I own nothing but the plot, and not even all of that
Flap flap flap flap flap flap flap.
Sirius Black squinted into the wind as the scenery rushed by. The trip back from Out Skerries was underway, and the Williams family was heading home to London.
They first left Out Skerries by ferry, arriving in Shetland an hour and a half later. They then spent thirteen hours by another ferry to get to the Aberdeen coast. The further they got from Azkaban, the better Sirius felt about it.
They were now traveling to London by bus, and Sirius was rather enjoying being Boomer. He was currently entertaining everyone on the bus with a classic dog move. Hanging his head out the window.
Flap flap flap flap flap flap flap.
The wind was flapping his ears, but he was loving it. His lips curled into a doggy grin, speaking to the pleasure he took in this pastime. Eventually, though, the humans had enough of the cold air, and Jenny pulled him in and shut the window.
Sirius had been listening in on Jenny and Rogers conversations, trying to get a feel for who they were. Roger had just been hired as a doctor at Bromley Hospital in London. It was a small facility, and Roger would be working in the mental health ward. He specialized in substance abuse cases. He was set to begin as soon as they returned from their honeymoon. Jenny had worked in a variety of jobs before marrying Roger, and was not currently working.
They were fairly close to Hogwarts, now. It wouldn't be visible from the road this bus was taking, but Sirius knew it wasn't far. The need to get there ached in him, but he knew the ministry would be expecting him to go there. They'd be watching. His best chance was to lay low for a while, and slip away when the interest died down. Boomer sighed, laid down at Jenny's feet, curled up, and fell asleep.
Cornelius Fudge, wearing luxurious red robes, stood with the assembled Wizengamot, greeting his fellow members and chatting. The chamber was full, and the first session of the new year was ready to begin. Tiberius Ogden, who had been elected Chief Warlock a year before when Albus Dumbledore had stepped down from the position, stood on the chamber floor. With him was Magnus Abbot, the Clerk of the Wizengamot.
"Seal the doors!" the Chief Warlock called out. With a thud, all of the doors to leading into the Wizengamot chamber shut and locked themselves. The witches and wizards who made up the legislative and judicial branches of the wizarding government were all dressed in matching red robes.
"My fellow wizards and witches of the Wizengamot," Ogden addressed the members, "I hereby call this session to order. Clerk, what's first item on the docket?"
"First item," the Clerk said, "is a new bill for consideration, the Muggle Protection Act. The floor calls Arthur Weasley, the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department to introduce the bill."
Arthur Weasley, wearing his best brown mustard colored dress robes, rose from his seat in the visitors gallery and descended to the chamber floor. He carried with him a rectangular box, which he put on the floor next to him as he took his place behind a podium. The podium was charmed to amplify his voice, ensuring everyone in the chamber could hear him. Next to him, the Clerk waved his wand and copies of the proposed bill flew off a stack on the Clerk's desk to the hands of the sitting Wizengamot members.
"Honored Wizengamot," Arthur began, "I would like to introduce to you a bill that will help protect muggles against the recent upwards trend in muggle baiting that the Ministry has been observing. Each week in the past month my department has had to be dispatched no less than nine times to confiscate cursed muggle objects bound for resale in the muggle world. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has had to dispatch Obliviators numerous times to handle situations of muggles being directly attacked by wizards. These incidents are usually young men using compulsion charms on young women to spend the night with them, and then obliviating them afterwards. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizengamot, this must stop. Not only is it morally wrong, but it seriously jeopardizes the Statute of Secrecy."
"Hem, hem," a short, rotund woman with a black bow in her hair cleared her throat to claim the floor. "I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, but I feel I must disagree."
"You do?" Arthur asked, slightly derailed from his impassioned speech.
"Yes," the woman answered, then stared pointedly at the Clerk.
"Oh," said the Clerk, remembering his duties, "Madam Umbridge has the floor."
"That's better," Madam Umbridge said. She turned back to Arthur and spoke again in a high pitched, nearly childlike voice. "I"m afraid that I do not agree with the purpose of this proposed legislation. I feel there is already a discrepancy in our laws, one that favors the muggles." Arthur frowned, along with a majority of the Wizengamot. Madam Umbridge had a reputation of being firmly anti-muggle.
"I don't understand," Arthur admitted. "What discrepancy is that?"
"What happens, Mr. Weasley," Madam Umbridge asked, "if a wizard attacks a muggle? We throw the wizard in prison and obliviate the muggle. What happens, though, when a muggle attacks a wizard? We obliviate the muggle. No prison. No punishment. If we are to introduce legislation to make things more fair, perhaps we should start imprisoning muggles who attack witches and wizards instead of adding additional laws persecuting magicfolk, many of whom are likely only defending themselves from the very muggles you wish to shield."
"Objection!" Amelia Bones called out. She stood and was recognized by the Clerk. "We obliviate muggles in order to adhere to the Statute of Secrecy. If we throw muggles in Azkaban their absence would be noticed."
