Let's Do It Right This Time, Chapter 10: Making Changes
AN: This is a little choppy, I know. I'm trying to condense almost a year of action into one chapter, because I know everyone is probably really impatiently waiting for him to go to Hogwarts again, but some of the summer activities will be very important later.
It was late November by the time Aurelius had fully recovered from the horcrux removal ritual and moved back into Haven Tower. He would have actually stayed with the goblins longer, learning goblin magic and how to financially crush his enemies, but after a solid month of both Sculdig and Mugwart teasing him about only wanting to stay because of Murdock, which was rather too close to the truth for the wizard's comfort, he decided he needed to get off his arse and start implementing his plans.
His absolute first priority was Sirius Black. The man had been wrongfully imprisoned for ten years now, and now that Aurelius was free and able to help him, he simply couldn't not. Besides, he rather selfishly wanted his godfather back, even though he knew that as Aurelius Gaunt, Sirius probably wouldn't want anything to do with him.
He could probably have just broken him out and hid him in one of his safe houses, but that was opening a whole 'nother can of worms, and he didn't want to deal with a dementor patrol in his first year; eventually he would snap and cast a patronus, which was something a first year, even an absurdly powerful one like himself, wasn't supposed to be able to do. Besides, there would be enough fervor when Dumbledore, and by extension the Wizarding world, realized Harry Potter was missing.
So it was that on a particular Sunday morning in December that Amelia Bones found a letter in her desk. Now it was not, of course, unusual that Madame Bones found letters and memos on her desk; her secretary, a junior auror, tended to dump piles of mail he thought she had to deal with herself on her desk. No, this was odd because it had no owl address, and appeared to be sealed with the lost Peverall Family signet.
Always the auror, she waved her wand over it, checking for potions, hexes, muggle biological agents, and other traps. There were none. Frowning, she scanned it again. And again. Nothing. No traps, no curses, no portkeys. And so she drew on dragonhide gloves and tore it open with the help of a penknife.
Dear Madame Bones, (it read)
I have recently come upon a rather disturbing matter with which I hope you may and will endeavor to look into. It seems that my cousin, Sirius Black, has been imprisoned for ten years in Azkaban without due process of law. As far as I can tell from perusing the public transcripts, he has never actually had a trial under veritaserum, or indeed, any trial at all. If there was one, it was very likely of the 'shut up and don't defend yourself or else- oh look, he's guilty' type, knowing that Barty Crouch Sr. hated him and Lucius Malfoy was bribing Bagnold (which I have receipts for).
Not only this, but I have further evidence of his innocence. Is it not a matter of public record that he is Harry Potter's godfather? How, then, could he betray the Potters, and still live? His vows would have killed him! Why was his wand not checked when he was brought in, isn't that auror policy? I can guarantee you would have found the last spell cast was certainly not a bombarda. Why was he not checked for the Dark Mark, or questioned under veritaserum? Why was his animagus form, registered in the Americas, not taken into account; an animagus form reflects the character of the wizard, and the fact that he was a dog ought to at least raise questions.
I also happen to know, from sources I cannot expose, that the 'late' Peter Pettigrew was an illegal rat animagus, and as, it seems, that a body was never found (except for a finger) there is a chance that he escaped in that form. One Remus Lupin can be brought in to testify concerning his form, as can one Severus Snape, if Lupin is not considered an acceptable witness concerning this fact.
Also, why was Albus Dumbledore never questioned under vow or serum concerning the identity of the secret keeper? He was the one who conducted the spell, and he would know.
Please look into this; I need closure badly, and I don't have the authority to call a trial before the Wizengamot.
Sincerely, Lord Peverall
Lord Peverall? Amelia Bones was every kind of confused, and she was also rather horrified. If what...Lord Peverall was saying was true, justice had miscarried horribly, and a guilty man had been given an Order of Merlin for his crimes, while an innocent one had been left to rot in Azkaban. And who was this mysterious lord? How did he know all this? Why did it only come up now? Still musing, she sent several hasty memos, and went to dig up the trial transcript for Sirius Black.
Back in Haven Tower, Aurelius grinned, then hurried to Gringotts to get his emancipation papers figured out. He would need his voting block to make sure the trial went in the right direction, and there was no one he could consider to proxy even one of his seats, much less all of them. As soon as he and Sculdig got everything all figured out, and he'd said hi to Murdock, ignoring Mugwart's catcalling, he hurried back to Haven. He had more letters to post.
It had been a perfectly ordinary Sunday morning for Pandora Lovegood. That is, until the owl had flown through the window and into a bowl of pancake batter she'd been mixing with an annoyed screech. Pandora sighed. Just for one day, she'd hoped life in the Lovegood household could progress like life in any other. Sunday was the day they had all agreed to be totally, unrepentantly normal. Somehow, however, it never seemed to work out that way. Pandora pulled the disgruntled owl out of the mixing and gave it some bacon and water, relieving it of it's note as she did so. It had her name on it, in an unfarmiliar hand.
Dear Ms. Lovegood,
You are in danger. I am a seer, and I have Seen your death, relating to spell creation. Please, for Merlin's sake ward your work space and double check your work with a colleague. I don't want to die, especially with a young daughter to take care of- Luna needs you! Not to mention it would kill your husband if you were to die. Please, please be extra careful!
- A Friend
Pandora had no idea what to think of this, but she decided to take the mysterious "Friend's" advice seriously, just in case. Little did she know it would save her life.
