Chapter 6
Little Boy Lost
Jakob Lukas Dolohov awoke sometime in the night, shivering. Pale light from the almost-full moon filled his room, and he rubbed his eyes to see his toy dragon sleeping on the pillow next to him. He uncurled himself and stretched, wondering that he'd fallen asleep in his clothes. His arm was a bit sore from where he'd been pressed up against the wall, but as he moved it around to try and get the kink out, he realized that something was wrong.
His stomach growled at him.
Every night, his mum came to help him into his soft, warm sleeper and tucked him in. If he hadn't been carried up to bed by his dad, after falling asleep in the sitting room reading him a story, then she would read him a story and sit by his bedside until he fell asleep. She would never let him fall asleep in his clothes, and why was his room so cold? Hadn't anyone placed the usual warming charm on it at bedtime? Jakob guessed not. He wondered why, as his stomach growled again, that no one had come to wake him up for dinner? Was it because he was so tired from the hike to get the Christmas tree? Was he ill? He didn't feel ill – just hungry. And cold.
Had he done something wrong?
Then he remembered the bad dream: Mummy collapsing on the floor, Dad shouting at Mrs. Tonks, Mrs. Tonks telling Dad off and saying he was innocent. Jakob didn't know what that meant, so how could he have dreamed it?
Then he remembered baby Teddy.
The grown-ups were shouting, and bad things happened when grown-ups shouted. Daddy had his wand out, and that wasn't a good sign. Mummy was crying, Daddy was shouting, and Mrs. Tonks was angry. Very angry. She was so angry that she looked just like the bad lady what always laughed when she scared him. Teddy was scared, too, he remembered. The baby was crying, but no one noticed. He had to hide the baby before they started shooting at each other; they might hit the baby by accident.
He rubbed his forehead, remembering the only time that Mummy and Daddy had scared him. But that was an accident, too.
As he stood up, a dummy [pacifier] fell from his rumpled blankets, and Jakob picked it up.
Teddy's dummy [pacifier].
He looked around his bed and on the floor.
His toy wand was gone.
The moonlight wasn't that bright, and the far corners of his room were dark. Jakob didn't like the dark. Monsters hid in the dark.
Jakob remembered monsters.
Monsters that smelled bad, like old dogs. Monsters that snapped and smiled with ugly, scary teeth, and laughed when you peed in your pants when they scared you so bad. Monsters that wanted to bite you, because you were cute enough to eat, they'd tell you. Jakob didn't know why such a nice lady would let monsters like that into her house, or monsters that didn't have noses – monsters that looked kinda like men, but not the kind of men who would sit you on their lap and read to you, or pick you up when you fell down. These were monsters that even when they said something nice, it made you feel like hiding. What was 'potential'? The monster without a nose had told Jakob he had potential, one time.
Were there monsters in the Burrow that Jakob didn't know about?
Something was on the floor, near the door. Jakob watched it for a while, but it didn't move. He threw a shoe at it.
It was a baby sock.
Teddy's feet would be cold then, Jakob reasoned, shaking his head. He had to take it back to him, make sure he was OK and that they hadn't hurt him.
He paused. Mummy and Daddy wouldn't do that, though. Teddy was their "honorary grandson," they said. Jakob blinked. Dad was angry, and yelling. "Not until he gives us the baby!"
"I did do something bad," Jakob realized, remembering the feeling he got sometimes when he was angry or scared. They were going to hurt the baby, because they had wands out and they were yelling at him. He had to protect the baby, and so he'd imagined a wall between them, but that had only made Dad angrier. "I better go say I'm sorry," he mumbled to himself, which woke up the dragon. It flew over and landed on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.
Jakob's door was stuck. Or locked.
"It wasn't another bad dream!" He whimpered, falling to his knees on the cold floor.
Dad had shouted at him, pointed his wand at him, and taken the baby away.
He knelt there for a long time, shivering. He'd been locked in his room without dinner, he was cold and hungry, and he had to pee. "I wish Cam was here," Jakob sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Cam would know what to do." But Cam wasn't there; Cam was at the shelter. Cam was at the shelter because his parents were gone somewhere, and no one wanted him. Jakob never understood that. Why did some of the kids go home with nice grown-ups and not come back? Why did some of them go to the school, up the way, when Cam was twelve and he couldn't go too?
