Tuesday, October 15, 1985

Wizengamot Meeting

Millicent Bagnold called the Wizengamot meeting to order.

"Apparently the Chief Warlock is running late, so we will have to continue without him, unless there are any objections," declared the minister.

Just after she made this statement Robert MacMillan walked in slowly. The elderly wizard coughed slightly. "I'm here, I'm here," he called out.

"Thank you Chief Warlock for joining us today," stated Minister Bagnold.

MacMillan approached the dais where he then picked up his gavel and rapped it several times. "This meeting of the Wizengamot is now in session. Now, where were we with our last session?"

The undersecretary spoke up, "The vote on changing the regulations for cauldron bottom thickness was tabled."

"So it was, so it was," stated MacMillan. "Do we need to discuss that any further? The cauldron bottoms aren't getting any thinner are they?"

A few members laughed at his comment.

Minister Bagnold spoke up. "Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE has a special request."

MacMillan turned and faced the director of the DMLE who was standing to one side. "A special request Madam Bones?"

She stepped up the podium and then took a slow look around the chamber, grateful that she had noted that the Headmaster for Hogwarts was not present.

"It has come to the attention of the DMLE that there was a major oversight at the end of the wizarding war. It has been brought to my attention that a wizard of pure-blood ancestry was thrown into Azkaban without having a trial."

There was an uproar and murmuring throughout the Wizengamot.

The Chief Warlock banged his gavel several times to get the attention of everyone in the room.

"We need to address this and it would be best if we did so as soon as possible. We are prepared to hold the trial for this individual immediately," declared Madam Bones.

"Just who is this individual?" questioned MacMillan.

"Sirius Black, who was imprisoned for supposedly betraying James and Lily Potter to the Dark Lord, He Who Must Not Be Named, and for killing twelve muggles and a wizard."

The murmuring returned even louder this time. The Chief Warlock again used his gavel many times. "We must have order in this room!" he yelled at everyone.

"Are we prepared to have such a trial?" asked MacMillan.

"Yes, we are," said Amelia Bones. "The accused will be brought into this room shortly. He is not a danger to any of us, he has spent the last nearly four years as a prisoner at Azkaban."

"Surely you can't expect him to be a viable witness at this time," stated the Chief Warlock.

"We have other witnesses to the events of that night," said the Director of the DMLE. "And we can begin this trial immediately, barring objections. Hopefully none of the members of the Wizengamot would want to extend the injustice of a pure-blood wizard to not having received a trial."

The murmuring was quieter and there was no one who voiced an objection.

"Very well," said MacMillan as he banged his gavel again. "We shall commence with the trial of Sirius Black, for the murder of twelve muggles and a wizard, in addition to charges of betraying James and Lily Potter to He Who Must Not Be Named. Call your first witness."

"We call Cornelius Fudge, Junior Minister of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."

A minute later Cornelius Fudge was brought into the chambers.

"Please take the witness stand, Cornelius," said Amelia as she pointed to the chair in the middle of the floor.

"Very well," he said as he held his bowler hat in his hands and twisted it slowly as he was quite nervous.

"Junior Minister Fudge," began Amelia Bones, "the Wizengamot never held a trial for Sirius Black four years ago, an injustice which we are remedying now. You were a key witness on the night that he was arrested. Can you tell us what you witnessed?"

"Certainly," said Cornelius, suddenly feeling less worried. "Sirius Black was laughing after having just blown up the road, leading to the deaths of twelve muggles as well as the war hero Peter Pettigrew. Sadly all they were able to recover from Mister Pettigrew was one of his fingers. Then Mister Black shouted that he had betrayed the Potters as though it was something to laugh at. Having your supposed best friends murdered is never something to laugh at."

Amelia Bones smiled slightly as she questioned Fudge more directly. "Are you sure that is exactly how it happened?"

"Why yes, I am most certain of that," he said, although he started to spin his bowler hat a little faster in his hands.

"Would you allow the senior Auror to remove your memory of that evening so that we may all witness it on the projecting pensieve?"

