Shown and hidden

The direct aftermath of his abdication had been slightly embarrassing, but Harry and Arcturus were in high spirits for days. How proud Arcturus really must have been, Harry only realised when his grandfather had told him that some of his associates and the Malfoys had asked why he was so spirited these days. While the Malfoys were (to an extent) family, and Arcturus trusted Narcissa implicitly, he nevertheless held reservations about Lucius. The slight mishap of being too open had to be explained away. Arcturus had also gathered that some parts of the family had to have been in on Harry's plan, as it would have been impossible to garner the attention of the Minister with such a matter otherwise.

'Now at least I comprehend why you were practically showered in presents this year, Harry. Not that I doubt how much they all adore their little prince, but to practically deluge you with gifts worth thousands of galleons seems a bit out of the ordinary, even for them.'

Harry shifted nervously in his chair, not willing to try and play his grandfather. 'Yeah, they were most pleased, as you may imagine. I don't think I have ever seen Auntie Bella break down in happiness before.'

Arcturus let out an involuntary grunt and hastily set his cup back down on the saucer. 'Indeed, neither have I for that matter. Truly, it must have been a memorable occasion. Though, to be completely honest with you, I am somewhat glad to have missed it. I doubt I could have seen her in the same light thereafter.'

Harry would not have been able to suppress his laughter, so he made no attempt. 'Yeah, the memory seems somewhat irreconcilable with her. I do appreciate the black touch of her humour, but – in all honesty – she can be a bit scary. Like that machete? Any possible doubts about the "offensive value of the blade" I might have had have been kindly put to rest. Which is why I am even more impressed that Amy was audacious enough to take a picture of her crying mother in an attempt to blackmail her later.'

'Amadina did that?' Arcturus lifted an eyebrow, and Harry thought he saw a glint of grudging respect. 'Well, let us hope she is equally quick on her feet as she was with her camera then.'

~BLHD~

The rest of August flew by. Harry was keen to get as much out of the library as he was allowed to. Though he was sure that Hogwarts had an even more magnificent collection of ancient texts, he had known for some time that most of the more interesting and controversial texts were kept in a restricted section. While his grandfather was, most unusually, away for business, Cranky respectfully opened the door to the library and slouched towards Harry. It was quite rare to see the old elf hold a demeanour other than casual elegance, however strange that was for an elf. Therefore, he immediately put his studies out of his mind and turned towards the small creature. Cranky seemed relieved that he did not have to disturb his work and immediately began to gush, his voice laced with sombre regret.

'Cranky is sorry, Master Harry. Cranky must bring grave tidings indeed.'

Harry felt a shiver run down his spine. Surely nothing had happened to Arcturus? Or anyone else of their family? 'What is it, Cranky?' he croaked feebly.

'Master Arcturus has given all elves explicit commands to not be complicit in any kind of smuggling of Black family books or their contents to you or anyone else while you stay in Hogwarts. Cranky has been thinking about his orders for two days now, but – most vexingly – it seems the instructions left no direct loophole to exploit this time.'

The only reason Harry mastered his urge to laugh was that he was indeed rather annoyed with this turn of events. Most intriguing, however, the elf seemed to rearrange his look of honest dismay into a look of mischievous playfulness before too long. Harry had seen this look often enough to know that Cranky knew something he did not. Cranky would always help Harry however possible but – strangely enough – would sometimes refrain from acting unless given specific commands. The young man had often reflected on this and had come to the bizarre conclusion that this was Cranky's sarcastic way of dealing with his enslavement: if his master was unworthy of his help, he would do no more than strictly necessary.

Harry thought about Arcturus' instructions to the elves. He knew that Cranky had repeated them in a way that summarised them to his benefit, so the answer had to be in there somehow...

A sudden look of gleeful triumph overcame his face, and he turned to Cranky, his eyes twinkling an equal dance of foolhardiness. 'Say, Cranky, would it be possible for you, Minnie and Kreacher to help me copy some books for the benefit of my personal studies at Hogwarts right now?'

The old elf gave a nasty cackle and answered promptly, 'How curious Master Harry should mention this. For some strange reason all kitchen work has been done early, and Minnie and Kreacher have nothing to do at all until Master Arcturus returns.'