Jakob was shivering so badly that he could hardly change clothes and get his warm sleeper on. Now it felt sort of itchy, though, and he was still cold. It never itched him before, he wondered? He turned his light on, and that made things better. He put his favorite hoodie on over the sleeper, and put his trainers back on. He put Teddy's pacifier and lost sock in his 'tummy-pocket' of the hoodie, Mum called it.
"Mummy?" he called, softly, tentatively. He never had to yell before. All he had to do was just say it, if he was scared, and she'd come.
The door remained closed.
No one came.
Jakob waited a bit.
No one came.
Jakob sat on his bed and cried.
"But what did I do?" He whimpered.
FUMP! FUMP! FUMP!
Jakob jumped with a squeak of surprise. Was someone knocking? His heart sped up.
"C-come in?"
FUMP! FUMP! FUMP! GROWL!
The door flew open, banging off the wall, and a balding, beat up, somewhat shabby teddy bear that was half as big as he was came toddling into the room. Jakob would have been scared silly if he hadn't seen that bear before in pictures. It was Mr. Stuffings, the toy bear that had survived six of the Weasley children. There was thread that didn't quite match his thinning plush fur holding his left arm on as he toddled over and offered Jakob his paw. Then he looked at the door, his black-button eyes glittering. He smiled at Jakob.
And since he was cold, and hungry, and had to pee, and since he didn't know what else to do, Jakob took the bear's paw and followed him. When they passed through the door, Jakob felt that thing like cold ants crawling all over him that he remembered from…the house he'd been in before.
He remembered a big, creepy house.
"It's a wart!" he whispered to the bear, "Be careful, or the warts will hurt you!"
Mr. Stuffings just shook his head and shrugged.
After he used the loo, Jakob followed the bear down the stairs. He was careful not to make any noise, since he was scared that if he did, and woke them up, they'd be angry with him all over again. He would apologize in the morning, and promise to not do it again, even though he hadn't hurt Teddy. In fact, it was Dad who made Teddy go flying through the air like a Quaffle ball. Mr. Stuffings led him to the kitchen, through another 'wart', where Jakob found some cold meat and cheese and a jar of pickles in the icebox. He offered some to the bear, but he just shook his head and sat in the boy's lap, leaning on Jakob's chest while the boy and his dragon ate. Jakob liked pickles. He reached for a napkin.
There was a yellow folder full of papers in the middle of the kitchen table.
"Now I know it wasn't a bad dream," Jakob gasped, remembering how upset Mummy had got when she saw the papers. He remembered it now – Dad didn't hurt her after all. She fainted when she read the papers, but Mrs. Tonks didn't. Mrs. Tonks just drank her tea and told Dad he was silly. Jakob liked Mrs. Tonks.
Jakob leaned over to look at the folder, but the moonlight was too dim to read it. Then the hanging lamp over the table lit up on its own, and he was afraid it would wake them up. The black printed letters said "Dolohov, Antonin & Family," but Jakob didn't think he should look at it. It must be bad things, he knew, to upset Mummy so. "Should I look?" He whispered.
Mr. Stuffings nodded.
Jakob opened the envelope.
There was a picture of a man he didn't know. There was also a picture of a lady he didn't know.
Jakob began to read:
Antonin Dolohov was a wizard and one of the original Death Eaters of Lord Voldemort. He fought in the First Wizarding War, during which he tortured many Muggles, and wizards and witches who were not supporters of Voldemort. Along with four other Death Eaters, he participated in the murders of Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Dolohov was caught and convicted of these crimes, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.
"Bad man," Jakob whispered, as he put down that page and pulled out another. This one was fancier, with nice decorations and neat printing and writing. Some man named "Igor" had even signed his name, so it must be important.
JAKOB LUKAS DOLOHOVDate of birth: Friday, April 13th, 1990
Father: Antonin Mikael Dolohov
Mother: Anastasia Valentina Veselovsky
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
"But that's my name, Jacob!" He gasped, looking at his drawing on the icebox door, and seeing the difference in spelling. "They spelled it wrong!"
Mr. Stuffings shook his head.
That boy's father is the reason that Teddy is an orphan! Jakob remembered hearing Dad shouting, when he'd pointed right at him – but he hadn't seen him.
And wasn't Miss Thimblebrass always looking for his parents? Looking for all the kids' parents? She always said, "I'm trying very hard to find your parents!"
Jakob saw the small print at the bottom that read "EESS Certificate of a Magical Birth". He put it aside.
