Politics
Alastor must have had a sixth sense about these things, as when they came back, they had just missed the chaos.
The bedroom was in complete disarray, torn apart by someone who seemingly picked and prodded over every square inch of the room. Sheets were off the bed, and the stack of conjured clothing had been thrown around the room.
Alastor's magic eye started spinning in all directions, stopping occasionally to focus on something outside the room. He turned to the children and Severus, "Stay here," Alastor ordered and left the room.
He headed downstairs to find his Aurors fixing up the warding on the exits to Diagon and the street. Grabbing the nearest Auror, he barked, "Auror, Report!" Everyone looked to see who had just issued an order and then redoubled their efforts to continue fixing the wards.
"Sir! It was the Minister. He showed up with his personal security team and Lucius Malfoy. They were looking for the girl. They had an arrest warrant on them charging her with using dark rituals to steal magic. We were given a direct order to arrest her on sight. They didn't believe us that she wasn't here and tore up the place to find her. They also arrested Tom for hindering their investigation when he wouldn't give the keys to the rooms upstairs."
Alastor was spitting in his head. The Minister had taken Malfoy out of holding and created a phony arrest warrant to take the girl. This would be difficult.
"Where did you tell them we went?" he asked.
Another auror stepped up, "I told the Minister that you had taken the children to another location, but we weren't informed where. I did not make any implication one way or another if you would be returning."
"Good, good," said Alastor. "Lock this place up tight, everyone present is here for the long haul. Organize KP duty among yourselves when the wards are fixed. When you are done, tell Auror Jameson to come out of the back room with the demiguise." As he spoke his blue eye that had been pointed behind him rolled back to face forwards.
Alastor headed back to the children's bedroom.
The first thing he told the children was that Whispers was safe. Lyra started to run to the door, but Alastor grabbed her. "Wait, there's more. The Minister of Magic came here with his security team and your father."
Lyra made a tiny scream and vanished. Harry reached out and pulled the invisible girl into an embrace.
"The Minister managed to get him out of holding and create a bogus arrest warrant for Lyra on the grounds that she used dark rituals to steal her magic. The aurors downstairs have orders to arrest you on sight," Alastor grimaced when he finished speaking.
"But they can't see her," said Harry.
Severus and Alastor chuckled, "Very true boy," said Alastor. "Lyra, how long can you hold the invisibility?"
"I don't know." came a reply from somewhere in Harry's arms.
"Well, until further notice, do not leave the room unless you need to, and if you do, make sure you do it while invisible. If someone comes to the door, turn invisible until you identify it as one of the people in this room now. No auror can see you and still follow their orders. Severus and I will go outside to discuss our next move."
They left the room and entered the room at the top of the stairs to talk. They both sat in silence for a while trying to figure things out.
Severus was the first to say something, "I have an idea, but it may be difficult to pull off and we will need to ask the children's permission first, particularly Lyra's."
"Hmm?" responded Alastor.
"With the Minister and Lucius Malfoy involved, it is not just a private matter, it is politics. In order to balance the board, we need someone to help. Even better, we could use more than one person," Severus's face was grim.
"Arcturus," Alastor nodded.
"And Dumbledore," said Severus.
"Arcturus will want more time to speak with the girl, and Albus will want a foot in the door with the boy. The children won't like this," said Alastor.
"Let's go talk to them," sighed Severus. "I think that Harry will do anything to protect her."
Just as they were about to leave, they heard the first creak of the stairs and went out to see Auror Jameson heading up the stairs, carrying Whispers, who was eating an apple. Alastor told Jameson to knock on their door and return Whispers. He did so and came back.
"Did you see the girl when you went in?" he asked.
Jameson seemed to start to say something then stopped and replied, "I saw the boy, but I did not see the girl at all."
Receiving a nod from Alastor, he went back downstairs. Alastor and Severus went to the room.
After they came in, Lyra faded back in. "Good job girl," said Alastor. "We have part of a plan to get help, but we want your permission first."
Receiving nods from the children, Severus continued, "The Minister is in charge of our government, but how he leads is determined by who is pushing and in what direction. Currently, your father is doing the pushing. We need to bring in bigger people to take control of the situation. The two biggest people we know are Arcturus Black and Albus Dumbledore."
Lyra looked like she wanted to yell, but Harry stopped her. "Dumbledore is the school headmaster, right?"
"He also presides over the courts and is a war hero," said Alastor. "When he speaks, people listen. Arcturus Black's political power was slowly being given to Lucius Malfoy because he was married to a Black, but now he is slowly losing it. Putting them both together, we could pull this off."
Harry pulled Lyra aside and they had another heated exchange in their sign language for a few minutes before turning back, though this time, Lyra wasn't smiling. "Lyra agrees to allow Arcturus to help. But she doesn't go anywhere near him until this is over."
There was suddenly a knock on the door. Lyra vanished. It was Tristan, he reported that Arcturus had informed Narcissa of the meeting before she had been told not to come. She came anyway and waited in the lobby. Lucius had several tracking charms on her and came after her. Tristan had managed to get the magical signatures of the tracking charms.
Alastor ordered him to guard the children while stationed in the neighboring room. If anyone would try to take them, he was to put that person down with force.
Alastor was to go visit Albus, and Severus would visit Arcturus.
Severus entered the hospital suite of Arcturus Black. He was still going through paperwork with the steward.
Arcturus looked up and interpreted Severus's thoughts, "I am dying, there is much work to do before so, especially now that I must ensure that Malfoy doesn't get his hands on my legacy."
