A few seconds later and two boys came to a screeching halt as they saw a third boy, a third boy that was as much like them as they were like each other.
"Grampy?" The boy with green eyes asked, without actually asking a question.
"You didn't really think I leave him, or you, without a pack, do you?" Moody smirked.
"Remy!" The pair yelled and darted over to hug their brother.
"G-Grampy?" Remy still struggled slightly with seeing Moody as his grandfather, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from asking his question.
"Yeah, Remy?" The older wizard muttered, dragging his attention from the report in front of him, to his new grandson.
"Can you teach us occlumency?"
"Occlumency?"
"Uh-huh. We're going to Hogwarts next year, unless we can change your mind…?" When Moody shook his head, Remy continued. "Well, it's just that a werewolf's mind is protected by their inner wolf and I'm not a werewolf, anymore. And the headmaster and Snape… they're both Legilimens, they can wander through the students' minds, whenever they want, and I have to protect my brothers. I can't let Dumbledore or Snape know who I was... or who Ty and Pads were. I can't."
"Right…" Moody sighed. "The problem is that I don't know whether I can. Theoretically, your body is too young to take the concepts of occlumency and put them into action, but… you still have your adult memories. And those two points contradict each other."
"Oh…" Remy sighed, a little disappointed.
"But there is a way around that." Moody whispered, conspiratorially.
"There is?" Remy's eye widened.
"Of course. A Knowledge Secret."
"A what?"
"A Knowledge Secret is a type of Fidelius, but it covers a block of information. And it's setup differently, the principle is the same, the result is the same, but the method to get there is different and it can have multiple Secret Keepers. All of which are needed to tell someone the secret, either verbally by speaking altogether or by all witnessing one person telling someone or giving someone the written secret and acknowledging their approval." Moody explained.
"But what if we can't all be together to tell someone?" Remy asked.
"Verbally, you have no other option. For a written secret, the other secret keepers can pulse their magic into the written secret, with the intent that only the person being told will be able to read the secret. The benefit to doing it this way, is that you can have one piece of parchment and reuse it as many times as you want to pass the secret along, and only the people that you want will be able to read it, to anyone else is will appear to be a random few lines. Usually an excerpt from a book or an address or the start of a letter to someone."
"Ooh…" Remy gasped. "Can we do that? Please, Grampy? Please?" Remy begged.
Moody laughed. "You get together with your brothers and work out what's to be covered by the secret and I'll cast it for you. On the condition… that the three of you are all secret keepers."
An hour later and the three boys stood in front of Moody while he cast the charm.
"Notitia est occultatum est quod non ... Sirius Orion Black and Harry James Potter are not from this world and along with Remus John Lupin were given new identities. Their names are now Paddrick Magellan Grimm, Titan Aloysius Grimm and Remington Altair Grimm. Custodes autem isto, Remy, Titan and Paddrick. Ut, inquam, sic erit."
A soft golden light filled the room and as Moody spoke it condensed and settled on the three boys, slowly seeping into their skin and fading away. Moody blinked and looked at the boys as the last of the glow faded.
"Alright, lads. I know I cast something and the fact that I can't remember what the something was… tells me that it was a Fidelius of sorts. Will you be telling me what it was?"
"Yes, Grampy." Remy turned the piece of parchment in his hands, towards each of his brothers, and they pulsed their magic into it, before Remy handed it to Moody. "This should help, Grampy." He said.
Moody read the few lines and huffed as the knowledge was released back into his mind, he quickly accessed his occlumency and settled the information into a mental picture of the three lads.
"Well, that worked. Good. Who's for a trip to Fortescue's for ice-cream?"
The Monday before Halloween, Moody approached Scrimgeour's office and rapped his walking cane against the doorframe.
"Boss? Can I have a word?"
Scrimgeour raised a brow but nodded. "Come in." Moody entered, shutting the door behind him and waited for Scrimgeour to enable the privacy wards and lock the door. "What can I do for you?" The director of the DMLE asked.
"It's a little complicated." Moody grimaced.
"See if you can uncomplicate it, then." Came the suggestion.
"Remus Lupin gave us a pile of information about Greyback, enough for me to set some things in motion about removing him." He held up a hand. "Not killing him, but… you are aware that Sarah Edmondson and Michael Julien came up with a method of… well… de-aging a werewolf back beyond the point that they became infected." It wasn't a question.
