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Chapter 9 – The New Lord Black

Kreacher hovered between life and death for many days. He had arrived unconscious and bleeding. Harry had been studying healing spells and had done his best. Dobby had helped as every house elf grew up knowing how to help each other as there was no such thing as a healer for a house elf. All they could do now was wait and hope.

That was the reason why Kreacher never answered Narcissa or Bellatrix's call. The only thing which had saved Draco's life, for the moment at least, was that news reached Voldemort that Sirius Black was dead. The Goblins had declared it so and now Draco was the only legitimate heir to the Lordship.

Then he found out that Draco wasn't the heir, it was yes, Harry Potter. So it was back to square one and Draco's life was once again at risk until Bellatrix took pity on her sister, her nephew and her Family's survival by convincing her Lord that once Potter was dead Draco would be the only option for the Lordship.

Voldemort agreed but only on the condition that someone, probably Narcissa, find out how Sirius Black had died and what happened to the elf. Draco would be left alive but whether he would enjoy living was entirely up to his mother.

Fortunately Narcissa had help from a few other Death Eaters and by doing a lot of bribing. That stupid, idiotic excuse for a Pureblood fool Ronald Bilius Weasley had been fighting with Sirius Black and hit him with a cutting curse to his neck. Got him right in the jugular and he died before he could be saved.

Oops!

Molly personally beat the living dung out of her youngest son. Dumbledore hadn't done anything to him YET because in the mood he was in the boy would be dead. He would take some time to calm down, make new plans and then, when the fool least expected it, Dumbledore would give him a suitable punishment.

This could work out for the better after all as since Harry Potter was the heir and didn't know it and didn't know about Black's death the Order would still have unlimited access to Grimmauld Place.

But Harry did find out because Narcissa had arranged for the announcement of Black's death to be printed in the Daily Prophet. The Goblins confirmed it, the papers printed it and since Black's only Will had been written long before he "betrayed the Potters" or was incarcerated in Azkaban and had become insane, it was still in effect and at the demand of his family the Will could be publically read.

Only those who were mentioned in the Will could attend the reading and Dumbledore was not mentioned. In fact, most of those mentioned in the Will were dead, like James and Lily Potter, and a few of Sirius' friends. Remus was still alive as was Narcissa Malfoy, Andromeda Tonks and her daughter and of course Harry Potter.

Dumbledore tried to use the old "as his magical guardian tactic" but the trial had proven that to be untrue. He did try to have the Will sealed to the public so that Harry wouldn't know he was Lord Black. Nymphadora Tonks was ordered to prevent it leaking to the press at all costs. She couldn't as the Goblins had gleefully told the reporters who were eagerly waiting to hear just who inherited the Lordship.

One of the elves always managed to get Harry copies of the newspapers and as the story was making the news for several days he couldn't help but hear. But would he know what inheriting the Lordship entailed or how to claim it? So many people were hoping that no, he wouldn't.

It was then that Kreacher awoke.

He was able to tell Harry and Dobby what had happened. Very late that same night Winky snuck away from Hogwarts with the news of what happened after Kreacher had left.

Harry had been furious with Sirius at the end, but now the man was dead. He didn't feel guilt as Sirius had made his choices and if they were always the wrong one, well that was his chosen path. However, Harry would be seeking some justice (or rather revenge) on those which at the end had been the true cause of his godfather's death.

Although in a very weaken condition, Kreacher gave Harry instructions on how to claim the Lordship. To get the Lordship ring he would eventually have to go to Gringotts, pass the eligibility test, put on the ring and bam - he would be officially and publically declared and acknowledged as the Lord Black. However, until such time as he could make the necessary arrangements there were many things he still could do.

First, he could finally write that letter to Amelia Bones. Oh he would not be meeting her in person any time soon due to the very real threat on his life not only by Voldemort but Dumbledore. He told her he feared falling into the old man's hands more than Voldemort getting him. At least Voldemort was honest and truthful about his intentions concerning Harry whereas Dumbledore….well she knew, she knew all too well.

He did suggest that she somehow get her hands on Ron Weasley, before he could be obliviated like all of the Order members had been before Dumbledore's trial, and dose him with Veritaserum as he had heard from a very reliable source how Sirius Black had died and the reasons leading up to his death.

