I don't own Harry Potter. Please let me know what you think. Also, please support me on Pa-treon; just look up The Stargate Time Traveller.
The Treasure Hunter.
Harry received a surprise when lessons resumed after the Christmas Break and the students who'd left for the holiday came back to the castle for the next term. There were new teachers at the Head table, there was a witch with a forbidding expression on her face although compared to Snape, she was positively kinder in appearance but he knew from experience not to judge people by their expressions and cared more for what he saw them do. On the other side of the table were two faces that he hadn't expected.
As he took his seat at Gryffindor table and looked around the hall for a minute (he sent a discreet smile at Padma, who was sitting around the Beauxbatons students at Ravenclaw table), he noticed the new faces.
Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, and it didn't take him long to realise what they were doing here, in Hogwarts. They were the newest teachers although he wasn't sure what posts they were going to be filling; he guessed Remus would likely retake the DADA teaching post now Crouch junior had been discovered as an impersonator of Madeye Moody, but what Sirius and the woman were here for, he couldn't tell. He had clean forgotten the fact new teachers were needed following the Death Eaters losing their magic. He had spent the majority of his time contacting the Patil family to warn them of what Dumbledore would likely do, and while they weren't happy there was little they could do about it, both Padma and Parvati would be taken out of the school for a few days before the Second Task and wouldn't return until it was over. Harry had been surprised by the choice of the Indian family, but as he reflected on it, he had to agree that it made some sense. Dumbledore didn't listen to anyone when he made up his mind about something, why should he do it now?
"Harry, Professor Lupin's back!" Hermione squealed excitedly when she saw Lupin sitting at the table.
"I know, Hermione," Harry piled a number of vegetables with his roast beef onto his plate as he sat down, and he waited for her to ask the inevitable while everyone chatted around them, some of them were happy when they remembered Lupin's performance as a teacher last year while others were angry and frightened a werewolf was in the castle.
"But how he can he be teaching again if he's a werewolf?" Ron demanded as he shovelled food in his mouth.
Harry was wondering the same thing. Thanks to Snape's petty and pathetic grudge, Remus Lupin was ousted as a werewolf and he had decided to leave the castle. The magical world was hardly likely to just forget something like that after a year, and he was left wondering what Dumbledore had done to allow this.
"Maybe Professor Dumbledore pulled some favours to allow him to stay?" Hermione voiced the thought Harry had, but the longer he thought about it, he felt it more likely the ICW had done something after reviewing the records and realised Lupin was perhaps a better trencher than his predecessors.
"Maybe, but we'll find out later," Harry lost interest quickly and started cutting up a piece of beef and potato and poured gravy over the lot before he started to eat.
"What, don't you care?" Hermione demanded.
"No, why should I? Look, Hermione, he's a brilliant teacher and I hope he stays and as one of my father's friends he deserves something good in his life, but speculation is going to get us nowhere, is it?" As far as Harry was concerned the discussion was over, and luckily Hermione seemed to accept that.
"Who do you think that woman is, Harry?" Seamus, who was sitting nearby, asked.
"I don't know. We'll find out soon. Dumbledore will likely announce it in a bit," Harry replied. Honestly, why did everyone have to make such a big deal when Dumbledore was going to introduce everyone to the new teachers? He only prayed this was not going to be one of the old wizard's questionable decisions which everyone would come to regret, although he was starting to guess Dumbledore had only brought the two former Marauders back to Hogwarts because he wanted to make some kind of peace with Harry.
But he hoped it wasn't a decision they'd all come to regret soon. He hadn't forgotten how he'd gone to Hogsmeade to steal those ingredients from the apothecary and overheard those witches talk about Snape and how badly potions had been affected.
But the surprise arrival of his parent's friends was a surprise. While Harry did not and never would encourage contact with the two wizards for their mistakes although he had often wondered about ways the two could rectify them, Sirius never hesitated to contact him although he was very touchy about it, almost to the point of paranoia in case the letters were tracked.
When dinner was over, McGonagall tapped her glass with her spoon - Harry had often wondered if she was using magic to get the attention of the students - and called, "May I have your attention, please?" She called before she turned deferentially towards Dumbledore, who stood up and walked to the lectern in front of the table.
