XXXIII
Mission Objective: Proving Sirius Black's innocence.
Secondary Mission Objectives: Capturing the rat Animagus. Enabling Sirius and Harry to meet.
Possible Allies: Undetermined.
It always helped Kakashi to simplify his goals like that. Now that the bans were dealt with, and that he increasingly gained a foothold in Hogwarts, he could start working towards his actual goal more determinedly.
There were several hindrances he had to deal with.
Capturing the rat seemed like the easiest thing to do. He knew where Gryffindor Tower was, which was where the rat spent most of his time. He didn't know the password yet, but here in Hogwarts people were so careless with these things, that he had no doubt, he would get it eventually. More pressing was the question of how to force the rat into his human form and how to keep him captured long enough to deliver him to the ministry.
Maybe he could deliver the rat to another person with good rapport, instead of delivering him to the ministry. If that person knew the rat as a human, they could vouch for his identity. Kakashi would need to trust them, and their believability needed to be beyond reproach. Preferably he'd show the rat to multiple people, as their witness testimony would have to be enough to outweigh reports from witnesses and aurors during Sirius' initial incarceration.
While this was certainly a possibility, it wasn't a guarantee for success. Kakashi didn't know how far he could trust potential witnesses when it came to Sirius' safety. As far as he knew, even Sirius' best friends had abandoned him once, so there was no telling if they would do it again. However, a different issue concerned him almost as much: That was the reliability of the ministry itself.
Throughout the last weeks, Kakashi had followed the Daily Prophet's coverage of the hunt for Sirius Black closely. Several things became obvious to him:
The ministry sunk insurmountable costs into this hunt. They had called Azkaban guards from the prison island, offered great rewards, followed every hint, and had pulled ministry employees of all departments from their normal jobs to focus completely and almost exclusively on the hunt for Black.
Minister Fudge, as well as other head figures of the ministry, had personally vouched and in many cases bet their entire careers and good names upon the recapture of Sirius Black.
Additionally, Sirius – while on the run – was repeatedly made responsible for minor crimes happening all around the country. There were of course the ministry officials that Kakashi had hurt himself, the blame plainly laid at Sirius' feet. But additionally, he had read several letters from readers and quotes from aurors suggesting, that Black had committed a minor theft here, a robbery there, a small assault somewhere else – both in the muggle and wizarding world. Without a doubt, Sirius had indeed committed criminal acts on the run – if only to survive.
The public was growing restless. They were clamoring for the escapee's recapture and increasingly expressing unhappiness with the ministry's failure to find him.
Because of that, Kakashi was certain, the ministry needed Sirius recaptured promptly and without fault. They couldn't afford failure. Neither in his capture nor in his initial guilt. Sirius' escape from the supposedly impregnable prison island, and subsequently from the ministry in London, and his continued evasion of the aurors hunting him threw a bad light on the ministry and Azkaban. The minister and his posse looked like bumbling fools and more and more people were noticing.
Maybe Fudge's reputation could survive the humiliation if he could follow it up with a publicized recapture and punishment of the man who had so embarrassed him. On the other hand, admitting, that it was all based on a misunderstanding could be political suicide.
Fudge would have to stand in front of his people and admit, that an innocent man had spent twelve years locked in Azkaban. That after his escape, the ministry under his leadership had not just fanned the fear in the public, causing hysteria both in the muggle and magical world, had even – to a degree – lifted the Statute of Secrecy to inform muggles and ensure that he could rely on their help for Sirius' recapture, but that he had also put the ministry's entire manpower and finances to that goal. That he had even sent the horrible Dementors to a school full of children, just to capture an innocent man.
Whether Sirius was innocent or not, both Fudge and leading ministry officials would have every reason to sweep that under the rug if that was at all possible. Not even exposing the rat in front of Fudge himself, would necessarily guarantee Sirius' safety. Kakashi didn't know the man very well. But even without knowing him, he could see that the minister had far too much vested interest in upholding Sirius' guilt and sentence regardless of the truth.