Cornelius was flustered as he was questioned. "But I heard him state that he betrayed the Potters. There was the explosion in the street, and there was no sign of Peter Pettigrew. I shared all of that information with Barty Crouch at the DMLE and with Dumbledore. They didn't ask for anything more from me. They didn't need to view the memory. It's not my fault! Where is Lucius when I need him?" said Cornelius. "Fine, fine, take the memory, you can all see exactly what I saw."

Amelia nodded her head towards one of the Aurors present who stepped forward and retrieved the memory from Fudge. Amelia then brought forward the projecting pensieve. The memory was placed into the device and then a hologram like image appeared above the device.

The memory showed Sirius Black laughing at the sight of the explosion. "Well done Pettigrew you sneaky rat. It's almost as if I had betrayed James and Lily myself by suggesting to use you as the secret keeper instead of me. That must have made the Dark Lord happy! Because of that it's my fault they died!"

Cornelius stared at the memory in front of him, his jaw agape.

There was a hush around the chambers.

"Mister Fudge," said Amelia, "was that an accurate depiction of your memory from that night? Is that what you actually heard?"

"Why it must be. It must be. But Crouch and Dumbledore didn't want anymore information other than my saying that I heard Sirius Black say he killed the Potters. That is what I thought I heard."

Amelia nodded, her face impassive, and dismissed Cornelius. "Thank you very much for your testimony."

As she said that, she nodded to the Aurors who then escorted Cornelius from the chambers.

"For the next witness I would like to call Sirius Black," declared the director of the DMLE. "And he is here, under guard by multiple Aurors, so you all have nothing to fear from him."

There were shouts and gasps from around the chamber, and MacMillan was frantically banging his gavel. Then he used a sonorous charm and shouted "Silence!"

The commotion died down and Amelia Bones spoke again. "Bring in Sirius Black, and he is adequately guarded so everyone can relax and quiet down."

The chamber doors opened and four Aurors in the red robes brought in Sirius Black. He was barely recognisable to those who knew him as he hair was unkempt, and he had a scraggly beard. His face was gaunt from years of poor nutrition, and his eyes had dark circles under them. The Aurors pushed him into the witness stand and he was immediately grabbed by magical chains that encircled his arms and legs.

Sirius' eyes were blinking in the bright lights of the chamber and he opened and closed them repeatedly trying to focus on the crowd that was staring at him.

"Sirius Black," began Amelia Bones as she read from the parchment she had unrolled, "you have been charged with the murder of twelve muggles and one wizard in the course of potentially breaking the Statute of Secrecy on the night of October 31, 1981, after you had betrayed your supposed friends James and Lily Potter to the dark lord, He Who Must Not Be Named. How do you plead to these charges?"

Sirius took a deep breath and spoke as loudly as he could, and his voice was hoarse and broken by deep breaths every few words. "Not guilty…on all counts…particularly when…the little rat…didn't die…that night. He is the…one who..betrayed James…and Lily. He is…the one who…you need…to find."

Amelia turned to the Aurors, "Clearly the man is ill from his experiences at Azkaban for nearly four years. Please administer a pepper up potion to the accused."

One of the Aurors removed a vial from within his robes and walked over to Sirius and poured it down his throat, nearly half of it spilling across his face.

Amelia waited a minute before she spoke to him again. "Could explain what you meant about the one we need to find?"

Sirius licked his lips a couple of times and then shook his head slightly. "Yes, well, Peter Pettigrew, was the actual secret keeper for James and Lily. I figured I was the obvious choice and I figured the Death Eaters would be looking for me. We didn't know that Peter had betrayed us all to the Death Eaters. He joined them. So when I learned of the attack against my friends, that the Dark wanker had killed them, I wanted to find him and make him pay for what he did."

"Is that why you blew up the street and killed all of those muggles?" asked Amelia.

