He nodded again. "I will see you in here on Thursday after dinner then, we will start with testing your Occlumency shields, so make sure you work on them before then. Well, you should always be working on them, I will see you in the Great Hall tomorrow for breakfast. I have the latest batch of your nutrient potions brewed, Mipsy will, as usual have it beside your plate." He said as he led Harry and Hermione to the door.
"Ok, night Uncle Sev." Harry said as he slipped the Cloak on over himself and Hermione, who was lost in thought.
"Good-night, Harry. Get some sleep." Severus said before he swept off back to the dungeons.
Bill breathed a sigh of relief. They'd finally, finally solved the problem presented by the portrait of one Walburga Black.
Mentally, he was also cursing the Horcrux rune-sets for going off a mere half-hour after Sirius used his Lordship ring to deactivate the majority of the security wards around Grimmauld Place and Black Manor so the teams could get in, assess the house, and begin work on cleansing and renovating it. They would layer their own wards over the properties while they worked, and then when they were done, their wards would come down while Sirius raised his family wards again.
As soon as the runes went off and he saw which property it was, he ran to find the goblin in charge of that team and got himself added to it easily enough, all it took was him saying that the rune-sets went off.
Now... they hadn't been expecting an easy time of it in that house. This was the Black family, after all, and this house had stood vacant for years, who knew what kind of pests had made it their home, not to mention how much ambient magic would have twisted things and made them more lethal. It happened. However, they were expecting to at least make it past the entrance hall.
When they landed from the Portkey and Grimmauld Place appeared, one contractor whistled , while another looked like he might cry at the state the house was in, and another looked like a kid who'd just been told to run while in a candy shop (yes, the house was in ruins, they could tell just by looking at the outside, but... he was looking forward to fixing it up to its former glory. After seeing what the extent of the damage was, of course... That, and the paycheck they would be getting for this job...).
"Shall we go in, gentlemen? And lady." The head goblin, Grindaxe, asked. The lone woman on the team, Olivia Yaxley, lost her glare and nodded in satisfaction. Bill shook his head, she was one of the better Curse-Breakers he'd seen since he came back to England. He'd seen a few that were... kind of pathetic, to be honest. He doubted that they would be employed with the bank for much longer if they didn't get their act together. Honestly, he was surprised they had been employed in the first place... but maybe they had shown more promise during their employment tests. Yes, the Goblins tested their potential employees extensively before even considering their applications.
He shook his head, bringing himself out of his thoughts when the team moved towards the door. They were going to go in slow and carefully, they had no idea what to expect in a decrepit house of the Black Family. Especially when Sirius told them that the main properties, Grimmauld Place and Black Manor, were where most of the Black and Dark Magic artifacts were mostly kept. That kind of magic tended to seep into the environment around it, and mutate over time if left on its own. Which was part of what made those magicks so dangerous sometimes, it had to be constantly monitored or it could become something it was not meant to be.
When they carefully opened the door, ready for anything to jump out an attack them, they waited for a few moments before Bill and another Curse-Breaker, Bill never got his name, cautiously led the way into the house, wands out and ready to defend themselves from anything. They were right to be cautious, as they were attacked by an umbrella stand made out of a troll's leg as soon as they set foot inside. Once it was taken care of, Bill muttered that it was like he never left Egypt. He was always being attacked by random objects like that, after all. After making sure nothing else in the hallway would attack them, they signaled that it was safe.
"You're an Egypt Curse-Breaker?" The other guy, he should really find out his name, asked, shocked.
Bill turned to him, and nodded, raising an eyebrow in question.
"A tomb-raider?" Again, Bill nodded. "But, then what are doing back in boring England?"
Ah, now he understood. To be assigned to Egypt was considered the pinnacle of a Curse-Breaking career when working for Gringotts. The Ancient Egyptians left behind so much, not just gold and treasure, but spell knowledge, some of the curses they had guarding their tombs... They were amazing. Nothing could compare to them, and the fact that knowledge of them had been lost centuries ago, just made the job all that harder. To find scrolls about those spells, intact scrolls, could actually earn you a bigger payday than any amount of treasure found. "Something was discovered here in England that I happen to be an expert in dealing with, because of how often I've come across it in the tombs." Bill said with a shrug. "So, until it's dealt with, I've been reassigned to England. Once I'm done, I'll probably be heading back to Egypt, back to my tombs." He explained.
They would have continued their conversation while the contractors finished their assessment of the hallway, to determine if the floor was safe to walk on, but they were interrupted by a loud shrieking. All the Curse-Breakers immediately turned towards the sound, but saw nothing except for a single portrait. The woman in the portrait honestly looked like a woman who had gotten on the wrong side of an Ancient Egyptian curse.
