Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
"The first point on today's agenda is a suggestion from Mr. Weasley, the head of one of the old families. He asks for a bus system to be installed as an alternative to the Hogwarts Express. We could use muggle bus stops all over the country and provide a system similar to the entrance to platform nine and three quarters. Do you have any opinions pro or contra this request?" Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles so as to assess the mood in the chamber.
Minerva was the first to speak up. "I believe that it is a good idea, as it would be a relief especially for families with several children if they did not have to travel to London to send the students off to the school."
Harry, who was attending the meeting as Unspeakable Paws, was sitting between Minerva and Severus. He grinned upon hearing Severus mutter something sounding like only producing as many children as one could afford.
Without much of a discussion, the request was approved by the members in an open vote.
Before Dumbledore could proceed to the next point on his hopefully not very long agenda, Amelia Bones rose from her seat.
"I propose giving up to three seats on the Wizengamot to the old families that neither count as ancient nor as noble, such as, for example, the Weasley family."
Lucius Malfoy rose from his seat, and Harry felt that he really disliked the man. 'I still believe that it was him who gave Voldemort's diary to Connie,' he thought, as he observed the blonde man in disgust.
"Do we really need to have muggle loving fools and blood traitors here on the Wizengamot?"
Harry instinctively raised his hand.
"Unspeakable Paws?" Dumbledore addressed him in a friendly voice.
"We Unspeakables believe that upstanding wizards who work together with muggles are muss less despisable than pureblood wizards who give diaries of Voldemort to muggleborn students in an attempt to have them running amok at Hogwarts."
He noticed that Malfoy visibly blanched, before he jumped from his seat pulling his wand. "How dare you…"
With a flick of his hand, Malfoy's wand sailed over the table and landed in the Unspeakable's hand.
"Unspeakable Paws, will you please explain?" Amelia's voice was firm but friendly, and Harry nodded, knowing that it was only for show, as Amelia knew all about the incident and had been waiting for ten months for an opportunity of connecting Malfoy to the diary.
He then explained how he and another Unspeakable had invisibly accompanied the group around Harry Potter and his friends to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies last summer.
"At Flourish and Blotts, Mr. Lucius Malfoy inspected the books of a muggleborn girl, and when he returned the books, a black diary was among them, which turned out to be a Horcrux of Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort. Thank Merlin, the girl was intelligent enough to hand over the book to the Unspeakables to deal with the dark item."
From the corners of his eyes, Harry noticed that not only Malfoy, who was seemingly shocked and fuming at the same time, but also Dumbledore blanched visibly.
"Unspeakable Paws, do you have any proof for this accusation?" Dumbledore asked in his soft, grandfatherly voice.
Before Harry could even ponder how to reply, Sirius spoke up. "I instigate a questioning of Lucius Malfoy under Veritaserum."
"You cannot do that," Malfoy protested. "This is a meeting of the Wizengamot and not a trial. Cornelius, are you not going to say anything?"
Harry inwardly chuckled, knowing that the Minister of Magic was famous for not doing anything.
Amelia rose from her chair. "While Mr. Fudge is the Minister of Magic, I am the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and as such, it is my obligation to follow an accusation as that of Unspeakable Paws. Therefore, we will have a questioning… not a trial … in extension of this meeting. If Lord Malfoy is as innocent as he claims, he shouldn't have a problem being questioned under Veritaserum."
Dumbledore nodded. "Noted, Lady Black-Bones."
The rest of the meeting passed by quickly, before Dumbledore unceremoniously led over to Malfoy's questioning and asked the members to vote in favour or against Lady Black-Bones' request to question Lord Malfoy under Veritaserum.
When the majority of the members voted for Amelia's request, Harry instinctively knew that Unspeakable Paws had made himself an enemy.
'We should develop an antidote against the antidote for Veritaserum as one of our next projects,' he successively thought to Rebecca, Artemis, Lily, Severus and Salazar, receiving unobtrusive nods in return from the addressed potioneers who were present at the meeting.
A ten-minute break was announced, during which the Aurors opened a connection door to what seemed to be a court room and led Lucius Malfoy to the seat usually taken by the accused, where he was flanked by an Auror on each side. Harry quickly headed to Amelia and handed her the evil wizard's wand, before he sat together with the other members of the Wizengamot, noticing that Rebecca and Ra led Regina and Connie into the audience.
