Leeds Manor House in Kent (the new Black Estate)
Young Harry was in awe as Hydrae was showing him around the gardens and the property. He looked at everything and listened as he was told about his true heritage.
"You are a wizard, Harry. That means you can use magic. As we told you before we took you away from the Dursleys, magic does exist. Your parents were very talented when it came to using magic. Your mother used magic based on her love for you that protected you the night that a very bad wizard came to kill you. He killed your parents, but he was unable to kill you. That is why you have your scar," explained Hydrae.
Harry stopped following Hydrae and he was clearly upset about what he had been told, and Hydrae wondered if he should have explained it all any differently.
"Mister Hydra," began Harry, "why did no one tell me about this? Why did I have to live with the Dursleys and why did they lock me in the cupboard?"
Hydrae knelt down in front of Harry. "I don't know all of the answers to your questions, and honestly, I want those questions answered for you. What I do know is that someone claimed you would be safe living with your aunt and uncle. Personally, being locked in a cupboard and being made to do all of their chores, well, that didn't look to safe to me. Also, your aunt and uncle are not magical people. People with magic, who live in the world of magic, they call people like your aunt and uncle muggles. That means they cannot use magic. At one point I think your aunt was jealous of your mother having magic, and then going off to the special school for witches and wizards. She started to dislike your mother for that, for leaving her behind. Your uncle Vernon, well, he seems to be a very mean and angry person, and I am not sure he likes anyone."
Harry wiped his eyes briefly and then looked at Hydrae, "So, I can go to the magic school?"
"When you are eleven you can go to the magic school," said Hydrae. "But before then, we will teach you about your family. We will teach you about magic, and the many amazing things that magic can do."
Harry smiled at first and then his smile became a frown. "But the bad man, the one who hurt me and took away my mom and dad, is he going to come back to hurt me?"
Hydrae took a deep breath. "He will try to come back. Some people think he is dead, but he is hiding, in a magical way. But Lord Black, the man who came with me, he and I will be working to make sure he cannot come back and hurt you."
"And I get to live here? And I get to live with you?"
"Yes, Harry, this will be your home. You will get your own room. We will even have you meet other children your age who will go to school with you," said Hydrae. "But there are some who might try to make you go live with your aunt and uncle again, and Lord Black and I, well, we are not about to let that happen."
Harry stared silently at Hydrae for a minute and then he asked another question. "Why? Why did you come and get me?"
Hydrae used his occlumency to hold back his own tears. "I had a difficult childhood and I learned how difficult you were having with things, so I wanted to help. We are related, through the Black family. You're like a special cousin. I couldn't let someone related to me grow up in such a miserable place."
Harry reached out and gently hugged Hydrae. Hydrae slowly put his arms around Harry.
After a couple of minutes, they separated. Hydrae smiled at Harry and pointed to the large manor house. "There are a lot of rooms in that house. Let's go look around and find the room you want to be your own."
~~~~MiB~~~~
Albus Dumbledore had been at a meeting for the ICW, which he could not avoid as he was the Supreme Mugwump and had to run all important meetings, no matter how trivial he actually thought they all were. He did have the school to run, although the Deputy Headmistress could take care of most day to day problems. As he made his way back to his office he was considering what he would need to do to have the British Ministry of Magic appointment him as the Chief Warlock, that way he could keep even better tabs on just what was happening around magical Britain.
The gargoyle at the bottom of the stairs to his office moved aside without his saying a word and he proceeded to walk up the stairs into his office. As he opened the door he noticed that there were several newspapers left on his desk.
"Well, at least I can catch up on what little has happened while I have been at the ICW meetings," he said out loud to no one. He glanced around the office, and had the sensation that something was off, but he wasn't sure what it was. He then made a note of the fact that Fawkes was not sitting on his perch as usual, but he quickly turned his attention back to the newspapers. "Wonder where that old bird, or is it young bird now, has gone and flown off to now," he again spoke out loud having a simple conversation with himself. As he was picking up the first paper, he stopped and turned to look at the row of little gadgets that he had set up for monitoring of young Harry Potter.
"Merlin's shaggy beard, what happened?" he screamed out loud even though he was still alone. The shelf that had at least six different gadgets that each monitored something different about Harry or 4 Privet Drive had all stopped working. All except one. The one that told him Harry was definitely alive was still making little puffs of smoke. The others were either broken or just sat motionless as though they had lost their magic.
Then his eye was drawn to a scruffy figure on the front page of the Daily Prophet, waving his hand at the photographer. Above the photo, Albus finally read the headline:
"Sirius Black is free after being falsely imprisoned without a trial for nearly four years!"
