The Half Blood Prince Revealed
Summary :
Harry's summer before sixth year is no different from the others. Around every corner surprises, good and bad, and adventure of all kind await. And it looks like the gods have finally granted Harry a possibility for a nicer life. What will this mean for his 6th year at Hogwarts ?
General Disclaimer :
I am just playing in the sand of JKRowling's literary produced beach and am attempting to build my own sandcastle for others to enjoy.
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26 Justice at last
It had not been more than half an hour but they were still waiting for news from Hogwarts when Lily reappeared. The note she had however was from Paul Watkins.
Hello Harry and Remus,
This is just an advance warning of tomorrow's headlines.
A little explanation : I was in the Ministry today doing some research and had just decided to call it a day. I was in the lift on my way out when I heard the two other occupants talking about "apparently something big about Sirius Black". Slipping into my newest role I followed them to the large press room and sat to await the spectacle.
And a spectacle it was. Fudge had called all the press about a major breakthrough in the war on terror. With a big smile he announced that aurors had been able to find the hiding place of Sirius Black, had wanted to bring him in but in the fight Mr Black had been killed. Of course the reporters shouted all kinds of additional questions and Fudge obliged by elaborating on the so-called facts.
I however bided my time and when things had cooled down just enough asked him the million galleon question of - if all he claimed to be true - how it was possible that a Ministry hearing was held on 8 July to settle the Black family estate, where it was reported that Mr Black had been killed during the fight at the Ministry on the 24th of June as was witnessed by several people, including Professor Dumbledore, and that with Gringotts' assistance, the will of the late Sirius Black had in fact been executed on that same 8th of July.
Lots of shouting and denials, and copies of the Hearing report later, well, lets just say that Fudge had a really bad day. I on the other hand have now become known as the Black estate representative.
I'll keep you informed about further developments on this issue.
Kind regards
Paul Watkins
PS Please tell Lily I'm sorry. I didn't realise she would make it over so quickly after being called so she had to wait while I finished this letter.
Harry didn't know what to do with this latest development. He should be angry at Fudge for what he had done and was still trying to do to Sirius but at the same time he was also aware of how perfect the timing was for Fudge to screw up like this. With the capture and questioning of Peter and the additional proof through his dad's letter hopefully it would emerge that Sirius was and always had been innocent …
Harry had passed the letter over for the others to read and they were still grinning at the image of Fudge's face at the interruption of his moment in the spotlight when an owl dropped off a special edition of the Daily Prophet.
Just like his godfather ?
Investigation by Rita Skeeter
In an attempt to keep myself up-to-date on Mr Potter's actions and affairs I researched his current status and discovered to my horror that The-Boy-Who-Lived has himself an even more notorious godfather than the guardian I reported about earlier.
None other than Sirius Black, known criminal, Death Eater and escapee from Azkaban prison, was appointed as his godfather by the late James and Lily Potter.
With Black on the run for just over three years and no sign of his current whereabouts I would suggest that the aurors assigned to his case question Mr Potter himself for any clues. Under the circumstances it might just be conceivable that Mr Potter is aiding his elusive godfather. After all, the last reported sighting of Mr Black just happened to be Hogwarts, near the end of term two years ago.
Harry suspected Rita had just happened upon the knowledge of his connection with Sirius and just made up all the rest in order to shock the readers. If she only knew how close she came with her claim though …
"Here guys, look at this ! They won't know what hit them with all the upcoming news and discoveries." said a grinning Harry as he handed the paper over.
"They hear Sirius is your godfather today, and tomorrow not only that he's dead but was innocent to boot. You're right to assume they'll be bowled over." remarked Fred.
Harry wrote a note back to Paul Watkins in order to keep him up-to-date on the news that Peter Pettigrew would most likely be caught today and to inform him he wanted to make sure that in that case the allowances to the two Black cousins would be stopped immediately. He also mentioned that now that Sirius' status as his godfather became known, and most likely followed shortly by Harry's recent inheritance, to pass on the go-ahead to Paul's reporter friend to use all the details he thought appropriate in any of the articles that were sure to follow.
At long last Fawkes appeared with a jubilant note from Remus. They had indeed been able to capture Peter and had alerted Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Madame Bones. She had arranged for the immediate questioning of Peter in the presence of a small representation of the Wizengamot. He also wrote that he'd only be back after that hearing and promised that not only he himself, but also Professor Dumbledore would show them their memories of the happenings.
