A Measured Response
This tragedy in Magical Britain demanded to be written. Harry returns from India where he's been studying parsel magic to hear of a tragedy that strikes close to him. Worse, there are attempts to cover it up. This is pretty–uh–very dark. Be warned. BASHING Goblins, Weasleys, Ministry.
Everything belongs to Rowling. I'm just playing in the sand on the beach, and the tide will wash away all sandcastles.
+++ BEGIN: Summer 1998Andromeda Tonks was a strong woman but the events of this summer threatened to break her; Ted was murdered by the ministry, Dora died fighting Death Eaters at Hogwarts, and she was left with infant Teddy to raise and no prospects for money and help. She'd been raised hearing the history of the Black family, learned family magic cast her first intentional spell at seven years – she wanted Bellatrix to stop picking on her so she made her older sister fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon. No one discovered the young witch's use of that spell and others for two years until her grandfather asked for a test to see if she would be powerful enough to be invited to Hogwarts.
A cousin from Uncle Orion and Aunt Walburga's house vanished – the young girl didn't have enough magic to use a wand, and Electra vanished, sent to the 'squibs'. Ten-year-old Andromeda considered pretending she didn't have magic so she could go to the squibs and escape Bellatrix's summer tortures. But that would have left eight-year-old Cissy at Bellatrix's mercy. During the past three summers, the house elves helped the two younger sisters to hide from fourteen-year-old Bella.
Not realizing she prayed, Andromeda whispered, "Mother Magic help me! Help Cissy! We're afraid of Bella!"
Mother Magic heard the prayer because that same day, when Grandfather came to test Andy's magic, he announced that Bella was betrothed to Rodolphus Lestrange. She would spend half of the summer vacation with his family at their home and the weeks she stayed with their parents, the eldest sister would in their company, not in the nursery with Andy and Cissy. Unfortunately, those weeks with the Lestrange family accelerated Bellatrix's descent into the Death Eater madness.
Years later, Mother Magic aided Andromeda with her escape from the forthcoming betrothal with Lucius Malfoy and managed her elopement with Teddy. Andy never regretted turning away from the family except for losing contact with her youngest sister. But Narcissa embraced the pureblood doctrine, and married Lucius Malfoy.
According to Sirius's reports, Narcissa became a Death Eater after her wedding.
'There must be balance in magic,' Andromeda told herself. 'I escaped matrimony with Lucius Malfoy but Cissy was pulled into his grasp. I despised Lupin after he deserted Dora and wished him dead; and he was killed but so was my daughter. I shall not ask for more of Mother Magic.'
Despairing of the future for her grandson, Harry Potter appeared at the funeral for Dora and as the godfather named for Teddy, the wizard offered much needed assistance. Meeting at the Tonks home quietly without notice by anyone, Harry provided Andromeda with a house elf (Winky) who proved an invaluable help with the house, cooking, and shopping while also help to care for the baby. With Harry Potter's huge reservoirs of power, the house elf magnified the wards around the house to repel all wizards and witches, house elves, and owls.
"How will I get my mail with these wards?" asked Andromeda.
The little house elf replied, "Mrs Tonks, the owls sits in trees and Winky pops out to get letters, newspapers, and packages. No curses, compulsions, or portable keys works after Winky's blasts them into next week."
Hearing the muggle expression in an elf's vocabulary, Andromeda looked over at Harry and commented, "You've corrupted a house elf."
"Winky wanted a family. We lost Dobby in the war and you and Teddy give us…give her the chance to be part of a family again."
"Winky's be good elf and loves Baby Teddy. He be safe, happy and smiles for Grandmother Andy and Godfather Harry Potters while Winky has magic to make good home."
When Harry explained about his trip to India to manage his wild powers, Andromeda considered taking Teddy and going with him – she felt much safer with the Boy-Who-Lived visiting every third day. They discussed the possibility but then common sense (and Winky) led Andromeda to decide to remain in England. Harry (and Winky) brought another elf (Amos) to join the family and provide protection for the baby and his grandmother.
