Narcissa visited them just before Harry returned from Hogwarts, and after brief conversation with Alexandra about her health, they got straight to business.

"We have explored every avenue," she said. "And we couldn't find any definite indication of another prized object of his."

Alduin frowned. "Not even a hint?"

Narcissa hesitated for an almost unnoticeable moment. "A hint, perhaps," she conceded, "though not exactly of an object. But He did have some dealings with one of his followers that were enshrouded in much stricter secrecy than what was usual."

That sounded promising. "Which follower was that?"

"My cousin," Narcissa declared, and then clarified: "Regulus."

"Ah." That made certain recent developments much more appreciated, and important, since this could very easily end up being a dead end. "Any details?"

Narcissa shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. It was a mission that took some little time, that is all I was able to find out."

That was disquieting. It meant Riddle did more than simply ask Regulus to keep it safe, so it likely wouldn't be found in the most obvious places of the Black house or vault. In fact, it might well have nothing to do with Horcruxes at all.

"Oh, and one more thing," Narcissa added. "Regulus went on that mission shortly before he...died."

Ah. Had Riddle perhaps needed him for hiding the Horcrux in some way? Was it a ritual that needed two people? And was he killed, later, to make sure he didn't talk?

Regulus' death was one of the more painful losses of the war for Alduin. They were never as close as with Abdullah, Giverva or Isobel, the Hogwarts house and Regulus' reserved nature ensured that, but Alduin liked him. They were the same age, and Regulus was the only sensible member of that branch of the Black family.

Right until he joined the Death Eaters.

His dear cousin Bellatrix was to blame for that, of course, enticing her impressionable little cousin with how great it would be.

It wasn't, and Regulus paid for it with his life. Now that Alduin knew Neville Longbottom better, that crime of the Lestranges would always stand out the most to him, but before, it was dragging Regulus into the war when he was barely seventeen that Alduin could not forgive Bellatrix.

"Thank you for telling us," Alexandra was saying to Narcissa when Alduin came back to himself. "If you find out anything else..."

Narcissa merely nodded, and the conversation shifted back to the approaching childbirth as Alduin excused himself. His mind was full of Bellatrix's crimes, and he was in no mood for company.

Besides, there had been a transcendental meeting a few days ago, one that Daniel Goldstein condescended to come to – he only showed up every other meeting, on average, and still made no secret of his misgivings about Alduin even as he was friendly to everyone else. He fit well in the group, Alduin had to admit, and from what he could gather – Daniel's field being different from his – knew his subject well. Alduin still believed he was his best chance for help with the problem of Harry's Horcrux. However, he was still unsure if he could trust the man in light of his dislike for him. Narcissa's information gave him the unpleasant reminder that they were making progress on the Horcrux front, and that if they proceeded at this pace and hit no roadblocks, gods willing, they might be done with them in about a year or so. Which meant there truly wasn't that much more time left to figure out the problem of Harry, and that he might be forced to take a chance on Daniel Goldstein, ready or not.

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The trial date for Sirius Black was announced for February, and little else was talked about on the train from Hogwarts.

"It'd be good for our family if he was confirmed to be innocent," Draco told Harry in a private conversion. "You know, one less bad relation to tarnish our reputation."

"I'd just like to get to know my godfather," Harry said. "Seeing that's he might be a passably decent person after all..."

"I don't really know much about him," Draco admitted. "What has your cousin told you?"

"Well, he said he was a bit of a sociopath, which is not very reassuring."

"He might have been projecting," Draco said. "I mean, he thought he was a murderer, and so...you know."

"I guess," Harry said a little uncertainly.

Further conversation was interrupted by Harry spotting Theo and Daphne walking down the corridor, hand in hand. "What?" He whispered furiously, to Draco. "They're dating?"

"Yeah. Didn't I tell you? Sorry. They got together at the last Hogsmeade weekend, but frankly, they'd been tiptoeing around it for a while."

Harry shook his head. He'd never noticed any tiptoeing. "If you say so..."

He waved at them, and while Theo looked embarrassed, Daphne cheerfully waved back. "Hey, Harry," she said, dragging Theo over. "What are your plans for the break?"

"Spending time with Wynn, mostly," he admitted easily. "My other cousin might be born any time now, too, so that'll probably keep me busy. I guess there aren't really any people I know not at Hogwarts – Gamila, maybe – but I'd like to spend time with Abdulaziz. I hardly saw him at school."