"I have new staff notices I need to give out; with the…loss of Professor Snape," Dumbledore paused when the students cheered, except the Slytherins although Harry could tell more than a few of them were actually pleased by the news but had the sense not to announce where they stood, while the visiting students watched and listened, their expressions showing the distaste they had for Snape before Dumbledore lost patience and shouted, "SILENCE! As I was saying, with the loss of Professor Snape and a wizard who impersonated Professor Moody, they have taken their places and positions…Professor Sinistra, our Astronomy professor, and a former Slytherin herself will be taking over Professor Snape's position as Head of Slytherin House while Professor Valerian has travelled from the MACUSA to teach potions from now on."
"I never knew Sinistra used to be a snake," Ron said over the polite clapping for the astronomy professor's new position.
"What does it matter? I think it makes sense; as a Slytherin, she will know the best ways to keep them in line, and after what Snape did she will need to keep her wits up where they're concerned," Harry said, looking towards the Slytherins. Many of them looked gloomy, heartbroken. He knew many of them had lost family when the Death Eaters lost their magic, but Harry could not find it within himself to care since he had made sure Bones did not advertise his involvement in the business.
Even looking at the depressed faces was not enough to make him feel any kind of pity; many of those same students had bullied, harassed, cursed and attacked everyone who they believed was inferior while they believed themselves superior because they were doing it. Harry had asked Amelia Bones to make sure the word that the Death Eaters had bound their magic to Voldemort got out because he wanted their families to know some things came with too high a price.
"She's a snake!" Ron went on, unable to let the news about Sinistra go.
Harry sighed and closed his eyes. "Who cares? Let it go. Has she acted like Snape? Has she spouted any of that crap about muggleborns and muggles? No. Why is it bothering you? Don't answer that." Harry wished people would drop this anti-Slytherin propaganda, it got boring very quickly.
"Harry, you know that there's never been a witch or wizard that went bad who wasn't in Slytherin-!" Ron just would not let it go.
"Oh, shut up!" Harry's voice rose slightly as he turned to glare at the youngest male Weasley.
Ron gaped at him. "Harry? You know those snakes are treacherous-!"
Harry had to use all of his occlumency knowledge to not laugh in the face of the moron in front of him. Treacherous?! You've got the nerve to claim only a quarter of the school are treacherous when you and the bushy-haired cow next to you have been going off to Dumbledore each time I sneeze.
But Harry had a good counter for that one.
"And Pettigrew wasn't as well? That little bastard was a Gryffindor, don't forget. It happened, there's nothing you can do about it," Harry went back to his meal knowing if he didn't look away he was going to curse Ron Weasley within an inch of his life.
Three whole years trying to keep his head down while he resisted the urge to commit murder against Malfoy, Parkinson, Nott, Dumbledore, Snape, Weasley and Granger, and he had succeeded, but thanks to the Triwizard Tournament so much of his life had been revealed to the magical public. He had destroyed Lord Voldemort and exterminated the vermin that was the Death Eaters, but he knew if Ron didn't shut up in a moment he would forget his occlumency training and there would be one less Weasley in the world.
But as he sat quietly and pointedly ignored the Weasel and Granger, Harry wondered again how Dumbledore had managed to get Lupin back into the castle. It must have cost the Headmaster many of his favours, but truthfully if he looked at it from a certain angle he could see why the old wizard had gone for Lupin. The werewolf might be a coward but he was a damn good teacher, the records spoke for themselves. But Sirius's inclusion was a genuine surprise for Harry given how his godfather had only just gotten out of Azkaban. With Pettigrew's arrest when the Ministry's detectors detected a blip of magic expended in a place called Little Hangleton, Sirius's innocence was quickly proven. Surprisingly Dumbledore had intervened.
Harry was surprised the old man had moved so quickly when he had been sitting on the information for months already. He had known the moment Dumbledore had made it clear his hands were tied when Fudge had gone out of his way to see Sirius kissed - he sometimes wondered what the vendetta was between Sirius and Fudge - but Harry knew it wasn't when he had gotten a good idea of the laws of magical Britain.