"Speak of the devil," said Severus. "We have an issue with Malfoy. The Minister sprung him from holding and issued an arrest warrant for Lyra alleging that she used dark rituals to obtain magic as a squib. We need to stop him and push the minister back on a more reasonable course. Alastor is going to rally Dumbledore. So you have a choice. You can work with Albus separately, together, or not at all. However, you know that he will help Lyra if only to position himself on Harry's good side."
Arcturus sighed. He turned as best he could and pulled a blue and silver piece of parchment from his side table and stared at it. "I need to speak with Lyra."
"We told her you would probably want to and she said that she would only meet with you when this issue is settled," Severus said with a tone of finality.
Arcturus raised his hospital cup of apple juice, "Cunning, ambition, blah blah blah," and took a drink. He handed the blue and silver sheet of parchment to his steward. "Do it."
The man took the parchment and left the room.
"The healers here informed me that I have two months to live," said Arcturus. "Starting next week, I am arranging to live three years, one month, and twelve days. After that, I will have a particularly gruesome death. I will tell Lyra herself about it when I speak to her."
Severus stared in horror knowing exactly what Arcturus had just done.
"If I am going to war with Malfoy over the girl, I am going to do it standing on my own two feet. Why do you think House Black has a stable if not for this very reason?"
"I will inform Lyra that you are fully committed to her struggle and well-being," Severus said and headed out. The thoughts of what Arcturus was about to do were spine-chilling but they showed incredible resolve.
At Hogwarts, Alastor made his way to the headmaster's office. Just as he was about to enter, he called out, "Yes, I can see you too Albus."
Albus Dumbledore had his mouth open about to call Alastor through the door as he usually did, instead, he just closed his mouth and frowned. He urgently wanted the school year to start so people could be amazed by him again. Adults seemed to suck all the fun out of magic.
Alastor came in and conjured himself a puffy chair and sat down, "We have a problem." He went over the situation and added to the end, "I can assume we will have your support on the matter?"
"Of course Alastor, you always have my support," replied Albus in a calm voice. "I would like to meet Harry and the young Black girl though. If I am going to be supporting them, I would like to know more about them."
"I will speak to them to get their approval," Alastor said firmly. "Harry is very protective of Lyra. We also need to move them from the Leaky Cauldron. Do you have any old safe houses available?"
"Which room of the Leaky Cauldron do you have them in now?" asked Albus.
"Seven," replied Alastor.
"How many rooms are in the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Albus with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Six… Are you kidding me? Did you really hide a room in the Leaky Cauldron?" asked Alastor incredulously.
Albus pulled out his desk drawer and retrieved a small slip of paper, passing it to Alastor. He didn't even need to look at it to know what it said, but he did it anyway because that's how the magic worked. "I'll update you on Mr. Potter," Alastor said and headed out.
Albus Dumbledore relaxed in his big chair. This is the kind of feeling he liked. It didn't matter that Alastor was annoyed with him, Albus got to see his friend's shock at magic being performed right in front of him that he couldn't see, even with his magic eye. It was just like the sixteen stairs he had randomly hidden on the staircases around Hogwarts. The unknown made life an adventure.
Alastor and Severus returned to the Leaky Cauldron at nearly the same time.
"Well, it's no surprise that Albus is on board," started Alastor. "Though he does want to speak to Harry. He also managed to pull some Dumbledore BS on us as well. We've got a safe house, right here. It's in the room right next to Harry too."
"No, number five is your room," replied Severus.
"What room are the kids in? How many rooms are up there?" asked Alastor.
Severus glared at Alastor in disbelief and was handed a rolled-up piece of paper. Severus looked at it and then looked up to the walkway as another room squeezed itself into existence between number five and seven.
Severus rolled his eyes and went upstairs to move the children. When he showed them the new room appearing out of nowhere, he could hear Albus's eyes twinkling all the way back at Hogwarts. He would have wanted to watch their faces as it happened. Then he got to explaining the situation.
"Your Uncle Arcturus is on board," Severus began. "He is 100% committed to helping you. I would suggest being extremely thankful to him as he is currently engaged in literally putting his life on the line to help. He understands that you will only meet him when the situation has been resolved.
"On the other hand, Headmaster Dumbledore wants to meet with you sooner rather than later. We would like to bring him in two days. Is that acceptable?"
Harry looked over to Lyra and they both nodded.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" asked Lyra.
"Well we had planned on taking you to get your school supplies, but I'm not sure we could sneak you into the alley now with so many people looking for you," said Severus.
"Can we get some other books?" asked Harry. "I haven't read anything in five years."
Suddenly a thought came to Alastor, "Lyra, can you read?"
"A little, I think?" she replied.
"Well we will need to fix that," Alastor said. He left the room and found Tristan. "I have an assignment for you. Find any aurors here that have children over the age of four. I need them to teach Whispers how to read. Though when he learns, it will sound like a young girl. I also need recommendations on what books to buy to teach him. Got it? Not really? Doesn't matter, do it anyway, you'll figure it out."
Returning to the room, Alastor told them the plan. Lyra thought it was a great idea, "Whispers has been learning to speak, I bet he'd like to try reading too!"
That wasn't what Alastor's plan was, but if a human could turn invisible, why couldn't a demiguise learn to read?
Two days later, Albus Dumbledore turned up at the Leaky Cauldron.
He chuckled a little bit at the auror in a suit and sunglasses standing next to a velvet-roped line of reporters at the door. It reminded him of a night out he had last summer in Soho. He might be old, but he wasn't dead.
With great confidence, he strolled up to the 'bouncer' and said with an exaggerated wink, "I believe I'm on the list."