When everyone had taken their seats, Amelia instructed the Aurors' potions master to administer three drops of Veritaserum to Lucius, before she began to question the dark wizard.
"What is your name?"
"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."
"What is your son's name?"
"Draco Malfoy."
Harry inwardly grinned, knowing that Amelia brought up an unexpected question to test for a possible antidote against the Veritaserum.
"Have you been in the possession of a diary belonging to Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes. He gave it to me for safekeeping."
"Do you still have it in your possession?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I gave it to one of Potters' mudblood friends."
"Do you know who she was?"
"No."
"Why did you give it to her?"
"I hoped that she'd take it to Hogwarts with her for the Dark Lord to be revived at the school and finish off the mudbloods."
"One last question. Is it possible to be forced to take the Dark Mark by the Imperius curse?"
"No."
Amelia nodded in apparent contentedness, before she asked if anyone had any questions for Malfoy.
Connie rose from her chair and was given the floor.
"Why did you give the diary to me, sir? You don't know me, and I am not even a Hogwarts student."
"Because Potter introduced you as one of his mudblood friends."
Remus rose from his chair. "Just so you know, Lord Malfoy, Ms. Connie Potter is not muggleborn but a muggle under the protection of House Lestrange. Pity for you that she is much cleverer and knows more about the magical world than many pureblood students of her age."
"So let me resume this," Amelia spoke again. "You gave one of the foulest dark artefacts there are to a muggle, who on top of it is under the protection of House Lestrange?"
"I didn't know that she was a despicable muggle. I thought she was a mudblood. I don't know why she has a connection to House Lestrange either. They were on the proper side of society, before scum seems to have taken over somehow."
"Thank you, Ms. Potter and Lord Lestrange. Lord Lestrange, does House Lestrange want to instigate a proper trial for Lord Malfoy because of what he attempted to do to your ward?"
Remus stood again. "As far as I know, everything Lord Malfoy did should warrant for a one-way ticket to Azkaban anyway. If the Wizengamot decides otherwise, we indeed wish for a trial."
To Harry's relief, ninety percent of the Wizengamot members voted for the one-way ticket to Azkaban. Under his Unspeakable robes, he grinned broadly, when the Aurors led the blond wizard away to lock him away for the rest of his life.
'Thank Merlin,' he thought to Connie, who replied in equal relief.
Just when Dumbledore set to wrap up the Wizengamot meeting, the most annoying voice that Harry could remember having ever heard spoke up. It came from a witch in pink robes sitting to the left of the Minister of Magic.
"Hem hem. Seeing that upstanding members of our society are being shipped to Azkaban because of possibly harming a mere muggle, who was not even harmed, I instigate to immediately set up a rule that forbids muggles to enter the Ministry of Magic."
Harry rose from his chair.
"Unspeakable Paws?"
He cast Dumbledore a short nod of gratitude, before he spoke up. "What Lord Lestrange did not mention is that Ms. Connie Potter is also under the protection of the Unspeakables."
"What?" the woman in the pink robes all but shouted. "She's a mere muggle, even more worthless than a mudblood."
"Dolores, behave yourself." Amelia's voice was strict, and her mouth was stretched to a thin line. "Do you really want to make the Unspeakables your enemy?"
"I am an upstanding member of our society and the undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. I have nothing to fear."
'We'll see about that,' Harry thought, resolving to speak with his colleagues about the horrible woman at the next opportunity.
Sirius loudly cleared his throat. "What my good friend Remus failed to mention is that Ms. Connie Potter is also under the protection of the ancient and noble House of Black."
Frank nodded in apparent agreement. "As of now, House Longbottom will place young Ms. Potter under protection as well."
"Add the Prince family to her supporters. While being a muggle, Ms. Potter has taken her Potions OWL and NEWT with outstanding results."
"House Slytherin is in as well. I have known young Connie for almost a year now, and she knows more about the magical world than most of the Hogwarts students of her age. She has assisted me with the brewing of potions a few times, and I must say that a witch would not have been able to achieve better results."
'Thanks,' Harry consecutively thought to Severus, Sirius, Frank, Salazar and Remus during the whispering and quiet talking that spread all over the chamber.
"Lord Lestrange," Dumbledore turned to Remus, "will you please enlighten us why a muggle came into the protection of House Lestrange in the first place and why her name is Miss Potter to begin with? I was not aware that James Potter had any other direct relatives but his son Harry and members of the Black family."
