Disclaimer: We all know how these work, I acknowledge that J.K. Rowlings, Warner Bros. and Scholastic own Harry Potter and all other characters and settings from cannon, and I get to write whatever I please and even add in characters of my own as long as I don't get any money. The no money sucks but there you go, at least I don't get lawyers knocking on my door. Addendum: If you recognize a name of a character from elsewhere it isn't mine.
A/N: Sorry this is slow getting out I had to think of how I wanted to do this section and I had a bit of writer's block. It didn't help Prongs was being very demanding. And this wretched little one shot about Deloris Umbridge's Big Mistake that just wouldn't leave me alone. To stick97 redshirts.
Sirius' Savior
Chapter 56 The Fallout Part One
Alastor Moody arrived back at the low end hotel that was serving as the staging ground for their attack. He groaned when only himself, Trent, Williamson and Dawlish appeared. "Two minutes we portkey back to England."
"But..."
"Parkinson and Avery were firing sectumsempra. A rare curse we started seeing at the end of the last war. They hit Black and the boy, no healer here is going to know the counter. Which means odds are they're already dead. Magical America has the death penalty for murder and we were part of that group. Which means we get painted with the same brush. Get it?"
Alastor waved his wand and packed his trunk. Then tapped it to shrink it. Inwardly he cursed, this turned out so fucking FUBAR that he almost wanted to stay and take his just desserts for getting James' boy killed. If it weren't for wanting to make sure Fudge got his desserts for insisting he bring those two Deatheaters along, he would.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Paige Moran wondered which wizard that just got portkeyed out was an elemental wizard. Well that wasn't her concern. She was here to investigate the wizards that attacked she would look at the dead then go to the WIS facility. She examined the two bodies. What had killed them was by accounts a lightning bolt and their bodies bore witness to that fact. Aside from the obvious electrical burns the two bodies had few identifying markers and neither carried identification. Both had a sort of faded mark on their left forearm. It looked a bit like a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth.
Paige was an investigative trainer for WIS. At seventy she seldom was called to do field work, but when the alarms had sounded she had mustered along with all the other trainers. With their appearance the attackers apparently decided to leave. Given who had been attacked, the school director approached her and put her in charge of figuring out who, where and why.
"Paige I hope I don't have to tell you how bad this looks. The Presidents son-in-law attacked under our watch. I wasn't happy when he first came, but since then I've read the interrogation transcripts. He's a good man that got screwed over by his homeland, so do your best."
She walked the site. Figuring out where the attackers had laid in wait to ambush the exercise. It was pretty clear that the targets were Sirius and his ward Harry. When she got back to base she was surprised to be met by Walter O'Shaunessy. "Paige I want to help with the investigation."
"Okay list of all individuals you can think of that could be behind this."
He handed her a typewritten page. She blinked.
"Sirius isn't stupid; he maintains a list of people that would have an interest in doing this sort of thing."
"Any word yet?"
Radar shook his head.
"Want in on the interrogation of the captured subjects?"
"Hell yes."
Twenty-five minutes later they were with the interrogation room with the one suspect that didn't fit with the others because he wasn't local.
"Name?"
The suspect gave them a bored look.
"Look we can do this the easy way of we can do it the hard way." Paige stated.
"The easy way is we ask a question you answer." Radar growled. "Hard is I get to petrificus all of you except your jaw which I get to pry open then I get to give you veritaserum. I hope I have a steady hand it be a shame if I gave you more than three drops."
"Like I care about what you do, consorting with the likes of Sirius Black."
"Sirius is a fine person. I ought to-"
"Radar." Paige said sharply. "What our British guest doesn't seem to realize, is that he and those two bodies down in the morgue are going to feature quite prominently in an international incident. Right now the Magical President has summoned the British ambassador of magic to answer for this cowardly attack. I have no doubt that in order for good relations between our countries to continue you will be left to swing in the breeze, and I don't doubt that is what going to happen. Roderick Stevens takes attacks on his family quite seriously."
"Black is no relation to Stevens." The man was shocked into saying.
"Black married the Presidents step daughter. A year ago last February and they have three adorable tots. He is most definitely family in the president's eyes." Radar calmly stated. "So are we doing this the easy way or the hard. Name?"
"Jason Keeler."
"Who ordered the attack and what were the specific orders?"
Keeler frowned then looked down.
"Easy or hard Keeler." Paige reminded him.
"The attack itself was planned by Alastor Moody. My presence was ordered by Corneilus Fudge. The orders were to capture and retrieve the boy Harry Potter, and capture or take out Sirius Black and to not hurt anyone else there because they were Americans and we didn't want to start a war."
"Who all from Great Britain participated?
"Myself, Mad-eye Moody, John Dawlish, Robert Williamson, Bobby Trent, Simon Avery and Bill Parkinson."
Radar pulled out his cell. After dialing, "Hi Trudy put me through to President Stevens." Radar paused and smirked only to stop smirking when the President came on the line. "Yes sir. What I mentioned I suspected when I called before, we've been able to confirm. Add to that they planned to kidnap Harry. Good hunting sir." He hung up. "Next question which two are down in the morgue? Who were you paired with for the attack?"
"I was put with two of the locals, Goodman and Fredricks, Avery and Parkinson."
"Well congratulations, your group gets the credit for conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and gees, murder. Of course two of it's members already paid the penalty for the murder charge. They're on slabs down in the morgue. In magical US committing murder in an attack like this carries the penalty of death. It's one of those laws that helps keep the number of Dark Lords down and in general prevents them from gaining followers. People oddly enough tend to value their lives more than ideology." Paige informed him.
