Chapter 29: What's a Wizengamot?
HP-BTVS-HP-BTVS
The trip to Amelia's office was quick and easy. She simply asked what had happened that night and for any evidence on Pettigrew. Sirius was more than happy to provide his memory of everything she asked.
"How did you escape?" Bones asked Black.
"I'm an Animagus," was his answer. "Dementors don't attack animals. It was easy to hide in my dog form. It's one of the reasons I'm still sane. That and I knew I was innocent. The Dementors couldn't take that thought."
"When did you become an Animagus?" she asked, looking towards Xander to see his reaction. Xander just grinned at her and gave her a little wave.
"In our fifth year," Sirius said, tapping his finger to his chin as if trying to remember. "We all did. Me, Peter, and James. I'm a dog, Peter is a rat, and James was a stag."
"We knew about Peter. It was how he was caught. My question is, why didn't you register?" Amelia inquired, taking notes on the conversation, and making a note to herself to have Pettigrew cuffed with anti-magic runes.
"The war. We were going to register after school, but the war came, and we decided that we would hide it until the war was over," he said, looking around the room and noting that there was little in decorations, mostly filing cabinets, the desk and chair, and a few portraits of past Heads of the DMLE. He was comfortable here, unlike say Albus' or Fudge's office. Those were over the top no matter what way you looked at them.
"Yes," Amelia said, bringing him out of his musings. "I can see how that would be helpful. Especially the rat. Too bad he was a traitor," she said, thoughtfully. If a bunch of fifth year Hogwarts' students could do this, why weren't there more? Could she get her men, and women to do the same? Something to look into. She should ask if there was an easier way, but later for that. That, and how many more were not registered? That would explain a lot of criminal activity. "That's all the questions I have for you, Black. Make sure you register."
"I will. Thanks for believing in me," he said, a bit choked up. He was completely free now. There was no doubt in his mind. It was a wonderful feeling.
"So, how about I pick you up on Friday?" Xander said now that all the police stuff was out of the way. He thought he had held back long enough. She was older, but not by much, and she was hot. He didn't think for a moment that she was as airheaded as the women he was used to dating or controlling as in the cases of Anya and Cordelia.
"That sounds nice," she said, kindly, her face softened into a more relaxed manner. She had not been on a date in years. Most men were too afraid of her to ask. She didn't like those around her enough to do the asking. She wasn't that desperate for company.
"I'll look up a restaurant in the non-magical world, so dress accordingly," the wolf-eyed man said, knowing he was going to have to wear an eyepatch that night. That was fine, some women found it vogueish. "Nothing fancy, casual should do it." Work with girls long enough, you learn fashion.
"I look forward to it," she said, standing to see them out. "Mr. Black, congratulations once again. Reparations will be paid, once the Wizengamot have debated on it. You are more than welcome to take your seat and observe the proceedings," she said, her brow scrunched as if in thought. "Xander, your friend is a Slytherin, right?"
"Yeah, why?" he asked warily, though she had said she never bought into the whole Slytherin tale, there was still a bad association with that name.
"He might have a seat on the Wizengamot. I know Harry Potter does too when he is of age. However, you are his guardian, so you can take it up," she added, thinking really hard on what this could mean.
"That would add three seats to the Light block," Sirius said, thinking along the same lines as Amelia.
"Yes, or the Neutral, which I'm hoping for," she said, looking back and forth between the two men who could turn the tide of the voting blocks. "The Light has too much pull, and the Dark wants repression. The Neutrals are more pragmatic, which I think is needed in this day and age." Her visage was firm with a resolve face that Xander hadn't seen since Willow.
"I'll talk to Sal when I get home," Xander said, and he would ask what it was all about. Though the out of time man might not know and they would have to research together. If only to make sure they didn't make fools of themselves.
"I'll take up my seat, after I visit Gringotts. Who knows what state my affairs are in," Sirius said, he was cringing at the thought of putting his accounts in order. More so than taking up his seat. His mum had been free with money. Only the best would do for her. Dozy cow. May she turn in her grave at what he was going to do to the house and with all her precious items.
"Okay, we have a game plan, let's get to it," Xander said, turning to leave, then stopped and said, "I'll pick you up here. I see you now have a phone, is it internal or can you accept outside lines?" he asked, pointing to the new phone on the desk. It was a typical office phone, with a body, a receiver, a cradle and many, many buttons.
