Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Puppet of Time

Chapter 15

Draco gave the hippogriff one last pat before he carefully stepped away. They were magnificent animals, but their often volatile temper, easily-insulted pride, sharp beak and even sharper talons made handling them an adventure of its own.

'The other Draco was a blithering idiot to provoke a hippogriff. He was lucky to survive with a sliced-up arm. One slash can easily kill. Hagrid really has no sense for danger.'

Care of Magical Creatures was one of the electives Hogwarts students chose in their third year. Since their teacher Hagrid had never completed Hogwarts (he had been expelled during his third year) and therefore wasn't allowed to use a wand there was no possibility of timely magical first aid in case someone suffered a serious injury. By the time the victim was brought to Madam Pomfrey up in the castle it would be too late. Healing spells were generally only taught starting in fifth year and even then only those for rather superficial injuries. Fortunately there had been no incidents this time, but they still had the entire year to go.

One by one Hagrid put the collars back on the hippogriffs and attached them to chains, leaving the students to themselves for the moment. It was a mixed group consisting of students of all houses. Care of Magical Creatures was one of the more popular electives, making their group somewhat larger than the usual twenty in the core subjects.

Unfortunately Daphne was the only of his close friends who had chosen the same classes as him.

Morag didn't like subjects that required her to dirty her hands. In her words it was bad enough that she had to suffer through five years of herbology – there was no way she would spend more time outdoors in the company of smelly beasts than she had to. Her chosen electives were Arithmancy and Ancient Runes.

Kevin had left Hogwarts and transferred to a magical school in Spain this summer.

Stephen had chosen Arithmancy, Divination and Muggle Studies. Draco considered the last two subjects as taught at Hogwarts a waste of time, but he had been unable to convince his friend of that.

Soon enough Hagrid sent them on their way after assigning them the task of reading several chapters in the Monster Book of Monsters now that everyone knew how to get it open. Well, Draco had known the trick before, but thanks to his little sister his and Daphne's books were quite docile and didn't require that.

"Well, that was exciting." Daphne remarked when they walked back to the castle. "Although I thought Potter would fall to his death when Hagrid let him fly on that hippogriff. I still don't understand how they could make him a professor. Hippogriffs are fifth year material at the earliest."

Draco shrugged. "He knows much about animals and it isn't as if Professor Kettleburn was any better. The man routinely lost parts of his body and managed to amass sixty-two periods of probation during his fifty years here. I figure if they kept him on staff Hagrid is only par for the course."

His girlfriend blinked when she processed the information. "How do you know that?"

"Aquila has been keen on the class for years. She gathered all information she could get."

The blond girl at his side laughed. "That figures. Well, we'll just have to see what happens."

Draco smirked. "Do you want to bet on how long it will take Hagrid to bring something illegal to class?"

Daphne tapped her index finger against her lip. "Hmm, I say one month at the longest. But what about the stakes?"

"How about the loser takes the winner shopping during the next Hogsmeade visit and foots all bills? Nothing more expensive than ten galleons, though."

"Agreed."

They made more idle chitchat until they reached the entrance hall when they had to separate. Daphne headed towards the Slytherin common room in the dungeons while Draco made his way to Ravenclaw Tower. They would have to get ready for dinner soon.

The next few days saw the other subjects introduced. Professor Vector was as strict as expected and gave them tons of homework. Numbers, numbers and more numbers. From what Draco saw Hermione appeared to be in her element. The class consisted entirely of theory; it would be a long time until he learned something with practical or useful applications there. Maybe the basics would come in handy at some point in the future.

Study of Ancient Runes began pretty much as learning of a new language. Having been taught by high-paid tutors in his pre-Hogwarts life, Draco had already a basic grasp of runic scripture, but there was still much too learn. Professor Babbling seemed to be good-natured if a bit absentminded.

Defense against the Dark Arts under Professor Emmeline Vance was mediocre at best; similar to how Quirrel had performed during first year. In the other world Lupin had introduced them to a live boggart during the first session, a shape shifter that assumed the form of a person's fears. Vance seemed more theoretically inclined. She was lecturing about the creature and taught them the spell necessary to fend it off, but there was no boggart to practice. Draco was glad about that. He wasn't quite sure what a boggart would pick up from him, but due to the memories of his other self there were a lot of things he feared. Some of them might lead to problematic questions. Besides, he didn't want his fears exposed to his classmates.