Harry knew Dumbledore had lied. As the Headmaster was also the Head of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore could have forced enough pressure on Fudge to get Sirius a hearing, but the old wizard hadn't for a long time and Sirius had been forced to go on the run. Harry had a good idea why the old wizard had intervened now, but he wouldn't know for sure until later. There was no doubt in his mind that both Lupin and Sirius would try to talk to him later, a few questions there would reduce the mystery in Harry's mind.
"And I have great pleasure in welcoming back Professor Lupin, who has agreed to reteach Defence Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore went on, confirming Harry's theory about why Lupin was back.
The applause in the hall was mixed. Harry overheard more than a few mutters about a werewolf being back in the castle, and he even heard more than a few people whisper fearfully that Lupin might try to attack them. Idiots, didn't they realise werewolves were only dangerous at night on a full moon?
Unfortunately, Lupin appeared to have heard the same mumblings, and he looked like he was about to just race away from the hall entirely. It was only Sirius's firm grip holding him back that stopped him from doing just that.
Dumbledore also heard the whispers and he quickly imposed order. "That's enough!" He shouted, his voice amplifying into a boom that shook the dust out of the rafters of the Hall. "I will not have that kind of disrespect in my school. If you cannot do that, then you can pick up your things and leave this castle for good."
Harry was surprised by Dumbledore's threat, but it was clear the old wizard's threat rang a chord with the others. Everyone quickly shut up.
"Professor Lupin is the new Defence teacher. Any one of you who attempt to cause problems for him or Professor Black will find themselves answering to me, and Merlin help you if you should give me a pathetic excuse. Professor Lupin is not a threat to you at the moment and it's wrong for you to believe that he is. His condition only came to light because of Professor Snape's pathetic grudge against him. I will not tolerate that kind of discrimination, and if you display any and I will know if you do, you will find yourself in a meeting with me where you will need to come up with a good reason for why you should remain in Hogwarts," Dumbledore's aura was flaring at the end of his rant, but that and his general anger and disappointment which was bleeding through made it very clear to everyone he meant every word he was saying, "Professor Lupin will be helped in his classes by Professor Sirius Black."
Ah, so that's why Sirius is here, Harry thought to himself reading between the lines easily enough.
Sirius would be covering for Lupin while the former was indisposed by the full moon, but he saw the way everyone in the hall looking at Sirius with mixed feelings. Fudge had spent the last few months blaming Sirius for virtually everything that he couldn't deal with himself, providing a nice little ready-made scapegoat. But at the same time, he asked himself if having Sirius here in the castle at this moment was a good idea. It might have been a year since his escape from Azkaban, but Harry did wonder if his godfather was still mentally there after spending twelve years of his life with the Dementors painstakingly destroying his mind.
X
Cornelius Fudge had his head in his hands as he rocked back and forth in his chair in the Minister for Magic's office, the newspaper in front of him displaying the headline story of Sirius Black's innocence. Already he could hear the bell toll that meant his career was over and done with, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Not only had that old fool Dumbledore messed things up by dropping the Potter brat on a muggle doorstep instead of giving the boy to a nice family like the Malfoys, nearly resulting in him nearly being killed by that family of filthy muggle savages - why the old fool believed muggles could care for a wizard, Fudge would never know - but he had screwed up with getting Snape in as a teacher when a better pureblood would be the perfect teacher, but now he was going to be kicked out of office.
The ICW was now investigating how he had come into the Minister position after Crouch's son was discovered and outed as a Death Eater by Karkaroff, running Barty's bid for office when Bagnold was coming to the end of her own tenure. Fudge had gotten the position primarily because of his capture of Sirius Black, at the time everyone had believed one of the last scions of the Black family had betrayed the Potter family by going over to You Know Who's side.
Fudge had gone to the scene where Pettigrew was confronted by Black. The entire street was a massacre after an overpowered blasting curse destroyed the muggle gas lines, blowing the whole place to pieces, killing dozens of muggle onlookers. Not only was it a blow to the Statute of Secrecy, one of many during the war which wasn't helped by Bagnold's lack of real action until it was too late, but it had also gotten justice for the Potter family although Fudge didn't care about that. At the time he had merely been doing his job, and truthfully getting one over on the Black family after Bellatrix Lestrange, the crazy bitch, murdered several of his family over the course of the war so he was happy to get some revenge.
