Chapter 6 – Homecomings and Roosts
Author's Note:
The action has started. Lily is beginning er moves against Riddle. Dumbledore's positions are at risk. Did what happened to Petunia happen to others?
I hope you are enjoying the story. Give me a review. I'll respond to any questions directly.
Monday night, 30 September 1985
The Burrow
"It's 21:00, who could be at our door?" Arthur Weasley asked his wife. The four children remaining at home had all just been put to bed.
He opened the door to see a wizard and a witch in Auror robes. A quick flash of fear washed over him. The last time two officers were on his doorstep, they were there to announce Fabian's and Gideon's deaths. He paled. "Is there something wrong officers? Has something happened to Bill or Charlie?"
Hearing Arthur's question, Molly jumped up from the couch and ran to the door, "Who's hurt? What's happened?" Arthur's heart ached seeing the fear in her eyes.
"Arthur and Molly Weasley?" The witch smiled. Seeing their hesitant nods, she continued, "I am here to tell you that Gideon and Fabian Prewett are alive and in St. Mungo's."
"WHAT!" yelled Molly, "Don't you dare be tricking us. My brothers died at the end of the war."
There were stirrings upstairs at the scream. "Ma'am, this is no joke or prank. They are at hospital and have asked to have you notified. I don't know the details, but they had been incarcerated in Azkaban. Lady Longbottom discovered this. In today's Wizengamot, they were declared innocent of the false charges laid on them. I don't know much more than this."
Molly broke down. Her grief for them had only abated with the birth of Ginevra. She turned to Arthur and fell into his arms sobbing.
"Mom! Are you alright?" Percy said from the stairs. The twins and Ginny peaked from behind him. They were all worried and ready to cry seeing their crying mother.
"My brothers, your uncles, are alive." She sobbed.
Arthur nodded to the Aurors who quickly left. "Let's floo Pandora and Xeno. They can bring Luna and watch the children tonight. We need to see your brothers." He gently sat her back on the sofa. The children ran to her, hugging her for comfort. She hugged them back.
"Xeno, Pandora? It's Arthur. Are you there?" Arthur had his head in the floo.
Within moments, he said, "I know it's late, sorry. We've had a bit of a shock here. It turns out Molly's brothers were not dead." A pause, "That's right, her brothers." Another pause, "No, Luna, they didn't decide to come back. I'm sorry, dear, but I must talk to your Mum. Pandora, can you watch the kids? Molly and I want to see Fabian and Gideon." He stepped back from the floo as the Lovegood family came through. "Thank you, Xeno. Thank you, Pandora. We'll tell you everything in the morning."
"We will be here. I did hear that the session today was quite long and lively." Xeno began talking as Arthur rushed to Molly.
"Children, Mr. Xeno and Mrs. Pandora will be watching you tonight. Ginny, you and Luna can have a sleepover. We'll see you in the morning." Molly said as she went to the floo with her husband. Arthur threw some powder into the fire. Stepping forward, Molly firmly stated, "St. Mungo's." With a flash, they were gone. Xeno and Pandora were left with four excited children.
Looking at each other, Pandora asked her husband, "Do you think anyone will get sleep tonight?"
He chuckled, "Oh yes, but it will be around 03:00 or so. I wonder if they have any board games. If we get them sitting still long enough, they'll settle down."
Arthur and Molly arrived at St. Mungo's. It looked as if the hospital was under siege. Reporters completely blocked the entrance. They recognized a couple of reporters from the Prophet. As Arthur pushed their way through, they heard French, German, Italian, at least two different Asian languages, and worst of all, American English.
One of the Prophet reporters, a Rita Skeeter, recognized Arthur just as they reached the doors. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, we've been told that Mrs. Weasley's brothers were two of the people freed from wrongful incarceration in Azkaban. Can you tell us what you're feeling? Care to make a statement?"
The security guards stationed at the doors saw the Weasleys and moved forward to help them inside.
"Mrs. Weasley, the public deserves a comment. Can you describe the moment you were told that the two war heroes, your brothers, were alive?" Rita yelled out flashes from photography rippled through the crowd.
The doors closed behind Arthur and Molly. Molly's calm broke with the last question. She sobbed into Arthur's arms. The flashes outside the door intensified. Arthur saw and grew angry. With a quick movement, he turned the windows of the entrance opaque. "I am truly sorry and this is not a permanent charm, but I will not subject my wife to that."
The two guards nodded and one said, "I wish I had thought of that earlier. We can watch through the door easily enough."
"Can you direct me to someone who can take us to her brothers?" Arthur more calmly asked.
Pointing at the reception desk, the same guard offered, "The witch over there will be able to direct you to their room. Mrs. Weasley? I want to say how happy I am for you that they are alive."
"Thank you." She sniffled. Molly was regaining her calm once more. She knew that when she hugged her brothers, the dam would break.
A short time later, they were ushered into a room where the two men were. Molly's heart broke when she saw their condition. It was obvious they had been cleaned up. At the least, they had been starved. The hospital clothes they were wearing consisted of a khaki pullover short-sleeve shirt and khaki shorts. Their arms were nothing but skin over bone. Her arm was twice the thickness of hers. Her memory replayed when Fabian had picked her up one-handed at her wedding. She didn't think that working together they could lift her now. Their legs were in the same sad shape. Their knees jutted out from the wasted flesh.
Gideon saw them and smiled, "Molls! How I've wanted to see you." He held out his arms and started crying. Molly rushed forward and entered the hug. Seeing Fabian wanting to be hugged, she lifted Gideon out of his bed and placed him next to his twin. She did this while not ending the hug. In her mind, she mourned that her brother weighed less than her Percy. A determination bloomed in her chest. Once out of hospital, they would not be leaving the Burrow until she felt they were back to health.
"They told us you had died. You were fighting Dolohov and four others." Molly sobbed as she hugged them.