Jakob's hands trembled as he read through more pages detailing the crimes of these Dolohov people. The more he read, the more he began to get a bad feeling about it. He didn't like them at all.
According to Igor Karkaroff, Dolohov tortured many Muggles and non-supporters of Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War. With the help of four other Death Eaters, he murdered Fabian and Gideon Prewett, the brothers of Molly Weasley née Prewett. He was not the only participant in the act, though, since Mad-Eye Moody informed Harry Potter years later that it took five Death Eaters to kill the two wizards, whose murders were described as "brutal."
"Molly Weasley?" Jakob whispered, pulling his hands back from the paper as if it were a live snake. "Mummy?"
Dolohov is also credited with the murder of Remus J. Lupin, former Hogwarts DADA teacher, wife Dora Lupin née Tonks, and father of Teddy Remus Lupin.
There was an 8x10" glossy black and white photo as well, and with a lurch, Jakob saw that it was him! He remembered the man with the camera, and how much fun it had been to have your picture taken. He smiled and even waved once for the camera, even though the other kids at the shelter didn't look and some of them cried.
"No!" He whimpered, as he picked up the last paper. It was in very neat handwriting:
With DNA tests confirmed by our Muggle Liaison Office, in being a perfect match to the dried blood sample on the birth certificate in question, and with matching fingerprints, the identity of the foundling boy formerly known as 'Jack', admitted to The Charity Burbage Shelter for Displaced Magical Children, has been confirmed to be Jakob Lukas Dolohov, son of Antonin and Anastasia Dolohov.
The boy has been placed in temporary foster care with Arthur and Molly Weasley, with permanent adoption pending approval, as the mother is recorded as deceased, and the father is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole in Azkaban Prison…
Jakob skipped to the end and saw the signature of Percy Ignatius Weasley.
"It's me!" Jakob gasped again. "Uncle Percy wrote this!"
Without even cleaning up after himself, as he always did, Jakob ran back up the stairs to his room and threw himself down on his bed, sobbing. My real mum and dad were bad people! He thought. They killed people! They left me in the forest!
And then it hit him.
Jakob now knew what Mum and Dad…no, what Arthur and Molly…were so angry about.
"They won't want me anymore!" Jakob choked. "They'll think I'm a bad boy, just like my real dad! They'll think I was going to hurt Teddy!"
And since it was very cold outside, and since it was dark and there were monsters hiding in the dark, and because he didn't know how far it was back to the shelter, Jakob hid under his blankets and pulled them over his head. He thought about getting under the bed, to hide, they'd never look there…just like Cam had shown him…, but there might be spiders under the bed and the spiders wanted to eat him.
Then Jakob felt something warm as his blankets were pulled back, and Mr. Stuffings climbed into the bed and snuggled up against him.
Clutching the old, worn out teddy bear that was clearly on his last leg (literally), Jakob Lukas Dolohov cried himself to sleep on what he thought was certainly his last night at the Burrow, bracing himself for more bad dreams.
"He was a bad man!" Jakob snapped at the old man in the blue robe.
"But that doesn't make you a bad boy, does it now, Jakob?" The old man replied, peering at him over his half-moon spectacles.
"They'll send me away," Jakob sniffled, wondering if he could just sit on the bench with his dragon and Mr. Stuffings forever.
The old man shook his head. "She'd never do that," he disagreed, "She needs you right now. She just doesn't know it yet."
But Jakob shook his head. "They hate me! They locked me in my room, and didn't even have dinner! I thought they were nice people!"
The old man shook his head. "They are, Jakob, but they've been damaged by the war. Grief can make strange things happen, Jakob," the old man replied. "And you said, the other night, that you were ready for this?"
"I…I don't w-want them to…to hate me!" Jakob cried. "I don't want to go!"
"You don't have to go – yet," the old man told him. "In fact, I think you need to stay."
"But why stay if they hate me?" Jakob protested, clutching the old bear as if he were his only friend in the world.
"So that you can teach them something," the old man smiled. "Only then can you go."
"But why do I have to go, when I…I love them?" Jakob sniffled.
"That, dear boy, is exactly why you have to go. Just not quite yet."
