"You guys want to fly for a bit?" Harry asked both Draco and Henry. The two immediately agreed to the plan.
The week had gone by pretty fast. Sirius and Henry had joined Harry for his morning routine, but they'd started leaving the Crup's at home, seeing how they did not enjoy the presence of the mundane or squibs. Narcissa had dropped Artemis off who had made himself the Crup's leader.
Though Draco and Henry weren't friends they'd both gotten used to being civil to each other. Though Henry sometimes found himself missing his friends who hadn't written ever since they'd left.
Seeing his brother brooding didn't sit well with Harry, so the day before his farce of a hearing Harry decided to give him a different perspective on what could be.
Draco had gone to Diagon alley to meet some friends, Henry had thought that they'd be joining their cousin, so he found himself utterly perplexed when Harry led him to an abandoned department store in London.
Harry tugged him into the store, they passed by a desk and entered a lift. He realized that they were in a magical hospital, they reached the third floor where Harry beckoned for him to follow "well you've met our uncle, my godfather, our grandfather and aunts. I thought you should meet your godfather as well."
They reached a ward that was labeled 'long term patients' entering it he found himself staring at Gildroy Lockhart who was busy signing photographs of himself. A gentle tug from Harry forced him to tear his eyes away from the man, they walked up to a thin man with brown hair and kind blue eyes. He smiled at the two boys.
"Henry, this is your godfather Frank Longbottom."
Henry's eyes widened at the name, looking closer he could see the uncanny resemblance that the man had to Neville.
"Hello sir." Henry said, Frank didn't respond but carried on smiling. Not knowing what else to say he started telling him about Neville and what a prodigy the boy was in Herbology. Ten minutes later he met Alice Longbottom who handed him a candy wrapper, he bade them both goodbye promising to visit again.
Both boys headed back home after that, Harry explained to Henry how they'd ended up in that ward leaving him feeling awful.
"I was never really nice to him." He said feeling ashamed "I mean, I was nice but I tried to avoid him thinking that I was better than him."
"Well you could always befriend him now. You want to play a round of exploding snaps?" Harry said with a gentle smile.
"Sure."
Three rounds later Henry finally popped the question that had been bothering him ever since the end of the third task. "Aren't you ever scared? I mean, I know that you are stronger than me but I was terrified when he came back. Watching Cedric, I couldn't do anything to stop him… I still have nightmares."
For the first time since he'd been reunited with his twin, Henry saw his smile falter, "you might think that I had the better life and in some ways you may be right, Arcturus cared for me like a son. I suppose he saw me as a second chance at parenting right, but it didn't change the fact that Voldemort saw me as his main threat. Even though he let me play and bought me nice things, I was still trained rigorously. What I do now is mostly to stay on top of my game, but trust me I've had 16 hour days where I felt like I was going to collapse and never wake up."
A dark chuckle escaped his lips "if only!" He said wistfully "training in a room with dummies isn't enough, it's great practice but it's a lot different to what happens with a real opponent. When I turned eleven Arcturus started putting my name down for dueling competitions in America and the continent. By the time I turned 13 news about your latest encounter forced us to tighten our belts. I stopped entering competitions, instead we became consultants for the Black Wands special forces team."
Harry felt his voice crack as he recalled his first mission "I managed to track Bullion Blaktoff, I had him cornered in an alley. All the dueling competitions I'd won and all the hours of training hadn't prepared me for a real life encounter. There were no rules, one mistake on my part and I was toast. I made a mistake and I got hurt badly, but Arcturus stepped in and saved my neck."
He took a deep breath. "I learnt a lot from those missions and every single time I was terrified. I was terrified of dying, I was terrified of failing those I loved… and that's what helped me reach my goal. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you, had I known what was going to happen I would have protected you but you are so strong Henry and I am so proud of you. You weren't given any of the tools that I had and yet every single time you won. What happened to Diggory was not your fault, I don't know if I would have been able to do half of what you did if I was in your place. Don't you sell yourself short. Diggory might have died but you managed to survive ruining Voldemort's surprise return, thanks to you thousands have been saved."
Pig, Ron's owl fluttered into the library giving Harry the opportunity to go cool off. As he left the library he thought he saw a shadow move in the hallway but he wasn't sure if he could trust his eyes in his current state of mind.
