"This My Lord, is the document for the bond between The Ancient House of Potter and The Ancient and Most Noble House Of Black, signed by both Lord James Potter the First and Lord Sirius Black on the 31st of July, 1980."
"WHAT?!" Ezekiel didn't meant to scream, yet the revelation had left him dumbfounded.
"The bond of two of the most ancient houses in Britain, Lord Black." Said Jareth patiently. "This document is proof that not only you didn't attack Heir Potter, but that you were acting on your right to protect your cousin"
"WHAT?!"
Jareth used what little patience he had left and decided not to have Ezekiel whipped for his insolence. Taking a deep breath he started explaining.
"I'm aware that Lord Potter and Lord Black were quite close during their school days. In fact both had performed the ritual to declare themselves Brothers In Everything But Blood. At the time many believed that this would lead to a formal alliance between both houses, yet it seems that they took this alliance to a more personal level"
"M-marriage?" Asked Fudge, who quickly shut up as Ezekiel looked at him as if he were the greatest idiot that had ever lived.
"No, Cornelius" said Jareth through his teeth. "This ritual seems to be a blood oath between the two Lords. They effectively became brothers under the eyes of Magic. This document is proof of it."
"Impossible" said Ezekiel, who despite Ted attempts to stop him, walked towards the Goblin King and took the scroll off his hands. "Sirius Black was casted out of the Black family years ago, he was declared a traitor. My grandmother herself casted him out of the house and he was never the Lord of the House Of Black."
"Magic doesn't lie, Lord Black. You yourself refer to him as Sirius Black, if he had been indeed casted away, then magic wouldn't allow that name to be said out Black was indeed, at some point, Lord Black."
"That is a lie." Said Ezekiel seething " Sirius Black was vanished from the Black family. I know that, it is my earliest memories. My grandmother, Walburga Black casted him out of the family once he returned from Hogwarts"
"Your grandmother could claim all she wanted, but what about your grandfather, Orion Black? He was Lord Black, he was the Head of The Ancient and Most Noble House Of Black, not Walburga. Did he ever casted your uncle out? If not, then it is possible that your Uncle became Lord Black if he had abdicated in his favor."
Ezekiel didn't knew what to believe anymore, today had been a beating in every sense of the word and all he longed was a warm bed.
"Your Majesty, this simply can't be possible. You, me and everyone else knows that it was my uncle who betrayed the Potter family. If what you're saying is true, if they were truly brothers under the eyes of Magic then the ritual would've killed him if he ever attempted something against him or his kin, yet nothing happened to him."
Jareth smiled and simply asked "This is a valid document created by the oath given on the birth of the Scion of House Potter, therefore?"
Ezekiel had to think long and hard, the pain was coming back and from the way Jareth looked at him, it seemed as if he were on a schedule.
"He didn't betray them." He finally said.
"Precisely!" Said Jareth "Now, I don't know how or why but your uncle was indeed Lord Black at the time that this vow between himself and Lord Potter was made, therefore both Houses were united under this ritual. If Lord Black and Lord Potter were indeed brothers, then by proxy Harry James Potter is your cousin!" He gently took the document from Ezekiel's hands and began reading it in detail, yet as much as he tried he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Ezekiel looked at the goblin's troubled face and looked over him to read the document more calmly. The wording was a mess, some words kept repeating themselves and for some reason, some sentences or even whole paragraphs where slurred. Just what in the world...
No.
No way.
"Your Majesty, you said before that Gringotts uses auto-quills to register oaths and other rituals, right?" He asked.
"Yes, Lord Black. Our auto-quills are tuned so they write down any and all event recognized by magic. Why do you ask?" Jareth responded curiously.
"And do this quills make the entire document or do they take the words that are being said and put them onto the paper?" Ezekiel continued.
"They copy the words that both parties say, that way no one can say that there's been foul play. Lord Black, what does this have to do with anything?"
