Harry and Merope to the Rescue - Chapter 15

Disclaimer:

I don't own the HP universe, unfortunately.

Grimmauld Place, Evening - Same Day:

Walburga had just finished eating her supper and began making her way to the library to do some reading by the fireplace when something Kreacher had said, before he gave her Sirius' letter and she took off to the Ministry, tickled her mind. Something about a master that traveled from the future? That sounded impossible. But now that she thought about it, receiving a letter from an Azkaban-trapped Sirius seemed like an impossible feat, too. She thought Azkaban would be warded against house elves, it seemed unlikely that Sirius would think to try to call Kreacher there, and Kreacher had said he received it from this future master. Then there was the letter itself that said a surprise visitor who promised to have the letter delivered.

All of these thoughts were running over and over in her mind as she arrived at the library and started perusing the law books she wanted to read up on. Not being able to determine from the titles which one she should be reading, she just chose one titled Laws of the Wizengamot and then sat down in one of the cozy chairs next to the fire. Finding it not soft enough for her liking, she added a cushioning charm, which made it feel much better.

Once she was comfortable, she tried to focus on the book but was unable to, as her thoughts kept distracting her. Finally, she put the book aside and called for Kreacher. When Kreacher arrived, she asked him to repeat what he knew about this time traveler, which Kreacher admitted to not being very much, just his name being Hadrian Potter, but that he was called Harry Potter, he had a wife named Mary and a son also named Harry. He told how he had been given permission to go to their location as often as he liked. After thinking about this for a moment, Walburga said. I am going to write this time traveler a letter for you to deliver to him tomorrow. I want to have a meeting with him, either he can come here or you will take me there. Now, bring me some tea that I can drink while I think about what I want to say."

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher said, leaving immediately to take care of the order and returning promptly.

Preparing her tea the way she liked it, Walburga said, "Now, bring my writing supplies to me, and then I wish to be left alone the rest of the night. If I have any further need for you, then I will call you."

"Of course, Mistress," Kreacher said, complying with her last order before disappearing to wherever house elves go when they're not needed.

Walburga sat in quiet contemplation for a moment, as she decided what she would say to this time traveler. Finally, she had her thoughts gathered together and began to and picked up her quill, dipped it in ink, and began to write her letter. After several moments of stopping to think, spelling away the ink blots, and then gathering thoughts and resuming the task of writing, she finally finished her letter and laid it aside to dry. She could have cast a drying spell, but she felt the letter would look better if she allowed it to naturally dry.

Upon seeing how late the hour had become, Walburga decided she should go to bed, rather than stay up reading. She could read up what she wanted to in the morning while Kreacher was delivering the letter. She hoped they would agree to meet with her soon, but she didn't expect to be able to meet with them before she made her trip back to the Ministry tomorrow at noon, to see if they had complied with her demands.

Well, Merlin help them if they did not. She would have Kreacher bring her thousands of Howlers for her to duplicate and send so that everyone in the Ministry would have her voice ringing in their ears until the New Year. And if they placed wards to prevent the Howlers, well, she's sure she could come up with something else. She would also send a letter to the editor of the Daily Prophet, and if they don't do some real investigating, then they will get flooded with Howlers, too. That Weasley witch wasn't the only one that could send a scathing Howler.

She fell asleep with those thoughts running in her mind and making some tentative plans for the next day.

At the Ministry Moments After Walburga Black's Departure:

Minister Bagnold had no idea how to respond to the hurricane that was the mother of Sirius Black. She stood there staring after her, even moments after she was no longer in her line of sight. Finally, she shook herself out of her shock, squared her shoulder and said, "Someone get me Crouch."

Fudge sputtered in shock and said, "Minister! Surely you don't intend to give into her demands? The man is guilty, he deserves to be where he is!"

The Minister glared at Fudge and said, "We must follow our own laws, otherwise they become worthless. I refused to be a Minister that picks and chooses what laws she should follow. Sirius Black being transported to Azkaban before receiving a trial is an oversight I intend to correct, if it is, in fact, true."

Fudge stood there with his face red in embarrassment and anger, but smartly refrained from complaining about anything else.

The pink toad was also fuming beside him. It did not matter to her that the Blacks were a powerful, pureblood family, that didn't give them the right to come into the Ministry and make demands. There was a proper procedure after all. Paperwork to be filed with the appropriate department. Appointments to be made before one could see the Minister, especially if one does not have a close, personal relationship with said minister. She was drawn out of her thoughts when the Minister spoke again.

"Auror, please run down to Crouch and tell him that I require his assistance on an important matter." said the Minister. "And someone get me a copy of the Sirius Black file so I can review it personally."

"Right away, Minister," Fleetwood said. Then he immediately took off in the direction of DMLE. He suspected Crouch to not be in the building, because surely a commotion such as the one they had just experienced would have drawn him from his office.

30 Minutes Later:

Barty Crouch, Sr., had barely sat himself inside the Minister's office when she asked, "Did Sirius Black receive a trial before he was transported to Azkaban for life?"

