The Fourth Estate

by Sciber Dude

AU-After OOTP. A little planning and resourcefulness makes a massive difference in Harry Potter's life. He soon comes to realize who his friends are and not. HarryMany. Rating may change.

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Letters and Wills

Harry woke up early the next day and was disoriented. He did not remember having gone to bed. He realized that Daphne was stuck to his left side of the body. Her head was on his chest where his heart was, her left hand was thrown across his waist and her left leg thrown across his thighs. Both bodies were flush with each other and Harry enjoyed the warmth between them. 'Waking up like this is Heaven', Harry mused. As soon as he thought that thought, he heard the distinct voice of Daphne sniggering and say, 'You mean enjoying PLEASANT dreams and waking up with morning wood?' Daphne asked suggestively and to prove her point, moved her left thigh higher.

'DAPHNE! Stop teasing me', Harry screamed mentally. The other witches woke up oh hearing the mental scream and soon realized what was going on. It started as a giggle and soon turned out to be raucous laughter. Harry did the only thing he thought would work, he started tickling all of them. Even a great wizard like Harry Potter needs to remember that it is suicide to try and tackle four witches all at once. As they stumbled into the dining room still laughing, Winky handed Harry a letter from Ron.

Hey mate,

I have some great news! My family and I are going on a vacation for two weeks to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. I was bored out of my mind having absolutely nothing to do other than spending time at home with Ginny. Bill, though he is in the country, has moved into an flat of his own. The prat Percy walked out of home after exchanging words with dad and mom. The twins have moved into a flat above their shop in Diagon Alley. I have not been to their shop yet, but they did say something about their owl-order business doing pretty well. They can't wait for the reopening day.

How are you doing? I know that you must be blaming yourself over Sirius' death, but IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. Are the muggles treating you okay? Mum asked me to find out if you have been eating enough. What is this I hear about you wanting to stay with those muggles the whole summer? I have not heard from Hermione, but I expect to see her during Sirius' will reading today afternoon. Will you be coming there?

Ron

PS: Ginny asked me if you are making use of the journal she had given you.

Harry snorted when he saw the postscript. He silently passed it to Hermione, who passed it to the others without reading it.

"Don't you want to read it Mia?" Harry asked amusedly. He knew that Hermione was the most curious person he had ever me. She hated being kept in the dark however inane the knowledge maybe.

Hermione grinned and said cryptically, "But I already read it Harry!"

Harry looked at her in confusion while she had a smug expression on her face. It then occurred to Harry that Hermione read the letter while Harry was reading it. "You mean to tell me that, you can see through my eyes? Can you hear what I hear too?" Harry stammered.

Hermione laughed out loud. "Of course I can Harry. And so can you. Have you ever been into my meeting room?" Everyone at the table looked at her in awe. "Why not all of you come in and I will explain?"

Harry and the three witches went into a trance and entered Hermione's meeting room. Harry was not very surprised to see that the room resembled the study at the Den. The only difference was that there were four large screen televisions mounted on a blank screen in a 2 X 2. There were five comfortable chairs and each settled into one. "Each of these televisions shows what each of you are seeing. It is a little disconcerting when you are dreaming with your eyes closed. Sometimes, the flashes of those dream images appear on the screen." The audience congratulated on her foresight! They were going to adopt it pretty soon in their meeting rooms.

Out of no where, Crookshanks ran around chasing an imaginary mice. Not able to catch it, he jumped onto Hermione's lap and demanded that she pet him. "Mia, you have a familiar bond with Crookshanks! That is awesome. Now you can communicate with him!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yep! Harry. I am very happy with it. I hear from Luna that you have a new familiar bond?" Hermione grinned and asked, "May we go and greet her?"

"What new familiar bond? I thought Hedwig was his familiar." Daphne stated. "You mean, he has more than one familiar bond? But that is unheard of" Susan said.

"Wait till you see what it is! Welcome to Harry's not-so-normal life!" Hermione and Luna grinned even wider while Harry groaned.

The witches moved into Harry's meeting room in his mind. "A UNICORN?????" Daphne gasped! "H-H-HOW??" Susan stuttered.