"Who died and how?"
" The two I assume since you said you were assigned with them Avery and Parkinson. As to how, the elemental that was at the exercise called lightning down. They fried like you probably will for participating in murder." Paige said.
"I didn't kill anybody!"
"But you participated in an attack that resulted in one death and three more people in the hospital two of them are critical and are considered touch and go. Which means one murder and three attempted. Thank you for your cooperation."
"But … I'll tell you where Moody and the rest have a hotel room ask me anything. I didn't kill anyone! Check my wand I was firing stunners like Moody told us."
Four minutes later as they were leaving the room, Radar asked, "Elemental?"
"Of course. Where else would the the lightning have come from?"
"So which trainee is an elemental?"
"I thought Black was."
"Sirius is good at potions and wards, brilliant at defense and technomancy but he's no elemental mage."
"Then who?"
"If it wasn't the trainees and it wasn't any of the aurors, and it wasn't Sirius it must have been Harry. Paige what do you know of elemental magic?"
"Not much, I just recognize the feel of it because my uncle is an elemental mage. Why?"
Because if we're right and it's Harry, Sirius will want to talk with you and see about getting in touch with your uncle for lessons for Harry. Assumming they both survive."
Walter's phone rang. "Winry? How's Sirius?" He was silent as he listened. After a moment he covered the microphone part of the phone. "Paige would using elemental magic create anomalies in the way someone's core reacts?"
"Possibly why?"
"I think my theory as to who the elemental was just got proven." He uncovered the microphone.
"Winry I'm here with Paige Moran, she said the lightning was the work of an elemental. By process of elimination we think it's Harry and she says it could cause the fluctuations you're seeing...Okay keep me posted." After hanging up he said, "Warrants then the hotel, but if this Moody is the one Sirius mentioned as his teacher they'll be long gone."
XXXXXXX
In Washington DC, at the Magic Castle Roderick had deliberately changed into austere black arcomantula silk brocade robes then entered his office. Sitting behind his desk he waited while the British Magical ambassador was shown to the room. Montgomery Scott entered the room, "Rick what's the emergency that you summoned me here for?"
Roderick tossed Sirius' file minus the notes about Beth and Sirius' vacation on Palau, down on the desktop between them. "Read that."
Montgomery Scott had come into his job of British Ambassador to Magical America under Minister Bagnold through personal ties during the last war. He had asked her, because she was his Godmother, if she could give him the job so he could take his family away from the danger in England. Although he had gotten the job as a favor, he had put lots of effort into doing a good job and he and Rick were friends, or so he thought. Puzzled by the formal even hostile attitude from his friend, and uncomfortable with the level of magic in the room he quickly did as asked. When he saw the file was about Sirius Black he was puzzled, when he got to the stay of extradition followed by the veritaserum interview, followed by an authorized ICW request for an international trial. This was bad. Definitely egg on the faces of the British Ministry of Magic, but it still didn't explain the tension in the office. He couldn't quite hide his wince as he put the file down "So what is this about?"
"Do you agree the paperwork for Black's stay of extradition is in order?"
"Yes."
"Do you agree that your government has received copies of those documents?"
"I would have to verify that but given the thoroughness of the ICW. I would probably say yes."
"Would you therefore concur, that a British strike force attempting to capture or kill Black on American soil would constitute an attack on our sovereign rights?"
"What? The Ministry of Magic wouldn't do such a thing! Not without telling me!"
"They have, an hour ago a strike force attacked a training exercise being held off the WIS Chicago campus where Black was. One of his bodyguards was killed, the other hospitalized along with Black and his ward Potter. Thankfully no other Americans that were there were hurt or killed. My investigative teams have verified who was involved. We have captured one British auror and two others were killed. Montgomery I shouldn't have to tell you..."
"That an attack like this counts as an act of war. Rick, give me four days to get to the bottom of this..."
"Montgomery, I'll give three days to you for one reason, a war between our countries endangers the Statute of Secrecy. What wasn't in that file on Black is he's my son in law, and I regard Harry as a grandson. This wasn't just an attack on the USA's sovereign rights it was a attack on my family, and I don't take such things lightly. If this was the action of a few individuals I want their heads on the proverbial platter, if it was an act of the Wizengamot in England make no mistake it will be war. Despite the fact that will probably involve the mundanes as well are we clear?" Roderick Stevens made sure to loose his full magical aura as he said this warning.
Montgomery shuddered and nodded. "I'll need the information you have."
Rick picked up the phone "Trudy call O'Shaunessy in Chicago and have him fax the transcript of the interview to me. I want it in thirty minutes. When it gets here make a copy and courier box it to the British Embassy." He put the phone down. "You can take the file with you. I expect updates every twelve hours on what you find out and.." Rick tapped his wand to a coaster. "this is the only incoming portkey from England that will be accepted. It will only take two people. Clear?"
Montgomery heard the unspoken warning.
"One last thing, there appears to have been a leak on our side. We're investigating as we speak. I would regard it as an appeasement if someone on your side fingers the leak."
"Understood. How bad are Black and Potter?"
"It's unknown at this time, the spells that hit them were very dark. And Montgomery, if this wasn't the action of a few men don't come back. Because there isn't a place far enough or dark enough to hide from my wrath when my family is at stake."