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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27 Business as usual
Early the next morning Harry was sitting in one of the wicker chairs in the garden room adjacent to the kitchen, talking with both of Sirius' long dead relatives about the previous day's happenings while waiting for his usual early morning swimming partner, occasionally sipping his tea.
After they'd viewed in particular the hearing that decided on Sirius' innocence the mood had been dual. There was the elation for finally having cleared his name and the truth be out, but at the same time there was that sadness that all this really should have happened ages ago.
As had happened many times in the short week Harry had spent on Privet Drive this summer, his current melancholy mood had brought on his anti-dementor feeling. He had felt a warm embrace and heard a lovely woman's voice first humming then singing a lullaby. Or rather, the tune was that of a lullaby Harry recognised but the lyrics he heard were rather raunchy and it didn't take long for him to burst out laughing.
One look at the others confirmed they too had experienced the warmth and heard the song and the look on their faces made Harry laugh even louder. Remus was laughing so hard he was even crying and it took some time before he was able to explain his mirth.
The song had been a favourite of Lily's even before she was expecting Harry and both James and Sirius had often gently teased her with it, seeing as how the lyrics hinted of children and even grandchildren. While pregnant the lullaby had been a sure remedy to lighten her mood on a bad day and after giving birth Lily continued singing the song to baby Harry. But Sirius had been adamant that such a "girlie" song would be harmful for his godson and had instead created the alternative lyrics. Lily had been furious when she'd first heard and had even stopped Sirius from seeing Harry for three full days. But secretly Sirius had persisted and it wasn't until several weeks later that the men found out Lily too was known to sing the alternative version.
Many more stories of the antics of the marauders, James and Sirius in particular, followed, as told by Remus, Mr Weasley and even Professor Dumbledore recounting some of their silly and goofy pranks and the times those pranks had backfired spectacularly. In an odd sort of way the evening turned into a bit of a memorial for Sirius and to a lesser extent Harry's parents.
Mr Weasley was the first to call it a day, seeing as he was expected back at work the next morning, shortly followed by most of the others until only Remus, Professor Dumbledore and Harry remained.
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore and Remus, for showing us your memories earlier this evening. It was good to see the evidence as it were first hand. It feels more real this way."
"It was the least we could do, Harry. The situation called for a 'seeing is believing' approach. Especially as it will most likely be a few days before the news really reaches the papers."
Harry chuckled as he said :
"Somehow I doubt that, Headmaster. With the anticipation and excitement of seeing the happenings of the afternoon at your end I'm sorry to say I forgot all about the news we received."
Harry showed them the afternoon headlines Rita had come up with and after that handed them the letter Paul had sent.
"Oh my," said Remus, "Minister Fudge's timing is atrocious. Well, for him at least. Albus, will he survive a second mistake like this, do you think ?"
"I believe that will largely depend on the way the press will report the happenings. Should they just get to the crux of the matter and basically ignore the first half of the meeting then Cornelius might get away with it. The next few days will tell."
"Well if this doesn't get him in trouble yet, it'll only be a matter of time before the next scandal hits." murmured Harry.
"Which one are you talking about Harry ?" asked Remus.
"All of them really, but since ours will take a little more time to prepare for I believe the investigation and case against either Ms Umbridge or some of the Death Eaters will be his first hurdle to overcome."
Remus caught Professor Dumbledore's look and answered his unspoken question. He explained about the family allowances that had been established and how exactly they'd come about. When Remus also mentioned the assistance Gringotts had promised the headmaster seemed to become more pensive and it was several minutes before he finally spoke.
"Yes, indeed. Cornelius might find a way out of the other investigations but he won't stand a chance if the goblins are against him.
"Albus, I realise that it's still a bit early but do you have an idea yet whom you could nominate for the post ?"
"I don't, Remus, and it's good of you to remind me of it. Better be prepared for when the inevitable happens. Probably be best to have two candidates too. Someone for the actual job, and someone willing to take the job during the voting process."
Harry sat listening as the two men compared several possible candidates for either of the two positions, but he was fast losing his battle against tiredness, and promising himself to look up the process of Minister elections at some stage during the remainder of the holidays he bade the two other men a good night.
It didn't take him long after getting to bed to find himself by the Veil in the Department of Mysteries and with eager anticipation he brought Sirius up-to-date with the many events that took place that day.
Surprisingly, although he was happy for Harry that his innocence was proved Sirius didn't seem too concerned with it. When Harry voiced his surprise at this his godfather was quick to explain.