The 'bouncer' chuckled and opened the rope for him to head on in. Once inside there was a small table with a door and a fireplace behind it. The auror at the desk asked him to place his wand on the table and proceeded to run his own wand over Albus. The auror then picked up a spray bottle with a clear liquid and gave him two sprays in the face then pulled out a stopwatch. A minute later, Albus had his wand handed back to him and was directed to the door behind the desk. The auror tapped it with his wand and used an invisible handle a foot above the one that could be seen to open the door.
Albus used a spell to dry his face and smiled at the auror "Constant vigilance?" which got him a smile in return as he entered the Leaky Cauldron.
As he entered, he saw many of his old students all in their red auror robes. He watched them for a few moments with pride, though he did notice something strange going on. There were two tables in the center of the room, the first had two aurors sitting with a demiguise that had to be maybe five or six years old. The demiguise was holding a book and the two aurors were showing him the words in the book. The demiguise seemed to be trying to say the words out loud. The fact that the creature was having any success at all sounding the words out was astonishing. The second table had the exact scene occurring, except in place of a demiguise there was nothing but a floating book.
Albus cast a wandless, non-verbal human-revealing spell to find that there was someone invisible sitting at the table holding the book. While he was staring at the scene in front of him and wondering what was going on, he was approached by Alastor Moody who leaned in and said, "If you want to see something really weird, Severus Snape is upstairs teaching Harry Potter potions."
Severus was teaching a child, a Potter, of his own free will during his time off. Albus took a deep breath and rubbed his temples. "So if Harry is up here, I assume the disillusioned girl is Lyra and the demiguise is their 'brother' Whispers?" Albus guessed. "Though what exactly is happening, I can't figure it out."
"So we discovered after I met with you that Lyra hasn't read any book beyond the basics she learned five years ago. Harry still remembered a lot and was reading Tolkien at age six, so doesn't need to catch up much. So we asked any aurors with children to help teach Lyra to read. We've been very sure to enforce the Minister's orders to arrest Lyra on sight, but no one has seen her yet."
Dumbledore chuckled at the loophole in the Minister's orders.
"Originally, Whispers was sitting next to her so they would feel easier teaching a visible person, but then Whispers started to be able to identify certain words, so we have those two over there who have younger children who haven't started to read yet and they are practicing their parenting skills with a creature who doesn't understand half of what they say and makes a lot of funny noises. This works perfectly because that pretty much describes a two-year-old." Albus nodded at the comparison.
"Then over here, we have the parents with older kids that are catching Lyra up on her reading skills. Auror Jameson over there has volunteered to come to Hogwarts on weekends to continue working with her when the school year starts. Whispers has gotten attached to him as well."
Albus let out a long whistle, "Amazing, I can't even imagine the possibilities of actually getting a demiguise to read. You mentioned that he already knows some basic words and speaks in a made-up sign language too?" Alastor nodded. "Absolutely astounding. Take me up to see Harry, I'll speak to Lyra later."
As they walked to the room, Alastor told Albus, "The Minister still hasn't seen fit to release Tom after arresting him during his raid with Malfoy. Please speak to him when you leave here."
Albus nodded and knocked on the door.
Harry was reading through potion ingredients with Severus. Trying to understand the properties of every ingredient or how to determine the properties was one of the most important parts of being a potioneer. The most difficult part was that many properties of ingredients were more poetic than based on their biological components.
For example, asphodel is a white flowering plant where its petals, leaves, and roots can be used in potion-making. The leaves are commonly used to wrap a type of Italian cheese and the leaves will dry out in the same amount of time the cheese will remain fresh. If the cheese wrapping is dry, the cheese is bad. If the leaves are fresh, the cheese is too.
So fresh leaves can be used as part of a type of truth serum. Though that potion is easily fought against by novices in the mind arts, and there are plenty of antidotes for it. The dried leaves are used in a potion called the 'Pinocchio Tincture.' This potion is sold in joke stores and causes a person's nose to grow when someone lies for five minutes after drinking. It is also easily countered and tastes horrible, so it is easy to detect.
On the other side, the flower is often planted in cemeteries and there are connections in Greek mythology to it being grown in the Underworld. As a result of this, if it was harvested from a cemetery, the roots could be used in an extremely strong sleeping potion called the Draught of Living Death.
Additionally, the plant grows in well-drained soils with abundant natural light. This biological property allows the petals to be distilled and added to soil mixes and fertilizers to transfer that property to other plants that grow in environments that aren't optimal. This is just one of the strange instances of how ingredients develop their properties. So Harry was looking through books of ingredients with Severus and asking questions about potential uses for them.
When there was a knock on the door, Harry sat up straight as Severus asked them to come in.
Alastor came in, and he was followed by a man that had been a regular visitor in Harry's dreams since first grade. One of the most incredible men he had ever read about just walked into his room as if it were an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. Harry's eyes widened to the point that might have fallen out, and he loudly gasped, "You're Gandalf the Grey!"
Alastor just roared with laughter while Albus gave a simple chuckle and said, "That would not be the first time a fan of Tolkien said that, though lucky for me they have all been in the past forty years and not before that. I do never tire of it. I am Albus Dumbledore; Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."
Harry stared at him for a moment before asking, "What's a Mugwump?"
"It is the title used by delegates to the International Confederation of Wizards. It has its origins in a group that used the term to label themselves as above political differences and incorruptible," Albus answered. "I warn you though, this piece of information is extremely boring and is not the kind to be shared at parties."
Harry just nodded, not understanding the joke as Alastor and Severus grinned. Albus blinked twice; Severus grinned? Strange matters were afoot.