Caught off guard, Crouch didn't answer right away, but after seeing the Minister was expecting some sort of response, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'm not entirely sure, there were so many trials and catastrophes we were dealing with at the time, but surely if he is already in Azkaban, then he had a trial."

The Minister shook her head and tossed him the file that had been brought to her. "Nothing but an arrest report here in his file. Nothing regarding a trial. No notes. No transcripts. Not even an order approving his transport to Azkaban." Crouch reviewed the file, and confirmed it was as she had said. Then the Minister said, "I want to know how this could have possibly happened, Crouch. We have laws that are supposed to prevent things like this for a reason."

"I promise to get to the bottom of it, Minister. I'll see to it that Moody leads the investigation and whoever he believes to be trustworthy that can help him." said Crouch.

The Minister nodded in satisfaction, then said, "I've been given an ultimatum by Sirius Black's mother to have him in a Ministry holding cell by noon tomorrow. While I normally wouldn't give in to such demands, due to the method of which she chose to deliver it, the fact that she is correct that he never had a trial is reason enough for me to attempt to get him here as quickly as possible. She has every right to be upset. I'm quite surprised she managed to wait as long as she did before she came here demanding a trial."

"I'll get Moody on that right away as well. He's the only one I trust to handle it right." said Crouch.

"Good." said the Minister, "You are dismissed, so that you can accomplish your task as quickly as possible. I expect weekly updates as to your investigation of this mess."

Crouch nodded his head confidently and said, "Yes, Minister."

Crouch returned to the Auror Headquarters and made his way over to Moody's cubicle to see if he was there. Before he could walk all the way around the entrance, Moody asked, "You looking for me, sir?"

"Yes, Moody," Crouch said, "but it's a delicate matter that I need to speak to you privately in my office about."

Moody looked up sharply at that and said, "Sure thing, Boss, just let me set my wards so my paperwork can't miraculously sprout legs and walk away."

Crouch looked questioningly at that, then shrugged and said, just come straight to my office when you're done.

Five Minutes Later:

Moody knocked on Crouch's door, quite curious to find out what this was all about. Upon hearing the order granting entry, he opened the door and said, "What's happening, sir? Has there been something new on the nine missing persons investigation that I haven't heard yet?"

"No," Crouch said, "nothing about that. You and I both know that imperius defense was made up, and I'm not going to send out my best aurors to go find a bunch of wizards that our society is better off without." Moody nodded in agreement. Crouch continued, "I've just been to the Minister's office, you are being ordered to retrieve Sirius Black from Azkaban and place him in a secure Ministry holding cell before noon tomorrow."

Moody started at that order, but remained silent until he knew Crouch was done with his orders. Crouch continued, "I want only the men that you can trust to be his guards. After that task is done, it will be your job to gather a small team of aurors, that you completely trust, and investigate why he was sent to Azkaban when he never received a trial."

Moody barely concealed his shock. Surely, he had received a trial, but as he thought back he realized he had no memory of being present for a trial, and that was definitely a trial he would have gone to. "You're right, now that I think of it, I would have definitely gone to his trial, but I have no memory of being there for it."

"Exactly." Crouch said, "The only thing that was in his file was his arrest report. There were no notes or transcript for a trial, and there were no orders for transport to Azkaban. Something doesn't smell right, and it took his mother coming down here and yelling at the Minister for any of us to realize it."

"Yes, I've heard she can be a bit much when angered." Moody mused. Then after some thought he added, "It's quite obvious now that something is amiss." He tilted his head in thought for another moment and said, "I just hope Dumbledore didn't have anything to do with it."

"Why do you suspect him?" Crouch asked curiously.

"Well," Moody said as he scratched his chin, "he's the only one I can think of with the influence that could have gotten it done. So many people will do what he says either because they're so in awe of him or because they owe him favors. But what really makes me curious and suspicious is the fact that I'm pretty sure that Sirius Black was named little Harry Potter's godfather, and he would have had custody of him, if not for being placed in Azkaban."

Crouch nodded in response and said, "Yes, it is quite curious that with Black out of the way, he was able to sweep Harry Potter away and place him wherever he saw fit. And now the child is supposedly missing." Crouch sat in quiet contemplation for a moment and said, "Well, if anyone will be able to find out the truth of it, it's you."

They spoke for a moment more, then Moody took his leave to make preparations to fetch Sirius from Azkaban.

The Next Morning December 9, 1981, Two Days Before Full Moon - Potter Island:

The Potters and Remus were sitting around the table when Kreacher popped in to deliver Walburga's letter. As he was about to return, Harry said, "Kreacher, you are welcome to stay for a little while, if you haven't been ordered to immediately return."

Little Harry smiled at Kreacher and asked, "Can Kreacher stay and play?"

Kreacher shuffled his feet in nervousness and he said, "Kreacher is supposing he is being able to stay until Master is being having a response for Kreacher to be taking back to Mistress."