"It only works here in the Ministry, but I can tell you it does save a lot of time," she said with a smile. A lot less paper airplanes. The office was much tidier without them. Not to mention the cost reduction. It was one of the selling points to get the Wizengamot to sign off on it.
"Yeah, okay, I'll give you my number for the 'house', and you can use a payphone to call me with a time," Xander said, taking a piece of parchment off her desk and grabbing a pen from the cup it was in with quills. He jotted down his number, how to use a payphone, and then warned her of his housemates. "If someone with a cockney accent answers, hang up and try again later."
"Oh, I'm intrigued."
"Don't be, he's just an asshole," he said, then nodded at Sirius to follow him out of the office. "See you Friday," was his goodbye shot.
"Damn him," Amelia grumbled as she noted that a good deal of Aurors were looking into her office. "Oh, get back to work, you busybodies," she huffed and closed the door with a flick of her wand.
Hpbtvshpbtvs
"So, tell me about this Wizengamot," Xander said, once they were in the non-magical world, by the phone box that led to the Ministry.
"It's a bunch of stuffy old people that think they run the world," was the gruff answer.
"That, while probably an apt description, tells me nothing," the one-eyed man said, adjusting his eye patch. While in the non-magical world he always dropped his wolf-eyes. He had forgotten once, and the scare he put into the kid that noticed was enough not to do it again.
"What can I tell you, I've never been a part of it and my dad stopped training me to be the Head of House when I was thirteen. It's one of the reasons I left. That and my parents, especially my mum, were pureblood fanatics. So, all I know is that they are the legal body of the Ministry," he said, looking ahead and seeing people stop to stare at him. "We'd better go, I don't think the muggles know I'm innocent."
"Yeah, hold on," with that he grabbed Sirius and drug him to the nearest alley. Then he Winked them to the Leaky Cauldron. "Here you go," he said, waving at Tom the barman. "Are you okay here, or did you want to come back to Hogwarts for a few days? Let this all settle down a bit."
Sirius looked warily around and saw that a lot more people here were scared of him. He sighed, and then squared his shoulders. "I'll go to the bank and see if I can't get into my old house or something," he said, pulling on his Gryffindor courage.
"Here, let me come with you and I'll just Wink us back. I am King of the Goblins, you know." He preened a bit at that.
"No, I didn't know that." Sirius gave him a confused look, like he couldn't believe a human was the King of the Goblins.
"Well, I am," Xander pouted.
"Let's just go, before they form a mob," the dogman said, not liking how many were eyeballing them.
"He's innocent," Xander said loudly to everyone in the bar. "I just came back from talking to Amelia Bones. Black is innocent. Do you really think, I, the Boy-Who-Lived's guardian, would walk with the man who supposedly killed Harry's parents? You are all stupid, if you think that," he added, huffing at the looks on everyone's face.
Many had the audacity to glare at him, but others looked down in shame. They did know that Xander would never put his charge in danger. The stories about Quirrell and the basilisk were enough to prove that.
"Come on," Sirius said, pulling on Xander's sleeve. He didn't really care what they thought. He just didn't want some moron trying to do a citizen's arrest.
The time at the bank was long and tiresome. There was so much documentation for both men to get through. Xander because he was the king that was never there, and Sirius because his mum was an idiot. Still, they got it all done before night fell.
"Come on, you can stay in the attic for a few days," Xander said to the tired man, whose feet were dragging.
"Thanks, I'd like that. Then I can see Harry," Sirius said, perking up a bit.
"And Remus," Xander reminded him. "Oh, there is one thing you should know before you see Remus. I'm also Alpha of the Werewolves. I'm a Conri."
"Really? I've always wanted to meet one. I read about them when I found out about Remus," Sirius said excited. "We did a lot of research on how to help him."
"Well, I'm helping him now," Xander said, a proud, smug grin on his face.
"You can shift at any time, right?" the hyped-up man said, almost bouncing at the fact that he was meeting a myth.
"Yeah, and I'm huge. Speaking of which, Harry is also an Animagus. He's a dragon. He's bigger than I am," the wolf-eyed man said as an afterthought.
"He's only thirteen," protested the godfather.