"I am." Scrimgeour nodded.
"I believe that we can knock Greyback out long enough to pour the potion down his throat. If we can knock him out using a muggle sedative delivery system, we can de-age him. My sources indicate that he's a squib outside of being a werewolf, so we wouldn't be dealing with magic. If we can eliminate his lycanthropy, he'll be young enough to wipe his memory and insert him into the muggle welfare system as a child with amnesia." Moody held out a manila folder to Scrimgeour. "I've made notes on the types of delivery systems, I'd recommend, and a rough outline of actions. I had planned to approach you about it, in the next month or so, but Robards picked up Silas Crump this morning. He fingered Greyback's planned location for the next moon."
"And tomorrow's the full moon." Scrimgeour smirked.
"It is. But… my boys are going through their first core growth-spurt and I'm not prepared to leave them, not for more than an hour or two." Moody warned.
"How old are they?" Scrimgeour was reminded of watching the three boys playing a distorted version of quidditch, with each boy being a cross between chaser, seeker and keeper. Due to the Knowledge Secret he wasn't aware, anymore, of his part in making them who they were now, and Moody wasn't a secret keeper.
"They'll be off to Hogwarts, this coming year." Moody answered.
"Ah, that I see. Well, you'd best brief Robards or Williamson and let them plan the mission." Scrimgeour directed.
"Not Williamson, his wife is pregnant and due any day." Moody corrected. "Robards and Shacklebolt. Give the òigeachda chance to see what's involved in planning a mission."
Scrimgeour thought about that for a moment and nodded. "Fair enough. Is that it?"
"No. Like I said, Lupin gave us a heap of information, in exchange for hiding him. After talking it over with Edmondson and Julien, it was decided that the safest thing for Lupin, was to use Edmondson's process on him and given that he was just four years old when he was bitten, place him with a wizarding family. He's asked to have Remus Lupin 'killed' and that he be allowed to live the rest of his life under the identify he has now."
"That's a serious request." Scrimgeour's brows rose sharply. "Has he given any reasons why?"
"Oh, yeah." Moody handed over a sheet of parchment that was divided into four sections. Titled 'For' and 'Against' Remus, and 'For' and 'Against' John.
"Good grief." Scrimgeour muttered as he quickly read the lists. "Is he serious? Is it really that bad? Is it just him or is it like this for werewolves, in general?"
"He's better off than most wolves, at least he was allowed schooling. Dumbledore took him on as a trial." Moody frowned. "I understand there was almost an incident, but it was stopped before it got out of hand. He has OWLs and NEWTs, but has spent most of his time since Hogwarts, in the muggle world. In the wizarding world, he's lower ranked than even a muggleborn, not permitted to work for the Ministry, have a vault at Gringotts or own property. He'd denied medical attention and if Dumbledore hadn't personally stood as guarantor for him, he'd be denied a wand, too."
"Merlin…" Scrimgeour sighed. "I didn't realise it was that bad."
"It is." Moody replied.
"What's involved in 'killing' Lupin? And making his current persona, permanent?"
"Killing off Lupin is simple enough." Moody answered. "We wait for a muggle accident and place a blood-golem, carrying his documentation, into the scene and leave it for the muggles to identify. I can add myself as an emergency contact, so I'd be the one to identify the 'body'. He's been jobless for the last six months and his last rental ended in June. The muggles will think that he's homeless. I'm sure there'll be something before the end of the year, there always is, come winter."
"And making his current persona, permanent?"
"Edmondson tells me that converting the identities of our hidden protectees, from temporary to permanent, only requires a setting agent. A single potion. Everything we've done to any of our other protectees, is reversable with a reversing potion, or given enough time, will wear off. To make it permanent, requires a setting agent. It writes the changes into their core and genetic blueprint. Nothing can reverse the changes after that."
"Just one potion? That's all it takes?" Scrimgeour blinked.
"Just one potion, boss." Moody confirmed.
"And Lupin gave us enough on Greyback?"
"Between Lupin and Crump, we could probably put him before the Wizengamot and win but getting him there would cost us Aurors. Either injured, dead or turned. Bluntly, boss? It'll cost us less, in the way of time, personnel and gold, to just remove him."
"And without Lupin's information we wouldn't be in a position to do that." Scrimgeour nodded. "Understood. Kill off Remus Lupin and do whatever needs to be done to make his current Id permanent. I'll even issue a compensation payment. ʛ10,000 to get him established and towards any schooling he may require."
