Chapter 19
Please.
11:56 pm 1st September, Gryffindor 3rd year Boys Dormitory, Hogwarts.
Ron was lying on his bed contemplating his family's current situation, last year when Hermione and Tracey had been Petrified it had been a sombre realization that life can take quite dangerous turns at any time with no prior warning, and it was further reinforced when Ginny had been taken into the chamber by the Heir.
On the topic of Ginny, he had been trying to help her however he could, but she had shut herself in, sure she smiled and interacted with them, but she wasn't the same, it was quite clear given how she acted now, she wouldn't look into mirrors, wouldn't meet anyone's eye, and though those mind healers helped, and there was almost like a second wind to her ever since soon after they returned home, but she just wasn't the same outspoken girl that she used to be.
Then there were the other girls, Hermione and Tracey had been quite traumatized by their experience too, Tracey at first was quite venomously snappy, and less of her usual smooth snark, she clung to Daphne quite visibly and absolutely refused to be alone anywhere, though over vacation that seemed to have mellowed out, she wasn't jumpy anymore and was starting to act more like herself now but she wasn't going to be the same, ever. There was always going to be knowledge that someone could try to kill her for something as insane as not being a pureblood.
Hermione on the other hand, had taken a dive in the books, consequently cutting herself from people, she had started reading not only defensive magic but also offensive, some had blown up in her face, quite literally, when she tried practicing them, and then only after Professor Mcgonagall intervened, did she start laying down, it took some time and not a little coaxing from all to get her to start talking to everyone, but the wariness in her eyes couldn't be hidden.
On their way to the school Neville had talked to them about starting a practice course for themselves, learning how to defend themselves - or others - if they ever needed to, and he even had a whole plan drafted together by Susan's aunt, The Mad Eye Moody, and his grandmother. Of course they were all aboard instantly.
So now from tomorrow they are going to try to make sure they aren't weak anymore.
Despite all this his emotions were turbulent at best, unable to sleep he got up in his bed and saw that everyone else was asleep, feeling somewhat grateful for this he went out and soon snuck out of the gryffindor tower and started wandering wherever his feet took him.
Soon he was standing in the gargoyle corridor staring at the beautiful night sky adorned with all the stars, all of a he heard a familiar voice, "a beautiful sight isn't it?"
He turned to the source of the voice, Headmaster Dumbledore, dressed in a baby blue cloak ensemble with a nightcap donning his signature half moon glasses, turning back to the celestial view he replied, "yeah, it must be nice being a star, not having to worry about anything, no homework either." he ended with a chuckle.
After a small chuckle of his own, Dumbledore continued, "ah yes, the bane of every student, homework, causes them more worry than at all necessary, but Ronald, correct me if I am wrong it is not what has you here after your curfew, so what is?"
"It's ….. Nothing, just stupid, nothing," he mumbled in reply.
Dumbledore turned to him and raised both of his eyebrows, and then continued, "Maybe it is stupid, as you say, but if it is keeping you awake at night then it cannot be nothing, and Ronald between you and me, half the things that keep me up at night are stupid too."
Ron looked into the eyes of the ancient wizard who in his opinion was the smartest man he knew… also a tad bit barmy, but still the smartest, then began "I'm not like them, Neville and the girls wants to start a self study group for us so that if - more like when - we ever get in a dangerous situation again we'll be able to do something and not be sitting ducks, but unlike them I'm not smart enough nor good enough, and a part of me is scared that they'll leave me when they realize this, but the other part of me that knows that they aren't like that and when the time comes my stupidity will get them hurt or wor.." his voice which had been started to get lower choked unable to finish the thought.
The two wizards once ayes gain met their eyes and Dumbeldore could see how much pain Ron was in, the unshed tears brimming just around the corner of the young boy's eyes, giving him a small nod he took the young man in an embrace and then began, "Ronald, you are different from your friends, yes maybe you aren't as academically inclined as your friends but you have a better mind for strategies than rest of your friends combined, as professor Flitwick can attest to" at this both of them chuckled.
