(Coeus Black - PoV)
The owl sweeps in at breakfast the morning after our talk with Dora. While she is still upstairs, actually, taking her own chance to sleep in.
The rest of us (well, probably not Iris) instantly recognize the unique red-eyed Eagle-Owl. Mephistopheles, Grandfathers favored owl.
Ted sends a curious look my way, while Andy is far warier.
"Coeus?" she asks as I read the letter delivered to me, accepting my request for a meeting.
"Something important came up," I answer. "We are going over to Grandfather's today to talk about it. Heir stuff."
Technically true, if very misleading.
She frowns but doesn't inquire further.
After finishing breakfast, we head upstairs to change into more appropriate outfits. After writing him yesterday this was expected, so we already have our clothes set out. Proper dress robes with elaborate Black crests done in silver.
We take a moment to stop by Iris's room before we head out.
"Iris?" I ask, peeking my head in.
"Coeus? I thought you were going to your Grandfathers?" she asks, looking away from Hedwig, who complains noisily.
"Relax Hed, it will just be a moment. Anyhow, we don't know how long it will take, and didn't want to leave you hanging all day. Maybe look over your Potions book while we are gone? Review the basics, pick out a couple to try when we get back?"
She perks up.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!"
"Great. Don't forget Dora and Andy will be here too if you need something."
She nods, but her reply is cut off by Hedwig's screech.
"Yeah yeah, alright. I'm going. Greedy bird..."
Leaving the chagrined Iris to it, I pull back and close the door behind me.
"A wise choice," Phoebe tells me.
"What?" I ask her.
"You would do well not to anger Hedwig right now."
"...She's an owl. I'm pretty sure I can take her," I say, rolling my eyes as we head towards the stairs.
"You really can't."
...
What the hell?
I nearly miss the first step, busy as I am staring at Phoebe, trying to see if she is messing with me.
She grabs my arms to keep me from falling and we successfully make our way downstairs, while I try to process that.
You know, given all the stories Andy and Dora have told me about Hagrid, I suppose I should have expected that the owl Hagrid picked out for Iris is some kind of insanely dangerous outlier. But still. It's an owl!
Not even a giant cross-bred monster owl. A regular post owl! From a Diagon Alley pet shop!
Andy is nattering on about something. I nod along as if I am listening while Phoebe makes the appropriate noises. Eventually, she gets out of the way, and we Floo to Grandfathers.
Yes, Floo is so much better than the Suck Bus. We follow Dipper to the sitting room, where Grandfather is waiting, reading the morning paper.
"Coeus, Phoebe," he greets us. "Welcome. Please, sit."
We do so, and he continues.
"I was surprised to receive a letter asking for a meeting so soon, Coeus. Especially for, heir business?" His eyes dart towards Phoebe and he smiles a bit. "Please, what seems to be the issue?"
"I want Dora," I tell him.
Phoebe facepalms for some reason, while Grandfather blinks.
"I, assume there is more context?" he asks.
"So, yesterday we were training with Dora, and afterward we got to talking about some stuff," I begin.
"Oh? What kind of training, exactly?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, mostly accuracy. She animated dummies and we cast at them at first. Then we had to do so while she cast spells at us," I answer.
Grandfather nods. "Dodging and accuracy then. The two most important skills, especially at your level."
I bob my head as well. "Yeah, that. Anyhow, she said that overall we did really well, but we talked for a bit, and it went into why she wanted to be an Auror."
"I actually have not heard her reasoning myself."
"Did you know Bella attacked the house during the war?" I ask.
"Ah." He sighs. "No, I did not know she actually did so, though I cannot claim to be surprised," he admits, shaking his head.
"Yeah. Dora said they almost brought down the wards? Something about remembering the sound they make?"
Grandfather nods sadly. "Yes, I would imagine so. It is...distinctive, to say the least, even during nonstressful times." He pauses a moment. "It is good that help was able to arrive quickly, Bellatrix was quite talented at breaking through most ward schemes."
Is there anything she wasn't good at? Besides being stable I guess.
"Anyhow," I shift positions on the couch as I continue the story, "that is pretty much the crux of it? She knows a lot of Death Eaters got away clean after the war, and are still running free. She really hates that idea. So, she wants to join the Aurors to get the best training she can, and to get a chance to," I scrunch my face up, "punish them I guess?"
I shrug.
"Honestly I'm not sure what she is thinking on the second part. She thinks some of the notables, like the people that were at the recent party, could have been part of the attack. And she wants revenge. But how she expects to achieve that as an Auror I have no idea."
Grandfather laughs, but...
"Oh Coeus, there are plenty of ways, actually."
Really?
"So long as you are sufficiently ruthless, and willing to break, abuse, and exploit the law."
...Ah. Right.
Grandfather smiles.
"But you are right, I rather doubt that is what she intended."
...
Yeah. I don't see her going that far for it, not yet.
Phoebe pokes me.
What? Oh, right.
"Uh, just a moment." Where was I? Oh, right.
"Anyhow, why bother wasting her time with that, when we have a much better solution? So we made a deal." I say with a smile.
"Oh?" Grandfather asks indulgently. He knows where this is going. Mostly at least.
"Yup. As the heir, I offered for the Black family to sponsor her training, and help find her a trainer. In addition, we will find out who was behind the attack during the war and help deal with them. And in exchange, Dora will join the family as a Black."
Grandfather freezes in place for a moment at the last statement, before leaning back in his chair.
"Oh? And how do you expect to accomplish most of those promises?" he asks.
