Chapter 7: Rats and Dogs
Thanks for the reviews. Suggestions, praises, corrections, and constructive criticisms are always welcome.
It's a bit shorter, but I decided to stop where I did.
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Gethsemane finally got to get back to the ministry. She had seen that Fluffy had been taken care. Hagrid had shipped the dog off to the 'Greek chappie' that he had won him off of. Dumbledore had insisted the dog be returned to his previous owner at the end of the last school year. Something about getting caught red-handed, or some such. Either way the dog was gone from the castle. She was glad for it; it was one less creature to worry about.
Prickle had brought the rat in the cage with her. There was just something about this rat that was just wrong. It had been left behind in the Gryffindor dorms by one of the first years. The father had come to take them and they had left in such a hurry that the boy had not had time to hunt for the missing pet. When she had found it, it had been sleeping on the bed, and it just pinged her radar as wrong. So, she had caged it and put it aside.
Now it was doing its best to get out of the cage, even going so far as to try and pick the lock with its nails, which was bizarre. Good thing she had made it unbreakable. She cast a multitude of spells trying to see what was different about this rat. Trying to see if it was a breed of magical rat that had never been discovered. There were new breeds found all the time. Finally, she did a Homenum Revelio spell, and found that it was a human disguised as a rat.
Sighing, she sent a Patronus to Amelia. This was her area of expertise, not Gethsemane's. Prickle tapped her fingers on her desk while she waited for her friend and coworker to show. She, like Bones, could operate her department without her secretary. However, she did miss the man's help. He knew were everything was, and he made a great cup of coffee.
She would have to go and see if they had made any progress on their strike. Someone should have talked to them by now. If only those old goats in the Wizengamot would get off their arses and get this settled, things would start functioning again.
She also missed the many employees that were striking. She didn't discriminate when hiring. She did understand why they were with their peers though. The hatred that was in the ministry was appalling. The lack of advancement in many departments was awful. They were just as, if not more so, skilled as those that got advanced on a regular basis. It was just pitiful that there were so many good men and women held back by bigotry.
While she was lamenting her diminished crew, Amelia showed up. "What do you mean you have a rat that's not a rat?" she asked without preamble. She had just gotten Harry to tell her more about the house elf that had showed up at his house that summer. She had had to bring him and Susan here to the ministry so she could get more of the story and get his record expunged. If a house elf did the magic, he didn't deserve to have that mark against him.
"This rat was left behind when the kids were evacuated. It's one of the Weasley boys, I think. It was on that kid's bed anyway. It registered as different to me, so I did a whole slew of spells on it, and finally did a human revealing spell, and it shows as human," Gethsemane said, waving to the rat in the cage, who was cowering in the back now, showing it understood what was being said. They could see its beady eyes were trained on Amelia.
"Well, let's see who we have," she said, taking the cage, stunning the rat, and expanding the cage. She then did the reversal spell on the rat, causing it to revert to human, which was quite painful, and saw it was Peter Pettigrew. Albeit a very rat-like Pettigrew.
"Well, fuck," she said, hating life right now. This was the last thing she needed. She was still contending with the fallout of Hogwarts and the strike going on here. She recognized him from his picture in the hall of Order of Merlins.
"Amelia!" her friend said, aghast, Amelia never cussed.
"Do you know who this is?" Bones asked, waving her hand at the rat-like man.
"No, who is it?" Gethsemane asked, not knowing the man. She was much older than him, so she hadn't gone to school with him. Though she thought she might have seen a picture of him once.
"That, my friend, is a dead man," Amelia said, running a hand through her hair. She hadn't put it in her customary bun. "I need to get Black out of Azkaban. Shite," she said, stamping her foot on the ground, and putting her hands on her hips in the thoughtful manner. She was trying to wrap her brain around what to do next. This was going to open up a whole new mess of things that involved Harry Potter.
Didn't everything these days? Double shite. Wasn't Black the boy's godfather? Damn, damn, damn. If he was innocent, heads were going to roll. There might be lawsuits, and the ministry would be one of the first sued. Dammit all to hell and back. This was a screw-up of major proportions. And she knew who to talk to first about it. She had him tied to a bed. He'd keep until she got Black here and saw to his mental health. If he was not crazy from all the years in Azkaban, then she was going to be questioning Albus a bit more thoroughly.