"And as far as your magical strength is concerned you are just 13 even the Founders or Merlin at 13 weren't mages of legend but simply children trying to find their place in the world, and just like them you too will find yours one day" he continued.
"But you were.." Ron countered.
"Yes, I was, and that is why I made mistakes that had disastrous consequences, unlike my good friend, Newt Scamander - whom I am very sure you know about given Charles's fascination with him - who was and very much still is like you, nor academically inclined nor extraordinarily gifted in magical arts but his way of thinking was very much unconventional and he could do things I only dreamt of."
Now Ron started to sob, shedding the tears he had held back all this while, and all Dumbledore did was hug him a little tighter and pat him on the back as the boy lightened his heart.
Soon Dumbledore escorted him back to the dorms, all the while all the wizened headmaster could think of was the difference between him and the young man he was escorting and all he could marvel was at how foolish he was, drunk on his arrogance, despite being a so called genius and how wise the boy is, despite being bogged down by his insecurities, even when he was called an average student.
At that moment Dumbledore felt a burst of pride that made him bitterly understand why Tina Scamander was not exactly fond of him, and what Nicholas and Perenelle had meant when they had taught him that divination was a wooly subject at best.
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07:56 pm 2nd September, Abandoned Classroom, Hogwarts.
"Shite" exclaimed Ginny loudly as she nearly slipped yet continued to rush, ever since the chamber incident everyone had been breathing down her neck, she understood perfectly that they were just worried and were trying to look out for her, but now they were simply being overbearing, not to mention their tiptoeing about her whole issue was starting to grate on her nerves, she wasn't made of porcelain dammit!
Her feet and thoughts came to a sudden halt as she reached her destination, an abandoned classroom on near the door to courtyard exit of the ground floor, to the best everyone's knowledge it wasn't an ideal spot for doing anything clandestine, not only because of how obvious it would be but also because the bat of the dungeon was known to frequently patrol this area, and no thrill was worth being caught by him.
But she was not everyone, and she knew things others did not, there was a specific painting in this room which was nothing more than a canvas devoid of everything except a red color that was spread throughout the view, it was something odd given how spectacular all the other paintings are but no one ever questioned it simply because it has always been there, harmlessly sitting over there.
What others did not know was that there was a way to enter the painting, it required a small spell along with a blood sacrifice - not much just a drop - it served as an entrance fee and also an assurance that those who enter the painting would be unable to harm the painting, in exchange they would be protected from the outer elements, not all but still better than nothing.
Yet that was not what made this painting special while awe inspiring these elements were just an addendum to the actual prowess of the piece of art which was much more than that, it's main purpose was to provide a space to practice any kind of magical art without worrying about hurting anyone or being detected, anyone who hadn't paid the bloodprice would be unable to detect the ongoings of the portrait and it would appear unchanged to them.
And a final piece of It's complex protections was the fact that the blood protections of any random person would be useless only those who were the heirs of the founders could permit people to present their price and seek entrance, just like she was here today.
So as soon as she had entered the room, she closed the door behind her, not bothering to latch it as that would raise suspicions needlessly, she beelined straight towards the portrait, taking out her wand she placed it onto her palm and made a small cut coating the tip in blood, she placed the wand on the portrait and intoned "cruthaich mar a bhruidhneas mi"
And without any usual lightshow or sound she was sucked into the fabled portrait, just as her master had told her.
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06:42 am 3rd October, Mcgonagall's Office, Hogwarts.
The past month had been stressful to say the least, the dementors were causing not a little problem, Minerva rued as she took a sip of her favorite tea, she cursed Fudge and his toad for being utter morons, she still couldn't believe those good for nothing idiots thought it was a brilliant idea to place these monsters near children!
As it happened exposure to dementors was a highly distressing affair even for highly trained adults, but after the events of last year all the petrification victims would lose consciousness as soon as they would come near the blasted demons, though thankfully for some reason young Ginerva was more or less unaffected by them, small mercies, it would have been horrible for the poor girl to have to relive any part of what had happened last year.
