Chapter 34: Worth a wolf whistle!
For disclaimer and author notes please see chapter 1.
1988-09-14 07:00 UTC, Kithurst Close
"So, does this fix the Dumbledore problem for us", Remus asked Hobby.
"That man is like a child when it comes to lessons - lessons that he disagrees with anyway. He'll regress, as I already told him he would. Our threat would prolong the relief period a bit, but I'm willing to bet that by the time Harry is ready to go to Hogwarts, he will have something setup".
"And you know exactly what that is", said Sirius. It was part-statement, part-question.
"Probably", grinned Hobby. "I already told you a lot of what happened anyway, so you know it too! And don't forget, it was the memory of that incident that I have to thank for the brilliant inspiration I had when I came back - to contact the Flamels and ask for their help", he said, looking very pleased.
"I still think we should have had Dumbledore arrested", grumbled Sirius.
Harry had not yet come down for breakfast - he may not have woken up yet, actually - but Hermione, who was by now as much a part of this household as her own next door, had walked in just as Sirius said this. She stared at Sirius, eyes wide. She knew who Dumbledore was, of course, though without the additional hero-worship baggage that the wizarding world had.
But still... "Arrested? What did he do?"
And just as Sirius was smacking his face with his palm for not realising she was there, Harry walked in. "Arrest whom?"
It was left to Remus to settle them down. "All in good time, young man, and you - young lady - have you had breakfast or would you like to have it here?"
"Here", grinned Hermione. She knew there was a story of some sort coming, and her awe at the enormity of what she had heard was gradually being over-shadowed by her thirst to learn more. Whatever that might be. Voracious readers don't stick to the classics; a newspaper is just as much grist to their mill!
After wolfing down their breakfast in record time, they looked at Sirius. Sirius looked at Remus. Remus looked at Hobby. It was quite funny, actually, if you weren't one of them.
Hobby, of course, did not have any qualms, so he didn't try to evade the question.
"Dumbledore did something very wrong", he said. "Something that is against the law".
"What did he do?", said Harry.
Hobby chose his words carefully. "Well, there is a magical technique to read people's minds. Using that spell, you can see into someone's mind, find out what he is thinking, look at his memories, and so on. Of course, this is clearly illegal, because it violates the target's right to privacy".
Harry wasn't completely sure what the problem was, but Hermione nodded understandingly. "I see. Yes that would be bad", she said slowly and quietly. "I would hate to think my parents could find out everything I was thinking", she continued, almost to herself. Then she blushed when she realised everyone had heard her.
"Anything you would like to share, Ms Granger?", teased Remus.
"N-no", she stammered. Recovering quickly, she pulled the discussion back to Dumbledore. "Why did you not get him arrested then?"
"Yeah, that's what I say", said Sirius, with his hand up.
"Because", said Hobby in a patient drawl. "As I've already told you, we need him at Hogwarts. However much I may hate what he did to me and others, the fact is that his brand of evil is much better controlled when you keep him in your sights. As long as he remains at Hogwarts, he can't do too much damage".
"Keep your enemies closer?", asked Remus.
"Cliché, but yes. Pretty much. More importantly, I need him to do certain things he did last time, which will help flush out Voldemort properly. If we put him away, that part becomes unpredictable", said Hobby.
Harry was clearly worried. "Does this involve me in some way?", he asked warily.
Hobby was quick to reassure him. "Only in his mind", he said with a smile. "Of course, that in turn means that it will happen only after you go to Hogwarts, so in that sense it does involve you, but I will be making sure that's the extent of your involvement".
"How?"
"You'll notice I don't actually have anything to do with my time. Plus you know I can hang around without being seen. Don't worry Harry, you'll be fine", said Hobby. "Now, enough of this; you'll be late for school if you don't hurry".
Once the kids had gone, Remus cornered Hobby.
"Seems like you have more to say?" Again, a half-question, half-statement.
"Yes. Time to get the next set of baddies out of the way permanently".
"Who?"
"This time there will be absolutely no guilt; not even a smidgen of it", grinned Hobby.
Sirius smiled widely, having guessed who, or rather, what, the targets were. "Finally... OK how?"
"We need to ask Nick and Penny, look around for other sources of information. We don't really know how to kill them, nor even if they can be killed. The patronus charm only drives them away. I don't think it can kill them".