"He was twelve when it happened," the boy's dad said, puffing out his chest like proud fathers everywhere.
"Bloody hell, and a magical animal at that."
"Yeah, magic goes weird around me. Are you ready to get back, we look shifty standing in front of the bank?" Xander said with a laugh, knowing that the goblins would find it funny.
"Sure… Wink away," he said, not sure of the word.
"Hold tight," Xander said, and the next minute they were at the 'house'. They were greeted by the sight of Joyce and the kids doing homework with snacks and juice. Sal was watching something on TV, with his brother Rick joining him. Spike wasn't there, thank goodness.
"You've met Sal, the other two adults are Rick and Joyce," Xander said, pointing to each person as he named them. "Joyce is the embodiment of Hogwarts, and Rick is the Sorting Hat, also known as Godric Gryffindor, Sal is really the Salazar Slytherin, I'll tell you about that later. The kids are Harry, Neville, Hermione and Luna. Guys, this is Sirius Black."
"Pleasure to meet you," Sirius said, bowing his head a tiny bit to the adults. He did wonder about the story with all the adults, but he was more eager to meet his godson. "Harry, I've not seen you since you were a babe in my arms. I'm your godfather," he choked out, his eyes shiny with tears. He could still hear Hagrid saying he was ordered to take Harry to Petunia's. He felt he should've stayed or fought harder to keep Harry. It had plagued his entire incarceration.
"Mr. Black," Harry said with a bob of his head, though he moved to stand behind Joyce. "I've heard of you," he added, there was a hint of fear in his voice.
"Lies, all of it. I promise I never would have hurt you or your parents. James and I were best mates," the dogman said with great earnest. The tears dried up, but there was still great sadness in those eyes.
Just then there was a knock on the door, which made Harry flinch a small bit. He was getting much better. He could now stay around strangers, but only if there were adults that he knew around.
Xander went to answer it and returned with Remus. "Remus, you know Sirius," he said waving a hand at the man.
"Remus!" Sirius exclaimed and went to hug his friend. He'd get Harry to trust him soon, and Remus might just help with that. After all, the man was one of Harry's teachers.
"Sirius?" the werewolf questioned, as if this was the last person he expected to see in this place. "How are you here?" he asked, baffled, yet returning the hug.
"I was the one who found the rat," Xander explained, nodding to Sirius to take up the story.
"Xander found me in my dog form the other night. He questioned me and he has a map. He saw Peter in the Gryffindor boys' dorm. He captured him and called the Aurors. The next day I'm a free man," came the simplified explanation. He let the man go but stayed by his side. Remus was the only person he knew in this house.
"I heard the announcement this morning. I just didn't know you were here. How long have you been here?" Remus asked, finding a chair, and sitting in it before he fell over. Sirius stood behind the chair, as to not frighten the kids.
"Only the night and part of the day. Xander, here, says I can stay a couple of days. But then I have to find my own place. I wanted to meet Harry and see you again, so I agreed," Sirius said, he put his hands on the back of the chair. He was tired and wanted to sit, but there really were no more seats.
The kids all moved to the open side of the coffee table; homework forgotten now that there were adults to pay attention to.
"Harry, I see you're in Gryffindor. How do you like it?" Sirius asked, trying to start a conversation with his godson.
"I like it fine. I'm on the Quidditch team," Harry said, sitting tall and looking his godfather in the face. Just like Xander said he should. He was just grateful that the man hadn't hugged him. He still hated hugs from strangers.
"He's one of the best Seekers I've ever seen play," Remus added, smiling at the shy boy.
"Your dad was a good Chaser," Sirius stated, beaming a proud smile at his godson.
"I know, Hermione told me. She showed me his metal," Harry said, trying not to dip his head when he talked.
They talked awkwardly for a few more minutes, then Joyce shooed the kids to the dining room to finish their homework.
"You have to understand something," she said, when she returned, with cocoa for everyone and a bag of marshmallows just in case. She cast a spell at the doorway so they could hear the kids, but the kids couldn't hear them. "Harry had a rough childhood. Don't worry, the Dursleys are guest of Her Majesty's. They will be away for a long time." Those people would be away for years, and they had the custody of their son taken away for a different form of abuse. The aunt was found to not be a good candidate for Dudley, and he was put in the system.