Considering that the minister and thus the entire ministry had opposing interests to his plan, and that he still didn't know the capabilities of magic to hide the truth or make people forget a truth they had seen with their own eyes…It seemed, Kakashi had to expose the rat to a maximum amount of people possible. He had to show the rat to so many people, that it was humanly and magically impossible to deny the truth.
Which meant, preferably Kakashi would have to drag the rat to several showings in public places. For that, he had to make sure that he knew a way to keep the rat imprisoned. A prison that wouldn't just withstand the rat's own escape attempts, but even – possibly – sabotage from the outside.
And even still, if he managed all that, it was not a guarantee. The rat being alive didn't prove anything. The only thing it could prove would be that Sirius hadn't killed him. But as far as Kakashi knew, Sirius wasn't just convicted of the rat's murder. Even if everybody saw the rat, the ministry could conceivably argue that the rat had just fled in fright from the crazed mass murderer and then stayed hidden from Voldemort's other supposedly still free henchmen. That way the ministry could save face and Sirius would march right back into Azkaban. Then they could charge the rat for some other unrelated crimes and swiftly get rid of him as well.
And even with all of that taken care of…Kakashi hadn't even begun to open the can of worms that were Sirius' – supposed or factual – crimes on the run – chief among them the mess Kakashi himself had caused in the ministry.
Capturing the rat was not the answer to prove Sirius' innocence. It would be a vital part of it, but first and foremost, Kakashi had to learn what exactly Sirius had been charged with in the first place, as well as the evidence against him, that he had to disprove. It would help Sirius preciously little, if Kakashi handed the rat over to the ministry with all the proof that he was responsible for the murder of the twelve muggles if there was still evidence linking Sirius to the betrayal of the Potters or some other charge Kakashi didn't even know of yet.
Kakashi was annoyed with himself, that he hadn't thought of this before. In Hogwart he saw no way to view the charges – never mind the evidence – against Sirius. For that, he'd surely have to go back to London. If he'd thought about this earlier, he could've handled all of this during his first two visits to the ministry.
His first chance to get back to London, he knew, would be the winter holidays if he didn't want to blow his cover story. Of course, he could just go there now and would probably arrive in London in a matter of days, where he'd have to break into the ministry archives…At that point, Snape would finally have all the evidence he needed to accuse Kakashi of shady business and even with Dumbledore's leniency with him so far, he didn't think he'd be let back into Hogwarts…
If the grand plan to prove Sirius innocent could only really start with the winter holidays, that gave him ample time to solve some other issues in the meantime.
Namely the three big questions:
How to turn the rat back into a human and how to keep it contained? It seemed the best source to learn about Animagi was his Transfiguration teacher.
How to keep Sirius alive and free for that long? If Kakashi calculated his travel speed correctly from the information he gleaned from the Daily Prophet, Sirius would arrive at Hogwarts in early October. Using his Animagus form – just like he had done in Azkaban – he could probably sneak past the Dementors, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to keep his disguise for long. So, it was vital, that Kakashi learned how to fight them. Professor Lupin could hopefully help with that.
There were other aspects that would complicate the task: The winter and Harry.
Living in this country for over a month now, Kakashi noticed the slow change in weather. It was getting colder. At home, he wasn't used to that. Konoha had seasons, but the differences between summer and winter temperatures were much milder at home. However, that wasn't the case everywhere. Further up north, even still within the borders of the Land of Fire, winter hit hard. So, if he assumed that a harsh winter was awaiting them…
Kakashi didn't know how much Sirius' diet now relied on hunting, and how much it relied on stealing from humans.
Stealing, he feared, would be more difficult as soon as Sirius arrived in Hogwarts. There was a village nearby, but it was a magical village which immediately was a bigger risk. On top of that, a food thief making his way through the country, stealing some bread here, an apple there, and then a bit of meat somewhere else, wouldn't be noticed very easily. It was something else entirely to stay at one place for a long time, stealing food from the same limited number of people for many weeks. Especially if those people were on the lookout for things like this happening due to the constant Sirius Black news coverage.