Her skin was yellowing, her eyes were rolling, and she was drooling. Not to mention she was screaming. It didn't help any that she woke up the rest of the portraits in the hall with her noise, either.
She was just screaming and screaming about them being filth, scum, beasts, and what were they doing in the home of her ancestors? It was very loud and headache inducing.
In the end, it was Olivia who stepped forward and showed her family crest to get her to shut up. The Yaxley's were an old, neutral Pureblood family, which made Olivia the highest ranking person socially in the group, (At least until the Weasley's were granted their Lordship back and since the Yaxley's and Black's ran in the same circles). Sure enough, as soon as she saw the crest, she shut up, mostly out of shock that somebody from such an old family was in the company of blood-traitors, Muggleborns, and Goblins. Now that she was quiet, Olivia took the contract from Grindaxe to show the portrait. Normally, they wouldn't bother with portraits, but sometimes, the portraits belonging to old families still retained some level of control over the family wards, mostly the inner house wards, like the ones that controlled which rooms were available to visitors, or if the rooms could be accessed by anyone at all. It was just another function of family portraits, they acted as an extra security measure on the off chance that somebody actually got through the main wards on the property.
Which basically meant that they had to get the cooperation of Walburga Black if they wanted to get past here to start their work. Personally, just from what he heard about her, Bill didn't think they stood a chance. Normally, a portrait would see the contract, know that the team was there on account of and with permission from the Lord of the House, and they would open up the house to the team, while keeping an eye on them to make sure the team didn't try any funny business.
But in this case... considering Walburga Black disowned the current Lord Black...
Yeah, she refused to open the house up to them. None of the other portraits would over-ride her control, either. Apparently, the House-elf that was here was fanatically loyal to her, and, if asked, he would destroy them. She'd already had Orion Black's portrait in Grimmauld destroyed when he would not stop going on about his only remaining son being in Azkaban, which was exactly where she thought he belonged.
"We can't leave this hallway, she's closed the house off to us. We need Lord Black here, then control of the inner wards will leave the portraits and revert back to him." One of the contractors said.
Bill and the other Curse-Breakers and Goblins sighed in defeat. "That's never going to happen, he's still in the Gringotts Hospital. The Healers won't release him unless he's healed. They certainly won't allow him anywhere near this place... all this Black Magic in the air..." Bill said, looking around uneasily. He could practically taste the Black and Dark Magic in the air, the house was saturated in it.
No wonder the Black Family was known for being insane. If they lived here.
It would be affecting them if it weren't for the protective amulets the Curse-Breakers all wore and forced onto the contractors. The Goblins weren't as affected as the wizards were.
Bill glanced at the portrait and sighed, "We're just going to have to destroy her connection with the wards." He said. "We'll destroy the portrait if we have to. Considering what I've heard, I don't think Lord Black will mind that much." He said dryly. He got a few chuckles at least.
Grindaxe looked down in thought, and when he looked up he nodded at Bill to begin, Bill nodded back and motioned for the others to follow his lead as he turned back to the troublesome portrait. While they did that, Grindaxe told the contractors to go ahead and start their assessment as well as they could from the hallway. They nodded in agreement, looking around, before they spread out throughout the hall, casting spells and testing the walls and floors sturdiness by hand, even asking the 'friendlier' portraits about the condition of the house from what they could see as they moved around through the portraits. By friendly, they meant those portraits willing to work with them because of the contract.
Unfortunately... they didn't get very far with undoing her connection before she realized what was happening and called for a 'Kreature'. Who naturally turned out to be the fanatically loyal House-elf. How on earth was the little creature still alive? While he was a Black House-elf, he was also Walburga's personal elf, bonded to her first and the family second (although any order given by the Lord of House would trump any order she gave), when she died, he would have had to find another of the Black Family to either bond with or get them to free him from the family. Since he had clearly done neither, he should have died not long after she did, well, unless he fed off the wards all this time. Well, alive or not, the creature was clearly insane and affected by the magicks saturating the house rather negatively.
"Throw this filth out of here, Kreature, and don't let them come back in." Walburga ordered the elf.
The Curse-Breakers looked at each other, now they were just getting annoyed. Very, very annoyed.
Olivia once again showed the contract. "We are here by order of Lord Sirius Orion Black, the Master of your House, to cleanse and renovate this property. You can't kick us out of anywhere because we have permission to be here from your Master. His orders trump hers." She said firmly, hoping that the bond he held to the Family would compel him to obey them over her. Especially since they held the contract in their hands and he would be able to sense Lord Black's magic in it.
The blasted elf was fanatical enough to completely disregard the contract and the fact that it counted as a direct order from his Master in regards to leaving them be for their work.