Henry found himself feeling strangely better, like a weight had been lifted off his chest. He had internalized Cedric's death feeling like it was somehow his fault and he had been terrified of the idea of facing Voldemort but hearing Harry talk, his brother Harry who had dueled Tonks and Remus making them look like novices was scared as well, which meant that it was okay to feel scared.
Arcturus was busy preparing for the next day when his office door exploded open with a force that pushed him back off his chair. Only his swift reflexes stopped him from toppling over. His grandson, Sirius Black, strode into the office seething. His magic was running wild around him "you bastard!" He managed to say in a voice quivering with rage "Black Wands! You had Harry working missions for the Black Wands."
Whatever Sirius was expecting he wasn't expecting for his grandfather to smile as he relaxed back into his chair "sit!"
Sirius carried on standing, breathing heavily as he tried to stop his magic from lashing out.
"Very well, have it your way. Yes it was the only way to see if he was ready. In June he proved he was and just in time too."
"He killed?" Sirius said in barely above a whisper.
"It wasn't the first time, but he killed without feeling remorse. The Black Wands are an elite group of men and women who keep the Continent safe. They work to stop another Grindelwald from taking over, fools like the old goat have over glorified Voldemort but he was hardly able to take over half of England and then too he failed. Now Grindelwald, that man had half the continent under his wand, if Harry needed to be ready that was the only way to prepare him."
"He's just a child. James…"
"James got himself killed and you got yourself imprisoned. I didn't have much choice now did I. Besides it's not like Harry's been going around murdering people, he's killed evil men and women who've committed heinous crimes."
"Why?" Sirius asked, feeling exhausted as the anger wore off.
"For Dorea" he whispered as he looked at a photograph on his desk "I am not Dumbledore. And I will do everything in my power to make sure that Harry doesn't have to fight him, not alone at least but Voldemort is fixated solely on him and if I were to fail I needed to know that he'd be able to hold his ground. Now at least I'll be able to face my baby sister on the other side."
"Train me." Sirius suddenly said with a renewed fire in his once dulling grey eyes. Arcturus merely inclined his head with a glint of pride in his fierce steel eyes.
In the library, Henry sighed as he read through the letter once more.
Dear Henry,
I'm sorry for not writing before, things at the Burrow have been tense. Mr Weasley hasn't really been acting like himself.
Ron is just being silly, I think he's feeling a bit insecure with Harry coming back into your life. I tried telling him that Harry would never substitute us in your life, we have been through too much for that to happen but just give him some time. I hope you are not allowing Harry to drag you around, you are supposed to be staying indoors, it's for your own safety. Please promise me that you won't do anything that can get you into trouble.
I hope they are treating you well, I was a bit surprised with Malfoy moving into Grimmauld place. I hope you are watching your back. Mrs Weasley has told me to tell you that you are welcome to come stay at the Burrow, she doesn't think that you have the best of influences there and I must say that I agree.
I don't know if you heard, but Dumbledore left Grimmauld place as soon as he saw Arcturus. Mrs Weasley even got into a huge row with the twins, apparently Sirius gave them some ideas and told them that he would think about becoming a partner if they wanted to start their own line. Mrs Weasley and I are worried for you.
If you need anyone to pick you up just send an owl.
Love,
Hermione.
He had always expected Ron to be the stupid one but now for the first time in four years he'd come to realize that Arcturus was right.
It had been during one of the family lunches that Arcturus had asked Sirius why he'd allowed the Weasley's to move in.
"Dumbledore thought it'd be nice for Henry to have some company when he arrived. Besides, Ron and Hermione are his best friends which made them potential targets. And had it not been for Henry and his friends I'd be a shell of a person." Sirius said defensively.
"The boy is lazy, the girl thinks she knows better than everyone else. Have you forgotten what lengths true friends go to, to help eachother out? You managed to end up flea ridden for the sake of friendship and James got Charlus and Dorea to House you, without caring of the plausible repercussions that it could have had. What do you think about Henry befriending them?" He asked Remus instead.
Remus squirmed under the man's gaze "Hermione is very hard working, I don't think I've ever encountered anyone as hardworking as her but I noticed that she has a constant need for validation often at the cost of those around her. Ron wants to achieve greatness but he's the complete opposite of Hermione, he expects things to be handed to him. But their heart is in the right place."
"Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions. Is it true that you met the Weasley's at the station and Molly was asking her daughter what the number of the platform was?"
Henry nodded. "And the girl, how did you come across her?"
Henry shyly recounted the tale of how he and Ron saved her from the troll and how after that she'd follow them around till somehow they all became friends.
Arcturus looked pensive. "It is alright to take people under your wing, but never let anyone run your life for you. That girl clearly considers herself intelligent, more so than the people around her, but that doesn't always make her right. It would be good for you to take her down a notch or two, you are after all heir to the most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. The boy should not drag you into his own insecurities."
He let Henry ponder over his words as he turned to Draco to start discussing his choice of companions.
He yelped startled at Pig who'd nipped his finger. The owl had tired of his trip down memory lane. Scribbling down a quick, 'everything's great', he watched the over excited owl zip away into the evening sky.
Henry was feeling beyond nervous as he sat fidgeting with his formal robes, Arcturus had tried giving him a pep talk but Harry had quickly shot him down.
"His pep talks mostly make you feel worse." Sirius had whispered under his breath, getting a weak smile from Henry.
Henry nibbled on his toast not really caring about food, he was scared. Scared that he would be expelled from Hogwarts, scared that he might be separated from his brother. It was strange really, he'd only met Harry a few weeks ago and yet the comfort that he felt in his presence was something he'd never experienced before.
Even though only a few minutes apart he loved the way Harry called him kiddo. He knew that Harry always kept an eye on him, always watching out for him. They were identical twins yet when he looked into the mirror his emerald orbs felt dull, unlike Harry's green pools of comfort. Maybe it was the memory that the Dementors induced, the one that had haunted him for as long as he could remember.
All the bad ended when the bright green eyes looked right into his, Harry's eyes, even on that fateful night, had an intensity in them that his had never had. And now, he was feeling scared of having to face the unknown without his brother by his side. His brother who he hadn't really ever gotten to know but yet he felt like home.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when Harry squeezed his shoulder, giving him an encouraging nod, the confident smile on his face gave him hope. Getting up he followed Arcturus through the door.
Harry watched them leave and took a seat, helping himself to some fruit and yoghurt. "You alright Draco?"
Draco jumped and looked up to find Harry looking at him, he responded with a shaky nod not trusting his voice. Today was the day that his life would change forever, he just hoped that he survived the storm.
Bored out of his mind in the house and not really being able to focus on anything, Harry found himself aimlessly roaming around Diagon Alley with two hyperactive Crups.
Walking past Gringotts, he'd been walking for a good 15 minutes when he found himself in a plaza. A fountain was placed in the center of said plaza with several tea shops, pubs and cafes surrounding it.
Choosing a spot that had both shade and sun, Harry took a seat and ordered a butterbeer. Taking out a book on parselmagic he began to read hoping for time to fly by.
Henry was surprised to find out that he was being tried before the entire Wizengamot. It should have made him nervous but seeing the look that Arcturus wore, it helped settle the butterflies in his stomach.
Ted was waiting for them at the entrance of the courtroom. Apparently he was representing Henry.
Arcturus left them, walking up to another door further down the corridor. Ted winked at Henry "don't worry, I'm told that I'm the best solicitor in magical Britain."
As soon as they stepped into the courtroom, Fudge the minister of magic jumped into action. "You are late, Mr Potter!"
"My client was not informed of a change in time of his hearing, seeing how I, his lawyer, received no such memo. But never mind, we managed to get here in time."
"Ahem Ahem" a pink toad sitting on Fudge's right stood up "I personally sent a letter to Mr Potter, of course, I had no idea he would hire a solicitor for such a trivial matter." She said in a sickly sweet voice.
"Yes, well, such a trivial matter as you put it, is usually not tried in front of the entire Wizengamot. Or have the rules changed Madam Hopkins?" He asked another witch. He waited a beat as some people murmured their agreement "either way, seal the room!" Henry felt the room tremble.
"What are you doing?" Fudge snapped holding onto his bowler hat.
"It is proper procedure. You might be unaware but these courtrooms were built in 1207, when a trial takes place down here the room is sealed till a verdict is reached. I, as the representative of Magical Britain in the Queen's Counsel, have the authority to seal the courtroom. As you yourself can see, the Gamot agrees."