No sooner had he spoken than the other two elves popped into the library, both visibly more uncomfortable with their assignment than Cranky. Harry felt equally happy with overcoming the challenge and with the prospect of a few dozen objects of personal study, and immediately set the elves and himself to work, but only after he had given them instructions to never speak of this ever again. He knew there were ways to circumvent these particular commands, but Kreacher and Minnie were not quite as bold as Cranky, who relished in his subtle victories over Arcturus and would gladly keep this from his ultimate master.

In their four hours of time, Harry was completely amazed at the extent of magic the house elves were capable of once they were set to a task. While many of the more magical books had to be copied page by page, Minnie and Kreacher rose to the task with a speed that was probably superior to the average wizard's. Cranky, on the other hand, was like a small ball of magic and, to Harry's astonishment, was able to cast the Geminio charm with both hands simultaneously and at blurring speed. Even the other elves looked slightly alarmed by this extreme showing. Cranky, however, once he noted Harry's incredulous looks, just smirked as he usually did on such occasions. The moment Arcturus' footsteps echoed in the entrance hall, both Minnie and Kreacher disapparated, and Cranky immediately snapped his fingers, and the respectable heap of books at their feet disappeared, presumably under Harry's bed. Harry was still giving Cranky looks of deep interest and could not refrain from asking.

'Cranky, how much magic do you know, anyway?'

To his unexpected discomfort, Cranky slowly turned towards him and looked him straight in the eyes for several seconds, while his demeanour was devoid of his usual pretence of servility. 'Some, Master Harry. Likely some more than most and most definitely more than you. At least for the time being. There may be hope for you yet, Master Harry.'

Cranky's voice had a steely undercurrent, and Harry was not sure it would be wise to continue this particular line of questioning, but he was intrigued. So he tried to settle for a compromise. 'Cranky, I do not mean to pry, but do you think it would be agreeable for you to – eh – disclose some of your abilities at any point in the future?' Harry nervously watched the elf formulate a measured response.

'It could indeed come to pass that Cranky has to unbosom some of what he knows, though Cranky is not sure Master Harry would like that all too much.'

Harry raised an eyebrow and wondered if he had just been threatened by his own house elf. It was not completely beyond what he could imagine. And while every other elf he had known had never tried to go against their master's orders, this one seemed to take a very casual approach to his enslavement indeed. Cranky's loyalty to the house was beyond questioning, but then again, his approach to personal allegiance appeared very loose by comparison. Harry decided to play it safe, as Cranky had never given him any reason to doubt before. While he figured there must be more to this, the old elf had been a fiercely loyal friend for more than eight years, and he did not wish to force the issue.

'I feel like I have offended, Cranky, sorry. I will not speak of this again.'

'Master Harry may put the matter out of his mind. Cranky will not think anything of it.' The elf seemed placated as well. The small frown on his face slowly returned to his accustomed grimace of mischief. 'Cranky shall leave Master Harry for now. Cranky will have to place some protections on Master Harry's new collection at some time – just to be safe!'

After a small pause, his grimace became even more pronounced, and Harry had the strange impression that something like defiance shone from his eyes, though his tone was again very respectful.

'By the by, Cranky has wondered if Master Harry has said his appropriate farewells yet to the noble ancestors of House Black. As far as he knows, there are only two portraits of Blacks in Hogwarts, and the other company may prove to be very dull.'

Cranky's eyes shone again with that foreboding grin that left Harry pondering. If his assessment of elf's character was not very far off, it seemed that he had just given him some kind of hint as a token of goodwill...

~BLHD~

Harry had decided not to ask Arcturus about the whole matter of elven magic. Somehow he did not feel like Cranky would appreciate this very much. For some inexplicable reason, the elf seemed to have revealed more than was necessary. Harry would have to be careful not to betray this trust. Yet he was intrigued, without a doubt. His interest had taken another fierce upturn when Cranky had come to him in a quiet moment and revealed that he had cast 'some protection' on Harry's books. He made it clear that he would consider it a failing in his duty if those books fell into the hands of someone not a Black. While Harry was pleased, he could not help his thoughts from straying again. Usually, he was highly sensitive to magic, much more so than even his grandfather knew. He would often wake at night when he felt a comfortable tingle in the air, which he had in time come to realise was Arcturus at work or study. By now he could differentiate subtle patterns or 'scents' in the air which identified the wielder – or even their family – granted he recognised it.