"Harry, you have to understand that since I'm here it doesn't make much difference either way. It was more important to me that at the end of your third year, you heard the whole story and that you believed in my innocence and in me. And yes, of course it would have been wonderful had the truth been revealed at that time but in the here and now, I'm mainly happy for you !"
"For me, Sirius ? What difference will it make to me ?"
"An awful lot, Harry ! It wouldn't matter that you are the Boy-who-lived. An association with someone like me – or what they perceived me to be – would taint you. No, it will make a big difference that I was declared innocent."
They talked a little more and Harry told him of the lullaby incident and found to his amusement Sirius was actually embarrassed.
"Professor Dumbledore heard that ? What must he think of me ? Singing that to a wee baby !"
Harry couldn't help it and burst out laughing.
"You should have heard him when he told us about the time you and dad tried to charm all the girl's knickers out of their cupboards."
"Good lord, you mean to tell me he knew what we were up to ? He never once said …"
When Harry woke that morning he was still chuckling at Sirius' disbelief that the Headmaster had been aware of almost all of their pranks.
They were all enjoying breakfast – Harry had come to love the fresh fruit salads, flat cheese, and several types of jam and home-made honey – when Dobby arrived with several copies of the newspaper so they all could have a good read.
Sirius Black innocent
Real culprit alive and jailed, awaiting trial
By R.E. Porter
Every known and unknown reporter from the British Isles and far beyond was called into the Ministry of Magic for what the summoning claimed to be a "major break-through in the war on terror". And the story our Minister of Magic Cornelius O. Fudge gave out was indeed big. Earlier in the day, so the Minister claimed, aurors had finally tracked down the whereabouts of Sirius Black. Unfortunately in the melee of his capture Mr Black got fatally wounded.
Strangely no one from the auror or hitwizard division was present at this meeting and it was Minister Fudge himself to elaborate on the extensive research and undercover work, the planning, plans and execution of those plans when asked by the reporters present.
But it was after these usual what-why-where-when questions that things started going wrong for our Minister as someone in the crowd asked how – if indeed all the minister had just said to be true – it was possible that a Ministry hearing on 8 July had already dealt with the inheritance of the late Mr Sirius Black ? The Minister denied at first that such hearing had taken place, but when evidence in the form of a Hearing Report was produced he had to retract his denial and explained that hearing with a "Those inheritance hearings are a bit of a joke as most of us know. The law relevant to inheritances will almost let you get away with murder."
As if that wasn't bad enough, the same man in the crowd now stated that later that same day of 8 July the will of Sirius Black had been executed with assistance from Gringotts, who are known to be quite punctilious about such things.
Minister Fudge's only repartee was to have the man arrested, but since no aurors were present nothing came of it. The meeting ended in chaos as reporters tried to talk to both Minister Fudge who ended up little more than fleeing the room and the man with all the unexpected information.
The situation at this point called for further investigation and I contacted Gringotts who kindly confirmed the passing of Mr Black on 24 June and the execution of the will on 8 July. When I asked how they could be certain that Mr Black was indeed dead, and not faking it, Schmegg, Head of Gringotts Bank, explained :
"It has been a long wizarding tradition to open a bank account shortly after the birth of a child. Since obviously no signatures of the new vault owner can be come by a tiny prick of blood is used instead to link and activate these vaults. So when the vault owner dies, the magic surrounding the vault will detect the passing and will automatically set in motion the process allowing us to contact next of kin or the executor of the will. It is a shame really, that the Ministry does not check with Gringotts on these matters, as we would have been able to tell for instance that Mr Peter Pettigrew, the one Mr Black was to have killed way back when is, indeed to this day, still very much alive."
Mr Pettigrew, for your information, was a friend of the Potter family, along with Mr Black, who so it was claimed confronted Sirius Black the day after that memorable Halloween night in 1981 and got killed along with several muggles, just before Sirius Black was apprehended and jailed.
I then returned to the Ministry to speak with Madame Bones, Head of the Aurors. As she had been occupied elsewhere for most of the afternoon I informed her of Minister Fudge's press meeting and his claims made at that time. She did not comment on the Minister's claims other than a very bland "I was not aware, nor informed of this secret investigation and operation."
When I spoke of my findings at Gringotts, after all Mr Black was jailed amongst others for the killing of Mr Pettigrew, Mrs Bones revealed to me the most recent events that took place merely hours earlier.
Her office received word from Hogwarts that an intruder had been apprehended and that assistance would be highly appreciated. Upon hearing the identity of the intruder – none other than the supposedly late Mr Pettigrew – Mrs Bones called for an unscheduled Wizengamot hearing during which evidence showed that Mr Black was innocent of the crimes he was put into Azkaban for and he was cleared of all charges as a result. For a full transcript of the Summary of the Wizengamot hearing please refer to the appropriate article.
