The summer was great. She hadn't heard from Harry but she assumed that was normal due to the fact that he lived with muggles and her letters had to be re-routed through macusa and then to the ministry of magic, which was then sent to the recipient. It was a whole process that was more aggravating than anything else.
She spent the summer learning new ways to manipulate the family magics, mainly focusing on water. It was easy to learn and she ran through a lot of the techniques her grandmother created as well as most of those in the family archive. It was productive, as she continued her studies with Professor Snape over the summer as well. He still only gave her theoretical problems and theoretical essays to explain because she hadn't tested well at the end-of-year physical exam.
But she hoped she would be ready by the beginning of the next school year. It was annoying to just practice wand movements with a stick, or think the spell without being able to actually perform it. It rankled her to know that Atreus was probably with their mother, practicing magic every chance he got without being shamed for it, as she had been her entire life.
She still continued attending sessions with her mind-healer, who had said she was making great progress. However, after a few tests from other mind-healers more versed in legilimency and occlumency they'd determined that it was detrimental to learn occlumency or legilimency so young because she hadn't learned exactly what emotions went where and why she felt that way. It was another way her growth was stunted due to her family's mismanagement of her life and it infuriated her.
And when she'd said as such, her mind healer had agreed and the discussion had been illuminating.
Studying was easy for her-facts on a page that could be learned and applied, but when applying anything to herself, it was much harder. Somehow things never turned out right, but things were getting better. She just had to keep reminding herself that it took more effort. And it was so exhausting.
Three weeks before school started, Atria finally got a letter back from Harry-however, it wasn't a good one. It was worrying enough that she'd taken it to her grandmother-
Astra,
Something happened and sorry I can't come visit. I've been locked in my room.
-Harry
It was short and simple, but the way it was hurriedly scratched out, the crumpled way the envelope looked-it looked like Harry had fought to get it out.
"Mamaw, we can't exactly leave him with his muggle relatives! This proves it-we have to see what's going on there-" She pleaded her case over and over again, and finally, Yvone relented.
"Fine. We'll be getting Albus to go with us-he's his magical caretaker, after all. Oh-and dear, I got your wand for you since we'll be going to England. You're allowed to carry one there. And don't mess with anything! You don't know much about no-mag!"
"I understand! I won't do anything bad, promise!" It only took a few minutes for Atria to get ready.
Instead of tossing on her cloak, she wore a simple white sundress with white sandals and tied her hair back with a small white ribbon. Overall, she looked cute and like any other fifteen year old girl on summer vacation.
Instead of flooing to Hogwarts, they flooed to Dumbledore's home in Devon. "Bumblebee's Hive-"
She appeared in a small living room in a swirl of blue flame. Headmaster Dumbledore was waiting for them, dressed in a three-piece suit that had gone out of fashion nearly seventy years ago, by Atria's estimations. The purple and gold suited him, though, Atria decided. "So we got this worrying letter from young Harry, Albus."
Atria's grandmother began speaking, "We know he's with his no-mag family, but a boy his age should really be exploring the world and learning new things. Not locked in his room. He had plans to visit us over the summer and it would benefit both him and Atria if he were to come over. Seeing as you're his magical guardian, you would know more about this than I would."
Headmaster Dumbledore tutted over the letter and he finally said, "Yes, there was a worrying report from the ministry stating that Harry did some underage magic about a week and a half ago, but I thought his relatives were handling it in a better way. We should check on them."
"I can apparate us there, no worries," He continued, "In one trip."
Only powerful magicians could do that and his estimation grew in Atria's eyes.
"Come, my dears," He offered both his arms. Atria took one and Yvone took the other and a moment later, they were standing outside of a house numbered 4 on Privet Drive.
It was a shock when they approached the door and when Dumbledore knocked, a tall, thin woman answered with a face like a horse. She looked at them with suspicion and waved them inside, closing the door quickly behind them.
"Now, Mr. Dumbledore, I won't be having a visit with the boy. He did some freakish-"
Atria's eyes flashed. Her mouth opened, but Yvone beat her to it. "My apologies, Madame. Atria, one of Harry's friends from school, expected him to be at our home yesterday."
Atria knew her grandmother just threw the date out and she listened to her grandmother continue, "We were unaware of such a thing-but may I say that you have a lovely garden? It must take quite a bit of time to keep up. Such a nice neighborhood, too."
"You're american," she finally stated. "I didn't realize he had american friends. Oh, thank you! We've put in some new perennials this year and they're about to bloom."