Harry asked, "So will you be able to help Lyra?"
"I will," he said firmly. "She will be a student at Hogwarts, and even though she has not arrived yet, she has been accepted and I will endeavor to look out for her. It helps that both of you also remind me of one of my oldest friends and one of my very first students who also keeps company with a demiguise. I would like to speak to you though about a few things before we can proceed. Is that alright?"
Harry nodded.
"Minerva told me about your time among the Hidden, as you call them. One of the things she mentioned was changes in your physical appearance from when she knew you as a baby, notably your hair color and your scar. I was hoping you could tell me about those."
Harry started, "The hair is just demiguise hair. One of the females, whom we named Weaver, regularly wove strands of their hair into ours. Eventually, our hair just stayed this color in certain spots. I've never had an actual haircut, and it doesn't seem to grow any longer than this. Though if my hair is cut off, it regrows overnight. After the demiguise hair was woven in, it just regrew like this with the silver already in it.
Albus was interested, "Please explain to me how it regrows."
"I got one haircut before kindergarten," Harry flinched for a moment, then shook his head. Severus had given his report on the Dursleys to Albus, so they both knew what he was talking about. "The night after the haircut, all of my hair was back.
"When I was on the island, my head was shaved once for…" Harry looked up in an effort to find a way to describe what happened without giving anything away. "Well actually, it was shaved twice for potion ingredients. The first was for, um, a purification spell. The second was when Tristan's hair got burnt off, and we used mine for the base of a hair regrowth potion since Severus knew about the other regrowth."
Severus looked Albus dead in the eyes for a second during which he told him non-verbally, 'He told me that it had been cut before the hair potion, but I did not know of this purification spell.'
Continuing the conversation, "Mr. Potter, it might interest you to know that your grandfather on your father's side made a lot of his fortune from a potion called Sleekeasy's Hair Potion. The men in your family are notorious for having hair that refuses to be tamed, and your grandfather decided to do something about it. The potion was purchased after his and your parents' deaths, but you still receive the royalties for its sales. If you would like to meet the board of that cosmetics company, they might be interested in producing your hair growth potion, as having another Potter hair potion to sell would be a huge hit."
Harry's face lit up at the mention of a family member but fell slightly when his death was mentioned. "Maybe later I guess," Harry said.
"And Harry, what happened to your scar? It looks different from when you were younger."
Harry had been thinking of what to say during the whole time talking about his hair, about the scar, and thought of the perfect thing to say. "I don't remember. It happened when the ship sank. I was hit in the head with something and that's when the ship started to roll over. Lyra and I fell off and we floated to the island on a desk that floated up to the surface."
Alastor Moody, who had decades of fighting and interrogating dark wizards, looked at Severus Snape, master of the mind arts who looked at Albus Dumbledore, who had been teaching children longer than Alastor had been alive. They all knew that the boy was hiding something.
"So it may just be a scar on top of another scar. Nothing to be concerned about for now," said Albus.
The three of them watched Harry as he let out what he must have thought was the tiniest of breaths he was holding.
"There is a meeting of the Wizengamot in three days. I have arranged to speak to Arcturus Black after I leave here to try to arrange a strategy. As Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I have received the schedule already and Lucius has a planned proposal on the books. Most likely he is going to try to make an absentee trial for Lyra, meaning he wants to simply convict her before arresting her or having her speak in her own defense. If we need anything from you or Lyra, I will update you.
"It was good to meet you, Harry. Alastor, Severus, may I speak to the two of you outside?"
Harry stood up quickly, "Farewell! Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!"
The three men looked confused but after a moment Albus replied, "May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks."
The three men exited the room and heard a small cheer from Harry as the door closed.
"Severus, I must say I am extremely proud of you," Albus began. "I just witnessed something I thought would be impossible. You were teaching Potions to Harry James Potter who is, in turn, calling you Severus."
Severus looked a bit annoyed at Albus but replied, "As much as I expected and maybe even wanted him to be a target for my anger towards his father, he's not. He doesn't have the arrogance, the spoiling, the ridiculous friends, or the desire for celebrity status. He's not his mother either. He's just Harry. Though he does have an incredible knack for potions, which is even teaching me a thing or two."
Albus nodded happily, then switched subjects, "We are all in agreement that he was lying about the scar, correct?"
Severus nodded and Alastor mentioned, "And something about the other times his hair was cut was disturbing to him, I wonder what the purification spell was for, or if it even was a purification spell."
"He seemed to be telling at least a partial truth when he mentioned," said Severus. "Something about that was truthful, he was trying to find something to say and he latched onto something somewhat truthful rather than a complete lie. This makes me think he is trying to protect something rather than hide it from us for more nefarious reasons. The other time he mentioned before kindergarten was part of a painful memory that I doubt he wants to share."
"I don't believe I need to speak with Lyra at the moment, but I'm sure I'll share a conversation with her in the future," said Albus. "I will take my leave now."
Albus apparated out of the pub, straight through the wards, like they were made of tissue paper.
The next day, Tom returned to the pub, incredibly annoyed, but happy to see that his kitchen had been taken care of.
Two days later, the Wizengamot was called to order.
The Wizengamot chambers were modeled after the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster. However, not being Muggles, they made it bigger and grander, despite not having as many Lords. As a result, a little over half of the seats were always empty.
The room was set up in a large oval shape with a marble floor giving space for speakers and petitioners to address the members. The seats were raised, making the floor into a pit or arena of sorts. The paneling around the floor area was a rich mahogany that was imported for building the chamber. The seats were made of the same wood with red cushioning. The chairs had high backs with a space for a coat of arms that would be placed by the members sitting in them.
