Gobbledygook
Once he was gone, probably off to his next appointment, she went back to the dining room, where she saw Severus and Harry talking about Harry's past few days at Longbottom Manor.
She clapped her hands to get their attention. "Come along, we have a meeting at Gringotts to get to." She announced once they were all looking at her. The boys in the room all nodded and got up to follow her back to the floo room, Augusta had a feeling this was going to be an interesting meeting.
Sharpaxe sat at the head of the conference table, watching the various members of the Potter Alliance come in, along with their heirs. Although, the political alliance itself all but disbanded when James and Lily died, and then unofficially disbanded when Dumbledore took proxy of Harry's seats. They didn't agree with most of his laws. At all. The fact that in recent years Albus Dumbledore started to claim that he was only doing what Harry asked him to...
Half of the alliance were either neutral or dark, the other half were light, it was a testament to the influence the Potter Family held that they were able to gather people from opposite sides and find ideals that they could all agree on. Of course, if there was something they didn't agree with that the Potter family were all for, or vice versa, they were free to vote for themselves. But for the most part, they voted with the Potter family.
Finally, everybody was here except for the Longbottoms and Harry himself. Just as he planned when he wrote to them what time he wanted them to come.
Finally, the three of them walked in followed by Severus, instantly becoming the center of attention. Sharpaxe watched carefully as most closed off their faces at the sight of Harry, looking at the boy blankly. He sighed, this was going to be another long discussion. He hadn't thought of adding Severus, but as a teacher at Hogwarts who was privy to much of Dumbledore's schemes, he would only lend credence to some of their claims
Then, he studied Harry. He already looked mountains of gold better than he did a few days ago. He was still way too thin, but he looked better. The new glasses did much for his appearance as well, now that his face wasn't being hidden by those bulky frames. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Hedwig wing into the room and land on Harry's shoulder just before the door closed.
He nodded, "Good, now we are all here, why don't you introduce yourselves since I know Heir Potter doesn't know any of you outside of seeing your heirs around Hogwarts."
A few exchanged dark looks, while a few others were confused. Wouldn't Harry at least have been shown pictures of them all or something so he would know who was who? Plus they all knew for a fact that there was at least one picture of all of them with James Lily in Potter Manor, James kept it in the study. Nevertheless, they all introduced themselves formally, along with their Heirs.
"Excellent. Now, it has come to my attention that there have been a few... misconceptions and assumptions made in the past year." He looked sternly at the Heirs.
"He just completely blew us off! We were reaching out in support as Heirs of HIS alliance, and he wasn't interested." Daphne Greengrass protested. "He didn't care!"
"I didn't blow you off, I had no idea what you were talking about! I only found out the Wizengamot existed a few days ago, I only found out I had an inheritance a few days ago!" Harry defended himself.
"How can you not know, Dumbledore is constantly passing laws that were your idea in the first place!" Lord Abbot said.
"Whatever Dumbledore told you, he lied. I have had a total of two discussions with the man in my life. Once during Christmas holiday last year when I, uh..." He glanced at Severus, "Stumbled across the Mirror of Erised at school, and once at the end of the year when I was in the hospital wing after stopping the Philosophers stone from being stolen." Harry said in a barely controlled voice. "The first time I ever saw the man was at the opening feast last year too, before you ask." He said bitingly.
Everyone stared at him for a moment. "Who, then, did you grow up with? Dumbledore claimed that he was raising you safely in a hidden location." Lord Greengrass asked.
"I grew up with my Muggle Aunt and Uncle. I didn't know magic even existed until Hagrid brought me my letter on my eleventh birthday." He frowned. "My aunt and uncle knew though, they were constantly trying to 'stamp it out of me' as my uncle put it." He shrugged and reached up to pet Hedwig, missing the looks of shock and outrage on the Lords and Lady's faces. He only looked up when he heard Severus growling. "What?" He asked when he saw their faces, they looked at each other and decided not to say anything when they saw the warning look Sharpaxe gave them.
Just then, Sharptooth walked in. "Harry, our Healers wanted me to send you down to see them when you got here, they just want to run some scans now that it has been a couple of days to check that your core is healthy and the nutrient potions are doing their job."
Harry blinked but nodded, and followed Sharptooth out. "He has wonderful timing." Sharpaxe muttered. A few adults frowned when they heard about the nutrient potions.