"Molls, we did fight Dolohov and some other Death Eaters." Fabian began. Gideon continued, "When the action was over, the bastard Crouch showed up. We began our report. The next thing we" Fabian now, "knew we were in Azkaban."
"Why?" Molly and Arthur were both shocked. "You were fighting the Death Eaters? Why did they do this?"
"From what came out in the trial today, Bastard Crouch's" Gideon started.
"son, Bastard Crouch, Jr. became a Death Eater." Fabian said.
"Bastard Senior, it seems," Gideon now.
Fabian, "wanted to save his son a"
"one-way trip to," Gideon.
Both, "the hell on earth called Azkaban."
Molly looked at Arthur. Her brothers were broken. "How did you get here?"
The twins looked at each other, neither relinquishing Molly's hug. "All we know is the Lady Longbottom came to Azkaban for something. She found a prisoner who convinced her that she had not had a trial and was innocent. She directed her solicitors to see who was in Azkaban without trials. They found us, along with Sirius Black and eleven others. If it wasn't for her, we would still be there."
"How did you get sent to hospital?" Molly asked.
"Lady Bones required it. We've been seen by both medics and mind-healers." Fabian started.
"The medics said that with the proper potions, we could leave in a week," Gideon spoke.
Fabian interrupted, "The mind healers told us that it will be six months of treatments before"
"they feel we will be stable again." Gideon ended.
"I'm so glad to have you back." Molly mumbled into their chests. Looking up at them, she caught their eyes, "When you are released in a week, you are coming home to the Burrow. I will make sure that you make any appointments with medics or mind healers. I've gotten my brothers back. I'm not letting you go again until you are back to yourselves." Seeing them glance at each other, she continued, "I may be your younger sister, but you will stay with us. Elsewise, I will hex you until you beg to come back." She mock growled at them.
Both men gave weak laughs. Saying in tandem, "That's the Molls we remember. We're glad we're back, too."
Arthur stood watching them. He agreed with his wife. His brothers-in-law will be staying at the Burrow. Permanently, if he could swing it. He made a note to himself to take the next week off.
Tuesday, 1 October 1985
Hogwarts School
Headmaster's Office 07:00 hours
Sitting behind his desk, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore received his head of houses. Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, and Flitwick sat patiently in a row facing him.
"I suppose you're wondering why I invited you for this impromptu meeting?" The headmaster asked rhetorically. "There were some happenings in the Wizengamot yesterday. Suffice it to say, Sirius Black was innocent of betraying the Potters, killing Pettigrew, and some muggles. It turns out that Peter Pettigrew betrayed them. He escaped Sirius by killing the muggles and cutting off a finger prior to switching into his animagus form. Appropriate for him, he is a rat animagus."
The reactions were instantaneous.
Minerva's face paled with empathy. "That poor man. How may I contact him?"
Filius and Pomona sat silently. They remembered Sirius as a boy. Neither had truly believed that he would have betrayed James Potter. He lived with James and his family when the Black family threw him out.
"Thank you for the information, Headmaster. As I am certain this will be in the morning Prophet, I must suppose that we are here for a different purpose." Severus sneered.
"Yes, well, as to that," Dumbledore started. "As the heads of your houses, I wanted the four of you to survey the various animals the students have. Peter has not been seen since the Potters demise. If any of our students have a rat, please have the animal brought here. We can determine if it is an animal or Peter very easily. If it is Peter, we will need to turn him in and console the child who has him."
"That is a sound plan, Albus." Minerva nodded. "I will call a house meeting as soon as we are finished."
Pomona agreed, "We need to get this done today. I'll call the badgers together this morning."
Severus sniffed, "None of my snakes would have a rat, unless it was to feed their pet."
"It would be prudent to meet with all of your houses. I have nothing else. Meet with your houses and let me know." Albus dismissed them. He hoped that Peter had made his way back to Hogwarts. It would strengthen his position in the Wizengamot if he were to capture him. Knowing the man from his time in the Order, he assumed that Peter would act as someone's pet. Peter tended to take the easiest paths.
At the teacher's table at lunch, the headmaster heard the reports. No one had a pet rat. There had been a flurry of owls that came in during the meal. Due to the house meetings, breakfast had been held in the various common rooms.
"Albus, while none of my lions has a rat," she started, "the Weasley brothers, William and Charles, told me that their younger brother, Percy, has had a pet rat for four years now."
Pomona overheard, "Four years? Rats rarely live more than two years. Headmaster, do you think?"
"Yes, that is very curious." Dumbledore said. "Molly Weasley sent a letter this morning asking that her two boys be sent home for the rest of the week. As you've all seen in the Prophet, her two brothers were illegally held in Azkaban. Barty Crouch had falsified their deaths."
"An awful bit of business, that." Pomona said.
"I shall be chaperoning the two home today. This will allow me to talk with Percy and see his rat." The old man's eyes twinkled merrily. "Minerva, have them come to my office once lunch is over."
"Of course, Albus."
With that, Dumbledore went to his office. Uncaring of the rising cacophony of voices from the students.
Charlie and Bill were reading an owl from their parents. It told them about their uncles and that they were needed at home.
Several Gryffindors raced to the Weasley brothers. The front of the Prophet showed pictures of Fabian and Gideon Prewett alongside Sirius Black. It announced what had happened to them. It stated that eleven others had been freed and their stories were inside. Below that, on the bottom half of the front page, a picture of Arthur and Molly Weasley entering St. Mungo's had been placed. The title under it stated, "Concerned Families Flock to Hospital". Bill and Charlie glanced at each other and ran to Professor McGonagall.
With a crack, Headmaster Dumbledore, Bill Weasley, and Charlie Weasley apparated at the edge of the Burrow's wards. The two boys broke away, running to the home. The headmaster took a more sedate pace to the front door.