"That's very generous, boss, but I'm not sure he wouldn't prefer to have us make our 'cure', available to other werewolves." Moody warned.
"Is it documented as being successful?"
"It is, but there is a downside and that's… while it works, it changes the age of the victim and depending on their current age and when they were bitten, that can be a significant difference… We can de-age them to any age, but when the de-aging process reverses itself, it ages them forward ten years. Ten years, exactly. Regardless of how far or how little we took them back, they'll age forward ten years. Edmondson and Julien can explain it better than I can, boss. You'd be better talking to them." Moody gave up trying to explain.
"I'll do just that. But the gold stands. The family that took Lupin weren't expecting it to be permanent and it takes money to outfit and educate kids these days." Scrimgeour dropped the privacy wards and unlocked the door. "You brief Robards and… Shacklebolt, was it? And I'll go find Edmondson."
"Yes, boss." Moody stood and headed out into the main office. "Robards!" He called. "Shacklebolt! With me." He headed for the lockbox.
Moody's muggle informant rang him at ten minutes to nine on the morning of the 12th of December. There'd been a massive rail accident in the south of London. It was expected that the death toll would be in the high teens or low twenties, with an injury list in the hundreds. A perfect way to kill off Remus Lupin.
The crumpled wrecks that had been carriages, made Moody shudder. How anyone at all had survived, dumbfounded him. It took only a few minutes for him to insert the blood-golem, that the muggles would identify as Remus Lupin, into the wreckage. Then he flashed his badge, that stated he was with a special investigations department (consultant only), based out of Aberdeen and offered his assistance for a few hours, in traffic control or wherever a one-legged man could be of use.
The response from the muggle emergency services was enormous… and fast. It was like nothing Moody had ever seen, not even during the worst of the Voldemort war. There was a heck of a lot his department and St. Mungo's could learn from the muggles. It might be worth seeing if they could get a muggleborn, to do the muggle's emergency training and then return and train the DMLE.
He'd have to provide a copy of the memory to Scrimgeour and make the suggestion.
It took only a few hours for the muggle authorities to identify the golem and Moody was contacted before dark, the same day. He and the boys made a bit of a show when the muggle Aurors, police as Titan called them, arrived on his doorstep to break the news. Moody showed his badge and said that he'd been there, on the day, as he'd been in London, he'd volunteered the few hours he'd had available, but with an artificial leg there wasn't a lot he could do, physically, other than direct people and traffic.
The police stated that Lupin (the golem) was unrecognisable and that he had been identified by his documentation and one of the firemen who'd been on scene, had lived next door to him for a while and had confirmed the identification. But as Moody was registered as Lupin's emergency contact, it will be up to him to organise whatever funeral rites Lupin would have wanted. Moody replied that Lupin had been an atheist and that a service of remembrance after a cremation, would have been his preferred choice.
The police said that given the damage to Lupin's body, they were very sorry, but the coroner's office had already had the body cremated. His ashes could be collected from Her Majesty's Coroner's Office in Battersea, any time after midday on Friday.
It took a few more platitudes from the police, some fake tears from the boys and admission from Moody that he'd been hiring Lupin during the summers to watch the boys while he was at work, before the police left.
Moody looked at the boys as the door closed behind the police.
"Now I have to tell Dumbledore." He grumbled.
"Good luck, Grumpy." All three boys sang.
Albus Dumbledore sat in his lovely office, surrounded by pretty things, debating his next move. Playing chess against Minerva was a time consuming and stressful pastime, but he thoroughly enjoyed it. While he debated, he wrote out another invitation, the Board of Governors having given permission for him to invite guests to the Christmas feast.
Granted, he'd have to invite the governors, but other than Lucius Malfoy, that was no hardship, and Malfoy had been cleared under veritaserum, of willingly following Tom Riddle.
Tom Riddle. Such a waste of life. Such a waste of magic. He could have been the greatest Minister for Magic that the wizarding world had ever seen, instead he turned to torture and murder. How many lives had he taken? How many were taken on his command? And how many more were destroyed?
Such a waste.