"What? No! That was Pettigrew. Wormtail blew up the street to enable his escape. He cut off one of his own fingers, blew up the street, and then turned into his animagus form, a rat, and disappeared into the sewers after he blew the hole in the street," answered Sirius.

Amelia nodded and then continued to question him. "But witnesses, or a witness, reported that you were seen laughing at the scene. How do you explain this?"

Sirius looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. He pulled at the chains on his arms and then he closed his eyes for a moment. After taking a deep breath he answered the director. "I laughed in response to my emotions. I laughed at myself for being foolish enough to not see that Wormtail, that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed us. I laughed at myself for being foolish enough to let my best friends die in a war where we knew that we could not make any mistakes or it would cost us our lives or the lives of our friends. I laughed at my own stupidity."

A voice from the middle of the chambers called out. "This is very convenient, that you would claim to have been set up by someone who is dead. How can we possibly believe you about anything that you have said? Clearly your mind has been addled by the years that you have spent in Azkaban."

"That sounded like a comment that Lucy would make, but that didn't sound like Malfoy," said Sirius.

Amelia Bones spoke up, "That was Lord Parkinson who made the comments. Lucius Malfoy is dead. Apparently the news did not reach Azkaban last month."

"How can we take this man's word?" asked another member of the Wizengamot. HE stood up and identified himself. "This is Lord Selwyn, Mister Black, and I still find myself wondering why we should believe you."

Murmuring broke out again amongst the members of the Wizengamot. The Chief Warlock again banged his gavel, this time, however, he banged it so hard the wooden gavel shattered. At the sound and sight of the gavel breaking, the chambers became quiet again.

"That does seem like a valid question," stated the Chief Warlock.

Amelia Bones addressed the members of the Wizengamot once again. "We have in custody, Peter Pettigrew, who is not dead. We can have him brought to these chambers. He has already been questioned with veritas serum. He has been placed in magic inhibiting cuffs so that he cannot perform his animagus transformation into a rat. Do we need to interrogate the man or can we accept the testimony already made during the investigation?"

Lord Nott stood up and spoke out in response, worried that too much information might be forthcoming if he was questioned in front of the entire Wizengamot when he could be subjected to questions from light sided wizards. "I propose that you read to us the statements if they have been verified by multiple parties and if the information is sufficient then we can proceed without bringing the individual into these chambers."

There were several voices who called out in agreement Lord Nott's proposition.

"Very well," said Amelia, "we will begin by reading the transcripts." An Auror stepped forward and handed her a rolled parchment. "My name is Peter Pettigrew. I was friends with James Potter and Sirius Black while we attended Hogwarts. Yes, I am an animagus. My animal form is that of a rat. Yes, I joined the Death Eaters, I even have the Dark Mark on my arm. I was jealous of James and Sirius, they were always better at magic than me. I thought that by joining the Death Eaters that I would be joining the winning side of the war. I was the one who told the Dark Lord the secret to where they were staying. I was James and Lily's secret keeper. Yes, I cut my finger off to make it look like I had died when I escaped. No, I was not trying to frame Sirius, I was trying to kill him and cover my tracks with the deaths of the stupid muggles."

"I think that is quite enough," called out Lord Nott. "Clearly from this person's testimony Sirius Black is only guilty of being a fool. I move we vote on the guilt of this Pettigrew and then vote on the innocence of Sirius Black."

Very quickly the motion passed and the chains around Sirius' arms and legs were released. Sirius was exhausted and just sat there in the chair, crying tears of joy in his disbelief that he was finally going to be free from the hell that is Azkaban.

Lord Arcturus Black stood up from his seat and all of the talking in the chamber immediately ceased. "Finally justice has come to the House of Black. I call for the ministry to pay damages. Renumeration for the care Sirius will require to help him recover from his ordeal. Damages for his being falsely imprisoned without a trial. A dare say no lord in these chambers would tolerate any member of their family being sent to Azkaban without a trial. Even the former director of the DMLE, Barty Crouch Senior arranged for a trial for his very own son. Why did he see fit to treat my grandson differently? I would expect that the DMLE will be investigating the unfair and prejudiced treatment that Sirius Black received at the hands of their predecessors at the DMLE. I would expect that there would be an investigation as to how it could ever be considered appropriate to throw any person into Azkaban on the clearly faulty testimony of a Junior Minister of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."