I smile at him.
"Really now, exploiting your own family like this Coeus?" he says, before chuckling.
I shrug.
"Use the resources you have, right?"
He smiles.
"Very much so, so long as you do not get too reliant on it."
He closes his eyes, leaning his head back and considering.
"Finding trainers for Dora should not be a problem. Indeed, it will be done regardless. It is only fair, as she is helping train you."
I nod, before remembering his eyes are closed. Whatever.
He opens his eyes and chuckles again.
"As for the other matter, well, despite what young Dora seems to think, I can all but guarantee that no one at the party was part of the attack on her home. They would have all been too high ranking for that."
"Our home."
He tilts his head at me.
"It's not only Dora's home, it is our home. This isn't only a favor to Dora. We are invested too. Andy, Ted, and Dora are me and Phoebe's family as well. Whoever was involved will die, even if it has to wait until we are older."
Grandfather stares at me for several seconds, before a wide smile breaks out on his face, and he laughs.
"Hahaha!"
"Tell me, Coeus, is there any part of either side of this "deal" that you were not personally invested in?"
"No?"
His grin, if anything grows wider, the widest I have seen on his face.
"Relish it then, young Coeus. It is so rare that you get to make these sorts of arrangements. Where you get everything you want and give exactly what you want."
Shaking his head, Grandfather leans back once more, resting against the high back of his chair.
"As I was saying, I very much doubt anyone important was involved. Finding them all may be annoying but should be...doable. Hmm. I suppose I should go ahead and pay her a visit as well," he muses. "Yes, very well then. I will look into the matter, there are several side benefits as well."
He smiles slightly.
"Always try to get as much out of things as you can, though you do seem to be doing well on that front at least," he shrugs slightly. "Most of the time."
There is a pause as we wait for the final issue. The one that Dora didn't add at all, but I did.
Grandfather sighs and actually slumps in his seat, just a touch.
"You do realize that your price for your service is typically given as a reward? Often the highest of honors? Especially in a case like this, it would be an unheard of reward?" he asks.
I nod.
"As I said, I want Dora."
Phoebe shakes her head again for some reason, while Grandfather chuckles lightly.
"She is family, I want to make her family." It seems pretty obvious to me. "She is a Black, in every way that matters. She's powerful, skilled, strong-willed. She's even blood-related."
I shrug.
"Sure, it would be better if she was pure-blood, but being a Metamorph more than makes up for that, yes?"
Grandfather closes his eyes and chuckles again, but it is hollow.
"Ah Coeus. You really do not understand..."
He shakes his head.
"So many centuries, generation after generation..."
He purses his lips.
"But, perhaps it is for the best. For what do we have to show for it, but the ruination of our house? And even our nation?"
Phoebe and I sit in silence while Grandfather seemingly debates with himself.
He sighs, before opening his eyes.
"I knew this was a possibility," he admits, "when I refused to remove Andromeda from the family. When I admitted that our path may not be correct."
He waves a hand, and Dipper appears at his side, with a cup of tea. Taking it, he sips for a moment.
"I have always been more...open-minded, than many of, my ilk, I suppose." He smiles at us.
"So much of the agenda is simply, counterproductive but..."
He shakes his head.
"Never mind, this is not the time for politics. No, but there is a difference between not wanting someone killed, and wanting them in your family. Wanting them to share your name. Your legacy."
He taps the fingers of his free hand against the arm of the chair, his other holding his tea.
"You've been considering it already though, haven't you?" Phoebe says.
Grandfather looks at her but doesn't speak.
"You've seen how she acts. She is a Black. And a fighter. And a Metamorph. You like her."
...
He still does not answer, so Phoebe speaks again.
"You know the purity won't last Grandfather. The last war guaranteed it. And soon enough Dora likely won't be the only Half-Blood Black."
...
He sighs before speaking, his voice solemn.
"I chose the path for our family up until now. I chose wrongly." He looks at us. "I hope that your choice is better." His eyes close once more. "Especially given what it costs us."
"Toujours Pur" he whispers under his breath.
Opening his eyes again, he gives us a serious look.
"I also hope you are correct about young Dora's skills. You realize this will put a target on her, at least initially? Some will try to lash out at her for her...presumption, and she will be obligated to retaliate."
I snort.
"Dora is top of her class in defense, and we have been teaching her proper paranoia most of the summer, ever since we got our wands," I tell him.
He nods.
"I see. I admit I had been at least somewhat considering it. The world is...changing." He frowns at the admission. "I don't like it. I don't like it at all. But I will not let our family be left in the dust as another footnote of history, not if there is another option."
His eyes narrow and he grimaces.
"Very well then. If you are confident in Dora, then so be it. I will ensure her own conditions are met, and that all arrangements are made."
I grin as his attention focuses back on me.
Magic floods the room without warning, forcing us to tense at the sudden feeling of danger. Of threat.
The grin vanishes, and I can barely swallow it is so thick in the air, filling my mouth, my lungs.
Grandfather's eyes are focused on us, his gaze unrelenting, merciless. We can't look away.
"I am placing immense trust in the two of you. The fate of the family rests on your shoulders, on your choices. Do not disappoint." he demands.
Just as suddenly, the pressure relents, and the magic tapers off.
I suck in a deep breath as Grandfather leans back once more, sipping at his tea.
...
I look over at Phoebe.
Jeeze dramatic much?
I can hear her mental sigh.
Regardless, mission accomplished! We give Grandfather our thanks and take our leave. Time to give Dora the good news.