When Jakob awoke the next morning, the house was quiet. His door was still open, but his room wasn't so cold. He looked at his alarm clock, a Muggle thing, Dad…Arthur…had said. It was almost eleven, and near time for lunch. He looked around the room, wondering if he could find a bag to put his toys in. Cam and the others would like it if he shared his toys, Jakob knew. He then went to the bathroom, washed up as best he could without a proper bath, and dressed himself. He put his red hoodie on backwards the first time and had to change it. Then he went downstairs to say he was sorry, and that he'd go back to the shelter if they didn't want him anymore.
Mr. Stuffings was tugging at his leg again.
Jakob didn't expect to see all the people he saw in the large sitting room. That matron was there, with the big white hat, what was her name? The lady who came to the shelter to check on them? Madame Pomfrey, that was her name, Jakob remembered. She was the witch who'd gave him a shot in the bum once, for Dragonpox. Jakob didn't like her much after that. Uncle Percy was there too, and Jakob recognized Harry and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron from the pictures on the mantelpiece. He looked around for Mrs. Tonks, but she wasn't there, and Jakob had to give Teddy his things back. He picked up Mr. Stuffings and carried him to the doorway.
"I'll be fine!" Mum (Molly) was protesting, "Geroff me, Poppy!" She was telling the Mediwitch.
"You are NOT fine, Mum!" Percy protested, "You've had a near nervous collapse over all this! I told you that you were doing…"
"I am not doing too much, young man!" Molly shook a finger at him. "And you lot know that Arthur has so much to do at work! YOU should be at work, too, Percy! And YOU!" She turned on Harry then. "Ditching a class to come and see me? Ronald and Ginevra! Skipping school?! What WILL Minerva say?"
"She'd say it was her idea," an older lady that Jakob didn't know cut in, as she emerged from the Floo. "Longbottom is a perfectly competent teaching substitute for one hour with the Firsties while Harry is away."
"We're worried about you, Mum," Ginny said.
"Never thought I'd say it," Ron agreed, "But she's right, Mum!"
"Molly, where's Jakob?" Harry then asked, and everyone looked at him. Harry shrugged. "What? It's almost lunch, and we've not seen a thing of him?"
"Don't tell me no one's checked on him since last night?!" Percy exclaimed. "For Merlin's sake, Mum! He could be halfway back to Aberforth's shed by now!"
"I'm just here," Jakob dared speak up in a very small voice, and everyone turned to look at him.
Molly looked away.
Madame Pomfrey went to him at once, pulling out her wand, which made Jakob bolt. Percy grabbed him at the door and hauled him back in, fighting all the way.
"No! No wands! No more yelling! NO MORE BAD THING! NO MORE FIRE!" Jakob was screaming, as his toy dragon flew to the attack, spitting fire at Percy's head. Mr. Stuffings fell and kicked his shin, doing, of course, no damage at all with his stuffed foot. He growled, too.
"Never done that before!" Ron exclaimed. "Tha's my old bear! Where'd he find that?"
"You've been in Ronald's room?" Molly asked, finally looking at Jakob as Percy got him calmed down and Harry snatched the toy dragon out of the air. It bit him.
"OWWW! Never done that before?" Harry echoed Ron.
"You had no business going in there!" Molly admonished him, as Jakob clung to Percy.
"I DIDN'T!" Jakob cried, "He came in MY room last night! He unlocked the door!"
"You locked him in his room all night?" Percy exclaimed.
"I did not! I was…distraught!" Molly protested. "The last thing I recall is Arthur telling me… and Andy, and the tea…"
"Dad," Percy growled.
"It was cold, I was hungry," Jakob whimpered. "Bear come and got me."
"You're the one who put an animation charm on him, Mum," Ron reminded her. "And Mr. Stuffings always did have a way of showing up when someone was upset."
"You sent him to bed, without dinner, locked him in, and with no warming charm?" Ginny surmised.
"I DIDN'T!" Molly repeated. "It must have been Arthur."
"I was bad," Jakob interrupted. "I was listening at the door. I took Teddy. I was bad," he repeated. "Just like my real daddy. I'm sorry."
The room went quiet.
"Who told him?" Percy demanded, his voice flat.
"I seen the papers, when I got up to eat an' go pee," Jakob said, so quietly that only Percy heard him. He held the boy's head on his shoulder, just long enough for Madame Pomfrey to scan him. Jakob then turned to her. "Are the other kids like Cam bad, too?" He asked. "Is that why no one wants us?"
No one said a word. No one knew what to say.
"I want to go back with Cam," Jakob then declared. "Can I take my toys?"