Mrs Bones confirmed also that Sirius Black has indeed passed away and that his will has been executed. Further information can be found in the article "The Life and Death of Sirius Black"
With so much information please allow me to give you today's happenings in a short overview.
Minister Fudge calls a press meeting to announce today's locating and death of escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black
Strong evidence however shows that Mr Black was killed by his cousin, known Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange just over six weeks ago during the battle at the Ministry of Magic while defending his godson, Harry Potter.
Mr Peter Pettigrew, presumed dead for nearly 15 years, is alive and well, and was apprehended roaming around Hogwarts. A first questioning has revealed that Mr Pettigrew works for and supports Lord Voldemort.
That same questioning also revealed Mr Pettigrew was in fact guilty of the crimes Mr Black was jailed for.
It became evident that Mr Black never received neither hearing nor trial and he was declared innocent after this afternoon's questioning.
If it was Minister Fudge's original intention to try and get some press attention he has done remarkably well. Only the end result is not what he envisioned, I'm sure. With Fudge telling such fabricated lies, this reporter will be looking at Fudge's earlier claims a bit better. After all, it wasn't more than six weeks ago he also had to admit that Lord Voldemort had indeed returned but that he had kept that news from the general public for some 12 months.
The two other articles recounting the Wizengamot hearing on the one hand and a description of Sirius' life and the truth about his death on the other were very accurate and well written and Harry was secretly happy that this Robert Porter was a much better reporter than Rita Skeeter.
After breakfast they returned to their schedule of morning classes, or at least, that was the idea. But Mr Black, now in good form with his Ghost Quill, had already been able to produce many sheets of parchment filled with all kinds of stories and asked their opinion on the writing. He'd handed them a few parchments with a different story each. It didn't take them that long to read but they exchanged stories and in the end were very adamant in their praise.
After lunch Harry had some business to take care of. As per their earlier agreement, any correspondence regarding Wolf Liar was handled by Lily, who could deliver the post unnoticed by the others, Remus in particular, directly to Harry's bedroom-study. Apparently Paul Watkins, the Waverley brothers, Elijah Teague and both Griphook and Schmegg had had quite a successful meeting regarding the first draft of the proposed plans and had worked out every aspect of the project, including different possibilities and strategies.
One of the propositions sounded really good to Harry. It seemed that one of Gringotts' former Head Goblins had been sympathetic to one of the clients of the bank and had purchased from him a large plot of land when said client had been in dire straits. Unfortunately for Gringotts the goblins themselves couldn't really do much with the property and in all the years since the purchase neither had any wizard been interested. But for this project the plot was ideal. Situated in quite some square miles of its own countryside was a complete small but empty muggle village. Abandoned many decades ago the goblins had put up preservation charms on all properties so the state of disrepair wasn't too high and the light muggle repelling charms over the area had further guaranteed the status quo of the place.
Phase one of the plans would require quite some extensive use of magic but would last relatively short and would prepare the village for general use and habitation again and allow the small-scale start up of Wolf Liar. Phase two would involve the building of the laboratories and actual nursery for the plants and would bring about quite some jobs. Phase three would involve the set up of the nursery itself and the start up of the proper plans.
But since they would most likely need plenty of LeBon potion as soon as its existence became widely known the old school house in the village could be used as both meeting point, potion lab and small scale nursery for the rarer plants required.
After reading the other options and alternatives, Harry prepared a note to Paul Watkins who was the coordinator for the Wolf Liar Project, gave his opinion on the different proposals and made a few suggestions toward positive discrimination when the time came to hire personnel.
Harry also informed him he was sending out the note to Griphook to cancel the allowances for both Mrs Malfoy and Mrs Lestrange in order to stop them from getting any more money from the Black estate and set in motion the legal procedure against Minister Fudge.
There was an evening edition of the papers and after reading the article Remus warned Harry he might well get bombarded with mail again. The article revealed that Harry had been sole beneficiary of Sirius' will but hinted at the same time that the previous wealth of the Blacks had diminished in recent history due to the exorbitant family allowances. A note delivered by Lily surprisingly came from Robert Porter explaining the reasoning behind actually publishing the fact he'd inherited the Black estate.
"I realise that you would have preferred not to make your inheritance public, but by announcing it like this you will not only cut short any speculation as to whom and how much was involved. The Black Family have been rumoured to be very wealthy and possess many dark arts items so revealing yourself as the heir will also put people's mind at ease that these cursed things will be handled correctly."