Even though the head of the Wizengamot had addressed Remus, Harry rose from his chair to respond.
"As the regent for House Potter, I must tell you that it is of no concern to you why her name is Connie Potter, nor why she is under the protection of the Unspeakables and the lords of several houses who are all friends of the heir of the ancient and noble House of Potter."
Dumbledore seemed angered, as he replied, "Unspeakable Paws, may I kindly remind you that I am not only the head of the Wizengamot but also the headmaster of Hogwarts?"
Minerva glared at the headmaster. "Albus, do you really wish to make Unspeakable Paws your enemy, considering that you've been wanting to get to know him for years, ever since he received the Order of Merlin first class for curing the werewolves? As to Ms. Connie Potter, I've known her for years, and I very much regret that Hogwarts cannot offer her the education she deserves because of not being able to cast magic."
Shaking his head in obvious annoyance, Dumbledore swiftly ended the Wizengamot meeting, and Harry hurriedly turned invisible, popped over to Connie and returned home together with his wife.
HP
"I'm going to kill them." He let out a deep sigh. "Whose idea was it to make Paws the regent of House Potter?"
Connie chuckled. "Do you even have to ask, considering that your Dad and our godfathers are the Marauders?"
"Ah, all right, that's what I thought." Harry nodded, grimly.
"Originally, it was Lily's idea though," Connie admitted. "Don't let them know that I told you that though."
Harry nodded again, his mind already turning to other matters. "Connie, what are we going to do about Helena's information about Luna?"
"Write to her and invite her here," Connie suggested, pleasantly. "Let's invite Hermione at the same time. She'll help us look after her fellow Ravenclaw."
"Should we talk to Draco as well? You know, about what happened to his father? Somehow, I feel bad, considering that I more or less instigated the questioning."
"Draco doesn't have to know that, and you know that he's never been fond of his father. Just call him over, and we'll speak with him now that your Mum is back as well. She'll be able to help him over the first shock."
Regina looked over from where she was conversing with Alice. "Whom will I be able to help?"
"Draco."
"Do you believe it's wise for you to tell him? Why not let the Aurors inform his mother and him together?" Regina's voice was gentle but firm, and Harry and Connie immediately agreed.
"All right, thanks Mum. Would you mind if I invited Luna Lovegood and perhaps Hermione at the same time?"
"Of course not. You may invite your friends at any time. Draco as well. Don't misunderstand me. And if there is anything that I can do for him, I will of course."
Harry nodded in understanding. "Thanks Mum. I'm going to ask Luna to… No," he interrupted himself. "Connie, let's simply go and talk to her first. Rebecca taught me the charm she casts at people to prevent them from giving away our secrets, so I can simply cast that at her and her father, while we talk to her."
After discussing the pros and cons for a moment, the two decided to go in their capacity as Mini Unspeakables. Throwing their robes over, Harry popped them to where Luna was living together with her father.
HP
Luna looked like a fairy. At least, that was Harry's impression, when she opened the door and stared at them, wide-eyed.
"What brings two Unspeakables here? Do you perhaps wish to speak with Daddy about the Wizengamot meeting that took place earlier today?"
"No, we just came to speak with you. We are Unspeakables Paws and Turtle," Connie replied in a soft voice, while Harry unobtrusively cast the charm at Luna that would prevent her to talk about their secrets.
"With me?" Somehow, the girl looked forlorn.
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We will now take off our robes, if you promise to not tell anyone who we are."
Luna let out a light chuckle that sounded like music. "I won't tell. I know who you are, anyway. You must know, Harry and Connie Potter, that I am kind of a Seer. I just know things."
Harry and Connie took off their robes and followed Luna into the house in confusion. 'She really must be a seer like Lily,' Harry thought to his wife. 'How else could she know…'
Connie nodded, unobtrusively. 'Cast the charm,' she replied, pointing out that a tall wizard, who had to be Luna's father, was quietly busying himself at the far end of the room.
"Daddy, I have visitors." Luna sounded pleasant. "You will be happy to meet them as well."
Mr. Lovegood abandoned his work and came over, his eyes widening as recognition set in. "Mr. Potter?"
"Yes sir. I am Harry, and this is Connie. We came to speak with Luna about Ravenclaw house."
"Harry, would you mind telling Daddy your other identity? He will be so happy."
