"I will contact the Black family lawyers, and Lord Black, alert them to the new situation." Grinder nodded. They had to get on top of this before it became public and the people turned into a lynch mob out for Sirius Black's blood. "We will handle the legalities."
"And I will get in touch with the Potter family lawyers, to handle the media surrounding the young Heir." Sharpaxe nodded. "Hmm... I think I will send some Curse-Breakers to the house in Godric's Hollow, as well, to check the wards." He muttered. He found it highly suspicious that Albus Dumbledore was in his office less then ten minutes after the Potters died, and how he seemed so sure that young Harry had survived when he hadn't even gone out to see for himself. For that matter, why did neither Lily or James use their emergency Port-keys? They would have deposited right here, in this office.
"Very well." Grinder nodded, and left. They both had work to do.
Arcturus Black, Lord of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, groaned in annoyance when whatever was shaking him, would not stop. "You better have a good reason for waking me up." He growled when he finally opened his eyes to see his Head-elf, Mattie. A glance at the time deepened his glare.
Mattie gulped, he knew how much his master liked his sleep. "I am sorry, sirs. There is an urgent letter from Gringotts for yous." Naturally when he saw it was marked urgent, he'd skimmed it to determine if it would be worth it to wake the master up for it, it obviously was. This could not wait for morning.
Arcturus looked at him before sighing and holding his hand out for it. He was surprised to find that it was actually a bundle of letters. Opening the one marked 'urgent' first, he had to read it over twice before it truly registered. Ripping open the others, he nodded at the standard notices for when a son of the House took up duties as a guardian for another child. He'd gotten a similar one when his grandson was named the boys godfather, now the Potters were dead, Sirius was naturally given custody.
But the Ministry having already convicted him without trial or even bringing him into custody to be questioned... well. That was not going to end well for them. He nodded in approval when he read that his account manager was already setting his lawyers on the case. In the meantime... he was going to head to the bank himself to see just what was happening.
He'd always found it simpler to get the information straight from the source instead of relying on letters.
"I'm here to see Grinder." He announced to a teller. Fortunately for the Goblin, he didn't hesitate to call a runner and send the Lord straight through. But then, all the tellers had orders that Lord Black was expected at some point. "Thank you." He barely remembered to say before following the younger looking Goblin.
"What's happening?" He asked, not bothering with pleasantries.
"The Dark Lord was defeated tonight. Heir Harry Potter is being credited and lauded for it, despite his young age. Heir Sirius Black brought the child straight here from the ruins of the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow. Barely two hours after he arrived, after all the paperwork had been taken care of, a Ministry official barged into the bank demanding we freeze all his accounts." Grinder started informing the human immediately, barely looking up from the paperwork in front of him. It was all legal documents pertaining to what he was talking about, anyway. "Of course, we cannot do that without a conviction notice and trial transcripts, so we sent him off. No trial has taken place, of course, since Heir Black was here the entire time..." He finally looked up.
"Convicted of what?" He demanded, eyes narrowed. The Dark Lord was defeated? He didn't know how to feel about that.
"Being a Death Eater, accessory to the Potters murder as their Secret Keeper. Kidnapping the Potter Heir, also known as the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Where is Sirius now?" He asked after a few moments of mental cursing. Sirius didn't half get himself into a situation, did he? Well, it was nothing their lawyers couldn't sort out, of course, but still. There was, however, no doubt in his mind that Sirius was innocent. The boy had been far too outspoken against Voldemort and his followers to ever have joined the Death Eaters. He'd heard enough about it from Walburga to know that for a fact.
"Asleep in one of the recovery rooms for the rituals." Grinder said promptly. They were going to advise that Sirius let the lawyers handle everything for as long as the Ministry treated him as though he'd already been tried and convicted. If somebody came back to question him on events, then of course he was free to answer questions, but nobody was being arrested on Goblin soil.
"I wish to see him." Arcturus announced, looking at the Goblin expectantly.
Grinder raised an eyebrow, but got up to lead him there. "If you wake them, you can handle Healer Narg." He warned.
