Ch 12: Back in Black
The next morning at breakfast all the students were all reading the Daily Prophet and whispering to each other about the shocking news. Many of the pureblood children were shocked at the lack of a trail for such a high ranking lord. Severus observed the students of the Great Hall and leaned over to Minverva and whispered, "Today should be fun" Minerva nodded as she imagined the barrage of questions all the teachers would face about Sirius Black today. Severus took a moment to sneak at glance at Albus. He noticed the headmaster was trying his hardest to keep up "the grandfather facade" but having known the man for a long time Severus was able to spot what the students and many of the staff won't see. Severus could see the headmaster didn't have the usual obnoxious twinkle in his eyes and his long, thin fingers were grasping the Daily Prophet a little tighter than what is considered normal. 'Ah yes, this will be a fun few days watching Albus lose his cool. He cannot keep his true nature hidden forever.' Severus thought to himself.
As his father was smirking at the thought of Dumbledore's downfall, Harry was sitting at Hufflepuff table eating breakfast with his friends. "So how long will this process of freeing Sirius take?" Harry asked. Draco and Susan (the group's resident law experts) thought for a moment before Susan spoke, "Well Auntie put Sirius in a ministry holding cell with her most trusted guards yesterday and if I had to guess this morning she is calling for an emergency Wizengamot meeting for today. Sirius will be tried using veritaserum, truth potion, and should be found innocent by this afternoon. Since he spent so long exposed to dementors I would imagine he would need to seek medical treatment." Harry was excited Amelia would move fast because he wanted Sirius to be reunited with his family. He was also excited that after reuniting with Sirius, they will only have to figure out a way to get his grandfather back. "So any fun adventure plan for today or any criminals we need to unmask?" Draco asked jokingly. The groups of teens laughed and Fred smirked, "Well I was thinking today would be a great day to have a picnic by the lake at lunch instead of eating the Great Hall and if our favorite writer decides to bring her notebook we could start to draft some ideas for articles about our esteemed headmaster." George smiled conspiratorially at his twin and said, "You Forge have the most genius ideas sometimes and here I thought I was the brains behind this operation."
Their morning classes seem to fly by. Like Fred said, it was a great day for a picnic so instead of eating lunch in the Great Hall, the group put a blanket down and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Fred and George threw up some privacy wards before Susan spoke up, "So, do we prank the old goat and the terrible trio or do we start tearing Dumbledore's reputation through the press?" The others thought for a moment before Neville said, "We should start with the negative press. We can use Sirius's trial as a starting point." He turned to Harry and gently said, "Mate, I know you hate your fame but you may need to give the press a one on one interview." Harry smiled at Luna got on one knee and asked, "My fair lady Luna, would you be so kind as to interview me for the Quibbler?" Luna laughed at the raven-haired teen and told him "yes, of course". Luna thought it was best if Harry mentioned his life at the Dursleys before Hogwarts to gain sympathy from the readers and then talk about his first two years at what is supposed to be the safest place in all of wizarding Britain. So for the next hour Harry told Luna about his life growing up and his adventures at Hogwarts as the rest of the group listened in amazement of what their friend had gone through. Neville said softly, "Wow Harry, I had no idea you went through all that." Draco had been listening carefully and asked, "Harry, did you tell the goblins about the basilisk because you have a right as the slayer to harvest it." Harry nodded at Draco and said the goblins would be harvesting the basilisk around the holidays when there will be less people at the castle. "Umm, I hate to leave the lake Harry and I have runes and we cannot be late to that class" Neville said. The others packed up their stuff and headed to their afternoon classes.