After those two vital letters had been written and posted, Aurelius went out and got subscriptions to the Daily Prophet, The Oracle, The Quibbler, and all the other Wizarding newspapers he could find, even including the Witch Weekly; the only one he didn't get was Playwizard, for obvious reasons.
After that, he entered Muggle London through the cauldron and bought subscriptions to all the muggle publications he could, too, just in case. After all, even a confusing muggle headline about multiple un-attributable deaths was better than the trite "absolutely nothing is wrong" the Prophet often indulged in. He needed to be able to track Death Eater attacks and other headlines, and he also absolutely wouldn't miss seeing the headlines about Sirius's trial. Not to mention that all the reporters, and a way to contact them, were listed. He would be all set when he decided to implement the part of his plans that involved the press.
In the next few weeks, Aurelius then began to do a little remodeling. Haven Tower was strong, but it would need to be able to withstand either a siege or a brute force attack, as Aurelius knew he would be a target in the war to come, and he was definitely planning to shelter any muggles or muggleborn refugees who might need it in the coming conflict, up to and including Hermione. He also planned on using the tower as a Command Center.
To that end, he went down to the dungeons and cleaned out all the old "equipment", although he kept the cells; they might be necessary if he had to hold prisoners, and one he fitted up as a padded apartment, in case he needed to host a werewolf during the full moon.
He turned the second, smaller ball room (why on earth would you need two ball rooms anyway) into an infirmary, and the main meeting room because a Command Center, complete with a map enchanted somewhat like the Mauraders' map, except with different passwords and encompassing all of magical Britain covering the wall, tables covered with books and neat sheets and rolls of notes, and a genuine muggle computer adapted with runes.
The Tower already had a potions lab, a library, and a dueling chamber, which Aurelius would have had to add otherwise, and the only other thing that Aurelius had to do was reinforce the wards and stock the stasis-charmed pantry. By the end, Aurelius was sure that his Tower could hold its own in a war.
Early March found Aurelius once again sitting in front of Sculdig's desk. "Can I start a foundation, like, to fund people who need it through Gringotts?"
"Most likely. What do you have in mind?"
"I want to start a foundation called the Lily Potter Foundation that will supply wolfbane free to any confirmed werewolf or the guardian of such, once a month, provided the werewolf is not a follower of Tom Riddle, AKA Voldemort," Aurelius replied. "And I want to tie it to my Mordrake account."
Sculdig gave the goblin equivalent of an admiring whistle. "I'm sure we can arrange that," he said finally. "What else?"
"What?"
"Knowing you, you're never just here for one thing."
Aurelius grinned sheepishly. "Well, actually, I do need your help. Simply put, my cousin Bellatrix is keeping one of Voldemort's soul anchors in her vault. Is there some way you can secure and destroy it?"
"It's against goblin law to possess one, even not your own, and there's a clause in the Treaty of 1812 against bringing one voluntarily into Gringotts for any reason except to destroy it, or to keep it in a Gringotts vault." Sculdig told him solemnly. "What is it?"
"The healing chalice of Helga Hufflepuff, ironically," Aurelius responded. "So you're within your rights to seize and destroy it?"
"Yes, an we'll take the cleansing fee out of her vault along with the fine. Also, under goblin law, once the cup is purified it is yours in perpetuity."
Aurelius grinned wickedly.
The last few months before Hogwarts were not quite so busy, as Dumbledore still hadn't discovered Harry Potter's absence, and although Amelia Bones had written back to say she was getting Sirius Black a trial, it wouldn't be until the Wizengamot met in October. Aurelius bonded three inherited house elves, managed to anonymously get Remus Lupin a job, and got a new wand for school use.
In May, as Aurelius was out hiking, (he'd taken to hiking, jogging, and martial arts instead of going to the gym) he was walking down a forest trail when he saw the most beautiful bird, perched on the rough branch of a sprawling oak tree. It was white, silver, and pale blue, with lavender tail feathers and a teal crest, and the wizard knew at once what it was. A glacial phœnix. As Aurelius stared at the bird in awe, it trilled and swooped downward, straight at him.
He ducked, startled, and put out a hand to protect his face, but the bird was aiming for his shoulder, not his head, and Aurelius felt a soothingly cool weight on his shoulder. Aurelius was so shocked he forgot to pull his hand away from his face. A wild phœnix. A wild glacial phœnix had just approached him of its own accord. And, judging by its happy singing, the silver glow surrounding them, and the sudden rush of foreign emotion in his mind: Joy/bonded/safe/safe/Good wizard/safe wizard/happy, he had just been chosen as a farmiliar. Why wasn't his life ever normal? Ever?
But the phœnix, Majestic, was soon as much a part of him as Sssasha, and her singing never failed to cheer him up. As a plus, her healing capabilities and "flashing" came extremely handy.
In June, Aurelius was suddenly hit with a rush of inspiration: what better way to clear Sirius's name than to have Pettigrew to testify! He had just made plans for sneaking into the Burrow, and was going over them with Sculdig when Murdock popped up behind them,
"What are you plotting now?" She asked with a smile.
"Trying to figure out how to sneak into a Wizarding house and apprehend an animagus masquerading as a pet rat," Aurelius responded distractedly.
"Just sent a house elf with a charmed butterfly net," Murdock told him with a straight face.
Aurelius stared at her, and then suddenly face palmed. "That could actually work!"
"I wouldn't suggest something that wouldn't," Murdock retorted.
"And that is why I love you." Aurelius mumbled. Apparently he didn't say it quietly enough; after all, goblins have hypersensitive hearing. Because Murdock kissed him on the cheek, and his brain short circuited.