CHAPTER 18
Explanations And Holidays
When Ethan reached their dungeon hideout, he found the others waiting for him. He looked at Harry curiously and said, "How did you get them to be this patient?"
Harry grinned, "I told them that if they didn't have the patience to wait for you, they wouldn't have the patience to listen to my story and if so, I wouldn't waste my breath tell them anything."
"Very funny, Harry." Blaire snapped as she patted a seat next to hers. It took Blaire a couple of hours to heal from a broken rib and bruises, but now, she was as fit as ever. The only time Ethan had been as afraid as he'd been two days ago was when Harry had been locked up in that room with Quirrel and Voldemort. And by the way Harry was apologizing to Blaire for dragging her into the mess he knew how terrible his brother must have been feeling as well. But all was well now and that was how Ethan hoped it to be.
Ethan sat next to her with a grin as he watched Draco roll his eyes.
"He's been antagonising Neville the whole time!"
"No, I haven't!" Harry said. "Do you know what would have happened had Lockhart found out about the research? He would have obliviated us all, or worse, murdered us!"
"He was too cowardly for that." Neville said.
"Did you see what he did to Blaire and that boy, Nev?" Ethan said. "A cornered rat is most dangerous."
"So," he said, turning to his brother. "Start."
Harry leaned back in his chair and said, "You know, the first thing I did when I decided that I'd had enough of him was look up that Wagga Wagga incident in the Daily Prophets in the library, but there wasn't much information. Then I asked Dobby if he could find the name of the werewolf in Wagga Wagga in his free time, and Dobby agreed.
"On his next free day, he visited Wagga Wagga-"
"All the way to Australia?" Blaire said shocked.
"Uh-huh." he replied casually. "It's just a disapperation away, for house-elves, that is. Anyway, deciding he wouldn't get any information there, he went to the Australian Ministry of Magic and looked up the name, T. Nechi, who had been thrown into a prison after being captured. Then, that put us off, because I realised that it wasn't a lie...that there really was a werewolf that had been captured in Wagga Wagga. And I thought I'd stop, because I thought that Lockhart really had the potential and didn't want to show off his power too much, to know?
"But then you know how Muggles do those lie-detector tests?"
They nodded.
Harry went on, "I thought of finding something like that in the Wizarding World, and I found a potion."
"Veritaserum." Blaire and Draco said as one.
"You knew?" Harry asked incredulously. Then cleared his throat and muttered "Of course you knew. I could have just asked you."
"But, you were noble enough to keep us out of harms way." Blaire said, her eyes twinkling.
Harry grimaced slightly, "I could have just asked you instead of going through all those books. It wouldn't have hurt anyone!" Then he lowered his voice, "And again, it would."
"My, Harry," Draco said. "You should be resorted to Hufflepuff.
"Oh, shut up." Harry grumbled.
"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Ethan said.
"Nothing at all!" Harry exclaimed. "But I'm quite fond of my house, not most of my housemates, mind...and you know, if we carry on this way, we'll never finish."
"Wait a minute." said Neville. "What's that Veritaserum?"
"The most powerful truth serum. Three drops of it compels the consumer to tell the truth without even realising." Harry said. "Anyway, I ordered the potion from Diagon Alley and with Prof's permission, I flooed home and brought that invisibility cloak we were given for Christmas before the last, and I poured the right amount in Lockhart's tea while he was busy combing his hair.
"Then, Dobby entered to, er, clean up and introduced himself as an elf who'd been working at Hogwarts since Lockhart joined as a first year. And as he dusted around, he flattered him and pampered him and got him to sip his tea. And this potion, well, it gets the person talking until the whole truth is out.
"So, Dobby told him that he could hardly believe that it was his little Gilderoy Lockhart Sir who did all this! And he asked him if he really did it and then, Dobby exclaimed that he was summoned and pretended to disapperate away, but actually, he got under the cloak with me. And Lockhart began to babble around to the room about how he went about gaining that fame.
"He spoke about everything! And I started noting down names of those people on that blue diary we got on our eleventh birthday. And you should have seen Lockhart's face as he spoke. He was shocked, because he knew exactly what he was talking about and he couldn't get himself to stop. The entire thing went on for an hour and a half and lucky for me, it was a Sunday.
"Then when he finally stopped talking, he carefully began looking around his room, in search of anyone listening. Then he opened his door and and peeped outside, searching for evesdroppers and he locked it with a bang. Then, I think we had to wait for another hour before he decided it was safe enough for him to leave and he left. So we were able to leave too."
