Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Chapter 12: Tragedy
Sirius and Sherman Apparated to 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius placed his hand on the snake motif door knocker and allowed the wards to recognize him as the Head of House. The lock clicked and the door swung open. The interior was dimly lit, but there was enough light for them to see that the place was filthy.
"Ugh. Looks like our family's old house elf may have finally bit the dust. Let's see… Kreacher!"
A wizened house elf dressed in a filthy tea towel appeared with a loud crack. Before he could speak, a curtain covering a large painting on the wall flew open and began shrieking.
"Who disturbs the Ancient and Noble House of Black?"
"Hello, Mother. I would say it's nice to see you but that would be a lie," replied Sirius.
"You! How dare you return to this house? Kreacher, remove this filth from my house!"
Kreacher snapped his fingers but nothing happened. "Kreacher can't mistress. Kreacher's magic won't allow it. Kreacher doesn't understand."
"It's simple Kreacher. Mother may have blasted my name off the family tapestry, but I was never formally disinherited. I, Sirius Orion Black, by right of blood and magic am the rightful Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. So mote it be!" There was a brief flash of light around Sirius' right hand and an ornate ring appeared on his ring finger. Kreacher started wailing and sobbing. "Enough! I am the new Lord Black and you will behave as such. Go clean yourself up and you will wear an appropriate uniform. This is not clothes so don't think you're going to get out of it that way. After that you will move mother's portrait into the tapestry room. I won't have her shrieking at my guests. This is Sherman Potter, he is the guardian of my godson Harry. He will be staying here since he will be serving on the Wizengamot until Harry comes of age. You will obey him in the same way you would any other member of the Black family. Now go!"
Kreacher grumbled a bit under his breath before disappearing with a soft pop. He turned to Sherman and apologized for Kreacher's behavior as they went up the stairs to the library. The two of them sat for hours trading stories about Harry, Sirius about Harry as a baby and Sherman about him growing up in the US. Over the next two days they made a habit of visiting the neighborhood pub for lunch and dinner as Sherman wanted to keep up with the Muggle news. He knew he wouldn't get much US news until he could arrange with Gringotts to have a magical edition of USA Today delivered, but he figured that the BBC would be good for international news.
-000-
September 11, 5:00PM GMT
When Sherman and Sirius walked into The Tin Whistle for dinner they were surprised that the usually lively patrons were either talking in hushed tones or staring at the television in stunned silence. At the bottom of one half of the split screen a banner read 'Live, Washington, DC' while the other bore one saying 'Live, New York City'. Through the thick, black smoke that clouded both images, Sherman could make out the Pentagon on the Washington side of the screen and wondered what could have happened in both Washington and New York to cause such devastation. As they move closer to the television, they hear the BBC news anchor speaking.
"…You can see the remains of the two main towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The north tower collapsed approximately an hour ago with the south tower following about 30 minutes later. Each had been struck by an apparently hijacked airliner. A third plane has also apparently struck the Pentagon building, the nerve center of the American military in the nation's capital of Washington, DC."
Sherman turned to Sirius, ashen faced. He pulled out a battered pocket watch from his pocket and his face fell even further after looking at it. He closed his eyes, fighting back tears.
"Sherm? What's going on?" asked Sirius.
Sherman didn't answer, just turned and walked out of the pub. He walked to the park across the street and sat on a bench, his head in his hands. He looked up when Sirius sat down beside him and lay a hand on his shoulder.
"I can tell something bad has happened. What were those buildings and what happened to them?"
Sherman just handed Sirius his watch and said, "There should be three hands on that watch, one for Harry and one for each of his parents. Robert and Irene were in New York for a conference at the World Trade Center." He paused as Sirius put two and two together and realized the implications of what he just said.
"Merlin, we have to tell Harry." He helped Sherman to his feet before looking around and calling the Knight Bus. "Come on, the Knight Bus may not be as fast as Apparating, but I don't think either of us would be able to do so right now, at least not without splinching ourselves. We could Floo to Hogsmeade, but the Floo at Grimmauld isn't hooked up yet. This will get us to right outside the gates." The violently purple triple-decker bus arrived with a bang.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and…"
"Stow it kid," growled Sirius, interrupting Stan's spiel. "This is an emergency. We need you to get us to Hogwarts extra quick." He handed Stan two Galleons before helping Sherman on to the bus and in to one of the armchairs right behind the driver. Stan's eyes bugged out at the overpaid fare but didn't comment as he recognized them from Saturday's special edition of the Daily Prophet. He closed the door before banging on the glass behind the driver. "Hogwarts Ern, double quick and no intermediate stops!" The bus took off with a bang and arrived at the main gates of the school five minutes later. Sirius and Sherman got off the bus and began hurrying up to the castle.
"Harry should be coming down to dinner shortly. We'll just wait outside the Great Hall for him," said Sirius. Sherman just nodded numbly. They had been waiting about five minutes before Sirius heard a hated voice.
"What are you doing here Black? Is your brain so addled from the Dementors that you've forgotten that you are no longer a student here?"