Arcturus sat down and in only a few minutes the Wizengamot had overwhelmingly voted to pass all of the judgements which he had called for, and Sirius just stared at his grandfather, amazed that the man had stood up for him.

Arcturus stood up once more. "I make a further motion," he began and all eyes were upon him once again. "The betrayer of James and Lily Potter, the one who was once hailed as a hero but has now been shown to be something akin to his very animagus form, Peter Pettigrew is a risk. He arranged for the killing of a Lord of this esteemed body, and his wife. He was working to eliminate an entire line of an Ancient family. Such acts cannot go unpunished. He is a flight risk, as he is an animagus, he could potentially turn into his rat from and we all know hw good rats can be at escaping capture. Therefore, I propose that there is only one punishment suitable for such a man, nay, such a creature."

Various members throughout the chamber started murmuring "the veil" and "throw him through the veil."

The Chief Warlock then used a sonorous charm to address the chamber. "We must have order here!" he called out.

The talking subsided and then Lady Augusta Longbottom stood up. "I propose that this Pettigrew be thrown through the veil."

Many others called out in support of the motion. After several moments of people calling out the Wizengamot was presented with the opportunity to vote on the motion. The vote was unanimous that Peter Pettigrew would be thrown through the veil of death in the department of mysteries.

Once the vote was finalised the Madam Bones took a deep breath. Shen then turned to the Chief Warlock. "That is all we have for you today."

MacMillan then turned to the members of the Wizengamot. "This was a most eventful if not entirely unexpected morning. Assuming there is no other business that has a pressing need to be addressed at this time, I think we all could do with an ending to this meeting and adjourn."

There was no dissenting voices and quickly the meeting had ended.

Lord Black made his way down to the witness stand where his grandson was still seated.

"Grandfather," said Sirius who was clearly exhausted, "you spoke up in my behalf. I thought you kicked me out of the family."

"Your mother wanted you removed from the family, the stupid cow," replied Arcturus. "Things have changed, many things." Before Sirius could ask for further explanation, his grandfather continued. "Lucius Malfoy was killed when he tried to kill me. That is a little bit of a long story. Narcissa wants to be back in the Black family officially. Your cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted, and their daughter Nymphadora are already part of the Black family once again. But before you can see any of them, you will need to spend some time at St. Mungo's receiving proper care to restore you to your previous state of good health. I will meet up with you there, but for now, I have an important meeting at Gringotts."

Sirius was visibly shocked by the words from his grandfather. "That is just amazing, I mean, well, everything. I don't know what to say."

"Then say nothing and don't make yourself look like a fool," said Arcturus. "Or say think you for your family being brought back together. But in the future, you really need to be much more careful about who you trust."