At the front of the chamber, there were two podiums and a desk built into the higher level. The desk is where the scribe would sit, the lower podium is where a speaker or petitioner from the members of the Wizengamot would stand after being recognized, and the Chief Warlock would occupy the highest podium to control the rabble of Wizengamot members.
At the far end of the chamber near the doors, there was a smaller seating area that was sometimes occupied by the press, family members, and commoners.
They were so far underground that there was no natural light, so large magical windows were installed that were charmed to show the weather based on the average mood of the members present. It was very often dark and cloudy outside those windows.
When the subject of new business came up, Lucius Malfoy stood in his seat, he kept his hands in his sleeves clasped in front of him. "I have new business to bring before the Wizengamot."
Dumbledore banged the magical gavel, silencing the room. "You are recognized, approach the podium and present your business."
Lucius Malfoy approached the lower podium at the front of the room, straightened up as high as he could, and spoke, "A week ago, I was escorted by our Minister and members of Law Enforcement to serve an arrest warrant for Lyra Cassiopeia Black, a squib, who has received a Hogwarts acceptance letter. The charges were for the theft of magic through the use of dark rituals."
Gasps were heard from around the chamber. A squib stealing magic was a tale that was told to pureblood children around the country.
"Make sure to eat your vegetables or a squib will steal your magic."
"If you stay up past midnight, a squib will sneak into your room and drain the magic from your soul."
It was the scariest thing that a pureblood could think of, so to have a real squib stealing magic on trial in front of them was terrifying.
One member cried out, "You would bring such a demon before us? What's to stop her from taking our magic?" That set off more gasps and panic from some of the less intelligent members.
Lucius Malfoy continued, "Do not be afraid for yourselves, be afraid for the others outside this room. When we went to her last known location to make the arrest, she was not there. She is still out there, whereabouts unknown."
There was additional panic as some people started to worry about their families losing their magic at the hands of this evil creature.
Lucius Malfoy smiled as he felt their fear giving him what he wanted. "I am calling for a vote in absentia for the conviction of Lyra Cassiopeia Black."
Many hands rose into the air in favor of conviction, but the Chief Warlock's gavel fell and silenced the room.
"There are procedures to follow Lord Malfoy, do not overstep them." Albus Dumbledore warned harshly. "The accused is allowed to speak in her own defense. Lyra Black, please stand and present yourself."
Everyone looked towards the visitor seats, but no one moved. Lucius let out a small breath thinking Dumbledore was going to pull some stunt.
"Lyra Cassiopeia Black has chosen not to speak in her own defense. Is there another who will speak on her behalf?"
The room was silent for a moment before there were three loud knocks at the door.
The scribe stood and bellowed, "Who goes there?"
"A rightful member of this Wizengamot," yelled a voice that a few of the older members recognized and shock showed on their faces.
The scribe bellowed again, "Enter and be presented."
The doors opened and Arcturus entered. He wore a suit, the style popular in Wizarding Britain before the Grindelwald War, though it looked like it had been tailor-made yesterday. He stood tall and carried an elegant cane topped with a raven digging its talons into a crystal skull.
His steward walked from behind him to a position ahead and announced loudly. "I present to you Lord Arcturus Phineas Black." The steward then took a large step to the side and backward.
Arcturus stepped forward at the same time and spoke in a voice that sounded like the man he was twenty years ago and not the one who had just exited hospice care in St. Mungos. "I will be speaking on behalf of the daughter of my house Lyra Cassiopeia Black."
If Lucius was still having bouts of accidental magic, he may have literally shat a brick at that moment. Steeling his nerves, he did his best not to look scared.
Arcturus walked up towards the podium. "I will be claiming my seat as soon as this trial is over."
Lucius was furious. "I still hold regency for House Black, no proceedings have begun to change that."
"That is incorrect," spoke Arcturus. "Following the private annulment of your marriage to Narcissa..."
Gasps were heard around the hall as that had been private and not announced publicly. Dumbledore banged his gavel to silence the members.
"As I was saying, following the private annulment, a hearing was held earlier today for the legal annulment of the marriage. You were called for a chance to object, but you did not arrive, nor did anyone speak on your behalf, so the proceedings were done in absentia."
A few chuckles were heard around the room.
"Therefore as you no longer have any connection to House Black, and your son Draco has not come of age, I will be taking my seat after these proceedings."
The hall was deathly silent. Lucius Malfoy had just received a very public smackdown from one of the oldest families on the court.
After a moment of silence, Albus Dumbledore spoke again. "Lord Black, you may continue the defense of Miss Black."
Arcturus addressed Lucius, "Lord Malfoy, under what circumstances do you declare that Lyra Cassiopeia Black was a squib?"
Lucius was ready to curse the man in front of him, and were they not in this hall or standing right next to Albus Dumbledore, he just might have cursed this feeble old man. He was trapped and would have to follow through.
"I observed the girl's lack of magical power and personally performed a remembrall test which received no reaction. The girl had no magic from her birth until she was six years old. The idea that she could gain enough magic to earn a Hogwarts acceptance letter in five years could only be the result of theft through dark rituals" Lucius responded.
Arcturus continued. "How were you able to gain access to the girl to observe her magical power? Did you keep certified records of the tests?"
Lucius had wanted to get through this without revealing her parentage, but he was stuck. "The girl Lyra Black was born Lyra Malfoy. She was my daughter. I did not keep records, but I can present memories to the court."