In the next few days nothing especially exciting or unexpected happened. The presence of the dementors outside the Hogwarts grounds was mostly imperceptible. There appeared to be no trace of Sirius Black anywhere. For the time being Draco could act as a normal student and concentrate on class work and school life. Well, as normal as he could get considering his constant research into advanced topics and spells.

"Are we in agreement then, Lord MacDougal?"

The old man nodded slowly. "Yes, Madam Bones. You will have the support of House MacDougal in the Wizengamot."

After going through the necessary courtesies Amelia took her leave, returning to her home via floo. The talks with Lord MacDougal had not gone as she had hoped. Granted, she had managed to get his support for the political coalition she was building, but she had hoped for more active help. In light of the fact that he was the only other person the late Lord Malfoy had confided in she had expected more.

'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.'

Alan MacDougal had been a giant of a man in his youth, a feared fighter in the war against Grindelwald and a passionate, well-respected politician and head of house in his later years, but now he was a frail shadow of what he once had been. Wizened, shrunken, with droopy eyes, his once coppery hair gone snow-white, he was content to sit on his bony arse and do absolutely nothing with all the information and resources he had while their world tumbled towards the next catastrophe. Dumbledore's manipulations and the possibility of You-know-who's return didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. He had openly admitted that he was unwilling to fight.

'I should have expected that. If Abraxas Malfoy didn't manage to get him to do something there was no hope for me. The two were classmates at Hogwarts and life-long friends.'

It explained why she had received the information package from Abraxas in addition to Lord MacDougal. She had never been close to the Malfoy patriarch, but the man had probably been desperate for anyone who might put up an effective resistance to both Dumbledore and You-know-who. Well, and probably the Ministry. While Amelia was part of the Ministry she was also head of her own house and didn't want to see the Ministry's power expanded further than it already was. Abraxas had been a known critic of Ministry expansion.

'That makes four houses that have accepted my leadership. Ackerly, Farley, MacDougal, Yates. Together we have enough votes to match the houses following Dumbledore, but it's still not enough.'

Holding them together for a longer time would be difficult. Amelia doubted she could convince any of the others to join her coalition. That left five houses as independents, their votes going to whoever managed to convince them for a particular ballot. Five followed Dumbledore and eleven the Greengrass-Nott-Malfoy coalition, although Amelia had made some inroads with Lord Mallory, Madam Partington and Dowager Lady Longbottom. Combined with the other people in the Wizengamot who had already supported her before she now had a much more stable powerbase, albeit at the cost of promises and deals that might prove problematic in the future.

Amelia was about to head to her private study when the floo alarm sounded. Turning around, she saw a head in the flames. It belonged to Graham MacDougal, grandson and heir of Lord Alan MacDougal. He had turned thirty earlier this year; the party had been one of the most well-visited social events in the season.

"Good afternoon, Madam Bones. May I come through? We have something important to speak about."

"Good afternoon, Mr. MacDougal. Of course, I will give you access immediately."

A minute later they were seated in the parlour of the manor. "Please excuse my rudeness, Madam Bones, but I will come straight to the point. I overheard your conversation with my grandfather. I am less than pleased with the outcome of your talks."

Amelia raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Graham sighed. "My grandfather is an old done man. There is no fight left in him. All he wants to do is doting on the children and enjoying the last years of his life. He is terrified of losing anymore family members. From what I overheard his inaction will be our undoing." The man shook his head. "I am willing to do everything in my power to prevent the new rise of You-know-who… and bring those who abuse their position to mess with the minds of our children to justice."

The stern witch managed to cover her surprise completely. This was not something she had expected. "That is a very interesting offer, Mr. MacDougal, one I appreciate greatly."

"Unfortunately my support will be limited. As long as my grandfather remains the head of the family I can't publically go against his will. Information and my wand if you need it is all I can offer."

Amelia nodded. "Of course, I understand completely."

They continued talking for a while. Amelia felt somewhat better when the man left. It was progress, if mainly in the morale department. Graham was only a single man, after all. Well, Alan MacDougal would not live forever. With a little bit of luck he would shuffle off this mortal coil sooner rather than later.