When it was clear the elf didn't care about the contract, Bill pulled his wand out to Stun him, but the creature used magic of his own to shield himself, and continued to try and eject them all from the house as the other Curse-Breakers joined him in trying to Stun him. They couldn't hurt him, he was a House-elf belonging to another family, it was rude and could actually reflect back on their families negatively. As in, the curse itself could affect them as well as the elf in question if they did anything but Stun. It was part of how the bond worked. Stunning was allowed by the bond in case of family elves attacking Auror's or other law enforcement on their Master's command. Auror's needed to be able to do their jobs after all. The original wizards who bound the elves to service knew what they were doing when they created the fail-safes that protected the elves.
One of the Curse-Breakers had accidentally fired off a different spell, that would have been decidedly lethal had it hit, when another elf popped in, saw what was going on, and Stunned Kreature for them. This elf, also, looked a little worse for wear due to the lack of family to take care of these past years and strengthen the Bond, but not nearly as bad as Kreature. Just in case, they kept their wands out. When Walburga started screaming at the new elf to get rid of the filth, the elf apparently took that to mean Kreature, because he laid a hand on him and Apparated out with a soft 'pop'.
When he came back, he covered Walburga's portrait with a heavy, thick curtain and silenced it. Only then, did he turn to the team and bow slightly. "I's apologize for Kreature's behavior's, sirs. I be's Mattie, I's being Head Elf of House Black. The other team be at Black Manor, and they's being telling us that you's be here's. I's be breaking orders by's being here's, but I's felt I's needed here's, sirs." The Curse-Breakers relaxed then, and the elf looked around at the hallway and gasped in shock and horror at what he saw.
"Oh, no's, Kreature being bad elf, Kreature not being taking care of house, no's, Kreature not being doing his job." The elf gasped, horrified at the condition of the house.
Bill decided to take control. "Mattie," He said, getting the elf's attention again, "You said you were breaking your orders by being here?" He asked.
Mattie looked like he was considering whether or not he could say, but did eventually say, "Master Arcturus being ordering all elves to stay away's from Grimmauld, that Mistress Walburga and Kreature being banished here, all other elves is to stay away. But I is coming back, I is feeling that sirs not being safe here with Kreature." The elf looked around again, "This being too much for elves to be's cleaning, sirs. Its being left too long." He said mournfully, looking around in dismay. House-elves were good, but not that good.
"We know, that is why our team is made up of Curse-Breakers and contractors. Lord Sirius Black has hired us to cleanse the house, and fix it up. Once the place is safe, I think he'll be getting a decorator in here." Bill said. The elf nodded.
"The other team be's saying the same, sirs. Black Manor is safe and clean though, we's be doing jobs like good elves." Mattie said with a firm nod.
Bill crooked a grin, he liked this elf. He would have thought that an elf of House Black would be a little more... stiff, and uptight. "We've run into a bit of a problem, though, Mattie." He said, and the elf looked up questioningly, so Bill pointed behind him at the curtains. "We can't get the current Lord Black here, the Healers would never let him come. Walburga Black refuses to let us have access to the house. And apparently she has long since cowed the other portraits, none of them will over-ride her. Any way you can help with that?" He asked.
The elf looked considering, before he looked regretful and shook his head, "No's, Mattie can't take control of family wards. And Mattie can't be's severing portraits connection to wards." He lit up a little then, "But, Mattie can's be keeping Kreature away so you's can work. And Mattie can's be providing food while you's work, too, so's you won't be needing to leave and you's work be's uninterrupted." The little elf said, wanting to be as helpful as he could be, while they were here under contract, they were considered to be honored guests of House Black, he would make them as comfortable as he could.
The team was a little disappointed that the elf couldn't help with the current problem, but they understood why it wouldn't be allowed for the elf to mess with the wards, it was, after all, possible for an outsider to take control of a families elf and make them do things to hurt the family. Difficult and draining, but possible. A favorite in times past, was to make the elf lower the wards around the families house so attackers, or thieves could get in. Bill smiled at the elf, "That would be great, Mattie, thank you. If you could also provide our contractors with some of the information they need to know, too, that would probably be helpful. They need to know what they have to work with if they are going to make this place safe again." He said. The elf smiled happily and nodded.
Mattie was excited to have people to serve again, ever since Master Arcturus passed, none of the family elves had been called for again. None of the Young Mistresses had called in years, not since they all got married and started using their new families elves, Master Regulus was dead, Master Sirius was in prison, and all the older family members who still lived all had their own personal elves that they got assigned once they reached a certain age, they didn't need to call the family elves anymore. Now Master Sirius was free, and they had a manor and a townhouse full of honored guests who would make both building's once again reflect the glory that was House Black.
Yes, Mattie was very excited. Especially since he could feel through the Bond to the family that there was also a young Heir Black... it didn't matter that he was already twelve, family elves loved looking after and spoiling the younger members of the family.