As he arrived, he was met with Pandora Lovegood. "Good morning, Pandora. Are Molly and Arthur home?"
With a smile, Pandora answered, "No, they are still at St. Mungo's. They came home for lunch and told the children what happened to Fabian and Gideon. Once we finished lunch, they both went back to hospital." Moving out of the doorway to let him in, she continued, "Would you like a cup of tea? Xeno and I were about to have a cup."
"No, my dear," he answered with twinkling eyes, "We just finished our lunches a short while back. Thank you, though." He continued to the living room, sitting down in an armchair.
"Good afternoon, Albus. It's horrible what happened to them, don't you think?" Xeno walked in greeting the other man.
"Terrible business that." Dumbledore frowned with empathy. "I fear I came here with two purposes. The first was to bring William and Charlie home. Molly and Arthur wanted them home when their uncles leave St. Mungo's."
"What was the other reason, Headmaster?" Pandora asked. She had poured a cup of tea for Xeno and herself.
"We found out yesterday that Peter Pettigrew is a rat animagus. To ensure the safety of the students, we looked at all pets at school today." He waited a moment. "We found nothing unexpected, thankfully. However, the Weasley boys mentioned their brother Percy's rat. He's had the rat for four years. That's twice the normal lifespan of a rat. I was hoping to see the rat. I'm sure that Arthur and Molly would want it to be checked."
Xeno and Pandora shared a look. Pandora set her cup of tea down. "I'll talk to Percy. Give me a minute."
"How's the Quibbler going, Xeno?" Albus asked while they waited. They talked about nothing. It was just a few minutes later that Pandora returned with a sleeping rat in its' cage.
"This is Scabbers." Pandora showed them as she placed the cage on a table. "Headmaster, what do you need to check?"
"This won't take long. I need to cast the animagus reversal spell." He explained. "If the rat is just a rat, nothing will happen."
He walked over to the cage. Looking at the rat, he noticed it was missing a digit on a forepaw. Casting the reversal spell, the rat woke up as it starting reverting to human. As he grew, the cage burst and the table it sat upon toppled over.
Peter Pettigrew was revealed. "Help! I've been hiding from Sirius Black." Dumbledore stunned him.
"He's lying. We found out yesterday that he betrayed the Potters." He turned to the Lovegoods. "Do you think you could keep the children away while I call the Aurors?"
"Of course, Albus." Pandora land Xeno eft the room to gather the children upstairs.
When the Lovegoods left the room, Albus moved next to Peter and knelt next to him. He thought to himself, 'Peter, it is a shame. You were the perfect pawn. However, pawns are meant to be sacrificed. With Sirius free, I cannot let it be known that I knew you were a Death Eater when we made you Secret Keeper.' He cast a silent charm upon Peter. 'I fear that the stress of transfiguring back to human will have stopped your heart. You have a few hours to live.'
The aurors were called. Mad-Eye Moody arrived with a trainee. "Pettigrew." Turning to Dumbledore, he asked. "How did you know to come here, Headmaster?"
"It was an outcome of the search we ran this morning." Dumbledore explained what happened to this point.
"Good work, then." Moody turned to the trainee. "Did you put the magic and animagus suppression cuffs on him?" Getting an affirmative nod. "I'll need a full statement from you soon. For now, let's get this scum out of a good family's home."
Dumbledore watched as they flooed out of the home. He grimaced as they left. They had to send Moody. He was a good man. Albus feared that he might look a little too hard in the soon death of Peter Pettigrew.
The adult clone of Lily Potter, Lillian, sat in the study of the Potter mansion. Harry and Jessamime were attending first grade at the local school. They were registered as fraternal twins under the last name of Jameson. Their looks had been changed slightly. Both now had brown hair and brown eyes. Jessa's face had been altered to make her look more like Harry. Both were top of their class. They were in school to learn how to make and be a friend. Harry had access to all of Lily Potter's knowledge. Jessamine had Petunia's. A side effect of the change was Jessamine's emotional maturity and focus matched her apparent age of five. She knew Harry was thoroughly enjoying himself. She was sure that Jessa was too. She was all smiles when they came home each school day.
She turned her attention to the version of the Patronum she was developing. She had been working non-stop on this since she completed the Clone Animus spell. Using Arithmancy, she had finished her calculations. This spell looked to be simpler and easier to cast than the clone spell. She thought that there was no time like the present. She gathered her notes, stood, and walked to the training room. Once she arrived, she checked her available magic. She had full reserves.
She reviewed the needed wand motions. She practiced them. Closing her eyes in preparation, she cast, "Expecto Maternum Corpus!" A silver mist flowed out of the wand. She concentrated on being Harry's mother. The mist coalesced and standing before Lillian was a ghostly Lily Potter.
The silver spirit smiled at her. "We did it!" It twirled around. "I have all of your memories. Let me try casting a spell." She made the motions to cast a wandless Lumos. Light flared at the end of her right hand. "Wonderful." She noted that the Maternum spell was able to siphon ambient energy like she could. This would make maintaining the spell very easy.
The Maternum spirit then motioned for the wand in Lillian's hand. "We need to see if I can hold something and use it." Lillian proffered the wand. The spirit picked it up. It swung the wand and cast a Protego. A shield popped up. Lillian and the spirit smiled at each other. Lillian took the wand back.
The spirit smiled sadly at her. Lillian cancelled the spell. The memories from the spirit flowed into her. They didn't stop in her, they followed the link back to Harry where Lily took them.
"We're going to have to come up with a name for you. Lilas? Short for Lily as a Spirit?" it worked for her.
"We need to test the ability for Lilas to pass through wards. She should as she is a form on Patronus." Lillian smiled darkly. "Mama Dragon will be showing Voldemort's minions why one shouldn't threaten her child."
She walked back to her office. Once there, she wrote a short missive requesting an appointment with Orevein. Not trusting owls still, she called for Momsy.
