Sirius and the Dark Black

by teckie32

Two years the Dark Lord has been vanquished, Sirius leads a peaceful and uneventful life on his country estate. Too uneventful for his liking until believes he has finally found a replacement for James. Late, he realises that the groundwork has long ago been laid to continue establishing Wizarding Supremacy. Sirius and his family are the prime targets of the conspiracy.

33. A Trail Of Blood

At breakfast the next morning, Sophie asked Marius: "When you told us about Mercuria's picture books, it sounded as if there were more than just one. Could there be other stories we should know about?". "I can't remember. It's so long ago. But we can have a look at them, I still have them with me". He summoned the books with his wand. There were ten books. Marius handed them out to the others. Just as they were starting to leaf through the books, the boys burst into the room. Sirius shouted, "Alphard, Phineas, over here. I have a picture book here by your mum. Let's read it together". Joyfully, they rushed over and sat on his thighs as he began to leaf through it. Teddy took Andromeda on his lap and Asterion asked Marius to do likewise. Only Procyon remained in the middle of the room, undecidedly watching the others leafing through their books with fascination. Now and then a giggle or a sigh could be heard. Suddenly Regulus burst into laughter. "This is just too good. Mercuria was so much more than just a great artist. She had a very special sense of humour as well. I wish our parents had given us such books as children. But alas, that was unthinkable". Procyon rushed up to him. "Uncle Regulus, may I please read this book with you?". Surprised, his uncle looked at him. "I thought for someone who knows how to read picture books were babies' stuff?". Procyon pondered for a moment. "I was still very immature when I said that. But I know better now". Regulus smirked. "Come over here, then." The boy slid onto his lap. Together they read the book from the beginning again. A few times, even Lucius snorted audibly. But in none of the stories were there any further references to secret magical practices. When they were done Procyon asked, "Marius. May we have the books? Our mother wrote them, didn't she?". While Marius hesitated, Sirius said: "No, you can't. They are Marius' books. Maybe he'll let you read them if you promise to handle them carefully. But he will definitely not give them to anyone". "But Daddy. Mummy did the drawings. And Marius isn't even her son". Sirius got angry. "Now you listen to me, young man. Marius did have a different mother, but when your mummy took him in, she made him her own. She gave him things that she created only for him. And she put all the love she had for Marius into them. If your mother had wanted you to have any picture books of hers, she would have given you one. But she didn't do that. Each of you has received things from her that nobody else has. And you should be happy and thankful for these things, and you should cherish them. For this very reason, Marius will keep his books. Enough, and end of discussion". Procyon grimaced but dared not contradict his father. Regulus whispered in the boy's ear who relaxed. Finally, he nodded and gave a happy laugh. "I'm sorry, Marius. That was very foolish of me. Perhaps we can have a look at the books together some time?". "Any time you like". Sirius smiled. "Well, that's settled, then. There's not a single clue left in the books. But it just occurred to me that when I was looking for the feather among the things from the house on Newworld Crescent, I saw a portfolio with Mercuria's drawings. Accio portfolio," he waved his wand.

When it zoomed at him Sirius grabbed it with both hands. Andromeda cleared the table to allow Sirius to place the portfolio on it. He undid the string and pulled out the drawings. Regulus and Gavin chuckled at them. The first one showed Sirius as a young man. He was naked, perched on the edge of an armchair. His left leg was nonchalantly placed over the arm of the chair and his hands were crossed behind his head. He had raised his eyebrows and was looking at the viewer with an air of superiority, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Although the drawing was explicit in its depiction of his virility, there was nothing obscene about it; rather, it was a tribute to masculine beauty. Andromeda exclaimed: "My goodness, cousin, what a dish you used to be. You still look exciting today, but back then, good gracious! No wonder that all the girls were just mad about you". And Malfoy remarked, "Really, Black, that woman had a great eye for detail". Sirius said: "When she lived in Antwerp, this drawing hung above her bed. When I saw it for the first time, I was stunned. When do you ever get to see yourself from such a perspective?". Lucius gaped incredulously.