Little Harry clapped his hands in happiness and exclaimed, "Yay!"

Merope smiled in amusement and said, "Harry, sweetie, you need to finish your breakfast before you can play." Turning to Kreacher she asked, "Have you had anything to eat Kreacher? You're welcome to help yourself to something if you'd like."

Kreacher's eyes widened in surprise at the invitation and said, "Kreacher thanks Mistress, but Kreacher is not being hungry."

Merope smiled and said, "You're welcome, Kreacher. Please do help yourself, if you do get hungry, we have plenty here."

Kreacher bowed in thanks, because he was a bit too choked up in his emotions to say anything else.

A few minutes later, everyone had finished with their breakfast and Little Harry toddled over to Kreacher and shocked Kreacher when he grabbed his hand, leading him to the sitting room where his small collection of toys were kept, with Remus following behind in amusement. Harry and Merope remained in the kitchen to clean up and read the letter from Walburga.

Dear Hadrian Potter,

I find myself skeptical of your claim to be a time traveler, but if it is true that you are, you're putting an enormous amount of trust in me by telling me, because I could just take my news to the Ministry. However, as it seems I have you to thank for my being made aware of my son being in Azkaban without trial, since you somehow were able to obtain a letter from him and have it delivered to me, I'll keep you secret, if it is your wish for it to remain such.

I visited the Ministry immediately upon reading my son's letter, and demanded his release from Azkaban for trial. I have given them until noon, Wednesday, December 9, 1981, to get him transferred to a holding cell at the Ministry and to get him scheduled for a trial before Christmas. I don't know how quickly they will comply, if they will, but I will make them live to regret it should they not.

I wish to schedule a meeting with you, whether it be at your location, my home, or a neutral location. I have to assume you're family, since you're able to call Kreacher to you and I would like to get to know you. Hopefully, between the both of us we will be able to present a defense for my son that will prevent the Wizengamot from finding him guilty after all. And if you are, in fact, a time traveler then you must already have the makings of a plan in place.

I intend to visit the Ministry again tomorrow, and insist upon seeing Sirius. You must know that I was not the mother he deserved when he was a child, but I intend to be the mother he deserves now.

Please send Kreacher back with a message indicating when and where we can meet, and thank you what you have done so far to help my son and the House of Black.

Sincerely,

Walburga Black

Harry put down the letter and spoke with Merope saying, "Well, I can't meet with her today, as I need to finish the warding, especially the space that will be intended for Moony. I'll write back to her and say I'm free to meet her after lunch tomorrow. Do you want me to invite her here, or would you rather we go to Grimmauld Place?"

"Well, dear," Merope said, "I think you should meet with her by yourself, as she directed the letter to only you. I'll stay here with Remus and Little Harry, I'll meet with you another time."

Having decided, they joined the group in the sitting room. They smiled in amusement when they saw how patiently Kreacher was playing with Little Harry and that he seemed to actually be enjoying himself. Harry sat down on one of the chairs and conjured himself a small desk to write a response to Walburga's letter for Kreacher to deliver.

When Harry finished with his letter, he said, "Kreacher, I have a response to your Mistress ready for you to deliver." Turning to Little Harry he said, "Harry, you're going to need to let Kreacher go so he can go do his job, so tell him goodbye and thank him for playing with you."

Little Harry looked sad, but resigned and turned to Kreacher and said, "Thank you, Kreacher for playing with me. I hope you come back to play." Then Little Harry gave him a little hug.

Kreacher said, "You is being welcome Young Master. Kreacher is being enjoying playing with you," giving Little Harry a small pat in return. Then he turned to Harry and said, "Kreacher is being ready to deliver the letter to Mistress." So Harry handed the letter to Kreacher and thanked him for staying to visit, reminding him that he was free to come any time.

Once Kreacher was gone, Harry said, "Well, it looks like Walburga was able to start the ball rolling at the Ministry, so Sirius should be getting his trial soon. I'm going to pop over to where Wormtail is hiding out, so he can't run away when the word gets out that Sirius is getting a trial."

"I want to come with you," Remus said.

Harry shook his head in response and said, "I can get in and out undetected, which means there will be no chance of getting caught and he won't have the chance to escape."

Remus looked as if he would argue, but Harry said, "You'll get the chance to confront him, I promise, but not yet. I'm just going to retrieve him and keep him prisoner in a secure location until the trial is scheduled. We'll discuss after that when we need to reveal him to the Ministry to be arrested or how we'll do that."

Remus said, "As long as you promise I'll get to speak to him before he is turned over to the Aurors."

"Of course, Moony," Harry said. Then tilting his head in thought, Harry said, "I'm leaning towards holding him secret until the trial and present him during my defense argument. Pull him out of my pocket and transform him back in front of everyone."

"That does sound like something the Marauders would do." Remus said.

Harry just smiled and said, "Perhaps." Then he said, "I'll be right back." And then disappeared to go take care of the capture of a certain rat.