With a pop, Mimsy stood in front of her. "Mimsy here, Mistress Lillian. What cans Mimsy bes doing?"
"Can you deliver this letter to Account Manager Orevein?" she smiled at the little elf.
"Mimsy bes happy to do this." Mimsy took the parchment. With a snap of her fingers, she popped out on her way to Gringotts. In less than five minutes, she returned. "Orevein asked Mimsy to wait fors his answer." She handed a scroll with the Gringotts seal on it to Lillian.
"Thank you, Mimsy." Lillian took the missive. "If I need anything else, I'll be sure to call for you."
"Mimsy bes going backs to work." Mimsy bowed to Lillian. Even though Mimsy called the clone, Mistress Lillian, Lily had explained how Lillian was an extension of herself.
Lillian broke the wax seal. Opening the scroll, she saw it was written in Gobbledegook. Thankful for the perfect memory Occlumency gave her, she could read it. She had quickly learned the language. She found it was true that once you've learned multiple languages, it becomes easier. Harry and Jess were making progress, but it was slower. She had purposefully kept her learning to herself. She wanted them both to enjoy the pride of learning it by themselves.
Orevein
Potter Accounts Manager
Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Lillian Potter,
Accepted representative for Lily Potter Regent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
Your request has been received. As requested, an appointment has been granted for 09:00 Wednesday 2, October. May the blood of our enemies' flow and their gold increase our vaults.
Orevein
Short and to the point as usual, she grinned. Thinking to herself, 'Goblins are not known for their bluntness for nothing, after all.'
She took a break to read the Daily Prophet. Seeing the results of the Wizengamot session, she was saddened at what had happened to innocents. She was happy to see that Lady Longbottom was beginning to use the information given to her. With Sirius now free, she wondered how soon she could reach out to him? She could use more friends and allies.
Amelia Bones was having both the best and worst morning of her life. Getting from the floo to her office was horrid. Reporters from around the world were seeking comments. The second they recognized her, she was mobbed. She didn't get away until she told them that an official statement would be made as soon as the investigations were completed. That did not deter the reporters. Only threatening them with stunning and a charge of obstructing a government official in their duties caused them to retreat.
Her first order of business was to interview Bartemius Crouch. She found him a disagreeable man. He had a patronizing manner that demeaned others. She had respected him when he led the DMLE, but had been careful in his presence. She took the elevators to the confinement level.
Stepping off, she stood in a small, square area where three aurors sat. One sat directly in front of the elevator doors. He sat behind a chest high barrier that could be ducked behind in case of spellfire. The other two sat behind similar barriers in the corners where the wall containing the elevator debouched. This allowed a three-way cross fire, if someone was foolish enough to attempt a rescue.
"Please move forward and stand in the center of the room, Ma'am", the guard facing her stated. "There are a pair of footprints painted on the floor, please stand in them."
Knowing the procedure, she strode forward and stood still. Three spells were cast, first was cast the Specialis Revelio. Amelia glowed. She was surprised that five listening charms had been placed upon her. They were quickly cancelled. She made a note to have everyone entering Ministry Offices checked. Second was a Homenum Revelio. As expected, the four people in the room glowed briefly. However, a fifth glow flashed in Amelia's hair. With the amount of press Britain was receiving, it seemed some reporters were willing to go too far.
"Let's see who has decided to break into the Ministry, shall we?" Amelia said. "You have a choice. Get out of my hair and land on the floor or I'll pull you out of my hair and won't be gentle about it."
A beetle flew from her, landing in between Amelia and the elevator sentry. Amelia quirked an eyebrow, "I don't have all day. Let's see who you are."
Almost too quickly to be seen, the beetle transformed into a reporter from the Prophet. The woman looked scared. "I can explain. I'm Rita Skeeter from the Prophet?"
"Well, Rita Skeeter from the Prophet, you've unlawfully entered the Ministry, accosted the head of the DMLE by riding my head, and if I miss my guess," Lady Bones paused for effect, "are not registered as an animagus. Am I correct, or shall I have someone check the registry."
"Ah, no. I haven't registered." Rita tried to excuse herself, "I just learned. I meant to register, the Prophet has kept me very busy."
"I think you waited too long." Amelia frostily answered. "I believe that we'll drop the charges of unlawful entry and accosting me. The charge of not being registered will not be able to be dropped." Lady Bones smiled with malice, "I am so sorry for that. By the way? You're under arrest." She motioned to the auror on her right, "Take her into custody. Make sure everyone knows the charge and have the proper cuffs and cell for her." She made a note that Rita's office and home should be raided before Rita can get any word out. "Call for Shacklebolt, please. I need to assign him a small job."
With that finished, she walked into the main holding area. They were ready for her. Bartemius Crouch was in a questioning room waiting on her. Outside the door, a junior auror stood holding a folder of parchments. Taking them, she asked, "Thank you?"
"William Morris, Ma'am," he nervously answered. This was the first time he met the head of the DMLE.
"Well, William," Lady Bones greeted, "You're getting a rare opportunity this morning. A high ministry officer on charges of corruption and false imprisonments." She stopped there, but mentally added, 'because these are usually swept under the rug with bribes.'
"Ah, yes, Ma'am." He agreed.
She went into the room and set at an interview table. Bartemius Crouch sat on the other side. His hads were manacled to the table through his suppression handcuffs. She set up a Dicta-Quill. Speaking she said, "This is the interview of Bartemius Crouch administered on 1 October, 1985. The time is 10:00 hours."
Seeing her, he snarled, "I have nothing to say to you."
Lady Bones sat down and began reading the parchment. Her only acknowledgement of his words was to briefly raise her eyes to look at him. She made several notations on the documents. After a few minutes of tense silence, she looked at him, "You've been quite nasty. The Priori Incantatem on your wand shows multiple Imperios. Care to explain the use of an Unforgivable?"