"I think you should just watch the memories." Harry willed a large television to appear on a blank wall and replay his memories from the previous days meetings.

"Harry, you do know that Ginny has the other journal that is connected to your journal right?" Hermione enquired quietly.

"Yes Mia! I figured it out. I thought it was like an artificial intelligence thing, but I realized that the Journal knew too many facts. So I narrowed it down to a handful of people who would know those details. After that it was easy. The twins are geniuses! I can't believe Ginny let them create a journal like that!"

"You think that the twins created the journal?" Hermione asked with narrowing eyes.

It suddenly clicked in Harry's mind. "It was you! You invented that! That is amazing Mia! You are a genius. I need to take back all those compliments I gave the twins and give it to you." Harry embraced her enthusiastically.

"It is part of my contract with them. I need to invent three new items for them within these two months." Hermione smiled. "Why did you not tell me that you were their silent partner and initial investor?" Hermione swatted his arm and hugged him back.

While Harry was reading the letter from Ron, Albus Dumbledore was reading the letter that the snowy owl had delivered.

Headmaster,

I am doing fine and I am writing to let you know that I will continue living with my aunt till the end of the summer. I have not gotten into any argument with my relatives and I have been feeding myself much better.

I have received a letter from Gringotts informing me of Sirius' will reading today at 2 PM. Will someone be coming to escort me to Gringotts or should I make my own arrangements?

On a different note, there seems to have been a falling out between my aunt and my uncle. My uncle decided that he and Dudley needed to bond and have gone on a month long vacation to Aunt Marge's house. Since that day, Aunt Petunia has had a change in her physical appearance. She now looks like an older version of mom with red hair and green eyes. I wonder if she was under an enchantment and if so who cast it. But as you know, she hates to talk about magic and so I haven't asked her.

Harry Potter

PS: I have not heard from either Ron or Hermione. Are they doing okay? Have all their injuries healed?

The twinkle in Albus Dumbledore's eyes became much more pronounced as he read the rest of the letter. This is the first long non-hostile letter he had received from Harry. He was not going to risk taking Harry to Gringotts for Sirius' will reading. Who knows what Sirius has planned for Harry. You can never truly trust a prankster. Albus took a sheet of paper, wrote a short note and gave it back to Hedwig to deliver it to Harry.

"Aren't you a popular guy today?" Hermione teased as she handed Harry the new mail that Harry had received through 'Rune-Mail'. Susan had been given the opportunity to name the mailing system they had created. Unlike the floo network, there was no central hub for this type of transport and hence it could not be monitored. The customers get to choose the name they want to associate with their Rune-Mail mat even though they come with a unique identifier. Susan's team had worked out all the kinks out of that system and was also compatible with Hermione's Wizion's shopping channels. All the customers had to do was tap the mat with their wand and say 'I wish to name this mat ___YOUR_NAME____' to name the mat. The mat would lock the magical signature of the owner and only the owner can make any changes later. If the mat glowed green, then the new name has been accepted and if it glowed red, then it means that someone else had already taken up that name. While sending anything to any person, the customers would place their letter on the mat and tap the mat and say 'send to __RECIPIENT'S_NAME__'. If the correct receiver's mat-name was pronounced, then the mat would glow green before transporting the letter. If it was incorrect, then the mat would glow red and nothing would happen. Susan's team was currently working on creating a 'receive from ________' function that would be useful to receive catalogs or order forms from various stores.

Harry looked at his mail and had received a letter from Mrs. Longbottom and another from Neville. The twins had also sent a letter. The Goblins had forwarded the letters from the broomstick twins and Cho and Su. Harry was deciding which letter he would open first when he saw Hedwig fly in with the Headmasters reply. He decided to open that the last. The first letter he opened was from Mrs. Longbottom.

Boss,

Imagine my surprise when I received a visit from Ragnok at my residence yesterday evening. The Minister and the members of the Wizengamot have tried for years to get an appointment to meet him and here, he walks into my house and announces himself. [Harry laughed.]