Madame Pomfrey's face paled.
"Who's Cam?" Ron asked Ginny.
"Firstie, last year. Cameron Avery, Slytherin," She informed him. "Cameron's not in school this term. There aren't any Slytherin Seconds, and only one new Firstie, boy, that is."
"Oh," Ron mumbled.
"You don't want to live here anymore?" Percy asked the boy.
"They don't want me anymore, they hate me," Jakob declared, which made Molly gasp.
"Why do you think that, Jake?" Harry asked him.
"They were shouting, made the baby cry. No one cared, neither! They were gonna hurt the baby! I had to hide him! I didn't mean to!" Jakob explained, choking on his words, "Grown-ups with wands, yelling, means hurt. Teddy was crying, an' no one cared! No one heard him but for me! I took him. Arthur was mad. He…he was gonna…hurt me!"
Jakob then pulled Teddy's sock and the dummy [pacifier] from his pocket.
"Why would dad get hysterical, when Jakob had played with Teddy all day, you said?" Ginny asked.
"The…the p-papers said…said…m-m-my…" Jakob tried to say, but he couldn't.
"Because Dolohov was the one who killed Remus Lupin," McGonagall informed them. "And the Prewett brothers. Arthur may have thought that the son had come to finish the father's work?"
"Arthur would never think such a thing!" Molly protested. "How can you even say that, Minerva?"
"This is going to be a legal nightmare," Percy sighed, handing a resistant Jakob off to Ginny. He flicked his wand, transfiguring Jakob's small desk near the Floo. "But what other explanation for this kind of … abuse…is there?" He shook his head. "I was afraid it might come down to something like this, if we ever identified Jakob's real parents, although I'd hoped for – and expected – better of my own family. I'll work from here today, Mum, like it or not, as you don't need to be alone. And Jakob probably shouldn't be alone with you. And I'll call Miss Thimblebrass this evening. You and Dad are going to have a lot of explaining to do."
"What?!" Molly exclaimed. "Explain what?"
"Child neglect, for one," Percy stated flatly, making everyone flinch. "And starting the process of dissolving the…ahhh…" he glanced at Jakob, "Paperwork. I think I see where this is going."
Molly's jaw dropped. "How can you say that to me?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Your own mother and father? And just what are you doing dealing with these children, anyhow?"
"I can say it because it looks suspicious, Mum, and I'm doing it because Kingsley dumped it in my lap – because no one else at the Ministry wants to do it!" Percy then sat down to work, opening the Floo to his office and summoning several files and office supplies.
"Percy Ignatius Weasley!" Molly exclaimed again, "How dare you?!"
"Ginny, go and get the boy some lunch, please," Percy suggested, and Ginny and Harry took him into the kitchen. Ron just gaped at his brother.
The clock struck twelve.
When everyone looked at it, they were shocked to see that a seventh hand had appeared: It carried a picture of Jakob, and it pointed to "Lost".
"Well then," Percy nodded, "I'd say the best place to start, before I call Miss Thimblebrass, is to find out why Jakob thinks you hate him and don't want him anymore." He threw some powder at the Floo. "Andromeda Tonks residence," he told it.
"Make it fast, I've got a sick kid here and a full moon tomorrow," Andromeda answered. "Oh, Percy! Not that I didn't expect this."
"You three take this," McGonagall handed Ron a portkey, "When you're done here, Mr. Weasley. Try and be back by dinner, won't you?" She then turned to Molly. "Think about this, Molly," Minerva told her old friend. "The boy is innocent, and you know that."
Molly nodded and patted her hand. Then McGonagall vanished in a swirl of Apparation.
While Jakob had lunch with Harry, Ginny, and Ron, Percy took testimony from Andromeda. It surprised Molly just as much as it surprised him, and when they were done, Percy couldn't really find fault with his mother. After all, she'd fainted before anything had happened. "So it is your opinion that the revelation of Jakob's true identity was the catalyst in Mum's breakdown, and Dad's punishing him?" Percy persisted, and Andromeda agreed.
"What did he do to him?" Andromeda asked, and Percy told her what Jakob had said.
"Oh, gods!" Molly groaned. "I can't…I would never allow…"
"HARRY!" Andromeda then shouted, "Get over here and take care of your cranky Godson! I have places to go, and heads to knock! I'll be there shortly!"
Harry, too shocked to refuse, ran to the Floo and vanished.