He stared at her. "I'm a pure-blood. I know my rights."
"You do, do you?" Amelia smiled at him, "For the crime of attempted line assassination on two Houses, pure-blood protections are forfeit." She kept her eyes on Bartemius while continuing, "William, do you have the Veritaserum?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he answered. "Would you like me to administer it?"
"Yes, please." Madam Bones answered, "I believe Barty, here, has a few things to get off his chest. Don't you, Barty?"
Once the potion was given and active, she began questioning, "First things, first. Why did you have all of those people sent to Azkaban?"
"What does it matter? They are all either half-bloods or mudbloods. For the most part, I owed them money I didn't have." Crouch answered. "I was fighting a war. It would have been bad for morale and the country for me to go bankrupt. A few people sacrificed to keep everyone else happy was a good trade-off."
Amelia stared at the man disgusted. 'Did he really believe that?' "So, sending people to Azkaban for life to cover your debts was good for the country?"
"Of course, I was leading the fight. If I had been weakened, the entire effort could have been compromised." He answered.
"The war-time protocol for sending someone, without trial, to Azkaban was to have the signature of the Head of the DMLE, The Chief Wizard, and the Minister of Magic. How did you get around that?" Amelia asked.
"Easy, neither bothered to read anything I gave them." Crouch sneered. "Both claimed being too busy to dwell with minutiae. I would send them a package of ten or more documents with the internment orders sandwiched in the middle. They never questioned anything."
Both Lady Bones and the attending auror had to school their features. This was beyond corruption. This showed incompetence.
"What about the Prewett twins?" She changed subject.
"They identified my son as a Death Eater. Barty is my only heir." Crouch tried to resist the potion. "I couldn't let him go to Azkaban."
"So, you faked their deaths and hid them away?" Amelia incredulously asked.
"They were true heroes. I thought it would be better for them to be alive in prison than for me to murder them." Crouch replied.
"You contemplated killing them?"
"Yes, it was easier to send them to prison than to cover up their murders. Also, they were friends, of a sort." He answered.
"Alright, let's move on to Sirius Black." Amelia turned a page in the folder. "Why was he sent away?"
"He-Who-Must-Be-Named had just been defeated due to the betrayal of the Potters." Crouch said.
"So? Why the rush?" Amelia followed up.
Crouch looked confused, "I do not remember. I recall bringing him in and putting him in a cell. The next memory I have is waking up the next morning. When I checked, Sirius was gone and the Prophet was declaring him the betrayer and He-Who-Must-Be-Named's right hand man. I never thought of him again."
"Curious," Amelia's eyes closed slightly in thought. Another player?
"You had nothing to do with Sirius' placement into Azkaban?"
"Other than my signature of the form, which I do not remember signing? No." Crouch replied.
"Moving on, your wand shows multiple uses of the Imperio. Who have you cast it on?" She changed topics.
"Only my son." He let out.
"Barty Junior? Isn't he dead?" Amelia followed-up.
"No, I am holding him in a hidden room at my home. My elf, Winky, takes care of him. I cast the Imperio daily to ensure that he doesn't escape." Came the surprising answer.
"I have records that he died. Who died in Azkaban?" she queried.
"My wife, she was dying. We visited Barty. She polyjuiced herself and Barty. Barty left with me. She died shortly after the visit." Crouch answered.
"This ends the interview. William, can you administer the antidote and get him back to his cell?" She stopped the Auto-Quill.
"Yes, Ma'am." He gave Crouch the antidote and began the process to return him. She stood up and left the room. As she moved to the elevator, she asked one of the guards, "Can you have Dolores Umbridge ready for her interview at 14:00 hours?" Seeing a nod, she entered the elevator and moved to her office.
Once there, she called for Rufus Scrimgeour. He entered her office shortly.
"I have a high priority detail, Rufus," she didn't bother with small talk. "I need you to form a small squad and search Bartemius Crouch's home. He is sheltering his son, Barty Junior there." She raised her hand to forestall his obvious question, "Yes, he is still alive. When you get there, ask the house elf Winky to take you to him. Tell her that her master is in trouble and you need to take Barty."
"I can't believe it." He was stunned. He shook himself and left the office.
Amelia then called for Gawain Robards. She asked him to form a squad to raid Rita Skeeter's office and home. She told him that she was an unregistered animagus.
As he left, she made copies of the interrogation. One for her records, one for the files, and one for use in the next Wizengamot. She then prepared for her interview with Ms. Umbridge.
She had two teams working to find any other illegally jailed witches or wizards. One team was reviewing the Ministry's records. The other team was auditing the records at Azkaban and physically meeting with each prisoner. She was afraid of what may be found.
At exactly 14:00 hours, she was again in the interview room. Dolores Umbridge sat across from her.
Setting a Dicta-Quill, she began the interrogation, "This is the interview of Dolores Umbridge administered on 1 October, 1985. The time is 14:00 hours."
"That is Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic Dolores Umbridge." The woman across from Lady Bones haughtily said. "When this farce is over, the chance of your working in the government again will be nil."
Amelia simply stared at her. William was again her assistant. "William, please do the honors."
"Yes, Ma'am. Three drops of Veritaserum." He moved to Umbridge.
"You can't do this. When the Minisiter he," she was interrupted when three drops were forced onto her tongue. "Augh."
After verifying that the potion was working, Amelia began asking her questions.
"What were you looking for when you broke into Mr. Stratford's business?" Lady Bones needed to know the motive.
Umbridge looked at her like she was silly, "I needed to find out who was in trouble with oddsmakers. Knowledge is power, after all."
"You were looking to find blackmail material? On whom?" was asked.
"Everyone, my dear. How do you think I rose to my position?" Umbridge looked like she swallowed a snail. She had tried to hold back.