"Back to Harry. Sirius, I know you had a crappy childhood. From what Remus told me and you've hinted at, you ran away as a teen. Let me say that Harry's childhood was far worse," Xander said, looking sadly towards the kitchen.
"How bad are we talking?" Sirius asked, taking a seat on the floor where the kids had sat, and picking up one of the cups, and adding marshmallows.
"He is agoraphobic," Xander said, then added for all the blank faces. "He is scared of open places and crowds. Afraid of people, and everything really. He's slowly coming out of it, but it still rules his life."
"Yes, he is getting better," offered Joyce, crossing her legs now that she was seated.
"Wow, what would cause that?" the dogman asked, sipping his cocoa.
"In his case, being forced to sleep in a cupboard. That was his punishment too. If something happened that they didn't like, they shoved him in the boot closet under the stairs. He is so used to such a small place that everywhere else is scary," Xander explained, his face taking on an angry expression.
"You say they've been taken care of?" was the angry question.
"Yes, you don't have to worry about them. They were arrested and tried. They are in prison for a while. I almost pity them. Prisoners don't take kindly to child abusers," Xander said, making everyone grin vindictively.
"So, your Godric Gryffindor?" Sirius asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Yes, and this is my best friend Salazar Slytherin," the man in the hat said, pointing to the man in green.
"I thought…" was as far as he got when he was interrupted.
"None of that stuff is true," Joyce said, a bite in her tone. "I should know, I was their mother. Well, foster mother."
"You will always be mum," Sal said smoothly.
"Yeah, Mum, we love you," Rick stated firmly.
"And I love you both," she said sweetly. "It just gets me so mad," she added, balling her fist.
"We know," said the three men who called her mum/mom. Well, Xander still called her Joyce, but it was the thought that counts.
"I'd like to hear that story, but not when I'm this tired. I don't think I can appreciate it right now," Sirius said, draining the last of his cocoa. He gave a huge yawn and wondered when it would be a polite time to leave for the attic.
"Moving on," Xander said, looking at Sal, "Amelia said something to me and Black, she wants us to take up our seats. Well, you, Sal, and Sirius, for me she wants me to take up Harry's. Something about being neutral," he added, weighing the looks he was getting.
"Neutral?" was Sal's question.
"You know as opposed to Light and Dark," the wolf-eyed man said, holding his hands out like a balancing scale and moving them up and down.
"These are the factions now?" Sal asked confused.
"As far as I know," Xander answered, looking to Sirius to explain.
"The Dark are made up of purebloods, the Neutral are made up of mostly half-bloods and a good deal of purebloods that don't like the other factions. The Light is mostly purebloods that hate the Dark faction. They are all about abolishing anything that can be considered harmful, which to them is anything Dark," Sirius said, explaining as well as he could.
"But all dark is not evil," Rick protested.
"You can't tell the Light that," Remus stated, shrugging his shoulders, and looking to his best friend.
"Why Neutral, and not Dark?" Sal wanted to know.
"The Dark want Voldemort back. They want to subjugate the muggleborn," Sirius said, rubbing his goatee. "While the Neutral want to keep us isolated, they don't want to kick out the muggleborn."
"I noted that you didn't mention any muggleborn on the factions, they are already subjugated," Xander pointed out.
"In a way, I guess," Sirius said, once again shrugging. "I never really thought about it that way."
"So let me get this straight, your Wizengamot, like the House of Lords, is made up of only purebloods, with the occasional half-blood?" Xander asked, a small glare was on his face, but pointed at no one. "Not a single muggleborn?"
"Yes, and good luck getting them represented," Sirius said, folding his arms over his chest. "I had this argument with Lily, she was just as upset. It's one of the reasons James didn't take up the lordship before they went into hiding. I found out later that she had wanted him to, to see if he could change it. You can't. We're talking about hundreds of years of tradition."
"So, if we do this and go with Neutral, we might be able to represent the muggleborn?" Xander asked, looking at the other two who would join that group of grumpy old people.
"Traditionally the Blacks are as dark as our name, but I can see myself as neutral," Sirius said, looking to Sal.
"History has my family as dark, if not darker, than the Blacks," Sal said, then got a wicked grin on his face. "Neutral works for me," he added, getting a clap on the back from Rick. "I am confused as to why I would have a seat on this Wizengamot. It wasn't around when I was alive."