"Elves are protective of the children in their family," Andromeda stated before Harry smirked.
"And I've taught Amos to dismember any wizard who attempts to break your wards. Any witch or wizard who tries to lay hands or cast spells on you when you appear at the ministry or Diagon Alley will be indisposed immediately with stomach problems that last for a week. Anyone who persists will be popped away and find themselves on the train tracks at rush hour."
Smiling as she imagined what a pureblood would do if he found himself with a train racing toward him, Andromeda laughed when Winky added, "And nasty purebloods wizards not have any wands or robes when they appear naked nakey on trains tracks. Go splat and that precious blood spreads everywhere."
Glancing at Amos, Winky and Harry, Andromeda paused and then continued, "I'm afraid to ask…have you tested this defense?"
Amos sniffed and bowed, "Mr Harry Potters shows Amos and Winky what to do with a test dummy. Naked nakey dummy land on trains tracks at midnight so no muggles disturbed."
"And Winky lets Amos do to reporter from Daily Prophet Rag of Lies when hes push Mr Harry Potters for words about dead Death Eaters disappears. Reporters go splat very nice and Amos makes mess disappears too. No body to disturb muggles."
Harry said, "No one is going to harm Teddy or you, Andromeda. The officials with the tube told the train engineers that there are ghosts on the train tracks. That's what the engineers see when a problem wizard gets sent there."
Winky popped out to get a tea tray, Amos vanished to patrol the edge of the wards, and Andromeda looked carefully at the Boy-Who-Lived. Then she asked, "Where did this willingness to kill come from? I thought Dumbledore preached forgiveness seven times seventeen."
Harry frowned and explained, "I fought a war when I was only sixteen and seventeen years old. If I didn't kill the attackers, they would have killed me and many innocent people – friends and complete strangers – would die. The ministry is still corrupt and won't stop purebloods from pushing to return to the old ways."
The teenager paused and then asked, "Are you afraid I'll turn into a Dark Lord?"
Andromeda reached out a hand to hold Harry's arm and said, "Never in a million years. You have dark and light magic in you and they balance each other. And I agree…kill when you have to but then move on. Magical Britain is a mess and nothing is going to clean it up until the slate gets wiped clean."
+++ CHANGE: 18 February 1999With Harry back in England and sleeping in Dora's old room, Andromeda felt safer. At breakfast, Teddy played with his food because it entertained 'Dada'. Winky indulged her two young wizards with their play at the table because it made them both happy and proved effective to get a good breakfast into both of them. To protect her housecoat, plate, letters and newspaper, Andromeda sat across the table where Teddy's throwing pieces of fruit and globs of porridge hadn't reached yet. After reading the Daily Prophet, Andy snorted and folded the paper so that Harry could read the interesting article. While Winky cleaned Teddy before passing the baby to his grandmother, Harry finished his breakfast and cup of tea, and glanced at the paper.
"Why on earth would they publish the address for Grimmauld Place?" he asked Andromeda, holding up the paper. "The wards there will fry any wizard trying to break in."
"They want to talk to you and Shacklebolt believes that you'll come forward rather than allow innocent people to get hurt by the wards on the house."
"Innocent people won't try to break into the house," Harry replied. He was quiet for a moment before deciding. "I'll go somewhere and call Kreacher to discuss what he is to do in the house."
Andromeda nodded; she agreed the nasty old elf had no business entering her home and meeting her grandson. Amos and Winky were both instructed to tackle Kreacher if he ever came to this house and hold him until Harry arrived to deal with him. The old elf must have 'known' there was a baby in Black family now but the shame of causing the death of a past lord of the house stained the elf's reputation with all other elves and with the current lord, Harry Potter.