And with those words Arcturus left the Wizengamot chambers.


~~~MiB~~~


Arcturus and Hydrae arrived at Gringotts to meet with the goblins in charge of the Potter vault. Coldblade was his name, and he did not appear to be pleased to be meeting with anyone at this point.

"You are both Blacks, why do you think you have any right to view the Potter family vault?" he demanded.

Arcturus spoke first. "Perhaps you are unaware of the recent testing young Hydrae recently had performed here in your bank? It indicated he is a potential heir to the Potter family."

Coldblade had clearly not been informed of this development. "You are here to claim lordship over the Potter family?"

"Not at all," said Hydrae. "I have a small request. There was no official reading of a last will and testament for James and Lilly Potter four years ago after they were killed. I was hoping that perhaps a copy was left in their vault and that copy may make it clear who should be the heir to the family."

Coldblade narrowed his eyes at the two men. "If it isn't the young Harry Potter, then I would have no idea who it could be."

"Has there been any activity involving the Potter Family vault?" questioned Arcturus. "Hydrae here does have a right to know."

Coldblade looked at the ledgers in front of him. "There has been a steady withdrawal of 500 galleons removed monthly, converted into English pounds and then transmitted to a muggle bank account, in the name of a Vernon and Petunia Dursley."

"And just who authorised these regularly scheduled withdrawals?" asked Hydrae.

"Albus Dumbledore," replied the goblin.

"And the will of James and Lily Potter made it explicitly clear that someone who is of no blood relation to either of them would be the guardian watching over Harry Potter and the entirety of the Potter finances?" asked Arcturus.

The goblin started to shift uncomfortably. "The British Ministry of Magic sent a declaration of such information, from the desk of the Chief Warlock, in November of 1981. Is that not sufficient?"

"Not when the Chief Warlock would have had no jurisdiction to send such notification," countered Arcturus. "Such a decree from the Chief Warlock could only have been made if the Wizengamot had actually voted on such a matter. And I can assure you, no such motion was ever brought before the Wizengamot."

Coldblade narrowed his eyes at Lord Black. "Are you accusing Gringotts of lying?"

"Not at all," said Arcturus. "I am concerned that the information sent to Gringotts would have been unauthorised and inconsistent with the last will and testament of James and Lily Potter."

"Stupid humans," grumbled Coldblade. He then turned to Hydrae. "As you are the declared Heir Black, and there is a chance that you may be Heir Potter, we can allow you access to the vault, however you cannot remove anything from the vault."

"And if I were to find James and Lily Potter's will?" asked Hydrae.

"Then if it meets the rule of wills with regard to Gringotts, then it can be enforced. And a copy of said will would be filed with the Ministry of Magic," stated Coldblade.

"That is all that we ask, at this point in time," said Hydrae.

Several minutes later Coldblade was opening the Potter family vault. Hydrae had been there previously in the future, after he had paid reparations to the goblins. He was sure that much of the contents had been confiscated as payment for stealing the item from the Lestrange vault and stealing a dragon from the bank itself. He knew there was a will from his parents in the vault. As he walked in to the vault, he used his occlumency to hide his reaction to seeing significantly more gold and magical heirlooms than he had discovered in the future. He shook his head as he wasn't sure if it was all the goblins who had taken items from the vault, as he had just had confirmation that Dumbledore had been sending gold to the Dursleys, so he naturally wondered if the headmaster had taken liberties to remove other items, such as the cloak of invisibility. He stopped his musings and made his way towards a desk which had some documents stacked on top. The second one from the top was clearly marked 'Last Will and Testament of James and Lily Potter' and its seal was intact. Hydrae picked it up and asked Coldblade what was required to officially read and activate the will.

"To activate the will would require at least one person from the Ministry of Magic and one representative of Gringotts to be present and then a formal notification of the findings can be submitted to the Ministry of Magic," said Coldblade.

Hydrae looked towards Arcturus. "Would the timing of doing this be problematic with Sirius having just been freed this morning?"

Arcturus smiled in response. "No, not likely, as the news and the ministry will be dealing with the incredible story of the injustice done to a son of House Black. People will be looking for us to get our comments for the newspapers and the Wizarding Wireless. As I am Lord Black and you are my designated heir, Sirius being a free wizard and not being the heir will certainly lead to many questions."

Coldblade did not stop a grin from forming on his own face. "So it is true then. Sirius Black's vault had been attempted to be confiscated by the Ministry for Magic but Gringotts had consistently refused as there was no evidence ever presented that he had been convicted of any crime"

Arcturus smiled at the goblin. "A fact of which I am both aware and grateful. Although, as the Potter accounts manager, I am slightly surprised to hear that you were aware of this fact."

Coldblade's smile did not fade. "Certain issues become well known amongst the major accounts managers. The will can be read here, in this room. If there is important information contained within, then the details will be shared with management of Gringotts and then submitted to the Ministry of Magic."

"Very well, we shall review the will here," said Arcturus.

Hydrae opens the envelope and he began to read the will, with Arcturus looking over his shoulder. The possible persons to be guardians of Harry James Potter, were, in order, Sirius Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Amelia Bones. Specifically the will mentioned that Harry was not to be left with his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley.

Arcturus spoke to Coldblade. "I expect that this information about guardianship for young Harry can and will be forwarded to the appropriate persons at the ministry, and no one else."

"It will be done," assured Coldblade.

"And please be sure to put a stop to any withdrawals that do not have direct approval from Harry James Potter or his appropriate magical guardian. And as Sirius Black is now a free man and no longer imprisoned in Azkaban, it would be presumed that Sirius Black would be that individual," said Hydrae.

Coldblade nodded and then lead them out of the vault.