Arcturus snorted, knowing better then to get on the bad side of anybody bearing the title 'Healer', no matter their species. Stopping by a door, Grinder slowly opened the door and poked his head in before opening it further and stepping inside. Arcturus eyed his grandson before focusing on the child for the moment, running a finger down his cheek, smiling slightly when the boy reached for his finger in his sleep. Only then did he turn to his grandson. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sirius didn't even twitch, he was so exhausted.
He was still in his Auror robes at that, he must have just come off a shift before going to the Potter's and finding them dead.
"Mattie." He whispered, and the elf in question popped silently into the room. "Get Sirius a change of clothes for when he wakes up, and stay with them." He instructed quietly. The elf nodded his agreement and bowed silently before popping back out.
"We have already sent a team to the cottage. They will retrieve the child's travel bag." Grinder informed him when he stepped back out into the hallway. "Healer Narg said that familiarity will help keep the boy calm, help ease the transition." So, his own clothes, there should be a few toys in there for him as well. Sirius, of course, his presence would help greatly.
Arcturus made a noise of agreement. Whenever he and his family traveled when his children were younger, they always clung to a favorite toy for a few days until they adapted to their new surroundings, and then they were curious about what was around them. Sirius himself hadn't been that way, he'd just been curious about anything and everything around him, something Walburga had hated, she thought it was unseemly for a Pureblood heir for some reason. "He is not going to be happy when time passes and his parents do not come." He said quietly.
"No. But he will adapt, and Heir Black will do what he can for the boy." Grinder shook his head.
"I best get to the Ministry." Arcturus finally said, and was led back to the main area, where he nodded respectfully to his account manager and left.
Corbin Yaxley sighed and shook his head. "And I am telling you that you are not arresting my client on such flimsy charges." He said again.
"He kidnapped Harry Potter before the boy could be taken to safety. He told You-Know-Who where to find the Potter's in the first place, he's clearly a Death Eater." The Auror said stubbornly.
"On what proof?" Arcturus demanded, coming up behind them.
"Lord Black." Corbin said respectfully, nodding to his client. He should have known he would show up sooner or later. "Evidently Albus Dumbledore has informed them that Heir Sirius Black was the Potter's Secret Keeper." And that, as far as the Aurors were concerned, was all the proof they needed.
"And the Headmaster's proof of the matter? Memories of the spell being cast? Memories of my Heir telling him the Secret?" He demanded.
"Headmaster Dumbledore said-"
"Last I checked, the Headmaster's word is not law. Now. Do you have any kind of evidence of these accusations, or are you going to continue convicting a man without trial or even letting him defend himself?" Lord Black demanded.
"Continue on this course of action, and I will file lawsuits against the Ministry of Magic for harassment, and I will ensure you are investigated for abuse of authority and willful negligence in the course of doing your job." Corbin cut in smoothly.
"We have another witness." Another Auror came forward. "Peter Pettigrew has just informed us that Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper." He smirked, thinking he had them now.
"For all we know, Peter Pettigrew was the real Secret Keeper and is attempting to frame my Heir for his deeds." Lord Black drawled, picking non-existent lint off his robes. "Have you even attempted to verify his claims, or did you just take his word for it, as well?"
"He is James Potter's best friend, what need would he have to lie?" The first Auror asked, exasperated now with the two men in front of him.
Corbin raised an eyebrow. "The position of 'best friend' fell to Heir Black, I believe. So much so that Heir Black was named the godfather for James Potter's only son and heir." He reminded the Aurors in front of him.
"Yes, about the child. When will he be returned to his guardian?" The second Auror asked imperiously, raising an eyebrow. "If the boy is returned unharmed by morning, we will drop the kidnapping charges." He tried to bargain.
"Those charges are even more bogus then the treason! He is the child's godfather! Paperwork has already been filed naming Heir Black the guardian for Heir Harry Potter. I don't know who has been claiming guardianship of the boy, but they have clearly been lying." Corbin dismissed. Oh, he knew full well who was claiming to be the boys guardian, that meddling old coot of a Headmaster. "In fact, if they do not stop trying to claim guardianship, I am going to have to demand that they be charged with attempted kidnapping."
Lord Black merely crossed his arms and stared at the two Aurors impassively.