The night Cranky had allegedly cast his protections, however, Harry had felt nothing – absolutely nothing at all. He was paranoid enough to check if he had been dosed with Sleeping Draught or charmed in any way, but found no traces at all, even after extensive testing. He knew his trunk had not been moved, as he had spent at least three years stacking ward upon ward on his hoard. Arcturus knew how ferociously he guarded his treasures, so he had felt no reason to hold back. The wards had become increasingly more hostile over time; the current state of its protection made him feel quite safe indeed. As he had examined his own work, he had come to the conclusion that the wards were all intact, and – as far as he could tell – had not been disturbed at all. He also recognised his own style of weaving, so there was little doubt on the matter. To his utter amazement, however, all recently copied books that had been stored inside his shut trunk had been layered with several powerful wards and enchantments. Some to prevent removal by anyone not of Black descent, others to discourage copying and, lastly, there seemed to be something Harry failed to place, to his complete astonishment.

Harry did consider himself reasonably knowledgeable in matters of wards nowadays and had only resorted to pilfering the more dangerous parts of the library because all conventional texts on the matter had been exhausted. After hours of testing, though he did not dare directly disturb the weaving, he felt reasonably sure that all the books had been enchanted to vanish after a specific time or maybe under certain conditions. None of the enchantments seemed permanent, except the last, which only gave him more reasons to goggle at the books, feeling like a five-year-old all over again. All research he had done till now indicated that warding not only got more intricate with the number of layers of protection on an item (he was fully aware of that thanks to his trunk project) but especially if some sort of semi-permanency or actual permanency was involved through bare weaving. Chzem had originally focused on the aspect of permanency in the art of warding. Sadly, his ravings were so diffuse that Harry had not yet managed to absorb them. But it was made painfully clear to him that even a single layer of permanent wards or enchantments achieved through bare weaving would immediately qualify for a Master in charms and most Masters never even got there.

During his examination, he had felt Cranky's eyes on him but had managed to refrain from turning around. He knew this was another gesture and likely another test from the wily old creature, and he was bent on solving this himself. Once he was satisfied with his understanding – for the time being – he finally gave a solemn nod to the elf to let him know he accepted the challenge, though he himself was actually not sure what that might encompass. Cranky seemed satisfied enough and disapparated with only the slightest of smirks.

If he really cast the wards himself, I will be hard-pressed to solve this particular mystery in the next few years. Do all elves know that much magic? But Kreacher and Minnie seemed just as much in awe at his display in the library...

Harry had also made an effort to crack the hint about the portraits. He would have spent time with them in any case, so he did not consider this to be work. The stories some portraits were only too willing to divulge to an eager listener were a source of great blithesomeness for him. None of them seemed to be able to help him though, or maybe he asked the wrong questions. Of elven magic, charms or wards they knew nothing more than Harry was aware of. None of them had heard of a second Black at Hogwarts. Even Phineas Niggelus, whom he knew to pick up all manner of strange things at Hogwarts, could not really help in the matter at hand, though he was most eager to try. Sadly, most portraits outside of Hogwarts or the Ministry had some restrictions on their recollections in any case. Even though they were less than shadow and ghost in substance, they had enough personality to chat – true – but they could theorise as well about magic as Uncle Marius. Probably significantly worse, amended Harry, seeing as his Squib uncle (whom they usually didn't talk about) was at least familiar with some concepts of magic. He had had a look at the enchantments needed to create such portraits in an effort to understand Cranky's hint, but soon closed the relevant book, his face green. Who would go to such lengths...?