"Must have been the longest hour of your life, eh? Waiting for him to leave?"
"Oh, no." Harry said. "actually, I didn't even notice time passing. I just couldn't figure out what to do once I got out. If we told anyone and that anyone confronted Lockhart, they would've been obliviated. So, instead, I started researching on the Obliviate Charm and on those people who'd actually deserved those awards. That's where I began studying Charms and modern History."
"And how did those books help you for the History of Magic exam?" Ethan said. "I mean those goblin wars and all those inventions weren't exactly modern."
"They weren't." Harry agreed, "But reading those books helped me study my own work later and not feel sleepy... You know, all the Charms books I'd read kept talking about the Obliviate Charm as taking away the memories from someone by someone. The victim would lose his memories, and the culprit would take them away. Then it struck me, that I'd read something called the Summoning Charm in the index and I turned back and sought out the page and started reading about it. It's a fourth year spell, and I knew I wouldn't be able to get it even if I tried.
"It was just a shot, so I asked Dobby to try the Charm on Kishen's memories, and soon enough, some white substance flowed towards us from the window of the empty classroom we were sitting in and just hovered next to him and I told him to wait while I ran to the dungeons and called Prof."
"Just like that?" Neville said.
"What would have happened if he was obliviated?" Draco asked.
"I didn't think!" Harry said. "I couldn't think. I just needed to tell someone, and if there is anyone, I know who can really take care of himself and those around him, it's Prof. And I told him everything when he got there. Then he pointed his wand at that white thing and used the Summoning Charm, but it wouldn't work, so he asked Dobby to move towards a corner of the room and summon the memories, and Dobby did and the white mist moved towards him. So Prof concluded that only House-elves could summon obliviated memories.
"Then carefully he took out a vial and gathered the memories with his wand and placed them in the vial and stoppered and labeled it as Willius Kishen. Then one by one, Dobby summoned the other memories of the other people and Prof stoppered and labeled them. Then we went to Dumbledore and he and Prof took the vials to each person and I think they fed them their memories.
"Then Dumbledore told me about how they were going to confront him, but first he wanted to speak to Lockhart's deluded mother. Apparently, she married a Muggle and her two daughters were squibs, so Lockhart immediately became the favourite. Then, her husband took the daughters and left her and the country.
"That's the story. I think both Prof and Dobby earned quite a lot of galleons as payment each. But they preferred not to be disclosed, for obvious reasons."
"Prof's reason is understandable. What's Dobby's?" Draco asked.
"You're father's on the lose, Draco." Harry said patiently. "If we disclosed Dobby, he'll immediately connect you and your mother with us."
"Right." Muttered Draco. "But doesn't my being around you already make him suspicious?"
"Nah." said Ethan. "They just connect you with those people who've made the wrong sort of friends. Don't worry about it."
"Didn't they offer you a reward too?" Neville said.
"They did." Harry said. "But I declined. I just asked Dumbledore to give Slytherin back those two hundred points."
"Nobility indeed." Ethan chuckled. "I think he'd do well in Gryffindor."
"Don't be stupid." Harry said frowning.
"Alright, Alright!" Ethan put his hands up in the air and said, "Have any you started packing?"
They shook their heads.
"Me neither. Let's all start tomorrow, or Mum won't let it go... Then we'll meet up in the library with those brochures. They're arriving tomorrow, right?"
"Yes." Blaire said.
They got up to leave and head back to Prof's quarters for tea, but half-way through, they were confronted by a fuming Hermione Granger.
"You!" she hissed at Harry, "How did you decide that Lockhart was a fake?"
"Well," Harry said looking over at Blaire and Ethan, "For one, he couldn't perform a single spell right?...er, he never took DADA seriously...he was more interested in keeping himself well dressed so he could impress his fangirls, such as you?"
"And who's that friend of yours who unobliviated those people? How did they do it?" she asked, ignoring the slight at her.
"None of your business, Granger." Harry said coldly. "You have no right to poke your long nose in other people's affairs."
"Oh, leave her, Harry." Blaire said smoothly. "At least Lockhart's distraction helped me defeat her by a considerable margin this year."
Hermione gasped in realisation, anger and indignation at losing her idol all forgotten.
They left her in her state of shock and headed to Prof's quarters. They checked around to see if anyone was around and finding no-one, they knocked on his door and he opened it almost immediately.
...