Ragnok explained to me the wards that have been placed in our new office building which is under the Fidelius charm. I did not know that we were moving into a new building, which from the floor plans I saw, is amazing. There are even Polyjuice, Animagus and Metamorphomagus screening wards! Every employee has restricted access ONLY to the area of business that they need access to.

In stead of enchanting the Victorian era printing machines from the old office, Ragnok told me that they were acquiring new magical presses from Germany in a day and within a couple of days, we should have our automated presses ready. The Goblins are acquiring machines required to recycle the newsprint and the ink. Ragnok informs me that the Elves have started mass producing the Rune-Mail mats and they will be ready in 3-4 days. He also had a list of potential employees and summer interns for me to interview and hire. We should be ready for launch by the 28th of July or do you want to wait till the 31st?

Are the Goblins the most efficient people in world or did you charge them with these jobs before you invited me for the meeting? When I asked Ragnok how he knew everything we discussed, he said that you were 'their friend' and friends look out for each other. I am freaking out here, did Ragnok just call you a 'Goblin-friend'?

AOL

PS: AOL stands for 'Augusta Olivia Longbottom'

Harry laughed at Mrs. Longbottom's initials and laughed even louder when he realized Neville's initials. His middle name was Franklin. He took a sheet of paper and wrote a short reply to Mrs. Longbottom that July 28th would be a convenient date. He also confirmed that he had been named a 'Goblin-friend' and asked her to keep this information secret. He told her that he had a secure and fast mechanism to communicate with the Goblins and they took the initiative in all that they presented to you yesterday. Harry thanked her for her update and requested that he not be called 'Boss', but he was sure that he would not win this battle. Harry picked up the next letter from Neville.

Dear Harry,

I hope you are doing okay and not blaming yourself for what happened. All I say is that we learn from our mistakes and move on. I have been having a good summer so far. My gran asked me yesterday to show her what happened at the Ministry in a pensieve. She was so proud of me that she hugged me and apologized for being cold towards me during my childhood. My gran is not angry that my fathers wand was broken. In fact she offered to buy me a custom made wand!!! Do you know how expensive they are?

I have another piece of good news. I have been offered a Summer Internship in a Herbology and Potions project. Apparently my expertise in Herbology was what landed me this internship. I am to supervise building of a large greenhouse. My co-interns according to my gran are potions geniuses. Do you remember the two pretty girls in Slytherin, Greengrass and Davis? Davis is the one with the twinkle in her eye, Greengrass is more aloof.

Anyway, I hope you are doing fine and I hope your muggle relatives are treating you well. I felt like sharing the good news with a friend and you are the first person I could think of. My gran told me that she would send this letter to you through secure channels.

Thank you Harry.

Neville

"Mia, what do you know about custom wands?" Harry enquired on reading Neville's letter.

"Custom wands as the name means are custom made for each wizard or witch. They usually involve the wand maker letting the customer choose the core materials and the wood and crafting the wand. The custom wands are more powerful as runes are placed on the wands to make it more attuned to the customers magical core. As these wands are custom made, they do no usually chose another wizard and hence are not passed on to the children. Only those who have given the OWLs are allowed to buy these wands as the magic core is not as settled in younger children. They cost anywhere from 100-200 galleons based on the ingredients and core."

"Do you think I should get custom wands for everyone?" Harry asked innocently.

Hermione's smile widened. She beamed and said, "Yet another thing to add to Sirius' will huh?"

"Great idea! Let me contact Griphook", Harry said and went into a trance.

A few minutes later, Harry grinned and as he read the next letter, he had a frown on his face.

Mr. Potter,

We regret to inform you that Mr. Vernon Drusley was executed yesterday for crimes against Gringotts, Goblins, Goblin-friend, squibs and fellow muggles. The crimes for which Mr. Drusley was found guilty were endangerment of a magical child, physical and mental abuse of the said child, domestic violence, theft, embezzlement, statutory rape (52 counts), and finally assault of a security Goblin. It was this last crime that lead to the quick execution of Mr. Drusley.

Mr. Dudley Drusley has been moved into the care of his mother Ms. Marjorie Drusley and they both have been obliviated and given newer memories. As Mr. Drusley was the primary breadwinner of Ms. Drusley, we have transferred an amount of 78,000 GBP to her account. According to their new memories, this money will be perceived as life insurance that Mr. Drusley received following his auto crash in which he lost his life.