Harry inwardly groaned. "Mr. Lovegood, would you mind swearing us a wizard's oath to keep our identities to yourself? We are both Unspeakables."
Apparently, Lovegood was used to secrets, as he did not hesitate but swiftly swore his oath to their satisfaction.
"While I am Harry Potter, this is my wife, Connie. Our Unspeakable identities are Paws and Turtle."
From the gasp coming from Luna's father, they knew that their Unspeakable names had even more impact by now than the boy who lived. 'Thank Merlin,' Harry thought.
"Unspeakables Paws and Turtle." Lovegood stared at them in apparent amazement. "You are even more famous that anyone would believe who only met your normal selves."
Harry and Connie smiled. "Frankly speaking, I don't know which are our normal forms," Connie admitted, only for Harry to explain, "As we've been Mini Unspeakables from the age of five onwards."
"Thank you for letting me in on your secret. Will you please grant me an interview once you've finished your business with Luna? I don't know if you're aware of it, but I am the editor of the Quibbler."
The editor seemed eager; however, Harry returned a strict look. "We will, Mr. Lovegood; however, under one condition."
"What might that be?"
"We've heard many members of the Unspeakables as well as of our extended family complain about the Daily Prophet. If you promise us to not write anything but the absolute truth, we will give you the exclusive rights to report about our activities and ask our friends, family and colleagues to do the same."
"I swear on my magic that I will not write anything but the truth and that you will receive any article based on information from you for reviewing, before it will be printed." Lovegood grinned. "Do we have a deal?"
"Thank you, sir. After our conversation with Luna, we will tell you everything about this morning's Wizengamot meeting."
Lovegood's eyes widened in apparent delight, as he retreated to give them space for their conversation with his daughter.
"Luna, you might not know this but I am a soon-to-be third-year Ravenclaw and Slytherin."
"I know." Luna smiled. "Everyone is happy to have you, as you're the number one Seeker at Hogwarts."
Harry rolled his eyes, motioning Connie to continue talking.
"When we were at Hogwarts yesterday morning, Helena Ravenclaw spoke to us and told us how the older bitches in Ravenclaw have been harassing you."
Luna smiled, however, Harry realised that the smile did not reach her eyes.
"Luna, you don't have to hide anything from us," he said in what he hoped to be a convincing voice, only to add, "We never spend time at Ravenclaw, because they also tried to harass Connie and Hermione, our best friend. Therefore, we understand well, and we want to help you."
Luna cast them a dreamy look. "Thank you, Harry and Connie. That's really kind of you."
"Do you have any friends in your year?" Harry cast the girl a sharp look, only to berate himself for asking at all.
"No. They want nothing to do with me, because they think that I'm strange."
"You're not strange," Connie confirmed in a soft voice, smiling at the younger girl.
"We, that is Hermione, my classmate from Ravenclaw, as well as Draco and Neville, my Slytherin friends, and Connie and I use to spend our free time studying in my suitcase, which is equipped with a whole apartment. If you wish, you may join us and study together, even if your homework will be different from ours."
Luna smiled, broadly. "Thank you so very much, Connie and Harry. I appreciate it, and I'd love that. How will I be able to get there though?"
"That's not a problem. I can make you a Portkey." Harry let his left hand wander into his robe pocket, pulling out a cork from a potions phial, of which he was always carrying around a few in case he had to urgently make a Portkey. He then concentrated for a moment, before he handed Luna the cork.
"Harry, can you make a necklace for her, so she can secure it from being stolen by the bitches?"
Harry cast Connie a grateful look, before he obeyed and handed Luna the cork on a small silver necklace. "If you put it around your neck, it'll be invisible to anyone but you and the two of us."
"Thank you, Harry and Connie. You're the best friends a girl could imagine to have." Luna swiftly put the necklace on, giving them a dreamy smile.
They agreed with Luna that she should activate her Portkey on Friday afternoon and come to visit, so that she could get to know at least Neville and perhaps even Draco and Hermione. Leaving a seemingly delighted Luna, they then turned to her father for their first exclusive interview with him in their capacities as Unspeakables Paws and Turtle.
HP
'Unspeakable Ra,' Harry thought to his great uncle and member of team 5 of the Unspeakables. 'This is Paws speaking. I have a question. Are we allowed to speak about the discussion of the Wizengamot to non-members? I am just giving Mr. Lovegood from the Quibbler an interview on another matter and was wondering…'
To his relief, the response came immediately. 'Today's happenings are all public knowledge. Sometimes, they lead discussions which end nowhere, and those are kept secret until some kind of agreement will be reached.'
