"Now I know you're taking the Mickey out of us." Astoria Malfoy muttered. Artorius had only just asked the question but most of the British group looked ready to write him off.
The Nero family, The American Branch of the Black family, and The White's had mixed feelings about this piece of news. The heads of each house knew about a secret project that their sons were engaging in but they didn't know what it involved. Their wives were staring at their sons in disbelief. They were starting to wonder if their sons were starting lose touch with reality. This was something that the boys noticed and they tried not to look offended.
"I agree with Astoria," Hermione started, bringing the attention to her. "Apart from time-turners, which have very limited range, there is no precise method of time travel."
"Normally you would be correct Lady Potter," Bertram began slowly. He didn't want to offend her but he was going to help his cousin. "But we have a method that is more advanced than any time-turner."
"Oh?" Hermione raised an eyebrow, an act that was mirrored by a good chunk of their group. "And what might that be?" She asked him. She couldn't think of anything at the moment and she was barely entertaining the idea of actual time travel but she was going to let them explain. She owed them that much at the very least. The others had similar thoughts.
Bertram turned to his cousin who nodded. Bertram then waved his hand and an hourglass about two feet high appeared at the center of the table. The outside frame was black and the handles were carved into four dragons. The glass was rounded and the inside contained tiny clear crystals instead of sand.
"This came into our possession when I purchased it at an auction five years back." Artorius explained while Bertram summoned his dog Patronus so he could send a message to his girlfriend, Maddie.
He had a crush on her when they were kids and held onto those feelings over the years. He didn't know that she had a crush on him as well. Both were afraid that the other would not want to be in that type of relationship. Last year, Bertram decided to ask her out. If she said no, they could still be friends. To his surprise and elation, she said yes. They've been dating ever since.
"Babe, stop by if you have the time," He murmured to his Patronus. "We started talking about the project. Bring Lucas with you if you can. Love you." He whispered that last part though a few people close to him, along with Teddy, heard him. They all smiled slightly.
"The Ministry had no idea what it was or what it could do but they recognized the symbols on the top there," Artorius nodded to the hourglass. "I'm sure you will as well."
Luna was the first to grab the hourglass to examine it. She peered at the top of it with a look that suggested that she already knew what was there but was pleased none the less. She handed the hourglass to Teddy who peered at it with interest before his eyes grew wide.
"No way." He breathed as he stared at a carving of four very familiar animals. There was a lion, a snake, an eagle, and a badger. The animals that the four founders of Hogwarts had used as symbols for their respective houses. They were close together like a close knit group of friends. It wasn't like the Hogwarts crest but it was a powerful image none the less.
Teddy handed the hourglass to Hermione next. She handed it to Harry, who gave it to Daphne, and it was passed on until everyone in the new group saw the carving. They all held the same reaction as Teddy except for Luna.
"Did this belong to one of the Founders?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "Or someone who admired them?" She had a feeling it was the former but she wanted to be sure. The others wanted an answer as well.
Artorius smiled and snapped his fingers. Four books appeared in front of him. One was bright red with gold lion on top. The one next to that was baby blue and it had a bronze eagle on the front. The book next to that one was yellow and it had a black badger on it. The last book was emerald green and it had a silver snake on it.
"Why don't you tell me Lady Potter?" He levitated the books to her and placed them in a neat pile in front of her. "I swear they're not hexed but you're more than welcome to check if you like Lord Potter-Black, you as well Lady Black." He added when he saw Hermione hesitate and Daphne and Harry tense up.
Harry hesitated again. He knew that they wouldn't be invited here to die otherwise they would have been attacked by now but he couldn't help but feel on edge when Artorius gave Hermione the books. Daphne saw her husband's struggle and took the situation out of his hands. She whipped out her wand and cast spells on the books to look for curses and found that there were none at all.
She nodded to Hermione who took the top book, which happened to be the red one, and opened it. Her eyes got bigger as she read the entries enclosed in the book.
'Rowena and Salazar are going for each other's throat's yet again,' one of the entries read. 'Why these two continue to argue like a married couple is beyond me. They should go to each other's bed to relieve the sexual tension! Magic knows that both of them could use a good lay!'
Hermione couldn't stop a light blush from forming on her cheeks. She wasn't a prude by any means but she never thought that one of the founders of Hogwarts could be so blunt about sex. Especially when it came to the sex lives of his fellow founders.