"Why are we here Sharpaxe? Why are you getting involved in wizarding political affairs?" Lord Greengrass finally asked.
Sharpaxe raised an eyebrow. "Because when it comes to the Potter family, wizarding politics are Gringotts affairs. You all know very well what the Potter family has historically stood for in regards to magical creatures, besides, James and Lily were good friends of mine." He said, and they all nodded, that was very true. "I still remember that boy playing in my office or with my grandchildren while James and I conducted business the few times Lily could not watch him. And considering the recent laws Dumbledore has pushed through, keeping the Potter Alliance together is vital to Gringotts and the Goblin Nations very survival. And this alliance cannot stay together if assumptions are made and perceived offenses are allowed to continue without the facts being discovered." He said, looking at the Heirs sternly again.
One of the more stubborn members spoke up, "He claims to have been raised Muggle, yet he was acting like he grew up Pureblood and just chooses not to completely show it."
"That is because I have been teaching him Pureblood customs every afternoon since he came to stay with me three days ago. Earlier today, I had an oculist come in and check his vision, this was the first time he had ever been seen by one, and he's had those glasses of his for years according to him. I have an appointment scheduled with a human Healer tomorrow for him to receive his shots since he never got those either." Augusta cut in, raising an eyebrow at those assembled for a moment.
"He really didn't even know about magic?" Hannah Abbot asked, disturbed. All the Heirs were. Augusta and Sharpaxe nodded. "But, he doesn't act like any of the Muggleborns, they almost always have their noses in books, or are bugging the rest of us with random questions."
"That is because he saves his questions for me and Ron for when we are in the dorms, I asked him why yesterday, he said its because he's the Boy-Who-Lived, he's expected to know everything. He tried asking a prefect something about wizarding customs once, and he was given a really weird look, the prefect couldn't understand why he was asking." Neville explained. "He can't even learn more about our world because of all the expectations our world placed on his shoulders without even knowing him." He said disgusted. The other Heirs blinked at him, this wasn't the Neville they remembered from school.
"And his claims on keeping the Philosophers Stone safe from being stolen? Why would something like that be in a school?"
"As bait." Severus said, stepping forward from his shadowy corner, glaring at the offender. "As a teacher and one of those teachers in charge of creating traps to protect the Stone, I can confirm that the Stone was there and Harry did save it from being stolen. Put himself in a magical coma doing it though..." He muttered, annoyed.
"Why is he here?" Lord Greengrass asked.
"Hi, Professor." Daphne and the other Snakes said. Although they were just as confused as everyone else why he was there. After all, everyone who stepped foot in Hogwarts knew how much Severus Snape hated Harry Potter. And why did the Professor just call him Harry? It was always some different tone of Potter. The rest of the students were casting weary looks at their most feared professor,
Severus's lips twitched in his Snakes direction. "I am here, because when Harry was born, James and Lily appointed two people to be his godfather in what was probably their biggest argument since the day they first started dating. Myself and Sirius Black. We are still working on getting Sirius a trial and released, so that leaves me to take care of him for now."
"But then why...?" Hannah Abbot asked.
"Why am I so horrible to him in school?" Severus asked, the students all nodded. "It was either be horrible to him and wait for a chance to explain while helping him as much as I could from the shadows, or find myself sharing a cell with Sirius in Azkaban."
Everyone looked shocked and horrified. "Who would possibly..." Someone scoffed.
"There are things going on here which you do not know. Rest assured, you will learn what you need to when it is safe to learn it." Sharpaxe said. Just then, Harry came hurrying in with Hedwig clinging to his shoulder. He scrambled to his seat and actually moved it so Augusta was between him and the door, feeling Hedwig's amusement through the link as he did. He sent her a betrayed glare.
"What happened?" Severus asked, torn between concern and amusement.
"Healers are scary." Harry whispered, eyeing the door. "They could tell I forgot my potion this morning." He said louder.
Sharpaxe and Severus snorted in laughter before they coughed to cover it up. While all the students gaped at Severus in shock, Augusta asked Harry why he forgot his potion. She watched Mipsy put it by his plate.
"I guess I was nervous for the oculist. I've never seen one before, so..." Harry shrugged.
Sharpaxe frowned and shook his head, deciding not to even go there. "Did the Healers say anything else?" He asked.