Mattie popped out again, so he wasn't in their way, but then he popped in a moment later with a long table covered in drinks and snack foods. Good thing, too, because if they were going to separate a family portrait from its families wards, especially a family like the Blacks, they were going to need their energy. "If you's needing me, call." The elf said with another small bow before he popped away again, he was going to go check on Kreature. He'd popped the elf to a centaur Healer who also helped House-elves, so he was going to go make sure the old, insane elf was alright or... if it was Kreature's time. If it weren't for the fact that Master Sirius was in charge now, he would say that it was Kreature's time to join the row of stuffed elf heads in Grimmauld, but since Master Sirius was here, he was pretty sure that disgusting practice was going to end now.
For the past three days, the Curse-Breakers would take shifts. Three of them working on the portrait, the other three resting and fending off the occasional attacks from the house and making sure the pests the house was full of stayed away as well, as well as cleansing the hallway they were in. They knew there were doxies, and Cornish Pixies in here, they'd already had to fend off a group of Pixies three times, each time they disappeared again before they could catch more than one or two. Only to come back and try to bother them again a little while later.
Bill suspected that the ambient magic in the house 'mutated' them slightly, because Cornish Pixies were not supposed to be that dark a blue. Or this smart and strategic.
The contractors had left after the first day, they had gotten all they could from the hallway, so they'd gone to make tentative plans for what they would need and want to do while they waited for the Curse-Breakers to get past Walburga so they could actually see the rest of the house to get a more complete idea.
They'd been asked to call in the Office of Pests and Infestations within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures while they were gone, the problem was worse than they'd thought it would be.
Now that Walburga was taken care of, they could call them back, the Curse-Breakers couldn't proceed without them saying it was safe. The bank wouldn't let them, they didn't want to lose Curse-Breakers to a house. They lost enough of them to the tombs due to carelessness.
Bill glanced back at the glaring portrait, then called Mattie to take her somewhere else. Now that her connection was severed, so was the Sticking Charm keeping her there, and he didn't want to deal with it anymore. She'd been very vocal the past few days. He was tired of it. And of her.
While they waited for the others to get back they talked to Mattie, mostly just to get an update on the other team while they had a chance. They were already done, all the artifacts that were cursed were already being cleansed in the Gringotts ritual rooms before being taken to the Black vaults for Sirius to walk through and decide what to do with them all later.
The contractors had already been given the go-ahead to start the necessary repairs, and Sirius had already contacted some of the elder Black members who still happened to be alive about checking on the wards once the Gringotts teams were done and he raised the family wards again. He said that they would know more about them, he'd been too young when he ran away to have been told the full extent of the family wards, he knew the basics, all Black children did. But it was considered a rite of passage for them to learn the full extent of them on their seventeenth birthday.
When the two came back, along with two Ministry officials, they started moving slowly through the house (after making sure the other portraits wouldn't cause trouble), with Mattie following. When asked, Mattie said he needed to see the extent so he would know how many elves to assign to aid the workers in Grimmauld (apparently when Walburga shut them out of the house, it included the House-elves).
When one of the contractors said that their company had its own elves, Mattie just stared at him, offended, until he cleared his throat uncomfortably and said that they were probably busy on other projects at the moment though, so any aid the Black elves could provide would be welcome. When the elf looked smug and went back on his way, he started grumbling about Slytherin elves. The others just laughed at him.
He'd been outwitted by a House-elf. They were normally obedient little creatures. Who knew?
It was slow going to get through the house, and if the other Curse-Breakers noticed Bill casting different detection charms than them, they didn't mention it. While they were just casting for cursed objects and to get an idea of how bad the saturation was, he was casting for the Horcrux.
He was getting very frustrated at not finding it- he knew it was in this house, blast it!- when he finally found it.
They were in the drawing room, and he started searching the desk while while the others started a cabinet full of cursed objects. When he didn't find it in the desk, he went to join them at the cabinet, and froze when Olivia reached for a locket.
Now that he was focusing on it, he could FEEL it, it felt just like the soul bit he removed from Harry, and again from the bit that was in Hufflepuff's cup.
His brain woke up and he yelled, "Don't touch that!" Just as Olivia's fingertips touched the locket.
All of them startled, she startled enough to knock the Horcrux off the shelf and onto the floor. She put her hand to her chest in an attempt to calm her heart rate down, "William Weasley! Don't do that!" She scolded, even as she backed away from the locket on the ground.
The guy Bill talked to when they first arrived in this filthy house- apparently his name was Dale- frowned and leaned down to pick up the locket. "Don't touch it!" Bill exclaimed again, slapping his hand away and kneeling down. He ignored the Ministry officials watching and started running his detection's again.
"But why? It's just a locket, it tested clean." Dale said, confused. Bill shook his head, but didn't answer. Dale would never make Egypt with that kind of mindset, you never assume something is clean after one set of detection's.