~~~~ MiB~~~


After the meeting at Gringotts had ended, Hydrae had many emotions that were running through his mind. He was excited that he was making changes in the timeline, he was anxious about how this would all fall out, worried about possibly having to deal with Dumbledore, whom he was actively avoiding, and hopeful that he could now start to arrange for his younger self to have the childhood that he was denied. And then start to work on making the chance for young Harry to have a future with Daphne.

It was at this time that he found himself walking into the shop where Cassandra worked and the two of them took time to have lunch together.

As they started eating, Cassandra could tell that he was upset about something and she feared the worst for herself. "I've known you long enough to be able to tell something is bothering you. It's me, isn't it? You don't want to spend anymore time with the relative of a former Death Eater."

Hydrae looked at her, his eyes a little wide. "What? No, no, that's not it at all." He took a deep breath and then he continued, "I need to be honest. But let me explain some things. Before I came here, I was involved with someone. And no, don't jump to conclusions, just hear me out. She had been injured, we had a brief romantic relationship. It is impossible for us to be together at all. But I needed to at least tell you that there was someone, and a recent event just brought her memory back to me again."

"You miss her, this other woman," said Cassandra.

Hydrae closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Cassandra. "Yeah, I do. She was someone special. It's impossible for me to be with her ever again in this life," he added.

Cassandra internally cursed for bringing up painful memories about his former girlfriend whom she had now assumed had died. She reached out and took his hand. "It's always difficult when you lose someone close to you."

"Yes, I've learned that too many times already," he added. After taking a deep breath, he continued his thoughts. "There are things I am actively working on, all to honour her memory. That's all I can really say about things for now."

Soon their lunch was finished. As Hydrae walked her back to the shop he made one more announcement to her. "My uncle Arcturus and I will be moving shortly. So, we're going to be busy for a few days. Also, the home will be under the fidelius, so when we are settled in a few days, I will come visit and let you know where we are, and even bring you there to see the new Black family home."

"Sounds exciting," Cassandra said with a smile. "I'll look forward to seeing you when you're ready to show me the new home."