"They were drunk." Ezekiel answered.
"Beg your pardon? Drunk?" Asked the confused goblin.
"Drunk." Ezekiel repeated "That's why this whole thing is a mess. Words and sentences are repeated several times. There's an entire paragraphs here" he pointed at the fifth paragraph on the document "that starts with the words 'I love you, mate' from Lord Potter to my uncle, and then proceeds to call him every name under the sun, to then go back to say he loves him like a brother. I'm just skimming here, Your Grace, since my head is hurting. I'm afraid that I'll have to request Gringotts to do a further analysis to determine the implications and terms of this oath."
"That Lord Black, I'll most certainly do." Answered a smiling Jareth. "Yet this doesn't change the fact that you're currently related to the Potter's Scion. It's clear that in any and all agreements of this kind a clause is made to 'protect the other's family as if it were their own'. Regardless of how it happened, when Lord Sirius Black made this vow he was the Head of his family, and that vow has now been passed out to you, My Lord. If what you said it's true and you were indeed summoned, then it was Scion Potter who called upon this oath. You must honor this oath, sire, and take the child under your wing!"
Ezekiel barely stopped himself from screaming at Jareth. The Lord of one, if not the darkest house in history, hosting the child of the Light? The whole idea was ridiculous. Yet, he couldn't get out of his head what he saw on that house. Ezekiel knew what would happen if Harry was left there, he had read about it in the newspaper and in case files. Best case scenario the poor child would die, at worst he would live the rest of his life scarred for life. Those people never fit in either the muggle world or the magical one, being honest those people would need assistance from Mind Healers or psychiatrists for the rest of their life. If only the Ministry spared a single though on them.
Harry Potter didn't had a good life, of that Ezekiel was sure. Had he been a normal wizard, he wouldn't have hesitated and taken the child out of that home as fast humanly possible, yet he wasn't one. The truth of the matter was that the Black Family Magic was Dark, there was no denying it. The kind of Darkness that went against nature, Life itself. That sort of darkness usually corrupted the pure, shattered the innocent. In order to survive, the Black family raised their children to be anything but, the only two exceptions known in it's history being Andi and his uncle, the somehow late Lord Sirius Black. Those two had run away as soon as they could and made sure to never look back. It didn't take a genius to figure that Ezekiel wouldn't be a good influence on him, but having seen what he had he wasn't so sure that a good influence was what Harry needed. In any case he was sure that Andi would take him in.
"Very well." He said holding his wand up "I, Ezekiel Artemis Black, Lord of The Ancient and Most Noble House Of Black will take Harry Potter, Heir of the Ancient House Of Potter under my protection as the Bond of Brotherhood between our houses estates. I hereby swear on my magic and my life that I'll protect him until he's of age or he doesn't requires it anymore. So mote it be!" and with a flash, the oath was completed.
"Very well, Lord Black. Now where is the child?" Asked Jareth, looking around. One of the Aurors in black robes spoke to him, Ezekiel wasn't sure which language it was, as his body started hurting again he found it harder to concentrate in anything. He was however, able to catch that they had searched the building and found no traces of Harry. Ezekiel couldn't imagine how many Aurors were actually in the building, it was ten levels full of wizards and he couldn't help to notice that none of them had apparently moved to assist them. He only hoped that on one was injured.
"Where is the child, Cornelius?" Jareth asked the Minister. "Remember that getting in the way of this bond was the cause this incident, helping to fix this will undoubtedly be rewarded."
"Of course, of course!" Fudge said excitedly, before going back to being scared "But I don't know where he is... " Fudge pointed at Dumbledore, who was still backed to a wall of the chamber "He... Dumbledore must know, he always knows! He's the one that took the guardianship of Potter!"