Said Aurors looked at each other, knowing that they weren't going to get anywhere near Sirius Black, not with these two in front of them.
Corbin mentally sighed, knowing that to truly put all this behind him, Sirius was going to have to be questioned, especially with both Peter Pettigrew and Albus Dumbledore claiming themselves as witnesses to the fact Sirius was the Secret Keeper, but he was reluctant to let Sirius come anywhere near the Ministry. Not when he had young Harry to care for, or with how these Aurors seemed determined to be judge, jury, and executioner right now. "Eleven o'clock this morning. That is when you can meet me at Gringotts to question Heir Black about events tonight, but it will be under mine and the Black account manager's supervision, and it will be under Veritaserum." He threw out, eyes narrowed, daring them to not take the deal he was offering.
"He is not coming here." Lord Black interjected when it was clear that the Aurors were going to protest. "Clearly it is not safe for him." The Aurors scowled, but reluctantly agreed.
"Have a good evening, gentlemen." Corbin dismissed, and turned to follow Lord Black when he swept from the room. "I'd been arguing with them for ten minutes. They are determined that Sirius is guilty, I bet anything they don't care if he actually is or not. They just see his family name, forget about the fact that he is one of their most skilled Hit-wizards." He said quietly.
Lord Black hummed. "The words and actions of some of my House have not helped." He said mildly. His niece/daughter-in-law hadn't exactly been quiet in her support for the Dark Lord, and his granddaughter and her husband hadn't been subtle about their allegiance, either. The rest of the Blacks hadn't really spoken up to try and dispute what those two said or did, which everybody took to mean agreement, even if that wasn't necessarily the case.
Speaking of Walburga and Orion, he should probably go speak with them... ugh. Just what he didn't want to do.
"What do you think you are doing?" Crouch demanded when he arrived on scene. The Auror's had returned to the office earlier then expected, and informed Crouch that a team of Goblins and Curse-breakers had kicked them off as soon as they got all the information they could from the scene, the only one allowed to stay was the Unspeakable who had arrived shortly after they had.
"Our jobs." The Goblin in charge, Bloodaxe, said dryly.
"This is a crime scene!" Crouch yelled at the beast, barely withholding a sneer. "Clear out now before I have you in contempt of the treaty!" He was already thinking about claiming this home as a memorial, something else to give the people something to look up to, a distraction from the fact that it wasn't the Ministry that finally ended that mad-man's reign of terror.
"This is a private home. Your Aurors have completed their scans and gathered all the evidence they needed. The Potter Account Manager has ordered a complete ward check, and that the valuables be removed to the vaults before the home is placed in stasis until the young Potter Heir or his guardian decide what to do with it." The Goblin informed him dryly. "As per the contract between Account Manager Sharpaxe and the Potter Family, he is well within his rights to do whatever is necessary for the Family." That even included acting as parent in absentia for any Potter children in case of emergency.
A mark of high esteem on the part of the wizards, for sure.
Danielle Bones sighed and shook her head. She'd been arguing with the editors of the Daily Prophet for the last hour, reminding them almost every other word of the laws surrounding printing about minors without permission.
In the end, she'd taken the statement they'd already prepared, read it, and deliberately crossed out every mention of Harry Potter, and completely rewrote other parts of it. Boy-Who-Lived, indeed.
Honestly, they were jumping ahead quite a bit by proclaiming the Dark Lord Voldemort to have been defeated, and by a one year child at that.
No, she made sure it was a simple, modest statement that the Dark Lord attacked the Potters, the young Heir survived, and the Dark Lord's robes were found next to a pile of ashes, with his wand. However, until a death certificate was released by Gringotts, she asked that the public remain vigilant and not jump to conclusions.
Sharpaxe had given her a statement for the paper, and she made sure that it was going to be printed alongside the statement about the Potters. As for everything with Sirius Black, she refused to allow that rubbish they'd planned on printing be put out in the public.
Honestly, they were making out like he'd confessed to everything under Veritaserum and was the Dark Lord's right-hand all this time.
None of that happened if he was currently in Gringotts, and according to Sharpaxe, had been since roughly an hour and a half after the Potter's died.