Sirius put the sheet to one side. There were more drawings of Sirius in every possible setting, Marius, James, Lily, people none of them recognised, landscapes and animals. The last sheet was different. Divided into four rectangles, it told a story illustrated. On the first picture an old man was working on a piece at a workbench. What he was doing could not be seen. The man's clothes were tattered, and the room looked very run-down. In the second image, the old man was standing off to the side and talking to another old man who, judging by his clothes, must be a wizard. Now the workpiece was clearly visible. A gleaming golden, life-size automaton was standing on the workbench. "The firebird", Jessie whispered. The third image showed the wizard walking through an unfamiliar landscape, the bird at his side. It seemed alive, but they could not be certain. In the fourth painting, the bird was an automaton yet again. It lacked its seven tail feathers. Towering over it was the wizard, his cheeks puffed out, exhaling a huge cloud of breath that sent the seven feathers whirling into the sky. Sirius turned the sheet over, but the back of it was blank. "Where is the rest of this?". Excitedly, he rummaged through the other drawings, but the end of the story was missing. "Could it still be in the cellar?". He shook his head in dismay. "No, there's nothing left there. I know that for sure". "Maybe she didn't know how to continue?", Jonathan suggested. "Or perhaps she wanted to finish the drawing later on and didn't get around to it". "Maybe she forgot about it, or maybe she thought it was already finished?", suggested Sophie. Marius laughed. "Mercuria never forgot nothing. If she didn't finish the story, then she didn't know how it ended. Among the documents Sirius told us about, she probably only found the first part of the story. Still, she felt it should be preserved. Even if the ending was missing". Gavin asked. "So what does this tell us?". "The firebird is an automaton that was brought to life by the wizard. It was returned to its original state when he removed its tail feathers. It is likely that it will become a living bird again when it has regained all its seven feathers". Lucius nodded, "So far, so good. And what will happen then?". "Who can say. It seems that the wizard did not give the feathers to anyone in particular, but that he simply blew them out into the world". "And?". "Just so". Jonathan wanted to know, "tell me, is it possible for a wizard to create real life? In our world, too, there are stories of dead matter being brought to life by magic. The golem, for example, is a dumb, human-like creature made of clay. It has no consciousness of its own and is subject to the will of its creator. But that is just a myth, I guess. Do you think the bird will really come alive if you return the feathers?". "Well, you can use Transfiguration to transform objects into living things. I can turn a hairbrush into a hedgehog, for example. But the magic soon wears off and the hedgehog becomes a hairbrush again. And a real animal would recognise the hairbrush as an imitation. No, as far as I know, a wizard cannot permanently bring something artificial to life. But then again, the fact that Cygnus as well as the Dark Lord so desperately tried to get their hands on these feathers clearly indicates that superior Dark Magic is involved". Sirius' mind was on what he had just heard. Due to the turmoil of the past few weeks, he had completely forgotten about the book in the secret room of Uncle Phineas' library. The book about how dementors had come into the world. He decided to take a look at it the very next day. Perhaps there were other magical creatures of man-made provenance. Then it would be possible for this automaton to become a real bird.

The next morning, Sirius slipped into the library and found the forbidden room. He had ensured that he was alone because he did not want anyone else to know about the book. With his hands shaking, he took the folio from the shelf and sat down at the table in the middle of the room. When he had leafed through the book for the first time, its contents had taken him by surprise, and it was only as he read on that he gradually became aware of what it was that he had just read. He was hesitant to look again. Never in his life had Sirius been afraid. Even in the most desperate situations, he had relied on his extraordinary skills and defied all threats. Except for the one that crept up on him in his sleep, where it haunted him and sent him into an unparalleled panic.

Sirius took a deep breath, opened the book and flicked through the pages, only skimming the text as he went. There was no mention of other man-made creatures being able to benefit from the complicated and lengthy procedure required to infuse a Dementor with life. Continuing to leaf through the pages, he turned towards the door when he thought he heard a faint sound, but there was nothing. Turning back to the book, he froze in horror as he gazed into a Dementor's wide maw. It took him a moment to realise he was looking at a drawing. He slammed the book shut and threw it away from him. Then he laid his arms on the table and buried his head in them. He flinched when something touched him. "Please, Daddy, don't be sad". He looked up to see Alphard standing before him, crying. Sirius pulled himself together and took the boy into his lap. "Darling, what is the matter?". "We were playin' hide and seek. I was in charge of the search for the others. And then all of a sudden, they were gone. All of them. No one was left. Not even Kreacher". Alphard sobbed violently. Sirius hugged him tightly and cursed under his breath. Probably just another one of Procyon's stupid pranks. He got to his feet and said, "You know what? Let's take the bike and go for a ride. What do you think about it? Just you and me?". The boy nodded enthusiastically. With a wave of his wand, Sirius put the book back on the shelf, bolted the door to the secret room and finally locked it with the key before he climbed up into the library. There he made the floor slid over the staircase and hurried to his motorcycle. He mounted it, hoping that a ride would distract his mind from the horrors of Phineas' secret room. He vowed never to visit the place by himself again.