"Scion Potter, Cornelius" said Jareth icily, before turning to Dumbledore. "Very well, Albus, where is Harry Potter?" Seeing that the spears on Dumbledore's throat prevented him from doing anything, Jareth nodded to the soldiers that moved the spears enough for him to speak, the rest of the spear and wands didn't bulge an inch. To Dumbledore's credit, he managed to look stern and dignified while having his life threatened
"He's safe, I healed him and kept him in a place where only I can reach him. I'm his Guardian so it's only natural that I ensure his safety"
"Ensure his safety? Are you bloody kidding me?" Ezekiel snapped "That kid would be better off in an active volcano that on that house! Those people beaten him and you have the gall to say that you're his guardian! I don't know who the hell you think you are and I don't care, that child won't set a foot on that house ever again." Ezekiel's tone began lowering as he approached Dumbledore. "You'll tell me where he is, you'´ll give him to me and you'll stay the hell away from him. He's under my protection."
Dumbledore chuckled "Your protection, you say? Ezekiel, my dear boy, how are you to protect the Child of the Light when you can barely stand? Or how could you ever protect him when the rest of the world learns of this? Do you think that they'll accept this, you? They'll hunt you down, child. You're as Dark as the space between the stars, no one will ever accept such wizard. They will hunt you down and they'll take Harry, do the right thing and leave him to me. I'll keep him safe from the rest of the world"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Dumbledore" Said Jareth "I've spoken with the ICW and we've agreed to keep you under watch, given your recent actions. You'll be effectively under investigation until further notice, and about that 'protection' of yours, Gringotts will side with the Black family. Since they're one of our oldest clients and the victims of such egregious attack we'll provide them with a full set of security measures in order to ensure that they and the Scion Potter are protected to our standards."
Jareth approached the wizard and said "Now Dumbledore, you will bring the child to this chamber." Seeing that he was about to speak Jareth cut him off "Should you refuse this again or choose to flee and I shall place such a bounty on you that even your most fervent supporters will sell you out. Now bring the boy to us, you have ten minutes." With a wave of his hand the spears that restricted him were removed, yet the wands of the Aurors remained fixed.
"Very well" said Dumbledore, who now realized that he couldn't win this battle "Ten minutes. I shall bring him here." promptly apparating to Harry's location.
"Do you think he'll do it?" Ezekiel asked Jareth in a low voice, so only they could hear each other.
"I'm sure he will, internationally speaking his image has been damaged, if not destroyed. Locally, there might still be some who are loyal to him but I doubt that they're that many or that they occupy any seats that might help him. Most of his followers are from the lower extracts of society, the most wealthy aligned themselves with the Dark during the war. The only exceptions were the Potters and the Longbottoms, who followed Dumbledore. Your family and the Greengrass remained neutral during the conflict. He needs to regroup, I shall use that time to dismantle his support group. He knows too many talented wizards and witches but they aren't here, those I'll contact first. Locally it will take longer, his reputation is well cemented in the mind of the public but then again so are the Potters. Many believe that Harry Potter is being raised in another magical enchanted castle made by Dumbledore himself, once he brings the child here we'll be able to make a dent into his image, then the hard work will begin." He answered honestly.
"Did you knew about Harry's circumstances?" Ezekiel asked.
Jareth shook his head "No, until this very moment I also believed that lie, I was making myself used to the idea of dealing with a mini-Dumbledore. I wasn't aware of any of this until the golden case opened, the opportunity presented itself and I took it."
"And why did you gave him ten minutes... Your Majesty?" Ezekiel said, noticing his early slip apparently went without notice.
"Because Lord Black, we the goblins know of the power that your family wields or in any case, we have the most accurate description of it. If Dumbledore did indeed cast those wards and they were actually bounded to his magical core, which I honestly doubt" Jareth looked as Ezekiel nodded, the same thought had already crossed his mind" then he'll need some time to gather the energy to unlock wherever protection he has placed upon him. Ten minutes is enough to prove that even if he casted those wards, he's lying about their power source. Just another nail on his coffin" Jared said smiling.