The Daily Prophet that arrived next morning was covered with stories about the 'infamous' Lockhart and all of his revoked awards as well as the theory of summoning the memories of the obliviated and Kishen and his band of wizards and witches who'd fallen victim to Lockhart's schemes. Harry's name had mercifully been skipped out from the papers. The papers also were full of stories of all Lockhart's admirers and what they thought of him now.
The Prophet also said that Lockhart had almost been captured somewhere at the borders of England dressed as a pregnant Muggle woman. However, he got away, leaving behind his disguise and his, now broken, wand. And now, people from all around the Wizarding World would have to look out for a disguised fugitive from justice.
The grave that Lockhart seemed to have dug for himself kept getting deeper and deeper. Draco bet them ten galleons that Lockhart would be caught with a bald head and a couple of blackened teeth. Harry took the bet claiming that there was no way on earth that Lockhart would give up his looks.
Blaire, Ethan and Neville didn't interfere.
That afternoon found the Swarm in the library...and Hermione too, sitting on a table far away and trying to do as much of reading as she could before the school closed for the holidays.
Blaire had the brochure open in front of her and read the summaries and reviews to the others in a whisper. It took them a couple of hours, but they finally decided on a total of eight books that would give them all the details they would need to become animagi, or rather to study how to become animagi.
With that done, they spent another hour doing their holiday homework and quietly made it to Prof's quarters for tea. The second years received their Transfiguration, Potions and Herbology results that day and Prof, who was very happy with their progress, ordered cupcakes, eclairs and macaroons with tea that that day.
Blaire received the books she'd ordered by four owls at night three days later, and kept the books aside or she would be too engrossed in reading to do anything else...and the last thing she'd want was for her roommates to get suspicious. Liza Turpin, a girl from her year was too nosy for her own good.
Soon enough, they were back on their train with a special elf made lunch that Prof insisted they carry with them. A few chocolate frogs from the witch to go with the food wouldn't hurt, so they bought a dozen of those and some licorice wands. They also bought a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum for Dudley.
On the station, as instructed by Prof, Draco activated his portkey and travelled to Prof's quarters by saying, "Potions." and in no time, flooed to the Potter Alcove, where he greeted his mother affectionately. It was a good two hours later that the others returned home.
...
The holidays went on very well and both Dudley's and Draco's belated birthdays were celebrated in Muggle Portugal, where they spent a couple of days shopping and site seeing. Ethan developed a strange love of olives that neither Blaire or Harry, both who couldn't stand the taste, could understand. Once they reached home, the grown-ups made it a point to involve them in everything they did...be it cooking, when Dobby wasn't there, or cleaning, or even gardening.
They were chores exactly, but it looked like the grown-ups didn't want them to remain huddled up together for long. And despite all the distractions that the adults deliberately put in their way, the triplets, Neville and Draco were doing a fine job with their animagus study.
Blaire made special notes on her diary and it suddenly seemed that their father's portrait had suddenly gained a sudden knowledge on animagi. He kept giving them sudden tips here and there that which they looked up in their books and found very important and helpful. Whenever they asked him how was it that he knew about animagi, he would simply say that he couldn't recollect.
Strange.
Anyway, a little extra help was never wasted.
Steadily the holidays went on and their visits to different museums, zoos and monuments under heavy glamour charms became very frequent. And before long, it was the thirty-first of July and Prof, the grandparents and all the residents of Privet Drive decided to have dinner in Egypt.
Just a day before, Harry spotted a picture of the Weasley family in Egypt and while he had no intention of meeting any of them, it wouldn't hurt to say hi to Fred and George, if they did happen to come across the family.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Severus was never as alert as he was today. Sirius Black had mysteriously escaped Azkaban and it meant a big blow to everyone. This meant that there would be dementors around, and it meant that the Hogsmeade Weekend trips for the triplets was a big no. Now he was going to have to explain to them what the problem was, and to top it all, today was their birthday.
Severus flooed to their room with their Hogwarts letters and entered Dudley's and Draco's room and kept Draco's letter by his bedside. Then he went back to the triplet's and Neville's room, recharmed the Potters' portraits, so they wouldn't reveal their relationship with Sirius Black until the children found out about it, and patiently waited for them to awaken.
In half-an-hour they were all awake and sitting cross-legged on their beds. Severus moved foward and sat by Ethan's bed and said, "A very good morning and a very happy birthday to each of you."
"Thanks, Prof!" Blaire said after sharing a confused look with Harry. "But you aren't very happy."
"What makes you say that?" Severus asked.
"Well...your expression, Prof, resembles the one you wore when Lockhart ran away." Ethan stated sleepily.