Instead he looked at Olivia. She'd done a year in Egypt before she just couldn't handle it anymore and transferred back to England. She should know better than to just pick stuff up with her bare hands. Although the mild compulsion on it might have helped her leave of senses. "Olivia, I realize there is a compulsion on this, but you don't just pick it up, you know better, you are trained to resist those." He said, pulling a stone box out of a pocket, there were runes carved in nearly every inch of it, runes to nullify magic. At the same time, he finished his charms, causing the locket to glow red.
An indicator of soul magic.
Dale, Olivia, and the other two Curse-Breakers all scrambled away with curses. They didn't want to be anywhere near that, they didn't want to risk being possessed, which could happen when unknown soul magicks were involved. They didn't recognize the detections Bill was casting, but it was drilled into their heads from day one of working at Gringotts, if something glows red, get away from it and call a Senior Breaker or the Goblin superior, whichever could get there the quickest. They were lucky right now, Bill just so happened to be a Senior Breaker and the Goblin superior was also in the room.
"What is that?" Dale exclaimed, he'd never seen a red before, merely heard about them and what it meant. (He was relatively new.)
Bill glanced at the Ministry officials before he answered. "For security purposes, I can't tell you EXACTLY what this is." He said, and they knew that he would be telling them if it weren't for the non-bank employees in the room, "However, this is what I was reassigned to England for. One of these... curses." He said after a pause, and waited until they nodded that they understood before he continued. "was found on a person, and it was determined that that person was cursed accidentally, and that the person who cast that curse had multiple objects hidden with that same curse on them. The goblins have this particular curse listed as a Class Seven Unforgivable." He didn't want the Ministry knowing about Voldemort's Horcruxes, they wouldn't be able to keep their big mouths shut and Death Eaters would find out.
That would turn into a race, who could find them first, with the prize being either a restored Dark Lord, or a dead one.
Bill and the goblins (as well as most of England)... they wanted a dead one.
"Why would they reassign someone just for a few objects?" One of the Ministry men asked. "Aren't there Curse-Breakers already in England who can handle it?"
Olivia answered. "Because Bill has seen this particular curse often enough in the tombs that he's something of an expert on safely cleansing the items without damaging them. I'm assuming you were called in once this curse was found on the person for just this reason? And then just kept here to find the other cursed objects?" She asked Bill, her and the two Breakers looked like they were going to be sick, while Dale was the only one who didn't know they were talking about Horcruxes.
However, she was the only one who looked like she had any idea who these Horcruxes could belong to.
The Dark Lord Voldemort.
She grimaced and glanced at Bill, who had nodded in agreement and was now watching her along with Grindaxe. Both males knew her father was an Outer Circle Death Eater, relatively high up the ladder, but not quite among the most 'trusted'. She looked at the locket, still sitting on the floor with the open box next to it. "Best get that back to the bank." She said, "We can handle things here." She turned back to the cabinet and started running detections again, after first checking for more compulsions.
Bill and Grindaxe both sighed in relief, they really hadn't wanted to have to Obliviate one of their colleagues. "I'll get this to the bank right away then." Bill said to Grindaxe as he levitated the locket into the box and stood up to leave. "Oh, and Dale?" He asked, turning around at the door. 'Never, NEVER, assume something is safe just because nothing was detected on one set of charms. There are always going to be charms and curses that the standard set doesn't recognize." He said sternly before he left the room.
He never saw Dale blush in embarrassment, or one of the other guys clapping a friendly and supportive hand on Dale's shoulder.
"Don't worry, kid. You'll learn this stuff with time and experience, he just doesn't want you learning it the hard way." He said, and Dale nodded at him gratefully before going back to detections, this time running them twice and not touching anything bare handed.
What none of the other Breakers or the goblin in the room told him was that Bill didn't want Dale learning the lesson the hard way... like Bill had. Or that the story of what happened still haunted the other Senior's to this day. Several years later. And they weren't even there.
On Wednesday evening, Sirius sat on his bed and stared at the wall. He had finished getting his family affairs straightened out, and had finished going over the Potter accounts.
So, when Healer Garnock came in to run her daily scans, she had deemed it time to start sessions with a Mind-Healer employed by the bank for their human employees to use should they need the services of one. Which made sense, especially those Curse-Breakers assigned to Egypt, and the tombs. He had heard stories of what some of those tombs contained.
He had just come from his first session, she had decided to start off 'easy', which, obviously, was his childhood... Which, of course, dredged up memories he would rather not dredge up. Like his early childhood, back when his mother was still somewhat sane and he was too young to know any better regarding what they taught about Muggles and Muggleborn. This was before he started his education in the Black Arts. A family tradition. He hadn't liked the Black Arts, they were... they made him feel so... there were just no words to how he hated those lessons and wanted nothing to do with them.