They tried to occupy themselves for the next few hours but found it difficult to concentrate and in the end they just gave up any pretence and just sat around occasionally voicing the possible course of actions under way as they spoke.
Dinner had just been served when Remus and Professor Dumbledore arrived, the latter with a pensieve in hand. The youngsters of the group were not doing the food any justice as they couldn't wait to catch a glimpse of the afternoon's happenings. At long last dinner was over and Professor Dumbledore and Remus both deposited silvery strands of memories in the pensieve for them to see.
"For your information, there are three different scenes in there. The first is in Hogwarts and we were in the last stages of the first teacher meeting of the new school year. There is no need to look out for the new DADA teacher as she unfortunately couldn't make it this time. On the other hand, Remus was present because he'll be the reserve teacher on the roster. The second scene is what happens in the meeting room while Remus is gone to catch Peter and as last there is the questioning of Peter." explained Professor Dumbledore just before immerging them into the first of the memories.
They found themselves in a room Harry hadn't seen before. It looked like a quite large classroom but instead of the individual desks housed one large oblong table, providing seating for all the Hogwarts teachers, including Hagrid and Firenze. The view through the windows confirmed Harry's suspicion they were on the ground floor. In one corner of the room stood a large perch where Fawkes sat, looking at all the teachers as if reading their thoughts.
When Professor McGonagall stood up and walked to a table with lots of folders as she continued talking Harry started paying attention to the conversation.
"I believe that's it for now Headmaster. I just need to hand out the folders containing class lists for 2nd years and up and a list of first year students, each teacher's class schedule, an agenda for teacher meetings and such for the first semester and a list of proposed Hogsmead weekends."
"Thank you Minerva. Are there any questions so far …"
Fawkes on his perch seemed to cheer up and the next moment the sound of an arriving phoenix could be heard, quickly followed by a spectacular flash of fire. Lily paid the various cries of surprise no heed and landed quickly on Remus' shoulder, first dropping Harry's handwritten note. With just the 5 words "We saw Peter at Hogwarts" Remus did not need long to finish reading and he looked up to find the Marauder Map, that Lily now deposited in his hands. As he folded the map open he too saw the red labelled figure scurrying in the dungeon hallways and was quick to explain as he hurried out.
"Sorry, Headmaster, but Peter Pettigrew is in the castle and I for one would like to apprehend him once and for all."
"I'll come too Remus, just to be on the safe side." said Professor McGonagall as she returned the folders to the table.
"As will I, for additional back up." came from Professor Flitwick and the three quickly made their way out.
They made their way through the corridor, into the Entrance Hall and down the stairs in the direction of the dungeons. Remus took charge and asked Professor McGonagall to take aim at a person, while Professor Flitwick was to look out for the rat version of Peter. About halfway through the Entrance Hall Professor Flitwick cast a Silencing Charm on their feet so they now made no noise other than the rustling of their robes. They stopped just before an intersection of hallways and there they stayed looking from the map to the corner expectantly.
It was over in a flash, as all three sent off their Stupefy as the rat came around the corner. With a positive result, Professor McGonagall conjured a large glass container, added the Fixation Hex to stop the rat from changing to man again and unceremoniously dumped the rat in it, safely screwing on a lid. Only then did they share a grin.
"Thank you Minerva and Filius, from both Harry and myself. We were so close two years ago that I would feel it as a personal failure had we not succeeded this time." said Remus as they made their way back to the meeting room.
The other teachers were still sitting around the table but were quick to ask after their success. Remus showed them the rat in the jar while Professor Dumbledore told them that Mad-Eye, Kingsley as well as Madame Bones were on their way.
"Minister Fudge on the other hand won't make it as he's occupied at the moment." the headmaster added.
It was a very weird feeling to switch from one person's memories to those of another. They were obviously in the same room with the same people and yet, it was all different. Harry couldn't think what made the difference but believed it would come to him at some stage. They picked up from just after Lily's arrival.
"Sorry, Headmaster, but Peter Pettigrew is in the castle and I for one would like to apprehend him once and for all."
"I'll come too Remus, just to be on the safe side." said Professor McGonagall.
"As will I, for additional back up." came from Professor Flitwick and the three quickly made their way out.