Hunting, Kakashi expected, would be very unpleasant for Sirius. For Kakashi himself, it didn't make much of a difference, but malnourished as Sirius was, he couldn't imagine him being able to brave the cold temperatures all that well.
If it got cold enough for the lake to freeze, even getting enough water would be a task. Sirius would undoubtedly also need warmer clothes.
The most difficult part, however, would be to keep Sirius from looking for Harry or the rat himself. Kakashi had no idea how to achieve that. The last time they had met, Kakashi had almost killed a friend and a family member of Sirius. The man had rightfully cursed him and didn't want anything to do with Kakashi. Maybe – if Sirius was just hungry and cold enough – Kakashi would get him to accept his help in that regard…But he had no idea how he could convince Sirius to stay away from the castle and let Kakashi handle everything.
And that already led to the last question Kakashi didn't quite have an answer for yet. How to make sure, that in all this time while Sirius had to stay hidden, Harry wouldn't start hating Sirius?
Oh…and then there was getting back to Konoha…
"You can't stay much longer," Pakkun said. The small pug sat at the shore of the Great Lake. Kakashi and Pakkun were hidden by rocks and high reeds.
"I can't come back now," Kakashi insisted. "There are important things I have to do."
Pakkun sighed deeply. "I'm not saying this because I miss you. The elders are getting impatient."
Kakashi frowned. "You told them I'm stuck here?"
Pakkun crouched down dipping his paw into the lake. "Of course, I did. What did you expect? One of their elite shinobi vanishes into nothing…And then their summon comes back to tell some story about traveling to a different world. That stinks!"
"Mah," Kakashi hummed in understanding. He could see how that could be troubling for the elders. "They don't believe it?" he asked. "They think I left the village?"
"They have considered it. You're a fool if you didn't expect it," Pakkun replied vaguely.
"Considered it?" He needed more precise information. "But they didn't name me a traitor yet?"
"Not yet," Pakkun said. "The Hokage believes us, I think. And the others can't declare you a rogue without his approval. But I don't trust them."
"I'll have to deal with it when I come back. I can't leave here anytime soon," Kakashi repeated.
"How long do you plan to stay?"
Kakashi thought about it for a while. "Six more months," he replied. "Maybe a year."
Pakkun sniffed the air and growled worriedly. "They won't stand for it. Look, pup, I'm a proud ninken of Konoha. I don't want to work with no rogue."
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "And Sandaime-sama? How patient is he?" That was the most important thing, Kakashi thought. As long as the Hokage was on his side, the other elders wouldn't harm him nor declare him an enemy of Konoha.
"Sandaime is still mourning your Sensei. He'll give you some leeway for now. I can't say how long that will last."
Kakashi groaned, rubbing his forehead. "I wouldn't be the first shinobi to take a few years off outside the village." It would be quite arrogant of himself to compare himself with Jiraiya but the Sannin was in and out of the village however he pleased. Kakashi even heard that sometime during the second Shinobi World War Jiraiya had taken a three-year break, which seemed utterly ludicrous to Kakashi, but that was, what he'd been told.
"I don't know about that," Pakkun replied vaguely. He sniffed the air again, distractedly. "Listen, why do you insist on staying, pup?"
"I have a friend here who needs my help."
Pakkun looked at him through wrinkly eyes, then he sniffed the air. "Where's that mutt I sniffed on your clothes the last time?"
"That's the one I'm trying to help," Kakashi replied with furrowed brows. "I lost him for now."
Pakkun nodded. "I see. Summon me more often. Maybe if we keep the elders updated on your progress, they won't chew you out the moment you return…"
Kakashi considered his options. "If I could gain some knowledge here… They use a completely different form of jutsu. It's hard to explain. But maybe I can bring some of it over for research purposes."
Pakkun seemed optimistic about the idea. "I'm sure they would appreciate that. You look tired again…"
"It's draining," Kakashi acknowledged. While he was more prepared for the rapid chakra-loss this time, and he had purposefully waited for a day with his reserves fully regenerated, it was still tiring. Despite his efforts to hide it, clearly, he couldn't fool Pakkun.