Everything had been so much happier back then. His mother was proud of him, his father was actually around more often instead of being off doing who knew what. Those were times he would rather not remember. Because it just made it so much harder knowing what they were like later. It was so much safer for him to not remember that they used to treat him well, and with love. It was easier to pretend they were always abusive to him, that there was a time when they never would have raised their wands to him.
After his mother noticed that he didn't like learning the Black Arts, the family changed. Narcissa and Regulus were the only ones who really wanted anything else to do with him outside of making sure he knew how disappointed they were in him. Even Andromeda was a little cold towards him. Well, he supposed his grandfather never changed his treatment of him, and they never cursed him in his grandfather's presence, but he wasn't always around. When Regulus started his own education, he had been better at hiding his own dislike of them than Sirius had been. Sirius had never been able to figure out how on earth Regulus had made it so far as a Death Eater, he had always been the more gentle brother, despite the act he put on for their family. (He was also wondering how a Horcrux got in that house, but had a feeling that he would have to question Kreature to do that, not something he looked forward to. But the only one who could have put it there would have been either Reggie or Kreature, so...)
He was feeling a little raw right now. The Healer had dragged up all that stuff that he buried, and talked him through it, she was trying to help him sort through his own head, but it just felt so... it made him feel so vulnerable. And after Azkaban that wasn't a feeling he liked.
But, if he wanted to be with Harry, this was something he had to do. He may have full custody of Harry, but that didn't mean anything if he was stuck in the Infirmary of Gringotts. Right now, the plan was for him to be out of here and home by Yule, the Goblins were saying that the house should definitely be renovated by then and safe for Harry (and living in general). So, he would have somewhere for them to go, the question was if he would be deemed mentally stable enough for the Healers to let him go home and be around Harry.
If it looked like that wasn't going to happen, then he would have to get in touch with Severus and see about making arrangements for Yule. He knew Harry had just spent the holiday break at Hogwarts last year, but he didn't want Harry to have to do that this year, not when he had somewhere to go. He supposed Harry could always stay with the Longbottom's again if they had to do that. Unless they could get Dumbledore out of the castle by then, then he could just stay in Severus' quarters.
He sighed and fell back on his bed with a thump. His sessions with the Mind-Healer were three times a week, to give him time to process what they had discussed the session before, but also so he didn't have too much time to dwell on it by himself. She said it wasn't healthy to have sessions like they were having, and then have long periods between. Something about some of her patients not knowing how to deal with it between sessions, so they tended to just shove it down until they saw her again and she helped them understand. Of course, by the time they saw her again, it was more difficult to deal with because it had time to fester. So, she scheduled more sessions, closer together. At least in the beginning.
After a while, as she deemed that they were making good progress, she would start spreading their sessions out and start slowly winding it down to once a week. Eventually, and she didn't give a time-frame on how long this would take, she said it would take however long Sirius needed, she would take it down to once every two weeks, then once a month, then occasional check-ins just to make sure everything was still alright. These sessions would continue even after he was released to go home, and, the best part was, she was employed by the bank.
So, he wasn't having to pay for these sessions. Her services were already paid for by the bank on a monthly basis. (Since they never knew when one of their employees would need her services (They took really good care of their employees. After all, an unstable or injured employee was an employee that couldn't work. And an employee that couldn't work was an employee that wasn't making them money), and they didn't want to need her only for her to be unavailable, so they just kept her on a payroll, rather than go on a case-by-case basis. It worked for both her and the bank. Yeah, she probably wasn't making as much as she could working for a private clinic or something, but... she made enough, her hours were pretty much hers to make, so she was happy with it.)
Come to think of it, he should probably figure out how Harry was paying for the service of the Goblin Healers. All he knew was that Harry had made arrangements, but all Harry had access to until his seventeenth birthday were his trust and Heir vaults. Which, Sirius didn't want his pup spending on him.
He would figure it out later. He would see Harry the next day, Sharpaxe was going to get him so they could go over things with the lawyer for the Dursley's trial and then go and get him that puppy. He hated that the courts were making him see the Dursleys again, but there was nothing they could do about it. The Goblins lawyer had tried everything, every trick and loophole in the book to make it so Harry never had to see them again, but it was no good. And then, after Harry left, he would be allowed out into Diagon Alley (with an escort, of course). It would feel good to be out in the sun again.
Harry, with Hedwig sleeping on his shoulder, stood in the Entrance Hall with Professor McGonagall on Thursday morning, pouting.
He had received a note from Sharpaxe the day before, asking if he would like to go somewhere with him, and stating that he already had the Deputy Headmistress's permission to take him out of school through the morning, trying to have Harry back in time for classes after lunch, and all of the next day. He didn't say in the letter what was going on, only that they had business to attend to, and then he had a surprise for Harry. And he knew that McGonagall knew what the surprise was, because she told him that he would like the surprise. The note had also told him to bring Hedwig, the Creature Healers wanted to check her again, if they liked what they saw then she would be taken off flying restrictions and some of her potions.