She seemed to preen under her grandmother's praise, and her eyes moved over Yvone and then over Atria. When she couldn't find fault over either of them, her eyes moved back to Dumbledore. "I told you taking him would cause issues-"
"He must stay here for the majority of the summer for your protection and his." It was a gentle reminder, but the woman certainly didn't like it. Her scowl transformed her face from a horse to a raisin in less than a second. As they talked they moved from the entrance hallway to the kitchen and Atria heard more than saw someone come down the stairs and then come in behind them.
"Mummy, Piers and I want to go to the cinema to see a movie. Can we have some pocket-" He stopped as he looked at them, his eyes wide as he took in the people standing there.
Granted, Dumbledore was wearing something that was a hundred years too late for muggle customs, but it might have been the amount of people there, too.
Atria turned to them and waved, "Hi!"
Dudley blushed and the other boy, Piers, waved back. "You could come with us if you want," he offered.
It was more like he blurted it out, but Atria shook her head. "Thanks for the offer but we have other things to do today-Harry is-"
"You're one of his friends-?" Dudley's mouth dropped open.
"Yeah, I am." It turned a little short. So apparently Harry's family didn't like him like her mother didn't like her. Her eyes turned to her grandmother. "So, can I help Harry pack his stuff? It'll take a little while to get back to the manor, won't it?"
She usually never rubbed her wealth in anyone's face, but from what she'd heard about the Dursleys and what she was seeing firsthand boiled the blood in her veins.
"Go on, child. Where is he?" Yvone's voice was tight.
"The smallest bedroom-wait-" But Atria was already down the hallway and taking the stairs up.
"Harry?" She called.
"Astra!" Atria could feel the magic roil underneath her skin as she looked at the door with many locks. With barely a thought, she swept her hand across them, unlocking them in one deft action.
"Harry-" She barely got his name out before he was hugging her.
He looked much thinner than normal, too. So they were starving him as well? Her eyes narrowed at the way he was living-a small cot, a small wardrobe and an empty owl cage. A small can of soup was only half-eaten on his bedside table-they were starving him! So Hedwig must have been the one to go to the ministry and send the note- because she was gone. Maybe she had gone ahead to visit Draco or Hermione.
"We got your letter and decided to come investigate. We brought the Headmaster-" A choked noise echoed from behind her and she turned.
It was the Headmaster and Yvone, standing at the door, looking over the locks. But it was the Headmaster that made the noise. His blue eyes practically glowed with repressed rage and magic, the same as Atria-and he looked at them both for one long moment. "Harry, please pack your things. You won't be coming back here."
"If you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with your Aunt." And he and Yvone went back down the stairs.
Atria could hear vague yelling and she turned to him. "So where's your trunk and stuff. I don't see it in here-"
"They locked it under the stairs, didn't want me doing any magic-"
"What about your summer assignments?" Her voice grew.
"I don't know-I would've had to do them when I got there, I guess." Harry's voice was tired.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that now," Atria soothed, "You're coming home with me. And my grandma."
"So let's get your stuff in here packed away and I'll go get your trunk."
"It's locked."
"I'm a magician, Harry. I have leave to do magic over the summers due to my mastery program," She reminded him. "If they have it locked, I'll just unlock it."
He nodded and smiled a little. "So when are we gonna have a big, American breakfast?"
"When we go home," Atria said.
"I like the sound of that."
Atria managed to extract Harry's trunk from underneath the stairs and helped him put the few things he kept out away. "We'll have to find Hedwig, then. I'm assuming she went to Draco or Hermione's place?"
"I sent her to Draco because they have an owlery. I know that Aries is well-kept so I don't think they'd mind an extra."
Atria nodded. "One less thing we have to worry about, then."
They managed to lug the large trunk down the stairs and down to ground level and the horse-faced woman was standing there at the door, tears in her eyes. "Go, and never come back. You're not welcome here anymore. You and your kind-"
Harry's eyes widened and Atria could see how broken he looked at that moment. She knew what it felt like and on instinct, she pushed Harry behind her.
"Listen here you bitch," Her eyes flashed, "Harry is worth more than your entire family. I'm happy that he no longer has to deal with you after this. He can move on and be happy. You locked him up in a room-and was starving him! You have no fucking right to-"
Yvone's hand pressed against Atria's mouth and she chuckled. "Kids these days. Now, if you'll excuse us, dear, we have places to go and more important people to see."
As soon as they stepped out, Dumbledore's hand fell on Atria's shoulder, Yvone's hand pressed against Harry's arm and they were back at Headmaster Dumbledore's house in Devon. "Atria Astra, I've warned you to not use that kind of language. Please keep that in mind the next time you lose your temper, dear."
"Yes, Grandma." Her voice was even and she gave a nod even though they both knew she was doing it to placate them both.
Harry's eyes were wide, however, as he took in the eclectic knick-knacks on Dumbledore's mantles, the bookshelves, the walls- every part of it was decorated. "Wow."
