This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
"Regular conversation."
Printed Word in letters and newspapers.
{Parseltongue conversation}
[Iggy talking with Harry and Neville.]
"The Sorting Hat speaking and pontificating."
The winter holiday ended too quickly and the last three days, Harry spent an excessive amount of time with Padfoot, often holding the dog who joyfully licked the boy's face. He sent the elves to obtain a red, rubber ball for Padfoot to chase across the frozen lawn and the dog never tired of the game.
"Come to dinner, Harry," Frank called. "Bring the mutt…"
Seated on the floor between the chairs for Neville and Harry, Padfoot enjoyed the bites and treats slipped from the plates of the two boys. At one point, Padfoot crept under the table to take treats from the fingers of Gran who refused to look at her son or daughter-in-law who tolerated the dog because of the upcoming return to Hogwarts.
"We wanted to talk about Padfoot's future," Frank said as the dinner dishes vanished and coffee or tea appeared before the adults. Neville and Harry each got a small cup of sweetened tea. Having heard his name, the dog backed out from under the table and huffed as he sat beside Harry's chair, leaning against the boy's chair with enough weight to move the chair and boy an inch closer to his Mum.
"We know that Padfoot doesn't like to be around any magic when a witch or wizard is casting," Alice said, watching Harry closely. "The elves don't 'pop' with him. We hope that with time, 'Sirius' will feel safe and come 'out' to interact with other wizards and witches."
"When it is time for you to return to school, we are going to move Padfoot to the south of France the muggle way. His cousins have access to a large family estate in the south where the winter is not too terribly cold," Frank added.
"Padfoot likes Andromeda and Narcissa. He will be comfortable in their company this winter and spring," Alice said. "When summer arrives, we will travel there and you can stay with the dog for the whole holiday."
Harry turned to the dog and asked, "Is that okay, Pads? Will you spend winter with your cousins?"
The dog considered the notion for a moment before he seemed to laugh with his long tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
"He'll be fine," Gran said. "The Black sisters want to put their family back together and helping Sirius is the first step to take."
And so, the next morning, while Harry and Neville were at breakfast, Mrs. Tonks and her husband arrived with a large muggle car. After a tearful farewell with Harry, the Tonks couple loaded Padfoot into the back of the vehicle and left for one of the ports on the channel to drive onto a ferry and cross to France. They carried papers that would satisfy any inspector as to the dog's health, rabies shot, and ownership. Taking turns, Mr. and Mrs. Tonks would drive all day and night to arrive at the hidden estate in the Aquitaine without using magic around the animagus. Two invisible elves travelled with them to keep house and help care for the patient without using magic around him.
Harry and Neville sent a box of perfume bottles with Healer Tonks including No.1 through No.9. Feeling a little down, Harry spent the afternoon in the greenhouse with his brother and then in the library with his parents who told him it was normal to be sad today. Both boys packed their trunks and spent the evening telling tales about their classes that Alice and Frank enjoyed.
The next morning, the Longbottom family used the floo to reach Kings Cross Station, and the Hogwarts Express left at eleven to carry a train loaded with children and young adults back for the winter term. Hermione, Colin and Dennis each had tales of a happy Christmas to share. Harry smiled but did not speak of any 'dogs'.
That winter there were no hints or news from the south of France in any letter from Alice, Frank, or Gran. But Draco Malfoy did provide a sheet of news once every two weeks from the letters he exchanged with his mother. None of Draco's friends or acquaintances in Slytherin knew that Mrs. Malfoy was not in Britain.
Harry, Neville, and Darco kept that news to themselves and though the headmaster could see Mr. Malfoy he could not see you-know-who or the-other-one. McGonagall learned to moderate her comments and actually tried to help the Lions in Gryffindor that winter and spring.
Mrs. Malfoy and Mrs. Tonks wrote that Padfoot seemed to enjoy himself in the fields where he ran after Mr. Tonks and his exercise involved chasing a bright red ball. Sirius appeared only occasionally and for short times, usually when there was a particularly favourite supper dish at supper. He was lucid for short periods but asked his cousins for permission to his animagus form without delay after each meal.
That winter, Albus Dumbledore wrote three separate proposals for laws to force the return of his 'stolen' property but in the discussions about each law in the Wizengamot, the lords and ladies debated an admission of guilt and payment of a large fine for 'criminal trespass'.
"And such an admission of guilt means that you can't remain Grand Muck-itty-muck of the Wizengamot," Lincoln Greengrass reminded the dispirited headmaster.