Several people shifted uncomfortably in their seats, even Fudge looked a bit scared.
A witch with a mono spectacle cleared her throat "let us begin."
"My client Mr Henry Charlus Potter was sent a ministry missive on the night of 2nd August 1995 as he'd performed magic in the presence of a Muggle. Said Muggle was his cousin, who's aware of the existence of our world, that coupled with the fact that my client only performed magic to defend himself from a dementor attack…"
Ted sighed and looked at the pink toad who was clearing her throat once again "Madam Umbridge, I'm going to save us all some time and energy and just get to it. Here I have a memory of said attack, we will view the memory on the projecting pensive. Mr Potter will take a vow that what the memory projects is indeed correct and we shall all call it a day. Are you really that bored under Fudge's command that you are trying to make a simple act of underage magic into a full blown witch hunt?"
The pink toad's face now matched her clothes as she glared at Ted, the strict looking witch though Madam Bones, had a small smile on her face.
The Gamot provided a projection pensive where Ted deposited the vial with the memory. Once the memory ended Madam Bones had to call for order as several people started talking all at once. Some questioning the authenticity of said memory others questioning what Dementors were doing in a muggle neighborhood.
Ted handed Henry the slip "I, Henry Charlus Potter and my cousin Dudley Dursley, were attacked by Dementors on the night of 2nd August 1995. I cast a Corporeal Patronus to fend off the aforementioned dementors, so mote it be."
He took out his wand and cast a Patronus. His stag erupted from the end of the wand and cantered around the courtroom before disappearing. Quite a few people oohed and ahhed at the beast, the minister however was throwing uncertain glances at Lucius Malfoy.
Madam Hopkins stood up. "Well, I'm glad that that's cleared up and that's quite a bit of impressive magic for one so young. Even though it's pretty much a moot question, all those in favor of dropping the charges?" Every single wand went up, some slower than others. "Excellent…"
"There is another matter that needs to be brought to the Wizengamot's attention." Ted said cutting across Madam Hopkins.
Lucious immediately sent Fudge a signal, who like a puppet jumped up "I'm afraid you cannot simply walk in here with new cases at your whim and mercy."
"You'll see that he very well can you nincompoop." Arcturus' baritone voice rang from above the courtroom. Making several heads turn, he was seated comfortably on a throne-like chair looking terrifying, a feathered cape rested on his shoulders.
"But…" Fudge whimpered looking frantically at a terrified Lucius.
"This is a matter that concerns the inner circle, stay out of it."
"As the undersecretary of the minister I demand that you show some respect."
"And as Baron of the Black Lands, Lord of the most Ancient and Noble House of Black, Lord Arcturus Victoriol Black I command Ajutti."
Henry watched as three people quickly stood up, amongst them one woman was wearing a vulture on her head, another man had black hair with white streaks and a goatee and an ancient looking man barely able to stand surprisingly quickly made his way to the top. They all took a seat in their respective thrones, each magically getting cloaked.
"Black Valley has been wronged, I demand justice."
"Ay, Ay" three voices cried out echoing through the courtroom.
Henry along with the rest watched mystified as a golden glow enveloped the group of four.
"Gamo Arturo! I, Arcturus Victoriol Black demand answers of House Malfoy!"
"Arturo, Arturo!" The three chorused in unison.
The golden glow suddenly disappeared. Henry gasped as all four occupants now looked down with glowing eyes.
"House Malfoy, rise." The four said in unison. To most people's surprise Lucius immediately stood up looking completely petrified.
"Lucius Thamos Malfoy, you have wronged the house of Black today you shall be judged by the Gamot herself." Suddenly his head fell back forcing him to stare at the ceiling.
"You pledged loyalty to the House of Black by paying homage to the old ways. Under Arthurian law you are judged, Ay, Ay." The four said.
"Did you plan on killing Narcissa, the daughter of House Black?" Arcturus asked.
"Ay." Three voices echoed.
"Did you serve Lord Voldemort?"
"Ay."
"Did you know that Sirius Orion Black son of House Black was innocent?"
"Ay."
"Is this Lord you serve back?"
"Ay."
"Arthuri justici." Arcturus growled.
"Arthuri justici."
"Arthuri justici."