She shot off a Patronus to the warden of the prison to have Black, cleaned up and ready to go when her Aurors got there, and he'd better be in one piece and undamaged. She then made Peter go back into his animagus form. She shrunk the cage, made sure it was unbreakable and picked it up.
"Thanks, Gethsemane," she said sincerely. "You might have given me more work to do, but you have saved a man from more years in prison," she said, moving to leave the room. "I'd tell you more, but it's now an open investigation," she said, waving to her goodbye, she left the room.
Prickle, while curious, was just glad it wasn't her job to clean up the mess. She went to her desk and started filling out all the paperwork from the jobs they did at Hogwarts. She filled out the paperwork for the one job they still had to do. Then she'd be done with the school, and it could reopen.
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Susan and Harry were in the ministry just walking around. They had come with Amelia, since she didn't think it would take long. They were informed they were to stay in the building and to keep out of the other departments. So they were just wandering the hallways and riding the lifts. Harry got the bright idea to go and see the strikers. He wanted to know what their cause was.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Susan said, not leaving the lift. She had come with her aunt many times, and Aunt Amelia was very clear about what she could and could not do. Going to talk to people she didn't know was one of the things that she was not supposed to do.
"You can go back up to your aunt's office. I'm just going to ask a few questions," Harry said, moving off the lift. He didn't really like Susan anyway. She had been downright rude to him this year, and she had led that group that tried to get to Ginny. She was a follower, and he didn't trust her to not do the same in the future if something like that happened again. He was only nice to her because her aunt was nice to him.
"You'll get into trouble," she tried to talk him out of it. "Aunt Amelia will be mad," she added as if that would stop him.
"For asking questions?" he said in a high tone. His voice had been doing that since the beginning of the year. It was rather annoying. He cleared his throat. "Not bloody likely," he scoffed in a deeper tone, and moved to the group of protesters. There he noted the man who stood in front and went to him. "Excuse me, sir. Why are you protesting?" he asked as politely as he could.
"The horrible treatment that muggleborn get here and all over the British Wizarding World," Thomas answered, looking down and seeing none other than Harry Potter asking. "Harry Potter, as I live and breathe. We heard of your sit-in and decided it was time to do something too," he added, shaking the boy's hand.
"Please, I'm just Harry," the preteen tried, knowing it was futile. "It wasn't my sit-in. It was Terry's," he felt compelled to add. "Can you explain a bit better what you mean how the muggleborn are treated," he requested, looking closely at the man's face. He wanted to judge the truth of his words.
"Rumor has it that your best female friend is one of the smartest girls at school. Is that true?" the man asked, squatting down a bit to be eye level with him. He wanted to make sure the boy could see how truthful he was being.
"Yes, Hermione Granger. She's wickedly smart," Harry said, beaming proudly about his friend. She deserved every bit of that pride.
"Your mother was smart too," Thomas said, giving the boy an encouraging smile.
"You knew my mother?" Harry asked, hoping for some insight on the woman no one talked about.
"Only in passing, sorry," Thomas said, with a sad sigh. Then he got back to Hermione. "Now imagine your friend graduating top of her class and coming to the ministry to try to be the head of the department of her choice. She's smart enough for it. She's got the education, and the drive. However, when she gets here, she's told she will never get higher than a clerk," Thomas explained it to Harry as simply as he could.
"That's not fair," Harry said, worried for Hermione's future now. She'd be gutted.
"Now picture the dumbest pureblood in your class comes and applies for the same job that your best friend did. Even if it is just a clerk's job. He can't do the job like she can, but he'll be hired before she will because he is a pureblood," Thomas went on.
"I see," Harry said, his dander rising. There had to be something he could do to help. "What can I do to help?" he voiced his thoughts.
"Well, you can march with us, and let the world know that you support our cause," Thomas said, though he was worried if a riot broke out. He would have to do his best to protect the boy.
"I can do that, until Madam Bones comes and gets me," Harry said, picking up one of the discarded signs that said, 'Equal jobs for Equal pay!'. He could get behind that. "For the future!" he yelled, making the strikers yell it to.
Everyone was more than happy to see a celebrity take up their cause.
Those that were looking on, weren't so sure now that Harry was with them. It just got more real. They would have to think about it more seriously now. It was amazing what having a celebrity join would do to the mindset of the public.
