's the fact that he's a bloody Gryffindor and maybe he sought out a thrill in that. His day jobs are pretty boring and maybe he needs something to amuse himself when he isn't busy with ruining other people's lives. He is a true master of doing that."
"Proof," quipped Hermione.
"A little further along," replied Arcturus. "Where I was?" he muttered. "Oh yeah, the whole Lupin debacle."
"During which your grandson decided to feed a fellow student to a werewolf, transformed werewolf I assume," said Hermione pointedly.
"Yeah," sighed Arcturus heavily. "Even the memory of that gives me a headache," he added with a grimace. "I'm not proud of my own behaviour from that time. But you have to understand that Sirius was my grandson and my heir. There was nothing I wasn't willing to do to save him from himself. Even though he didn't return the sentiment, as was his right to do so," he paused and sighed heavily. "I failed him, Hermione, I failed him when he was a child, I failed him when he was a teenager and I failed him even harder when he was an adult. As a member of the Board of Governors, a body which job is judging whether or not the Headmaster or Headmistress has grounds for expulsion along with Orion I was summoned to Hogwarts as soon as the entire thing was discovered. I was so disappointed in Sirius that I didn't even see him, didn't even stop to ask what he was thinking, if he was thinking at all," he paused and sighed again. "So I sent him home with Orion as soon as I managed to wrestle out of Dumbledore the permission to handle the problem on my own."
"What did you do?" asked Hermione, wondering what lengths Arcturus was capable of going through to protect his grandson, other than those he had already mentioned.
"Like I already said, I found Snape, still in shock, and I very sternly informed him what would happen if he decided to talk with the Aurors. It was his right to do so, after all what Sirius had done was an attempted murder of a fellow student even if I'm not sure he saw it as such. And Morgana preserve me, I chased away the only advocate which that boy had out of the room and told him how their court case would have ended. I told him in no uncertain words that I wouldn't hesitate to do anything to destroy him and instead of justice I offered him financial retribution. He accepted and I made him swear an oath that he won't ever go to any sort of authorities over that incident. Any future misdeeds were his to demand official and legal punishment for, but not this one."
"And he accepted," whispered Hermione.
"Wouldn't you?" asked Arcturus sourly. "He was a pariah even in his own house, the one in which he was raised as well as the one that became his home. His mother was cast out of the House of Prince for marrying his father and by that point already deserted them both. And his father," he grimaced, "was a lousy drunkard that only cared for a full bottle. The only advocate that he had was Slughorn and even then he was quite an unwilling one. Snape was his student but as bright as he was he was also troublesome one. He accepted the price for his life, and like I said, he would have accepted less if I implored a strong enough argument. At the very least he made good use of that money."
"What else he was supposed to do?" Hermione pointed out. "He was still a child for crying out loud and had to be terrified of you."
"If he wasn't when I first entered the room then he sure as hell was when I left it," admitted Arcturus grimly. "But that wasn't the end of my problems. The debate over Lupin's fate went on for a couple of days and the four of us talked in circles. The Head and Deputy wanted to expel him from Hogwarts, Damocles and I countered that he was an unwilling participant in the whole scheme, a tool rather than aid. We eventually settled for allowing him to finish Hogwarts but we agreed that no other attempts at inviting another werewolf to Hogwarts would be made. It was also agreed that as the one responsible for the protective measures concerning the safety of other students when Lupin was transformed I had to pay a restitution to Hogwarts for their failure. Then there came my argument over allowing Sirius to finish his schooling at Hogwarts."
"How much did it cost you?" asked Hermione sourly.
"A massive migraine that didn't go away for days and five thousand galleons for allowing Sirius to finish Hogwarts under very strict conditions, all of which he had to meet otherwise he would be expelled from Hogwarts," replied Arcturus sourly.
"Five thousand galleons?" whispered Hermione.
"We started at ten," replied Arcturus with a snort. "But when I threatened with exposing his swindles he changed his tune quite a bit. If I was less exhausted, in better health and had more patience then I'm sure that I would be able to negotiate no expenses for Sirius's continued education. But I was so done with the whole mess by that time that I settled and oathed for five. I had more pressing problems than mourning the loss of a couple thousands of galleons, and what awaited me upon returning to the manor was a very thorough discussion with my grandson."
"Which I guess didn't happen," muttered Hermione.
"Yes, it did not," sighed Arcturus. "Orion made sure of that," he snorted. "I can't even begin to describe how conflicted I felt over all of it. Attempted murder on another student and then an escape from consequences of his actions and familial responsibilities. He was still my grandson but I was so disappointed in him that it took me a long while to reach out. Justifiably, that much I can tell from a distance and with knowledge of what happened to him, he rebuffed all of the support I offered," he paused and sighed heavily. "I can't imagine how lonely he had to feel back then."
"Still not an excuse for an attempted murder," pointed out Hermione.