Harry tilted his head. "They said everything looked fine, they also gave me this." He said, handing Sharpaxe a roll of parchment, which he unrolled to glance over it.
He nodded in satisfaction. "This is permission to use magic outside of school on medical grounds, very good."
Severus walked back into his rooms at Hogwarts with a sigh. He'd just come back from Gringotts after a particularly long meeting with what used to be the Potter Alliance, and the Lords and Lady's needed time to talk and decide. Oh, sure, they believed them, but... they all had agreements, business arrangements, and friendships with James and Lily, and before that with Charlus and Dorea. Friendships and agreements that had been ignored for the most part for the past eleven years.
Whether it was Harry's fault or not. Being ignored like that wasn't just something they could ignore and forget.
Then, of course, there was the fact that Severus and Sharpaxe wouldn't really tell them everything that was going on just yet. Sure, they understood the need for security, but at the same time... none of them were the type to appreciate being asked for help without being told why. The only one of them that had any idea of everything that was going on was Amelia Bones, and she was the one who decided not to tell everyone everything at first.
They just couldn't risk anything reaching Dumbledore's ears. They already said too much in regards to Severus and Harry's relationship.
Because of the secrecy, it had taken a couple of hours to convince them all that Harry had not insulted their Families on purpose, he hadn't snubbed their Heirs on purpose, and they would learn some of what was going on at the next Wizengamot meeting. Merlin, politicians were stubborn when they were offended.
Luckily, the parents of his Snakes hadn't protested too much when he pulled his students to the side before they all left to warn them to act as if nothing at all had changed between him and Harry. The other parents had protested a little, but there wasn't really much they could do when a teacher wanted to speak with his students about the upcoming school year. He had tried to impress the seriousness of what could happen if they were to tell anybody that he was Harry's godfather, what could happen if the wrong ears heard it, if the wrong ears heard that Severus and Harry had been in contact and Harry knew the truth.
The very least that would happen was them receiving detention with either himself or Filch every night for the rest of their school careers.
Severus bit back a groan when he walked into his potions lab, only to see Dumbledore sitting on a stool reading a book, instead he shoved everything back behind his Occlumency shields, another thing he would have to work with Harry on, and raised an eyebrow. "Albus, can I help you with something?" He asked, politely curious. Mentally, he was calling the old man every name he could think of, imagining himself using the worse of the curses he learned during his time as a Death Eater. He had a bad feeling that he knew exactly why the old man was here, and he was thanking every deity ever worshipped that Harry now had the Black Heir ring on his finger.
"Yes, I was wondering if you had those potions I asked you for? I was also wondering where you were when I didn't see you at breakfast this morning? Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked in that blasted 'kind grandfather' voice of his.
"I am fine, I just had some errands to run, I had a delivery to take to St. Mungoes, and no, I do not have your potions ready yet, I was busy with those for the hospital." Severus replied, going over to his private stores. It wasn't a total lie either, he had taken a shipment of potions to St. Mungoes before going to the Longbottoms and then following them to Gringotts, the lie was that he'd finished the potions for the hospital a few days ago, right before he got the message that the goblins found Harry, he'd spent the past few days brewing a few months worth of Nutrient Potions for Harry. They were now safely stored away inside Harry's potion lab.
"Ah, that's alright, dear boy, that's alright. I was just concerned. We do not want you shutting yourself away inside your labs again, last time you did that, you collapsed! Poppy wouldn't let you go for at least a week if I recall, I don't think any of us want a repeat of that incident..." Dumbledore trailed off with a pensive expression on his face, remembering the Healer's reaction to finding Severus collapsed in his labs, completely wiped after almost two weeks of constant brewing straight with little to no food, water, and certainly no sleep. How he did it... Dumbledore suspected multiple Pepper-ups had been drunk in those two weeks. As soon as Poppy found him, she rushed him straight to the hospital wing, wouldn't let anyone in to see him, and as soon as he finally woke up, stood there and gave him a two hour long lecture on exactly why he would never spend two weeks straight brewing again without food or sleep.
A month later, Severus swore his ears were still ringing. Not long after her lecture, she went out and bought him a personal house-elf with the strict instructions that if Severus ever spent longer than two days locked inside his labs, the elf was to stun him and put him to bed immediately before waking him up again long enough to eat before being force-fed a sleeping potion if the elf had to, no matter where he was on the potion. And no matter what Severus said, despite the fact that Severus was the elf's new master. The poor elf was so terrified of the Healer that she didn't even consider for one moment obeying her master when he tried to tell her to ignore every single order Poppy had given her in regards to Severus's time in his labs.