"Did you use information against the Minister to gain your position?" Amelia followed up.
"Yes. I didn't plan on being the night manager of the floo network forever." Dolores replied.
Nodding, Lady Bones continued, "Where do you have your material stored?"
"Gringotts. Everything is in my vault." She replied.
Amelia groaned. The DMLE would not be able to raid Dolores' vault. It would stay there. "Who was the auror you took with you that day?"
"I don't know. Whenever I need an auror, I ask Cornelius to assign me one for a day." She sniffed. "I dare say I have no need to know their names."
"Did anyone else know what you were doing?" Amelia asked.
"No, Fudge would help me when I asked and I performed favors for him. He never asked how I was able to get things done." Umbridge answered.
"How did you get the signatures needed to place Mr. Stratford in Azkaban."
"Cornelius is a dear and will sign anything I ask him to. Once I had his name on the document, I copied the other signatures from other documents." She grinned. "Then it was a matter of making sure that they were sent without to prison."
"This ends the interview of Dolores Umbridge. The antidote will be administered." She stopped the Dicta-Quill. She gathered her materials and left without another word. She knew that it would hurt the prosecution of the case if she said anything else to the woman.
The Burrow
Molly Weasley had flooed home. She had been with her brothers since the prior evening. She was tired and wanted to take a nap. She hoped that Bill and Charlie were home. She wanted to take them to Fabian and Gideon.
"I'm home!" she tiredly called. A rumbling of running feet was heard. Coming down the stairs and streaming into the room were all of her children. A variant of Mum was muttered by all of them as they rushed to hug her. Xeno, Pandora, and Luna strode into the room, smiling at the love on display.
Percy began crying to her, "They took Scabbers!"
Molly broke from the group hug and threw her arms around him. "Who took Scabbers?"
"The Headmaster and some aurors." He cried. "I want him back!"
"Percy, I don't know what has happened. Let me talk with Pandora, okay honey?" Molly soothed him. "I'll find out why he was taken."
She looked at Xeno, "Xeno, can you be a dear and take the children outside? I'ld like to have a cup of tea with Pandora."
"No problem, Molly. Children, let's go outside." He ushered them all outside. Percy wanted to stay, but Molly persuaded him to go.
Once the children were out of earshot, Molly turned to Pandora some anger showing, "Pandora, what the blazes happened?"
"Molly, Dumbledore brought Bill and Charlie home just after lunch." Pandora started. "Xeno and I invited him in and offered him some tea. He told us about what happened in the Wizengamot yesterday. Sirius Black was innocent and Peter Pettigrew was the betrayer."
Molly listened. "Yes, Arthur and I read the Prophet this morning with my brothers."
"It seems that Albus had Hogwarts searched for pet rats this morning. His thought was that Peter would prefer being a pet to live in the wild." Pandora softly spoke.
"That makes sense. What does it have to do with Scabbers?" Molly felt she knew, but needed confirmation.
"Bill and Charlie told Professor McGonagall that Percy had a pet rat. When she asked how long, they told her." Pandora answered. "Dumbledore told us that rats can't live that long and that he wanted to check Percy's rat. We didn't think anything of it. Xeno brought Scabbers in his cage to the living room. Dumbledore discovered that Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew. He stunned him and asked us to see to the children while he called the aurors. They came and took Peter away. Dumbledore left afterwards."
Molly's anger broke. "How DARE he. He should have come to Arthur or myself. He should never have come into our home and taken control like that. Who does he think he is? Yes, it is good the Pettigrew was captured. Did he think about Percy or the other children? He just left afterwards?"
"Yes, I am so sorry, Molly." Pandora apologized. "We had no idea anything like this would happen. You're right. He should have worked through the two of you."
"It's alright Pandora." Molly calmed for her friend. "He overstepped. Arthur and I will take care of this." She shifted the topic, "Could you and Xeno continue staying with the kids until my brothers are released from St. Mungos? They will be released in a few days. They will be physically healed. Mentally? They'll never be the same. It's going to be a long recovery." She started crying again.
Pandora moved to hug her friend. She began crying along with Molly. Sometimes a good cry with a friend is the cure.
Once they were calm, Molly giggled slightly. "Molly?" Pandora asked concerned.
"I'm planning the howler that Headmaster Dumbledore will be getting tomorrow morning." Molly smiled evilly, "It will be the loudest and longest he will have ever heard. Can you imagine the faces of the students when their Headmaster is howled at?"
Pandora stared at her friend. Fabian and Gideon weren't the only pranksters in the Prewett family after all. "I wonder if we can get a memory of it?" She smiled with Molly.
She saw how tired Molly was. "Molly, let me get you to bed. What would you say if Xeno and I gave Percy an early Christmas present? We'll get him a pet. You tell us what kind of pet, cat, dog, owl, whatever. We'll get it for him."
Molly hugged Pandora, "You are a good friend. You don't need to buy us anything."
"You are absolutely correct, Molly." Pandora agreed with a snark, "We don't have to. We want to and will."
"You're a real witch, you know that?" Molly laughed as she was helped up and being led to her bedroom.
"Yes, I do. I have the hat and wand to prove it. I believe you do too." Pandora laughed. They entered the bedroom. "When would you like to be awakened?"
"Can you call me in four hours?" Molly answered, "I want to take Bill and Charlie with me when I return today."
"You got it." Pandora closed the door while Molly changed into her gown.
Harry and Jessa returned home. Mimsy had snacks waiting on them. Lillian came into the room to check how their day had gone.
"How was your day?" Lillian asked. She knew asking Harry was redundant. She was a reflection of Lily. Lily experienced everything as Harry did. However, these interactions were needed in Harry's maturation. He needed to learn to trust adult figures.
"It was great!" Harry answered with a smile. "We went to a sheep farm. It was called Mossy Bottom. We never heard the farmer's name. He had this really smart dog, Bitzer."