"Judging from your blush," Artorius began with a small smile. "I'm guessing you just read Godric's blunt thoughts on the sexual tension between Rowena Ravevenclaw and Salazar Slytherin? And his suggestion that they deal with it together?"
Hermione just nodded mutely as the others in the British group, apart from Luna, gave the lion animagus incredulous looks. Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw, tense with sexual frustration and Godric Gryffindor suggested that…they help relieve each other of it? They couldn't help but feel dubious about these being the founders' personal books. Artorius noticed this and spoke up with his hands raised.
"I, Artorius Mathias Nero, swear it on my life and on my magic that these items I have shown to the people in this room are indeed items of the four founders of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So I say it, so mote it be!"
A light of magic pulsed through the room, signaling that the oath was accepted.
"As I am still alive," Artorius murmured before waving his hand to levitate the green book to Bertram. "And since I can do magic…" He trailed off with a shrug and looked at them expectantly as Bertram thumbed through the book his cousin gave him. He then began to read an entry though the British group tensed as they realized that he wasn't speaking English.
'Godric, the man I love like my own brother, is really starting to grate my nerves,' Bertram hissed in the language of Snakes. The Black family was distantly related to Salazar Slytherin as one of his descendants had married into the Black family. The house of Nero also had those who spoke the language though it had been quite sometime since a Parselmouth had been born to either family. At least, until Artorius, Tiberius, and Bertram were born.
Bertram's Father and Atorius' mother were slightly surprised as they never expected them to have the gift. They both thought the gift was lost, and their spouses thought the same thing. It didn't stop them from loving their kids any less though.
'He feels that I should bed Rowena and dares to insinuate that we like each other,' Bertram continued in the same language though only a few people understood what he was saying. Artorius was one, Wilfred was another because the boys had come up with a spell that could help translate Parseltongue for those who didn't speak it, and the last was Harry.
Harry had lied to the publishers of the series based on his life when he said that he couldn't talk to snakes anymore because he didn't want to be bothered about it. It proved to be pointless anyway because he got bothered by even more people when the books came out. It got worse when the films were made. 'Which is a preposterous idea because the woman is insufferable beyond comprehension. I don't claim to be the most loved person in this group but I know I am a lot more likeable than her!'
Bertram stopped reading and closed the book before setting it down. He looked at the new group before him and fought the urge to scowl at the wide eye looks most were sporting. True, in the United Kingdom, this would be an almost standard reaction along with revulsion but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"Yes, I speak the language of snakes," He said evenly. The British group noticed that this even tone held a slight edge to it. Bertram's mother shot him a warning look which he ignored. "Yes, I know that this ability does not have the best reputation back in the UK, but out here some of the best wizards are parselmouths and they are not evil. One of them, Hector Longshadow, is one of my dearest friends and a damn good man. Besides," He locked gazes with Harry. "Considering that one of you can speak to snakes and fought against those who would subjugate people they thought were inferior to them, I don't see why all of you are so worked up."
The group bristled as one and felt slightly ashamed about their reactions. Harry was staring at Bertram, wondering how he knew his secret.
"If I wanted to hide the fact that I had something that was not socially acceptable," Bertram said, meeting Harry's gaze. "And if I had a way to make people stop asking about it, I'd take it. Well, that is if I cared about what other people said about me." Harry made a face but Bertram continued.
"You had qualities that fit all four houses," He added. "You're brave, you're smart, you're loyal and you're cunning. One of you're wives was a Slytherin and your other wife is the smartest witch of her age. Even if you didn't come up with the idea to hide the fact that you still retain the ability, I'm sure one of them did."
"Perhaps they did." Harry told him. "Or perhaps I don't have the gift anymore."
"Perhaps you don't." Bertram nodded though from his tone of voice he made it clear that he didn't buy it. "Or perhaps you think I am an idiot who didn't notice that when you tensed up it wasn't in fear or revulsion, but recognition and surprise. If you didn't want to talk about it then I can respect that, but don't treat me like a fool. You will find that I am anything but foolish…Lord Potter-Black." He finished a soft voice and with a slight incline of his head. Harry blinked at him during the entire thing.
Bertram's mother glared at him through out his conversation with Harry. She could understand where her son was coming from but he didn't need to be so rude about it. Other people had similar thoughts and one of them spoke up.