Moving to her study, Amelia noted once again how empty the house felt now that Susan had left for school. Out of necessity they had spent far more time together this summer than usual. Amelia had thought long and hard about sending Susan back to Hogwarts – back to Dumbledore and his subtle mind magic. It would have been easy to transfer her niece to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons, to name only the other two most famous schools in Europe. In the end she had decided to take the risk. Doing anything else might have tipped Dumbledore off. Unfortunately Susan's occlumency was still rather lacking despite her best efforts over the summer. Of course, that wasn't surprising. The emotional teenage years were inherently the worst time for keeping control over one's thoughts.

Sitting down behind her desk, Amelia began to review a stack of documents. She had finally collected copies of all the different files concerning Sirius Black and brought them home with her. At first glance everything seemed to be in order. There were ample witnesses about the man's attack on Pettigrew and the muggles. According to the witnesses Pettigrew had blamed Black for the death of the Potters. Black had publically admitted his guilt. Later Dumbledore had testified that Black had acted as their 'Secret Keeper' – apparently the Potters had hidden under an obscure ward to that only that specific person could grant access. Black's wand had been destroyed before anyone could check it due to an accident with a muggle car at the crime scene. That was suspicious, but the number of random people present made it unlikely that it was a deliberate destruction of evidence. The exact spell used to make mincemeat out of the victims and blow up the street was unknown, but the investigators had listed several possibilities that fit the observed effects like no visible spell trail.

'Black received no formal trial, but that was in accordance with the Emergency Powers Act that was in effect back then. There was a short tribunal headed by Bartemius Crouch and Black made no attempt to defend himself. Later review by Wizengamot committee found no exonerating circumstances or violations of the Act and upheld the sentence. Most other similar cases were also upheld, but there were a few overturned sentences and re-trials.'

All in all, judging from the available evidence it looked as if Black was really guilty. Amelia didn't like this imprisonment without Wizengamot trial, but it had been legal and the times immediately before You-know-who's fall had been desperate. Neither did she like Bartemius Crouch, but she had to admit that the man's methods had brought results. As soon as his emergency measures had been implemented against the wailing of Dumbledore's crowd that killing of Death Eaters in battle was evil and they shouldn't sink to their level the Ministry had achieved the first victories of the entire war and inflicted noticeable losses on the enemy. Had he been allowed a free hand earlier they might have squashed the Death Eaters before everything escalated into a civil war with enormous casualties, but unfortunately at that time it had been too late to make a difference anymore; they had been losing to You-know-who regardless. If he had not disappeared after the murder of the Potters he would have won without question.

Still, her suspicion had been roused. Not so much by the legal facts but by what was surrounding the case. All the documentation had been declared secret and sealed after the Wizengamot review. There were very few people besides her who could access the documents even now, but there was no reason she could determine for that secrecy in this case. The Bagnold administration had done a lot of that, granted, but she still found it suspicious.

The second highly suspicious thing was that Black had been portrayed by the Bagnold administration as the Dark Lord's right hand man and most dangerous follower when there was absolutely no basis in reality for that as far as Amelia could tell. Yes, what he had done was horrible, but it paled in comparison to what the Lestranges had done over the course of the war, for example.

Another thing that baffled her was that no one seemed to have questioned Black in all the years he was in Azkaban. The man had been a member of Dumbledore's vigilante organization calling itself the Order of the Phoenix, just like Amelia's brother Edgar had been. Why wouldn't Dumbledore or any of the other members try to find out if the traitor was responsible for any other deaths or why he had turned his coat? Now, it was possible that they thought a confrontation too painful, but somehow Amelia had her doubts.

Overall, if Amelia had looked at the case of Sirius Black under normal circumstances she would have accepted everything despite her misgivings. Now though things were different. The information from Lord Malfoy and the talks with her niece gave much more, extremely disturbing context. Abraxas had warned her about his son Lucius and his leanings without outright saying that the man was a Death Eater, but it didn't require a leap of logic to come to that conclusion. In the same vein he had compiled statements from all the Blacks that they doubted Sirius had ever willingly joined You-know-who.