Jessa interrupted, "I've never seen a dog with a clipboard before. The dog looked more in control of things than the farmer did."
"Oh, come on, a dog with a clipboard?" Lillian laughed.
"Yeah, it was brilliant!" Harry enthused. "He also had ducks, chickens, a goat, and a bull."
"I saw a cat, too." Jessa added. "I thought sheep were supposed to be dumb. I got the feeling that they were watching us more than we watched them."
It was hard to believe the Jessa was really her sister, Petunia. The age regression reset her personality. She loved having the loving girl she remembered back. Lillian thought. "I wish I had chaperoned." Lillian changed the subject, "Have you completed your homework?"
The two looked at each other, "Yes, mostly." Harry answered for them. "We haven't done our maths."
"Get to it. We're going to train your magic after dinner tonight." Lillian told them. "You both know the rules, all school work must be completed before training."
Jessa and Harry became excited at the idea of training their magic. With a call of, "We'll get it done now." The two ran out of the living room to the study room that had been set up next to their bedrooms.
After dinner that evening, the three went to the training room. Lily's idea of training children prior to age eleven was bearing fruit. Harry was a special case. His core was the combined size of Riddle's, Lily's, and his developing core. Without training, his magic would become unstable. He required this. He needed to learn the control of his core. He already had access to it. Jessa's progress was amazing. Her core had been bound as a baby. The bindings had stifled both its growth and maturity. Her core small, but growing quickly. She estimated that Jessa's core would be equal to an average adult witch's core by her next birthday. As she used her magic, her core was exercised. Like any muscle, her core was growing. Lily wondered how strong magicals would be if training started at five-years old.
She was teaching them wandless casting. She did not let Harry have access to her or Riddle's memories. He needed to learn on his own. If he was given the knowledge, he would be at a disadvantage when he needed to learn something neither she nor Riddle had learned. This also gave Jessa common ground with him. Jessa was not being overshadowed.
"Watch what I am doing," Lillian demonstrated, "Do exactly what I do." Lillian then stretched her hand towards a feather laying on the ground. With a swish and a flick of her hand, she intoned, "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather lifted. She held it at shoulder height. Smiling at them, she moved her arm is a slow circle. The feather described a circle in the air.
"Cool," Jessa oohed.
"Brilliant," Harry smiled at it.
"I'll show you one more time. Then you need to work on it." Lillian promptly went through the process again. "Remember to feel for you magic. Once you can feel it, let some flow from your hand to the feather. Once your magic surrounds the feather, perform the charm."
She let the feather fall to the floor. She focused her attention on Jessa. Harry would be talking with Lily. Jessa only had her. Lily's spirit sight flowed into her clones. This allowed Lillian to watch as Jessa began manipulating her core. "Good, Jessa. Your magic is flowing." She encouraged. Jessa began pulling too much magic. She would exhaust herself and embed the feather in the ceiling using the amount siphoned out. "Not too much. You don't much magic to lift a feather." Jessa turned the flow into a trickle. "That's the perfect amount! Good girl. Now, let your magic flow onto the feather. Good." Lilian paused. She double-checked Jessa's progress. Everything looked good. "You're ready to perform the charm."
A small bead of sweat had formed on Jessa's brow. She slowly swished her hand and then flicked it just as Lillian had. As she moved, she incanted, "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather wobbled, then shakily rose into the air. Lillian smiled at Jessa. "Good girl, now bring the feather back to the floor and end the spell." Jessa did as Lillian instructed. She felt the exertion when she finished. A huge grin broke across her face, "I did it! I did it the first time!" She jumped forward and hugged Lillian. Lillian had leant down into the hug. She stood and twirled the girl in celebration. "Let's see how Harry is doing."
She set Jessa down. They looked at Harry. He had the feather floating in the air. However, something was off. Lillian frowned and used her sight to find out what was wrong. She started to giggle before she caught herself, "Harry?"
"Yes?" Harry answered as he floated the feather through a circle just as she had.
"I'd like you to end the spell." Lillian smiled with mirth.
A moment later, Harry's feather was on the floor. He turned to face Lillian and Jessa.
"How did you get the charm working?" Lillian asked. Jessa was looking closely at Harry.
"You said to do everything exactly like you did. I closed my eyes to concentrate better. Then I did what you did." Harry answered puzzled.
"Did you have any trouble with the movements?" Lillian asked him.
Harry thought for a second, "Yes, I couldn't get the arm swing right. My body didn't move right. I tried it again and it flowed right. Why? I levitated the feather."
"Well, yes," Lillian agreed with him. "I made a mistake. I told you to do exactly like I did. I forgot that you are a magimorph. You turned yourself into a girl, again."
Harry looked down. "I hate when this happens." He closed his eyes and shifted back. "I try to do what you tell me."
Lillian pulled him into a hug before he was too upset. "You have a special gift. One that is extra hard to control. Little accidents like this will happen as you learn magic. We'll work through this. You'll get to where this won't happen unless you want to change. You did great."
He smiled at her. He was a little downcast, but understood. Jessa couldn't help but tease, "Harry, I think you need to stay a girl. You'd make a great sister. We could be identical twins!" She smiled at him, letting him know she was joking.
Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "I am a boy! I don't want to be a girl."
Lillian enjoyed their byplay. Both were becoming strong siblings.
"You both did great." She interrupted their teasing. "We need to work on Mind Hide and Seek now."
"Harry, you will work with Lily, as usual. Jessa get ready." She looked at the girl, "Do you want to hide or seek first? We'll play three rounds before you both need to get ready for bed."
"I want to seek first." Jessa answered as she sat down. Lillian sat down across from her. This was one of her, Lily's, better ideas. She was teaching Legilimency and Occlumency to five-year olds as a game. They both loved it. Soon, it was bed time. Two happy and tired children listened to Lillian read to them before they fell asleep.