"I do not appreciate the tone that you just used with my husband," Daphne Black said with no small amount of malice in her voice. Hermione and Teddy nodded in agreement along with Neville and his family. Daphne narrowed her eyes at Bertram who met her gaze unflinchingly. "I doubt that his titles will mean much here but he should still be respected as a person."
"I meant no disrespect Lady Black," Bertram told her honestly. She sensed he was being truthful and her gaze softened slightly. "In fact, I admire and respect you all. That being said, I do not like to have my intelligence insulted because someone wants to avoid the subject by lamely denying it when they could ask for the subject to be dropped. Or even meet it head on." Daphne's gaze hardened slightly but she didn't comment. Bertram noticed and continued. "Again no disrespect was intended but I did not graduate at the top of my class at the Salem Academy of Magic to be slighted."
"I didn't mean it that way," Harry said before anyone else could speak on his behalf. "I just didn't want to talk about it. I am sorry if I offended you."
Daphne quirked an eyebrow at her husband but didn't say anything. Draco rolled his eyes thinking it was typical for Harry to apologize even though he wasn't at fault. Hermione and Neville were thinking the same thing.
Bertram inclined his head towards Harry.
"No apology was necessary but thank you anyway." Harry nodded at him. "I apologize if I offended you in anyway." He said but Harry waved him off.
"No offense taken." Harry told him.
There was a knock on the door that stopped anyone from commenting further.
"Come in." Artorius murmured and the door opened. A woman with long brown hair and black eyes stepped into the room. She was of average height. She was wearing black jeans, black heels, with a white sundress and a black leather jacket.
Behind her was a man with reddish brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was wearing a black collared shirt and black slacks with black sneakers. He was over six feet tall and well muscled. His forearms were tattooed with what looked like circuit board symbols.
"Allow me introduce our mind healer and mortician, Madeline Flanery." Artorius gestured to the woman who smiled and waved. Bertram perked up when she first entered the room and perked up even more when she locked gazes with him.
"You can call me Maddie." She said to the British group before turning to greet the Nero's and the Blacks. She sat down next to Bertram and kissed him on the cheek. She turned her attention to her boss when he started speaking.
"This is our Runes master and resident Technomancer, Lucas DeLarge." He gestured to the man who nodded politely before taking a seat at the edge of the group.
"Please, call me Luke." He said to them before turning to Artorius. "How far along are ya into da presentation den boss man?" He asked. His voice was light but there was a hint of a Cajun accent there though it was only a hint.
"We just gave them a look at some of the journals from the four founders." Artorius replied.
"So you're not dat far in den." Lucas nodded while Hermione said, "Some?"
"No, we're not that far in." Artorius nodded to Lucas before turning to Hermione. "We have hundreds of journals in our possession ma'am. These," He pointed to the journals on the table. "Are only a sample and we continue to find more." He and a few people smiled when Hermione's eye's lit up. Artorius stopped smiling and adopted a serious expression. "I understand that all of you still have reservations but please hear me out." He pleaded. The British group, apart from Luna, shifted uncomfortably before nodding their heads.
"This device, this wonderful device." He waved to the hourglass. "Was created for the sole purpose of time travel. In it's basic form, it's just a really big time-turner. However, instead of only going back for so many hours, you could go back months if you wanted to." He paused for a second before adding, "The longest we've gone back is close to a year."
Barely a second went by before Artorius was hoisted out of his chair by his collar. His black eyes met another pair of black eyes. The difference between the two was that one was calm and the other was furious.
"You and your brothers have used this device." Claudius Nero hissed at his son. It wasn't a demand or a question but merely a statement. The British group shrank back from the glare that he was projecting and the venom in his voice. They come to realize that they were looking at the head of house Nero and not just some random person. They then glanced at Artorius and frowned at the calm look that he was sporting. They couldn't understand how he was so calm right now.
"Yes, we have used this to device to go back." Artorius replied and his father tightened his grip on his collar.
"You have been playing with powers beyond your comprehension," Claudius hissed at his son again. His wife was trying to calm him down while Wilfred's dad and Bertram's dad stood out of their chairs, and stalked over to their sons. As their wives trailed behind them, their sons stood up and regarded their fathers calmly. "You need a license from the Ministry to use time-turners or magical items that manipulate time," Claudius continued, ignoring his wife and her attempts to calm him down. "And you are only permitted to go back about 24 hours not an entire year! Do you know how much damage you could do to the time line? To reality if you had messed something up?"