As they stepped inside the store, Hydrae smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Then he apparated away from within the store, much to Cassandra's shock. She held a hand up to her cheek where he had kissed her as she wondered how he was able to apparate from just anywhere within Knockturn Alley.


~~~MiB~~~


Arcturus was waiting on Hydrae to arrive, knowing that the had met with Cassandra.

"We do not have much time," said the Lord Black. "Dumbledore will surely be learning about what has transpired, so we need to head to Privet Drive right away. Once we have Harry, we can return here briefly and then make our way to the new Black Manor house."

Hydrae nodded in agreement. The two then apparated to the yard of Mrs. Figg, who was too busy with her cats to notice the arrival of two wizards in her backyard.

Arcturus and Hydrae were once again dressed in appropriate muggle clothing so as not to be noticed by any of the neighbours as they made their way to 4 Privet Drive.

Hydrae and Arcturus were sure they would find Petunia Dursley and probably Dudley as well as Harry who was most likely locked inside the cupboard under the stairs. As they walked up to the house Hydrae noted that Vernon's car was home.

"Didn't think that the whale would be here today," commented Hydrae.

Arcturus smiled slightly, "Apparently there was a peer failure of some sort at a certain drill company so they sent home all of the employees early. They will probably have the problem sorted by tomorrow morning."

Hydrae stopped and looked at Arcturus. "Aren't you the little trouble maker."

Arcturus smiled back, "I'm a Black. What else could I do in this situation?"

Hydrae shook his head and laughed for a moment before they made their way to the door. Hydrae pressed a button near the main door and Arcturus was slightly surprised to hear a chime within the house. Hydrae noted the look on his face and quietly added, "It's called electricity, a type of muggle technology. It sure as hell isn't magic."

Before Arcturus could respond the door opened and Vernon Dursley stood there almost glaring at the two men. "Whatever you're selling we're not buying anything."

Hydrae stepped forward and moved past Vernon who was too shocked to stop the first man from entering his home.

"Thank you, Vernon Dursley for inviting us into your home," said Hydrae. "I think that we need to have a little chat with you and your wife about your young nephew."

Arcturus followed Hydrae into the house and the two made themselves comfortable in the lounge chairs that Vernon reserved for himself and his wife.

"What is the meaning of this? Are you some of those freaks?" he screamed at the two men.

Arcturus snapped his hand towards Vernon and Vernon's mouth was closed instantly.

"Now, Vernon, you really should be more polite to your guests," said Hydrae, clearly irritated by the outburst from the large man. He then called out to Petunia who was looking at them from the kitchen. "You might was well come and join us, as this involves you too."

Petunia walked quickly into the room and put her hands to her mouth as she saw what had happened to her husband who was trying to scream and yell but his mouth would not move. The purple colour to his face was typical for him when he became angry.

"Oh, go on and scream," said Hydrae. "Do you want the local police to come by and see how you have treated your nephew, Lily's son, with locking him into a cupboard, abusing him, starving him, not even calling him by his name? I'm sure the neighbours would love to gossip about the involvement of the police and the terrible living situation you created for your nephew, your relative?"

"Who are you and what do you want? Were you friends with Lily at that school?" asked Petunia, her fear now clearly heard in her words.

"We are relatives of young Harry, from his father's family, and to put it nicely, we are not pleased with how you have been treating young Harry," said Hydrae.

"We never wanted him! Those freaks from the school just left him on our doorstep in the middle fo the night! Left him in basket with a note! Thank goodness Vernon found the basket before any of the neighbours noticed him laying there, crying in the middle of the night! What would the neighbours have said if they knew what happened?"

Hydrae shook his head at Petunia's response. "Still more concerned about your status in the community than about your nephew. You are truly pathetic. Well, don't worry, you won't have to be burdened with Harry any longer. We are here to bring him to his godfather who should have been granted custody in the first place."

"Who are you?" demanded Petunia.

"No one of consequence," said Hydrae.

"But I must know!" she continued to demand.

"Then get used to disappointment," said Hydrae. "Why would it matter to you now, anyway? It's not like you actually care for young Harry."

"The evil dark wizards, the ones who killed Lily and her husband, are you with them?"

Hydrae was disgusted by her statement. "Lily's husband has a name. James, James Potter. Even after they have been dead for nearly four years you can't even speak his name? Lily and James were great people. Not sure how she could have been related to you. But that is not the issue at this time. We will have Harry come with us. Oh, and when we leave, we will remove all magical protections that Dumbledore placed on this home. Not sure that they really worked as they did not stop you or your husband or the whale you call your son from abusing the child."

