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Posted May 31, 2012.

-CHAPTER 11-

BLACK V THE DAILY PROPHET

By lunch time, Jason had spoken to both Sandra and Bill. Bill was in the middle of a rather complex job at Gringotts, but he would floo over once he was done. Sandra, however, was free, given she had effectively cleared her calendar at this point. Jason now made up the bulk of her case load.

So, immediately following lunch, the floo fired, expelling Jason's solicitor. Following the voices, she stepped into the living room.

"Sandra... 'afternoon," Jason greeted.

"Likewise." She appraised the additional person sitting across from Jason and Mace. "You must be Capa."

"Robert Capa, ma'am."

"Sandra Fraser. Jason's likely explained so, but I am his attorney."

"Yes, he's explained a bit of it."

"First question then..." she looked at Jason and Mace. "How'd he get here?"

"Care to take a trip into the pensive? I think Mace here will be the one to share the memory this time, since this was his doing, intentional or not."

"I did apologize."

"Yeah, I know." Jason squeezed Mace's forearm, while summoning the pensieve from a wall cabinet in the corner. That action was not lost on Capa, he was still being thrown for a loop learning that magic was a very real thing. Mace was already drawing a memory from his temple, and as the pensieve came to rest on the coffee table, he dropped it into the swirling liquid. "You need one of us to come along?"

"No, I think I'll be all right seeing this on my own." Sandra took a seat on the couch beside Capa, then placed a finger in the liquid. She froze.

"Weird seeing that," said Capa, shaking his head.

"...Think we really need to find out how this thing works, 'fore we end up somewhere much more dangerous," said Mace.

"Yeah, agreed. Well... first time I landed on the Icarus II, the sand started sifting through from the top to the bottom—like how an hourglass is supposed to work. I still had it in my hand, and was thinking 'how long'. It threw up a visual counter for a moment or two."

Mace furrowed his brow, then reached into Jason's pocket, pulling out the strange device.

"Hey!"

"Give me a sec." Then, focusing on the object, he thought, 'What are you?'

The world fell away, much like entering a pensieve.

"Mace?"

"I just had a hunch. Look." The space they'd entered was white-walled, much like the Earth room on board the Icarus II. Jason, of course, had seen it, although not in operation. Now, though, the walls were filling with moving pictures of the device, including a looping video showing Jason's first activation of it. There was also a short clip of when Mace activated it.

"Looks thought-based."

"Yeah, exactly."

"So it means... Merlin! I could go back and save Sirius! And Cedric... and..."

"Jason..."

"No... it makes perfect sense. You got your friend back with this, so it only makes sense I can do the same, right?"

"Do you realize how fucked up and twisted that is? Those people are gone. Blunt and cold as it sounds, you've moved on, right? You cried over their loss, but you've moved on. Going back with this thing, it's only gonna tear all that open again. What if it doesn't work? I don't really want to deal with an insane boyfriend, right?"

Jason smiled weakly. "Mace. I'm already insane-" He stopped, seeing another short clip. This one showed the incident in the department of mysteries four years prior, with a small alteration. This time, rather than Sirius falling into the cursed veil, he simply vanished, as if he'd been apparated away. "The proof. Look."

Mace blew out a breath and furrowed his brow. Jason was downright stubborn when he set his mind to do something. "I think you need to talk to Sandra before you do anything."

"I guess." Jason let out a smirk, though. "If we do this though... you think you've seen my anger? Sirius will make me look tame in comparison, when he finds out what Dumbledore did to me."

With a simple thought, the pair were back in the living room of the house. It was as if they'd not left at all. Capa, of course, knew something had happened, and posed the question.

"Just discovered a few more things about the hourglass," answered Jason, "Since Mace was able to get you back, I think I might be able to get my godfather back, maybe someone else as well."

"You're talking about time travel."

"Exactly. Trust me, it's for real," said Jason, with a grin, "One of my best friends was doing it for the entire school year my third year." He went to put the hourglass back in his pocket, but Mace stopped him.

"Jason... there was more sand in it than this."

"What?" Jason tapped the hourglass with his wand, restoring it to full size. Sure enough, there was only half the sand left in it.

"This thing's like a get-out-of-jail-free card. It's likely only got a few more uses, so you can't be using it on stupid things-"

"Oh, so you think Sirius' death was stupid, or Cedric's-"

"I didn't mean it that way! Christ's sake you're being fucking stupid," Mace shot back angrily, "Think about it!"

Jason huffed, and shrunk the device down again, then stored it in his pocket. Mace of course was right. He might have phrased it differently, but the point was right. The device had allowed him to escape from Azkaban, and put him on the road to clearing his name. It had saved Mace and Jason both from freezing to death on a crippled spacecraft. So yeah. Emergencies only. "Sorry. Didn't mean to yell."