No sooner were the three teachers out of the room when the Headmaster spoke an incantation that to Harry sounded something like the patronus and three little silvery phoenixes erupted from his wand and they puffed away almost instantly, very much like a real phoenix would do.
"Headmaster, I didn't realise there's more than one phoenix around ? Whose is this ?" asked Professor Sprout.
"Oh no, Pomona, there are no doubt many more phoenixes about. The majority of them prefer to live away from humans though and never look for companions. The few who do look for a human companion just don't always end up with such public figures. As for Lily here, she joined her new human companion a mere few weeks ago."
Professor Dumbledore had just gestured in the direction of Lily, now sitting on the perch next to Fawkes, when she let out a few notes, Fawkes answered and she was gone again in a flash of fire.
The teachers continued asking questions regarding phoenixes and their habits while one teacher had taken over the job to distribute their folders. Professor Snape very rudely interrupted the conversation.
"Albus, Minerva must have made a mistake. Potter nor his friends are on my list for 6th year potions."
"Ah, yes, Severus, I had planned to tell you about that. It is no mistake. You see, Harry was so convinced he wouldn't make it into your classes this year he went and organised himself a private tutor. When he found out he was allowed in after all he said he preferred to go ahead with the tutor as that had all been set up already. He also invited his friends to join him in these private classes and they have accepted to participate. In view of his current ambiguous state the Board has granted him permission for any private tutoring he wanted on condition they take place in the weekends."
Harry had difficulty to swallow his laughter as he watched the potions master get angrier and angrier at the news his headmaster was bringing. Both Neville and Ron on the other hand did not hold in their glee at the uncommon sight of a flabbergasted professor Snape.
"What ambiguous state is that, Albus ?" asked a slightly worried looking Madame Pomfrey. "Harry, ehm Mr Potter is alright I hope."
"No need to worry about Harry this year Poppy. I believe him to be the happiest and healthiest he's ever been since his parents died. The ambiguity is in his status of being both of age and underage at the same time."
"How is that possible, Albus ?" asked an eager to learn Madame Pince.
"You all know Sirius Black was innocent of the crimes he's been put into Azkaban for. But few people knew him to be Harry's godfather. He left almost the entire Black estate to Harry and that has brought quite a few pleasant surprises. Amongst others there's a safe haven for Harry and his friends, Lily the phoenix showed up and, in the eyes of the Black estate and all that entails he is now of age. As far as the Potter estate is concerned however he's still a minor and he has no access yet. With two more years of schooling ahead of him he's arranged a brilliant team to represent him during that time but he's adamant to learn as much as he can before taking over the reigns of both estates himself."
"Yes, I can see a long and prosperous life for our young Gryffindor." Came from a misty eyed Professor Trelawny.
This time even Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud at the comment the normally very depressing professor gave. He therefore nearly missed seeing the reappearance of one of the small silvery phoenixes that popped in existence and flew to Professor Dumbledore's ear. The next moment the door opened and in came Remus, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick with the rat in a jar.
The switch from one memory to another was not as jarring this time even though they now found themselves in a totally different room. It looked like a cross between the gloomy Courtroom 10 where Harry's hearing of last year took place and the very modern and light room 17B where the hearing regarding Sirius' will had taken place earlier in the summer.
The bottom level was a circular space, just like a stage, and held a prisoner chair like the one in Courtroom 10. On either side of this chair, stood two small desks and chairs and Harry presumed they might be for legal representation. These three seats were facing two other desks, one much larger then the two individual ones, standing slightly raised on a platform with just in front of it another small desk that had a youngish man- today's clerk no doubt - sitting at it, parchments and quill ready for recording the entire proceedings. From centre stage much like in the old Roman arena's 5 levels of seating space arose, with room enough for some 100 people. Only some 20 seats were occupied by people wearing the plum coloured robes with the ornate silver W on the left hand side.
Back on the bottom stage a door appeared on one side and a woman Harry recognised as Susan Bones' aunt appeared and took up the seat behind the large desk.
"Thank you all for joining us at such short notice. Please note this meeting will replace next week's session as we will be dealing with the issue originally scheduled for that time along with this new and most pressing case.
The reason I called this urgent and unscheduled meeting is the capture of none other that Peter Pettigrew, who was presumed killed nearly 15 years ago by Sirius Black. The original session scheduled next week was to deal with new and highly reliable information that effectively clears Sirius Black of the crimes he was imprisoned for but implicates the now captured Pettigrew instead.