"I like the new look. Makes you look younger," Pakkun applauded Charlie Major's disguise, then he raised his right front paw. "Here, we won't see each other again for a while. You can touch my paw." While normally, Kakashi would only smile wryly at the offer, now he offered his left hand for Pakkun to put his soft paw into.
"How did I deserve that?" Kakashi chuckled because Pakkun only offered people to touch his paw as a reward like it was a treat. The pug was a bit ridiculous that way.
"You didn't!" Pakkun exclaimed patting the palm and arm up to the elbow. "You're a fool who'll get himself declared a rogue shinobi. And then I'll have to decide whether I want to be hunted with you or be among those to hunt you down! It would be all your fault. But I miss you. So there!" As emphasis, he pressed his soft paw into Kakashi's hand.
"Thanks for your work with the Hokage. I know it's asking for a lot," Kakashi said although he knew, there was little he could ask of Pakkun that his Ninken wouldn't do. "But I appreciate your effort."
"Politics are a mess." Pakkun agreed in a low voice. Then he added, "the pack misses you, Kakashi"
Kakashi smiled. "I miss them too." He let go of Pakkuns paw. "I'll dissolve the jutsu now."
Pakkun hesitated. "Something about that lake rubs me the wrong way," he grumbled. "Be careful, there's more than fish in there."
"I know," Kakashi agreed. He'd smelled the Kraken the first time he had gone to the lake, but apparently, it stayed hidden in the watery depths. There were other creatures as well…But he couldn't place the smell. It was rather haunting, like a whole world hidden from his sight.
"So, I wondered if you could teach us some Afrikaans?"
Harry and Ron nodded in solidarity when Hermione indicated them even though they had no interest in learning a new language. This was all Hermione's idea. And it wasn't even that she wanted to learn Afrikaans. They were more so trying to learn more about Charlie after still not having solved the Problem with the Two Charlies – as Ron liked to dub it. Though, truthfully, Hermione probably wanted to learn some Afrikaans anyway.
After their first lesson of Charms together, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had waited for Charlie as he spoke to Professor Flitwick. They were right there when Charlie eventually left the classroom.
"What do you want to know?" Charlie asked as they started their journey to the Great Hall for lunch.
"I don't know," Hermione shrugged. "What's…Uhm 'my name is Hermione'?"
Charlie replied something that sounded somewhat similar to English, though not quite. Harry wouldn't be able to pronounce it himself, but he thought he would've understood it.
"And 'How are you?'"
Charlie indulged Hermione for a few minutes until they reached the Great Hall.
"How do you say 'The Firebolt is the best broom currently on the market'?" Ron said just before he pushed the door open.
Charlie stopped. His brows furrowed as if he had to think. Again, he answered in the same calm tone, and again, Harry thought he would've understood that – maybe. Or at least parts of it.
"Thanks," Ron said with a grin.
"Is that everything?" Charlie asked. "I'm hungry, and I have Muggle Studies later. And I want to get through the reading list Flitwick just gave me." He waved a sheet of parchment that he had gotten from Flitwick.
Hermione looked a bit disappointed, eager to learn more. However, Harry had heard enough. Something wasn't right. He'd talked to both the Hufflepuffs about the language Charlie had spoken to the Boggart. Hannah had insisted it wasn't Afrikaans. Now, that he knew how the language sounded, Harry had to admit, that if somebody would've spoken it in class suddenly, he might not have understood everything, but he would've picked up a few words at least. However, no one Harry had talked to had understood anything that the Boggart and Charlie had said to each other. It just wasn't right. Maybe they just didn't tell him everything - just like Lupin didn't give him any information - but they'd all been pretty consistent in saying that the language had sounded completely and utterly foreign.
"So, what now?" Ron asked as soon as Charlie was out of earshot. "Not like we learned anything new, did we?"