Ms. Petunia Dursley had requested a change in name to Ms. Petunia Evans and we have invoked an old Goblin spell to effect the name. Everyone in the magical world will remember her as Ms. Petunia Crouch Evans. The only exceptions would be the Goblins and her immediate family, which means you and your wives.

Thank you,

Gavelclaw, Goblin legal department

"Mia, have you seen Aunt Petunia? I have not seen her the whole of yesterday." Harry enquired.

"Harry, she is with my mom and dad. She needed to get out of this place and I agree. I am sure that mom is taking care of her. I will tell her that you were enquiring about her the next time I talk to mom. Apparently your aunt gave a lot of great suggestions to the POMS as to how to go about recruiting muggleborns to Hogwarts. My mom Apparently caught her a number of times watching herself in the mirror. I think she likes the new look."

"POMS?" "Parents Of Muggleborn Students, Harry! Were you not listening to me yesterday?"

"Sorry, I forgot!" Harry apologized.

Max, You Rule! Prototype ready in 4 days! Wood? Core? - The Famous Twins (Not The Notorius Ones)

Harry burst out laughing at the short note from the broomstick twins and handed the note to Hermione who soon joined in the laughter. Harry then opened the report from Cho Chang and Su Li next.

Master Goblin Viperblade,

We have been tasked to find a way to break the magical core bindings on creatures known as house-Elves. After extensive research, we are pleased to inform you that we have a lead. Cho Chang has found a Chinese spell to detect bindings on the magical cores which she has described in the attached report. Su Li has searched through Japanese spells to find the solution, but was not successful. Su has however found a very old Japanese book in her parents library that described the Elven wars of 1020s AD. There was a footnote mentioned that the captured Elves were bound as slaves by the wizard of 'Bad Faith'. No other references were made of this wizard in any other literature. We have enclosed copies of the relevant pages.

Thank you,

Cho Chang and Su Li

"Mia, what do you think of this? What was the prominent religion during those times? Was following another religion considered being a bad faith wizard?"

"Umm... I don't think it would have anything to do with religion. Hold on! I recognize this phrase 'Bad Faith'." She went into a meditative trance and a few minutes later, she was beaming, "I got it! Malfoy"

"What? How?"

"Malfoy comes from the french word, 'Mal Foi' which means 'Bad Faith'", Hermione explained.

"Why am I not surprised?" Harry groaned. "I think this adds another item to Sirius' will." "Yes, it does."

As soon as Harry touched the next envelope with the 'WWW' logo, it started smoking and it suddenly burst open.

"Mr. Harry Potter..."

"How dare you call..."

"Our joke shop Pedestrian..."

"Compared to Our Potions Company?"

"Wait a minute, my twin..."

"Yes, my other twin?"

"Did you say 'Our' Potions Company?"

"I believe I did so, my brother!"

"So he compared two companies we three own?"

"You seem to have a point, my brother!"

"Anyway, ickle Harrikins has been holding out on us!"

"Mastery in Potions, courtesy a beautiful Slytherin..."

"Mastery in Runes, courtesy our favorite Gryffindor..."

"Mastery in Wards, courtesy another cute Gryffindor..."

"But seriously, what you did was WOW!!..."

"Now we wont have to spend hours..."

"Brewing the same potions again and again..."

"We would love to accept..."

"A position in the Potions Company..."

"Two pranksters taking over the wizarding finances..."

"What better prank can there be?..."

"We hope to see you at the will reading..."

"Tata..."

"Adios..."

"Good bye, my friend..."

"Adieu, mom ami..."

The yellow envelope transfigured itself into a parchment and landed in Harry's lap. "What was that?"

Hermione giggled, "That was my second invention. I called it 'The Love Note'. I got the idea from the howlers that Mrs. Weasley loves to send when she is pissed off. I thought it would make sense to be able to send a letter incorporating your voice that you can send your friend. I would be like a little personal touch. How do you like it?"