But no matter how much he asked, how he asked, or how much he used the puppy dog eyes (that even Severus was not immune to), she refused to tell him what the surprise was. Hence, the pout.
All he had been able to get out of her was that, as his account manager, and as Harry was the last remaining Potter, he had the right to take Harry out of school to go over Family business (it was apparently written in the Family by-laws. Which was apparently a thing). Which was what part of their trip would be.
While they waited, they talked. Well, really, the conversation started when Harry asked a question about his homework for the next couple of days since he would be missing school for one and a half, possibly two days straight. She explained a bit of what he would be missing in her class the next morning, and informed him what they would be working on and what the homework essay would be just in case he had a chance to work on it while he was out the next day.
They were currently in the middle of a small Q&A session about turning beetles into buttons when Dumbledore walked by. "Ah, Minerva, Harry, what are you two doing here? Don't you both have classes?" He asked, looking at them over his glasses, making sure his eyes were twinkling.
Minerva raised an eyebrow, but answered. "We are waiting for Master Sharpaxe to get here, he has some family business to go over with Mr. Potter here, and will need to take him to the bank for the morning, and possibly into the afternoon as well." She didn't see any reason not to inform him, despite everything she had read in the Prophet the past couple of days, he was still the Headmaster, and he had every right to know when one of his students left the school, even if she was the one with the authorization to allow it.
Dumbledore frowned slightly, "Is it really necessary for him to leave the school? They can use one of the unused classrooms, I do not think it a good idea to take Harry away from classes." He said, looking at Minerva as if he was disappointed that she had authorized this without telling him. Inwardly, though, he was hoping she would accept his offer so he could direct them to one of the unused classrooms that he had listening and spying charms on for just this purpose. "Besides, Sharpaxe is not a parent or guardian, he has no authority to be taking students out school." He said, not noticing Sharpaxe himself coming up behind them.
"Actually, Mr. Dumbledore, I do have the authority to take Heir Potter-Black out of the school on family business. It is written in the by-laws of the Potter family that if the family is reduced to one, the Account Manager can act in place of the Heir's guardian when it concerns Family business." Sharpaxe's voice cut in. He looked at Dumbledore with a severe frown on his face, he had been hoping to get in, get Harry, and get out without having to deal with the old man. "And if that's still not enough for you, I have permission from Lord Black as well." He finished.
Dumbledore frowned, but didn't say anything. If he had his way, then Sirius Black wouldn't be around much longer, if only the man would just leave the blasted bank so he could get to him! Well, he should be at the trial the next day, to support Harry... he would try and get to him then. He was just lucky he'd gotten to the Dursley's lawyer and forced Harry to appear for testimony. His loyalty potions would hopefully be enough for Harry to drop the charges. If not then he knew that he would need to up the dosage and add some compulsion charms in there as well. His frown deepened when Sharpaxe turned to Harry and Minerva, completely dismissing him.
"If you are ready, the lawyer is waiting in my office." He said to Harry, who frowned at hearing about a lawyer, then he turned to Minerva while Harry moved to the door after thanking his professor for waiting with him. "I will try to have him back in time for afternoon classes." He said with a slight bow at the professor, who smiled and bowed her head back.
"No hurry, he already has his assignments for the next two days, so if he gets the chance to do some work on them, he can. Otherwise, his friends are taking notes so, take all the time you need." She told the Goblin.
Sharpaxe nodded in satisfaction before turning to follow Harry, who had stopped just outside the door to wait. As they walked towards the gates, Sharpaxe filled him on what was going on. "The Dursley's trial is tomorrow, and, unfortunately, their lawyer is insisting you be there. He refuses to let the trial go ahead without you and keeps suggesting postponement dates and finding excuses whenever we try to schedule it without you. Our lawyer is one of the best, but not even he was able to stop this. It would seem that Dumbledore has managed to get them a lawyer that listens to him. So, today we are meeting with ours to go over the details, what is going to happen, what will be expected, and what is not acceptable for them to ask you. And what we want you to do if those questions are asked." He explained as they walked.
Harry's face fell when he heard that the Dursley's lawyer was forcing him to be at the trial. "Dumbledore is probably hoping the loyalty potions will make me drop the whole thing." He sneered.