Daphne nodded. "I'm glad Astoria ended up in Slytherin for this reason," she said. "It's just so hard keeping up with people with whom you share no common room. But never mind that, have you heard that bit about Viktor Krum?"

"Who?" Harry asked, confused.

Draco rolled his eyes at him. "Wow, you've really been living under a rock for the past few months, haven't you? Krum is the most talked-of Quidditch prodigy in the world! What about him, Daphne?"

"Apparently he was just appointed the Seeker of the Bulgarian national team."

"What?" Draco asked incredulously. "Half a year before the World Cup?"

"I know right? It's insane. They have to be crazily confident of his skills to do a last minute replacement like that."

"Why didn't they put him on the team sooner, then?" Harry asked, confused.

Daphne rolled her eyes at him. "Because he only turned seventeen in October or something!" She said, exasperated that he didn't know something like that.

"Wow," Harry said, finally impressed. "And he's on a national team already? Wow."

"Well, it's the Bulgarian national team," Draco pointed out. "But yeah, still."

"I hope they'll get into the World Cup Finals, then," Harry commented. "I want to see him play, but I don't think we're going to go to more than one match."

"Neither are we," Draco agreed, sounding frustrated. "Father says he's not willing to sleep in a tent for any longer extent of time, and they don't really allow you to Apparate there and back again at these events. Too much traffic."

Harry thought of the private Apparition slots in Paris, and was a little surprised that the World Cup didn't have something like that, too. He was about to ask about it, but just then, Daphne and Theo whispered something to each other and then Daphne said: "Sorry, Theo is getting a bit bored with all the Quidditch talk. See you later!"

Harry nodded to them, and as Draco went with them back into the Slytherin compartment, Harry headed to go talk with the Ravenclaws, or more precisely, Hermione.

She was going skiing again, apparently, and confessed that she sometimes contemplated saying she needed to stay at Hogwarts to study to get out of it. "But I like seeing my parents," she explained, "it's just...I'm really bad at skiing."

"I'd change places with you in a heartbeat," Su said to that, distracted from the chess she was playing with Mandy. "I'd love to try skiing."

"You love to try everything," Hermione muttered, and Su agreed with a grin.

"Have to make my Gryffindor brother proud," she said.

The Ravenclaw third years could no longer squeeze into a single compartment, and so they were spread out over two, resulting in some free spaces. Harry sat down in one and said: "How is he doing? I don't think I spoke to him since September, when you asked me to make sure he was all right."

"He's fine. Friendly with some Weasleys in his year, I gather."

"Oh, right, Ron's cousins," Harry said with a nod. Ron never exchanged more than reluctant greetings with them, so Harry still knew nothing at all about them.

"Yeah. Ron seems to detest them, but my brother says they're fine."

Su turned back to her game, and after watching it for a moment in silence, Hermione said quietly: "Will you ever tell me why you needed Crookshanks that day?"

Harry was immediately embarrassed, and nodded, motioning out to the corridor. Once they had some privacy, he said: "Sorry, just...so much has happened I completely forgot to get back to you. We actually needed him to find Sirius Black."

Hermione stared. "It occurred to me," she said after a moment, "what with, you know, it being the day before the Prophet wrote about his capture and possible innocence...but in the end I thought I was delusional, because I couldn't figure out...why would you need Crooks for that?"

Harry grinned. "It turns out he really is part kneazle, apparently. Black is an Animagus, and...well I think Crookshanks knew him? He definitely knew exactly where to go just as soon as Mr. Kingsley asked. Apparently kneazles can tell Animagi from normal animals, apart from, you know, all the other cool stuff they can do."

Hermione groaned. "I really should have taken Creatures!" She declared. "But still, even for being part kneazle, that's impressive." She looked over her shoulder into the Ravenclaw compartment, where her cat was sleeping. "I should probably get his special treats over Christmas! But tell me, how did it all go, then?"

Harry obligingly described what had happened, leaving out some details, like the way Black spoke to his cousin, or Snape's reaction. He still couldn't believe his luck, that the teacher hadn't taken his frustration out on him, and didn't mean to tempt it by spreading the tale of how he'd been knocked out among the students.