"Mia! That is amazing. I thought I was listening to a voice recording of the twins. Initially I was scared that it was a howler and was ready to run." Hermione laughed at Harry's confession.

"Open it already!" Hermione hissed. "You know he is going to say no to going to the Will reading?"

"Alright! Alright! Let me open it." Harry grumbled.

Mr. Potter,

Thank you for your letter. I am glad to know that you are doing better. I would really want to mend our relationship and bridge the chasm that has separated us. I respect your request that you wish to stay with your aunt. Mr. Moody will be your escort during your OWL exams and I am very glad that you are putting in effort to better your performance.

I am not sure of any enchantment your aunt was under. I have not specifically looked for it, but when you are as old as I am, you tend to know when someone is under a glamour. And it is impossible for a muggle to maintain a glamour spell. Anyway, as you said it, she doesn't want to talk about magic, so I wont bring it up.

About going to the Will reading, I am afraid that is not possible. There is too much risk. Some of those attending the will reading are former member of the Black family and it would be just too dangerous for you to be there. I hope you understand my basis for this decision. I shall act as your voice during the will reading an inform you of the outcome.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"His carrot and stick approach!" Harry sighed. "Guess I kind of expected that." His face the glowed as he struck upon an idea. He batted his eyelids at Hermione and asked, "Hermione, will you be my eyes and ears at the reading please?"

"What will I get in return?" Hermione asked amusedly.

"Whatever you want, Hermione, Whatever you want!" Harry replied solemnly.

"You are no fun Harry Potter! You are not supposed to give in like that! Otherwise how will I rile you up?" Hermione pouted.

"Umm, Mia! Is this your flirting modus-operandi? I think you are missing Ron." Harry said cheekily. "Ewww..."

"Welcome to the will reading of Sirius Orion Black. My name is Glofoot and I will be the Goblin who will conduct the business today. As with any will readings, some of the parties may not like what the deceased has to say. If there is any unrest, we will be forced to eject you from Gringotts, freeze your accounts with us and ban you from entering Gringotts. If you draw your wand on a Goblin, the punishment is execution on the spot. Do you all understand the seriousness of what I just explained?" The Goblin enquired and received nods from every head in the room.

The room in which they were meeting for the will reading was a large room that could easily seat about 40 people. In the center of the room on the far side was a podium on which the Goblin stood. In front of the podium were some tables with pensieves on it. Next to the podium was a portrait on an easel that was covered with a cloth.

Seated in the room were Narcissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy on the far right hand side. The larger crowd consisted of Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Alastair Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and her mother Andromeda Tonks, Remus Lupin, Mundungus Fletcher, all the Weasleys except Percy, Fleur Delacour, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. In the center and at the back were the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, head of DMLE, Amelia Bones and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Now that everyone has understood the rules, let us start this will reading. Sirius Orion Black has left us something called a living will which means that his portrait has the right to make changes to his will anytime before it is executed. Without much further ado, here is the portrait of Sirius Orion Black." The Goblin removed the cloth covering the portrait.

"Ah! You guys are all here. Welcome to my will reading." The portrait spoke. "Where is Harry?" Sirius enquired.

"Mr. Black, Harry could not come to the will reading as we fear for his security here. I volunteered to act as his voice during the will reading and will pass on anything that I learn here to him." Albus Dumbledore stood up and explained to the portrait.

"Very well! Let the show begin." Sirius chuckled. "I have had a lot of trouble with the law during my short life, in spite of me being innocent. Whether is it because of vile politicians or manipulative do-gooders, I have always received the short end of the stick. So here is what I am going to do." Sirius said with a maniacal grin. "I wish to cast off every person who was born a Black out of the family tree." There were many gasps in the room. Sirius ignored that and continued. "I wish to give away most of the Black fortune so that no one will ever fight for this money." There were more gasps in the room.

"Let us start with this side of the room. Cissy and Draco! How are you both doing?" Narcissa smiled at him sadly. Draco looked at Sirius as if he had grown a pair of horns. "Don't look at me like that Draco! Narcissa used to be my favorite cousin before she married your father. So here is what I am going to do. I wish to give Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, Narcissa Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange..." As expected there was a lot of commotion in the room. "How can you give anything to the Malfoys? They are Slytherins! And Bellatrix killed you!" Ron Exclaimed.