They waited for what it look like an eternity, with Jareth checking his pocket watch several times. During that time the foreign Aurors had moved the injured to the sides, while Ezekiel took that time to calm down his family. Andi in particular, a medi-witch from St Mungo's kept insisting to check his injury, while Ted and Dora tried to remind her that they were in public.
"Andi, stop it, we're in the middle of the bloody chamber!" Said Ezekiel as she tried to remove his shirt.
"Shush now, I need to see that injury." She said as she peeked at his back" I bet they brought Healer Perkins, that bastard."
"Andi, please" Begged Ted "We're in a courtroom, I know that you want to check on the boy but wait a moment, please."
"Don't tell me to wait, Ted! I've been on this bloody courtroom hearing all the stories those morons that call themselves journalists made up and neither of you " She pointed at her husband and daughter " bothered to tell me a single thing. He could've died for all I know!"
Ezekiel was happy that he Andi had turned him around to check his back, lying to Andi was never one of his skills. He noticed that neither Ted nor Dora had said a word in reply, but the way that her hands tensed on his shoulders told him that they didn't need to.
"Mom, we were trying to get him to safety before Dumbledore began barking orders, we knew just as much as you did. To top it all, we had to get someone that was willing to treat him. Madam Bones made sure he didn't die, but she's no Healer. Dad went looking for help and I stayed with him to make sure no one tried to off him while he slept. We didn't get a chance to talk to someone, we were lucky that Madam Bones kept us in the loop." Said Dora.
"It doesn't matter, Andi" Said Ezekiel was he shifted to face her" I'll get someone to look at this, okay? But right now we need to focus on this, I need to get Harry first and then I can take care of the rest."
"What are you gotta do with that?" Asked Dora.
"I don't know "Ezekiel sighted, shaking his head "I'll deal with the rest once I get there."
A burst of flame appeared n the middle of the room and Dumbledore, along with a shaken looking Harry behind him. Ezekiel and Jareth moved towards him, attempting to separate the two of them when Dumbledore stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this?" Asked Jareth
"My dear Jareth, I've brought Harry as I promised" He showed the boy that was behind him. "And I've explained the situation to him, he knows that Ezekiel will protect him. I do believe that he has something to say to him. Don't you, Harry?"
Harry moved from behind him, yet Ezekiel couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. For starters he was calm, while physically he looked fine it had been perhaps hours since Ezekiel had thrown his uncle around his house, yet he looked as if he had just came back from a walk. His clothes were a mess and they were definitely not his, as if they had given him something three times his size. His hair was a long greasy, tangled mess that went almost to his back and covered the upper part of his face, Ezekiel couldn't even look at his eyes. This was by no account the behavior of someone who had went through a traumatic experience, let alone one as weird as he had.
"Harry, are you okay?" Ezekiel said while he walked towards him. "I know that things look a bit weird now but I promise you, you're safe" He reached towards him "Come with me, it's alright. I promise."
To everyone's surprise Harry moved backwards, stunned Ezekiel opened his mouth but before he could speak he was cut off by Dumbledore.
"I think that it's pretty obvious that the boy is afraid of you, Ezekiel. I doubt that he'd accept your... protection"
"That is not for you to decide, Dumbledore!" Jareth yelled. "Scion Potter must make the decision on his own!"
Harry jumped backwards as he saw the goblin, so Ezekiel chose to stand between them as he motioned Jareth with his hand to make himself scarce. It did little to help
"Harry" Ezekiel told him reassuringly "I know that you're scared but I promise you, everything will be fine. I'll take you away from here as I promised, remember?"
Harry didn't move for a while, in fact he didn't even make a sound. He just stood there, his eyes covered by his hair. It was like looking at a puppet whose strings had been cut
"Harry, could you look at me?"
Again the boy showed no emotion or gave any indication that he heard him.
"Dumbledore, what have you done to him?