Though they had noted that the dementors were unlikely to come near her, it was almost as if they were repelled by her, Albus theorised that he-who-must-not-be-named did something to her, 'some kind of ritual which must have caused the dementors to be wary of her, at least as a side effect, because while the dementors didn't bother the young girl they also didn't fear her' whatever that meant, at least that was one less hole in the boat to worry about, and thankfully the girl had been keeping in touch with her mind healers under Poppy's supervision - who was very happy with the girl's progress - so now all they could do was support her however she needed.
Albus had brought in both Filius and Pomona into confidence and instructed all four of them to keep an eye on Ginny, nothing too severe but enough to observe for any lingering influence, any change in behaviour that would appear to be unhealthy if not outright suspicious, and though compared to last year there were quite a lot of changes in her, like how her academic performance went up, last year her scores were usually just about average, not too academically bright but not worrisome either, but this year her performance thus had had been nothing short of brilliant, quite like William's, her theory was good but her application was nearly perfect.
She sent a silent prayer to any higher power who was listening, to help them through their hardships and for Fudge and his ilk to get their penance.
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01:13 am 13th October, Golden Apartments, Brazil.
Perenelle Flamel was dreaming, it was one dream that she had wished all her life to come true, having a child, her and Nicholas's child, one they would raise with all the love they had in them and then some, but then she was startled out of her dream as she heard a loud crash, she sighed once and got off her bed and went to the source of the sound, which was her husband's study, such crashes even at late night were not a new thing in her home, by a long shot, in fact it had been quite some time since this had happened.
However as she reached the study, she didn't found the expected ground zero of a failed alchemical experiment, but something much worse, NIcholas unconscious on ground spasming as he bled from his mouth and nose, she immediately removed the wand in the pocket of her nightgown and froze him in position using a medical variant of the full body bind then vanished the blood that was coating his face, after which she started running all the diagnostic spells she could remember on the top of her head, she detected that he had a small rupture in the nasal cavity and seemingly bit his tongue, mending that she kept up with her diagnostics but couldn't find anything wrong, as such all she could do was place him on their bed and wait.
After a short 15 minutes she saw a small ball of fire erupt on her porch, without thinking much she made her way towards that flame and was soon greeted by one of the three young men she considered her son in all but blood, Albus, as soon as she reached to him he all but pulled her in an embrace, as soon as they parted she filled him on all the details she knew, and then they both took seat near by his bed.
As soon as he had been appropriately settled in the bed she wrote a handful of short notes to all of their family members, calling her house elf Vino she asked the tiny being to deliver them, at least all those who needed to be informed in a situation like this.
"Has anything like this happened before?" he began.
"Once, during 1752, he saw into a ritual that took place at the current day Bangladesh and lost consciousness for two days, he hadn't been able to grasp much, all he saw was a few wizards gathered in a circle with two men lying down in the middle of the circle, three weeks later we heard from a friend of ours about a group of men trying to transfer one man's soul into another's body, suffice to say the experiment did not end well, out of curiosity Nick asked for a memory to view if possible, and when he did receive one, upon viewing it he found out that they were the very men he had seen within his vision"
Dumbledore's eyebrows rose but he didn't verbally reply, slowly he started to run his hand in his beard, something he did everytime he was contemplating some kind of academic hypothesis.
Perenelle heaved a sigh of resignation, and sent a silent prayer to grant her strength in order to deal with her husband and adopted son both of whom had a one track mind, then she sent a wandless stinging hex on Albus's hand which snapped him out of his thoughts and made him wince as he took in the deadpan look she was giving him, recognising that this was not the time for academic appreciation.
"Well…" he began, "so I suppose for now the best we can do is wait for him to observe him and wait for him to wake up on his own, I suppose it won't hurt to look into some of my rather unusual sources." he soon bid his farewell, hoping for the best.
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11:25 am 24th October, Library, Hogwarts.
Susan signalled to Daphne to set up her family privacy wards, and as soon as the blonde was done, she brought out a folder and began, "Okay, so at the start of this month I started researching about Black to learn about him, his patterns and thought process, so that if we have to fight him we won't be caught totally off guard."