"Only if we change what shouldn't be changed." Artorius told him. "We didn't change anything during our test runs."
"We merely recorded what happened when we went back, how we felt when we went back, and the difference between how long we went back for and how much time had passed in the present." Bertram added before someone could comment on the fact that his cousin had used a plural instead of a singular. His father eyed him in disbelief, along with his mother. Bertram smiled reassuringly at his parents.
"Our excursions never gave us any physical or mental damage and the timeline remained intact due to our inactivity." Wilfred summed up. "You can ask Maddie here or any of the other healers we visited if you don't believe this." He waved his hand and three medical folders appeared on the table. Each folder had a different name on it but all of them had the Lyon's den infirmary stamp on each one. "We're not stupid you know," He told his parents. "We know that there are risks but-"
"There is no but." His father all but growled at him. "You know that there were risks yet you did it anyway!"
"And we will continue to do so." Wilfred told him.
"Like hell you will!" His father snarled.
"I am not a child anymore," Wilfred began calmly. He was trying to calm his father down and steer this conversation back to where it should be.
"No but you are my child," His mother snapped at him. She abandoned trying to calm her husband down and instead decided to help him talk some sense into their son. "And I will not have you do something this dangerous!"
"The only way you can stop me is if you used the White family magic to prevent me from doing anything." Wilfred told his father firmly as he stepped away from his parents.
"Same goes for me." Bertram said as he went over to Wilfred.
"And me." Artorius finished as he pried his father's hands away from him and walked over to his pride.
Their parents saw the determined look in their son's eye's and tried hard not to sigh. They were not giving up any time soon but they knew their children could be stubborn, even more so if they had the support of each other.
The British group had remained silent during the entire exchange. They did not want to interrupt what could have been a major family argument though some of them did wonder why this conversation had not taken place prior to this meeting. They then thought it over and figured that the boys must have decided to do it now as their parents wouldn't do anything too drastic in front of their guests.
"Do you think I don't remember?" Artorius asked his parents, causing them to frown at the sudden question.
"Remember what?" His mother asked back.
"The fact that you and uncle Cass would cry every time it was aunt Andi's birthday," He replied and his mother and uncle tensed up along with several other people including Narcissa, and Teddy.
"Same with aunt Bella's birthday and aunt Cissy's birthday." Bertram added and the tension began to build even more. "You think we don't remember you and aunt Tavia sobbing on those days and trying to cover it up with forced smiles?"
"You have no idea how useless Bertram and I felt when we saw you two like that," Artorius said before they could comment. His face was pained and his voice broke in some places. "You have no idea how much it hurt to see you two like that and have no way of making you feel better." It took all of the Occulmency training that Bertram and Artorius had to keep themselves in control and not break down as the broken forms of their parents flashed through their minds. It was a horrible sight for them to view when they were children.
Octavia Nero was openly crying while her brother was stood frozen in his place with tears in his eyes. They never knew how affected their boys were when they found them like that. During the birthdays of their siblings, they had gathered to celebrate them though it was always very morbid as opposed to celebratory.
They always tried to hide away from their kids during those days as they didn't want them to see them like that. There were a few times where their kids did find them like that but they always smiled and told them everything was fine. Not that their kids believed it.
Over the years it got easier to deal with the fact that they may never see their sisters again. It still hurt but they got used to it though the influx of information from their sources in the UK helped them both move on and hurt them. They were devastated to hear what happened to Bellatrix. They would never claim that she was entirely innocent but they still couldn't believe that she ended up in Azkaban. They also couldn't believe that she ended up serving someone else. The Bellatrix they knew bowed to no one especially someone who tortured their own followers.
They guessed that it had something to do with her marriage to Rudolphus Lestrange. The only way that Bella would ever do something like that was if she was influenced by an outside source. Bella was always very outspoken and they wouldn't put it passed their parents to try and break her even if it meant that something extreme had to happen.
When they checked the family tree after Bertram was born and when they learned how to add all of their relatives to it, they saw that Bellatrix had a son named Julius Octavian Lestrange. He was born on December 31st 1980 and he passed away on the same day. They didn't know the circumstances of his death and they couldn't begin to imagine how their sister must have felt.
Cassius and Octavia were happy that Andromeda seemed to be leading a happy life with her husband Ted. They would have loved to have met her daughter Nymphadora and ask their sister why she felt the need to give her daughter that name. They had met Ted when they were in school and he was very polite to them.