Harry hadn't though of things from that perspective so couldn't find fault with the reasoning and sent a note of thanks to the reporter. The following days went by without much happening out of the ordinary. Harry received a few letters of condolences on the loss of his godfather from some of the DA members and from people he'd never heard of but the avalanche of letters Remus had predicted never materialised, for which Harry was very happy.
From Paul he also received word that the allowance for the Tonks family could now legally be set up so Harry was quick to invite Mr and Mrs Tonks over for the Saturday dinner along with an invitation for the week's holiday on the beach.
With Harry's preference for the conversion of the old muggle village into the giant Wolf Lair project the team had been quick to start up the project by purchasing the plot from Gringotts, and making up the final plans. Robert Porter had been advised of the project and would prepare an article to be printed when the time was right.
Looking to do something totally different on Thursday evening Harry remembered the boxes with personal belongings of both Sirius and his dad Orion. Not certain about what he'd find he'd suggested to Remus and the others to go through Sirius' dad's boxes first. Remus did not expect to find anything dangerous but they still proceeded with caution.
The result of their perusing was quite unexpected though. Several boxes turned out to contain nothing but very smart clothes. As Ron tried one of the cloaks on Mrs Weasley noticed the garment adjusted to his size so Remus suggested they check all of them to see which they could recuperate and wear themselves. Several of the boxes however had a surprising content. Amongst a large amount of sometimes half written letters and notes, inkwells, spare parchment and quills in all sizes and some pretty expensive looking jewellery were lots of photos. Quite a number were obviously taken while Sirius was at Hogwarts. A still young Sirius proudly showing off his Gryffindor cloak, posing with either James or Remus by the Hogwarts Express as they were off for their first ever trip to school if the lack of House emblem was anything to go by. Sirius posing with seven other boys in Quidditch robes, a grinning James Potter at centre stage. The photos were mainly of Sirius at various stages during his Hogwarts years but there were also several of later years as a few of them showed Sirius at the Potter wedding and even one with a very dark haired baby in his arms. Though fewer in number, a second series of magical pictures depicted a family of three. The tall man looked like an average man, with short light brown hair. But his eyes showed laughter and love for the two women in his arms. There was no doubt that this was Tonks and her parents, as the young girl was showing off her pink and blue and back to pink hair. The older woman was tall and curvaceous, had wavy brown hair with reddish tints and grey eyes like most of the Black family. But Harry was struck by her resemblance to the youngest of the four Black brothers. She was supposed to be the middle daughter of Regulus but looked nothing like him, and instead favoured Alphard quite strikingly.
After choosing a few of the pictures to put in his own album Harry asked Hermione to cast the sorting charm on them so they could be put up in an album of their own. Remus, Ginny and the twins in the mean while were reading the parchments at random to see what exactly they were. The parchments appeared to be a mix of drafts of letters sent, letters received and what looked like diary entries of some sort. Remus suggested to first sort them by date with the same charm as the one used on the pictures and to only then separate them into different categories. Fred and George made the suggestion to best treat it as a bit of an emergency. The diary entries Mr Black had made detailed he'd been suspicious of the sudden increase of visits from Mrs Malfoy to his wife and even linked his sudden loss of appetite and general deterioration of his health to them.
Remus took charge of the parchments and would make sure they were sorted and forwarded as required to Paul Watkins and maybe even Madame Bones. As for the jewellery Harry figured that maybe Mrs Tonks might be interested in some of her uncle's things as mementos.
As there were far fewer boxes representing Sirius they decided to go ahead and sort through those too. Again several boxes contained clothes but these were mainly from his very young years. But the rest turned out to be a real treasure trove of its own. There were letters and notes addressed to Sirius from James Potter, Lily Evans and later Lily Potter, from Remus and also Peter Pettigrew. A copy of his OWL and NEWT results and many more school related parchments. More poignant was the discovery of a half finished letter addressed to Harry he'd been writing just before he died.
And amongst all these papers they found the same mix as in his dad's boxes of quills and jewellery and other knickknacks. One complete set of watch, tiepin and cufflinks Remus was able to identify as a present from the elder Potters upon Sirius' NEWT results. Hermione found a simple necklace with a small figure of a dog attached and Remus told them Sirius had it made when Harry was born.
"In fact there were two of them made, Harry, so when you go to the Potter vault again you could look out for yours. Lily used to joke it was Sirius' way to claim part ownership of you."