Without thinking he immediately apparated to Little Whinging and quickly strode down the street towards 4 Privet Drive. He suddenly realised that he could be seen by everyone wearing flowing purple robes and then waved his hand in front of him, then over his head and then back n front of him again. Now he was walking towards 4 Privet Drive in his purple suit, still drawing attention from any neighbours, however he was so focused on his destination he did not notice.
He walked up to the front door and knocked on it quite loudly. After having no response to knocking several times he did a wandless spell to open the door and stepped inside. He called out to Petunia Dursley, but there was no answer. He started to make his way through the house, and noticed that the door to the cupboard under the stairs was open. He thought that was an odd door to be left open and went to investigate. He was shocked when he realised that there was a makeshift mattress and a few broken toys in the small space, evidence that implied that Harry had been forced to sleep in there, at least from time to time. He continued to explore the house after casting a charm to see if there was anyone in the house, but the house was clearly empty.
In the living room he noted several family pictures on the walls. And it immediately struck him that all of the photographs were of Petunia and her husband and their son, but there was not even one photo of young Harry. He rubbed his beard slightly as he scanned all of the photos once more before he went to make his way upstairs. He looked into the kitchen and noticed there was a stool next to the stove. The small table in the kitchen only had three chairs seated around it as well.
Albus then made his way upstairs and found what he presumed to be the bedroom for Petunia and her husband. Then he made his way down the hall and found two rooms. One was presumably the bedroom for Petunia's son, and it was littered with toys everywhere. There was no evidence that Harry would have stayed in that room. He went to the next room and opened the door, expecting to find a bedroom for Harry, but he only found a pile of broken toys, with no evidence of a bed or any sign that anyone actually lived in that room.
Albus heard a siren from a police car driving up the street, and the police car pulled into the driveway at 4 Privet Drive. The headmaster for Hogwarts performed a quick scan and found that all of the wards, including the blood wards which he had cast had been removed. He realised he did not have time to investigate this any further as the police were banging on the door, so he quickly apparated away.
~~~MiB~~~
Albus Dumbledore made his way to the Department of Records at the Ministry of Magic, hoping to find out what had happened at Privet Drive, or more importantly, what had happened to Harry Potter. He didn't want to wait around to find out why the police had arrived or why there was nobody at the home. Now he just needed to find Harry Potter and make sure that he was safe. The fact that all but one of the magical monitors he had set up had failed in addition to the wards he had placed around the home was deeply concerning to the man.
The clerk sitting at the desk for the Department of Records was surprised to see the headmaster from Hogwarts show up at his department. "What can I do for you, headmaster?" asked the startled young man.
"Jonathan Thomas, Hufflepuff, correct?" asked Dumbledore in an overly friendly tone.
Mister Thomas' eyes went wide with he surprise that the headmaster had recognised him, as he had kept a fairly low profile while he was at school. "Yes, sir, that's me," he said acknowledging Dumbledore.
"How are you Mister Thomas?" asked the headmaster. However, before the young man could respond, he continued, "I do need a little help from this department. Apparently while I was away on business with the ICW, Sirius Black not only received a trial but was exonerated and freed. Does the Ministry have records of where he is staying? For some reason, I cannot recall the address of the Black family home. And while you're at it, I need the information on just who is taking care of and raising Harry Potter."
Jonathan rubbed his temple with his right hand for a moment. "Oh, that would be a no and we can't help you there."
"But Mister Thomas, this is of the utmost importance that I have this information," protested the headmaster as he considered adding a little magical push to get the young clerk to do what he needed and reveal the requested information.
Mister Thomas felt the slight probe into his mind and he quickly shook his head and glared at the old man in front of him.
"Who do you think you are, the Minister for Magic or the Chief Warlock? Just because you are the headmaster at Hogwarts, that does not give you the right to pry into the life of a young boy who is not old enough to even receive his Hogwarts letter," stated Jonathan rather forcefully.
Albus made his eyes twinkle a little more than usual. "But I must insist, I do need this information."
Mister Thomas continued to frown at the headmaster. "Do I need to call the Aurors? This information is not something I am allowed to release just because someone insists that they need it."
Albus sighed. "Very well, my boy, I suppose I will just have to pay a visit to Madam Bagnold, the Minister for Magic."
Jonathan did not reply, but stood his ground.
Albus turned and started to make his way towards the minister's office. When he was alone in a hallway he summoned Fawkes. The bird flashed onto his shoulder and gave a slight trill. "Ah, my old friend, I believe that I am in need of your help. Could you go and find the location of both Sirius Black. And while you're at it, could you also track down Harry Potter.