"Arthuri justici."
Each one of them repeated, a gong sounding after each of them.
"You are judged! The four voices said in unison "House Malfoy gives itself to House Black."
The courthouse shook as another tremble passed through it. The four of them shook their heads as they left their trance-like state.
Lucius, who'd been freed by the magic that was keeping him in place, immediately lifted his wand and tried to fire a spell "you are squib with a ugly tattoo now boy, give it a rest." The woman with the vulture on her hat said before turning to glare at Arcturus.
"I would like to call forth Sirius Orion Black, who was sentenced without a trial."
Ted announced getting everybody's attention back on him. Henry nearly jumped out of his skin when Sirius appeared next to him, taking a seat on the chair in the center of the courtroom.
"I'm sure Madam Umbridge must have some veritaserum on her, seeing how she's always prepared." Ted pressed on ignoring the slight confusion that had broken out amongst the members of the Wizengamot.
The woman's eyes bulged out, but Madam Bones made her hand over the vial. Ted administered 3 drops into Sirius' mouth.
"State your full name and date of birth." Madam Bones said.
"Sirius Orion Black. 3rd November 1959." Sirius said in a flat voice, his eyes unfocused as the serum took hold of him.
"Did you serve Lord Voldemort?"
"No"
"Did you betray the Potters to Lord Voldemort?"
"No."
"Who betrayed the Potters?"
"Peter Pettigrew."
"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew along with 13 muggles?"
"No, Pettigrew's spell hit a Muggle contraption causing an explosion. He cut off his own finger and escaped by transforming into a rat, his animagus form."
"Sirius Orion Black you are hereby declared a free man all charges against you have been dropped." She said not bothering to ask for a vote, her eye was trained on the blond man that stood between two of her Aurors. Ted handed him the antidote as they moved aside.
Fudge stood swaying slightly, Tonks and a Black Auror who'd been holding onto a shell shocked Malfoy dumped him into a chair unceremoniously, placing three drops of the truth serum in his mouth.
"State your full name and date of birth."
"Lucius Thamos no-name. 13th November 1954."
"Did you serve Voldemort?"
"Yes."
"Were you imperioused?"
"No."
"Which other death eaters do you know of?"
"Gaspar Avery, Alecto Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Crabbe, Goyle, Antonio Dolohov, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Walden Macnair, Nott, Peter Pettigrew, Augustus Rookwood, Corbin Yaxley, Selwyn and Severus Snape."
Bones turned to look at the men whose names had been taken and was pleasantly surprised to find each one of them at wand point. "I always plan ahead." Arcturus said.
Taking a deep breath she looked back at the now broken man "Is Voldemort back?"
"Yes."
Chaos broke through the courtroom as people started panicking. Sirius immediately pushed Henry behind himself, shielding him from a stray spell.
A thud caused momentary silence, Cornelius Fudge had fainted.
Arcturus along with Sirius and Ted shoved Henry between themselves as the courtroom doors opened and people started shoving their way out. The Aurors marched in to take the prisoners that Arcturus' men held at wand point.
"You old bastard. You could have warned me!" The woman with the odd hat chided, the goateed man and the old man nodded at him as they walked out at a more sedate pace.
"Augusta Longbottom, as lovely as ever." Arcturus greeted her by taking her hand and brushing his lips across her knuckles "what fun would warning you have been!"
"Always the one for theatrics" she said in mock annoyance, "I'm glad you are not dead, now excuse me, I'm training Neville to take his rightful seat at the Wizengamot, now clearly I must add the old teachings too, though, the boy is such a disappointment I don't know if he'll be recognized as a true Arthurian." She sighed and left the courtroom. Henry couldn't believe how callous the woman had sounded, he found a new formed respect for the shy boy.
Once the area had cleared out slightly, Ted bade them a good day only being stopped by Madam Bones who sarcastically thanked him for giving her a heads up as she followed her Aurors out muttering about shit shows, with a smug smile he winked at the trio and left for his office. Sirius donned the invisibility cloak and the three headed back to Grimmauld place.
Harry got back home to find Draco furiously pacing around the kitchen, Andy was cooing words of encouragement to a rather worried Cissy.
"What's going on?" He asked, slightly alarmed.
"What if it doesn't work? He'll skin us both." Narcissa said, panicking.