Harry went to Islington and observed the house while under his powerful invisibility spells doubled with the Potter Invisibility Cloak. Four Aurors watched the house front, back, and rooftop from a house across the street. He moved out of London to Wiltshire where he was testing and sounding the ground today. After a time, he called the old elf to his side.
After exchanging insults as greetings, Harry ordered Kreacher to hold the wards against any intruder. To provide the elf with some fun, the floo was to be blocked with a collection of sharp goblin knives, rotten benches, and cracked crocks. Any attempt for remote ignition of the flame to allow entry would pummel the wizards on the other side of the floo with flaming silver, wooden splinters, and large stone projectiles.
Naturally Kreacher noticed all the muggle devices Harry used in this field and inquired, "What is Lord Blacks doing playing with nasty muggle toys? It be cold and wets today!"
"This is muggle magic, Kreacher."
"Muggle magic? Mudbloods don't gots magic!"
"Yeah, they do," Harry explained. "It is just different than wizard's magic. These instruments allow me to talk to the ground and build a picture of what's underneath.
"Underneath the grounds? What's be there?"
Harry grinned. Kreacher asked the perfect question. "Gold. Tom Riddle's hidden gold is around here somewhere."
Muttering about crazy, stupid muggles AND wizards, Kreacher popped away to defend Grimmauld Place from wizards thinking to break inside. Harry continued his work because he knew an Auror was ghosting him today – the ministry watched their monitors closely for any use of powerful magic and at the end of selected days, Harry would intentionally pulse his magic to observe the response from the ministry. Today, they'd put an invisible Auror in place to watch him walking around the land in Wiltshire.
'And if they didn't want the whole world to know where he was sitting, he should hide the warming charms that melt the ice around where he is sitting,' Harry mused. 'And now they'll know I'm hunting gold and treasure in the muggle world after tearing up the magical world.'
Following Harry's instructions, the floo at Grimmauld Place could not be accessed. The attempt to ignite the fire remotely sent a dozen Aurors to Saint Mungo's with burns, stab wounds, and concussions. In a desperate move to get Potter to come in and speak with him, Minister Shacklebolt instructed Director Proudfoot to send Aurors to Grimmauld Place and bring down the wards. He expected Aurors to intercept the young wizard when he emerged and protested the ward attacks.
The Aurors placed the magical devices to sap the strength of the wards and added their own wards to prevent apparition and port keys from working. After two weeks, there hadn't been a sign of Potter on the street and the expense of the operation forced the minister to end it.
+++ CHANGE 02 March 1999The day started off slow for Minister Shacklebolt. Then the Quibbler and Daily Prophet arrived within minutes of each other and both newspapers broke the story about the wasteful spending by the DMLE attempting to break into Grimmauld Place. The articles (identical) included the numbers of Aurors, as well as the price of the costly devices used and destroyed by the fruitless exercise.
Aurors were onsite 24x7 (a muggle expression that means all hours of the day and night of every day of the week) for two weeks. The overtime paid is outrageous! Did the minister think to just ask to speak to Mr Potter?
In a joint interview between the Quibbler and Daily Prophet, we spoke to Mr Potter at an undisclosed location and asked him about the house on Grimmauld Place, his current residence, and his eccentric behavior talking to the dirt around Britain this winter with muggle devices.
Potters responses were as follows:
'Grimmauld Place is a legacy from my godfather, Lord Sirius Black. In his last testament, he left it to me. There's a great library there but since Hermione Granger died in December, no one has permission to enter the house. The wards will kill any intruder.'
Mr Potter added, 'Minister Shacklebolt knows about the interior of the house – he was there often enough during the Death Eater Insurrection as a member of the extra-legal vigilante organization headed by Albus Dumbledore. Ask him about the house.'
'My current domicile is no one's business. Quit trying to find it. And following the letter and spirit of the laws of Magical Britain, a wizard is permitted to protect his home from unwelcome visitors. I have protected my home. None of you are welcome.'