Fawkes disappeared in a flash and Dumbledore continued his march through the ministry to find the Minister. Just as he was about to enter the reception room for the minister's office Fawkes appeared back on his shoulder. The phoenix gave a short but sad trill sound and then disappeared once again with a flash.
"This is most disturbing that you can't find either one of them, my friend," Albus said out loud although no one was there to hear him. He took a deep breath and then opened the door to the minister's office.
Albus walked up the reception desk where a young witch was sorting various parchments. "Ahh, Miss Eldridge, I was hoping to be able to speak with Minister Bagnold."
"Oh, headmaster, well, uh, she said, I mean she is not available right now," said Miss Eldridge.
"But it is very important that I speak with her," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling even more than usual.
The door to the office behind Miss Eldridge opened slowly to reveal the Minister of Magic standing there. "What is it that you want so badly that you are disturbing multiple departments today Albus?"
"Oh, there you are Millicent," greeted Dumbledore, "I have only just become aware of the plight of Sirius Black. I was hoping to be able to speak with him, however I am unable to reach him. Is he, by chance, still at St. Mungo's recovering? I would dearly like to offer my condolences for his ordeal and wish him well, and it would be best to do this in person."
"What a wonderful sentiment, Albus," replied the minister, "however, his family, for some reason, is not particularly trusting of the Ministry right now, so they took him home and have hired private healers."
"Understandable, yes, quite understandable considering the circumstances," said Albus. "So, if you could be so kind as to share with me the current location of the Black family residence, then I shall not need to bother you any further."
"Now, Albus, you should be smart enough to understand that I cannot help you with that matter," said Millicent with a wry smile.
"But I need to speak with him, about many things," said Albus, starting to get worried.
"The best I can do is invite you to the next Wizengamot meeting, and perhaps you can speak with Lord Black at that time," said the minister.
She then closed the door to her office as she made her way back inside.
Albus smiled pleasantly so as not to give any impression of his frustration to the young witch in front of him. As he began to make his way out of the ministry, he muttered out loud, "I suppose I will just have to arrange to become the next Chief Warlock so I can access any of this information more readily without interference from ministry officials."
Soon he reached the atrium and flooed back to his office.
~~~MiB~~~
Tuesday, October 22, 1985
Ministry of Magic
The Wizengamot meeting was about to begin and many of the various Lords had already assembled. Several eyes widened at the sight of Arcturus Black who had not made regular appearances at the Wizengamot for many years, although he had made his presence clearly known last week at the event of the trial of Sirius Black. His being present two weeks in a row was almost newsworthy in itself. The young man at his side was presumed to be his heir, Hydrae Black, who they had all read about recently in the Daily Prophet.
As the Chief Warlock, Robert Macmillan called the meeting to order the murmuring quickly came to a halt. After rapping his gavel three times he called out, "Any new business to be brought before this assembly today?"
Arcturus Black stood up and waited to be addressed by the Chief Warlock.
"Lord Black, you have the floor," said Macmillan, already aware of what the Black lord was prepared to say.
"Chief Warlock Macmillan, Minster Bagnold," began Arcturus, "I would like to formally introduce to you Hydrae Black, son of my nephew, Alphard Black, and currently designated heir to the Black family. He will be here with me or present as my designee if I am not available. My grandson, Sirius, is still recovering from his years of incarceration at Azkaban, and is not yet suitably recovered to be designated my heir."
"Welcome, Heir Black," stated the Chief Warlock and there was a round of applause from most of the members of the Wizengamot.
After the official introduction of Hydrae, the meeting continued with the discussion of the usual mundane issues such as cauldron bottoms and the funding of the DMLE.
Several hours later, as the meeting ended, Arcturus and Hydrae were making their way out of the chambers for the Wizengamot. As they were heading towards the exit, Albus Dumbledore made his way toward the duo to speak with them. As they were about to step into one of the public floo connections, the headmaster called out to them.
"Lord Black, Arcturus, I need to speak with you about a pressing matter," said the headmaster, his tone clearly indicating he felt this was an urgent matter.
"I am quite busy, Headmaster," replied Arcturus without any attempt to make his response sound friendly.
"But I must insist that I speak with you," said Albus.
Arcturus narrowed his eyes slightly at the man who was known as the Leader of the Light. "Insist all you want, we are late," said Arcturus. And with those words he and Hydrae turned and through some floo powder into the floo. As it flashed with green flames, they spoke their destination quietly enough that the headmaster was not able to hear where they were headed.