He was specifically affronted by his own lack of knowledge; he had grown up thinking Phineas was the only headmaster of Black descent ever to grace Hogwarts, after all. There were precious few portraits of Blacks outside their estates, and he was surprised there was one he did not know about. Harry was very proud of his knowledge about the family; not everyone could recreate his family tree at least 350 years in his head without a second thought, after all. Of course, he knew every portrait in their estates by name and history. The identity of this mysterious second Black tortured him to no end.

~BLHD~

All in all, he was completely stuck, and this grated on his nerves, as he was not used to losing in matters of intellect. He was pretty sure Arcturus could still trick him any day, but Harry had come to realise that, while Arcturus was a particularly powerful and knowledgeable wizard, his true genius lay in socialising. And while he might yet hope to eventually reach his magical heights, he did no longer hold to the illusion he would ever be as good with people as his grandfather. Unexpectedly, Arcturus seemed to have noticed how something was preoccupying Harry's mind, but he did not comment for many days. Their last lesson before he would leave for Hogwarts had been rather short. Harry knew that his grandfather had many things on his mind. Their relationship had become even closer in the last month, and Harry knew that, though both of them often complained how overprotective their relatives were, Arcturus was at least as worried as the rest of them combined. Harry would never mention this, of course. He knew how hard the loss of practically a whole generation of his family had hit the man and, for all his obvious show of integrating Harry as a Black, he knew a man could never forget his first grandchildren so easily. Thus he was not exactly surprised by the subject of their following discussion.

'Harry, I would like to establish certain rules for your stay at Hogwarts. I know you to be a young man of good judgement, but I would wish for you to heed my wishes in this matter.'

Guilt crept like heat through his guts, and he knew he would never be able to deny whatever request followed now. His face must have shown his discomfort, as Arcturus hastily returned a consoling smile.

'Not to worry, Harry. I did not mean this in reference to past deeds. My line of thinking was about your remarkable acts of determination you allow yourself to be wrapped up in now and then. I think you may find the contents of my restrictions bearable.'

Harry relaxed slightly, though he still felt quite hot and uncomfortable. 'What is it?'

'I would like you to treat your entire stay at Hogwarts as a matter of House Black for the time being. I am sure we understand one another.'

The young heir did indeed understand. In short, he would have to set personal struggles aside for the most part and act on the behalf of House Black. In extreme cases, he might be able to circumvent this rule, but he would have to be careful with his methods. It was a small thing, however; he had always anticipated this. What came next left him slightly perplexed by contrast.

'I would also like you to keep up your Occlumency while in the castle. Especially during lessons, in the Great Hall, and all your public dealings when you are not exclusively in the company of those you consider friends.'

Harry frowned slightly. Arcturus always put a great deal of thought behind every word he said. What many would not have gathered from his little speech was how this effectively meant that Harry would not drop his Occlumency for at least many months to come in the company of anyone but his cousin. Being a 'friend' to a noble House was no recognition easily given. It also meant that he suspected foul play or at least some form of trouble.

'I understand, Grandfather,' was his eventual answer. Arcturus nodded curtly.

'Also, though I feel you may not need much convincing in the matter, you should keep the topic or at least the origin of your wand to yourself. I have already informed the family of this decision. You may have to divulge some information eventually if you cannot shift attention from the subject, but I trust your judgement in this.'

Harry saw no problem with this request. The only person he had ever talked about his wand with sat opposite him. He nodded.

'Next, I would like you to keep an eye on the staff at Hogwarts. I do not wish for you to spy on them, merely observe them carefully. You need not report your observations, but I will stress the point that I do not have faith in some of the recent appointments. Or some of those that happened long ago, to be honest. In a good effort, it has been ensured that the educational standard of Hogwarts is now better than in recent centuries, so you will have no complaints there. I will not restrain myself from telling you, however, that the personal loyalty of several Professors stands in question.'

Harry wondered if he read the situation correctly. From his understanding, Arcturus had used what connections he had left to secure some dismissals in recent years. He was obviously not able to prevent other political factions from appointing their candidates. This was made worse by the fact that nowadays there were many political camps that tried to stay in the shadows. It was hard to prepare for antagonism if you were not only unsure who the enemy was, but also if there was an enemy to begin with. All in all, a pyrrhic victory at best.