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Harry and the strikers had been marching for about an hour when Madam Bones came down. "Harry," she said, with exasperation, "what are you doing?" She pinched the bridge of her nose. Susan had reported that he was here, and she had come after she had seen to it that Black was in an interrogation room. He was sleeping right now, and she was going to go and see him next.
"Protesting," he said with some sheepishness. He hoped she would let him stay as long as he could. He didn't see the problem. He was hoping a reporter showed up sometime soon. That way he could give his side of the story and then leave it to the adults.
"Do you even know what you're protesting?" she inquired with a lifting of her eyebrow. She didn't doubt that he did, but she wanted to make sure that they didn't coerce him into picking up a sign because of his hero status.
"Yes," Harry said with an eager nod. "Mr. Starchers told me," he explained, nodding to Thomas. "He explained that Hermione wouldn't be able to head a department or be minister," he added quickly.
"I did tell him that," Thomas said, going over to the boy and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I told him how his best female friend will be treated if she ever comes to the ministry. I did not lie or exaggerate," he said, making sure that she knew he presented the facts only.
"I see," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose again. "Susan is going to the Abbotts again. I have to do some work here tonight. You can stay here, or join me in my office," she offered, hoping he stayed here. It was unlikely that anyone would start trouble this time of night. It was closing time here at the ministry. She knew some strikers would stay to keep the spot.
"He can stay with me," Thomas said, squeezing the hand on the boy's shoulder. "I am staying tonight," he explained. He had gone home the last three nights, so it was his turn to stay.
"Very well, I will come and collect him when I am done," she said, in a no-nonsense manner. "Shacklebolt," she called to one of the Aurors.
"Yes, ma'am?" the large bald black man asked when he came forward.
"I need you to keep an eye on Harry," she said, pointing to the famous boy. "If any fighting happens, he is your top priority. Am I understood?" she asked, knowing the man would do everything in his power to keep Harry safe.
"Yes, ma'am," Shacklebolt said, positioning himself near the boy. He didn't want to get caught unawares.
"I should be done around ten, but if I'm not, I expect you to tuck him in somewhere," she gave the two men a glare and went back to her office. She knew what she had to do still could take all night. However, they were magicals and they could conjure a bed and blankets and put them in an out of the way place for the boy.
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Albus Dumbledore was not a happy man. He was still tied to the bed without a wand. Poppy decided against going and getting his old wand. Stating that he needed to rest, and he could do that better without trying to escape.
He didn't even understand why he was tied to the bed. All he did was tell the woman no. He did things like that all the time. No one had ever tied him to the bed before. That and no one had come to visit him. He had no idea what was going on in his own school. He had heard Minerva call for the evacuation, but she didn't come and talk to him first. As far as he knew he was the only person in the castle.
Well, him and Poppy, who was coming towards him right now. "Poppy, please untie me," he requested, trying to make her see reason.
"Not on your life," she stated, waving her wand over him to see if he was doing any better. "You are a very sick man," she said, looking at the diagnosis. It showed that his health was failing. Like something had been keeping him alive, but he no longer had that item. 'Could it have been his wand? That's ridiculous,' she thought.
"I do feel under the weather, but I need to know what is going on in my school," he persisted.
"The school is closed. You and I are the only ones here as of this morning," she said, having seen Hagrid off to go and take some time to get over what he considered the murder of his friends.
"Do you know when it will open again?" he asked, hoping to be feeling better by then.
"In a few days. Gethsemane wants to do one more sweep to make sure there are no hidden animals laying about," Poppy said, going over what she knew.
"Ah," was all the man could say to that.
"You are in trouble with both Gethsemane and Amelia. I'd get as much rest as I could, if I were you," the matron stated, floating a vial of potion to her. "Here is a restorative potion. Take it and rest," she said, handing him the vial.
"If I must," he all but whinged. He really hated that he was stuck to this bed while the world revolved without him.
"You must," she said, folding her arms. It was bad enough that she had to stay here with him because he was under house arrest, she was not going to put up with his shenanigans.
Albus took his potions and promptly fell asleep.
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Amelia went to the interrogation room and woke Black up. "Sirius Black," she said, slamming her hands down on the table.
"Wassat," he mumbled, jerking awake. "I was having the best dream I've had in years," he complained, rubbing his eyes, having to bend his head down to his chained wrist. "There were no dementors and I was clean. Well one out of two ain't bad," he said, looking down at his dirty hands.