The two men stepped out of the floo where they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Arcturus And Hydrae stepped to the side and waited for someone else to step through the floo. Once that wizards made there way across the room, the two flooed back to the Ministry of Magic. As they stepped out of the floo Arcturus quickly looked around to be sure that the headmaster was no longer there. "The old man may be trying to chase us down somewhere," stated Arcturus as they made their way back to the security desk.
As they approached the desk, the Auror on duty looked at them quizzically. "Weren't you just here, Lord Black?"
"Yes we were," answered Arcturus, "but it turns out that the Office of Games and Competition just changed their schedule for qualifying competition."
The Auror quickly scanned a parchment in front of him, "Oh, yes, it was just added today," said the man, "it looks like it will be held in the Auror training hall in about ten minutes."
Arcturus nodded as he thanked the man. Then Hydrae followed Arcturus through the check point as they proceeded to the training hall.
As they made their way towards the location for the qualifying duels, Arcturus shook his head slightly. Barty Crouch may be an arse, but he wouldn't have had any reason to change this schedule. He probably doesn't even know about it.
"We will have to deal with him sooner or later," said Hydrae. "Has his wife died yet?"
Arcturus stopped momentarily. "Yes, she became quite ill not long after their son was sentenced to Azkaban at the age of 19. Which would mean…"
"That Barty Junior is already freed and living at the Crouch home under the imperious curse," said Hydrae.
The two men arrived at the Auror training hall and stepped inside. There were several other people there to register for the qualifying matches as well as several wizards who appeared to be waiting to duel those who were planning to qualify. Hydrae made his way to the table to complete his registration. He was handed a form to complete, which was essentially the same form he completed when he first went to the Office of Games and Competition.
"Ahh, yes, Mister Black, you did manage to make it today," said Miles Rosier, the same individual who was at the office when they first inquired about the duelling tournament. "Have a seat, the order for duels has been predetermined, and you will go last."
Hydrae stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He and Arcturus then went to take a seat the side.
A duelling platform was already in place in the middle of the room. Hydrae noted that there were several wizards seated on the far side of the hall, and he presumed that they were the competition that they needed to duel in order to qualify.
Hydrae relaxed as he watched the first few wizards who were attempting to qualify and they were very quickly dispatched by the ones who were there to test and assess the skill and readiness of the duellists.
A witch made her way to the duelling platform and Hydrae raised an eyebrow. He hadn't noticed that there was a witch who was also participating in the qualifying matches today and he did not hear her name called out as she made her way to the platform. He also noted that she carried herself with confidence as she approached the platform and made her way to her end.
The official then once again reviewed the rules and then signalled for the start of the duel. Two spells later and the witch had dispatched her opponent. Hydrae smiled as he recognised the style of duelling, or more specifically the spells. He watched as she had her second qualifying duel, and once again she dispatched her opponent quickly although this time she used four spells to subdue him with a binding hex.
The judge for the qualifying tournament came up to the platform and informed her that she had qualified and would be allowed to register for the next duelling competition scheduled to begin in January.
Hydrae Black was then called by the judge to climb onto the duelling platform. The witch who was walking down the steps gave Hydrae a smile, and he gave a quick wink to her, smiling himself as he recognised Amanda Lester.
The judge then reviewed the rules one more time for the qualifying duels, and the chosen opponent for Hydrae stepped onto the platform.
"Hydrae Black, competing to qualify for the duelling championship circuit, will be going up against regional champion, Wilson Travers."
Hydrae raised an eyebrow momentarily, recognising the name as from a family of Death Eaters, and briefly surprised that the man was not in Azkaban himself. He held his wand in his left hand as he awaited the start of the duel.
The duelling judge then counted down to start and Travers cast three spells quickly which Hydrae easily dodged. Travers grunted in disgust and cast a series of five spells, which Hydrae dodged the first two and then erected a shield which easily absorbed the next three spells. Travers now spit on the platform and moved to cast an overpowered bludgeoning hex, but Hydrae had barely snapped his left wrist and shot a red stunner which hit Travers squarely in the chest and the man collapsed onto the platform. The judge called out and declared Hydrae Black as the winner.
The next opponent for Hydrae was called, a name that he recognised. Thorfinn Rowle, who also surprisingly to Hydrae was not in Azkaban.
"Smug upstart," snapped Rowle just before the judge started the duel. Rowle sent two spells quickly which Hydrae avoided by standing still as Rowle was hoping to get him to jump into one or the other in his attempt to dodge the incoming spells.