Dumbledore watched in concealed amusement as the Potions Master shivered and looked around in fear, terrified that Poppy was going to come out of the shadows and start another lecture. It was amusement at the others expense, not even he wanted to go against Poppy when it came to the health of her patients, he was lucky his compulsion that she had already checked Harry Potter and given him a clean bill of health worked, otherwise she would have had the boy out of his relatives house faster than he could say 'snitch'.
"No, no that incident must not be repeated." Severus muttered, shuddering. Honestly, he was lucky Lola had deemed that he was taking sufficient care of himself during the past few days while he brewed Harry's potions, otherwise he would have never gotten them done. He suspected Poppy acquired the elf from St. Mungoes, the creature behaved far too much like a Healer with her patient.
Dumbledore suddenly clapped his hands together, deciding that they best get off the topic of scary Healers. "Well, I suppose that this means you are free to brew those potions for me?" He asked as he gained a slightly dangerous glint to his eyes, casting a wandless compulsion over Severus, making sure he would do as he was told without asking questions like he did a week ago. All those questions, and he still hadn't gotten around to making them.
Severus shuddered when he felt the compulsion wash over him, but obediently agreed and went along with what was expected of him, grateful to Sharpaxe for suggesting all those years ago that he take up his Lordship.
The Ancient magic in the Prince Family Ring was designed to protect against compulsions and other similar spells.
He growled mentally when Dumbledore settled himself back onto his stool by the door and pulled his book back out, clearly he wasn't leaving this room without his potions.
He hated it when people insisted on watching over his shoulder. Unfortunately, he couldn't kick the old man out, not when he was currently supposed to be under compulsions. Besides, he was supposed to act like a grateful former Death Eater, and he was supposed to be grateful enough to put up with anything, to do anything without question.
He couldn't wait until they were finally able to get public opinion away from the old man, and get him arrested, personally, Severus was hoping for the Kiss, but he also knew that no matter how much Dumbledore's name became mud, the public would still never allow that to happen. To their eyes, Dumbledore would just be a misguided, senile old man whose age was finally catching up to him.
He sighed as he got busy pulling supplies and gathering ingredients needed. He had a godson to drug.
He never thought he would be more grateful to Sirius Black in that moment for making Harry his Heir.
Harry sank down on his bed with a sigh. It had been a very long day, a very long week for that matter.
So far, he hadn't really had a chance to just sit and think. Neville and his grandmother were always there. Either helping him organize, helping him find Hedwig's nutrient potions after the owl hid them, or teaching him etiquette and pureblood history.
So much had happened the past few days.
He laid there for a few more minutes before he shook his head and opened his trunk to go the kitchen. Cooking had always helped him think, (even if he hated cooking for the Dursley's).
He didn't even notice Hedwig following him until he got down the ladder and turned around after closing the door only to see Hedwig pulling out a pack of bacon, turning to look at him, sending a feeling of her pleading (not that she would ever admit to pleading). He blinked once at her before snorting in amusement even as he came forward to take the bacon from her while reaching for a pan to put on the stove.
Honestly, there were times where he thought she was really a human in disguise, she was so smart.
"I take it you want some bacon, girl?" He asked, faking a put out expression. She bobbed her head once and hooted. "Alright, and what do you say we make some cookies or something, too?" He asked her as he put the bacon in the pan and left to cook for a minute while he pulled out stuff for the mentioned cookies. "I'm really glad Jack put some modified Muggle appliances in here." He muttered as he pulled out a beater. It had a rune carved into the handle, and it ran off its users magic. Jack also left a book on household spells in his library, with the section on cooking spells marked.
He just didn't know enough about magic to feel safe using magic to cook without exploding it.
Especially with the control issues he was having at the moment. Augusta had started working with him a little when they got back from Gringotts, and he now only partially blinded everyone when he cast Lumos, instead of completely blinding them.
He sighed and went to flip the bacon before he started letting his mind wander even while his hands mixed. He trusted Hedwig to get his attention before their bacon burned.
She hated burnt bacon even more than he did.