Gasps came from all around that the powerful Lucius Malfoy could have possibly sired a squib.
Arcturus smiled and continued, "I believe it in one of the post-war trials that you personally helped establish that pensieve memories were inadmissible due to the possibility of tampering or modification. So you have no original evidence of her squib level of magic." He made a waving motion and his steward approached with a stack of papers. "I am entering into evidence of four acts of controlled magic performed by Lyra Black in the last two days. A warming charm, a partial disillusionment, and a setting herself on fire while using a flame-freezing charm."
The assembled lords began muttering as he passed the documents up to Lucius who rifled through them for anything he could pick out. Other than the warming charm, the rest were beyond the level that an eleven-year-old girl should be able to perform, especially one who was supposed to have been a squib.
Arcturus finished his speech, "I strongly suggest to all Lords present to vote against a member of House Black being declared both a squib and a thief. I hope to be able to sit among allies when this farce of a trial has ended. While Lord Malfoy has declared that the girl is a criminal, without evidence, I simply am presenting the possibility that he was mistaken. Should Lord Malfoy wish to present evidence of the theft itself, the dark rituals that were performed, or anything else, I will sit down and listen to what he gathers now or in the future. Until such time, I rest my case."
A lot of the members were looking in favor of Arcturus Black. He had threatened those who had been allies of House Black, he had dared them to declare a child of his family to be a squib when they had magic, and he had given them a way out to simply declare Lord Malfoy's observations from five years ago to be a mistake, and he dared Lucius to bring forth any actual evidence which he did not have.
Lucius looked around and saw the dissent among those on the Wizengamot. Minister Fudge, who hadn't made a sound since Arcturus entered, wouldn't look him in the eye.
Albus Dumbledore knocked the gavel, silencing the silence that was already in the room. "Wands up for the conviction in absentia of Lyra Cassiopeia Black on the charges of magic theft."
Lucius and a number of his closest allies raised their wands lit with a lumos charm. They totaled seven.
Albus Dumbledore knocked the gavel again. "Wands up for the acquittal of Lyra Cassiopeia Black on the charges of magic theft."
All the remaining members raised their wands dwarfing the votes for conviction.
Albus Dumbledore banged the gavel three times. "This court acquits Lyra Cassiopeia Black of all charges presented today. Lord Malfoy, Lord Black, take your seats."
Arcturus climbed the stairs slowly with the assistance of his cane to an open seat near the podiums and tapped the top with his wand, the coat of arms for House Black appeared and he sat down.
Albus announced, "Is there any more new business?"
Arcturus stood, "I have new business to bring before the Wizengamot."
Whispers broke out everywhere and Lucius became very nervous.
Dumbledore banged his gavel, silencing the whispers. "You are recognized, approach the podium and present your business."
Arcturus brought forth papers as he approached the podium. "I hold an arrest warrant and charges for Lucius Abraxas Malfoy of…"
Yelling broke out for a moment before the gavel magically silenced everyone, "The room will have silence and there will be a proper time to respond to these allegations." Dumbledore seemed to have grown to twice his size as if he were standing over the assembled Lords and Ladies like they were schoolchildren.
Arcturus continued. "The charges are: criminal abandonment of Lyra Cassiopeia Malfoy now known as Black, illegal use of a tracking charm, physical assault of Narcissa Black, attempted assault of Lyra Cassiopeia Black, and attempted assault of Harry James Potter."
Albus looked through the paperwork, "The charges have been filed, Lord Malfoy, how do you plead to the charges?"
Lucius stood, "I plead not guilty."
Arcturus smiled as Albus told him to proceed.
"Lucius Malfoy, did you knowingly abandon your daughter, Lyra Malfoy during the summer of 1987?" Arcturus asked.
Seeing no way out but through, Lucius responded "I did, under the assumption that she was a squib, even if I was incorrect, that is not grounds for a charge of criminal abandonment."
Arcturus let out a small groan and rubbed his back. "You are correct, that wouldn't constitute criminal abandonment. My next question is, how did you go about getting rid of her under the assumption she was a squib?"
Lucius responded quickly but with alarm bells going off in his head, "Through the Australian adoption service that has been in use for centuries. They will have a record of the transfer."
Arcturus continued. "I will circle back to this charge later. Did you apply a tracking spell to your ex-wife in an attempt to follow her and confront Lyra Black at St. Mungo's hospital?
Lucius responded, "I did not."
Arcturus raised a piece of parchment, "I would like to enter into evidence the magical trace of the tracking spell left on Narcissa Malfoy and ask for an Unspeakable to corroborate it."
Dumbledore took the paper and raised it in the air over his shoulder. A hand appeared, that snatched it from the air and disappeared. The Wizengamot always had an Unspeakable in attendance, and often they would hide somewhere invisible just because they could. The paper reappeared and was passed to Dumbledore a few minutes later.
A voice came from nowhere, "Identified as Unspeakable Number 34, I testify that the magical signature submitted into evidence matches Lucius Malfoy's wand and magical signature as collected during the Death Eater trials and investigations."
"Moving on," said Arcturus. "It is a matter of public record, but did you assault Narcissa Black in the lobby of St. Mungos?"
Lucius smirked, he had this one, "I had a public argument with my ex-wife, where she pushed me and I responded with self-defense."
"Since you were following her with malicious intent, it could be argued that your use of a tracking charm would constitute the first strike. Moving on. Following your assault on Narcissa Black, did you knowingly assault two minors, Lyra Black and Harry Potter?"