"I know your godfather and Cedric meant a lot to you, Jason. But really. Only use it if there's no other choice."

Further conversation was interrupted, as the floo fired, and Ty stepped out of the roaring fire. He spelled his clothes clean. "Afternoon, everyone. Thought you should see this." He passed a copy of the National Wizards' Standard to Jason.

A picture of the building housing the Daily Prophet filled the top portion of the front page, with several inset photos of important staff members of said paper lining the edges of it. One of them featured Rita Skeeter, looking very much out of sorts, somewhat resembling someone who'd just ate several very sour lemons.

BRITISH WIZARDING NEWSPAPER FACING LAWSUIT

Black Opens Legal Proceedings For Defamation of Character, Slander

Jeff Murphy, International Wizarding Press

In a startling motion, the solicitor representing Harry Potter, now known as Jason Black, has opened up a series of legal proceedings against the Daily Prophet, England's Wizarding newspaper, citing defamation of character, slander, and libel, in reaction to a series of scathing articles that were published by the paper recently.

The proceeding has named reporter Rita Skeeter directly, along with a number of other senior staff members of the paper, citing it was their responsibility to ensure what was printed in the paper was truthful reporting, rather than content made of fantasy and conjecture.

Mr. Black is seeking 10 million Galleons in compensation from the paper, along with a front page written apology for undue stress and emotional duress caused by the untrue content published by the paper. A spokeswitch... -continued on page 4.

Excerpt from content at the source of the the suit, page 5.
Potter versus the Daily Prophet, a time line, page 5.
Profile, Rita Skeeter, page 6.
The Daily Prophet: Independent reporting, or Government mouthpiece? Editorial, Page 6.

"Right. That just made my day," Jason grinned, handing the paper over to Mace. "It should make her think twice about raising her poisoned pen at me ever again."

"What kind of poison pen?" Capa dared ask. He stared at the paper, seeing the moving images.

"Jason's got a lot of enemies," Mace answered.

"Yes, and he's making a few of them squirm today. Still waiting on some sort of statement from the Prophet, and we should hear from the Wizarding Court within the next few days about a hearing," said Ty. He appraised the stranger in their midst, then offered a hand. "Ty Waterhouse. One of Sandra's assistants."

"Robert Capa." They shook hands.

"You're the one Jason was talking about then."

"I guess. Still really in the dark though. This is just... beyond anything I ever imagined."

"At least you're not dropped in the middle of things not knowing anything," said Jason, with a frown, "Shit, I landed on the Icarus II not knowing anything. Completely alone."

"Conceded."

At that point, Sandra at last exited the pensieve. She gave Mace a pointed look, but softened. "All right. What do you want to do?"

"Protection. Just like Mace already has," said Jason, quickly.

"And you're strictly not magical."

"No—yes—I guess, I mean, not magical. Shocked me that Mace can do it," said Capa, shaking his head.

"We can file for Canadian citizenship then, so everyone's on the same page."

"But..."

"Makes it simple. We're in a different world, Capa. Don't you feel it?" Mace questioned.

"Right... all right, fine. We'll do it that way."

"It shouldn't take long then."

That wasted the afternoon, as Sandra had Capa fill out a set of forms which would make him a Canadian citizen, in both the Muggle and magical world. Even though he was a Muggle, he was a part of Jason's circle at this point, and Sandra wanted to be sure all the T's were crossed and the I's dotted. It was decided Capa would pose as Mace's cousin, who had lost his family to Death Eaters. This sort of thing was most certainly happening at the present, and it made sense family would want to look out for one another.

Bill arrived just after dinner, and after meeting the new member of the household, and a brief conference on what was needed, he set about erecting a strong set of wards around the property, and the fireplace. When done, no one would get onto the property without alerting Jason about it, since the wards were directly tied to him, being the property owner. There was an anti-apparition ward erected, with exceptions being those put on the white list. An intent ward was also erected, preventing anyone with ill intent from stepping onto the property. A ward was also put on the fireplace, also tied to the white list. Only those with permission could actually come through, and it was also governed by the intent ward. So, no snatching the occupants through the floo network.

Given Jason already had a little bit of training on how to manipulate the wards, it took him no time at all to grasp the concepts again. The wards simply settled into the back of his mind, there, but not, much like the wards on Grimmauld Place had. The wards there had been disabled some time ago, given the place had been once again placed on the market. Word was, it was then down to a bidding war between four interested parties, and the sale could go through any day now.

August 21, 2000

Jason blew out a breath as he and his mate parked themselves in comfortable deck chairs under the gazebo they'd bought a while back, with Capa quickly following. He had not taken long to adjust to the new world and the household he now belonged to.