But Tom's action of attacking the Potters and subsequent the trial of Lucius Malfoy and many other 'known' Death-Eaters, under veritaserum, proved that complacency couldn't be allowed, as many were found to be not in control of their own minds. Trials and veritaserum were now mandatory for any crime greater than petty theft. Mind altering potions could only be brewed by a licenced apothecary or potions Master and only be applied by a St Mungo's registered healer. The illegal brewing of lust or love potions could net the brewer anything from a significant fine to prison time. While the application of prohibited potions, had the administrator, if not registered with St Mungo's, barred, their memories locked and possibly imprisoned. But the instigator? The intent to use mind altering potions on a person, with or without their consent, without a St Mungo's certificate, would land the planner in Azkaban. No exceptions.
Albus had been forced to have a word with Molly Weasley, she'd been one of the most vocal objectors of the new laws. At least until Albus revealed that Voldemort had been born under such a potion and that the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers' research had revealed that children conceived under the influence of mind altering potions were, while usually quite intelligent, completely incapable of feeling affection and love, as such emotions were actively inhibited during said conception. After hearing this, Molly had backed down, but had suggested a variance to the law, those in arranged marriages and unbreakable betrothals, would be given the opportunity to take low-level doses, strong enough to remove animosity and engender a degree of affection, sufficient to allow the marriage to be consummated and children conceived. Otherwise such people would likely attempt to breach their contracts and that could lead to a loss of their magic or their lives. Still, such dosages required healer administration and certification.
But it was, at least, resolved, now.
All Albus had to do today, was to decide whom to invite to the Christmas feast. He needed new teachers, for the coming school year and inviting them to the feast would give him the opportunity to broach the subject. He had to find at least three Professors, possibly a fourth. DADA, of course. Perhaps it might be advisable to consult a curse-breaker? Then there was Muggle Studies, it would probably be a wise move to have a muggleborn, or at least a muggle-raised, take that class. The astronomy class had complained about their Professor, if Professor Harding couldn't stay awake to teach, what use was he? And as always, there were complaints about Binns. Maybe it was time to let him move on?
As he contemplated whether or not to advertise the positions, he floo lit up and a voice sounded.
"Albus? Albus, are you there? It's Moody, I need a word."
Albus, hurried over and replied. "Of course, Alastor, come through." The Senior Auror could be just what he needed, he'd make an excellent DADA Professor, if only he could get permission.
Moody stepped from the flames and his magical eye swirled around the room, looking for any potentially negative magics.
"Have a seat, Alastor, and please explain, what can I do for you?" Albus twinkled at the scarred Scotsman.
"I had a visit from the muggle police this morning." Moody started, only to be cut off.
"Pole-lease? What are pole-lease and why would they be visiting you?" Albus ask curiously.
"Police. P-O-L-I-C-E, Albus. They're the muggle version of Aurors."
"Ah… Yes, of course. I see, thank you. And the reason for their visit?"
"There was a… rail accident in the south of London, this morning. Over thirty dead and nearly five hundred injured. You'd best check your students, some of the muggle-raised may have had family members involved." Moody said.
"Oh, my." Albus' mouth opened in shock. "Buy why would the muggle Aurors come to you?"
"Remus Lupin was killed, and I've been his emergency contact in the muggle world. I enlisted his help to see my boys through their summers." Moody answered.
"Oh… How… How did he…?" Albus didn't know if he should ask.
"Blunt force trauma to the back of the head, killed him instantly, then as the muggles were clearing the wreckage one of the carriages collapsed and crushed his body. Bad enough that the coroners had the body cremated immediately after being identified. I'll go into London on Friday and pick up the ashes. He had few friends in the muggle world and fewer in the magical world, so, I'm thinking a small service at Pentre Ifan, come Saturday."
Albus nodded. "How are… your boys holding up?" He frowned. "Who are your boys?"
"Me grandsons." Moody answered. "I don't think it's sunk in yet and I'm not sure it will for a while. Lupin's not usually around 'til summer holidays."
"Grandsons?" Albus blinked. "I wasn't aware you were married, let alone had children or grandchildren." He chided gently.
"My private life is just that. Mine and private. But to sate your unending curiosity… Jessica died in '79 and we only had one child. Laura died in '78, the same day as her husband, they lived in Liverpool." Moody girt his teeth.
"In '78? The muggle explosions?" Albus asked, understanding the incidence Moody was referencing.
"Yes, five cities were bombed, and a dozen building blown up. A deliberate terrorist attack by the IRA. Laura and Corvus were the only deaths and thanks to Potter, Black, Longbottom, Leacher and the two Bones', I managed to retrieve Laura and Corvus' bodies and keep them off the muggle lists."