Hydrae sent a simple stunner back with the wand in his left hand. Rowle simply batted the spell to the side. "That's all you've got?" he shouted at Hydrae.
Hydrae smiled and readied himself for the next onslaught of spells. A spell chain of six spells came from Rowle who was also casting with his left hand. Hydrae simply batted all six of the spells aside with hardly any motion from the wand in his left hand.
"You think you're so good? Well, I have news for you," shouted Rowle as he tossed his wand into his right hand. "I am not left handed!" Then a series of eight overpowered spells came towards Hydrae who batted the first three aside, dodged the next two and then used a shield to stop the final three.
Hydrae laughed in response.
"Why are you laughing?" demanded Rowle.
"Because I am not left handed either," said Hydrae as he tossed his wand from his left hand into his right hand and immediately sent a series of stunners and blasting hexes at Rowle.
Thorfinn blocked them with a shield spell, but his shield was then shattered and he had to dove to one side to avoid the last of the spells sent at him.
As Rowle was jumping back to his feet, Hydrae transformed the floor of the platform underneath Rowle into ice. The tall man slipped on the ice and fell on his side just as a binding hex caught him followed by a disarming spell.
The judge called out and declared Hydrae Black the winner. Hydra walked forward after cancelling the spells on Rowle, but the judge stopped him from approaching his opponent. "I would not recommend speaking with Rowle at this time, that was the quickest he has ever been defeated in a duel in over eight years."
Rowle jumped up and glared at Hydrae. "Who are you? Who are you really?" demanded the tall wizard.
"No one of consequence," stated Hydrae.
The judge then announced that Hydrae Black had qualified for the upcoming tournaments starring in January.
Hydrae thanked the man and then made his way to where Arcturus stood, talking with Amanda Lester.
She smiled at Hydrae as he approached. "Can I still call you Westley, or is it Mister Black now?"
Hydrae gave her a hug. "You can call me whatever you want," he said with a smile.
Arcturus frowned. "Westley is NOT a proper name for a Black."
Hydrae smiled at Arcturus and then turned back to Amanda. "I do recall that you said that you were going to stay in Australia."
Amanda shrugged her shoulders and then replied to her friend, "My father wanted to return to England. All of the remaining family members are either dead or in Azkaban. He was hoping to reclaim some family heirlooms and he also wanted to see Europe again. So, here we are."
"Here you are, indeed," said Hydrae.
"It is nice to meet you again, Amanda," Arcturus said interrupting their reunion. "However, we do need to get back to the manor. People are waiting."
Hydrae ran a hand though his hair and nodded at Arcturus. "Yeah, we do, but maybe we can do lunch or something?"
Amanda looked at Hydrae and then at Arcturus, "You two definitely are up to something, and you, Westley, are hiding something from me."
Hydrae shifted on his feet. "No, not hiding something, no. Feeling awkward, yes."
Amanda smirked at him. "Let me guess. You came back to England, figured I wasn't going to be coming here, you ran into a beautiful witch, and you have been kind of seeing her."
Hydrae fought back a blush with his occlumency.
Arcturus laughed at the two of them.
Hydrae turned and looked at Arcturus wondering what he was laughing at.
Arcturus smiled at the young man. "She read the column in the Daily Prophet about you being spotted out with Cassandra."
Amanda laughed a little and then she looked at Hydrae. "Look, it's okay, really. We were friends, we weren't dating, even if I think you might have wanted to go there, but we didn't and now you're seeing this Cassandra."
Hydrae rubbed his hand across his face. "Well, yeah, it is kind of like that."
"Your uncle said you need to get going," said Amanda. "So, you better do that, and maybe we can get together for lunch, say, tomorrow. We can meet up at the Gringotts Bank on Diagon Alley."
Hydrae smiled a little. "Sure tomorrow, lunch."
Amanda added, "And bring Cassandra, I'd love to meet the woman who has you so befuddled." Then she turned and walked away.
As he watched her leave, Hydrae said out loud, "That could have gone better."
Arcturus shook his head and muttered, "No, it probably couldn't have gone any better."
~~~~MiB~~~~
Arcturus and Hydrae returned to the Black estate. Hydrae went to check on Harry who was running around one of the gardens with one of the house elves, while Arcturus went to check on Sirius.
The private duty medical nurse was seated in the room with Sirius who was clearly irritated.
"What had you so upset young man?" asked Arcturus as he walked into the room.
"I'm laying here in this amazingly comfortable bed, and I have this amazingly pretty nurse caring for me, and every time I try to make a pass at her, she hexes me! And I don't have a wand or any way to retaliate," complained the recently released wizard.