"All the founders have honorary seats," Joyce explained, crossing her legs and leaning back on her chair. "They gave your descendants seats when the Wizengamot was formed. They just never expected anyone to take them. I know Albus had tried to get the votes turned over to the headmaster of the school. He wasn't the first, but he came the closest to getting them. Now that you are here, you can take up yours, and if we can find proof, Xander can take up Ricks." She was thinking hard on what could be used as proof for that.
"Oh, well I guess that makes sense that is not," Sal said, taking up Xander's way of speaking. "But if I have to, I will."
"I'll have to talk to Harry, but I think he'll agree with us on the neutral stance," Xander said, getting up to grab a drink now that that talk was over. "Anyone want anything?" he asked, heading to the kitchen.
There were a chorus of no's and one butterbeer.
He got to the kitchen and the children were playing some kind of game on paper. "Neville is your family on the Wizengamot?" he asked, heading to the fridge.
"My gran is holding my place," he said, marking something on the paper.
"What faction?"
"Light, though she doesn't really agree with them. Our family has always been Light," the chubby boy said, with a shrug, like it was unimportant.
"Do you think she'd mind talking to me?" Xander asked, putting a glass pitcher of lemonade on the table and four glasses.
"I don't think she'll mind as long as you're polite," Neville said, nodding thanks for the drink.
"Thanks, Xander/Dad," the other three said with Hermione grabbing the pitcher to pour.
"Okay, I'll write her and ask for a meeting," Xander said, grabbing his and Sal's butterbeer. "Neville's grandmother is on the Wizengamot. I'm going to talk to her," he said as he came back into the room. He handed Sal his drink and sat back down.
"Why? She's of the Light block," Sirius wanted to know.
"I'm going to see if I can sway her over to the Grey," Xander said, taking a sip of his own drink.
"Yeah, good luck with that," was all the dogman said, turning back to the TV, which had been turned back on. He had seen them before, though they were different, but he always found them fascinating.
Xander looked at the four wizards who were enthralled with the idiot box and shook his head. He let them be, knowing that it was all new to them. Tomorrow he'd start his political career.
Hpbtvshpbtvs
While Xander was starting his political career, Harry was teaching some teens the Patronus Charm. He managed to get all but Remus out of the 'house'. Xander said an adult had to be there, in case anything went wrong.
"It's your show, Harry," his pseudo uncle said, as he gently led the shy boy to the front of couches.
"Ummm, okay, to do the Patronus Charm you have to think of something good. It has to be a really good memory," Harry stated, looking at everyone to see if they were listening. On the couches were the other third year Gryffindors, sans Hermione, and the Wesley twins. That was all that Xander gave permission for. "I can't stress this enough, it has to be a happy memory," he added, seeing that most of the boys weren't paying attention.
"Like what?" Parvati asked, raising her hand like it was class.
"I use the day I was adopted," Harry said, his face breaking out in a huge smile.
"Oh, so like when I came to Hogwarts," she said, smiling at the memory.
"Or the first time your mum hugged you that you can remember," Lavender suggested, her face also alighted in a smile.
"Try thinking of many memories and then if one doesn't work try the next," Harry said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Once you have that firmly in your mind, the incantation is Expecto Patronum. Everyone, get up and try it," he ordered, getting into this teaching gig. "Don't worry if it doesn't work at first, or you only get a mist. It took me ages to get it right," he fibbed a bit. It had only taken him a few times, but Xander said he was special.
It took the rest of the afternoon, but they all got mist from the spell, which was good since most adults couldn't even do that. It was a happy bunch of kids that left that afternoon.
"You did well," Remus praised, a look of pride directed to Harry.
"Really, none of them got a solid one," the teen said, thinking they could have done better.
"Yes, you have a career in teaching if you want," the man said, rubbing his hand in Harry's hair.
"Leave off, will ya," Harry complained, but was swelling with pride at the man's words. "That or healing," he said with conviction.
"You can do both," was the suggestion.
"That would be great," Harry said, thinking of just how to accomplish that.
"You think on that. I have to go. Xander should be back soon," Remus said, moving to do just that.
"Bye, Remus," Harry said, then looked around to make sure he was alone, and then went to his room to work on his project. It could just change the world.