"And how old were the boys?"
"Eight months." Moody sighed. "Jessica and I took them in, and we intended to raise them ourselves. But it wasn't to be. Jessie was killed in the Woolworth's fire in Manchester, the next May. In the space of a little over five months, my wife, daughter and son-in-law were dead, and I was literally left holding the baby, or in my case babies. Three of them. Paddrick, Remington and Titan. Triplets."
"Oh… Oh, I am so sorry, Alastor." Albus sighed.
"Me, too. But they'll be coming here next year, Albus, and I've been meaning to drop in and check they're on your registry."
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"They weren't born in the UK, Laura and Corvus were holidaying in Spain when she went into labour." Moody answered.
"Ah… well, why don't we check? Are you sure they're magical?"
"Oh Gods, yes. Ty was doing accidental magics before he was an hour old, Remy and Pads only minutes behind him. Ty obviously thought the room was too bright, as he extinguished all the lights. Remy mustn't have liked the noise, as he silenced the room and Pads didn't like whatever the medi-witch was doing and banished the cloth she was using on him." Moody chuckled.
Albus smiled at the mental picture Moody's description gave him. "Well then, we'd best check and see if they're enrolled. If they're not, we can always add them manually." The Headmaster headed from his upper office down to the main office floor and the dome-covered brass orrery model. Once there, he tapped his wand on the Hogwarts' crest and tapped it with his wand. A compartment opened and a drawer slid out, exposing a group of ancient books, only one of which was open. "Now, let's see, shall we…? Enrolments for 1989." He flipped a few pages. "Ah, here we are… Alastor? I didn't think to ask. What are their names?"
"Paddrick Grimm, Remington Grimm and Titan Grimm." Moody answered.
"An unusual name, one I'm not familiar with…"
"An ancestor was a squib, The Lord Black at the time was Phineas Nigellus, he disowned the young lad, from the House of Black and planned to abandon the boy in the muggle world. But the lad's brother and cousins smuggled out his trust vault and converted it to muggle money and changed the lad's name from Black to Grimm. A nod to his brother's Animagus form. When the lad married another pureblood squib, his cousins were delighted and even more delighted when their only child, a son, turned out to be a wizard. The brother suggested keeping the young wizard out of Hogwarts, fearing that if the new Lord Black found out about him, the reaction could be violent." Moody explained.
"Oh, yes, I can see most of the Blacks taking out their frustrations on a squib's son. Sometimes I wonder how young Sirius escaped the Black madness." Albus shook his head, then paused. "Ah, here we go… Forester… Grant… Grimm… Paddrick, Remington and Titan. Excellent." Albus beamed over at Moody.
"Good, one less worry. When can we expect their letters?" Moody asked.
"Letters are usually sent the first week after the end of the school year. However, seeing as you are here… I can see to their letters and accept confirmation of their enrolment, if you wish? It would allow you to get their books and supplies, ahead of the start of term rush." Albus offered.
"That'd be handy." Moody nodded.
Later that evening, Moody handed the boys a sheet of parchment each and reached for a bread knife. "Here we are. Your book lists."
"Brilliant, Grampy." Ty beamed at his grandfather. "Me and Pads were thinking…"
"Oh, great…" Moody muttered. "This'll be good."
"Grumpy…" Paddrick huffed.
"Alright, what did you pair come up with, this time?" Moody sighed.
"We want to raid the Room of Requirement." Titan answered.
"The Room of… What?" Moody stopped cutting up a loaf of bread and turned to the boys.
"The Room of Requirement. It's up on the seventh floor, opposite Barnabas the Barmy. It's… it's kinda hard to explain, it can be anything we want it to be, but left on its own, it's the storage room for anything lost, abandoned or discarded by staff or students." Titan answered. "We were thinking that we'd sort through it once we got there, then Remy asked about the books and Pads about money and we figured why wait? We can pop up and raid it and be gone without anyone knowing, if we went over Christmas."
"We could get all the books, gold and trunks from the Room. Then spend the first half of next year sorting through them and the last of the wizard-space frames. We could put together decent libraries for ourselves." Remy added.
"We could also build study-trunks and sell them to the OWL and NEWT students." Pads suggested. "Or rent them."
"Bring me a business proposal for the trunks and a mission briefing for the Room raid. Once I've read them, we'll talk." Moody said.