Hydrae then turned to Vernon as Arcturus removed the silencing spell. "Do you have anything useful or important to say?"

Vernon gasped a few times before speaking. He was about to yell at Hydrae and noticed the look that Arcturus was giving him. "Um no, just take the freak and leave," he said with a snarl.

Arcturus glared at the man. "I could lock your mouth closed, permanently," he said with a smile.

Vernon's eyes went wide as he mumbled incoherently in response.

"Was there anything that you were given when Harry was dropped off?" asked Hydrae looking back at Petunia.

"Just his blanket and the basket, and the note," she said in reply.

"We would like those items," said Hydrae.

Petunia smiled slightly and ran towards the cellar where some things were stored. She pulled the old basket and blanket out of a box and ran back to the room. "Here it is," she said as she dropped the basket in front of Hydrae.

Hydrae noted the items were covered with dust. They had not even been packed away properly for safe keeping. He then looked at her as he calmly spoke to her. "Now, I presume young Harry is locked in the cupboard. You will unlock the cupboard and bring him here."

Petunia didn't speak as she quickly went to the hall, unlocked the cupboard. "Harry, you need to come with me, there are some people here to see you."

Harry had a panicked look on his face as Petunia almost pushed him into the room.

"Harry, we are relatives of yours. Related to your father. We would like you to come and live with us. You will have your own room. You will get to learn all about your family. And you won't have to do the chores here anymore. You won't have to cook here anymore. You won't have to do the gardening anymore."

Vernon and Petunia were both aghast as this person sitting there calmly talking to Harry seemed to know everything about what they had made him do when he wasn't locked int he cupboard. They even knew Harry was kept locked in the cupboard.

"I won't have to come back?" asked Harry, wide eyed with surprise.

"No, you won't be coming back here," said Hydrae.

"What chores would I have to do for you?" asked Harry, who was now a little wary.

"You won't have to do chores, other than pick up your things, keep your room clean, and things like that," said Hydrae.

"But I don't have anythings and I don't have a room, just a cupboard," said Harry.

"Harry, when did you last receive a birthday present?" asked Arcturus.

"I haven't had any birthdays," said Harry, clearly sad at this revelation.

"Then we need to make up for several missed birthdays once we bring you home," said Arcturus with a broad smile.

Harry turned to his Aunt. "Can I go with these nice men?"

Petunia looked at her nephew, and her opinion was made clear to everyone. "You better go with them, because you won't be staying here."

Harry turned back to the two wizards. "But who are you?"

"As I said, we are related to your father. You haven't heard about his family because your Aunt and Uncle didn't like them. They said that your parents were freaks. Why? Because they could use magic. You, Harry, will be able to use magic," said Hydrae.

"Magic? Is that why I feel better in the morning after Uncle Vernon hurts my arm, or my head? Is that why I can unlock the door to my cabinet when I need to go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, Harry, that is called accidental magic. But you will eventually learn to use your magic to do things, to do things for good and for fun. You will learn to create things with magic. You will learn to protect yourself from being attacked by others by using magic," added Hydrae.

"I want to learn to use magic!" said an excited Harry.

Hydrae then made a small rubber ball appear in his hand and he bounced it at Harry.

Harry squealed with delight, but he could not catch the ball. He ran after it and then threw the ball up in the air, but this time he caught the ball as he giggled with delight. "Can I make a magic ball too?" he asked.

"Someday you will learn how to do that," said Arcturus.

Harry looked at the red ball in his hand. "But I want a yellow ball as well," and as he said that a yellow ball appeared in his other hand.

"NO magic in this house!" yelled Vernon.

Arcturus cast the silencing charm at Vernon once again. "I warned you once," he said.

Harry silently said "wow!" in response to seeing what Arcturus did to his uncle.

"Magic is awesome!" he then said excitedly.

"Yes, it is," said Hydrae. "Now, if you take my hand, we will leave and go to your new home."

"Sure!" said a very excited Harry.

Hydrae reached out and took Harry's hand. Hand in hand, the two of them apparated away from Privet Drive.

Arcturus looked at the Dursleys. "I should just leave you like that, but I'll be a little bit nice." He waved his hand again once more.

Vernon tried to speak, but still he could not do so.

Arcturus laughed at the large man. "I didn't way I would remove the spell now. However, it will wear off in about four hours.

Arcturus then disappeared from Privet Drive, holding the basket that Petunia had brought out of the cellar.


AN: Harry is now out of the Dursleys. More to come on this, of course.