I have recently learned quite a bit of the story through my research to prepare for next week's session but as I am also aware most of you have no background information on the case, I have asked Mr Lupin, who assisted in the capture this afternoon, but also was best friends with the parties involved in the past, to give us a bit on the background of the situation back in 1981 and also from 1994.
Through the same door that Mrs Bones had emerged from earlier now entered Remus, looking very well. He took a seat in the dreaded prisoner chair and was invited by Mrs Bones to tell the story of the Marauders.
And Remus told them of the night that changed his young life forever, the lonely and difficult years as a youngster, the surprise at the invitation to Hogwarts, meeting James and Sirius at Madame Malkin while shopping for his school things, the delight at finding his new friends back at not only Hogwarts but even better, in Gryffindor House. How Peter, as only other Gryffindor first year had made up the quartet. He told them about the surprise that none of his friends had abandoned him when they found out about his monthly problem and the even bigger surprise when years later he found out they'd gone to the trouble to become animagi. He told them of the romance between James and Lily and how that had changed the quartet to a quintet rather than breaking up the friendship. When talking of the years after school the pattern of Peter's alienation started setting him apart but "it's only with hindsight that it's become much clearer what happened to Peter. His mother was very dominating first, then to a lesser degree he followed the Marauders, and then when school was over he looked for guidance elsewhere and sadly ended up with Lord Voldemort. When I heard the news of the happenings of that evening at the end of October 1981 I wasn't very stable for a long time. I lost my four best friends all in one go and the only thing that kept me alive was thinking of Harry, how he might one day want to hear the stories of his parents. As I became more lucid in the following months I did question the facts as they were told but had no foolproof evidence to the contrary. When Sirius escaped Azkaban prison in the summer of 1994 Professor Dumbledore offered me the free post of DADA teacher and I gladly accepted the job. My two main reasons were getting to know Harry and maybe tell him of his parents a little and on the other hand to protect him from Sirius. It wasn't until near the end of the year that I was made aware of the presence of Peter Pettigrew on Hogwarts grounds and my previous doubts came back with a vengeance."
Remus continued with the story as he had lived that night at the end of their third year and from looking around the members of the Wizengamot were listening to him with rapt attention. Remus had now ventured to the scene earlier today and Mrs Bones produced the jar with the stunned rat inside.
Remus was thanked for his assistance and Mrs Bones took word again.
"As I mentioned earlier, I received some new evidence to back up the claim that Sirius Black was in fact innocent of the crimes he was imprisoned for.
Mr Harry Potter requested and was allowed access to his family vault for the first time ever earlier this summer and there he discovered letters from both his parents addressed to himself. He passed on a copy of an excerpt of the letter by his father. In the accompanying letter he writes he is only sending a copy – taken down by a Ghost Quill – because the letter is the only one he has that is written by his father specifically addressed to him. But Mr Potter also states that he'll hand the letter over for verification and authentication purposes on condition that either Mr Lupin or Mr Watkins, Mr Potter's legal representative, be present in all steps of the process.
I will read to you the passage Mr Potter has sent along.
20 October 1981
Dear Harry,
These are troubling times in our world and even more so for us. Professor Dumbledore has warned us of the possible danger you and your friend Neville are in from that monster that claims himself Lord Voldemort. It is a bit rich coming from one of mixed blood himself but he and his pure blood followers want to kill off any muggle born or mixed blooded witch and wizard to save the magical community of so called impurity.
We would prefer to stand up to him and be rid of him but you mean too much to risk your safety and have therefore taken precautions by emptying Potter Manor, moving the contents into the vault and hiding the empty building. Since everyone knows where Potter Manor is located we are hoping Riddle and his gang will spend a lot of time trying to break through the wards to get to us while at the same time we will be hiding in our summer cottage in Godric's Hollow. Professor Dumbledore suggested we use the Fidelius Charm. No one knows the little extra touch we've added. Peter Pettigrew will be Secret Keeper rather than the most expected candidate Sirius Black who will thus be a decoy. We should be safe enough. We wanted to have Remus Lupin in on it too, after all, these three are our best friends, but we didn't want to burden him with even more on top of his monthly problem.
While digging a little deeper into the matter I discovered that Mr Black was sent to Azkaban without trial or even without hearing, so he had no possibility to rectify the common assumption that he was the Potters' secret keeper.