It had been another victory that day, as Jason at last had his day in court, facing the owners and the editors of the Daily Prophet. It had been a rather one-sided debate, with Sandra blowing holes in the paper's defence. After all, the answer "...but everyone knows how much of a liar Mr. Potter is..." just doesn't cut it. It was a cop-out, and Sandra called it exactly that.

The three-judge panel wasn't too impressed either, as Sandra passed up plenty of evidence in the form of past copies of the dubious paper for their reading pleasure. The defending attorney attempted to have such evidence discounted, citing inflammatory testimony, but the judges allowed it, agreeing with Sandra's point, "It goes to character."

In the end, the panel agreed with Jason, and awarded the full damages. They also warned the paper, that any further violations toward the injured party could result in international sanctions against the paper, since the results of the proceeding would be filed with the ICW.

"I think I'll make sure to be up a little early, so we can see what tripe the Prophet will come up with."

"That Skeeter woman looked like she'd just swallowed the sickest, nastiest potion you can come up with, I think. Thought she was gonna pass out for a minute," Mace agreed.

"God forbid, she actually has to write stuff about me that's true. Oh, the shame of it!" said Jason, dramatically. He smirked and said, "Of course the lot of them are all a little lighter in the wallet now. Hopefully it'll make her think twice about using a quick-quotes quill during an interview."

Capa shook his head. "Still blows my mind your magical country has no libel laws or shit like that."

"Trust me, I think their world's still stuck in the Victorian era or something. Outdated by at least a hundred years," said Mace, as he and Jason pulled their chairs closer together.

"The problem is all their laws are being made up by the pureblood minority. So nothing really changes. And point blank, at this point that's why I have no interest in helping deal with Voldemort. Someone else will just take his place. If Wizarding England burns, then so be it. It's no great loss. I'll collect everyone who means anything to me... those willing to fight alongside me rather than hide behind the hero image they have of me."

"You mean the Weasleys," Mace guessed.

"Yeah. Fred, George, Bill, and their parents. I hear Luna and Neville became an item a while ago, but... them too. Be a shame to pull him away from Hogwarts. Hear he's being groomed to take Professor Sprout's place as Herbology professor." He smirked a moment. "Merlin... I think Professor Snape'll have a stroke, having to work with him as a colleague."

"Your former, uh, Potions professor," Capa remembered.

"That's right. Neville's Boggart is—or was—Professor Snape."

"What's a Boggart?" came two identical questions.

"Oh... never told you guys about those." Jason took out his wand. "Accio pensieve."

The memory shared had both Mace and Capa laughing, considering Jason also shared the memory of his first potions class. Seeing the sour professor dressed in an older woman's clothes, complete with ungodly hat and handbag was precious to say the least.

Jason turned serious. "A Boggart takes the form of your worst, deepest fears. Mrs. Weasley was traumatized by one before my fifth year, back when we were trying to clean Grimmauld Place. Upset her terribly. It's not my place to tell what it was she saw, but it was truly awful, and very personal."

"What... what would yours be?"

"It was a Dementor last time I encountered one. Now, I dunno. Remus thought it would be Voldemort, y'know, because of this and all..." Jason pushed the hair away from the infamous scar. "But really, I'm not afraid of him. Remus thought the Dementor symbolizes fear itself, but i dunno."

Mace leaned back in his chair, thinking. What would his be? What did he fear above all else? He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind. The conversation was dark as it was.

Jason was quick to pick up on this. "Here. I'll show you a much more pleasant memory." He collected the memory floating around in the swirling mess, and put it back where it belonged. He then drew out another silvery strand, and dropped it in. "Stick a finger in, guys."

They had fallen into what looked to Capa like an enormous hall of sorts, with enormous rafters stretching skyward like that of a cathedral. Mace had already seen this particular room, of course, but the configuration had changed. In place of the four long tables, were rows and rows of desks, each being occupied by a student. Mace quickly spotted Jason and his friends. A sign up at the front of the room identified what was going on: ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS, CHARMS. The silence was virtually deafening, save for the scratching of quills to parchment.

The silence was broken by some sort of bang outside the room. The pink-clad professor frowned a moment, then stepped off the dais, clearly with the intention of investigating the noise. It came again, and Umbridge picked up the pace, clearly upset at this disturbance to the order of things.

They followed her as she stepped out into the corridor, where several more bumps and bangs were heard. The woman frowned again, still baffled by the strange noise. And then... a single spark of light sizzled from nowhere, hovered in front of Umbridge's face for a moment, zipped into the great hall, and went off with a noisy pop.

An instant later... WHOOSH! They actually came down the stairs, on their brooms! The twins blasted straight into the enormous hall filled with students and desks and papers, and set off FIREWORKS. INSIDE. It was a cacophony of noise, given the closed nature of the space, and papers and students were scattered in all directions. The twins hovered at the centre of the room for a moment.

"Ready when you are!" said one, the other holding something in his hand. He let it fly.