"But for the greater good, I truly need for my belongings to be returned to me," sighed Dumbledore though no one paid him any attention.
Lady Hogwarts continued to place golden items on display around the castle and Dumbledore frowned about his inability to examine the smallest goblet or the large golden desk that appeared in Professor Sprout's office.
'That would look much better in my office,' the old wizard thought more than once after Pomona made the mistake of remarking about the new desk in her quarters. Flitwick remained silent about the pair of golden chairs that appeared in his office – he instructed the house elves to make certain there were pillows in the seats and throws over the back of each chair to deflect attention from the gold.
Professor Pretzel smiled mysteriously while inventorying the extensive collection of solid gold cauldrons available for her students to use to brew potions.
The spirit of the teenaged dark lord had wandered about Britain for two years. Unable to locate any magical persons to possess and not having a reference for geography, the spirit had wondered to the far north of Scotland and in the bitter cold, settled into hole in the ground to sleep through the winter. As the long, cold winter passed, the spirit grew weaker until it faded into nothingness.
In the depths of Gringotts Bank, the next oldest soul piece of the Dark Lord Tom Riddle awoke. Hufflepuff's cup was stored within the vault of Bellatrix LeStrange and as the piece of Tom's soul died in the north of Scotland, the piece stored in a Gringotts vault was ejected from Hufflepuff's cup. The movement of the soul piece rising from the cup triggered the jinxes placed on the gold, jewels and artefacts in the vault. The spirit moved to the door – or what it assumed was the door in the darkness of the vault – and sought to exit but there were no cracks in the magically created door. This 'movement' aggravated the Geminio jinx even more and soon, the space in the vault was filled with golden coins that continued to duplicate, pressing ever tighter and tighter. Unable to escape the vault, this piece of the Dark Lord's soul searched for its 'brothers' and mourned that three pieces were dead, one buried with a potion to make it sleep forever, only two others remained. Unable to move now and mashed against the door, this soul piece could only wait for someone to open the door and hope that person was a witch or wizard. The magic in goblins and house elves was different and made them impossible to possess. And muggles were no better than any other animal without a magical core.
Across Britain, wizards and witches generally ignored their house elves. The creatures were 'invisible servants' who washed clothing, cooked meals and tended to gardens. After two years of visits to the Breathe of Magic, the elves talked among themselves and they began to take some actions to 'improve' the lives of their wizards and witches.
Dobby was quite sensible now and he spent his days caring for Draco's clothing, prompting his 'young master' to complete his homework, study additional materials, and keep physically fit.
Ernie McMillian knew the elves kept their house spotless and took care of his younger brother and sister but his parents were still adjusting to performing more tasks themselves. His mother had to use muggle products for her hair care and his father was forced to shave his face himself. None of those charms seemed to work for Mr. and Mrs. McMillian any longer.
None of the elves missed their five minutes each week in the Longbottom greenhouses with the Breath of Magic.
Dowager Lady Augusta Longbottom noticed the frequency of invitations to tea and dinner at the home of every lord and lady in the Wizengamot that spring. Each time, the conversation always turned toward the magic elixir she used to save her son and daughter-in-law. There were hints about scents and tastes.
"Alice says nothing about it and Frank laughs whenever I ask," confessed Lady Marchmain referring to sessions at the Wizengamot.
"Because there is nothing to say," Augusta replied. "The boys are not old enough yet to make decisions."
"But that's why they have guardians! Parents!" argued Lady Marchmain.
Sitting forward, Augusta reminded her friend about tales of great gifts in the past from magic in the past where others tried to forceable take magic's new gifts from the witch or wizard that had been granted the new spell or skill.
"What happened to Rumpleston over in Germany when he stole the magic to spin gold from straw? He was cursed to be two feet tall, ugly and a permanent case of halitosis. No matter how much gold he had, no witch would look at him. And the spell was lost! No one can spin gold from straw today."
"And when Hyde Flourishman stole the new magic for concealment from his friend, the wizard and his entire family were cursed to be invisible permanently," Augusta reminded Marchmain. "And they couldn't see anything with their invisible eyes and all starved to death."
Both instances of attempted theft in the magical world were reported as tales in the muggle world though they were centuries apart. This conversation was reported faithfully in the Daily Prophet by a nosey matron at the tea. As a result, the calls to 'take' the elixir died away.
At Potter Manor, with elves tending the roses in the greenhouse, whiffs of the perfume escaped into the air and this scent kept the family of Welch Greens living in the forest that surrounded the estate. The occasional griffon flew overhead and settled on the frozen lawns to smell the perfume for a time, and a large colony of nifflers tunnelled underneath the ground to enter the greenhouse on occasion but the little fellows simply curled up and slept underneath the roses bushes on the long winter nights.