Four aurors were called inside for security as well as Professor McGonagall who demonstrated her exceptional skills as an animagus herself by turning the rat back into a still stunned Peter Pettigrew. In order to prove the person in front of them was indeed Peter Pettigrew one of the Wizengamot elders came down to the centre stage and cast a spell called "patefacio genitor familia". Above Peter now hung a parchment like cloud. It stated his full name, listed both his nicknames of "Wormtail" and "Scabbers" and his date of birth. And a bit like the Black family tree, it also showed the names of his parents and both sets of grandparents. Since this result could not be faked or altered in any way they now knew for sure the man was indeed the previously presumed dead Peter Pettigrew.
The questioning itself was a bit of a disappointment for Harry but Remus, who picked up on Harry's mood, explained that this one was just to clear Sirius' name. A more detailed questioning would occur at Peter's own trial. At first Peter denied his identity claiming his name was Frank Smythe but he messed up a little later by saying his name was David Smythe. When confronted with the knowledge his identity had already been established beyond fail he had seemingly deflated in posture and changed into the blubbering nitwit personae that had fooled many before now claiming Sirius had made him talk to Lord Voldemort. Madame Bones however had been quick to pick up the spiel and ordered Veritaserum to be used so they could finally hear the truth. They learned that Peter was in fact a Death Eater, had indeed been the secret keeper for Harry and his family but betraying them to the Dark Lord in exchange for the promise of fame and fortune. Madame Bones also asked after the happenings of the night of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament when Cedric had died and Voldemort had been resurrected. When the Wizengamot learned of the nature of his silver hand, a healer was called in to remove it and clean up the resulting wound. The silver hand itself was stored away safely as evidence for his later Death Eater trial. When Madame Bones also asked after the happenings in the Ministry of Magic late June they heard about Voldemort's anger at being bested again by youngsters like Harry and his friends, his frustration at losing almost all of his inner circle Death Eaters, and the subsequent need to recruit less than ideal new death eaters.
With Pettigrew's questioning over one of the Wizengamot members started asking Mrs Bones for an explanation.
"My dear Mrs Bones, can you explain to us why there is this rush for this session ? Are the rumours I heard in the Ministry today true ? Did your aurors finally manage to capture Mr Black ?"
"I have no idea where those rumours came from, they are quite untrue. In a way I wish we could bring Mr Black in and question him on the situation of Halloween 1981, but he was at the Ministry fight now six weeks ago and passed away while protecting his godson from his own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange.
And to answer your - most likely next – question Mr Potter wrote in his letter that after his godfather's death he wanted to try one more time to clear his name. When Mr Potter learned the truth of the situation, a little under a year after Mr Black's escape from Azkaban, they tried to get him a hearing or even a trial or questioning under veritaserum, but Minister Fudge simply refused to listen and was going to have the Kiss administered. Mr Black escaped again and sent the occasional word to his godson. The situation in the Wizarding World since then, with the Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament and the hate-campaign against Mr Potter in the last year offered no hope to bring the case to light. Unfortunately by the time the tide turned more in their favour, Mr Black passed away. As his primary heir Mr Potter wanted to take this ultimate opportunity to set the record straight."
The man who'd earlier cast the Ancestry spell on Peter now spoke.
"My dear Mrs Bones, I believe I speak for all present here that there is no doubt about the man's innocence and a posthumous clearing of his name is the least we can do."
The other Wizengamot members present voiced their agreement and Mrs Bones asked the clerk to prepare a statement.
"Mr Beresford, can you please give the statement top priority ? That way we might make the deadline for tomorrow's edition of the papers."
Harry and the others returned to the here and now and sat in silence for a few moments to take in the implications of what they'd seen.
Sirius' name would be cleared ! The wizarding folk would finally learn the truth about his godfather. Too late to help the man himself but the history books at least would tell the tale as it should be.
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Author's Note :
Once again it's been longer than I expected since my last update, my apologies for that. Being busy in real life on top of a bit of a writer's block can do that.
Thanks for your continued reading. Would love some feedback from you though. If you have any questions about the story, please don't hesitate.
Have you enjoyed this (and previous) chapter(s) ? You might be interested to know the story is a few chapters further along and offers a little extra info and pictures on my yahoo group (for link see profile page).
cheers
kadedeetje