"I want to know what happened that you got sent to prison without a trial," she demanded, sitting in the chair opposite of him. She had looked for his file and hadn't found one. Not even an arrest record, so she knew that he hadn't had a trial. There was a slip of paper sending him to Azkaban, signed by Bagnold, Crouch and Dumbledore. She was getting a very bad feeling about this.
"How should I know? One minute I'm cornering Peter, the next I wake up in my cell. That rat bastard got away. I was stunned at the scene and woke up in Azkaban. I swear, I never even saw a holding cell," he said, moving to hold his chained hands up in a vowing motion.
"You didn't even get processed?" she asked, groaning. That was even worse. She knew, down deep, what with there being no records, but she had hoped they had been misfiled. With the strike going on, it was possible. Too many people were in and out of the records room, and none of them knew what they were doing. She felt bad for the person who was going to have to straighten up that mess.
"Not that I recall," he stated, leaning his head down to scratch his nose. He was still wearing his dirty prison robes and they really hadn't cleaned him up that well. His face was caked with dirt in streaks. It was like they dumped a bucket of water over his head and called it a day, which is exactly what they did. And a cold bucket of water at that. He could still feel the wetness down his back from his hair, which was long and knotted. He'd kill for a shower and some scissors. Or a wand and an hour with a mirror.
"Walk me through that Halloween and the following day," she said, taking out her notebook and pen.
So he did, and she jotted it all down. There was no doubt in her mind that he was innocent. Dammit, this was bad. "I have a safe house for you to go to. I need you to stay there for a few days. The muggleborn in the ministry are currently on strike. If I bring this up now, it'll get buried, and you'll disappear. Who knows how long it will take to find you again. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" she said, looking at him with sincerity in her eyes. She didn't want that to happen.
As it was, she was going to have to bring this up to the Wizengamot at the next meeting, which was weeks from now, unless they called one to end the strike. If she could slip this in then, that would work. She'd have to recuse Dumbledore, though she might have him in her cells at that time. He had broken quite a few laws. Still, he was a tricky one. Not to mention politically powerful.
"I get it. However, what is a strike?" Sirius asked, not sure what that word meant, but from her demeanor it was trouble.
"The muggleborn are protesting their treatment by not working and standing their ground in the atrium," she explained. "Your godson has decided to back their cause. In fact, it was him and his school friends who started the whole thing by having a sit-in," she stated, though not elaborating on why they had the sit-in.
"You're not going to tell me why?" he asked, wondering if it was truly that bad. Harry had been in the middle of a political standoff? At his age? He wasn't sure if he was mortified or proud. At least the kid knew what he wanted. That was more than Sirius knew at that age.
"I'll let you read all about it in the papers," she decided, gathering up her notebook and going around to undo the cuffs. "Come on, I need to get you to safety before anyone finds out you're here," she said, hoping the minister and his toad were gone for the day. "We'll floo from my office," she said, throwing a Disillusionment Charm on him. They made their way to her office and used her floo. It was one of the few that had out going capabilities. She took them to the safe house.
"Nice," Sirius said, looking around at the plain house. There was the floo, a couch and table and a chair. Nothing to write home about. Anything would be nicer than Azkaban.
"It'll do until we can get you cleared," she said, leading him to the bathroom. There she pointed out some scissors and combs. "There are some self-sizing clothes in the bedroom, and some other necessities here in the bathroom. Food will be brought by a house elf. Don't abuse her," she warned. She had heard that the Blacks treated their elves poorly. "I don't have a wand for you," she apologized. "I don't know what they did with yours." She hadn't found it in the evidence room. It might be in Azkaban; she'd have to message the warden.
"Don't worry, I'm not my mother. Your elf is safe," Sirius said, heading to the shower and turning on the water. "I'm about to undress, and I have no shame," he said, leadingly. He started taking off the shirt and was happy to be rid of it. His chest was just as dirty as the rest of him, and bone rail thin. She could count each rib.
"Fine, I need to get back anyway. Make sure you eat plenty. I need you healthy. So does Harry. I'll see you in a few days. Stay in the house," she said, going back to the floo. She went back to her office and started on all the paperwork over the last few days. It would take her hours to finish it and that's not even starting on anything to do with Harry. Which she had to keep a secret for now anyway. Even that she had Black on ice for the moment.