For a moment Neville thought to ask her why would they ever have to fight off Black, then the troll from their first year, and then Dobby and the basilisk from last year flashed through his mind and mind and changed his line of thought, "That sounds like a good idea, but you could have told us, we would have loved to help."
"Well, it was kind of a pet project for myself, you know I want to become an auror like aunty when I graduate, not to mention I knew what to look for, when aunty used to bring work to home, sometimes I used to sneak peak into it, and it gave me nightmares, for a long long time, but anyways like I was saying, I went through his files and I found something, something weird, then when I joined all the pieces of I had it didn't piece a good picture, so I sent it to aunty, and well… look at it yourself and tell me what do you see, Hermione if you'll please."
Everyone had a confused look on their faces, nonetheless Hermione took the file from Susan and cast on it, "Geminio" and when she had enough copies for everyone she returned the original to Susan, and they silently started reading it.
Daphne being well versed in politics and laws was the first one to catch onto something, as her face morphed from confused to thoughtful and then shocked, Hermione and Neville were a close second, followed by Tracey and then lastly Ron, who for some reason had a horrified look on his face.
"Okay so from what I can get from this file is that Sirius Black never received a trial, which is bad, very bad….." she started muttering.
"Yeah, his guilt was never confirmed, not to mention, I mean from a subjective point of view I get what the aurors did but from an objective point of view the theory is sketchy at best, it's all circumstantial, enough for being detained for suspicion but not enough to be convicted for at all," Tracey continued.
"And there's a major missing piece in the evidence, Pettigrew's body, I mean, I know we're still students but I've never come across a spell that could destroy the whole body with no trace, I mean last week when we had professor Flitwick show us the blasting curse - which according to the aurors was the spell used by Black - the dummy he demonstrated on was demolished to dust but it was tangible, physical evidence that the spell hit something and it blew up," Hermione pointed out.
"There's also the fact that there's something in the story that's missing, some part that we can't quite grasp yet, I mean the story fits in a certain sense, especially to those who are looking at it too closely, like those times when I have to go to the events at the ministry people would talk to me and about me, about how they appreciated everything I apparently did but there is always something about these people that puts me on edge as if but there's something they're saying to me which I don't quite understand, just like that there's something that's missing here too, something I don't understand, the question is what," Neville supplied.
"Guys whether he's guilty or not, if this goes to trial again, and it gets out, it could potentially destroy our government and our families, Black by all rights could demand that the judiciary process which imprisoned him be held accountable for it, as such all the sitting members of the wizengamot will be forced to resign, and the ministry would have to go for an administrative overhaul, and to say the least it won't be some kind of reform but more like a free for all event where anyone could grab the power, or worse put a puppet, if they play their cards right," continued Daphne.
Tracey looked like she wanted to add something but then noticed Ron's face which had gone from horrified to absolutely sick, when everyone else followed her line of sight they too got worried, and Susan called him out "Ron, what's wrong?"
Ron looked around when he heard his name being called, and then he suddenly started hyperventilating, the next thing he knew was that he was being held tightly by someone who had blonde hair, and a familiar voice was calling out his name again and again, then he felt the cool sensation of cold water on his lips and he automatically started taking small sips from muscle memory, after a few seconds he saw all his friends around him, then he could focus again on the whole situation, Hermione called out to him, "Ron, what's wrong?"
Taking a deep breath he began, "Like Daphne said it doesn't matter if Black's innocent or not, none of the scenarios are good in any case, if he's innocent and sane, the government collapses people lose their jobs and lots of money that will be given to Black as compensation, if he's innocent and insane that money goes to his closest relatives…" he trailed off as his face started to turn red and he clenched his fists tightly.
Daphne was the first to catch onto where his train of thought was headed, and promptly she muttered, "morgana be damned gob shite! The Malfoys!"
"Yes, The Malfoys!" Ron snarled, "those bastards get a hold of more money to destroy more lives."
Everyone looked at him sympathetically, ever since last year Ron's hatred for anything related to Malfoy had skyrocketed and they had had to do their best from keeping ron from beating Malfoy Jr. to a pulp - not because they cared about the pompous little bastard, but because they promised Molly also because that could create problems for the Weasley family as a whole - so they waited for Ron to calm down knowing any kind of placentation on this topic would backfire easily.