He also informed her that all of those Aurors who had to swear that they would leave the Order of the Phoenix or lose their jobs had done so. Then, they immediately were sworn back into AN ORDER. No it had been Order member Minerva McGonagall who swore them into an auxiliary order – the Order of the Griffin – which was a new offshoot of the Order of the Phoenix so technically, they were not now members of the Order of the Phoenix, just a new order connected with it. Therefore they had kept their promises but were still under the control of Dumbledore and an illegal order.

"I know good Aurors are desperately needed to fight in the upcoming war, but what about loyal Aurors? Shouldn't they be loyal, reliable and sworn to uphold the principles of the DMLE?" Harry had written.

Harry wouldn't tell her where he was or what he knew as it was too dangerous. "I have turned into a miniature version of Mad Eye Moody as the past year has proven without doubt that I CAN'T TRUST ANYBODY."

He added a few other miscellaneous bits of information before adding "Never trust Dumbledore, don't put anything past him and don't trust anybody unless they have been dosed with Veritaserum and/or taken a carefully worded oath on their life and magic."

To prove that the letter was from him, he dipped his thumb in ink and "signed" the letter with his fingerprint. His prints were on file in the Muggle World due to some Dursley-related incidents. He knew that Amelia Bones would know the significance of a fingerprint and if she didn't she would make it her business to find out.

Then Dobby, wearing an elf size hooded cloak, popped away towards Amelia Bones' home. Even as a house elf he couldn't enter the heavily warded personal home unless he was given permission but he did call out for one of the Bones' house elves and asked her to deliver the letter to Amelia Bones.

Three days later the headlines in the Daily Prophecy screamed out the news that sixth year student Ronald Weasley had been arrested in regards to the murder of Sirius Black and the DMLE was seeking the whereabouts of Molly, Ginny, Fred and George Weasleys for "questioning" and that a reward was being offered for any information leading to their being brought in for that questioning.

It was a wonderful scandal and Dumbledore was now again in a lot of trouble. He had been tipped off just in time to avoid being brought in for some questioning of his own. Molly, Ginny, Fred and George had also just missed being caught and they were now hiding at Grimmauld Place, or they were until one guess who claimed the house and evicted them all out in the street where some loyal Aurors just happened to be milling around waiting for something to happen.

Upon hearing this Kreacher announced he could die in peace with honor but Harry ordered him not to as he was now officially Lord Black and Kreacher had to obey his Master. It was nearly a week before the smiles on Harry's, Kreacher's and Dobby's faces wore off.

Even Voldemort and many Death Eaters were happy and smiling. An unmarked Death Eater who was an Auror, found out all the juicy details and ran back to inform Voldemort and the others. Voldemort ordered a celebration feast be given and much merry making was done without anybody being killed or tortured. He was so pleased that Draco wasn't tortured for an entire week.

All the Aurors who were "relapsed" Order members were brought in for questioning and fired from their jobs except for Hestia Jones who had been the only Auror present the day Sirius Black died. She was charged with being an accessory and would be facing trial along with the Weasleys.

Bill and Arthur were entirely innocent of everything except for being a member of the Order. Although he was innocent and not aware of the plans of Dumbledore and Molly, Arthur was also fired because of his association with Dumbledore. Bill still had three more years on his contract with the Goblins to serve so once he was cleared the Goblins merely transferred him to the most miserable bank branch in the Goblin Nation where Bill was obliged to stay until his contract was complete.

Fred and George were released as they didn't know about the plot and had only joined in the attack on Sirius because their Mother had summoned them to Grimmauld Place for help as Black had gone crazy and had attacked her, Ron and Ginny. Fred admitted he cast a hex at the miserable old elf because he thought he was hurting the hippogriff. He also admitted he didn't know or care what had happened to the creature and he was let go as nobody else cared what happened to a house elf.

So another summer passed and what would have been Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's sixth year began. Harry had been missing, Ron was in Azkaban and the only people looking for Hermione were Neville, Parvati, Lavender Brown and the Creevey brothers. They didn't find her because unknown and unnoticed by everybody, Hermione Granger had dropped out of Hogwarts.

Even McGonagall had been busy due to her own problems and the unfortunate incidents of the past summer. She had been called in for questioning, passed and was allowed to return to Hogwarts but only in the capacity of Transfiguration teacher. A new Head of Gryffindor House would be announced at the feast. A new Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster had been hired to run the school.

So where was Hermione Granger you may ask? Nobody knew and only McGonagall and Flitwick really cared. After some investigation it was found out that just before the school term ended the Grangers had sold their practice, their house and after picking up their daughter from King's Cross Station they simply disappeared.