'Lastly,' he added with a genuine smile, 'I shall leave the matter of revealing your magical abilities to your discretion. I think you may see the wisdom in not revealing how proficient you really are in matters of Charms. You will have to learn Transfiguration from the beginning with your classmates, same with Potions and Astronomy. I would also not advise you to flaunt most of what you know about Defence, or for that matter, the Dark Arts. But we have talked about this, and you have a free reign.'

After a second of consideration, he nodded. 'I understand, Grandfather. In fact, besides your advice regarding Occlumency, I would likely have taken a similar approach in any case.'

'I know, Harry.' Arcturus seemed to relax, and let Harry know that the official House Black business had been dealt with. Shortly thereafter, Cranky offered both of them refreshments. Arcturus ordered a specific elven wine, while Harry accepted a butterbeer, which he casually drank right from the bottle.

Arcturus good-naturedly lifted an eyebrow, causing Harry to chuckle.

'Sorry! Couldn't resist, seeing as I shall have to refrain from doing this in the foreseeable future.'

They shared small laughs, and the conversation soon turned to matters of little importance, but Harry always enjoyed the time he spent with his grandfather, especially if there was no business at hand. He was glad for the opportunity to relax without having to guard himself in any way, and he knew his grandfather felt the same way. Besides Harry, there was probably only the rest of the Black family with which he could share some rare moments of inconsequential bliss, as being vulnerable in the presence of political allies or friends of House Black, authentic or pretended made little difference in this matter, was unthinkable. And even the matter of whom to really consider family was not always completely clear...

Harry was absent-mindedly changing the colour of the label on his butterbeer with every tap of his wand when Arcturus finally brought up the matter of his research.

'You have been quite busy lately, Harry. I am pleased, of course, with your vigour in matters of study. What slightly concerns me is the lack of sleep you seem to have had for some time, not to mention your driven expression.'

Harry paused his wand play and thought about what to say for a second. Lies were not tolerated here.

'Yes, some matters were recently brought to my attention. They are more of a personal concern, though. What really drives me up the wall is my slow progress in the matter.'

Arcturus examined his expression for a moment before he spoke slowly in an attempt to hide his amusement. 'You are stuck, dear Grandson?'

'A temporary deceleration of progress would have been my preferred phrasing...' mumbled Harry, and he knew this was immature, but he could not help himself. Arcturus seemed highly entertained in any case.

'So I take it this is no matter of concern for the family?'

The question was light, but Harry knew what this was about. His grandfather was very lax in most things, especially considering their positions, but the bottom line was always to never undermine the family. There was no need for a reminder though, as Harry's priorities had been headed by the interests of House Black for quite some time now.

'No, it is more a personal challenge, I guess. As much as I enjoy the task, I guess I am not used to slow progress.'

'How could you be?' mused his grandfather. 'I do not think I remember you brooding over any problem, magical or otherwise, for very long before coming up with an acceptable solution. In this regard, I think it is high time you make your way to Hogwarts. That place brims with the unknowable. I think you will enjoy your stay there very much. As much as you repeat that you hate your slow progress, I know you to enjoy unravelling these things thoroughly. Also, you may find someone at school who may be fit to hold a candle to yourself, in certain areas at least.'

'We'll see,' Harry responded cockily, though he was definitely excited at the prospect of worthy competition. Seeing the restored mood of his grandson, Arcturus chuckled.

'Also, I think you should use your stay there to confront your issues with the fairer sex, Harry.'

Harry shot him a betrayed look, which only added to his grandfather's entertainment. It was clear who was on both of their minds.

~BLHD~

That night, Harry had slight problems falling asleep. His talk with his grandfather had indeed put his mind to rest – to some extent at least – but now he found himself very much impatiently awaiting his term at Hogwarts. For that reason, it may have been best that he was not awake when all three house elves silently entered his room in the middle of the night.

Cranky threw a calculating look towards Harry that, for all the apparent strangeness of this situation, revealed the deep conflict in the ancient creature. The other two stood near the door, their uneasiness palpable, exchanging nervous glances between Cranky and Harry. Cranky, however, seemed to finally have come to some kind of decision, as he, after some hesitation, purposefully strode towards Harry...