"That was easier than I'd have thought," Hermione muttered, "but then, it makes sense if he's innocent, doesn't it? He was hardly going to slaughter you all..." She looked at Harry. "Do you think he is? Innocent, I mean?"

"Yeah," Harry said heavily. "Yeah, I do."

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Wynn was in a good mood when Harry got to Travers Manor. Alexandra, on the other hand, seemed irritated.

"My back hurts so much today not even pain potions help, unless I want to knock myself out completely," she said as she was sitting down to dinner. "I can't wait for Edric to be born."

"Give Wynn over, then," Alduin replied. "I'll feed him."

Gratefully, Alexandra levitated the boy across the table to his loud giggling. Harry made faces at him, which made him laugh even louder until Alduin sighed. "I need him calm to be able to feed him," he explained. "You can play tomorrow."

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

He noticed that by feeding, Alduin meant cutting his food into very small bits and handing Wynn a spoon. Wynn, however, didn't seem inclined to eat. Instead, he took the spoon and started to bang it on the plate.

Alduin sighed again.

"No," he said firmly, and took the spoon from Wynn, putting food on it. "Yum yum," he said, offering the spoon again. Wynn, however, just started to wave it in the air, making Alduin exasperatedly wave his wand to stop the food from flying around.

"All right then," he said. "Force-feeding it is."

That alarmed Harry, but it turned out Alduin only meant feeding Wynn like he had in the summer, with putting the food in his mouth.

"Does he often have trouble eating like this?" He asked.

Alexandra seemed amused. "This is good," she said. "At least he isn't spitting it out."

Harry frowned at Wynn. "You wouldn't do that to your Mummy, would you?"

Wynn chose just that moment to prove that, indeed, he would.

"I should have knocked on wood," Alexandra muttered.

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The Shafiqs were asked for an informal dinner just a few days after Harry returned to Travers Manor. Even though he had hardly talked to Abduaziz beyond a few accidental meetings for the whole year, he was still even more interested in Gamila, now that she was left at home without her brother.

"So, how have you been?" He asked Gamila when they all greeted in the drawing room.

She gave a small sigh. "It's boring," she said. "Everyone left for Hogwarts, and what am I supposed to do?"

Harry wrecked his brain for some people who stayed behind. "Edmund Crouch still has a year to go, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he and Charles Bulstrode both, but they're not exactly fun to be around. Especially Edmund. Lilianne is fine, I guess, but she's such a baby."

Abdulaziz rolled his eyes. "She's two years younger than you. It's like you're a baby to me."

"But she is!" Gamila insisted. "She spends all of her time with Lucilla and Laetitia and other even younger girls. I don't want to spend time with them. I mean, I'm going to Hogwarts in a year and a half, I'm not supposed to play with dolls!"

Abdulaziz snorted, and Harry gave him an amused look. "You were looking forward to Hogwarts two years in advance, too, and it's not like you exactly played with dolls when I met you," he pointed out.

"No, yeah, I know. I guess it sucks for Gamila to have no real friends her own age, really. But she's always been friends with Lilianne without any problems, so it's funny to see her have trouble now."

"It's a pity you don't like playing anymore," Alexandra said to Gamila, appearing unexpectedly behind them. "I hoped you would like to spend some time with Wynn..."

Gamily blushed. "That's not what I meant!" She said. "I would love to spend some time with Wynn!"

And in fact, they spent the next half an hour by playing with him all together. Abdulaziz was a little reluctant at first, but soon got into the spirit, and they were all surprised to be called to dinner.

"I guess it must suck for you that there are no Ancient House girls your age," Harry conceded to Gamila once they settled to the table and he remembered what they'd talked about before Wynn very effectively distracted them.

"Thank you!" Gamila said with emphasis.

"There's Josephine Bulstrode," Abduaziz said with a snigger.

Gamila gave an impressive eyeroll. "She's a year younger than me, anyway," she added. "But who cares about her! Listen, Harry, I've been badgering Zizi about it ever since he came back from Hogwarts, but he claims he doesn't know anything, so I've got to ask you: what happened with Black? I've heard someone say they caught him at Hogwarts, is it true?"

Harry groaned, and was echoed by the adult Shafiqs, who'd overheard their daughter's question.

"Never try to keep anything secret from children," Abdullah said sagely to his best friend. "It never works."

"Sekwet," Wynn repeated determinedly, and it was Alduin's turn to groan.