"If this statement is changed in any way, you will find yourself under so many lawsuits, you will be lucky not to end up in the streets begging for scraps!" She finally warned before she left, taking a copy of the statements with her to double check that they had not, indeed, been changed back to that rubbish that they used to be. Well, that was the Daily Prophet covered for now, she sighed and apparated to the house in Godric's Hollow, where she'd been informed there might be trouble from the Auror's when the Gringotts contingent arrived. After making sure everything was alright over there, she had to go visit the other publications in Britain, and even the British offices for the international news agencies.
Something this big couldn't be guaranteed with a simple letter, after all. It been quite the argument at the Prophet, after all. She couldn't be sure that her letter wouldn't be 'lost' and they would print whatever they wanted to, anyway. Thankfully there weren't that many news agencies in Britain, the Daily Prophet was their main one, after all, and the rest were mostly professional or sport magazine's, or Witch Weekly, which was more targeted at teenage girls, anyway.
She sighed. This was going to be a long night.
"That boy is a disgrace! A disappointment! How dare he take custody of that halfbreed mongrel! As if that halfbreed could ever defeat our Lord like that!" She scoffed, interrupting her rant about her oldest son just long enough.
"Enough!" Arcturus finally thundered, having had enough of her voice and opinions. "You are not to leave this house! You are hereby banished here, and will live the rest of your life unable to leave unless I say otherwise!" He declared, and magically banished her to her room while absently adjusting the wards of the building to keep her in.
Then he turned to his son, who'd been sitting quietly while his wife ranted and raved about his oldest son. "Do you have anything to say?" He asked dangerously. He knew that Orion didn't share his wife's opinions on Sirius, but he'd never made much of an effort to rein her in. His son adored both his boys, but he was so determined to spend as little time as possible with Walburga that he didn't spend much time with his sons, either. He didn't spend much time at home because Walburga was there. Arcturus was disappointed in his son. He could understand not wanting to spend time at home with that harpy, but why did that mean leaving his sons behind to suffer her attentions alone?
He fully blamed Walburga and her obsession with the fake Dark Lord for whatever happened to Regulus. His son shared equal blame in leaving his sons to her not-so tender mercies.
"Is my son alright?" He asked quietly.
Arcturus studied him. "Physically, he's fine. Mentally... I think young Harry is the only thing holding him together right now. I don't know, we'll see how he is when he wakes up and it starts to truly sink in." He finally said. "The Ministry is trying to crucify him as the traitor who gave the Potter's up to that pretender." The distaste in his voice was obvious. He'd never thought much of the Dark Lord, and never hid that opinion. Which was probably why Walburga didn't come around Black Manor if she could get out of it or let Sirius and Regulus spend much time with their grandfather.
"I want to go see him." Orion said after a moment, staring at his father.
"I will mention it. But that has to be his choice." Arcturus sighed. "He's sleeping at Gringotts right now, the lawyers are going to deal with the current legal issues. Yaxley is going to be there tomorrow when they question him on the events of last night and his involvement in them."
"They're really accusing him of being a Death Eater? One of the finest young Auror's of his generation?" Orion scoffed at that. And somebody who was quite outspoken against the Death Eaters. He'd been so proud when he got the news of his son's graduation from the Auror academy, and had followed his career extensively.
"Worse. They're accusing him of being the one to betray James Potters location to Voldemort."
"As if Siri could ever do anything to harm that Potter boy." Orion actually rolled his eyes this time, to Arcturus' amusement. "And to take away his godson's parents!"
"Indeed." Arcturus muttered. "I will return to Gringotts and speak with Grinder again. I know Manager Sharpaxe is working to ensure the Potter House matters are dealt with properly for the child, and I believe Sharpaxe has set the family lawyers on the media."
"Let Sirius know that I wish to speak with him?" Orion requested of his father again.
Arcturus gave him a searching look. "I will leave the message." He finally said before taking his leave. He needed to stop by Gringotts one last time before calling the Wizengamot together. He needed to get ahead of this. His lawyers were already on the case to keep Sirius safe, the Potter child's lawyers were doing everything they could to keep the child's name from being plastered all over the papers, and the goblins were ensuring everything was in order with the boy's estate and inheritance.
He would handle everything in the political arena.