Sirius turned around to face Snape. "Snivellus. I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking when he decided to hire you to teach here as your people skills haven't improved a bit. As for why Col. Potter and I are here, it is none of your business." Snape just sneered at them before stalking into the Great Hall, his robes billowing behind him.
"Who was that?" asked Sherman.
"That was Severus Snape," replied Sirius.
"I take it that the two of you don't get along?"
"Nope. Dumbledore must be senile to think that he would make a good teacher. The way he treated Harry in the first class he had with him being a perfect example of his unsuitability."
"That is why I am going to be asking the Board of Governors to place him on probation," said McGonagall. "But I don't think the two of you came all the way to Scotland to talk about Severus' teaching methods or lack thereof."
"You would be right, Minerva," answered Sherman. "We're here because we need to speak to Harry. I'm afraid we have some bad news. How much do you know about non-magical technology? Transportation in particular."
"A bit," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
"A few hours ago, two commercial jetliners were flown into the side of the two main towers of the World Trade Center. A short time later both buildings collapsed, killing probably several hundred people, including Harry's parents who were there for a business conference."
"Merciful Merlin," gasped McGonagall. "Who would do such a thing?"
"We don't know who exactly, but I am almost certain that this was an act of terrorism."
Minerva frowned and waved for them to follow her. She led them up to Gryffindor Tower, and after giving the password to the Fat Lady, ushered them into the Common Room. She spotted Dean and Seamus standing near the stairs to the boy's dorms. "Mr. Thomas, Mr. Finnegan, do you know where Mr. Potter is?" Both boys were slightly confused, but merely told her that Harry was in the shower because there had been a slight mishap in Herbology. She asked them to please inform him that his grandfather and godfather need to speak with him and that it is rather urgent. Dean ran up the stairs and stuck his head in the bathroom.
"Hey, Harry!"
"Yeah?"
"McGonagall sent me to tell you that your granddad and Padfoot need to talk to you and that it's urgent. They're down in the Common Room."
"Okay, I'll be down as soon as I can." Harry wondered what could be so important to cause Pappy and Padfoot to come back to the school so soon. They had just been here on Saturday after all. Nonetheless, he hurried through his shower and got dressed without bothering to dry his hair. When he arrived in the Common Room, he noticed that both of them had grave looks on their faces. But what unnerved him the most was seeing a similar look on the face of his Head of House. He looked at his grandfather and said, "Dean said you and Padfoot wanted to talk to me?"
Sherman nodded and replied, "Indeed we did Harry." He looked at McGonagall. "Minerva, is there somewhere we can talk in private?"
"You're welcome to use my office. It's just down the hall." She turned and led the three of them from the Common Room to her office. After conjuring an additional chair she turned to leave but Sherman stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"Please stay Professor. I think Harry will need all the support he can get." They all sat down, Sirius next to Harry while Sherman and McGonagall sat facing them. "There is no easy way to say this, so I'll be blunt. A few hours ago, several planes were hijacked. One was crashed into the side of the Pentagon, while two others were flown into the sides of the Twin Towers." Sherman's voice broke as he continued. "Hundreds of people died and hundreds more were injured. A short time later, both towers collapsed."
Harry gasped as the implications of what his grandfather was telling him. He knew that his parents were supposed to be at a business conference at the World Trade Center. He did some quick arithmetic and realized that his parents would have been in one of the towers when they were hit, and depending on where the planes hit might have been trapped. "Mom and Dad?"
Sherman pulled out his pocket watch and showed it to Harry. "I'm afraid they didn't make it, Harry," he said roughly, fighting back tears. He slid his chair around next to Harry and put his arm around his shoulders as Harry started crying. Harry turned toward him and buried his face in Sherman's shoulder. Sherman just sat and held him until he cried himself out. When Harry pulled away and looked up at him he asked, "Feel better?"
Harry nodded, sniffling. Sirius handed him a handkerchief and he blew his nose before asking, "What's going to happen now?"
"Not much can actually be done until the non-magical government confirms that your parents are in fact deceased. I do know that they left everything to you in their will and that they wanted your cousin Eddie to be your legal guardian until you're of age."
"I may not have any legal claim to you pup, but I want you to know that I will be here for you. I failed you ten years ago when I stupidly went after the rat instead of taking care of you like I should have. I don't intend on making that mistake again. Where ever you end up, I'll be there for you."
"Thanks Padfoot. I'll probably be spending most of the summer helping Eddie and Uncle Walter on the farm."
"I don't want to throw even more bad news out, but I'm afraid that Albus may try to use this to try and force Harry to go to the Dursleys," said McGonagall. "I know he doesn't have a legal leg to stand on, but that's never stopped him before. I'll run interference as best I can, but you can be sure that as soon as he gets wind of what has happened to Harry's parents he will do whatever he can to try and keep him here in Britain."
Sirius looked at Sherman and said, "I think we need to talk to the Minister and do some lobbying with certain members of the Wizengamot. Maybe we can defang him." Sherman nodded his agreement and he and Sirius took their leave, telling Harry and Minerva that they would be in touch and cautioning Harry to be careful who they told about what had happened.
A/N: This chapter was a real bear to write. Like many Americans, I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on 9/11. Those events likely won't have too much impact on this story beyond what they already have, but no guarantees.