They felt bad that Narcissa was reduced to nothing more than a trophy wife. What's worse was that their parents had let it happen. The only reason that Narcissa had to marry Lucius was because aunt Cedrella refused to marry Abraxas Malfoy and married Septimus Weasley instead. A decision that lead to her being cast out of the family despite her marrying a pureblooded wizard. It also left an outstanding marriage contract between the noble house of Black and the minor house of Malfoy.
The contract was done to settle some debts between the two houses. The Blacks only had a few debts to settle with house Malfoy which they did eventually but the Malfoy's had massive debts to settle. The Blacks decided to give them some leeway by offering the chance of an alliance by marriage between the two houses. The conditions were that the Blacks would 'forgive' the outstanding debts as long as they followed the guidelines of the contract. Some included the standard clauses like producing a male heir that could inherit the Black title.
There were also smaller clauses one of which stated that if no heir was produced, and if Lord Black found that the husband had failed to treat the daughter of a noble house properly, or if Lord Black felt that the husband had offended or done something against the house of Black, he had the option to annul the marriage.
As Orion Black had no problem with Lucius or the Malfoy family apart from Abraxas, he wasn't going to annul it as long as Narcissa was treated right. He never got to investigate that as he passed away and was followed by his son Regulus. Walburga, his wife, couldn't do anything because only a male heir could become lord and make the decisions.
Sirius could have done it had he not been a wanted fugitive. Octavia and Cassius didn't believe that Sirius would betray the Potter family. He and James Potter were thick as thieves and brothers in all but name. They weren't sure about him not killing Pettigrew or the muggles. They knew that he didn't despise muggles but they figured that maybe he was so distraught and he wasn't thinking straight.
They had been horrified when they found out that he was framed and that he spent 12 years in Azkaban as an innocent man. They were even more horrified when their sister had helped him into an early grave by stunning him while he was in front of the Veil of Death, causing him to fall through it. They cried when she was killed but they had made peace with the fact that the she had changed and not for the better.
Octavia walked over to her eldest child and pulled him into a hug which he returned without hesitation. Cassius did the same with Bertram.
"I'm sorry you felt that way," Octavia said as she buried her face into her son's chest. "But what does this have to do with all the traveling you've been doing?" Her question was muffled but Artorius understood her as if she was speaking clearly.
"We want to go back and make sure that second wizarding war involving Tom Riddle and his followers never happened." He declared and his mother tensed in his arms. The British group had turned to him with blank expressions.
"You can't be serious." His father whispered though his voice carried across the room.
"I'm very serious." Artorius said quietly. The only form of aggression that he showed was the slight narrowing of his eyes. Something, that didn't go unnoticed, "Not only am I serious but I know that it will work."
"But how do you know?" His mother leaned away from him and looked up at him with a frown. "You said that the farthest you've gone back is close to a year."
"Dat was jus using da hourglass by itself." Lucas spoke up from his seat making everyone turn to him. He grinned a little and continued. "When ya add a great amount of power from an outside power source, you can go back decades if you wanted to."
He stood up and pulled a small red cube out of his pocket. He tapped a small symbol on it before tossing it onto the table. At first nothing happened until the cube started to move on it's own. It wobbled until it was on one of it's point's and it began to spin. It spun faster than before and bright light shot out of the point that was facing up.
A hologram of a large set up involving an arc like structure appeared in thin air.
"Sorry." Lucas said when a few people jumped. "Didn't mean to scare ya."
"What is that?" Harry asked as he stood up to get a closer look at the image. Several others did the same thing.
"Da Transporter." Lucas replied. When Harry raised an eyebrow he shrugged. "Not da most original name I give you dat but it does what it's supposed to do; transport things through time and space." He waved his hand and the image zoomed to a piece of equipment that had a crank on it and two circular panels that were attached to a large gear and were parallel to each other. "This is where we place da hourglass." He explained. "Da crank turns da gear, and thus turns da hourglass over, causing da crystals to fall.
"Normally, one would do this manually and say da incantation, Tempus Maximus, and time would start to go back slowly and speed up until you reached your destination. Before, one had to think about da exact day, da exact year, and da exact time dat they had wanted to go to, right down to da last second. Now however," He waved his hand again and a computer with Victorian style keys was the focus of the hologram. "With dis computer, one could enter the date that they want without having to worry about anything. Yes Lady Potter?" He said to Hermione who shyly raised her hand.