"If Azkaban didn't already do you permanent harm, I have given nurse Chapelle permission to use any spell or curse as necessary to keep you in line if you misbehave," said Arcturus. "Any curse," he added for emphasis.
Sirius swallowed hard under his grandfather's gaze.
"You can stop playing the martyr, Mister Black," said the nurse. "I know that you should have recovered the majority of your strength and your magical core is nearly completely restored with the various potions you have been given."
"And not a single one of those potions tasted nice," Sirius continued to complain.
"You need to stop acting like the martyr," said Arcturus. "And you need to get out of bed and actually meet your godson."
"He's here? Already?" Sirius' eyes opened wide with excitement.
"Yes, but you need to be gentle with him, where he was, well, it was not a good place," stated Arcturus.
"I met Petunia, and the whale of a husband of hers," said Sirius whose disposition had quickly sobered up. "They were not nice people, not at all."
"Which is why we have him here, to raise him in a safe and loving home, where he can learn about magic and grow to the wizard that his parents had hoped that he would become," said Arcturus.
"And Dumbledore is okay with all of this?" asked Sirius.
"Probably not," answered his grandfather. "And I don't care. The old fool thought he knew best. But he left that poor child in an absolutely despicable situation and was doing nothing to protect him or to make sure he was truly safe and being properly cared for."
"But Albus Dumbledore, he was…" Sirius began but was cut off by Arcturus.
"He was and still is a foolish old wizard whose greatest accomplishment was defeating his former best friend to end the magical war on the continent," corrected Arcturus. "We will raise Harry. We will keep Harry safe. And we will protect him from any and all who would wish to do him harm?"
"You and I are going to do that?" asked a slightly bewildered Sirius.
"No. Hydrae and I will be doing that. You get to relax and have fun," stated Arcturus.
"And this Hydrae, well he seems nice enough," said Sirius, "but I am pretty damn sure Uncle Alphard did not go to America, or Australia, and I am fairly certain he did not have a son."
"Look who is so smart," said Arcturus. "Aren't you the one who left your godson in the hands of a half giant who is banned from using magic to try and track down the one who betrayed your best friend? And did you ever think about anything or anyone more than yourself at that time? You, who were friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed in Azkaban?"
"Hey, I'm still unemployed!" protested Sirius.
"True, but you now can relax and live off the benefits of being a member of the Black family," said Arcturus with a smile. "Hydrae and I have several plans, the most important of which involves making sure that Harry has a happy life, that he gets to enjoy being a wizard and can learn about his family, the Potters and the Blacks."
"But the headmaster won't be involved in any of this?" asked Sirius.
"Did the dementors suck half of your brains out? Of course that old fool won't be involved. He left you to rot and die in Azkaban. He let Harry be abused by muggles. He let Death Eaters walk free. He is not to be trusted, by anyone," said Arcturus.
Arcturus turned to leave the room, but stopped at the door. "You can get your lazy ass out of bed. No more meals here in your room. Nurse Chapelle will stay working here for a few more days to make sure there isn't any further nasty tasting potions we can force you to take, and to make sure you have fully recovered. And behave, as you will be meeting your godson."
An hour later Sirius made his way down to the main floor and wandered into the study that Arcturus was using as his personal office. Hydrae was seated across from him, and the two stopped speaking as Sirius walked in to the room.
Hydrae stood up and walked over to greet Sirius. He gave Sirius a big hug, much to the surprise of the man.
"Fine, we're cousins, but that's a little much, isn't it?" quipped Sirius.
"Just glad to see that you have recovered from your little ordeal at Azkaban," said Hydrae.
Sirius rubbed the back of his neck as he eyed the other young man carefully. "Thanks, I think," he said. "Still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that my favourite uncle had a son my age and I knew nothing about him. There has to be more to this story."
Hydrae smiled slightly. "Someday, when you're old enough, I might just tell you more of my story."
Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose that's fair enough. I don't know you, and you clearly don't know me." Then he turned to face his grandfather. "So, you have plans for raising my godson. And it seems that you have isolated us al away from everyone, but so far from what I have seen, this is quite the improvement over Grimmauld Place."
"Harry will need friends," said Arcturus.
"Oh, something we can actually agree on," said Sirius with a mocking tone.
"As I said, my goal is to ensure the future of the Black family," said Arcturus, ignoring the quip from his grandson. "To that extent, Narcissa and her son, Draco, are going to be joining the family. Andromeda and her husband Ted, and their daughter Nymphadora have been brought back into the family."