"It's not an excuse," replied Arcturus grimly. "All of our actions have motives and in his case everybody judged the action but hadn't asked for the motive, as ridiculous as teenager's motives can get. Mea culpa. My anger at him over the family's dishonour didn't help the matters. Neither did turning him over to his abuser. It's no wonder that he fled, it's only a miracle that he lasted as long as he did, and my own fault that rather than to come to me he fled to someone who deserted him when he was at his most vulnerable. Blessedly he eventually made his way to someone who saw all of him and still found him worthy."
"Why would she do that?" asked Hermione sceptically. "Wouldn't the attempted murder be a big no-no?"
"If attempted murder was something he opened with, probably it would be. Miranda didn't relay their discussion word for word but from what I gathered what he did open to her first was the reason for the lack of his usual entourage. The rest followed later," answered Arcturus and he sighed heavily. "If anyone other than himself saved him back then it was her. She was there when his family deserted him and later on when also his friends did so. In Lupin's case it was justifiable, but Potter and Pettigrew," he paused and snorted. "Cowards both of them."
"Entitled to their own judgement," pointed out Hermione.
"Not exactly judgement of his actions," replied Arcturus. "It wasn't endangering the life of another student that Potter judged him publicly for. Showing his true colours was the phrase he used when asked about it by others. And while it might cover the judgement of Sirius's actions, James's own actions, which was continued abuse of Snape, betrayed where the problem had lain."
"In his un-comfortability with Sirius's sexuality that was focused on himself," said Hermione with a nod.
"Exactly," confirmed Arcturus.
"And Pettigrew?" she asked pensively. "What was his excuse?"
"Judging by his character?" asked Arcturus sourly. "Because Lupin was against continuing their friendship and Potter readily agreed to that. I never directly met Pettigrew in person but I heard about him from many reliable sources. His father was one of them, as was Minerva McGonagall. Old Pettigrew loved the boy dearly but for many years he feared that the boy would end up being a squib in spite of strong magical parentage. He wanted to have the boy evaluated but his wife didn't even want to hear about it and simply believed that their boy was shy…"
"Was he?" interrupted him Hermione sceptically.
"Shy isn't the word I would have used to describe him," said Arcturus with a grimace. "Conscious of his own magical ineptitude fits the description better. Not that it couldn't change in the future. Individual levels of personal magical powers aren't set in stone until magical maturity which happens later in life. Some individuals of very little talent in their childhood and teenage years upon reaching magical maturity gained access to truly impressive levels of magic. As things stood the boy that arrived to Hogwarts had no particular magical talent whatsoever, he struggled with practical magic as much as he struggled with theory, to the point that he had failed his entire first semester and Minerva had to threaten him with holding him back for another first year if his grades and control didn't improve," he added grimly. "Luckily for him he made a friend in Lupin, who was a quite studious and talented lad with, from what I heard, an infinite level of patience. Lupin in turn quickly drew James and Sirius's attention and between the three of them they managed to drag Pettigrew through the first year into second one. They also continued to remain conscious of Pettigrew's issues in the coming years. They offered the boy their friendship and support structure."
"Why do I have a feeling that you don't find it as a good thing?" she asked pensively.
"It was good of them," said Arcturus. "The thing is, I'm an old man and I made my living out of dealing with all kinds of people. Who we surround ourselves with shows as much who we are just as much as our actions do. Pettigrew was a boy of no magical talent, small stature that quickly changed to a rounded one once he was subjected to Hogwarts meals. On his own he avoided altercations in which he readily participated when either of the three of them was in his company. His name on his own appears on detention forms only in case of minor misdeeds. Big stuff on the other hand? If he was involved in anything big his name was always accompanied if not with Potter alone then it was in company of Potter and Black and sometimes, Potter, Black and Lupin."
"And what does it says about his character?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Coward," answered Arcturus with a shrug. "And one aware of his own cowardice enough to secure the protection of the biggest bully. James and Sirius proved themselves to be bullies almost right away and with them sharing the same dormitory Pettigrew quickly became James's yes man and his biggest supporter."
"Only James's?" asked Hermione pointedly.
"You're forgetting that although he was made a Gryffindor at the age of nearing twelve, Sirius undergone eleven years of Slytherin conditioning. A month surrounded with different minded people is not enough to erase that, hell, seven years is not enough to erase that. And Sirius received his observation lessons on people from me. He didn't squander his judgement right away but he was cautious towards people, he was taught to be cautious. Pettigrew, like all cowards could feel that, even if he wasn't consciously aware of Sirius's wariness. Not that it stopped Pettigrew from ensuring some form of loyalty from Sirius through praising him too. Sirius after all was the biggest threat between him and James, and due to that required conviction. Something I'm sure James helped with, as it fed his ego. Then there was Lupin and under peer pressure Sirius succumbed, as he liked the other two far more than he was wary of Pettigrew."
"Did he have a reason?" asked Hermione sceptically.
"Considering where he's now and what for?" asked Arcturus sourly.
"Oh, come on, you can't pin the fault of his actions on Pettigrew," protested Hermione with a huff.
"Can't I?" asked Arcturus pointedly.
TBC
Next: Arcturus shares what he knows. Part 3: Sirius.