"Please call me Hermione," She murmured. She was felling more comfortable with this subject and she didn't think that the formality was necessary anymore. "And I have a question. I have several actually but I'll hold onto the rest for now." Lucas nodded for her to continue. "How do you know all of this?" Lucas chuckled slightly before he answered.
"I know all of dis because I've read all of da books that da founders wrote," He began. "At least da ones we've found. And dis machine is my design. I've built it with my own two hands and a good chunk of Arthur's money." He grinned wickedly at Artorius who rolled his eyes. "I know da in's and outs of da Transporter like da back of my own hand."
"I know very little about Technomancy," Hermione started. "I believe the basics involve combining technology and magic through customized Runes or symbols much like your tattoos." Lucas nodded so she continued. "How are you able to power all of this?"
Lucas waved his hand again and the image changed to a cylinder like machine which had both ends spinning quickly.
"Through dis." Lucas said. "I call it a pipette because it sort of acts like a pipette in da way dat it transfers energy to something else, much like a pipette with nearly any liquid."
"It doesn't appear to be plugged into anything." Hermione commented. Those who had no idea about technology were having a very difficult time following what was going on but they were waiting for Hermione to keep going. There was a good chance that she would ask the questions that they wanted to ask.
"It's not." Lucas nodded to Hermione. "And dat's because of dis." The hologram changed to include a smaller version of the pipette which was lodged into a generator like machine. "Each device has a special rune dat I created with my mentor, Rune master Hammer, which transfers power from one source to another without them having to be connected. Hell they don't have to be in the same room or in the same building. As long as both items have da rune and as long as both of them are on, it doesn't matter."
"Is there a limit to how much power can be transferred?" Hermione asked and Lucas shrugged.
"We've never had a reason to put a limit on how much could be transferred," He explained. "Mostly because we've never exceeded any amount that could be measured by an outside party, so no one ever would find us or try to find us. Not dat they could because of all da enchantments we've placed on da machine."
"Then how is it powered and where do you get the energy to power it?" This time it was Daphne who asked a question. "I mean you can just pull energy out of nothing. Or can you?" She added when she saw Lucas smirking.
"Dat Lady Black," He began. "Is exactly what we do. Well, not exactly like dat. See, you can't just create energy from nothing but you can take it by using da same method dat we use to transfer it from another source, or several." He said that last part quietly though they all heard him.
"The only way you could get enough power was if you took it from the grid that powers the entire island of Manhattan." Hermione said slowly.
"Or several." Lucas murmured.
"Yes, or several." Hermione nodded absently before she registered what he said. The others, apart from those involved in the project and Luna, stared at him. Some because they were waiting for him to explain, others because they couldn't believe what they were hearing. "You mean to tell me that you actually draw energy from the power grid that powers the island of Manhattan?" Hermione asked incredulously. "How do manage that?"
"I would like to know that as well." Claudius Nero said before he narrowed his eyes at his son.
"How we managed for it to go unnoticed, or how we got away with it in da first place?" Lucas asked.
"Both." Hermione and Claudius said at the same time. One was soft and enquiring; the other was harsh and demanding.
"We were able to pull it off, because of the Unusuals." Lucas replied. Hermione frowned and Claudius jerked back as if he were struck.
"The Unusual's?" Hermione asked. Instead of Lucas answering, Claudius did.
"When the American Ministry was first founded not too long after the Revolutionary war, the first department they made was the Unusual's." He said. "They're sort of like the Unspeakables you have back in the UK. Very secretive but very important to the magical community. To have their and permission is to have the entire support of the Minister and Ministry itself. If you have their permission and backing…" He trailed off with a look towards his son who nodded.
"We do," Artorius murmured. "We had to; otherwise they would have shut us down before we could even begin."
"What are they getting out of this?" Cassius Black demanded of his nephew.
"Can't say dad," Bertram told him. "We all took oaths to not reveal anything about their involvement."
Cassius Black growled under his breath along with Wilfred Whit Sr. and Claudius Nero.
"It's standard procedure dad." Wilfred muttered to his father.
"We know," His father gnashed his teeth together in annoyance. "But we know what those kinds of oaths entail and we don't like that you three had to take it. And don't give me that crap about you being adults. You are still our children and we will always look out for you."
Bertram, Artorius, and Wilfred sighed in exasperation but nodded their heads in acceptance. They knew that their families would always look out for them but they could take care of themselves.