Sharpaxe nodded in agreement. "Well, even if you did drop it, we wouldn't, and neither would the Muggle government. Some of the charges against your uncle include assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. The Muggles take those kind of charges very seriously, after all, how are they supposed to protect their police officers if people know they can get away with attacking them? And on our end, well, we'll just be carrying out the wishes of two of our most wealthy clients. Wills are also taken very seriously, and considering the fact that we will be pressing for the maximum punishment outlined in your parents Wills, and then some, this isn't getting dropped." He said offhandedly. It was beautiful knowing that Dumbledore wasn't getting his way this time. Maybe if Dumbledore had actually used his proxy vote in the Muggle government... then they would have cause to worry. But he didn't, he ignored it instead of using it to gain influence in the Muggle government.
What Sharpaxe didn't tell Harry, was that Dumbledore had been trying to gain access to the trial. However, since he wasn't going to be on the Jury (made of both Muggles who knew about the Magical world and Magicals), and he wasn't going to be one of the two judges (again, one Muggle and one Magical), and he wasn't a member or representative of either the Child Protection Agency or the Wizarding Children's Agency, he had absolutely no official business to be there. The only reason they might call him in was if they wanted to question him on the fact that he left Harry on a doorstep in November. Which, they didn't. That's not what this trial was about, it was about how the Dursley's treated Harry after they found him on that doorstep. Dumbledore's part in it would come up during their own trial after the man's own arrest. Whenever that ended up being. They were trying to get all this taken care of by the end of the school year. If they got it earlier, all the better.
Harry frowned, but he was happy to know that this wasn't going to be dropped no matter what Dumbledore tried. Sharpaxe kept speaking. "We'll go over the charges against them in my office, however, I would also like to inform you that a Miss Margerie Dursley has been arrested for animal cruelty, bribing a public official, and running a breeding operation without the proper licensing. As well as breeding Pit Bulls." He said, and enjoyed Harry's look of shock and pleasure at hearing that his other 'aunt' was also getting in trouble. It was a shame about the Pit Bulls though, he liked those dogs.
"Wait, without proper licensing? Why would she need a license to own dogs?" Harry asked, confused.
"It's not the owning dogs part that she needs a license for, its the breeding operation part. As well as the fact that many of the dogs she had were Pit Bulls. The government just likes to know about operations like that so they can keep an eye on things and make sure that all the animals involved are being treated right. It's also a way to let potential clients know that the breeder they are buying from treats their animals right if they can show proof that they have passed inspections." He explained. "And when it comes to Pit Bulls, personally, I think they are amazing dogs. However, they also have a reputation for being violent. They're not, IF you know how to handle them, but unfortunately, not everyone knows how to handle them. There have been a couple that have injured and even killed small children. So, last year the Muggle government passed a law saying it was illegal to breed certain dogs. The Pit Bull terrier, of which your aunt had and bred several, was one of them."*
Harry stared at him in shock. He didn't know that her operation was illegal. "Now, from what I recall, you can OWN them, but they have to be muzzled and leashed in public. And the government will destroy the dog if they become dangerously violent in public, plus the owner could be facing jail time. From what Severus said last I spoke to him, you said something about regularly being attacked by one of her bulldogs?" He said.
Harry looked startled, but he nodded, looking ashamed. Sharpaxe nodded too, she would be facing jail time just for that. Never mind everything else. "Wait, if she's been arrested, what's happened to her dogs?" Harry asked.
"They've been taken to a shelter. The ones found to be violent, like that one she called Ripper, have been put down for public safety, the rest are waiting to go to good homes. She had several brand new litters too, a couple of pit bull's, a German Shepherd, a Golden Retriever, and a few others. The shelter workers said that they are going to have to work with several of the mothers to get them used to people, and kindness. Some of them, despite their treatment, have apparently turned out to be really gentle dogs according to them." He said, he watched Harry carefully, and was pleased to note that Harry seemed concerned for the dogs and even a little wistful, like he maybe wanted one?
He had been worried that Harry might be too scared of dogs after the treatment he went through at the paws of Miss Dursley's. That would have kind of ruined the surprise.
By now they had finally reached the gates, and Sharpaxe held out a necklace that would allow him to side-along Harry directly through the wards straight to his office, rather than the receiving room. After Harry put it on, he waited for Harry to secure Hedwig before he grabbed hold of Harry's arm and apparated out. They never noticed the blue eyes glaring at them from the top of the Astronomy Tower, especially when his eavesdropping charms failed.
*I looked this up, I knew the US had laws concerning Pit Bulls, but I wasn't sure about the UK. In the third book, it says that Marge Dursley bred bulldogs, which, when I looked it up, were said to be a pit bull type. So, in this, she breeds multiple dogs, but still mostly pit bulls and bulldogs. It also said that the law banning pit bull breeding was passed in 1991, in the story right now, it would be 1992, and in the third book where it said she bred bulldogs, it would be 1993. So, really, whether she had licensing or not, her entire operation was still illegal because she bred bulldogs. Not to mention the fact that she drowned the ones she considered runts.
Don't you all just love the Dursley's?