Harry shook his head. With slumped shoulders, they went to the Gryffindor table and started to eat lunch. He didn't even know why they were so hellbent on trying to learn something about Charlie. Sure, the boy was a mystery. And yes, the Boggart incident was odd, and seeing two of him last Friday was even odder…but Charlie was a friend, and it felt wrong spying after him…Then again, Harry had enough bad experiences with trusting people he didn't know. What did he even know about the boy?
Every year, odd things happened in Hogwarts. Dangerous things. So far, they were always a bit behind on the bad guys. If just once, they could solve the mystery before it would hit them in the face…That would be nice. One of the oddities of this year was the boy, Charlie Major. After what had happened with Quirrell and Tom Riddle in the years before, Harry would be stupid to blindly trust Charlie… But didn't Charlie have every opportunity to kill him already, if he wanted to cause him harm? And if he didn't want him any harm and was just a boy without parents, in a foreign country, forgotten and overlooked by the ministry? Harry felt bad about suspecting him of any wrong-doing, and apart from a few odd conversations here and there and there suddenly being a double, Charlie hadn't given him any reason to doubt him.
Hermione had told them that Charlie had supposedly passed them on the way back to the Great Hall on Friday. Charlie said that. Ron swore that he didn't, but Harry couldn't be sure. He had just stared out the windows and at his feet all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. He wouldn't have noticed anybody passing them. So, was Charlie hiding things, or were they just inattentive?
"I don't think it's right," Harry said not for the first time when they sat at the long Gryffindor table.
"I know, you said that already. We're just making sure," Ron said in a placating tone.
Hermione nodded. "We'll just check him out, and if we don't find anything…no harm done."
Harry wasn't so certain. Wasn't it a matter of trust? The first time he had asked about Charlie's family, Charlie had evaded the question clearly uncomfortable with the topic. And now they were investigating his Boggart of all things.
"How would you like it if your friends sniffed around in your life?" He glared at his two best friends, but at their blank looks, he threw his hands up in frustration. Of course, they wouldn't really mind. There was nothing to hide for them. "You don't get it," he grumbled because for him it was different. Ron and Hermione of course knew of the conditions he lived in with the Dursleys, but he wouldn't want just anybody to know. Never mind, that if he had the option to hide how his parents had died and the role, he had played in stopping Voldemort from the public, he would do that too…
"I get it," Ron said despite clearly not getting it. "I'd be annoyed, sure." Then he shrugged. "But I have nothing to hide. So, I would move on. And if he has something to hide—"
"Not everything you want to hide is bad," Harry interrupted him.
"Listen," Hermione tried to appease. "I don't like it any more than you do. But you agreed that it's weird. And you barely know him. Harry!" He was about to interrupt her, but she didn't let him. "You only know him for a month. He suddenly pops up in Little Whinging, because he walked there from Horley. And then just by coincidence appears in front of your house—"
"It was barely in front of the house," Harry interrupted because he had already pulled his trunk quite a bit away.
"—the day you run away from the Dursleys. It's weird!" Hermione continued unperturbed. "It's weird, right Ron?"
"It's weird," Ron agreed.
And truthfully, even Harry had to agree. It was a bit suspicious.
"I'm sure the ministry and Hogwarts screened him thoroughly," Harry said.
Hermione seemed inclined to agree, but then Ron had the perfect counterargument: "Like they did with Quirrell?" he huffed. "They let Voldemort himself into the castle. They could mess up again."
"Charlie is hardly Voldemort," Harry laughed because that was ridiculous. He thought about the boy who had mischievously switched their ice cream cups, who had somehow – without even asking for it – convinced Harry to pay for his new wardrobe and wand.
"That's not what we're saying," Ron said.
"Voldemort has better spelling than that, I'm sure," Hermione huffed. "Look, Harry. We're just worried. If it's nothing, we can apologize later, and I'm sure if we tell him what happened last year with Riddle's Diary and before that with Quirrell, he'll understand."
Harry was doubtful. "I don't like it," he insisted once more.
"I know," Hermione sighed. "But you know…your judgment…You trusted Tom Riddle immediately. And we all fell for Quirrell. You like him, so your judgment is impaired."