'Thank you very much,' Harry replied, before he informed the editor of the Quibbler about the morning's Wizengamot meeting.
"Malfoy ended up in Azkaban. What a meeting." Lovegood chuckled. "Would you be willing to proof read my article this afternoon? I intend to bring out an evening paper today to get a head start on the Daily Prophet."
Harry smirked. "I will support you."
"Do you still have time? If so, I'd love to hear about your broom making. Any insider news will be fine. Where did you learn to make brooms? How did you even get the idea of making position brooms in the first place?"
Harry motioned Connie to begin, and his wife told the editor how Unspeakable Archie had taught them to make their own broom.
"The first broom you designed was the double broom. Why was that?"
"Two reasons." Harry grinned. "Turtle and I wished to fly together, as she is scared flying by herself."
"At first, your brooms were released through Nimbus. Why is that?"
"It was not even our idea. Why simply wanted to make a broom for ourselves. Unspeakable Archie then sold it to Nimbus on our behalf, and from that point onwards, the broom making developed more or less on its own accord. We did not have such plans to begin with."
HP
When Harry and Connie received the two articles from Mr. Lovegood for reviewing, they were stunned. While the editor had only occasionally scribbled one or the other note onto a small parchment, the articles were not only well written but absolutely accurate.
Instead of writing a response to give to the owl, Harry decided to simply pop over to the editor's house again and give him the okay for his evening edition.
"Thank you, Mr. Lovegood. These articles are extremely good."
"Thank you, Unspeakable Paws. Do you want me to send the evening edition to anyone specific apart from my usual subscribers?"
Harry remained pensive for a moment. "I wish to purchase subscriptions for myself, Connie Potter, Hermione Granger, Lord and Lady Lestrange as well as Professor McGonagall and Unspeakable Croaker please."
The editor stared at him in apparent delight. "Thank you very much. With tonight's edition, I shall inform the recipients that their subscription is a gift from Unspeakable Paws. Will that be all right?"
Harry nodded. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir."
HP
Needless to say, the whole extended family read the evening's edition of the Quibbler with interest.
"I wouldn't have thought that the Quibbler would be able to produce decent articles." Sirius shrugged. "May I make a copy for Meli? Perhaps, I can convince her to relay all information to Lovegood in the future."
"You can take mine." Connie offered her own copy to Sirius. "I don't need my own if I'm together with Harry anyway."
Just then, Minerva stepped out of the fireplace, grinning broadly. "Do you have a Pensieve? I'll just have to show you something."
"We don't have a Pensieve, but I can teach you a charm that will display a memory from the tip of your wand," Lily offered. "You'll have to promise to not teach it to anyone though."
"Of course, I won't tell. Please teach me."
Lily swiftly taught Minerva the charm, which the older witch used to show them a memory.
Beginning of memory
Minerva was sitting at the sole table in the Great Hall between the headmaster on her right and Severus on her left side, when an old barn owl brought a newspaper to her.
"For me?" she asked the owl in confusion, before her eyes fell onto a parchment that was attached to the front page.
'Congratulations to your subscription of the Quibbler
A gift from Unspeakables Paws and Turtle'
'Oh Merlin. These two never cease to surprise,' she thought, before she set to study the front page, noticing that the Unspeakables seemed to have given two interviews to Mr. Lovegood.
"Who allowed Unspeakable Paws to speak to the Quibbler about the Wizengamot meeting?" Albus suddenly asked in obvious anger. "I'm going to kill him. Such an imbecile."
"Ah, but wouldn't that be a waste?" Severus' voice sounded sincere, even if Minerva knew that her colleague had to try hard to not laugh. "Considering that he is a recipient of the Order of Merlin first class and has bet me as the youngest Potions Master of all times."
"Albus, I believe that he was fully in the right talking about matters, which were decided during the meeting. All the decisions should be common knowledge now anyway." Minerva was torn between feeling amused and annoyed at the old wizard.
"Oh well, I will not kill anyone, but I believe that in my capacity as the head of the Wizengamot, I will have to send him a Howler, considering that I don't have simple means to contact him."
End of memory
With that, the memory ended and everyone burst out laughing.