'This is the crux of the matter – did Sirius Black willingly join You-know-who?'

Sirius' brother Regulus had been a known Death Eater while his parents had been vocal pureblood extremists, but the young man himself had never shown such inclinations. Sirius leaving his family and taking refuge with the Potters had been a medium-scale scandal. Keeping up a charade to mask his true intentions for years was unlikely, especially considering his age at that point in time. In fact, this looked more like a genuine Imperius-case than a willing defection. It even had the customary mental breakdown at the end. Most Imperius-spells had failed with You-know-who's disappearance, but it was possible some other Death Eater had been the caster.

'Why was that never considered?'

Amelia frowned slightly and retrieved the copy from Dumbledore's statement. Unfortunately there was no clear indication if the secret had to be divulged willingly. The wording certainly gave that impression, but Dumbledore never outright stated it as fact.

'That's strange. I would have thought the committee to pay more attention to that point. It might have been the only way to decide if there was an Imperius in place or not.'

Further investigation yielded the composition of the committee. Interestingly at least half the members were people with a grudge against the Black family. They might not have considered things fairly, but there was no way to prove that now, more than a decade after the fact.

Judging from the documents it looked as if the surviving Blacks and the late Lord Malfoy had tried to gain access to Sirius for years, but that had always been denied for 'security reasons' by Bagnold. By the time Fudge came into power the last Blacks were dead or dying. Lord Malfoy had continued his efforts, but he had not approached the matter directly after the change of administration apart from a few inquiries. In light of Fudge's phobia regarding all things relating to You-know-who that was probably wise. Black's case would have landed on his desk thanks to the high-security clearance necessary.

'I suppose he wanted to wait until he had enough pull with Fudge before he approached the matter again.'

Unfortunately his long illness and untimely death had prevented that from happening. There was no proof of Sirius' innocence, only circumstantial evidence that might be missed if one didn't look closely.

Amelia knew Dumbledore had some sort of plan for Harry Potter; a plan that apparently required his placement with his muggle relatives. That was very unusual; under normal circumstances even distant wizarding relatives would be given preference instead. Practically all the Potters' close friends had perished in the war, but there were a lot of related people if one looked a bit further. The imprisonment of his godfather, the only person left who had a direct, unquestionable legal right and obligation to see to the boy's upbringing was just so incredibly convenient in this context. She would have to check the timing of when exactly Dumbledore had placed Harry with the Dursleys.

The review committee, Black's public portrayal as You-know-who's right hand, no efforts by his erstwhile friends and allies to question him – it reeked; it reeked to the high heavens. Oh, there was nothing outright illegal anywhere. Sirius could still be guilty. Even if he wasn't there was no way to prove that someone had deliberately engineered a miscarriage of justice. If Dumbledore had a hand in removing Harry's godfather he had been extremely cautious and subtle. He might have influenced the committee composition or he might have not. A few well-placed seemingly innocent words in a conversation might have influenced opinions.

'Perhaps he didn't even need to do anything. Perhaps everything fell in its place on its own. Perhaps he just had to stand back and let it happen. Perhaps it just was convenient for him.'

Amelia shook her head wearily as she closed the files. The Black case was not the sparking wand she had been looking for.

"… You have to consider Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration in those applications, especially the third and fourth exceptions…"

Ginny simply stayed silent and nodded when it seemed appropriate. Hermione in full lecture mode was a scary thing. All Ginny had wanted was a bit of clarification on second year Transfiguration class, not a full-blown speech that looked like a reproduction of McGonagall's lecture. Unfortunately it seemed as if she had inadvertently triggered Hermione's know-it-all switch. It wasn't the first time that had happened, either. By now she knew the best way to deal with it was to simply wait until Hermione lost steam on her own. She had tried to interrupt the bushy-haired witch earlier as had Neville, but to no avail.

Neville seemed to find the situation very funny. Occasional twitches of his facial muscles indicated that he had to fight hard to keep his expression neutral. Bit by bit he was losing that fight as Hermione continued giving an impersonation of McGonagall. It was eerie.

Suddenly Hermione stopped talking and turned to Neville when an especially loud snigger escaped his lips. "What?"