"Me? I believe Lord Blackthat it's quite obvious what happens. The Child of the Light has rejected you, it's unthinkable that he'd agree to be taken by you. As I said, I told him everything."
Ezekiel was taken aback yet was fully unable to believe it. Whatever time it took for Dumbledore to get Harry, a kid that by the looks of it didn't know what magic was and then explain to him about the Black family? No, impossible. In any case Harry had only heard one side of the story from a old man while he was the one that saved him from his relatives. Rationally speaking, he had the upper hand.
"Harry" He tried again " Could you look at me? I don't know what he told you but I promise you that it's a lie. I promised to get you out of that house and I will. Come with me and I promise you that you'll never have to see those people again."
Again, Harry showed no expression whatsoever, Ezekiel couldn't help to feel a cold shiver running up his back. Dumbledore placed his hand on Harry's shoulder before he continued.
"Ezekiel I must beg you to stop, you're clearly upsetting Harry here."
"Upsetting?" He countered " Look at him! He's doing nothing, if I didn't see his chest moving I'd thought that he wasn't breathing!"
"That is simply not true, Ezekiel, as you can see he's quite shacken." As if was an order Harry started acting just as Dumbledore said. "I must beseech you, renew of your vow and allow Harry to remain with me"
No one was able to say a word, so when Harry spoke it took them all by surprise. All he said was one word,
"Vow?"
Seeing as Dumbledore was shocked Ezekiel decided to take advantage
"Yes, a vow! I've bowed in front of the Minister" He motioned towards Fudge" That I'll take care of you for as long as you like. Your family and mine were friends for years and they signed a document so that I could be your Guardian. You can come with me and be safe, I promise." He begged
It wasn't a lie, honestly but this was clearly not the place to go into details.
Dumbledore hurried to speak again, grabbing the boy by the shoulder and forcing him to look at him.
"That is a lie, Harry my boy. Don't you remember what I've told you? He's a Dark Wizard who wanted to kill you, going with him will seal your fate. You mustn't let him take you away. Say that you renounce his protection and I shall take you away!" he said while winking his eye.
Ezekiel felt his blood turn cold. That motherf-
"Harry please, come with me and my family, let us protect you. Please"
Harry didn't answer to either man. Instead, to everyone's surprise, he dashed towards Ezekiel, crashing with him. Ezekiel hugged the Harry with all he had but felt him go limp. Looking at him the poor boy was exhaust and had fallen asleep. Ezekiel was about to curse at Dumbledore when Jareth's voice spoke behind him.
"It seems that it's clear that Scion Potter has accepted Lord Black as his Guardian. I'd say that this proves that he's not a Dark Wizard, wouldn't you say, Cornelius?"
"Yes, yes, o-of cc-course! That notion is now dismissed!"
"Very well" Jareth continued " Lord Black, given the circumstances I'd recommend that you and your family take the boy away. I shall take care of the rest."
Ezekiel nodded and with a look at his family they hastly left the room, leaving Dumbledore to the mercy of the Goblin King.
And so Ezekiel Artemis Black, Lord of The Ancient and Most Noble House Of Black, one of the most hated men in the UK, became the Magical Guardian of Harry Potter, The Boy who lived.
I don't own Harry Potter, all characters except OC belong to J. K. Rowling.
Note from the author: Hi! I'd like to thank to all the people who read this story. I've been on this site for quite a while now and finally grew the courage to write one of my stories. I'd also like to thank all the people who left reviews on this story, honestly I get so scared when I start thinking about the next chapter that I sometimes Ieave the computer altogether, you guys have been so kind and encouraging and it meant a lot to me. I planned to have all this 'prologue' of sorts in 2 or 3 chapters but somehow it got streched into 10 (Writting is hard!) I've noticed that some chapter are missing parts on them, it seems as if FanFiction isn't copying all the text so I'll try to look at that and edit them.
Thanks again, you guys are awsome!