"So you have their permission," Claudius said with a sigh.
"We do." Those involved with the project said.
"And you have access to the power grid of Manhattan." Claudius continued. "Along with an unspecified amount of power grids."
"Yes."
"I take it that you have also used the Transporter was it?" Claudius asked Lucas who nodded once. "That you have used it to go back more than a year in to the past?"
"That is correct." Artorius said.
"How far are we talking about?" Cassius asked this time. Artorius summoned his weapon and held the end with the ball towards his father.
"Remember this dad?" He asked his father who peered at it.
"Ah yes I thought it looked familiar," Claudius commented. "I didn't realize you still had it after all this time."
"This bronze ball has been in my possession since I was six years old." Artorius told the room at large. "I found it inside of the wards that surround my family home. The problem was that it didn't belong to any of us or our friends. Which means that it was left by someone who got into the wards unnoticed, but didn't want to harm anyone."
"Either you have terrible wards, which seems unlikely." Blaise said, speaking up for the first time in a while. He added that last part quickly when Artorius, Claudius and Lucretia raised their eyebrows at him. "Your friends lied to you, which again seems unlikely." The aforementioned people had narrowed their eyes along with the American branch of the Black family and the White family so he added that part in there. "Or a member of your family simply forgot about it."
"You're partially right on that part. It was a family member," Artorius murmured. "An immediate family member just not one from that time."
"Who was it?" His mother asked hesitantly. His father had raised an eyebrow at his wording.
"It was me." He replied and everyone apart from those who worked on the project stared at him. Some with blank looks and others with wide, disbelieving eyes. Luna merely smiled knowingly.
"What do you mean it was you?" His father demanded.
"I mean I am the one who left this on the grounds," Artorius said slowly as he gestured to the brass ball. "I went back in time and left this there. You do remember where I found this right?" He asked his family who nodded slowly. He turned to the British group. "I found this ball in a hiding place that Wilfred, Bertram, and myself used to hide our trinkets. Only we knew about it until I had to show it to our parents to make sure this wasn't cursed."
He paused for a moment before speaking again.
"What I didn't tell anyone was that there was a note inside of it," He murmured, ignoring the shocked looks that his mother and father gave him. While he never told them everything, he was never one to be so secretive about something. Artorius slipped a hand into his pocket before pulling it out. He had an aged piece of paper that was folded up. He unfolded it and read it out loud.
Artorius,
Do not let anyone, not even Mecha or Mustang see this note. This is for you and you alone. I can't explain everything but remember these words:
Transporter
Hourglass
Founders
Unusual's
Tempus Maximus
You will find out later on in life that the last phrase will be vitally important. I apologize for the vagueness of this note but you have to trust me when I say that everything will make sense in time.
Signed, A friend.
"I wrote this note though I didn't know it when I got it." He murmured after reading the note.
"I still can't believe that 'A friend' was the best that you could come up with." Bertram murmured.
"And as I said before, if you have something better then please share it." Artorius shot back and Bertram remained silent. "I thought so." Artorius muttered to himself before speaking up. "I've had this note for nineteen years and its contents only started to make sense over five years ago when I bought that." He pointed to the hourglass. "It was very frustrating for a long time because I didn't tell anyone and I didn't where to look for answers. It was also frustrating because of where this paper came from and what was written in the beginning."
"What do you mean?" Hannah Longbottom inquired. She had been silent through out the entire meeting because she, like her husband, felt that this meeting was between Harry's family and their cousin's. She was finding this conversation very interesting.
"What I mean is that this piece of paper came from a journal that I wrote in as a child," Artorius explained. "My uncle gave it to me for my birthday and it's charmed so that only I can open it. Our nicknames were things that we gave each other, they were only talked about between us and we didn't tell anyone else.
"This lead me too many theories but none of them made sense so I kept this to the back of my mind and did research on certain things when I could though I didn't get much. And since the event already happened I knew it was possible to go back and not have anything bad happen so I did it." He finished with a shrug.
His mother and father just shook their heads. They remembered that day very well and they were worried that someone had gotten passed the wards to hurt them. Now they learned that it was their son who had come back from the future to give himself a note. They didn't really know how to feel about that.
"I could give you my memory or an oath if you still don't believe it's possible." Artorius offered after they had lapsed into silence. Those not involved with the project just shook their heads at the offer. They felt that it wasn't necessary even though they still couldn't help but have reservations about the whole thing.