"I do recall you already said something about that. But Nymphadora is already attending Hogwarts, she is like six years older than him," said Sirius.
"We will be reaching out to other families to introduce Harry to their children," stated Arcturus.
"And no, it won't be Death Eater spawn," added Hydrae. "Well, other than Draco, but as he no longer has his father to influence him, perhaps you could be more of a father figure to the young boy. You have a little more than five years to prepare him before he goes off to Hogwarts."
Sirius leaned back as he considered the comments about Draco. "Wait, wait, wait, you're actually expecting me, a Marauder, to actually be the responsible adult?"
"Look how far your foolishness and immaturity got you so far," snapped Arcturus. "About four years in Azkaban, not exactly the tropical vacation you used to always dream about."
Sirius looked at his feet to avoid the look his grandfather was giving him with that statement.
A house elf popped into the room, and Sirius sneered at the sight of Kreacher.
"Master Arcturus, Dobby will be arriving shortly with your visitor," stated the house elf.
"Thank you Kreacher for alerting us to the time," said Arcturus to the old house elf who then popped away.
Sirius' jaw dropped. "Wait just a minute here. Was that Kreacher? The crazed old Black family elf who adored my mother?"
"Yes, that was Kreacher," said Hydrae. "Treating him kindly and giving him a special reward have done the house elf's disposition. Now behave yourself or I will have Kreacher remove you from this study."
There was another pop, this one slightly louder and a tall man slightly wavy dark hair, and a neatly trimmed beard arrived in the office, accompanied by a house elf that seemed to be bouncing in place.
"Master Arcturus, Dobby has brought you your guest sir," announced the house elf.
"Very good, Dobby, we will summon you when it is time for Lord Greengrass to return home," said Arcturus.
With a much quieter pop the house elf disappeared.
"Lord Greengrass," said Arcturus as he approached Cyrus Greengrass, offering a hand shake, "thank you for agreeing with our house elf, as excited as he can be, to come and meet with us today."
Cyrus nodded politely, "Truly an unusual way to travel. Although I must wonder why such means of travel is necessary."
Arcturus smiled at the man standing in front of him. "A couple of rather simple reasons," answered Arcturus, "first, this is a newly acquired Black Estate; and second, it is already placed under a fidelius charm."
"Secrecy, not surprising coming from the Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black," commented Cyrus.
"I like a man who is perceptive and wise," said Arcturus. "But enough of these pleasantries, let us get to the point of this meeting. My grandson, Sirius Black, as you are well aware, was recently released after being falsely imprisoned in Azkaban. Well, he is the godfather and guardian to a certain young man, by the name of Harry Potter."
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "The Boy Who Lived?"
"Yes, that Harry Potter," stated Arcturus, allowing a slight smile to form on his face. "And to be clear, no, Albus Dumbledore does not know that he is being raised in the magical world. Young Harry needs to meet young witches and wizards, without people making a fuss."
Cyrus tilted his head slightly, and expression of surprise evident on his face in light of that revelation.
Arcturus noted the man's reaction. "Now, before we continue this little discussion, I will need to know exactly where you stand in light of the recent wizarding war. Are you a Death Eater? Did you support them?"
Cyrus straightened in response to the question. He cleared his throat and looked around at the three other men in the room. "I'm a business man first, and I will not be intimidated by Pure-blood bigots. If you're upset that He Who Must Not Be Named lost that war, that debacle, then no, my daughter won't have anything to do with your plans. Those are not the sort of witches or wizards that someone such as Harry Potter should be meeting."
Arcturus allowed a broad smile to appear on his face. "That is the best answer I could have hoped for. And no, I never supported that half blood pretender."
Cyrus raised an eyebrow in response to that statement. "Half-blood?"
Hydrae spoke up to answer the query. "Yes, the man who claimed to be a pureblood lord, and railed against the muggleborn, was himself a half blood, born to a near squib of a witch and a muggle father, enticed into being with her by being dosed with a love potion. Kind of ironic that those pureblood bigots were following a half-blood disgrace."
Cyrus gaped slightly in response to the pronouncement from Hydrae Black.
Arcturus spoke up again. "What we need now is for those who are of pure-blood background to stand up and make it clear that we need muggle born witches and wizards to make our society strong. The witches and wizards of Britain, they need to know that there are some of their traditions that need to be changed, but also that some may need to stay."
Cyrus turned to Hydrae, "Is your grandfather feeling all right? Does he need to be seen at Saint Mungo's? I never heard a Black speak like this."