"Yes, I know Bellatrix shot the stunner that lead to my death. But tell me who dies because of a stunner? My death was an accident, I happened to be in front of the veil when I was stunned. Also, might I remind you Mr. Weasley that this is my will reading and I can do whatever I want?" Sirius looked at Ron with a stern expression. Ron bristled and quieted down.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I wish to give each of the 5 names I mentioned earlier, a sum of 100,000 galleons provided they agree to a few conditions. This is a significant part of the Black fortune. For Narcissa and Draco, you need to look into the memories in the first pensieve before you can look at your other conditions. For Nymphadora, I wish her to take a 2-year sabbatical from the Auror force and from the bird club to enjoy life." Sirius smiled at his grinning niece.

"Alas, Bella is not here with us today. If any of you do not claim your share or do not wish to accept the conditions, your share will revert to my Godson Harry James Potter. As I have cast you all out of the Black family, I hereby pass on the hereditary Wizengamot seat of Lord Black to my godson Harry Potter."

Narcissa and Draco walked towards the first table and sat in the chairs in front of it. They carefully touched the runes on the edge of the pensieve and their minds were sucked into the memories.

"Well, now they can't hear us for at least 45 minutes. Next is our honorable minister's turn. Cornelius, you have denied me a trial and have dumped me in Azkaban for all those years. You have denied the rebirth of Voldemort in spite of all the evidence shown. I wish to donate 200,000 galleons to DMLE for their training and equipment provided you look at the evidence presented to you and judge me impartially. Madam Bones, Auror Shacklebolt, I wish you both and the Minister to look at the memories I have collected to prove my innocence and guilt of Peter Pettigrew, who is still alive today." Madam Bones, Shacklebolt and Fudge moved to the front of the room to view the memories.

"Now it is just Harry's friends and the Order members. For Ronald Weasley, Ginevra Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, I leave you each a total of 50,000 galleons. This money would be deposited into a Gringotts vault and I have put a spending restriction of 500 galleons per month. Each of you will have access to this vault irrespective of whether you are considered an adult or not. Mrs. Weasley, you will not try to block their access to their vaults." Mrs. Weasley bristled at that, as that was exactly what she was planning to do. Sirius chuckled at her expression.

"Ron, I don't want you to blow all your money on an expensive broomstick like the Firebolt. Ron and Hermione, you have been Harry's best friends and I thank you for that. Ron, your friendship with Harry has been marred with bouts of Jealousy and pettiness on your part. I hope this will not be the trend in the future. I also have 100 vouchers that you may feel free to distribute to worthy friends. These are not to be opened in the presence of adults. Neville, Luna and Ginevra, thank you for being Harry's friends and for coming to my rescue at the ministry." Sirius winked.

"To the rest of the Weasleys, I leave a sum of 10,000 galleons each. This includes Percival Weasley, but he will have to apologize to his parents for his behavior." The Weasley matriarch smiled at that. "To the Weasley twins, I also leave all the boxes that contain the marauders prank journals." The twins stood up and danced a jig. "I also have a very special surprise for you Arthur." The Goblin handed over a shrunken box. "Please look at the contents of the box at your leisure." Arthur took the box and put it in his pocket.

"To Albus Dumbledore, I wish to leave 50,000 galleons to be used to run the Order of the Phoenix. I also give you permission to use my old home as your Headquarters with two stipulations. The secret keeper will always share the secret with the owner of the house and no one other than the owner shall destroy or remove any item from the house that includes books, furniture, portraits etc. In fact, I request the Goblins to retrieve all the missing books from the Black library and seal it so that only the owner has access to the library." The Goblin and the Headmaster nodded.

"To Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape, yes I got the name right this time, I wish to leave 10,000 galleons and request that you forgive us for all our teenage transgressions and if possible think of us pranksters fondly. Come on Moony! Don't be so surprised. I can act the mature guy once in a while." Sirius chuckled.