This seemed to push Neville over the edge and the boy exploded in full-blown laughter. Hermione simply looked at him with a disapproving expression that was again eerily reminiscent of their Tranfiguration teacher mixed with growing confusion. It looked so funny that Ginny was beginning to chuckle as well.

"You too?" Then she folded her arms, harrumphed and began to pout, causing Neville to laugh even louder.

Finally Neville managed to calm down. Wiping tears from his eyes, "Sorry Hermione, you were channeling McGonagall again."

Hermione blinked. "I was?"

Neville nodded, a grin on his face. "And I think your explanation was a tiny bit more exhaustive than Ginny expected."

The older girl turned towards Ginny, the question clearly visible in her eyes.

"I only wanted a yes or no, Hermione."

"You did?"

Ginny nodded.

"Then why didn't you say so?"

"Because you immediately began talking and didn't let us get in a word edgeways." Neville answered for her.

Hermione got a faraway look, obviously replaying the last events in her head. Then she groaned. "I did it again."

Neville reached over the table to pat her hand. "Don't worry, by now we are used to it. We know how difficult it is for you to keep your inner lecturer in check. I'm sure you get it under control in a few years." He waited for a few seconds. "Well, and if not you can always apply to Hogwarts as McGonagall's replacement."

"Prat."

Ginny watched the interplay with a smile on her face. Now, two months into the school year, the two were her best friends in Gryffindor even if they were a year above her. From what she had seen in her first year Neville was normally very shy and somewhat clumsy and forgetful, but he was much more confident in Hermione's company. Hermione on her part had definitely traits of an overbearing know-it-all, but she really tried to rein it in. Most importantly, the two knew about her friendship to the Malfoys and helped to keep it under wraps. Considering the Gryffindor – Slytherin rivalry and especially her family's problems with the Malfoys that friendship was a massive howler waiting to happen. Still, Ginny would never give up her relationship to Draco and Aquila. Without Draco and his grandfather's help that cursed diary might have killed the real her without anyone noticing.

"I still can't believe you took all electives, Hermione. Don't you get overworked?" Neville remarked when they headed back to the Great Hall for dinner. For their study session they had chosen one of the countless unused rooms in the castle.

"I manage." Hermione replied. "It's just a matter of organization."

"My oldest brother Bill did the same." Ginny interjected. "He managed to get twelve OWLs, but he dropped several subjects in his last two years. According to him Divination was a waste of time, though."

Neville shrugged. "I wouldn't know; Care for Magical Creatures, Runes and Muggle Studies are all pretty interesting."

Hermione grimaced. "I think your brother was right. Trelawny is crazy. Well, her constant predictions of Goyle's death are pretty funny, but I'm really thinking about dropping the subject."

"Thank Merlin Draco convinced me not to take it." Neville laughed.

Ginny was already seated at the Gryffindor table when Draco and his group friends entered the hall. They had met considerably less often in the last two months. Draco seemed to be always busy, either with studying, hanging out with his friends or his girlfriend.

'I suppose they make a nice couple.'

Ginny had never really talked with Daphne Greengrass and didn't have an opinion of her one way or another. Well, Aquila liked the pretty blond girl and spoke well of her. The gossip in Gryffindor Tower was far less favorable, but that was probably only the usual prejudice at work. Still, when Ginny looked at them together she felt a slight unease and didn't know why. Draco was a good friend. She should be happy for him.

Shaking her head to banish these thoughts, Ginny concentrated on the meal. Tomorrow was Halloween and she looked forward to the feast. Hermione and Neville would visit Hogsmeade before that, though. As a second year Ginny wasn't allowed out of the castle grounds, but her friends had already promised her to bring something back. The castle would be almost empty. She would use the opportunity to meet up with Aquila. Despite the dementors this school year looked to become much more pleasant than the last one.

A black dog carefully made its way through the woods. Tomorrow would be Halloween. The students would all be at the feast. Then he would strike. The traitor wouldn't escape him this time.

Dolores Umbridge carefully folded her hands while she replayed the statement of the man standing in front of her desk in her head. If this was true… this was the breakthrough they had been searching for. The idiot didn't even seem to realize what he had said. He was one of the workers of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and thought he was here as a candidate for transfer to the Minister's Office.