"I approached them asking questions. They responded with a magical attack that did this," Lucius Malfoy pulled his hidden left hand from his sleeve to show his forearm and hand; twisted like licorice, his fingers gripping an invisible fruit, up to his elbow looked like it was made of a marble pattern of greys and blacks."
Gasps were heard from around the room. Arcturus just ignored them. He retrieved more papers from his steward. "Multiple eyewitness reports of the incident tell that you drew your wand before the attack from the children. I think you should count yourself lucky though as the last person who attacked Harry Potter wasn't able to be put back together properly for a funeral. I also find it interesting that you brandished your wand in your right hand, but Harry Potter's magic seemed more attracted to your left forearm."
He left that thought hanging. "Circling back to your statement that you delivered the child to the Australian orphanage, I would like to present a witness that places your child with muggle slavers who were to take the girl for some unknown fate."
Panic raced through Lucius's head but he kept as straight a face as possible.
The doors opened and Vernon Dursley walked in being held at wandpoint by Alastor Moody. He was looking in nearly every direction and would have been crosseyed if possible. He looked terrified and ready to bolt at a moment's notice if he actually could have done so.
Albus conjured a high-backed wooden chair on the floor which he was placed in and ropes bound him tight. Albus was looking at the man with barely restrained fury.
Arcturus used his wand to point a spotlight on the man. "This muggle man met with the same people I am accusing you of meeting with to sell them a child. He is testifying of his own free will and will receive one drop of Veritaserum to authenticate his story."
Alastor Moody looked up to Dumbledore, "I am requesting from the Unspeakables one dose of Veritaserum."
A hand appeared above Dumbledore with a small bottle. "Identified as Unspeakable Number 34, I am presenting an authorized dose of veritaserum, from batch 35798."
Dumbledore handed the bottle down to Alastor, who looked Vernon Dursley in the eyes and commanded, "Open your mouth, muggle."
Vernon opened his mouth with terror in his eyes and stuck out his tongue to have one single drop placed on it. Vernon's eyes seemed to dim slightly but remained pointing forwards with his mouth hanging slightly open. Alastor began to question him.
Q: "What is your name?"
A: "Vernon Dursley" he spoke in a monotone voice.
Q: "During your visit to the docks on the night in question, what were you there to do?"
A: "I was there to sell an unwanted child."
Gasps came from around the room, someone whispered about burning the muggle at the stake, and another suggested drowning.
Q: "What did you see after you handed off the child you were selling?"
A: "They placed him in a shipping container. I could see a few children at the entrance, I can guess there were at least a dozen inside."
Alastor took out a photo of a small blonde girl in a summer dress. He showed it to the members of the Wizengamot and received some faces of sympathy at how adorable the girl was with her bright smile.
Q: "Did you see this girl in the container?"
A: "That girl was chained up right next to the door, I could see her easily."
Q: "Final question, how much did you receive for selling your child?"
A: "Five thousand British pounds."
Lucius couldn't think of a thing to do, so he let Alastor take the man back out. Only when he was gone did he think to say, "The man is a muggle, he thought he saw something but was incorrect. I can still provide the paperwork showing the transfer of the girl to the orphanage."
Arcturus stood up again, "In the case that you still hold to your word that you did not sell the child to muggle child slavers, I call forth a challenge of your honor." He stopped to take a breath and his hands were shaking slightly. "As a Noble and Ancient House, and due to your earlier perjury regarding the use of tracking charms on your ex-wife, I call your honor as a Noble House worthless. Do you wish to respond to my challenge?"
The room was dead quiet with the exception of Arcturus who was groaning slightly and leaning on his cane.
There hadn't been a challenge of honor in the hall of the Wizengamot for quite some time. Such a challenge could be settled easily when the accused was being truthful with veritaserum. If the accused was lying, they could ask for an honor duel, though that could go any which way, especially when you couldn't appoint someone to fight on your behalf except in very specific circumstances. The duels weren't to the death but still had a very high chance of serious injury.
Lucius looked at the very frail old man who had been in hospice care just a few days ago and made his decision. "I wish to respond to your challenge by demanding a duel for my honor."
Arcturus chuckled, "Excellent! As I have a note signed by four healers at St. Mungos certifying that I only have a month and a half to live, I will be appointing someone to fight on my behalf."
More gasps, for Malfoy being tricked, for Arcturus dying soon, and for wondering who would fight as there were also special rules for that.
Lucius stood in his position on the long oval floor, which was that shape to facilitate duels of this nature when they were more common.
Arcturus called out, "I call for Augustus Stevens to fight in my stead!"
Some people in the visitors' seats cheered.
Augustus Stevens was the current world cup dueling champion.
Lucius was going to lose. He tried objecting to the champion as he had no connection to House Black, but by a strange coincidence, he had sworn fealty to House Black two days prior. The doors opened and a few in the visitor seats cheered but then immediately grew quiet. The man walking in was not the Augustus Stevens they knew.
Stevens had a certain style to him, He normally wore his long auburn hair in various outrageous hairstyles, and his dueling robes of choice were charmed to cycle through many colors and patterns as a means of distraction to his opponents. Today, he walked into the Wizengamot chambers wearing what many of the older generations would identify as a solid black version of the uniform that Grindelwald's war wizards used; no bright colors and no extra fabric. This was an outfit for fighting and killing. His hair was tied in a tight braid on his back, and the House Black coat of arms was displayed by his wrist on his wand arm. He stood silently at the end of the hall.
Lucius was doomed, but since he issued the challenge, he could not back out. Even when he lost, he could still claim he hadn't lied, even if he lost his case. He would make a good showing for himself.