"Again like Daphne said, doesn't matter if he's innocent, the moment it goes to court Black will win the case by default because he was never given the trial before his imprisonment, and in all scenarios the dark tosser and his pets get lots of advantages, it'd be a major win for them."
They sat for a few seconds digesting this and then Neville summed up all of this in two words, "Bloody Hell!"
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07:08 pm 31st October, Stonehenge, Wiltshire.
Auror trainee - Don't call me Nymphadora - Tonks swore under her breath as she slowly strode towards the centre of the historical site, this was above her pay grade, hell this was way above the DMLE's pay grade, this was some straight up some unspeakable shite, but being the only one even remotely capable of securing the site - at least a way better option than some civilian, muggle or magical - she rushed towards what could be potentially her first and last real case.
She had been patrolling this area as per her schedule, and it was boring like always - even more so as she hadn't even managed to find any random drunk idiot, and her partner/field mentor Shacklebolt was busy so she was all alone. Then all of a sudden she sensed a heavy magical disturbance from almost a kilometer away followed by a sudden storm and small quakes, the scale of all of these events caught her off guard and she fell on her butt, getting up she dusted herself and removed the broom that she had shrunk and kept in her back pocket sending Moody a silent thanks, not wanting to find out what would happen if she tried to apparate near the epicenter of this horror.
As she approached the place she realized where exactly she was and things weren't just bad, they were a disastrous, at least, as she reached near the ancient monument itself she started feeling as if someone just poured a bucket, no scratch that, a tub, no scratch even that, a whole pool's worth of frigid water on her, colder than even the black lake during winter - and she spoke from experience - and for a second it felt like the whole world around her went dark, not like someone switched off the lights in a room, but more like an all encompassing dark which had swallowed everything around her and before she could do anything she too was swallowed by it.
When she came to she found herself looking into a very familiar set of blue eyes, it took her but a second to recognise whom they belonged to - albeit with the help of a particularly peculiar pair of glasses - Dumbledore, looking over her with a slight concern etched over his face, and then everything before she lost consciousness hit her like the Hogwarts Express, she sat up with a gasp and started taking deep breaths, she felt someone pat her on her back gently, that's when she took in her surroundings, she was still near the henge but now she was surrounded by quite a lot of people unlike before and some were directly staring at her.
As she started taking stock of everyone who was observing her, Dumbledore addressed her, "Nymphadora are you with us?"
Looking at his general direction she replied, "Yes".
He gave her a short nod, and some of the worry faded off his face, though the fact that she didn't berate him for using her first name didn't help things so then he continued, hoping for the best, "Can you tell us what happened here?"
This time she looked him into the eye - which was when she noted his eyes weren't twinkling, in fact they looked quite as if there was no light in them quite like a dead man's eyes, except there was something dark behind them waiting to be directed at something, like the time she had seen her mother get angry at a drunk muggle who had tried to take her hostage for money, but at the same time much controlled, what she didn't know, and part of her didn't even want to know - then she realized he was still asking her something and thus articulated, "huh what?"
Taking a small pause Dumbledore repeated his question, "can you tell us what happened?"
Giving him a nod Tonks took a deep breath and then thought over for a second before replying, "Well I was on my usual patrol when I felt a huge magical disturbance followed by the storm and quakes, I knew it was something probably way more critical than I was equipped to deal with, but I still rushed over here because that was better than a civilian - Merlin forbid a muggle even - from possibly getting themselves killed because they couldn't do anything, y'know?"
Both Dumbledore and Shacklebolt gave her a nod of understanding, and then someone called out to her, "That was the best call you could have made in the situation Auror Tonks, good job!"
She turned to see the source of the voice, an aged man wearing a black muggle suit piece, he gave of an air that was similar to Dumbledore, his presence was quite calming yet his power was just shy of visible, his hands were calloused and his posture spoke of combat experience not unlike madam Bones or Moody - without the paranoia - but she didn't recognise him from anywhere, and it must have been visible on her face because he gave her a small smile, and introduced himself, "Hennessey, ICW".