When the opportunity came, Fudge had used the capture of Sirius Black as the founding stone needed to get himself elected although he was given his position by Albus Dumbledore, who'd sponsored him for some reason Fudge had never understood or worked out, but now he could see he had been set up. For years he had used that capture, using words like 'justice for the Boy who Lived' to his advantage. When Black had escaped Azkaban, Fudge had gone out of his way to get him kissed by the Dementors to make sure everyone felt faith in the Ministry. But now it was there in black and white everything he had believed in was a lie, but he had already known beforehand that it was. He had already been humiliated sitting in on Black's trial by the ICW when they had rammed down his throat Pettigrew had survived and was a Death Eater, although now he had mysteriously lost his magic.
There was no other way around it.
He was doomed; with Malfoy and the other friends and benefactors as confirmed Death Eaters, who had been questioned already with him present in the audience, surrounded by ICW aurors who had been ordered to make sure he did not interfere or interrupt the proceedings and revealed they had been bribing him for years to pass laws to undermine and cut off the funding to the DMLE. The ICW had been furious with him although at the time Fudge hadn't really understood why. It only took a lecture that lasted for an hour for the importance of the DMLE to sink in.
The DMLE were not only responsible for stopping dark wizards, they were also vital for making sure the Statute was not broken. With them underfunded, or disbanded, it would be incredibly easy for anyone to break the Statute.
And it had.
That was the final nail in the coffin, the final blow of the trumpet for Fudge and his administration. The ICW learnt the 'former' Death Eaters regularly went out and kidnapped muggles, mostly young girls, some of them as old as toddlers, and 'played' with them. Their homes were stormed and the tortured muggles taken out. The ICW were furious with the way the Minister of a magical country had allowed and even aided and abetted known dark wizards with the breaking of the one organisation aimed at ensuring people were not only safe in both worlds, but for allowing the Statute to be broken without thinking of the consequences.
And now, Cornelius Fudge only had one thing to do, count down the days before he could leave with his dignity intact.
X
Harry didn't have DADA for another day. The revised timetable was actually quite comprehensive, and completely different from the last one, so McGonagall and the other Heads needed to give out the new revised timetables. Harry didn't understand why until he took one look and saw Potions now had a few extra hours, but then he realised potions was now divided between two new classes. Potions basics and potions advanced. Clearly, the people who'd forced the new teacher onto Hogwarts had taken one good hard look at the way the class was taught under Snape's regime and instantly threw themselves into damage control.
Ron, naturally, bemoaned the extra work, but Harry did not care. It was logical the new Potions Professor would take a hard look at what Snape had done and want to change it around. Harry and his class had already experienced two hours of her tutelage, and Harry was reminded of the lessons that his mother had enjoyed thanks to her lessons, the subject Harry had looked forwards to… only for Snape to ruin it for him. He hoped the bastard was rotting in hell.
"Hi, Harry," Harry smiled when he heard the voice of one of the Patil twins. A quick glance at the girl and their uniform told him he was dealing with Padma.
"Hi, Pads," Harry grinned cheekily when he saw the Indian witch's nose twitch at the nickname, but she smiled back.
"You looking forward to Defence? You really did get on well with Lupin, from what I heard."
Harry knew that his relationship was split between Marauder child and student; Lupin hadn't encouraged any kind of relationship other than teacher and student, and Harry resented that.
"Not everything is as they seem, Padma," Harry replied seriously, deciding to tell the girl who'd become one of his lovers what his beef with Lupin was. "Professor Lupin is actually one of my father's old friends."
"What? Really?"
"Yeah," Harry replied as he walked with her through the corridors, thankful that they were alone so he could talk to her without anyone else poking their nose in; Ron and Hermione were somewhere else, much to his relief. "Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter…and Peter Pettigrew, all of them were part of a gang called the Marauders. The Weasley twins of yesteryear."
"Oh Merlin," Padma looked at him apologetically while she had gasped at the mention of Pettigrew's name, "and I told you of how Ravenclaw dislikes the twins. I'm so sorry, Harry-."