Sure enough, she hooted to get his attention, and she even sent him a mental image of the bacon, complete with it being on a plate and her eating it. That was new. He really needed to read that book on Familiars.
When he pulled the bacon off, he put it on two plates. "What? I want bacon too! If you still want more later, I'll make you more." He said when he felt her dismay bleed through the link, and the image she sent of all the bacon being on ONE plate, and her devouring ALL of it. She looked between him and his plate of bacon again before she seemed to sag in defeat. Harry shook his head fondly before he snagged some of his bacon and went back to the cookies, once again allowing his mind to wander, thinking back through the past few days.
Not for the first time, he felt angry. Angry with himself for not trying harder to find out more, but even more angry with Dumbledore for doing all this to him in the first place. Also not for the first time, Hedwig reached through the link to calm him down when objects started to rattle on the table.
He sent gratitude back as he put the first cookies in the oven and started on a cake. He was strangely grateful that Aunt Petunia never got pre-made mixes. Aunt Petunia seemed to think that getting cake mixes would make him lazy, so she always made him make it from scratch. Although he noticed that if they were having company over, she would get cake mix. It probably had something to do with the fact that he wasn't allowed to cook when they were having company. Which Harry thought was a shame, because if it was a question of who could actually cook, he would win hands down every time.
Speaking of Aunt Petunia, he wondered if the goblins had gotten to them yet...
The night before...
Petunia and Vernon sat in front of the television, watching the late night news, with Petunia looking through travel guides. They were planning on taking a family vacation, to celebrate the little Freak being gone. Dudley had already gone upstairs to bed.
They didn't know where the Freak had gone, and they didn't care. Petunia was only mad that he wasn't around to do chores anymore, which meant that she would have to do it herself, or hire someone... They certainly had the money, what with the large stipend they got every month from the old Freak.
They were startled when there was a knock on the door. "Who in the blazes is calling at this time of night?!" Vernon sputtered, outraged that somebody could be so rude. And to HIS family!
Petunia frowned. "I'll get it, dear." She said, patting her husband on the leg as she stood up. At the door, she hesitated just long enough to plaster a fake welcoming smile on her face. Even if their guests were being rude for calling at this time of night, there was no need for her not to appear polite.
She was not expecting the police to be standing there.
She blinked for a minute before she remembered her manners. These were the police, after all.
"Officers, can I help you with something?" She asked, her eyes nervously darting towards her neighbors houses, hoping none of them were watching this. What would they think if it turned out they did something! She didn't think they did anything wrong...
She heard Vernon getting up from the next room and walking over to join her at the door, she assumed he heard her say the word 'officer'.
"Yes, I'm afraid the two of you are under arrest. For embezzlement, and at the very least, severe child neglect." The officer in front said, reaching for his hand-cuffs. "Turn around, Mrs. Dursley, don't fight us, it will only make this worse for you." He warned when he saw Petunia tensing up. He'd seen her glances to the neighbors house, and that told him that she was one of THOSE. More concerned with her and her families public image than anything else.
By now, Vernon had reached the door, and was starting to protest loudly at the sight of his wife being put in hand-cuffs. When the other officer entered the house and tried to hand-cuff him too, he fought back. Screaming and yelling that they didn't do anything, they had no right to be arresting his family.
Petunia could only stand outside in hand-cuffs watching in horror as the neighbors all began looking out their windows or even coming outside to see what the commotion was.
"I need help here!" The officer finally yelled. Almost immediately, Petunia was pulled to the side while a group of the other officers standing on the lawn surged forward to help subdue the fat man who just made things worse for him. And more complicated for the officers who were here that happened to have children in Hogwarts. Because now the man would HAVE to be sentenced in the combined Muggle-Magical court, but the goblins had already sentenced them to the mines. The officers didn't waste any time in using their combined weight to pull Vernon down and keep him down, one of them literally sitting on his upper-back while a couple of others pulled his arms back and started working out how to get the hand-cuffs on.
They weren't long enough.
While they did that, one of them noticed Dudley standing on the stairs, and the boy started to raise his fists and looked like he was about to charge when Petunia spoke up, not wanting her son to be hurt.
"Stay there, Dudley, listen to them." She called. Dudley looked at her, and he looked terrified, he had no idea what was going on. But he listened to his mother, a very rare occurrence. Petunia stubbornly ignored the neighbors gathering in the street to watch what was going on. She knew that they would have to move now. It never even crossed her mind that they might not be coming back here.