In the past weeks and months Dolores had dug through old files and interviewed countless people, all in the hope of finding something untoward regarding Harry Potter they could use against Dumbledore. Amelia Bones had supplied her with ample leads, but it was still hellishly difficult to find evidence. According to her it was fact that Harry Potter had been abused by the filthy muggles and someone had covered up all traces, that someone being the esteemed Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore. That all their departments were infiltrated with Dumbledore loyalists who would immediately run to the man if someone asked uncomfortable questions only added to their difficulties. That meant she had to act incredibly subtle and find plausible excuses for what she was doing. Interviews for promotions like the one she did now had been the one used most often. It was astonishing what people let slip if you acted friendly enough and steered the conversation in the right direction. People were surprisingly careless in telling 'funny anecdotes' of their earlier career when they thought they faced a friendly listener.

"Did I hear that right? You obliviated that worker from social services and compelled him to erase all traces of the case, but didn't file an incident report?"

"Yes, Madam Umbridge. Just a memory charm followed by a compulsion charm, nothing more." The idiot apparently still didn't recognize that the formerly pleasant conversation had taken a turn that could break his neck.

"Let me rephrase. You obliviated someone who was investigating alleged child abuse, child abuse that involved a prominent magical child I might add, and didn't see the need to investigate yourself or report it to anyone else as was your duty according to the regulations? Do you know what the penalty for that is?"

Now the man began to sweat. "Arnold Peasegood assured me it wasn't necessary and that he would take care of things. It was all a big misunderstanding. Please Madam Umbridge, I was just helping out that day in the obliviator office."

"I see. Please wait a moment."

Dolores removed her wand from its holster and thought of one of her happiest memories, the day when she had personally witnessed the execution of a dozen merpeople who had attacked several muggles. The foul beasts had taken an exquisitely long time dying. After all, they could breathe for a while outside of the water, but it didn't protect them from a slow death by suffocation if they stayed outside too long… as she had witnessed on that day.

"Expecto Patronum." Immediately a silvery Persian cat sprang from her wand. "Amelia, I have found something that falls into your area of responsibility. Please come to my office at your earliest convenience."

The toad-like witch watched with satisfaction as the man began to pale rapidly while the ethereal cat rushed out of the office. The ability to cast a fully corporeal Patronus was her pride and joy. It was one visible sign of her power as a witch. She had never been more than average at best in transfiguration, potions and most charms, but her skill in offensive and defensive magic and of course the Dark Arts was enormous.

It didn't take long at all for Amelia to arrive.

"Ah, Amelia. Thank you for coming so quickly. Mr. Plunkett here just told me a fascinating tale of how he obliviated a muggle official who was looking into possible abuse of one Harry Potter and then covered up all the traces. Interesting, don't you think?"

The now grey-faced man shrank under the glare of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement and actually began to visibly quiver. Oh, how Dolores loved such moments.

Author's notes: Thanks for all the reviews.

It's been a long time since the last chapter. Unfortunately it's unlikely the pace will pick up anytime soon. Work and poor health have slowed down my writing speed to a crawl.

Guilt of Sirius: Use of the Imperius-spell was apparently widespread at the time of Voldemort's fall. That doesn't even mention possibilities like torture, blackmail or other sorts of mind-influencing spells and substances. Even if Sirius apparently did betray the Potters, why do his friends and comrades in the order of the phoenix believe it was done willingly?

No time turner here. Giving such a device to a thirteen year old school girl never made much sense. Well, the need for it made even less sense. Elective classes shouldn't overlap in the first place. What about students who took, say, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy, the classes canonically taking place at the same time as Divination? Considering the size of the student body (around forty in Harry's year), the need to take at least two elective classes and the number of elective subjects (five) it is unlikely no one did that. Heck, even the end of year exams took place at the same time. Anyway, in this story the subjects are spread out, making it possible for a student to visit them all.

Oh, and at the current time Hermione hasn't purchased Crookshanks. Without the friendship to Ron she had no reason to visit the pet store.

Side note: I'm really not a Ron fan, but Hermione behaved very inconsiderate in book three. She knew her cat had it out for Scabbers (as cats are wont to do) and still brought him into the boys' dormitory while denying the possibility that he would harm the rat. The cat had a very good reason, but she couldn't know that.

So long.