1988-09-14 10:00 UTC, location unknown
Penny hugged them all, a bit longer than normal. "Nick told me what you four had been doing of course. You should have added me to the roster, reduce your load a bit. Do you forget I'm older than all three of you put together, and have seen far more than you can imagine?"
"It's OK Penny, we just wanted one of us to be out of it. It could have been anyone, it just happened to be you", said Hobby. Well, anyone except me I suppose, he thought, but with no bitterness.
"So what brings you lot here? Normally you ask us out there so clearly this is something you want to keep from the kids", said Nick.
"We need a way to kill the dementors", said Hobby.
"Hmm, yes; we did discuss them at one point. I've been trying to think of how we can do this, of course, but so far have not found anything that is guaranteed to work", said Penny.
"And if you couldn't find something, Penny, it means there is nothing to be found", said Hobby morosely.
"What do we know about them? Let's pool all of what we know", said Nick. "Penny and I have never actually run into any, despite our long lives. Remember we have lived outside the UK for a large part of our lives".
They looked at Sirius and Remus for their inputs.
"Not counting my experience inside Azkaban, we both have faced dementors of course, before 1981, but other than firing off a patronus, we didn't really do much else", said Remus.
"No, we didn't hang around to chat with them and ask what their weaknesses were", grinned Sirius.
"Well, yes, they're not really great conversationalists or dinner companions", smiled Penny. "What else can we think of? For example, did they ever attack on bright, sunny, days?"
"Aah you think they might be vulnerable to sunlight, like vampires? I wonder what a sunlight spell, with maximum power, will do - would do to them", mused Remus.
Hobby shook his head. "I've seen them on bright days - it's just that once they appear it's no longer bright and sunny. I don't think that is it", he said. "What about sound?", he continued, and then, without waiting for a reply, "you know what, we need one to test!"
"Yeah, it'd fit right into Grimmauld before we cleaned it up. My mother would have loved a son or a daughter like that", said Sirius.
"Jokes apart, I think Grimmauld could have held him but I don't want to use it now. We could take one to the werewolf hideaway though - do it right after the full moon and we'd have a clear three weeks and a bit to experiment."
"Yeah but how do we capture one and get it to follow us? Do portkeys work on them?", asked Remus.
"That's the only thing we do know - portkeys were indeed the only way to safely transport them in the old days. In fact that is how they get about long distances. By themselves they are too slow to travel to the places they have been seen."
"OK, that's easy then. Since the last full moon was a week ago, shall I bring one in? It's not hard for me to apparate to Azkaban, slap a portkey on one, and come back. But we need to prepare some way to contain them".
"I'm pretty sure physical walls - stone or concrete at least - will work", said Nick. "You have some old buildings there right?"
"Yes, they should do. There's one room that would fit the bill; it has a wooden door reinforced with iron bars in a criss-cross pattern. And if he does escape, we just slap a return portkey on him".
"So let's go check out the place and make the portkey".
1988-09-14 13:00 UTC, werewolf hideaway, Black estate grounds
When they went to the werewolf hideaway, they encountered an unexpected problem. They were now glad they had stopped to check the place out before bringing a dementor here.
The place was occupied! There were a few kids running around happily, a couple of young women smiling at them. One was medium height, dark-haired, and had a pleasant, motherly, expression on her face, as she listened to her friend animatedly describe something to her.
Her friend was tall, slim, but with a very fine bust - an absolute knockout figure, thought Sirius - and golden blonde hair that fell over her back and side in waves. She was beautiful, almost picture perfect.
There were also clothes on a line, and a laundry basket, half-full, below it, probably with more washing to go on the line. There were a few other signs of domesticity, which the men noted but ignored. There was clearly no danger here, at least not to them.
There were no men in sight, however, and the women first panicked on seeing them. Then the older woman recognised Sirius, and offered a hesitant smile.
"Good afternoon Lord Black!", she said. "I'm sure you're surprised to see us here".
"We can explain", said the other, in a very diffident tone. "We really had no place to go, and-"
"Wait wait, who are you? How long have you been here? Do you know this place is dangerous once a month?", demanded Sirius. He was extremely worried. This was supposed to be a bloody werewolf hideaway, what the heck were little kids doing here?
"Oh yes Lord Black, our husbands have only been able to find work because of your generosity in letting us use this place; we know all that", said the first woman.