Aurors guarding the doors locked them and set up standard dueling wards on the floor of the chamber. Arcturus returned to his seat to watch. The two men took up their stances at either end of the floor and raised their wands. There was no countdown, no bowing, they had to wait for Lucius to cast the first spell. As he initiated the duel, he had to start it.
He stared at the man in front of him who had been a professional on the circuit for twenty years. His form was perfect and he was focused in a way that no one had seen him like in any of his professional matches. Lucius was well-versed in dark magic and instilling terror in his enemies. However, he had not had a serious fight in the last eleven years. Before that, he also fought with his other compatriots. Now he was alone. Lucius had this one chance to strike a decisive blow, so he threw an enormous bolt of lightning toward his opponent with a quick flick of his wrist.
Lightning was very hard to fight against because electricity would seek out a target to some degree, so dodging was almost completely out of the question. Shielding was possible, but the lighting would often branch out and still hit its target around a shield, not to mention the reaction time you would need to perform a shield that could divert lightning.
Stevens had that kind of reaction time.
Upon seeing the initial movements of Lucius's spell, a stone pillar erupted from the floor in front of him followed by two iron rods near the walls of the arena. The lightning splashed against the stone pillar cracking it, and the residual energy was siphoned into the iron rods. When the cracked pillar fell to the ground, Stevens was not standing behind it.
From point-blank range, on Lucius's right side, the red light of a stunner appeared. Lucius managed to get a small shield up, enough to block the spell, but as he staggered back, another stunner from his back left erupted and he couldn't get his wand around in time. He sank to the floor unconscious.
The whole thing had taken approximately five seconds. Stevens's disillusionment faded where he stood behind Lucius's body and he summoned the man's wand, tossing it to Dumbledore. Turning to Arcturus, he bowed and walked out of the hall.
Everyone was quiet until the doors closed again and then the visitors' seats erupted in cheers. There was some polite clapping from the Wizengamot members.
Arcturus rose in his chair, "Lucius Abraxas Malfoy has been defeated trying to uphold his honor. I now call for a vote. I am proposing the following punishments for his crimes. For criminal abandonment of Lyra Cassiopeia Black, two years in Azkaban prison. For the illegal use of a tracking charm on Narcissa Black, a 1,000 galleon fine. For the physical assault on Narcissa Black, a 5,000 galleon fine with an additional 5,000 paid directly to her for the humiliation that it was done in such a public place. For the attempted assaults on Lyra Cassiopeia Black and Harry James Potter, two months in Azkaban for each count."
Many of the assembled members felt that he was getting off light. He had sold a pureblood child to muggle slavers and publicly assaulted the Boy-Who-Lived. Some of the more fanatical members of the Light Faction wanted to take advantage of the situation and have him kissed, but as those members looked around, they could see small nods from many of the more conservative members. The lighter punishment was designed to pull more of Lucius Malfoy's supporters to vote against him.
There was an hour of debate while Lucius lay on the floor unconscious, and Arcturus eventually agreed to fines payable to the court and directly to Harry and Lyra for the attempted assault on them.
A small hole opened in the floor and a wooden chair covered in hanging chains rose into place. Lucius Malfoy was placed into the chair and the chains came to life and wrapped around his unconscious body. Dumbledore placed a silencing charm on him and woke him up.
He immediately began to yell, though he made no sound. He struggled but he could not move so he stared daggers of death at every person in the room.
Dumbledore banged his gavel three times. "The Wizengamot have reached their verdict. Having failed to uphold his honor in a duel, Lord Malfoy has been found guilty of the crimes of criminal abandonment of Lyra Cassiopeia Malfoy now known as Black, illegal use of a tracking charm, physical assault of Narcissa Black, attempted assault of Lyra Cassiopeia Black, and attempted assault of Harry James Potter.
"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy. You are hereby sentenced to pay a fine of 10,000 galleons to the court, 5,000 to Narcissa Black, 2,000 to Lyra Black, 2,000 to Harry Potter, and two years incarceration in Azkaban prison."
Lucius had a shit-eating grin on his face as he thought he was going to only have to pay fines as a result of the trial and then it was wiped away as he found he would be joining some of his old colleagues in prison. He looked towards the Minister who did not meet his eyes. He tried cursing but it was silent, so he just ended up trying to commit every face in the room to memory. He would find out who voted in favor of his incarceration from his allies later.
"Aurors, take this man away," Dumbledore ordered.
Two aurors approached Lucius. One had a charm on the hood of his robe to obscure his face, the other was Alastor Moody. He picked Lucius off the chair and bound his hands with cuffs. As he led Lucius away, he made sure to whisper in the blonde man's ear, "Time to join your friends," and tapped on his petrified left forearm.
Once they were out of the room, Dumbledore banged his gavel once. "Does anyone else have any new business?" No one moved a muscle.
"Then I adjourn the August session of the 1992 Wizengamot," Dumbledore said. "There will be refreshments available outside."
Everyone stood but made room for Arcturus to leave the stands first. As he reached his steward in the visitors' section, he tossed his cane to the man and stood up straight. Then he just casually strolled out of the room while everyone else, with the exception of Dumbledore, looked on in shock.
While everyone in the refreshment hall was speaking with each other or reporters, a man in Wizengamot robes approached Albus Dumbledore.
He spoke quietly but incredibly firmly, "I do not know what game you are playing right now, but you must have one for Mr. Dursley to not give the name of the child he sold in this court. Whatever is happening, please inform him that his family has a month to move out of the area or retribution will come down on him and his family, should he choose to stay."
Dumbledore nodded, "The message will be passed on, Lord Abbot."