That night when everybody else had long gone to bed, Harry finished reading some of the latest entries in the Black Book and made his way down to the garden room and had a long conversation with Alphard Black about his findings.
On Friday morning they had a DADA class again where Remus and Mr Black combined their resources and taught them an old and forgotten version of the stunning spell. Unlike the general version where anyone could undo the spell damage this required the original caster to undo the stunning. As a drawback it took a little longer to cast which was probably the reason it got disused. But with a little extra effort and especially practice it would do very well for the DA. With the weather finally showing signs of improvement they spent the afternoon flying and playing quidditch of sorts.
Saturday morning they had their first real potions class and the students were unanimous in their praise. Elijah had first given them a copy of his manual with an overview of the things they should have learned in the first five years. Especially for Ginny who had yet to see the fifth year's potions every entry be it ingredient, tool, technique or potion was marked at what level it was taught. Harry could see how this would be a very handy reference tool and promised himself to make sure to update it as the year progressed.
The lesson itself turned out to be the exact opposite of how they'd learned under Snape. Elijah explained about the potion, the different stages and what it should look like at any given point in the process. He gave them hints on what to look out for and offered ways to correct mistakes and all that before they started the brewing itself so they had the chance to note it all down properly. And even while brewing he would give them hints, show them better techniques for preparing their ingredients and write down those extra tips on the blackboard so they could copy them after the brewing was finished.
Lunchtime was quite lively with the added presence of Tonks, their Potions teacher and his friends. During afternoon DADA they learnt that the old stunning spell had even been forgotten by the aurors. Tonks was very interested to learn of the impossibility for anyone other than the caster to undo the stunning and they ended up spending far more time than planned practising.
Fortunately Harry managed to be ready just in time to greet his guests. First to arrive were Professor Dumbledore with Hermione's parents who were looking decidedly dishevelled. Apparently their return trip from their holiday had been seriously delayed and they'd only just made it home minutes before Professor Dumbledore arrived to pick them up. But Harry put them ease asking Dobby to show them to their room where they could freshen up and find spare sets of clothing.
Soon after, Mrs Longbottom and the three eldest Weasley kids arrived, all having decided that they would enjoy a holiday in the sun. Last to arrive were Mr and Mrs Tonks and Harry was very relieved that their daughter had made it back to the Hall by the time they arrived.
Andromeda Black might have been cast from her birth family for marrying a muggle born wizard but she had obviously done the better deal if even half of Sirius' stories about the family were true. Mr and Mrs Tonks greeted their only daughter with a hug, a smiling scolding for the spiky pink hairstyle and a quick kiss to that same hair and to Harry it represented the way families in his youthful dreams had always acted.
After welcoming the couple to Black Manor, a promise of a tour after dinner and a tearful but happy reunion with Blythe, they made their way to the garden room adjacent to the kitchen – diner where they took pre-dinner drinks. After a very lively dinner Harry took Ted and Andy as the couple had wished to be called on a tour of the house, ending in the study.
"There are a few more things I'd like to tell you that I believe would best be done in private. First off, it sounds a little over the top, but, as Head of the family, I'd like to welcome you and your family back in the folds of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.
Next, Andy, there are quite a few things I need to tell and explain. I'm … "
Feeling as nervous as he did about the news he, a sixteen year old kid, had to tell this near stranger, he almost jumped as Andy interrupted him.
"You found out, didn't you, Harry ? That I'm not the one everybody thinks I am ?" she said with a sad smile.
"I suspected when I saw pictures of the four Black brothers and then some of you that we found amongst Orion's personal possessions. How long have you known, Andy ?"
"I overheard my mother talking to my aunt Lysandra when Uncle Sirius died. I was shocked and happy at the same time as it explained a few worries I'd had. At the time I'd just started dating Ted and I knew the consequences of that beforehand, but after that kind of news I didn't really care. We got married shortly after. My only regret is that I never got to tell my real dad that I knew and was happy about it."
"I'm happy to hear you say that, Andy, as it makes my other news so much better. You see, there's an ancestor of yours, who chose to stay behind to look after future generations of Blacks. Due to the nature of the inheritance charms that he himself had set up, he's been invisible to all until I came but he has seen your secret visits with Orion. The reason I wanted to warn you ahead is that he shares more than just our Sirius' name.
I also retrieved a portrait from the vault of someone who wanted to have the opportunity of talking to you."
Author's Note :
Hope you have enjoyed the Holidays and are ready to tackle another year. May the New Year make all your dreams come true Would that include the wish for a rapid publication of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, I wonder ! and keep you in good health.
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