The dragon handlers from the dragon preserve in Wales searched for the missing family of dragons and maintained a constant monitor of muggle news and rumours about missing cattle and sheep though there were none. The Potter house elves supplemented the dragon diet of deer and fish with sheep carcasses once a month to keep the dragons from venturing outside the Potter forest.
At Hogwarts, Harry spent his days studying with his brother and friends, helping the younger students, and talking with Iggy about wards and protections. There was nothing said about sending more Dementors to Hogwarts and there were no reports of Sirius Black appearing anywhere across the length of Britain. At Azkaban, the Dementor refused to send any of their brethren to the Ministry offices in London or to fly outside of the prison. With their numbers reduced by half, the affect they had on the prisoners was somewhat diminished and the warden wrote letters of concern but each parchment was ignored by the minister.
No, Cornelius Fudge and his unpleasant undersecretary-toad spent their days trying to create scenarios where the boy-who-lived would be reassigned to someone else as guardian but these uncomfortable conversations always led to headaches that incapacitated them for the remainder of the day.
The school year ended without additional confrontations with Dementors, outlaws or werewolves. Professor Lupin's popularity with the students meant that Deputy Headmistress McGonagall placed a renewal contract in front of the man the last week of school and he signed without hesitation. Remus was the first DADA professor to repeat a second year of instruction since 1950, the year that Tom Riddle applied and was rejected.
In the LeStrange vault underneath Gringotts, the trapped portion of Tom Riddle's soul gave up and faded away. In a deserted and decrepit townhouse in London, a locket carefully guarded for many years suddenly expelled a black mist that quickly moved away and tried to escape through the many cracks around the edges of the windows. The wards attacked the spirit – it was an unknown dark entity and while they were 'dark' themselves, the wards were configured to drive away attackers. Injured by the energy from the wards, this portion of the soul of Tom Riddle made its way to Diagon Alley and entered the body of Elmer Gantry, a dark but lazy wizard without a great deal of power. After a good night's sleep for the spirit, Gantry took position in the alley, waiting for one of the pardoned death eaters to appear. There was only one more soul piece–the part carved from Tom Riddle and attached to the Gaunt Family Ring and buried near the graveyard in Little Hangleton.
Desperate to have the 'death stick' returned to his hand, Dumbledore turned to the castle's house elves for assistance. The head elf actually cursed when Dumbledore gave his orders to the small, ancient elf. The headmaster wanted a dozen elves to penetrate the wards around Longbottom Hall and return his magic wand. When the headmaster insisted that the elf obey him, Lady Hogwarts appeared and expelled Albus Dumbledore from the castle for a period of two weeks. Deputy Headmistress McGonagall was away on holiday so Lady Hogwarts assumed control of the wards. With her endless supply of gold, she sent elves to the goblins for materials and rune stones to strengthen each ward.
Trapped outside the castle, Albus Dumbledore made his way to his brother's tavern in Hogsmeade. Abe despised his brother but gave him shelter for the two weeks he was exiled from the castle. (Only after prying that information from his reluctant brother). A house elf did deliver clean clothes for Dumbledore each morning but the headmaster's bright robes appeared even more out-of-place on the streets of Hogsmeade in the summer without any students about.
During his forced 'vacation', the headmaster could tell that his compulsion spells fizzled out frequently as his minions failed to perform as he expected. Two minions had slipped his grasp completely–Auror Shacklebolt refused to meet with him except in the presence of three other Aurors from the DMLE who did not care for the headmaster. And young Nymphadora Tonks refused adamantly to meet or speak with him. Albus was displeased to read in a report that the day she finished her training as an Auror, she returned home and disappeared into the muggle world. The next day, letter arrived via muggle post on Alastor Moody's desk (copied to Director Amelia Bones) revealing the strange alchemy potion that had anchored a charm to her personality for a year.
In her letter, Nymphadora wrote, As my self-appointed mentor who preached care and constant vigilance for an Auror, how could you have missed this poison in my person? I strongly recommend that you allow someone–anyone competent–to scan you for such alchemy potions, Moody. There's no telling what actions you have taken that were not your own!
Director Bones ordered Moody to Saint Mungos where it was determined he was under the influence of some alchemy-based potion that made him reckless and paranoid in equal measure. Alastor Moody was placed on leave while Director Bones sought a solution to his condition.