"Look out," Jason whispered, as the trio stood at the doorway. The twins soared out overhead, while the object exploded in a brilliant shower of sparks and lights, then changed to form the head of a rather angry dragon. It seemed to have a mind of its own, or perhaps one target, the nasty pink teacher. It chased her from the room and engulfed her in a fiery blast which sent dozens of fireworks toward a number of plaques nailed to the wall just outside. That sent the whole mess crashing to the floor, and left a very singed High Inquisitor behind.

The show was not over, however, as Jason led his two friends outside, following the rush of students as they burst out into the courtyard, the scene of another pyrotechnics display courtesy of the twins, as they soared off out of sight. It looked like the entire population of the school had been attracted by the commotion, and most gave the fleeing perpetrators a standing ovation for their bravado. Jason actually burst out laughing, seeing Professor Flitwick's little fist-pump. The pint-sized professor was actually impressed by his students' efforts. Of course, the question was, by what? The execution, or its target?(1)

He was still laughing as they were all ejected from the pensieve.

"What?" Mace dared ask.

"Did you see Professor Flitwick's reaction?"

"The really short guy," Mace guessed.

"Right. See at the time, I was getting a nasty vision from Voldemort, so I didn't notice—that's why the memory's a little cloudy at the end. Still gotta wonder. Was he impressed at the twins' skill, or with what they'd just done to Umbridge?"

"Maybe it was both. After what you've told me about the woman, I'm surprised she didn't have more to say at your hearing."

"Knowing the Minister, he probably ordered her to keep her mouth shut. All in all it doesn't matter. I'll have a go at her eventually." Jason leaned back in his chair, and snaked an arm around Mace's shoulder. "Here and now, I'm in a better place than I was. I got you guys, my best friends back, a brilliant solicitor... much easier to sort those people out."

He spoke the truth. The weekends were always more than crazy at the Black residence. It was a virtual guarantee Ron and Hermione would be over for a visit sometime during the weekend. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were a sure bet on Sundays, given they lived alone now. Bill was also a usual visitor, resulting in a rather boisterous Sunday dinner.

Most weekdays, a mind healer from Upper Canada Hospital would visit, to teach Jason Occlumency. It had rapidly expanded to include Mace as well, given their intimate relationship. In the few weeks they had been meeting, Jason was already miles ahead of where he'd been after an entire term of being virtually assaulted by Professor Snape.

Three times a week, an instructor from the Ministry's Department of Magical Transportation visited, providing Apparition lessons. Of course, the Ministry instructors didn't come cheap, but Jason was only happy to pay for them. Somehow he knew, back in England, they wouldn't give him the time of day, let alone one-on-one instruction. In retrospect, fleeing to Canada had been one of his brighter ideas.

The rest of their day was a combination of business and pleasure, as Jason proved to be a more than adept teacher, covering the lower year material. He even dared delve into the subject of potions, having collected the appropriate books. Sandra had been more than helpful, contacting the Professor who taught the subject at Upper Canada Academy. The professor was more than helpful, sending along an appropriate book list. Jason was somewhat pissed when the books arrived—he'd ordered the entire set from Riggs & Tattwen, a Wizarding bookstore in Toronto. The set included a most informative primer which detailed hundreds of different potions, their ingredients, interactions, antidotes, helpful tips on brewing, and a host of other information. He quite literally reeled off some rather colourful language as he flipped through it for the first time. It seemed like the type of text book every first year should be equipped with from the start!

Professor McGonagall had sent along a sixth year booklist by the middle of August, along with his O.W.L. Results. He found it rather interesting that he'd been graded, given he'd already been sent to Azkaban by the time the results would have been mailed out. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he opened the parchment.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)

HARRY JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy: A
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: E
Defence against the Dark Arts: O
Divination: P
Herbology: E
History of Magic: D
Potions: E
Transfiguration: E (2)

Jason simply folded the parchment back up and nodded. Seven O.W.L.s. Hermione had likely gotten twelve or something like that. But in the end it didn't matter. Jason knew he would likely be able to do just about whatever he felt like. It wasn't like it was going to his head, but his name carried a lot of weight. Never mind the fact he was an incredibly wealthy man. If he chose to, he could do absolutely nothing, and still be well off for the remainder of his life—not that he would actually do that. That would only serve to prove his useless relatives right. Not to mention, he would likely go off the deep end, sitting around with nothing to do all day.

AUTHOR NOTES: (1) This has to be my favourite scene out of "Order of the Phoenix". Of course I use the movie version of events here, as it was much more colourful in my opinion.

(2) Taken from p.100, "Half Blood Prince", Canadian soft cover edition. Some people tend to manipulate his OWL scores in their fanfics, I believe in keeping it Canon here, these are the scores JKR assigned, so that is what I work with.