"It's great here, isn't it?" Atria asked.
They were completely engrossed in watching the knick knacks move, circle each other and then come to a stand-still only for it to start again. "Harry, this one measures the amount of ambient magic in the room-do you see how fast it's moving? It shows how powerful another person is-or another group of people."
"That's brilliant!"
Meanwhile, the two adults were having a quiet conversation. "So where are his godparents?"
"One is in Azkaban and the other is a werewolf. Both of which cannot be Harry's guardians."
"Was the trial fair?"
"There was no trial-he admitted to-"
"You mean that Lord Sirius Black of The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black never got a trial?" Yvone's voice was cold. "We'll have to rectify that. You can push the issue, Albus. Say that it's come to your attention, hold a trial, force feed him veritaserum and then, only if he's guilty, throw him back in."
"But he admitted-"
"No, Albus! The boy lost his family that night. He was close to James and Lily that night, correct? I remember at one point there was talk of his own family disowning him- You have no idea what truly happened. It's a travesty. Go on, get. We're staying here until a verdict is reached, Albus. I'm one of your oldest friends but this is abhorrent. I know you want a hands-off type of thing considering what happened with Grindelwald, but sometimes you have to dirty your hands. Do it. For Harry."
"You're the Supreme Mugwump! You have the power to convene the Wizengamot. Go on, Albus. You'll be saving an innocent man years of torment if he is. If he's not, then you know. If he's not guilty, Harry will have a parent. After therapy with a mind-healer."
Albus gave one small nod and sighed. "My mistakes are catching up with me, Yvone. I never imagined that it would end up like this."
Yvone's eyes, once sharp, softened. "Bad things happen to good people.. And you're trying. It takes a special person to acknowledge their mistake, own up to it and rectify it. You're a good person, Albus. As I said in the forties-I'm not going to stop being your friend over a few mistakes."
He gave another small nod and cleared his throat. "Then I'll be pulling an emergency meeting tonight and forcing the issue. I may need your vote and I'll call upon you here if I need you. You know your way around here so I won't waste my time giving you a tour."
Yvone smiled. "Alright."
And Dumbledore walked to the fireplace and disappeared with a flash of green flame.
"What was that about? That's bloody wicked-!" Harry caught the green fire out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, that's the floo network, where houses are connected to each other and people throw some powder in, say the name of their destination and they're transported there. Or they can bend through the grate and have a conversation like that-"
"Kind of like a transporting telephone!" Harry said.
"Exactly like that, Harry," Yvone said.
"So where'd Headmaster Dumbledore go?"
"Harry, sit down. It's going to be a long story." And it was-by the end, Harry was furious, crying and upset.
"So they didn't give him a trial-but he took credit for the killings of my parents? Is he guilty or not-?" Harry's voice rose and a few of the trinkets exploded.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is currently putting him through questioning and a trial and by tomorrow morning, I'm sure we'll know the true answer. However, I've already decided no matter what you're staying with me for the foreseeable future." Yvone's voice remained calm as Harry raged, throwing a few of the smaller trinkets against the wall.
And then, like a storm, it was over as quick as it came. "So.. I won't be going back to the Dursleys or with Sirius Black?"
"No, dear. You'll be staying with me, Astra and maybe Draco this summer. We need to keep you safe, you understand. The wizard-prison Azkaban holds these guards-they're called dementors. They feed off happiness so even if Sirius is completely innocent he'll have a lot of therapy to go through before he's even ready to be your godfather."
Harry nodded and finally said, "Will he be staying with us at your house?"
"Only if he's judged to be stable enough. Like I said, he'll probably have to go visit St. Mungo's or another hospital. I'm sure they're not feeding him enough and being around the dementors is very damaging. And Harry-if you're staying with us, it's your home. It's not just our house. Even after Sirius gets better, you can always call our home your home."
Atria hugged Harry. She knew it was a lot to take in and on top of that, he'd been kicked out of his Aunt and Uncle's house. Her heart hurt for him, knowing that he was essentially alone. Except for a few people-her, her grandmother, Draco, Hermione, Dumbledore- most people had more family than that.
"Harry-what happened with the letters? I literally wrote to you every other day-"
"So this weird thing called a House Elf visited and apparently was telling me not to go back to Hogwarts because bad things would happen if I did. He took my mail to make me think nobody wanted to be my friend-"
"I can put a spell on you, dear, and he won't bother you again," Yvone soothed. "I don't know who would have a runaway elf like that, but I have to say they're really rare."
Harry nodded. "So that's not.. Normal?"
"Not at all." Amusement.