Upon their arrival at Longbottom Hall, Harry and Neville were surprized by an unexpected guest for supper–Professor Lupin from Hogwarts was there. Dad and Mum were careful to bring up the dog that had appeared in their home before Christmas and how the 'mutt' adopted Harry so completely.
"And where is the dog now?" Lupin asked carefully, wondering if the Longbottom family knew the true identity of the animagus.
"He is with two ladies who are caring for him most carefully and lovingly," replied Alice. "I don't know if you have ever met them…Andromeda Tonks and Narcissa Malfoy."
Remus noticed that Harry Potter had his wand in his hand and the boy's stare was intense.
"Mr. Potter, you may have James Potter's hair, but you are Lily's son in so many ways. She had the same stare anytime she focused on a perceived threat to her or someone she cared for," Remus observed.
"We are preparing to visit for a few days and wondered if you were interested in visiting as well," Frank said. "Of course, you'll have to swear to secrecy or be obliviated of this conversation."
Lupin's eyebrows rose but Augusta quipped, "Don't you imagine that for 'the greater good', Dumbledore throws around oblivion charms regularly?"
Gladly swearing to remain silent about what he was about to learn, early the next morning Remus Lupin was apparated by Lady Augusta Longbottom to a reception centre in France. The rest of the family joined them just seconds later and after registering with the Magical French Government, the group was given a portkey to the south of France where they again apparated to just outside the wards of the manor. Ted Tonks was just inside the wards and he invited each person individually inside the wards before they stepped through one at a time.
Once inside, Harry ran ahead to the house where a giant dog was released from the front door and ran straight to the teenaged boy and tackled him. They rolled in the grass and Harry's laughter filled the air.
"He seems to remember Padfoot from his childhood," Alice told Remus.
"How is it you let Sirius near Harry? He took the Dark Lord…"
Frank explained, "Not so. There's no mark on Sirius–no mark of the Dark Lord. And he is Harry's sworn godfather and if he'd betrayed the baby, his magic would have burned him up like a sheet of parchment in an open flame."
"Padfoot's not guilty? Then who?"
"Peter Pettigrew–Sirius swears that Peter is the one who betrayed the Potters that night."
Remus staggered after hearing the news. He ended up kneeling on the grass with tears flowing down his face as he cried softly. This noise caught Padfoot's attention and the dog left Harry to approach the werewolf. The closer he got the faster the Grim moved until he bowled Remus over to rub his smell over the long-lost member of his pack. Lupin laughed and cried, wrapping his arms around the dog. Without prompting, Padfoot turned back into Sirius for a time, hugging and holding on Remus Lupin like a lifeline to his sanity.
There were many conversations with Padfoot (Sirius) that summer. Remus remained for the entire summer and even sent notice that he would not return to Hogwarts. His presence did more to restore the dog's sanity than anything else. And the two friends ran together on the full moon nights in a magical trunk with enormous expansion charms and a magical forest. The most revealing conversation came when Draco asked his mother's cousin, "Why did you break into the Gryffindor dormitory?"
Sirius was mostly lucid for an hour or more in the mornings, and he explained, "Peter is there. Pettigrew is a rat and he's hiding in Ron Weasley's clothes?"
"What? Ron's a berk sometimes, but he's not Peter Pettigrew," insisted Neville.
Remus spoke with Sirius in whispers for a minute before he explained, "Our friend Peter Pettigrew was a rat animagus–is a rat animagus. Sirius saw a picture of the Weasley family in the Daily Prophet last summer and recognized Wormtail in Ron's hands in the photograph.
"They went to Egypt for a holiday last summer," Harry added. "That's where the photo came from."
Alice Longbottom standing at the back of the room to not interfere in the conversation, grimaced and stalked away to write a letter to Madam Amelia Bones. Sirius returned to his dog form and the three boys and their DADA tutor headed for the lawn to throw the red ball for a couple hours to wear the dog out. Ted Tonks tagged along to provide 'adult' supervision when Remus slipped back into his boyhood when playing with Padfoot.
Frank joined his wife with Augusta, Narcissa and Andromeda to contribute to Alice's letter. The letter was posted via house elves who popped in stages across the length of France and then across the channel to England. Only once in England was an owl used to deliver the letter to the Director of the DMLE.
A few days later, Harry, Neville and Iggy talked while the two boys worked alongside Draco in the greenhouses to the south side of the Black family manor in France.
[I think Sirius will get better with Remus here,] Harry said though he felt the doubt in both Neville and Iggy's minds.
[Hand me that pot of spider's wort,] Neville said.