"To Mad-eye Moody, I leave you 10,000 galleons too along with this envelope. This contains a voucher to pay the costs at a new prosthetic company that will help you with a prosthetic limb and an internal magic eye. I will not take no for an answer. I have confirmed that you will be conscious during both the procedures." Mad-eye chuckled and thanked him.

"To Mundungus Fletcher, I leave you 10,000 galleons provided you return all the things you have filched from my ancestral home." Everyone laughed at the embarrassed Fletcher.

"To Fleur Delacour, I have not known you for very long. But I leave you 5,000 galleons and an invitation to a very interesting meeting tomorrow. Could you and your sister Gabriel please attend it? I believe she is currently visiting you. The Goblins will help you fix up the meeting."

"My dear friend Moony! I have a very interesting offer for you. First, I want you to quit the Order of the Phoenix." There were many gasps in the room. Moony knew that Sirius had a flair for the dramatic and hence looked at him in amusement. "Second, I give you 75,000 galleons for your personal use. Believe me, you will need it when you hear the third point." Everyone waited with bated breath. "Third, I wish you to offer you a job. This job requires secrecy oaths that will clash with you duties in the Order of the Phoenix and hence I asked you to quit it." Sirius smiled impishly.

"And what kind of a job is that, Sirius?" Remus asked innocently.

"Its the same thing that you have always been doing. Working towards the betterment of lives of Werewolves. I have started an organization called the 'Welfare of Lycanthropes Foundation' otherwise known as WOLF. This is an apolitical organization and hence the clash in your allegiances. I wish you to lead the organization and help it achieve its goals. The Goblins will give you more information as soon as you sign the secrecy oaths." Sirius explained dramatically.

"But why all this secrecy Sirius? I am sure Remus can be trusted to wear both hats. He does not necessarily have to resign from the order." Albus asked quietly, yet firmly.

"DO NOT EVER QUESTION REMUS' TRUSTWORTHINESS, PROFESSOR!" Sirius was angry at how easily the Headmaster was sowing seeds of discord amongst the order. It looked like Dumbledore wanted the order to consider Remus a traitor if he quit the order. "The problem is that of conflict of interest rather than that of trust. No person can be part of two organizations wherein one organization requires absolute secrecy, and the other organization requires the first organization's secrets be spilt to you. The reason for the secrecy is so that people like our esteemed minister, or manipulative old men like you do not interfere in this organization for your own agenda and cause it to deviate from its original goals. This organization is purely apolitical and no one will use this organization for their own political agenda. There shall be no more discussion on this." Though everyone was shocked at Sirius' outburst at the headmaster, everyone understood that headmaster's comments were uncalled for.

"Now, I have two more things on my agenda. Master Goblin Glofoot, how much money more do I have that I have not distributed or allocated?"

"A million and twelve thousand Galleons, Mr. Black." replied the Goblin.

"Just how rich are you?" Ron asked amazed. Sirius chuckled. "Not all rich people flaunt it like the Malfoys, Ron."

"I wish to allocate a million Galleons to the Sirius Orion Black Emergency Relief Fund. SOBER Fund! Get it? get it?" Sirius laughed at his lame joke. "Anyway, this fund is also an apolitical fund and that means, it shall be overseen by a board that I have already selected. They will fund business ventures, give out emergency loans, healthcare loans etc. based on need. The decisions on funding will rest solely on the board and no influence from any outside person or organization will be entertained. My Godson, Harry Potter has the sole right to overturn any decision by the board, to dissolve the board, nominate new members to the board or even dissolve the Fund. He will have the right to do whatever he wants with the money in case he does so."

"Since when did you become a philanthropist Sirius?" Moody chuckled. "Prison time at Azkaban, prison time at the Headquarters and death does a lot of things to you Moody" Sirius said sadly. "Amen to that!"

"Now the last item on the agenda. I leave all my properties, titles, shares and everything else left to my Godson, Harry James Potter."

"WAIT! That is not fair. Harry has hardly got any money from you!" Hermione exclaimed.

Sirius chuckled! "I know, that is why that is not all I am leaving to him. I wish to leave him this portrait and I have also signed his emancipation orders. Freedom to use magic and ability to consult my portrait, I believe, are more important to my Godson than some Galleons in a vault."