McGonagall and Flitwick would never know the reason for the disappearance was due to the Grangers being given a full listing of just what had been happening at Hogwarts since their daughter had started at that school. Apparently she had left out a lot concerning her school experience and they were furious beyond belief.

Her father wanted to withdraw their daughter not only out of the school but the entire Magical World. They were talked out of it. Instead, they were strongly advised to sell up, pack up, pick up their daughter and drive her directly to the airport to start on their vacation.

Of course she had complained about leaving almost immediately as she had so many things to do but her parents were still pissed about her being "collected" almost immediately after returning home last year for "school business" without any notice to her parents. They had come home from work and found a note left for them by Molly Weasley and their daughter missing.

The note only said that Headmaster Dumbledore had need of Hermione, something about a special project and not to worry as no doubt their daughter would be returning for the Christmas holidays if possible. Apparently this Molly Weasley had "borrowed" the Grangers' main credit card to use to pay for Hermione's next year's tuition and to purchase her supplies. The card would be mailed back to them probably within the next day or two.

The Grangers had been furious but, as usual, they found out that there was nothing they could do about anything. But then a woman had appeared on their doorstep one day, told them about all of Hermione's "adventures" and advised that they leave. She gave them all the information they would need and had arranged for Hermione to be enrolled in a magical school of her choice once she escaped…er, left Britain.

Everything made perfect sense to the Grangers and they thanked the mysterious woman profusely. The day before they picked up their daughter the woman appeared again and gave them a spray can with the instructions that once Hermione was in the car that Mrs. Granger spray her daughter in the face and then gently inform her that they were flying off today and that was that.

In fact, when the spray wore off, anytime they wanted to "convince" Hermione about something, all they had to do was use the spray and tell her what they wanted her to do and she would do it.

Within a week the Grangers had decided on a school, Hermione was enrolled and the Grangers set up a new practice and a new life.

So why didn't Hermione complain about this? Did she really meekly leave her life and friends willingly? Of course not! The mysterious woman had visited Hermione while the Grangers were out and very nicely "explained things" to the girl. Hermione, being Hermione, at first refused to listen and immediately started arguing with the woman. So Hermione was magically convinced to listen and given a very serious warning and the consequences of ignoring it.

For once in her life Hermione actually listened to another person without asking herself what Dumbledore would want done in the circumstances. The woman had been explicit and arguing or refusing to do anything other than what Hermione was being told to do was simply not an option. In other words, Hermione was scared out of her mind and had very good reasons to be that scared. Nobody knew and, in most cases nobody cared, where Hermione Granger was and it would remain a mystery for many a year.

Everyone prepared for another boring year of school. The only things of interest were happening outside of school but here they all were stuck at dull old Hogwarts.

Harry Potter had been declared the new Lord Black but was still missing.

Ron Weasley was in Azkaban for being involved in planning the death of Sirius Black but actually causing it. He claimed it was an accident but since he revealed under Veritaserum the plot hatched by Dumbledore and knew that Black would be killed after making out a new Will in Ron's favor, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, of attempted line theft, to benefit from a murder and then for the actual murder itself.

The lawyer for the Weasleys tried to argue that Ron was underage and was being forced by his mother and Dumbledore into the plot. Dumbledore had only been attempting to lure Sirius Black out of hiding as he was a convicted criminal, a known mass murderer and that by plotting his death they were actually doing a service for Britain because then Harry Potter would be able to come out of hiding and complete his education. Thus they all should be considered heroes.

The defense was too ridiculous to be believed by anybody. Sirius Black was never convicted of anything as he had never received a trial. If Dumbledore and the Weasleys knew where he was why didn't they arrest him and bring him into the Ministry if they considered him a criminal?

There were just too many holes in the story. Once Molly, Ron and Ginny were administered Veritaserum, against the strong protests of their lawyer, there was no way they could be exonerated. Molly and Ron received life sentences.

Ginny due to her age and the fact that she hadn't been in the room where the fighting and murder of Sirius Black had occurred was spared a prison sentence due to her youth. However, she was expelled from Hogwarts, her wand was snapped, her magic bound and she was exiled from the Magical World. She would be sent to a Muggle juvenile detention center until she was 18 years old and then released into the Muggle World.

At least she wouldn't be going to Azkaban and she would be able to live a life. Besides, Percy had assured her that once she was released from the Muggle juvenile jail, he, Bill and Charlie would see to it that she went to another country, her magic would be unbound and she could get a new wand and once again live as a witch. She would survive, eventually prosper and that would be her revenge.