[Heir Peverell, Lord Black's family has a tendency to go insane in their dotage. The exposure to the Dementors for twelve years may have accelerated the process,] Iggy rationalized.
[Shut up, Iggy!] cried Harry as he turned around and handed the pot to Neville.
[Iggy, listen to what Harry feels. You talk about 'feeling' bread, so let Harry feel hope for Sirius finding his mind,] Neville scolded the entity.
From his spot on the opposite side of the potting table, Draco said, "How do you two communicate without talking?"
Harry grimaced, Neville sighed, and Iggy said, [Tell him its family magic.]
In unison, Harry and Neville replied, "Its family magic."
Snorting in disbelief, Draco shook his head and continued, "Everyone keeps secrets but you two need to work on your communication skills to keep others from noticing."
"Did you hear that Professor Lupin sent his letter of resignation to Professor McGonagall?" Neville asked.
"What? Why? He was the best DADA professor in our three years!" protested Draco.
Harry looked up and asked Iggy, [Does Draco know about Mooney?]
[I imagine everyone with two brain cells figured it out before the year ended,] the cloak's entity replied.
Neville turned his head toward Harry and Draco said, "You're doing it again."
"We can imitate the Weasley twins…" one brother said.
"…with a reasonable facsimile…" continued the other.
"…of the twin speak that drives everyone nuts," finished the first brother.
Draco dropped his trowel and laughed. "Promise me you'll use that around Daphne and Tracy this year. They practice for hours but can't get the timing right. You two sound just like those rouges."
"Sure," Neville agreed. "But we're wondering if you know about Professor's problem."
"The werewolf thing? Sure, Slytherin figured it out in November but by a clear majority, we decided to say nothing so long as he was safe and secure on the full moon. He is a great professor and the seventh years worked really hard in his tutoring sessions to catch up."
"Anyway, your mom and aunt think that Remus helps Padfoot and Sirius by being here," Harry explained.
The same day of the conversation in the greenhouse, the boys noticed the adults were very disturbed by something they whispered about whenever the three boys entered a room.
"Okay, what's up?" Harry asked. He glanced at Neville and Draco who each nodded their agreement.
Narcissa smiled and said, "I am pleased that the three of you have become friends. You are cousins and Hogwarts is easier to navigate when you have family around the different tables."
We have news from Director Amelia Bones," Frank said. "She has captured Peter Pettigrew. He was hiding as a rat with the Weasley family."
"They aren't in trouble, are they? Percy was great as the head boy and Ginny is in all our study groups," Harry asked.
"No, they're not in trouble," Frank replied. "They are all very upset about that Death Eater hiding in their house for twelve years."
"What happened, please," asked Draco.
Uncle Ted answered the question saying, "There was a trial for the man and because he was 'dead' for more than ten years, they used the truth serum on him. The rat squealed all his secrets and confessed that he was the secret keeper for Harry's parents. He led the Dark Lord to their home on Halloween. Director Bones declared 'Lord Black' innocent of all charges and cleared his name."
"But there is a price for her cooperation," Frank said with some resignation.
Gran added, "There always is."
"She wants you to give her some 'elixir' to cure Alastor Moody of an alchemy potion," Frank explained.
"Another one?" asked Neville, the distaste to learn someone else had been potioned by Headmaster Dumbledore was evident on his face.
"What was it we used on Dora and on that guy?" Harry asked.
Healer Tonks said, "You used half of the contents from a bottle labelled No.8 for my daughter and for Auror Shacklebolt."
"Got one of those bottles here?" asked Neville. "We can pour half of it into…"
"No," Healer Tonks said. "I think it has to be you or your brother to apply the elixir."
[Allow the assumption to stand that it needs to be family,] Iggy interjected. [Luna is your sister in Gryffindor. Gran is your grandmother. It needs to be one of you to pour the bottle over Moody's head.]
The 'private conversation' was noticed by no one but Draco and he simply smirked to have a secret.
"We'll visit him when we return to Britain," Alice said.
"But there's another development too," Ted Tonks said.
Andromeda smiled as she said, "Draconis Malfoy, with the exoneration of Lord Black from his false imprisonment, Gringotts has served notice that an heir must be named for the house of Black. As the eldest member of my generation, I ask if you will take up the name of Draconis Orion Black and forego the name of 'Malfoy'? Will you become Heir Black and then someday, Lord Black?"
Glancing at his mother who had a proud look on her face, Draco bowed to his aunt and replied, "Aunt Andromeda, I am honoured to be considered worthy of being Heir Black."
"Congratulations Draco!" declared Harry and Neville in unison.
++***++ End of Chapter