"Don't be, I hate pranks. And I think you're right. And pranking people didn't help the Marauders in the grand scheme of things; it's taken Pettigrew's magic while he became a Death Eater after going to that bastard and telling him where my parents and I were. It robbed Black of twelve years of his life in Azkaban although it was mostly his own fault for going after the little rat, and Lupin has become nothing more than a man wallowing in self-pity."
Padma looked at him critically for a moment. She knew Harry well enough to know that he was quite bitter when it came to certain matters, but thankfully Harry preferred staying in the now. "What happened, Harry?" She asked, inwardly wishing she had a better way of voicing her question.
Harry sighed and he leaned against the wall. "Okay, I'll tell you, but please let me say it and I'll answer questions afterwards. Also, I'd appreciate it if you keep this to yourself; I don't want my business thrown about the castle after this year. This is a subject I don't like dwelling on. My parents were being hunted like animals across the country; the reasons why don't matter anymore, but the basics of the whole mess is they went under the Fidellius Charm and Sirius Black was initially chosen as the Secret Keeper. That's why when he was arrested, he was called the betrayer of the Potters. But what people don't know is that they switched over the Pettigrew. Okay, I can see the tactical benefits, but my dad and Black treated the whole stupid thing as a joke. Only this joke backfired, and Pettigrew was in truth a secret Death Eater. The moment he knew where my parents were hiding, he ran and blabbed. Afterwards, Pettigrew went into hiding, Black was imprisoned and he stayed there in Azkaban focusing on Pettigrew, and Lupin gave into his wallowing self pity, and he just went away and forgot my existence. When I discovered what he did, I told him what the Dursleys had tried to do, when they burnt me."
Padma had been listening to this story quietly, and she felt she had enough to guess why Harry resented the Marauders. "So, Professor Lupin essentially left you to be burnt to death, and Black just preferred to think about Pettigrew and not you, who he was supposed to protect?"
"Yes," Harry was glad Padma had worked it out. "I confronted Lupin about it last year when he was teaching. He was horrified and he demanded I tell him what happened. After I finished he basically told me it was rough being a werewolf. That's his crutch, Padma. He's had so many opportunities and chances given to him, but he runs away like a coward. That's one reason I don't like him. But y'know, if I was killed in that fire, I sometimes wonder what he would have done."
Padma looked at him in horror. "I don't even want to think about it, Harry. What about Professor Black?"
"Sirius had the power to escape from Azkaban whenever he wanted. He could have come out and come for me; he could have focused on Pettigrew later, but he didn't."
"Do you think they'll try to talk to you during their lesson?"
"They probably will, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
X
After two hours of being with Professor Valerian, Harry had learnt more about potions by himself than he'd ever had with Snape. Sure, he had his mother's memories, but they were a cheat most of the time. The moment he walked into the DADA classroom Harry wondered what Lupin and Black were going to do. The lesson was pretty good; after Crouch junior's play of impersonating the paranoid ex-auror, Lupin and Black both gave a much calmer class.
The reactions to Sirius were mixed to say nothing of Lupin. Harry would never understand why the wizarding world was so stupid when it came to werewolves; they were only dangerous once a month but other than that they didn't show signs of being dangerous. In Sirius's case, his reputation as Fudge's scapegoat had more than a few people worried about his mental state. Harry knew Fudge had spent the last year saying Sirius was insane, twisted, but he hoped the former convict had the sense to be mature. The good thing was as the lesson went on, Sirius's expertise shone through. As Harry compared their knowledge with what he and his class knew, he found the quality lacking.
"Mr Potter," Harry looked up into Black's eyes; the ex-convict was struggling to keep his emotions under tight control, but it was obvious he was using sheer willpower to stop himself from wrapping his arms around Harry's body like an octopus. "Please stay behind after the class. Professor Lupin and I want to talk to you."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"We just want to talk to you, don't worry you aren't in trouble," Sirius replied thinking that he was worried about that.
"Alright, Professor," Harry replied neutrally, admiring his own restraint. He had expected this but he had hoped it wouldn't happen.
When the lesson ended, Harry stood up and walked to the front desks - he had sat at the back for this lesson - and he sat down on the edge of one of the desks, watching the two ex Marauders closely.
"You wished to speak to me?" Harry asked, but he was demanding this be done quickly.