Over the next few days, messages arrived from some of their informants. Professor McGonagall wrote: 'Rumour has it that the Swan is moving south'. When Jamie Rickett called Sophie a few days later, he confirmed this information. He also suggested that Cygnus and his men might be in Cornwall. Gabriele Delacour had heard that a similar group had formed in France. However, she had not yet been able to locate them. An anonymous letter arrived at the garage in early December. When Sirius showed it to the others in the evening, they were surprised. He explained, "It came by Muggle post. The letter only gives the names and addresses of six people. Judging by the names, they must be Muggles. What are we supposed to make of this?". Jonathan pulled the note across. "Jessie, let's go online and check it out. "Don't you remember my computer broke down last Sunday? It hasn't been returned yet from being repaired". Jonathan turned to Sirius, "Mercuria had a computer, right? Did she have access to the internet?". "Internet?". "She was in touch with clients all over the world, wasn't she? I suppose she did not rely exclusively on ordinary mail or fax. How do you organise these things in your garage?". Sirius had a perplexed look on his face. "Toby does all the paperwork over there. When I hired him, I gave him some Muggle money to buy the equipment he needed. He manages it all. He has a computer too, of course. In the beginning, Curey would check the books from time to time, as she called it. But once she was satisfied that everything was in order, she never checked on Toby again. I'm not running the garage to make money, it's my passion. But I have no idea what's going on with Curey's stuff. She told me what technology she needed when we moved in here. Electricity, of course, a telephone, a TV and so on. So I asked Toby and together we set that up for her. She wouldn't have wanted to live in an all-wizard household. But apart from the phone and the TV, I never used any of her stuff. She had a computer and all the equipment, I know that. But I was never interested in it". "Well, let's see what we've got. They got up and went to Mercuria's workshop. Sirius opened the door with his wand. "I sealed the room after Jessie and Alphard were in here".

They entered. On the workbench lay the unfinished pieces of jewellery that Mercuria had been working on. In a corner of the room stood the large wooden box containing the music automaton that Mercuria had brought with her from Belgium but had not yet unpacked. Several piles of meticulously sorted documents lay on the desk and a computer stood at its centre. Jonathan sat down and switched it on. The computer booted up and the monitor screen came on. Then the prompt "Enter password" appeared. Malfoy drew his wand and muttered: "Password apparere". Nothing happened at all. Jonathan said, "I have a feeling magic won't do the trick. Any idea what the password might be?". Sirius shook his head in reply. "Definitely something extremely complicated. Mercuria was a safety freak". "Maybe she wrote it down?". "Absolutely not. She didn't need a reminder; she had an eidetic memory". "Then we'll have to try". As the others recited the passwords, he began typing them into the keyboard. In the end, nothing more came to anyone's mind. Jonathan said resignedly: "We're getting nowhere. It's completely useless. We must go to your garage and try there". When he wanted to get up, Marius pushed him back down onto the chair. "Wait a minute. I've got an idea. Just give me a moment". He hurried from the room and returned shortly afterwards with Alphard holding his hand. "Alphard, you spent much time here with mummy. Did you also help her when she was working on the computer?". Alphard gave an eager nod. "Do you know the password?". "Yes, but I promised to keep it to myself. I'm not supposed to tell anyone". Sirius picked him up in his arms. "Listen to me, love. We really need to do some work on Mum's computer. Can you enter the password? Just this one time. None of us will peek. We'll even leave the room". The boy thought about it a moment and then agreed. Sirius put him on the floor, and they left the room to wait in the corridor. Alphard climbed into Mercuria's chair and began to press the keys clumsily with one finger. The screen lit up and the programme started when he finally pressed the return key. Sirius had turned the painting on the wall above the desk into a mirror which allowed them to see which keys the boy was using. Now he leapt up to Alphard and said, "You did a good job, my dear, now go and join the others". Regulus whispered, "What does that mean, jPsBrLpP1880RAFC? Sirius chuckled. "With a little thought, I could have guessed that. The first letters are the Marauder's initials, so James, me, Remus and Peter. I don't know why she included Pettigrew. But never mind. 1880Rafc is the Royal Antwerp Football Club which was founded in 1880. Mercuria was crazy about football and RA was her favourite side. When she lived in Belgium, we always attended matches. What's next, Jonathan?". In the meantime, Jonathan had set up the Internet connection. "Read out the first address for me," he said. He tapped the information Sirius gave him into the keyboard. "Well, well, well". Jonathan opened a website and they saw a Muggle newspaper article about a family murdered in the Scottish Highlands. "I'll get a printout of that." While he was printing out the page, Jonathan was already typing in the next name on their list. The Muggle newspapers were reporting a similar act of bloodshed.