"Then, my dear Madam Bones," Madam Umbridge responded, "they should think of that before attacking a witch or wizard, shouldn't they? Besides, they can be obliviated prior to being released once their sentence is carried out."
"That still would not solve the investigations that would follow the disappearance of a significant number of muggles," Amelia protested.
"I have every confidence," Madam Umbridge retorted, "that this ministry is capable of deflecting any such investigations if we simply release our Aurors to do the job they are sworn to do. Shackling them with rules and regulations on how to protect these creatures only hinders their performance. That is what is threatening the Statute of Secrecy, Madam Bones."
"No," interjected Arthur, using the amplification of the podium to make himself heard. "What is threatening the Statute of Secrecy are cameras, Madam Umbridge."
"Cameras?" Umbridge asked, confused. "What do cameras have to do with anything?" With a wave of Arthur's wand, the box he had brought with him raised into the air.
"This," Arthur explained, "is a camera. In the past few years, muggles have been placing ones just like it all over their cities. These cameras are not like anything we have dealt with before. They use electricity to transmit the images they take to remote locations. This allows the pictures to be viewed from nearly anywhere in the world."
"Why would we care about that, Mr. Weasley?" asked Umbridge. "Muggle toys are easily defended against, everyone knows that."
"These are not toys, Madam Umbridge," Arthur responded, "and these are not so easily defeated as you might think. We know of several instances where attacks on muggles have been caught by these cameras, and it was only by luck that the DMLE was able to contain the knowledge. At any time we can be exposed if we do not deter these attacks!"
"I have a statement," Lucius Malfoy said, standing up.
"The floor recognizes Lucius Malfoy," the clerk called out.
"I agree with Madam Umbridge," Lucius said. "Regardless of these... eclecrical cameras, I do not believe that muggles deserve any further protections then they already get with existing legislation. This... proposal... introduces far too many penalties on wizards, even limiting what we may do with items we have lawfully purchased for use in our own homes. If we were to ratify this, a witch or wizard could find themselves imprisoned even for the act of defending himself. This bill does nothing to separate ourselves from the muggles. Pass this, and the next thing we know we'll have muggles roaming the very halls of Hogwarts itself." He looked around at his fellow members, smiling at the mumbling his remarks had raised.
"Nothing in this legislation allows that," Arthur said, trying to raise his voice above the din.
"I move that discussion of this bill be tabled for this session," Lucius said.
"Seconded!" Theodore Nott Sr. called out.
"We have a motion to table discussion for this session, and it's been seconded," said the Clerk. "All in favor?" A little over half of the Wizengamot raised their wands and lit them. "All opposed?" The lit wands were lowered and replaced by the wands of those who wanted to continue discussion. "The motion carries, discussion is tabled for this session."
Arthur's mouth was set in a disappointed line as he realized he was finished for this session. He packed his notes up and put them in his pocket and returned to his seat.
"Next item on the docket," the Clerk announced, "is Madam Umbridge, here to propose a Werewolf Registration and Control Act."
Red Team stood at the entrance to the second floor corridor where all the trouble seemed to originate. They were fully suited up in armor with weapons held at the ready. After being delayed for most of the break by the escape of Sirius Black, the Hogwarts staff was finally devoting their full attention to finding the creature and its lair. Each of them was used to seeing magic by this point, so it wasn't too much of a distraction to see brick after brick float by them to stack themselves neatly in the entrance hall. The dance of stone, conducted by Professor Flitwick, was their last resort to finding the creature, or the legendary Chamber of Secrets. Bill Weasley and Headmaster Dumbledore had both gone over every inch of the corridor and classrooms and had discovered nothing.
They were now systematically dismantling the outer stone layer to find whatever was hidden beneath. So far, they had discovered two previously unknown secret passageways, but the spiderwebs that filled the passageways from start to finish showed there had been no activity in either of them for centuries. Professor Lockhart was quick to point out that while there were large quantities of webs, not one spider had been seen. After clearing the webs and debris, Bill thoroughly explored the tunnels. He was quite pleased when Ice volunteered to join him. They found, however, that they were only shortcuts to get to the floor above and below them. Professor Flitwick stuffed both tunnels full of monitoring charms and then sealed both ends of the tunnels.
"That's it," Bill said. "That's every room on this corridor except the bathrooms."
"Well," Professor Flitwick said, "we'll tackle those next and then get to work reassembling everything."
"Do you really think the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets will be in a bathroom?" Bill asked.
"They weren't always bathrooms, Mr. Weasley," Professor Lockhart said. "Back in the founders days, there was no indoor plumbing. The rooms we use as bathrooms today were just regular rooms back then."
"What?" Bill exclaimed. "They all just used outhouses or something?"