"Teddy's OK?" Jakob asked.
"Teddy is fine, honey," Ginny assured him. "He's just got a cold, is all."
"It's all my fault," Jakob whimpered, pushing aside his half-eaten lunch. "His feet got cold."
"Tha's all you're worried about?" Ron asked him.
Jakob shook his head, but before he could say anything, Uncle Percy came in and gave him a quill and parchment.
"Jakob, I want you to write down, best as you can, what happened after you took Teddy to your room. Can you do that for me?" Percy asked. "Miss Thimblebrass will need to know, you see."
"OK, so it's like schoolwork?" Jakob asked.
"Very important schoolwork, there's a good lad!" Percy patted his head. "Ginny, how do you feel about missing a few more classes?"
"Oh, I think I'll still graduate if I do, sir!" She smirked at him. "Since I'm making up Sixth Year, I still have a shot at being Head Girl next!"
"That's my little sister!" Percy smiled proudly. He smirked at Ron. "Well, at least you made Prefect," he added.
"Thanks awfully, Perce," Ron rolled his eyes. "I just can't believe this about Dad," he added, putting his head down. "I mean, yeah, it's a shock, but…?" He paused. "Why are you being such an arse, Perce?"
"I'm trying to shock her out of it," Percy explained.
Ginny watched Jakob start his 'homework'. "Ron, with the war and all? Who knows?" She sighed. "Who knows, about any of us, really?"
After about half an hour of writing, while the WWN played in the background, Jakob stopped to rest his hand. Molly came in to make some tea, and as she passed by the table, she patted Jakob's shoulder. "I had no idea, child," she said softly.
But that was all she said as she went about her usual daily business.
Jakob went back to work on his report, but a bit later, Percy came back in. "Why don't you and Aunt Ginny go on up to your room, now, Jakob?" Percy suggested, "Show her your blocks, or draw some pretty pictures?"
"OK," Jakob agreed.
"Silence the room," Percy whispered to Ginny, who nodded in acknowledgment. "Ronald, you come with me."
Once they were upstairs, Andromeda emerged from the Floo with Arthur, who was fit to be tied. His suit was rumpled, and it looked as if he might have gone a few rounds with a Blast-Ended Skrewt – and lost.
"Percy, what is the meaning of this?" Arthur demanded, glaring at Andromeda. Then he pointed at her. "This…WOMAN!…stormed into my office, accusing me of child abuse, and then she became violent!"
"I wonder why?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "Now, would you care to state for the Ministry, Mr. Weasley, just what took place here at the Burrow last night in regards to the neglect of Jakob Dolohov? Or would you rather do it when Felicia Thimblebrass arrives?"
"I can manage that right now," Andromeda snorted, as off she went to fetch her.
A few minutes later, and Felicia Thimblebrass emerged from the Floo, carrying a briefcase.
"Tell me this isn't true!" She immediately demanded of Percy. "An investigation into neglect, and dissolution of the adoption?"
"I'm afraid it is, Miss," Percy conceded, glaring at his parents, "And for what it's worth, I expected a lot better. I must now officially question the capability of my own parents to raise a small child."
"Percy!" Ron exclaimed.
"Ronald, your official capacity in this manner is to bear witness to this inquest," Percy informed him. "If you cannot do that, or do not wish to, then you can leave. I will summon someone else, perhaps Narcissa Malfoy?" He hinted. "Someone more dispassionate?"
Ron acquiesced at once with a huff. "I can't believe this," He groused, however.
Percy then conjured a small bell for Jakob's borrowed desk, and opened a new parchment with a Dicta-Quill. He tapped the bell with his wand. "On the authority of the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, this inquest into the matter of the dissolution of the pending adoption of, and termination of foster care of the displaced magical child, Jakob Lukas Dolohov, will proceed in an orderly fashion at this time," Percy stated clinically.
"You're taking his side over your own parents?" Arthur snorted.
"We thought you were on his side, Mr. Weasley," Percy retorted, "Or at least, you had led us to believe that, before you found out the boy's true identity."
"Don't you call me Mr…" Arthur began, but Percy cut him off.
"May I remind you, sir, that I am now here in official Ministry capacity?" Percy stated bluntly.
"And after all the glowing reports about you," Felicia shook her head. "You were the last people I expected to build up a child's hopes like this, and then smash them right in front of him. I'll assume you wish for my shelter to take the boy back now?"