Gringotts
09:00
Lillian used the private two-way portkey Gringotts had provided her. It was keyed to her magic and could only be used by Lily or on of her clones. When going out in public, Lillian used a different appearance. She didn't change too much. Her hair, instead of being red, was a mousy brown. Her eyes were brown. Her skin tone was tanned. The most striking change was that she stood two inches taller than her norm. The portkey dropped her into a secure room outside of Orevein's office.
Upon arrival, a Goblin guard scanned her before nodding approval for her to leave the room. She exited the room and walked into Orevein's office. She did not knock. If you were to be somewhere at a specific time, goblins felt it was rude and weak to seek permission to gain entrance. The only exception for this rule was if an armed warrior blocked the entryway. The goblin language and customs had helped her understand this.
"Good, you're not late." Orevein put his quill down. "How can Gringotts serve you today?"
"Has the blood-feud been posted?" she asked in Gobbledegook.
Nodding an affirmative, Orevein showed his teeth in a grin, "Yes, and it reads a blood-feud between the Riddle family and his vassals with a family known to Riddle has been declared. It further reads that all properties, titles, wealth, and any other tangible valuables of the defeated shall be declared as possessions of the victor."
"Good, did Riddle have any vaults?" Lillian asked. Orevein shook his head. "That's too bad. However, I know who financed his actions. I have a list of all his marked vassals. I am ready to begin pruning the support from Riddle before his return. Do you have any suggestions how to proceed? Should I start at the top, Malfoy and Nott? Or, should I start with the lesser actors, such as Walden Macnair, Crabbe or Goyle?"
"Hmm, I knew you'd be ready to start soon." Orevein slowly answered. "I believe it would be best to trim from both ends. If you worked from the bottom up, the majority of the riches you wish to take from Riddle would be moved. Likewise, if you work from the top down, the outcry from the Prophet and the Ministry would likely lead to Harry being discovered and killed. I suggest using a death of a thousand cuts approach. Find ways to have them 'naturally' die. When you gain their holdings, use them in opposition to their beliefs. Make sure that when you do move, that public opinion will be moved in the direction you wish it."
"Your gold is pure," Lillian thanked him for his advice. "What would Gringotts charge for help in this endeavor?"
"My leaders have discussed your family's plight." He started. "Rather than charge for this, we ask to be your ally. We will support you as we can. When your fight is done, we simply ask your and your family's support in having goblins recognized as full magicals. We are not animals as the Ministry declares."
Without any hesitation, Lillian agreed, "The Ministry is a puppet of the pure-blood elite. As a muggle-born, I faced a similar prejudice. To many of the nobility, a muggle-born is an aberration that must be removed. We are in accord."
"Have your strategists developed a plan?" Lillian asked.
Orevein grinned showing all of his teeth, "Oh yes, we suggest taking out their biggest source of riches, Lucius Malfoy, first. How do you plan on carrying out the attacks?"
Lillian described the new Maternum spell. With his permission, she cast it and introduced Lilas to him. He was astounded when Lilas cast a Lumos spell.
"Amazing. I must assume that this will also be a Potter family magic spell?" Orevein asked.
Nodding, Lillian answered, "Yes. It is too powerful to let out generally."
"I've tested it against wards and it passes through the ones I can cast." Lillian spoke, "Would it be possible for Gringotts to set up wards, say, similar to those around the Malfoy manner? In order to test whether or not the Maternum passes though wards like a Patronus does?"
"I will see that the test is set up and ready within a few days."
"Wonderful." Lillian sat back. "I still have more to discuss. Do you remember when we spoke in August? I told you about Petunia having her core blocked as a young child?"
"Yes," Orevein said, unsure where she was leading.
"I've been remembering my time at Hogwarts." Lillian looked Orevein in the eyes. "I personally knew of twenty muggle-born witches and wizards. Of those, six were only children. The other fourteen were the younger children in their families. This seemed to be a strange coincidence. Is there a way that the muggle-born magicals from the last forty years can be discretely researched? I'd like to know how many families were broken the way mine was. Did the pattern of the first-born being non-magical hold? Of those, were any or all bound?"
"Why would anyone bind children that young?" Orevein asked himself.
"That's what I want to know." Lillian agreed. "I'm not sure there is a pattern yet. I may not be remembering things correctly. If there is a pattern, we should be able to determine what they were attempting."
"The healers that examined Harry and Jessamine have delivered their report." Orevein brought up a folder. "It was delivered to my office yesterday. I have to say, I have never seen them so devoted to a case."
"Oh?" Lillian asked.
"Yes, according to them, what has happened between Harry and Lady Potter is impossible. The Killing Curse that was sent through your alter ego, should have killed young Harry. Having a freed soul between the caster and target should have meant nothing." Orevein paused. "Lily fighting Riddle, taking his knowledge and power? Impossible. Yet, we see the results."
"It is hard to argue with what is in front of you." Lillian agreed.
"The good news is that Jessa is in perfect condition for a child of her age. Harry is still a little behind where he should be. We will watch his vision as he gets older as is father had bad vision. We can correct that when it happens. We will give you a series of potions. Give them nightly to him at bedtime over the next week. They will repair the remaining damage to his body. He will have a growth spurt and will be tall for his age. Based on his early records, he should never have been short."
Lillian nodded, "Take the cost from my vault. What of the item in the LeStrange vault?"
"We audited the vault." Orevein frowned. "The artifact was found. It is as dark as you described. However, we are bound by our laws. We cannot let any harm or change come to any item in the vaults without the owner's permission."
"What does this mean?" Lily's clone asked.
Orevein answered simply, "Kill the Lestranges and take possession of their estates. If our tests pan out, you could send your Matronum for a visit. Can your Maternum take other shapes?"
"I don't know. We'll find out."