Vaguely Severus wondered if it was Lockhart who helped Black escaped. But how would the man even reach Azkaban? He didn't have his wand on him. So that angle could be easily dismissed.
Severus had spent the early hours of the morning asking the Headmaster if he could track Black down. Oh revenge really was sweet. But the Headmaster stubbornly stated that if by chance he, Severus got hurt or worse killed during his search, he'd be leaving a lot of people helpless, starting from the triplets, Neville and Draco.
Reluctantly, Severus had agreed with him, but now, he could only ponder on what would happen now that Black was on the lose. Would he come after the triplets? Would he go in search for his master? Or would he join hands with Lockhart and start his own dark reign? Severus didn't know what would happen, but he did know that he would die before the Azkaban touched lunatic got close to any of his charges.
Severus looked around and noticed the door open and in came Draco.
"Hey you lot!" he said cheerfully. "Happy birthday! Your presents are downstairs, hurry and dress up if-"
"Draco." Severus interrupted. "Hang on for a moment and sit down. There is something you all have to know."
"What is it, Prof?" Draco asked as he sat.
"Have you heard of Sirius Black, Draco?"
"Mother's cousin? The one in Azkaban?"
"Yes. That's the one. Draco, Ethan, Blaire, Harry, Neville, I have to tell you something, and I hope it won't spoil your day today, because this Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban."
"But that's impossible!" Neville exclaimed, shocked.
"But it is." Severus told him.
"But he's got to be real powerful to do that." Draco said.
"Apparently." Severus said. "And he happened to be a close follower of Voldemort."
"Uh-oh." Harry said becoming very pale
"Why uh-oh, Harry?" Severus asked, knowing very well that the boy had already caught on.
"Because this means he'll simply come after Blaire, Ethan and me!"
This statement was followed by four gasps. Then, Blaire frowned, but soon looked devastated.
"That means," she said, "he could be searching for us in or around Hogwarts!"
Severus nodded.
"In Hogsmeade!" Ethan groaned out. "And that means, that we won't be able to go there! Oh bummer."
Severus didn't respond.
"Prof hasn't said that you shouldn't go yet." Draco drawled at them.
"Ah!" Harry sighed. "Then we can go, can't we, Prof?"
"I'm afraid not." Severus said. "Professor McGonagall's orders."
"But she isn't our guardian." Blaire huffed out.
"She isn't." Severus said, gently. "But she was the one who spotted the address to your room. She was the one who approached me and told me about it. She was the one who told me that you had been placed here, and believe it or not, she was the one who decided to go against the rules and without the knowledge of Dumbledore and lay out the entire plan. She and Professor Flitwick transfigured and charmed this room. She is merely worried for your safety.
"And though glamours and charms work, I would advise you against visiting the village. This isn't a blackmailing attempt from my side, but... just think... think of the devastation you will leave everyone who loves you in before you decide to take a risk and visit Hogsmeade."
Severus closed his eyes and said, "I know for certain that I will not be able to stand it if something happens to you. I will not survive. You mean too much to me to just plunge yourselves into danger now."
Severus opened his eyes when he felt arms around him and to his surprise, he realised that he was being hugged by Harry. Severus wrapped his arms around him when he whispered, "We love you too, Prof... I don't suppose you can get away from your position as spy, can you?"
Severus shook his head sadly and kissed the boys head.
Then he said, "As a birthday treat, and to make up to you the trip to Hogsmeade, I invite you five, Narcissa, Petunia, Dudley and your grandparents, all covered by an impenetrable glamour charm, to accompany me to a day in Hogsmeade, followed by our pre-planned dinner in Egypt. How's that?"
Blaire leapt off the bed and grabbed Draco and got him to jig alongside her around the room.
"I'll take that as a yes." Severus said with a smile, thanking the heavens for the children in his care. They never fussed, they never threw tantrums, they never fought back and Severus hoped everything just stayed that way.
He was broken out of his thoughts, when Blaire and Draco settled back down and Harry said, "Wait a minute...just who is Sirius Black?"
"Draco's mother's cousin." Neville quipped.
Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Severus, who was carefully considering his words. Whatever he was going to tell the thirteen year-old would have to be without letting him know that he was the godson of a cold-blooded killer. Minerva was against him knowing at the present time. She wanted Severus to wait until the situation got any worse before revealing the actual situation to the children. Severus, too, found them too young, but he knew that they would have to know the truth before matters somehow had the chance of getting out of hand.