Hydrae laughed slightly, "First, Arcturus is my great uncle. Second, he is quite well."
Cyrus shook his head. "So, you're actually proposing a revolution of sorts. Indoctrinate our children, the future generation, into the necessity of keeping some traditions and the importance of embracing change."
"Well put," said Arcturus.
Cyrus shook his head slightly. "And instead of a war like the Death Eaters, you want to start by training our children, even before they get to Hogwarts, that there is a new way to look at our magic society."
"I always thought you were a wise young man," said Arcturus.
"So, you want our children, my daughters, and your grandson, or nephew or however you are related to Harry Potter, to just grow up together? That's what this is all about?" asked Cyrus.
"Well, if you want to put it most simply, yes, just let them grow up together," said Arcturus.
"My wife is not going to believe me when I tell her about this conversation," said Cyrus.
Sirius spoke up. "I barely knew you in school, and I'm pretty sure that James and I did not harass you with our pranks, but I knew your wife, Rebekah, and she was friendly with Lily. Harry is my godson, and he will need to grow up with fiends with a magical background, not isolated from the magical world as he has been for the past four years. If your daughters are anything like your wife, they would make wonderful friends for Harry."
Cyrus looked around at the three men in the room once again. "And the plan is to do this secretly?"
"We are avoiding the scrutiny of Dumbledore as well as certain other individuals in this society," said Arcturus.
"I think that Rebekah and I can support such a plan," said Cyrus.
~~~~MiB~~~~
The next day, Hydrae was meeting up with Cassandra for lunch, and they made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron. As they were about to enter, Amanda Lester arrived and greeted Hydrae and Cassandra.
Cassandra had a puzzled look on her face as she clearly had no idea who this unknown person was who just arrived.
"Relax," said Amanda. "I knew Hydrae back in Australia. My name is Amanda Lester, and we met through the duelling circuit back in Australia. Well, I read about what this young man is doing. He is giving the Black family a new face, a new reputation, rebuilding the name of the family. I just thought I would do the same for my family."
Hydrae sighed as he looked between the two women. "I was just about to explain to Cassandra that you would be joining us for lunch today." He turned to Cassandra, "Amanda was at the qualifying meeting for the duelling competition yesterday. I hadn't expected to see her here in England."
Cassandra nodded as she was trying to understand the situation.
"Let's just get a table, and order some lunch, and we can talk some more," added Hydrae.
A few minutes later they were seated a table in the corner and Hydrae had erected some privacy charms around them once they had placed their orders with Tom.
Cassandra held Hydrae's hand on top of the table and turned to Amanda. "So, tell me more about your family and what you were saying about Hydrae."
Amanda smiled slightly and leaned back slightly in her seat. "My father's cousins are all currently in Azkaban. And I was thinking, even more so than my father, that, maybe it's time for my family's name to be retrieved from the list of dark families."
Cassandra had a puzzled look on her face. "But Lester? I never heard of a wizarding family named Lester, especially not one with members who had been thrown into Azkaban."
Amanda nodded at her comments, "Of course not. My father changed his name when he moved to Australia. We are, sad to say, related to the Lestrange family." She paused for a moment before adding, "Yes, that family."
There was an awkward silence over the table, which Amanda broke. "Besides, maybe I can enter this duelling circuit over here. Give Hydrae some actual competition. Hell, I can give myself some competition. The ones we faced off against yesterday weren't much more skilled than those we, or more specifically he, was beating back in Australia."
Cassandra turned to Hydrae. "I thought you said your former love interest was someone whom you could never see again."
Hydrae flushed momentarily.
Amanda raised an eyebrow, "Now this has to be interesting, cause I was not aware that I was ever actually Hydrae's love interest."
Hydrae palmed his face for a moment. "Yes, and no. Yes, I did say that my former love is someone whom I cannot see again. And no, it was not Amanda whom I was referring to. We were friends. Good friends. Hell, she was my only friend on the duelling circuit. And my strongest competition."
Amanda rolled her eyes, "Not that strong, as I never did beat you in a duel."
Cassandra then started to laugh. And the other two looked at her, clearly wondering what it was that she thought was so amusing.
"We really need to be careful," she said. "If someone saw us sitting here, and knew all of our backgrounds, Black, Lestrange, and Yaxley, they would think we were about to start the next conspiracy and wizarding war."
AN: Not as much action as the last chapter, but necessary to move the story along.
I appreciate the reviews. There were a couple of suggestions about other quotes (or misquotes) from the Princess Bride, that I might actually try and find a way to include as this story progresses.