Sirius was slightly calmed on hearing that these were the families of the weres. He knew the weres who came here - well not each of them individually but in general - and knew that they would not intentionally harm anyone, and definitely not their own wives and kids. But...
"...but, but ... I didn't even know some of them were married! Not to mention having three- to four-year-old kids!"
Remus looked at them fondly, and put his hand on Sirius's arm to calm him some more. "They are very lucky to find partners who support them despite their affliction. Clearly, from the age of the kids, you knew them and had married them before we met them and opened up this hideaway for their use!" Remus couldn't help smiling at the thought.
The women blushed. The older one stepped forward and put out her hand. "Elizabeth Meadows, Lord Black and Mr Lupin, very nice to meet you", she said. Her friend offered her hand to Remus. "Panacea Kepler, Mr Lupin and Lord Black; very happy to make your acquaintance".
They all shook hands. Panacea then turned toward Hobby, and offered her hand. "Hi, I'm Panacea. What is your name?"
"Hobby", said Hobby, grinning widely and offering his hand. "Muggleborn?", he asked, smile firmly in place to show the question was not because of the usual - prejudiced - reasons.
"Muggle, actually", she said. Hobby's eyes widened. "But why do you ask?"
Hobby looked sideways at the other woman. "Well, people raised in the wizarding world would never even think of shaking the hand of an elf", he said.
"Yes indeed Hobby, I was raised in the wizarding world, though I am a half-blood. I met my husband when were both about twelve - about three years before he was bitten. It just didn't feel right leaving him after what happened to him, so I stayed with him. I have never regretted it", she said with a smile.
"But how does a muggle meet a werewolf?", asked Sirius, then bit his tongue when Hobby slapped him on his arm. "I'm sorry, I tend to speak first and think later".
"It's a valid question though", said Panacea, pushing a couple of chairs forward for the men, while her friend conjured one for Hobby. "I'm an electrical engineer" - Sirius looked nonplussed - "and I was driving home from the site of a blown transformer at a sub-station out near Snowdonia Park - one of the really remote ones - and my car had a flat on a lonely stretch. I pulled over as well as I could, but ended up on the wrong side of the road. This was about 5am or so, so I wasn't too worried; it would be light enough soon for me to change the tyre and be on my way, except for being enormously tired and hungry and irritable".
She could see they had guessed at least the next part, so she continued. "I got out of the car, and was just leaning against the bonnet. I had been waiting for about ten, maybe twenty, minutes, when I heard a growling behind me. I looked around and got the shock of my life: there was an absolutely enormous wolf, with slavering jaws, running at me full tilt."
No one was breathing. Clearly she was alright, and not a were, so the ending must have been OK, but the suspense...
"I had the presence of mind to jump into the car and lock the door, and the wolf hit the side of the door hard, clearly winding it and laying it low for a few minutes. I wasn't safe though; one window was open - the left rear window, luckily, so it was furthest from the driver's seat. The wolf shook itself after a minute or so, then loped around to the open window. It tried to grab me through the window, but the window was a bit too small for its head and torso, and its arms - long as they were - would not reach me."
"I sat petrified, scared out of my wits, frantically trying to remember what I knew about wolves. I tooted the car's horn - it was rather loud, on that model - but it didn't seem to have any effect on the wolf, which was surprising".
"After a few minutes, the wolf appeared to tire, and sat down next to the car, but on the driver's side. It just sat there on its haunches, looking at me calmly. The slavering and the wild look had disappeared, and it looked no more dangerous than an overgrown Alsatian."
Remus nodded. "Moonset", he said.
"Yes. Of course I did not know what was happening. I was not yet out of danger, and the wolf was sitting in a way that it could not easily be seen by other traffic so people may not immediately see my problem. I could not get out of the car and wave someone down, so they might just drive on".
"Imagine my surprise", she continued, "when a few seconds later, the wolf started howling, apparently in pain. Its bones were breaking, the fur seemed to be retracting, and soon there was a somewhat injured man lying on the road, his clothes in tatters, panting for breath and in pain, probably from the hit he took when he rammed the car door.
To say that I was stunned would be a massive understatement. Now, almost five years later, I dread to think how badly it could have gone, but the surprise is no longer there - I'm used to it. I've been told this is how the parents of muggle-born students feel when they are first approached by someone from - Hogwarts, was it?" - the men nodded - "yes, Hogwarts".