She gave him a wide eyed look as she realized what that meant, someone from the ICW was here to investigate the situation, that meant it was worse than what she had thought earlier, much much worse.
She once again looked at everyone near her, their expectant eyes very much still glued to her, she began once again, "So when I got here, I didn't see anyone or anything suspicious, and then I felt really cold, like it's a wonder that I've not died of hypothermia cold kind of cold, then it was asif the whole world was swallowed by a pitch black darkness, next thing I know Dumbledore's waking me up."
"And that's all? Can you try to concentrate to think if you've missed out on anything?" These questions came from an Unspeakable, quite recognisable from the whole grey cloak with the obscuring hoodie.
She stared at him for a few seconds and then spoke, "I'm pretty sure I haven't missed anything, more like I want to forget it but I don't think I'll be able to."
Before the unspeakable could add anything Dumbledore conjured a vial and then began speaking, "Very well, if you could give us a copy of your memory, your work here would be done and you'll be free to go".
As none of the others present raised any objections Tonks removed her wand from her wrist holster and went through the motions and made a copy of the memory, or at least tried to, the end result wasn't the usual silver string of memory but a black thread that dispersed as soon as it had formed, she blinked, 'that was weird', she tried again only to get the same results.
Dumbledore coughed lightly once, and when she looked at him he said, "If you will, may I try it once?"
Trusting him as she did Tonks said yes immediately, it is Dumbledore after all, he went through the motions, and extracted the memory, it was still quite different than the regular silver strand but it didn't just disperse and he let it in the vial, he created a copy of it handing over to the Unspeakable.
Soon Tonks left, escorted by Shacklebolt, and the Unspeakable too left to view the memory.
All by themselves the two men left behind now stood silently, Hennessey spoke first, "you know something."
"I have some hypothesis, and the situation might be more insidious than it appears, not to mention even if it isn't it could definitely be more disastrous than we can imagine," Dumbledore replied.
"Look Albus, I know you're not particularly fond of my ideology, and I also know that you prefer playing your cards close to your heart, but give me something, it would be the best if we're not caught with our pants down, and after all we both work for the same side despite our differences." shot the Director.
Dumbledore looked at the other man for a few seconds and then began, "when I arrived here and began my inspections I told you that we hadn't been able to find any kind of human magical residue from here because it was flooded by not only magic from the Stonehenge but also some other kind of unfamiliar magic, I hadn't lied except that I do have a fleeting - and then some - suspicion about what the other magic is, but I felt it would be best if i confirmed it first, in private, I hope you understand".
Hennessey looked into Dumbledore's eye and then thought over for a few seconds, coming to a conclusion his eyes moved to the Headmaster's wand once, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the Supreme Mugwump, then he gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.
"I'll inform you as soon as I have anything, and I mean anything," affirmed Dumbledore before going his own way as he spotted his old friend Alastor arriving at the scene glaring at everyone as usual, he wasn't bothered much by the fact that Hennessey knew about the Elder Wand, he knew that the other man was one of the sharpest minds - at least as far as mysteries were concerned - and he had duelled Gellert once, and lost, so seeing the wand previously being wielded by the dark lord now being in his possession, it was not a hard leap to make, at least to those who were willing to make it.
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07:00 pm 31st October, Abandoned Classroom's Red Painting, Hogwarts.
Ginny entered the painting to find a line of 11 targets, a note was attached to the centre one which read, "use the spells Bombarda Maxima, Reducto, and Confringo successively for one hour, maximum break between the spells 1 minute".
She sighed heavily and then rolled her eyes, looking at the targets she said, "Please".
A/n: I have no excuse for being so late, things just happened, and now I'm back hopefully for good, and by the time i've posted this.
Once again thanks for reading, and have a good day, on a side note I hope all of you are taking care of yourself, stay safe, and take all measures to fight against this disaster we face, for it too shall pass one day, and to my friends who might have any kind of psychological problems, especially anxiety related, please feel free to use me as a sounding board if you need someone to vent for our situation.
Ciao!