"How did you get the ball and why did you keep it?" Draco asked him.
"I got it from one of Luke's unfinished projects," Artorius answered. "It was just lying there next to a bunch of other brass objects just like it. I asked Luke if I could have it and he said I could because he didn't need it as he had more in stock." Lucas nodded when people looked at him to confirm what his boss was saying. "I kept it because I hoped that maybe I could identify it and find out who sent it to me. Later on I added it to this." He held up his weapon. "I guess I felt that if I did it would make this weapon my own as opposed to something I won." He shrugged and took his seat.
Those who were standing followed suit.
"You really went back." Octavia commented and Artorius nodded.
"Apart from what happened when I was six, I haven't done anything else for all the times that I've gone back." He said.
"What about you Bertram," Lucretia asked her son. "Have you gone back as far as Artorius?"
"I have," Bertram nodded. "I only observed, I didn't do anything else but that."
"I've gone back as well." Wilfred told his family, anticipating that they would ask next. "I've gone by myself and we," He gestured to Bertram and Artorius. "Have gone as a group."
"We've been checked by all sorts of healers after every journey," Artorius told them as he picked up his file from the table. "This contains every check up I've had since using the Transporter or the hourglass. I was cleared by each healer that I went to." He handed the file to his parents. "So did these two." He passed Wilfred's file to his parents and Bertram's to his uncle. "We went to healers to see if there were any effects from our travels." He explained to everyone who didn't know. "We didn't know if we would bring anything back with us from the past or to the past so we had check ups before we left and when we came back.
"The healers cleared us so we continued with what we were doing. So far, nothing bad's happened."
"This is all well and good," Tracey said. "But how would we even be able to help you? Or how will this help us? Wouldn't it be bad if we went back and messed things up?"
"How much more messed up could things get?" Astoria asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Apart from us kissing the robes of maniac who destroyed a lot of families in the first war he raged and almost destroyed our way of life with the second, I'm not sure if it could be any worse than what we're dealing with.
"Our entire society is gone. Many people have scattered to other countries that barely tolerated our existence or stayed behind to die like dogs. Too many people died in this last war and we have a chance to save them.
"I know that many things could go wrong with this plan but we have a chance, and I think we should take it." She finished hotly. She was thinking about all of her friends who were killed in the battle of Hogwarts and the ones who stayed behind after everything was getting worse. She knew that if they could save as many people as they could, and maybe get more people out if they couldn't save wizarding Britain, it would be worth it.
"You don't have to decide now." Artorius interrupted before any more people could speak. "Take your time to decide what you want to do. This is a big decision that you should not make hastily."
"Are you still going through with this even if we decide not to go with you?" Harry asked him. He was having a hard time trying to decide what to think. Part of him didn't know much about time travel apart from his experience with a time turner so he didn't really want to go into this without knowing for sure that it would work. However, there was a part of him that wanted to jump at the chance to see Padfoot, Mooney, Tonks and many other people one more time and maybe even make sure that they lived this time around.
"Yes," Bertram, Artorius, Wilfred said, much to their parent's disappointment.
"We have many plans in place and if you decide not to go, we would go with a more subtle approach." Artorius murmured. "One of which that includes clues, notes, and us finding all the soul anchors that Tom Riddle had. With a few exceptions of course though we have plans for those as well." He added with a look towards Harry, "Look, we've given you all a lot to think about and if you want to know more please feel free to ask but perhaps we should take a break." He peered down at his watch. "It's a little after three," He murmured. "Anyone up for a late lunch?"
He wanted everyone to relax now and just really think about what was discussed. He didn't want them to make any drastic choices and he had a feeling that he would still have to talk to his family. He also had to prepare for the arrival of Thomas and his family. They would have been there already but they decided to come later on after they discovered that they would be having guest.
"I could eat." Bertram said and many other people nodded in agreement. "Some Irish turkey sounds good right about now. I could go make a run if you want?" He said to his cousin who shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" Artorius said and people began to place their orders.
My apologies for posting this late but like I said before my internet was acting up. It's better now so I don't think I will be posting things late again. Unless of course I get writers block or something.
To nachtdemon; I suppose you're right at least in regard for those who have read the HP series. I wrote that for those who haven't read the series.
To M-Bianca94; Thank you for all the follows! How did you find my stories if you don't mind my asking?