The officers hauled Vernon to his feet with some difficulty after they finally ended up linking two pairs of cuffs together to form a chain so they could actually make them long enough. They dragged him, kicking and yelling, out to a car while they led Petunia and Dudley to the living room so the crime lab techs could swarm the house. This was a case of child neglect, and the goblins had told the Muggleborn parents enough to know they would be able to get pictures as evidence. "Open every door, look in every room, somebody check that cupboard." The lieutenant in charge instructed, pointing to the cupboard under the stairs.
He walked into the living room and made sure the only officers within earshot were those that had children in Hogwarts like him. "I'm Lieutenant Johnson. Before we begin, every single officer within earshot has a child in Hogwarts." He said, and watched as Petunia paled.
"Then you know exactly what we went through raising a Freak like him." She hissed venomously.
All the officers narrowed their eyes. They hated it when their children were called that by the other children before they got their letters, and now they just heard a woman in charge of raising a wizarding child. Just what were they going to find in this house? At that moment, one of the techs called an officer out into the hallway. "Funny you should mention your nephew. He's why we're here. We have been asked by the goblin nation to inform you that Mr. Potter is the Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Black, is easily the wealthiest person in Magical Britain, possibly the world, and is the most politically influential person on the Wizengamot, that's like the magical Parliament. He also holds a seat on the House of Lords in our own government. You are being charged with embezzlement and neglect of that child, Mrs. Dursley." All the officers watched as she paled.
The news that he had political influence with the normal government meant that they wouldn't be getting out of this easily. If he hadn't told her that, then she would say that They had no right to touch them, they were normal. But if the Normal courts were going to involved...
"Here's what is going to happen. You and your husband are going to be tried in a combined Muggle-Magical court. Every single person on that court has either a child or a spouse who is magical. Or both. There will also be a couple of representatives there from both the Ministry of Magic's child services and our own child services. Unfortunately for you, as per stipulations made in Lily Potters will, you and your husbands fates are already decided as far as the magical side of things is concerned. And your husband has now added charges of resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, so I really don't know how things will go from the Muggle viewpoint. Your son... I'm afraid his fate is entirely in the goblins hands. I honestly do not know what they plan to do with him, that will depend on what is found out when he is questioned. I would advise the both of you to be entirely truthful during said questioning, the wizards have ways of ensuring you are if you decide to be difficult.
You will, of course, have a chance for a lawyer, as per Muggle law. However, because the goblins have a claim on you, they will only be there in a capacity to attempt to minimize your punishment as best as they can." He said. Just then the officer came back in and gestured for him to follow.
He frowned before he followed along behind, and was led to the cupboard he mentioned earlier. Did they actually find something there? What he saw made him weak at the knees. Hidden among cleaning supplies was a dirty, baby-crib mattress with holes in it, a ratty blanket covering it, and spiders everywhere. Looking at the walls, he saw some paper sticking out from behind a bucket, as well as what looked like an arm from a toy soldier. "Do you have your pictures?" He asked faintly. The tech nodded, and he went ahead and moved the bucket, and he decided then and there that he was scheduling some vacation time and taking his family out for a while. He needed to spend time with his little girl after seeing all this. Before she returned to Hogwarts for the year. Behind the bucket were papers taped up, some pictures that looked like they had been torn up, and then carefully taped back together again. Proudly sitting in the middle of the pictures, was a sign similar to the one his daughter drew when she was younger and hung up on her bedroom door. A sign proclaiming this as Harry's room. He stepped back. "Get more pictures, clear the walls, I want every single wall visible, get it all." He said.
Then he decided to go upstairs. He quickly found Dudley's room, and found himself feeling even more sick at the blatant difference in how two boys lived under the same roof. While Harry Potter was locked away and more than likely ignored in that cupboard, his cousin was sitting up here playing with his toys, his computer, surrounded by gifts and the knowledge that his parents loved him. Then he saw the door with the locks still hanging from it and the cat-flap. As he approached, he saw another officer come out of what he was assuming to be the master bedroom with a set of keys in his hand. "The techs still have to get pictures. So, I figured we should leave the locks intact." He explained.