Arthur seemed torn. Finally he replied.
"You've got to," Arthur nodded. "I can't allow Molly to be put through this kind of stress!"
"What stress is that, sir?" Felicia demanded. "What has the boy done to cause this undue stress? Something so out of line that the parents of six other children, successful ones at that, can't handle?"
Arthur fumbled for words, but Molly said nothing. She just sat, listening, glancing at the stairwell now and again.
"It…it's not what he did, so to say," Arthur said, "I mean, he's not burnt the house down, or anything, it's just that he's…he's…" Arthur took a deep breath, holding Molly's hand. "He's the son of the man who murdered my wife's brothers, brutally at that! He, Mr. Dolohov, that is, was also the man who killed Teddy Lupin's father. We don't feel that it's right for us to keep his son, as Teddy is our…honorary grandson."
"You still feel Jakob's a threat to the baby?" Felicia asked.
"I did," Arthur admitted, "And looking back, I … I may have been wrong. I thought he was going to…to hurt…Teddy."
"Seriously, Dad?" Ron cut in. "How could you think that, if he was here that long, Jake would have done him in long before then!"
"Good point, but you're a bit out of order, Ronald," Percy said. "However, I will allow this point."
"You knew that there was a strong likelihood that Jakob would be identified as a Death Eater orphan," Felicia countered. "Yet you agreed to the terms, in full knowledge of this fact?"
"We did, but we never dreamed…" Arthur began.
"So noted," Percy stated. "Foster parents were totally informed of all eventualities."
"You said no one was ever coming for him!" Arthur protested.
"And you agreed that there were still other avenues to explore, in that it wasn't right to not do so, sir, and 'steal him' from his rightful family, if any," Percy countered coldly, "And I did just that, at your request."
"So what it comes down to," Felicia added, "Is that it's the fact that he came from the wrong family? It would be all right if he had been orphaned by the Carrows? Or perhaps the Rookwoods?"
Arthur looked gobsmacked. "I can't believe you'd do this to your own mother, Percy," he complained.
"No, Arthur, we did this," Molly finally spoke up. "We made a terrible mistake."
"So you do wish for the shelter to take Jakob back?" Felicia insisted. "You don't want him here any longer?"
Molly slowly nodded. Percy and Ron gaped at her.
"I…I'm not sure I can properly c-care for Jakob now, now that I know," Molly confessed, covering her face. "Just look at what's already happened to him because of me!"
"You have to take him back, Miss," Arthur growled, "And let's get this madness over with! Can't you see what it's doing to her?" He gestured at his wife, "Having to look at the son of the man who murdered her family?"
"Mr. Weasley, I do not HAVE to do any such thing," Miss Thimblebrass retorted. "In fact, I cannot take him back, as per Ministry guidelines. I do not have an empty bed for him, nor the space to conjure one, which could well vanish by morning, thus spilling him onto the floor."
"Where was he sleeping before?" Molly asked.
"He was sharing a bed with Cameron Avery, who will soon be discharged from St. Mungo's and returned to me. I can't give his spot to someone else, and I'll be in enough trouble, that is, now that the Ministry knows I'd be in violation of code." She paused, and pulled a face. "Code, which just recently came into existence, at that. Although no one seemed to mind when the orphans of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff were packed in like sardines. Of course, those children sold out faster than half-price broomsticks," she added haughtily.
"Mr. Weasley, isn't it true that you were opposed to the fostering of Jakob Lukas Dolohov three months ago?" Percy asked.
"I was," Arthur sniffed.
"But you came to like him, in time, didn't you?" Percy persisted. "You even taught him magic, auto mechanics, and worked with him on his schoolwork at this desk? You even let him assist in the restoration of a 1974 Muggle motorcar, a Volkswagen Beetle, in fact, bonding over it as father and son would?"
"I…we did," Arthur had to admit.
"And you both allowed him to call you 'mum and dad'?" Felicia added.
"We did," Molly stated.
"Why?" Percy hit them hard with the question. "What twisted pleasure does it give you to crush the dreams of a little child like this?"
"PERCY!" They both snapped at him.
"You will answer the question, or I will hold you both in contempt," Percy promised. He looked pained, however. "What you two also fail to realize, in your being so damn selfish, is the fine line you're making me walk – and may I add, that line is a razor's edge! One wrong move, and I'm cut to ribbons, too!"
"This is a conflict of interest, then!" Arthur attempted.