Black flew forward and wrapped his arms around Harry. "Merlin, Harry. Why didn't you tell me those muggles tried to burn you alive?!"
Harry stiffened. He only accepted hugs rarely, but the man holding him was not one of those people he accepted them from. "Let go of me," he demanded.
But Sirius seemed to think the memory of what happened to him would make him break down and cry. The fact the man didn't realise he'd gotten over the burning a long time ago only aggravated the situation. These two men could have and should have prevented it.
"Harry-!"
"No, let me go!" Harry's voice rose a little, making Lupin step forward.
"Sirius, let him go. He doesn't like it."
Sneering inwardly at Lupin's grasp on his personality when he didn't even know him, Harry was grateful to be let go and he was taking deep breaths. "Don't do that to me again, please. I don't like being hugged," Harry took a few more deep breaths, not seeing the two men exchange glances.
"Harry…I'm sorry," Sirius tried to say, but Harry waved him aside, but if the two men were expecting him to forgive them they were in for a painful shock.
"Save it. What do you want?" Harry asked patiently.
"Harry," Sirius decided to push aside what had just happened and get to the heart of the matter from a different angle. "What happened with the Dursleys?'
"Why do you care?" Harry asked, gazing at them curiously, letting the question hang so then they would have enough rope to hang themselves with. Sirius and Lupin gazed at him in horrified shock while Lupin looked pained since he had been here before. "Why do I…. Harry, you're my godson. And Remus is your unofficial uncle."
Happy to have the chance to lash out at his father's useless friends who clearly preferred their own lives to look after him, Harry glared at the former Marauders. "Don't use the godson and unofficial uncle card with me, Professors. I could go off on a rant about how you just both abandoned me to be burnt to death, but I don't care anymore. It's over and done with; I only asked you Professor Lupin why you just went off on your own and left me with those muggles, but you just gave me a sob story about being a werewolf without answering my questions. God, stop using that as a crutch. You have both made your bed."
The effect his words, calmly uttered, had both ex Marauders look back at him with horror.
"Harry, they tried to kill you, and you don't want our help?" Sirius whispered in horror.
"What good can you do about those filthy muggles now?" Harry demanded, tired of this never-ending game, but he knew the two men would take this to Dumbledore who'd dissect it, and would likely call him dark, blissfully ignoring the fact it was all his fault, to begin with. "It's over and done with. I only revealed what happened to get McGonagall off of my back. She and Dumbledore and Hagrid left me with the Dursleys without bothering to think they could kill me."
Sirius had jumped in shock when he heard how Harry termed the Dursleys. "Harry, you…you don't think muggles are that, do you?"
"What, filthy? No, not all of them. Only the savage ones, yes. The ones who would kill a child foolishly left without a backwards glance. That is why I hate Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hagrid; the latter demanded I tell him what happened when the news of what happened came out, and I asked him what he would have done if he'd learnt that partly because of him, I nearly died because a family of muggles who clearly hate magic got their hands on a defenceless child while his stupid godfather brainlessly ran off also without a backwards glance after someone else, and a werewolf who clearly blames the wolf for every little thing. All the while you would have believed Dumbledore's vague notions he knew I was safe, but in truth, he never bothered to see if I was still breathing. Do you know how Hagrid reacted? He cried his eyes out, hopefully, now he realises that's the reason I avoid him like the plague."
Sirius and Remus looked at each other in horror. Both of them had fond memories of Hagrid, and now they discovered Harry, James's own child, hated the large groundskeeper for good reason was almost unthinkable to them.
But Harry wasn't finished. "You two haven't answered my question; if I was burnt to death, what would you have done? Would you have killed the Dursleys in a fit of rage without bothering to check your facts and realise it would never have happened in the first place had you been a responsible adult?" He turned to Lupin, his contempt clear. "Or would you personally have blamed the wolf for it, as you have done for the whole entirety of your damn life?"
Neither man replied, both of them lost in their own thoughts about what could have been, but they were silent too long and Harry used that to get out. He called from the door, "Don't talk to me again. Either of you. The pair of you made your bed long ago, and you cared more for what Dumbledore believed than your own common sense. That fool left me behind and wouldn't have known if anything was wrong until it was too late."