"You need to have faith in grandfather." Andy stressed.
Before Harry could ask again the fire flared up, Sirius followed by Henry and then Arcturus stepped out of the flames, all looking extremely smug.
"I'm free." Both Sirius and Henry announced in unison.
"And so are you." Arcturus said to Narcissa who quickly turned to look at her son. "Well come on boy we don't have all day." Arcturus barked.
Draco reached for his wand with trembling hands, nearly dropping it. "Lumos" he muttered only to collapse to his knees sobbing as his wand lit up.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, confused at the scene that was unfolding before him.
Henry with the help of Sirius recanted the entire morning's proceedings.
"So wait Draco could have lost his magic as well?"
"Yes, being an extension to the Malfoy line he too could have lost his magic. You are now Draconian Black and like I've told Nymphadora I will not tolerate this nonsense of shortening names." Draco simply nodded, still sobbing with relief.
"I will make you the same offer that I've made Hadrian, who decided to forfeit his right to the Potter wealth in favor of Henry. On your seventeenth birthday you will receive 100.000 galleons and it will be upto you to build on it after that. You will also receive an accommodation of your choice. House Black will absorb House Malfoy in its entirety."
"Narcissa you too will choose one of our many estates which will be yours and you will receive a monthly stipend of 5.000 galleons for the rest of your life."
"Siri, can I stay here for now?" Narcissa suddenly asked, breaking away from her sister's hug.
"Of course Cissy."
The Daily Prophet printed Sirius Blacks pardon the next morning, much to his excitement. Though Remus had to threaten him, stopping him from going out wanting to celebrate. "Honestly Padfoot, give it a couple of days for it to sink in."
They even printed an evening special edition followed by a few more light hearted front page stories about Sirius, before he'd been shipped off to Azkaban.
"I don't get it, why haven't they said something about Voldemort yet?" Henry said three days later.
"They will when the time is right."
"What do you know that I don't?"
Harry grinned at his brother, even Draco's curiosity was piqued "when they tried to bad mouth you after the tournament, Arcturus sat the editor down and explained life to him. Ever since then they've only reported what he wants reported when he wants it reported. Besides, I'd rather get our school shopping done before all hell breaks loose."
"Why couldn't he do that during the tournament? It sure would have made life more bearable." Henry said with a pout, forcing both Harry and Draco to avoid looking at him.
"We weren't in Britain." Harry finally said, feeling a little guilty.
Henry immediately regretted his words, "so what is this old ways thing? Is it a ritual or something?" He asked, desperately trying to lighten the mood again.
"It's not a ritual or anything, it's magic in its rawest form. We are constantly surrounded by magic, it's in the air around us, the old ways allow a witch or wizard to become one with the magic around them. Initially there were 13 members who formed part of the inner circle, but as time passed the numbers got smaller."
"Why?" Draco blurted out, eager to know what Harry was talking about.
"Raw magic is not easily manipulated, only a witch or wizard with extreme control over their magic can wield it. Of course, the catch being that said control is judged by magic itself when the witch or wizard reaches maturity. It only applies to the witches and wizards who are direct descendants of the original 13, their magic is imbued with Druid blood rituals."
"So they can control everyone around them? Like Arcturus did with Mr Weasley?" Henry asked with a slight frown.
"It doesn't work like that. Arcturus simply reminded Mr Weasley that he had to take back control, he is the head of his house after all. His House magic responded to Arcturus' call and agreed with his assessment. Had it not agreed, it wouldn't have acted upon his call, all Arcturus did was awaken dormant magic. But that magic would not harm its own. It's the same for family magic, every family has a Grimoire but not every member can access it, their family magic judges their power before making its decision. There are families that haven't been able to access their grimoires for several centuries now."
"Wow, there's just so much, it's frankly a bit overwhelming at times." Henry remarked, still trying to process everything.
"Boys, I have your Hogwarts letters." Andy's voice rang through the house.
"Why didn't the owls deliver them?" Henry asked.
"I was at the school so Minerva handed them to me. And before you ask, being the chairwoman of the potions guild, I was there to help them select a new potions Professor seeing how the previous one is currently on the run."
A silver badge fell out of Draco's envelope "congratulations Draconian, it looks like we have a prefect amongst us." Andy proclaimed proudly.