"There's no one else willing to do it, sir," Percy reminded him. "Since, might I remind you, that no one seems to give a god god-damn about these SLYTHERIN children!" He conjured a pitcher and glasses, filling them with an Aquamenti charm. After a drink, Percy added, "And might I remind you, Dad, that you came to me in this matter? You wanted to formally adopt him, even going so far as to change his name, to surprise Mum at Christmas?"
The room went quiet.
Molly made a small sound. She looked up in surprise. "You…you were going to do that, Arthur?"
"I…I knew how bad you wanted another child," Arthur confessed, palming his face, "I saw how in pain you were, and how Jakob seemed to ease that pain just by being here. And I…I stared to like…like him, too," he went on. "He sort of…filled up the empty space, you know."
"We're aware of your recent loss, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Felicia nodded, "But it seems to me as if you were simply shopping for a replacement for your son, Fred, weren't you?" she added mercilessly.
Molly began to tremble. From the mantelpiece, the pictures all looked on in shock.
"YOU GO TOO FAR, MISS!" Arthur shouted at her.
"Sir, you are out of order," Percy informed him, his own hand trembling. "Answer the question."
Ron had bowed his head. "End this, Perce, please," he begged.
"It was so…so quiet here on the first of September," Molly then spoke up, wringing her hands as she got herself a glass of water. "I've never…never had to deal with so much quiet. I didn't know what to do?" She went on, almost sounding whimsical, "I…I saw them, you know: Bill, Charlie, Percy, the Twins, Ronald, Ginny. I guess it was a daydream? Then it was gone, and I was here all alone. And all I could think about was those poor children at the shelter," She flicked her wand and summoned the old flyer, the first they'd received that day in Hogsmeade. "It was like Jakob was…speaking to me, somehow." She sighed and turned to stare into the kitchen. "It was a selfish thing to do," she admitted. "I dragooned Arthur into it, forced him. But I was happy to see the two of them getting on so well, even though it took weeks. I thought…we'd be a family. Give him back something he'd lost. I thought I still had something…to give. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps, yes, it's because of who he is. I just don't know anymore."
"Mrs. Weasley," Felicia said, "I sympathize. Don't think I don't know your pain. I know you've suffered losses in this war. But so has Jakob. So have all the children. So have I. My parents were both Muggleborns. Do I need to explain that statement?"
"No," Ron whispered.
"And sadly, it's these children that are paying for it, now," Felicia then stood up, and opened her briefcase. She pulled out a new parchment, containing a new agreement. "Unfortunately, there is nowhere else for Jakob to go. You have no choice but to keep him, I'm afraid, until I can make other arrangements for him. As you stated that he saw the Battle, and was so traumatized by it, I will probably be able to admit him to St. Mungo's psychiatric ward, in the children's division. Perhaps they have a bed open."
They all stared at her in disbelief.
"You'd be putting him in a mental ward?" Arthur asked.
"Right next to ol' Malfoy, I wonder?" Ron piped up.
"There must be some other option?" Molly gasped, "That's monstrous! Jakob's come so far, made so much progress!"
"The other option, as I was about to say," Felicia resumed, "Is that you keep him until after Christmas, in foster care only. You will be paid a stipend from seized Death Eater assets, in fact, his own father might well be paying for his care. After that time, if we've found a home to take him, Jakob will go there. If not, he will go to St. Mungo's until a home opens up for him. If that never happens - and the older he gets, I'll remind you, the slimmer the chances of that - he will remain there until his seventeenth birthday, upon which he will be paid a small amount to establish a life, and then be released into the Muggle world to fend for himself."
"How can you do that, if he's magical?" Arthur gasped.
Felicia shrugged. "If you care to know, sir. Once he turns eleven, if he's still there, he will be stripped of his magic in a rather ghastly treatment. Our Muggle Liaison Office will then attempt to place him in care with a Muggle family. He will, in effect, be rendered a Squib, his memory altered, and then ejected from our world."
There was an awkward silence.
Molly and Arthur exchanged a long look.
Finally, Molly nodded.
"We'll keep him until the New Year," Arthur agreed, as he made to sign the papers.
"So be it," Percy declared. He then rang his bell, then dissolved his makeshift office.
wiki/Antonin_Dolohov, quoted
Again, our special guest star, Mr. Stuffings, appears courtesy of TenthWeasley, one of my favorite authors at HPFF!