The conversation pittered off, then, as Atria and Harry began working on his summer essays. It was easy enough-Atria would locate the information in his texts for him and he would write it down. And, after a few minutes of them doing that, Atria took to Dumbledore's bookshelves to find more information.
"You'll probably get extra credit if you use other sources-here, let me read this to you- so, when applying a cushioning charm-"
"So if you apply a feather-weight charm on the item as well, it takes less magic overall?"
"Exactly, Harry-note that down!"
Harry's charms essay was done within the hour, and defense against the dark arts and offensive magics were done soon after that. Yvone busied herself with reading the paper and then a few alchemical magazines. It was about seven hours later that Dumbledore's head poked out of the fireplace and he motioned her over. "Lord Clare, the Wizengamot requires your assistance. Your healing prowess.. And your vote."
Yvone was gone in a swirl of green flame.
"Is that bad?"
"Not really- It kind of comes with the title of Lord. If something hits a stalemate, they'll call in those that usually don't take their chairs-like my Grandma. She usually has too much to do with macusa and running the family to attend meetings here and in the united states." Atria nodded.
"It's a responsibility that we'll both have once we become old enough or we take the title of Lord for ourselves."
Harry nodded. "I was able to read a little in the books your grandmother gave me. It seems so.. Archaic."
"Things are different in the US-it was only after I came over here that people actually started calling me Heir this or that- people being Draco-"
"It was drilled into me as a child but unless I was around.. "Family" it never really applied." She nodded a few times. "My grandpa Antares really protected me from the Stellaris family and my grandma did the same with the Clare."
She rubbed the side of her face. "I hope they come back soon. I'm kind of getting hungry-"
It was another few hours before Headmaster Dumbledore came back through the floo, and then Yvone-and then a gaunt looking man with sallow skin and grey eyes. He looked like he had seen better days and he gave a short little laugh when he saw Harry and Atria in the middle of the floor, books spread around them, notes written on spare pieces of parchment laying everywhere.
"Harry-" The man said, and then stopped.
"You're Sirius Black." Harry said, standing. "You're my godfather."
"Yes." He agreed.
"Grandmum Yvone says you need to see a healer before I can live with you."
"About that, Harry. I am a healer and Lord Black requires a lot of healing, so he'll be staying with us in Clare manor." She said very seriously.
"So-"
"Yes, Harry."
"Thank you," he responded, throwing his arms around her.
"Severus won't be thrilled with this outcome-"
"Snivellus-"
"Master Snape will be happy that an innocent man is free from Azkaban." Atria spoke over Sirius Black's epithet. She looked at him. "I'd appreciate you using his name. It may have been okay in school-" She assumed they were in hogwarts together, due to the way Headmaster Dumbledore held up his finger at Sirius. "But you all are adults now. Speak to him respectfully and he'll speak to you respectfully."
Harry nodded. "Professor Snape is weird, but he at least is nice enough to help me with my potions essays."
"How is he weird?"
"Well, he's really quiet for one, and the next is he always asks me questions and gives me reading instead and then I have to come back to him-"
"He's not going to give you the answers, Harry," Atria's lips twisted into a wry grin, "He's just giving you a few hints by the questions and giving you the right directions by giving you the reading."
Sirius Black's eyes were wide and his mouth formed a perfect 'o'. To him, it must have been a surprise that Severus Snape was something other than antagonistic to the child in front of him.
"He'll be at the manor tomorrow, if you have potions questions, Harry. I have a few things to turn into him as well-"
"Summer work? Has Hogwarts started giving more homework?"
"Atria is undergoing mastery studies," Dumbledore said, "And Severus is overseeing her training."
If it was possible, Sirius Black's eyes would have taken up his entire face.
"Er, Grandmum Yvone," Harry said, "We're kind of hungry-I didn't get to eat before leaving the Dursley's and.."
"Yes, yes, child-I'll send for some pizza." Her hand landed on Harry's head, ruffling his hair. "I'll be going ahead to the manor with Sirius and getting his rooms ready for him."
"I'll come back for you two shortly. Don't do anything too wacky!" And she and Sirius disappeared with a flash of blue flames.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm sorry I didn't ask, but Harry and I were working on a few of his essays with some books we found on the shelves. We only really worked on transfiguration and charms, though!" Atria held out the four books she'd picked up.
"Thank you for letting me know, my dear! I'll put them back posthaste." With a wave of his hand the books found their proper places again.
"You're welcome," Atria said.
It only took a few more minutes to pack up the quills, parchment and school books that Harry pulled out of his trunk. It only took a few moments more for Yvone to appear in a swirl of blue flames and beckon them back through.
"See you in school, Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said, waving.
"It was nice spending the day here, Headmaster." Atria's goodbye was less excited and more tired, but she gave a soft smile as they disappeared in the floo.