"Or something, I'm afraid," Lockhart chuckled. "Privacy and hygiene were not concepts they were well acquainted with either. You must understand, this was a thousand years ago. The societal mores and taboos of today weren't even thought of yet. No, when a witch or wizard of that era needed to relieve themselves, they just did it wherever they happened to be."
"You mean everywhere I'm walking used to be covered with..." Bill began, his eyes wide.
"Poo," Professor Lockhart confirmed, "yes. Rivers of it. Or, at least, there would have been, but they were witches and wizards. They simply vanished the mess. It wasn't until... I believe it was in the 1750's or thereabouts that the bathrooms were finally installed."
"Let's change the subject," Bill suggested, looking uncomfortable. "What's going to happen if we don't find the creature before the students come back?"
"I'm afraid," Dumbledore said, joining the group, "we'll just have to maintain a constant watch. I've just spoken with the Board of Governors again about importing some Mandrake Restorative Draught to treat Mr. Kendet. The request has been denied again."
"Why won't they let you?" asked Bill.
"The cost is the excuse they are using," Dumbledore answered. "I believe they are hoping that keeping young Harry away from his Jedi teacher for so long will cause him to remain on Earth permanently. I told them it was essential that we speak with him, and that he may very well have information that will allow us to find the Chamber and the creature within. They denied that his testimony would be of any use. I even forwarded Harry's offer to pay for the drought himself, but they insist that the law forbids it."
"If we can't find the creature, will the school close?" Lockhart asked.
"No," Dumbledore answered. "The board, led by Lucius Malfoy, forbid the closing of the school, especially since the only victim isn't even a wizard. Lucius claimed that if Hogwarts were to close, there would be nowhere for the magical children to attend school without emigrating out of Britain. What is even more frustrating is that he is quite correct."
"Well," Lockhart said with a smile, "you know what they say. Well begun is half done. Let's get to it, shall we?"
Harry and Hermione had an extremely restful holiday. Warned by Dumbledore not to allow him to over-exert himself, the Granger family mostly stayed home. This was especially pleasing to Auror Dawlish, who knew that the more they strayed from the house, the more chances Black would have to intercept Potter.
Emma and Hermione had both noticed that Harry was somewhat moody, even though he was quite adept at hiding it. They correctly surmised that he was missing Toma. They enlisted the help of Tonks, who then spent the holiday trying to cheer Harry up by changing her form to various disguises. They all agreed that her impression of Professor McGonagall was spot on. When she did Professor Snape, though, she couldn't resist leaving her breasts in place. Even Dawlish laughed at that one.
On the evening before Harry and Hermione were set to return to Hogwarts, the family were having their last dinner together.
"So," Dan asked, "have you heard anything from Dumbledore about the search?"
"Not from the Headmaster, no," Harry answered. "We have gotten reports from the troopers still stationed in the castle, though."
"They didn't find anything," Shooter reported.
"Nothing at all?" Emma asked.
"Well, nearly nothing," Shooter amended. "A couple of secret passageways that were unused and a non-workable faucet in a girls bathroom. Might as well be nothing."
"I want you both to promise me you'll be careful," Emma said to Harry and Hermione. "Try not to go anywhere alone."
"We'll be careful," promised Hermione.
"As careful as we can be," agreed Harry. "Trouble seems to have it's way of finding me without any help from me, though."
Roger Williams was getting settled into his office at Bromley Hospital. The head doctor for his department, a heavyset man named Peter Weatherstone, knocked on the door and entered.
"Ahh, Dr. Williams," Weatherstone said, "Welcome to Bromley."
"Thank you, Dr Weatherstone," Roger responded. "It's a pleasure to finally be here."
"Need you to take a look at something," Weatherstone said, handing Roger a fax. "It's somewhat of a puzzle, but have you ever seen or treated this man? Perhaps while you were interning at St. George's?" Roger took the fax and examined it.
"Sirius Black?" he asked. He frowned at the obviously substandard clothes the man in the picture was wearing. "Odd name. I don't think so. Certainly no patient at St. George's would have been allowed to remain in such poor hygiene."
"Yes," Weatherstone agreed, "I noticed that as well. Dressed in rags, hair unkempt and obviously unwashed. Surely they have a better picture than this. No information on a diagnosis, either. No alerts on whether he's a danger to himself or others. Just a request to detain and hold him with a contact number."
"Well," Roger said, "I'm afraid I've never seen him."
"It was a long shot," Weatherstone said. "Enough about this. If they really want the man, they'd give us more information. Tell me, how was your honeymoon? Are you and your wife all settled in at home?"
"Oh, yes," Roger said, handing back the fax containing a picture of Sirius Black. "We even got ourselves a dog."
AN - Again, I apologize for the delay in posting. Real life has reared its head and kept me quite busy. This is a short chapter, but I'm hoping it will get me back in the swing of writing this story. Don't worry, though, I've not abandoned it.