Regarding his exploration of the different soils in Britain, Mr Potter repeated his earlier claim, 'I am searching for Tom Riddle's gold. I told you once that the Dark Lord didn't trust the goblins in Gringotts London with his gold and hid it around the kingdoms under spells and protections. I'm using muggle devices to shoot sound waves through the soil and rocks to find it.'
The Quibbler and Daily Prophet both interpret 'shoot sound waves through the soil' as meaning 'using magic to talk with the dirt'.
(Note: Mr Potter referred to Hermione Granger (Mrs Ron Weasley) and her recent passing while in custody of the goblins for non-payment of a loan to her husband, Ronald Weasley.)
The editors of the Quibbler and Daily Prophet understand Mr Potters reluctance to visit the ministry because the DMLE attempted to break the wards on his home. Perhaps Minister Shacklebolt can meet with Mr Potter at some undisclosed location of his choice and resolve these issues.
Minister Shacklebolt issued an apology to Harry Potter and agreed to meet with the wizard at any place and time he named.
The Daily Prophet returned to the wild reporting the next day with speculation on the treasures that Harry Potter had uncovered (but not paid taxes). 'Is this really a treasure hunt or is the next Dark Lord recruiting followers to launch another insurrection against the ministry? Where's this gold he's searching for?'
+++ CHANGE 19 March 1999The Daily Prophet, the predictable tool that it appeared to be, printed the rumors that Minister Shacklebolt and Harry Potter would meet at Stonehenge to talk about Harry's search for gold (and other matters). That morning, there was a crowd of magical people off to the side and when Minister Shacklebolt appeared in the middle of the stones, there was an attempt to push forward in anticipation of the arrival of Harry Potter. Molly Weasley was among the crowd and like others, she shouted at the minister and refused to leave when ordered by Aurors to do so.
But the time for the appearance of Harry Potter passed with Minister Shacklebolt waiting patiently. The scheduled meeting ended without any word from Potter and the Daily Prophet's reporters decided they had a new scandal. However, when the Polyjuice wore off, Minister Shacklebolt transformed into Auror Andrew Sheffield, everyone realized they'd been hoodwinked.
Auror Sheffield announced, "The meeting occurred elsewhere."
Incensed, Molly assaulted the Auror and was arrested. In the Daily Prophet and all magical media published the next day, Minister Shacklebolt issued photographs and a statement that he met with Harry Potter in muggle park in the city of Bristol. They spoke for twenty minutes without using magic. (Two Aurors in the Minister's protection detail fell asleep when they attempted to draw their wands).
Shacklebolt reported, Mr Potter is spending the winter months searching for gold and jewels hidden by the Dark Lord. He agreed to pay the 25% tax on all wealth discovered during his hunt and agreed to allow ministry officials to view the treasure already uncovered.
The very next day, the same media outlets published another photograph, this time of three trunks filled with gold. Five assessors from the Ministry Tax offices were quoted as saying the meeting occurred in rented room above stairs at the Leaky Cauldron. The assessors were not named or photographed (for their protection). The three trunks represented 25% of gold uncovered by Mr Potter. The funds were transferred to the Ministry for Magic by Mr Potter (and deposited into Gringotts). The goblins were reluctant but they admitted the gold was real and the galleons appeared to have been uncirculated for the last twenty years.
The goblins responded to further inquiries regarding the gold deposited in the ministry's vaults and stated the coins were a mixture of gold that had last been deposited in the Malfoy, Nott, and Lestrange vaults with a sizeable amount also from the Potter, Bones, and Meadows vaults. Minister Shacklebolt's office issued a statement reminding everyone that the Death Eaters contributed their own funds to the Dark Lord as well as taking the gold from families they attacked. Fleamont and Euphemia Potter died in a Death Eater attack that left their home burned to the ground so it made sense the terrorists stole their gold. Likewise with the presence of gold taken from Bones and Meadows families when the Death Eaters attacked, killed the family, and burned their residences.
+++ END CHAPTERBack to the goblins in the next chapter.