Sophie went to the whiteboard which was propped up against the wall where Mercuria had pinned drawings. Sophie carefully removed them and placed them on the workbench. Then she conjured up a map of the country and pinned the newspaper articles to the board next to the locations where the crimes had taken place. When all six articles were printed and pinned, Andromeda remarked, "All these victims lived in houses in remote parts of the country with no immediate neighbours. Nobody missed them for several days, in one case they were discovered only after an entire month. When they were found by chance, they showed signs of torture. The interiors of the houses were ravaged. The locations of the crimes are strung like pearls on a necklace from north to south". They looked at the map in silence. "Surely this is not a coincidence. Someone suspects that the murders are connected", Marius said. "Wrong. Someone knows for a fact that these murders are connected. And that this information is important to Sirius", Jessie interrupted. "Exactly. Even if we'd found out about one or two of the murders by chance, we wouldn't have given it much significance. Not until we put them together do we get the big picture. If I had to guess, I'd say that Cygnus and his group will find an isolated Muggle house, take the occupants prisoner, and stay there until there is a search for the Muggles. At that point, they kill the owners and move on", Regulus guessed. "But why do that?". Sirius said, "Looks like they're on the run. After I left Belgium to be closer to Harry and Hogwarts, I did the same. I moved from one Muggle house to the next. Only unoccupied ones, of course". Lucius agreed with him. "Sirius has a point. They are on the run. Ever since the boys were kidnapped and the Muggle residents murdered, the Aurors have been keeping a sharp eye out for anything unusual in the countryside. The Ministry obviously believes that this is not just a case of former Death Eaters returning to their old ways, but something more serious". Jonathan had listened attentively and now shook his head. "There is much more to it, or something else altogether. You're right, Lucius, that they were exposed by your police when they kidnapped the boys and killed the occupants of the house. But originally these murders may not have been part of their plan. When the boys and the Muggles escaped, they had to act quickly to prevent the owners of the house from raising the alarm and blowing their cover before they had the opportunity to extort Voldemort's belongings from Sirius. Therefore, they killed them. Now they know that the house was searched and that your police found sufficient evidence of wizard involvement. But why they're now leaving a trail that's so easy to follow, I don't understand. Anyway, it's obvious to everyone that this is not a group of Death Eaters harassing some Muggles, but something far more dangerous. They have many ways of avoiding detection. They can move into uninhabited houses, as Sirius did at the time. Or they can erase the memories of Muggles. If they're discovered, they'll just move on, so your authorities won't even know they're there. No, I think this is a deliberate attempt at attracting attention. I just can't seem to think of how to explain that".

But I do," Jessie suddenly exclaimed. I agree with Jonathan that they were deliberately leaving a trail. Do you remember our conversation when we found the tactics book? That very few wizards could stand up to a trained fighting force? Your police in particular?" They agreed with her. "Their goal is to keep your Aurors busy. Because those guys will know by now that something fishy is going on. And they'll storm into the Muggle world at the slightest provocation. But Cygnus and his people are not the only ones raiding lonely houses and farms. They are targeted by non-magicians as well. Our world is in total panic over these attacks. Articles have become increasingly hysterical. My guess is that there will be countless false alarms in the near future. And the Aurors will have no choice but to investigate each one. They won't have any time at all to bother with the search for Cygnus". Regulus interjected: "But the Aurors only intervene when magic is involved". Sirius gave him a quizzical look. "Are you really sure of this? I have read all the articles very carefully. Only one or two of them gave me the impression that an Unforgivable Curse was used for the murders. As to the others, Cygnus could very well have tortured and killed the inhabitants Muggle-style. Yet he might have left some evidence of use of magic behind. Such as a door which was locked by a charm or something. That would be very sneaky. I'd say that there must be a reason, why all six incidents are listed in the letter. If they were really sent by Percy Weasley, as I suspect they were, then the cases must have been under Auror investigation. Because otherwise, how would he know about them? That would prove Jessie right insofar as the Aurors have been looking into all the incidents, even those which seem unrelated to magic. Obviously, the Ministry of Magic is trying to pin the blame for these cases on some Dark Wizards and they are eager to nail them down. Meanwhile, Cygnus has time to prepare for whatever it is". "One thing is striking, though," Lucius remarked. "You know, there is not a word about this in the Daily Prophet or any other of our newspapers". "Perhaps they do not want to cause a panic so soon after the fall of Voldemort". "Or we've got it all wrong," Regulus added thoughtfully. "When we received Alphard's shoe, we ruled out the possibility that it had been sent by one of the men from Cygnus. We assumed it was someone from the ministry. Who has now written a letter to us once again. But what if it was Cygnus himself who did it?" Lucius sniffed, "And what would his point be? "We believe the anonymous source. He sends us two messages, and we have proof that the messages are authentic. So that we will believe that the author is credible. Now he can start to manipulate us by sending us more anonymous letters". „This is contradicted by the fact that Jamie Rickett and Professor McGonagall confirm the information in the letter", Andromeda pointed out. Sirius said, "What exactly do they confirm? Cygnus is moving south. We need to find out what they really know. Lucius and I will have a word with Professor McGonagall, and Marius and Sophie are off to the Ricketts'. Regulus and Gavin, you will go to the Leaky Cauldron and sound out the guests who are there. This is still the best source of information of all, as people from all over the country gather here. The most important thing is to find out if anyone in the Wizarding World knows anything about the Muggle murders. Preferably a Ministry official, of course".