Severus said, "Sirius Black is a mass murderer, known all around for the murder of thirteen muggles and a wizard, in the presence of fifty muggle eyewitnesses. Those fifty were obliviated and the entire episode was passed off as a gas explosion, though you must know, he is extremely dangerous and the time he's served in Azkaban has made him very deranged, more deranged than he already was.
"I should also warn you that Black was Voldemort's right hand man, or so the rumours say. Hence, Draco, I'd advise you against the visit as well... for all we know, he may be in touch with with Lucius Malfoy. And, though, my sources, a couple of house-elves that I've assigned to keep me informed of Lucius's moves, have told me that Lucius wasn't anywhere near Azkaban...neither was he making any attempt to confront Black, I don't want you taking the risk. And Neville, I would like you to stay safe as well. Black's the cousin of the woman responsible for your parents current state.
"You should read today's Prophet for more information...I also want to warn you that the guards of Azkaban, known as dementors, will be out on the lose, trying to hunt Black down. These dark creatures have the ability of sucking any happy memory out of you, leaving you miserable. Azkaban is swarming with dementors, and I don't think, living like that for years or even a few moments, trapped in your miserable thoughts is very healthy.
"Hence, I advise you to stay away from them. Dementors don't have eyes. They depend on people's emotions to make their way around. Even Muggles feel them, though they can't see the reason they feel so miserable. Hence, if you could manage it, I would prefer you keep your Occlumency shields up at all times whilst you're outside the castle at Hogwarts. I'm telling you this now, for I do not know when I may get another chance to do so. Draco, do you know what Occlumency is?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Have you developed your shields?"
"Yes, Sir. Neville and Ethan have helped me "
Severus nodded satisfied.
Then he stood up and said, "How about we go down for breakfast before we all head out to Godrics Hollow, St. Mungo's and then Hogsmeade ?"
...
It was a pity the kids couldn't visit Hogsmeade again, but the looks on their faces, made Severus believe that he'd made the right decision in taking them over for a visit. The kids tried every sweet, the adults, tried every restaurant. A little magic alteration with Dumbledore's help was all it took to get the Evans', Petunia and Dudley to view the place.
Severus hadn't really changed their appearance. To them, they looked the same, but to the villagers and visitors of Hogsmeade , they just looked like a crazy bunch of elderly wizards and witches who were visiting Hogsmeade for the first time.
The whisperings and wierd looks they'd been getting from the start of their visit was hilarious. Severus could just imagine what the villagers were thinking when they saw the the group of wrinkled, old people trying all kinds of sweets...running up and down the streets (like excited kids)... buying some rather short cloaks that were styled just a little too modern for them... investigating the Shrieking Shack...giggling at the tables of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop...fooling around like kids in Three Broomsticks...and Severus could just about say that Narcissa's and Petunia's conversation with a scandalised Aberforth Dumbledore was along the lines of flirting (Dear Heavens! Was he glad he forbade the kids from entering this place!).
Anyway, he rightfully assumed that the villagers would breathe a sigh of relief after the crazy bunch of elderly Wizarding folk, left with last minute prank material from Zonko's and a couple of quills from Scrivenshaft's that farted noisily whenever the writer paused to think. The tale of the crazed folk, however, would be the main topic of gossip for days
And glamoured just the way they were, Severus portkeyed them all to a restaurant in Egypt that hosted both Muggle as well as Wizarding folk. Both worlds were separated by a wall that was smeared with privacy wards. Severus deliberately booked the Wizarding side and as they entered the room as limping, noisy wizards and witches.
Severus wasn't surprised to find a table already occupied, by a family of redheads, the family of Weasleys, all seated and chatting happily.
Harry groaned rather loudly at their sight and all the Weasley's heads turned to him.
"My poor back!" Harry groaned again to cover his first mistake up
"Oh, you poor dear!" Blaire exclaimed, her eyes twinkling madly. "Is it too bad?"
"Not too bad." Harry grunted. "Just bearable, but very uncomfortable."
"How could it be hurting?" Mrs. Evans asked. "If anyone's back should be hurting it's your gr-"
"Let's take a table." Severus interrupted before she could say anything that would make the Weasleys suspicious. How many wrinkled old men had living grandparents, particularly the ones suffering from backaches?
Harry groaned again, deliberately this time, when Severus took the only other long table situated just besides the Weasleys.
"What will you have?" Severus asked them as he scanned through his menu.
"Candy!" came the unanimous reply much to the consternation and bemusement of Molly Weasley.
Severus face palmed.
tbc...