"I got out the first aid kit, and tried to help him as much as I could. I also had food, as well as some hot tea in a thermos - working on remote sub-stations makes you learn to be prepared - and I made him sit up and eat and drink something. Gradually he opened up, and told me his story. He was sobbing at the idea that he could have killed me, and was actually feeling quite suicidal at the thought, now that he was human again. He was such a decent man - he wanted to kill himself so there would be no danger of this kind of a near miss in future."
At this point Sirius and Remus exchanged glances, and Sirius had the grace to look more ashamed and contrite than Hobby had ever seen him, in this life or the last. Of course, he knew what that was about, so, not wanting to have Sirius dwell on it, he focused on Panacea, nodding at her to continue.
"So anyway, long story short, we kept in touch. Initially I only wanted to make sure he would not kill himself - he said he was not allowed to seek counselling, and explained the statute - so I took it upon myself. And the rest, as they, is history. It was not some 'love at first sight' thing, much more gradual, but today I love him just as much as I loved him before we got married, and I thank god I was able to snap him out of his suicidal mood that day, and every time I look at my daughter I feel doubly blessed".
"Where were you living before you came here?", asked Sirius.
"It was not easy. My salary was good - I was good at my job - but female engineers are rare, and being a field worker was even more rare. But about three years ago, just when I had delivered, the company started reducing field strength, and I basically lost my job. I had not widened my skills, and the only thing I knew, was no longer as much in demand. I now have a desk job that pays much less, and we make do, but life was hard. It especially sapped Derek when he could not hold down a job for more than a month, and every month we had to depend on my salary. Then the baby...", she sighed.
"Shortly after this hideaway became available, Derek brought me here the day after, just to show me how good it was for him now, and how he was so happy he was no longer a danger to me or our baby, or, indeed, to anyone else. I took one look and realised we could use this. I told Derek to ask around if any of his buddies had wives, and if they would consider moving here and setting up a joint household. There'd be a lot of repairs, too much for one family, but two or three could manage."
She looked a little guilty at Sirius. "We did consider asking you before hand. But one thing I learned at work was that it's always easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. I hope you'll forgive us!"
Sirius would not have said no to such a beautiful woman, whatever she asked him, even though she was clearly happily married and he did not even remotely intend to hit on her. It was just basic gallantry after all.
"No no, my worry was about your safety. What do you do on full moon nights - I understand there are about forty weres here".
"We all go off to my mother's place in Wrexham. It's about forty miles, but it's just me and Liz and two kids-"
"-and her mum is sweet enough to pretend she has two daughters and two grand-children", smiled Elizabeth, with a look of gratitude at Panacea.
"Hmm, OK. Only two of you? No one else in that group married?", Remus asked.
"You said it yourself. Our men are lucky - you know it's not easy for them. But over the last two years - thanks to you - I think a few of them have managed to acquire girlfriends. The only trouble is they're all muggles, so how to tell them, is the issue."
Sirius nodded at that. "Well, how're you guys set for money? You still have your job? How do you get there from here?"
"We're OK. Not extravagant, but once in about two months we can take in a movie - we alternate babysitting with Liz and her husband - and that's more than we hoped for about three years ago."
Sirius looked at Elizabeth, who nodded and simply said, "we're in a similar position, though since I am half-blood I do have a bit of wizarding money also laid by for a rainy day. It's not much but we make do."
Hobby piped up. "Well, if you need anything, just call me; no strings attached. I'll help, or find someone who will help".
Panacea looked a bit confused, so Elizabeth explained. "Just say 'Hobby' at a normal volume, and he will hear and come".
It took a while for Panacea to digest that, but at the same time, Elizabeth was surprised to see an elf talking independently. She didn't remark on it, though.
Meanwhile, Hobby had a question.
"This is going to sound silly, but I normally see the oddball, Roman inspired names in purebloods, and the normal English names in muggleborns. But... Panacea?"
"Oh my dad was a big fan of Asterix, and when I was about a year old, and my hair had grown a bit, he decided to officially change my name, claiming 'there's only one name for her'", she said, blushing brightly.
AN: this chapter went way way way away from me. I started it intending to kill off the dementors, but then Panacea came along (see chapter 1 for how I pick my OC names) and distracted me.