Johnson nodded. When the locks were undone, he opened the door, shaking his head when he saw the condition of the room beyond it. His face darkened when he saw the bars on the window. While the rest of the house was immaculate, this room and the cupboard looked like they belonged in a house that had been abandoned for years. The only thing was that this room looked like it had at least been lived in recently, but only in the sense that there weren't as many spiders or as much dust. "Get it all." He said to the tech. He would know the guys name, but he was new, and he hadn't had a chance to get to know him yet.
He went back downstairs, where he went to the living room and turned to the others. "Get them out of here." It was then that he noticed the travel guides on the coffee table and raised an eyebrow. "Planning on going on a little trip? Using Mr. Potters money, I'm assuming? Sorry, ma'am. Trips cancelled." He said icily as he left the room to take Vernon back to the station. He was followed by two other officers leading Petunia and Dudley. When he left, he saw a woman he knew to be the squib, Arabella Figg. He narrowed his eyes. Everyone in his circles who worked with the goblins knew that she was a die-hard supporter of Headmaster Dumbledore.
If she was here, then why didn't the Headmaster know and do something about this years ago? Something else was going on here, but there wasn't anything he could do within the wizarding world to help, but he could do what he could to help in the Muggle.
Present time...
Arthur sighed as he fell into bed face first, fully clothed. He just had a long night in the Ministry, he was getting more and more reports of Muggles being harmed by Muggle objects that were charmed to harm them, so he was conducting more and more raids to catch those responsible. While most thought these raids were purely to protect the Muggles he loved so much, he was also running so many raids because all these attacks and Muggle-baiting were a danger to the Statute of Secrecy. The blood-supremacists always seemed to forget that when they put him down for doing his job.
He raised his head when he heard the door open, and was surprised to see it was Ron.
"Hey, son. Is something wrong?" He asked, sitting up.
"I was wondering... well, you met Hermione at the bookstore. Well, she's mine and Harry's best friend, but she's also obsessed with authority figures. She refuses to hear a word against them. The only reason she was convinced about Snape last year was because he really was horrible, and then she saw him muttering the counter-curse at that Quidditch match, and thought he was the one doing the cursing." Ron said. He and the Twins had spent the day after the goblin Healers freed the Twins telling their parents everything that happened at the school the year before, well, Ron did most of the talking, with the Twins adding on every now and then with the rest of the schools point of view on events.
"Your worried that if you and Harry try to warn her about Professor Dumbledore, she won't believe you, and might go running to tell him or something so he can 'set the record straight.'" Arthur said softly. Ron bit his lip and nodded. Arthur sighed and sat back. "I don't know, Ron. The best I can tell you is to ask Professor Snape about it. He might be able to join in that discussion. He's an authority figure, he just might be able to make the difference."
Ron frowned. "But, he's... I mean, he's awful! I'm still trying to figure out what was going on the other day, he was being nice to Harry, I don't get it." He finished.
"I think... there is a lot going on that we don't know. But, going by what we found out in Gringotts, I think it's safe to say that the Professor was horrible to keep up appearances with Dumbledore and some of the other students. There are things about Snape that you kids don't know... simply because it's never really discussed. But... back during the war, there were rumors... about Snape being You-Know-Who's right hand. Now we know it was Sirius Black, but... those rumors had to come from somewhere. He was never convicted, his name did come up, but Dumbledore vouched for him, Dumbledore got him off scott-free with claims of Snape being his spy within the Death Eaters. Obviously, Snape managed to come up with something, or the other Death Eaters would have killed him years ago just for the insinuation that he betrayed them."
Ron frowned. "How can we trust him, then? How can Harry trust him?"
Arthur shrugged. "Harry must know something we don't. Or, its entirely possible that the Professor hasn't gotten around to telling him about his past yet. I think that only the two of them really know. Don't worry about Hermione. It'll work out, you'll get through to her." He said, laying a hand on his sons shoulder.
Harry shrugged. Oh well, who cared what was going on with them? He was never going to have to see them again. Just then, he reached for more bacon with one hand while the other cracked some eggs, only to find his plate empty.
He froze and looked over, blinking when he saw his empty plate, trailing his eyes over to look at Hedwig, and her empty plate and all too innocent posture, and the feelings of innocence bleeding through the link.
"HEDWIG!" He yelled, slamming down the now empty eggshell and slicing his hand open with it.
She just cocked her head cutely and hooted sweetly.