"I like him too," Ron added quickly. "Do you hear how he is around Snape? Pretty badass! Never mind his transcripts are awesome." He slapped a hand against his satchel where he already had the copy for the next lesson. "But we barely know him, and did you notice he always evades personal questions?"
Harry had noticed.
"Honestly, I wondered about that from the start," Hermione said. "When you first introduced us, you remember? I tried to get some information, but he immediately deflected."
Ron and Hermione might think that because he was craving close relationships and had spent a few weeks longer with Charlie, therefore he couldn't see the glaring issues, but he wasn't as blind as they thought. After all, he more than anybody had felt betrayed by Tom Riddle turning out to be Voldemort. Although Harry had hardly known him, and although Tom Riddle was only some boy in a diary, he had trusted him and taken his words at face value. He had even shortly doubted Hagrid, and then… Ron and Hermione had never met Tom Riddle. They might have watched the whole process from the outside, but they didn't know that feeling of betrayal. Harry knew he had to be careful that way.
"I know, I know," Harry mumbled. "I noticed it too. When I first asked about his parents, he didn't want to talk about it. And when I first met him…You don't know the half of it." He knew it was suspicious…
It was just…
Harry knew the feeling of betrayal, but he also knew the shame of being wrong about a suspicion. During their entire first year at Hogwarts, they had suspected Snape, and then when Harry finally arrived at the Mirror Erised to face off against him, it wasn't Snape waiting for him. Snape might have been horrible to them all year, but Harry then found out that Snape had saved him and tried to fend Quirrell off multiple times all year. He still hated Snape. After their first year ended, he'd somewhat hoped that now that he knew Snape wasn't the one trying to kill him, they could start their relationship anew… but by that time it was already too late.
It wasn't like Harry thought it was a missed opportunity. Snape had been horrible, whether he was also secretly trying to murder him or not. They didn't like each other, and ultimately that wasn't based on some false suspicion during his first year. And still, Harry felt guilty about it. As if he had wronged the man, and even now he had to constantly remind himself, that he'd already been wrong about Snape once.
He didn't want to make the same mistake with Charlie, even more so, since he actually liked Charlie, and he feared – despite what Ron and Hermione thought – that a friendship might easily break after such a betrayal...Because that's what it would be, wouldn't it? If Charlie just wanted to be their friend and they suspected him of having bad intentions and being a liar… If Charlie had a legit reason why he didn't want to talk about his past…
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked. "What didn't you tell us?"
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "It was just odd. I don't think I noticed it then, but now that I think back on it…He just appeared. And I remember…I think he let me do most of the talking in the Knight Bus. I don't even know if he wanted to go to London before I said it. As if he just tagged along. And then when the minister appeared…Fudge was super suspicious of him. He even pulled his wand on him and Charlie disarmed him immediately."
Hermione had a hand over her mouth in shock. "He disarmed the minister?" She shook her head. "I thought you said you bought him his first wand."
Harry nodded. "He was wandless. I have no idea, how. It happened so fast."
"That's pretty cool, though." Ron whistled.
Hermione looked stricken. "It's dangerous. If he knows wandless magic on that level…"
Harry shrugged. He didn't know. He'd barely seen Charlie use any magic since then, apart from the few accidental explosions during their wand-shopping.
Ron looked thoughtful. "So, what now. The whole 'trying to learn some Afrikaans thing' didn't really work, did it?"
"No," Hermione disagreed. "I think I have what I need."
Harry shared a confused look with Ron. They both had no clue what she was talking about. Then again, Hermione hadn't really told them her plan.
"I need to go to the Library," she announced. "See you in Divination." She quickly emptied her plate, jumped up from the bench, and shouldered her bag. Harry watched her leave the Great Hall. When he glanced at the Hufflepuff table before continuing his meal, he noted, that Charlie was already done. He wasn't there anymore.
"Did you notice that Charlie takes barely any time eating?" Harry asked.
Ron who had started shoveling food into his mouth the moment Hermione had left, looked up with a frown. He had to swallow multiple times. "I mean, from what I've seen he's a bit of a nerd. Probably spends a lot of time studying."