That evening at dinner the owls swooped in with a special evening edition of the Daily Prophet with the headline, "Sirius Black found INNOCENT of all charges." and beneath that read, "Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters." The students were whispering back and forth and some kept even glancing at Harry. Harry snuck a quick glance at Dumbledore and noticed the man's eyes weren't twinkling but instead looked angry. He quickly looked away from the headmaster and went back to talking with his friends. As he was eating dinner a note popped next to his plate,courtesy of an elf who was working in the kitchens, and he quickly opened it. The note read "Harry- come to my office after dinner. - Professor McGonagall" Harry put the note in his pocket and reached for seconds for dinner. Dinner seemed to move by slowly for Harry but once it was over he grabbed Neville and the twins and whispered, "Cover for me. I think my dad wants to see me." The three boys nodded and walked Harry to his grandma's office.
"Harry!" Minerva said happily as she swooped in for a hug. Harry just blushed at the attention and mumbled, "Uh granny, I love you but why the need to see me?" Minerva walked him over to her couch and explained, "Remus and Severus are going to come to my office to talk about what happened with Sirius. Remus was called away to the ministry today to confirm Sirius's story about that group learning how to become animagus." While Harry and Minerva waited for the two men, they chatted about the upcoming quidditch season. His granny turned to face him and her face turned deadly serious, "Harry I expect that quidditch cup to stay in my office. I cannot fathom the amount of bragging I will have to hear from your father if they win." It was at that moment Severus and Remus flooed through. Severus smirked at his mother, "Of course you two lions are already plotting. Are the lions scared of some snakes?" Harry laughed and said, "We lions are brave! We are scared some snakes may play slippery and that is not fair. Sorry dad but the cup is staying with Granny and I will make sure of that." Snape mumbled something about, "stubborn lions and their quidditch" before sitting down and grabbing himself a cup of tea.
Harry looked at Remus with questioning eyes so the man knew what the teen wanted to know. "Sirius is free. He needs to see a healer after being in Azkaban for so long but he knows to go to Iris. I got to see him before Dumbles did so I made sure to tell Sirius to go straight to Gringotts and ask for Griphook who will sort everything out. I also told him to call for Dobby who will then bring Sirius here." Remus explained. Harry took everything in and then asked, "Wait, when did Dobby start answering to you?" Severus looked at his son with an amused look that read "that is all you got of what Remus said?!" and said, "Well after you freed him from the Malfoys he asked Dumbledore for work. When mother went to the kitchens today to ask him to give you the note at dinner, he was so excited to help 'The Great Harry Potter' (Harry blushed at that) that she asked if she wanted to work for our family but stay at Hogwarts to act as a spy. He quickly said yes and now Dobby is part of the family." Harry stared at them for a second with his mouth wide open before yelling, "Dobby". The house elf in question quickly popped into the room and when he saw Harry he wailed, "Oh Master Harry! I be so excited to see you!" Harry got out of his seat and gave the small elf a big hug. "Welcome to the family Dobby!" he whispered before turning his attention back to his family, "So Sirius should be reunited with us within the next 24 hours or so right?" Harry asked hopefully. For a moment none of the adults said anything but they just looked at each other, trying to figure out what to tell the teen. Remus knelt down in front of Harry, grabbed his hand and sighed, "Harry,reuniting with Sirius won't be that easy. We still need to play up with the charade that we don't know the truth about our family. I know that hasn't been easy for anyone, especially you but you are playing your part well and we are all so proud of you." Remus paused to give Harry a hug before continuing, "Sirius will come to my quarters briefly to hear about the plans we have made over the summer but we don't think it will be safe for you to see Sirius until Halloween when I take you to see Lily and James' graves ("What?! That's a month away!" Harry shouted). I know that seems unfair but we do have some ways for you to communicate with Sirius before then." Remus dug a mirror out of his pocket and Harry just looked at the man confused. "Uh thanks Remus but I don't need a mirror. I want to be able to talk to Sirius." Remus chuckled and said, "No Harry, this isn't just any old mirror. It is a communication mirror. Severus, Lily and I made these in our fifth year. Sirius and James used to use them all the time during detentions or the rest of us used them when we wanted to talk to Sev in the dungeons. Severus found your mother's mirror when he went to the vaults. This is now yours to keep and if you need any of us just say our name and we will answer. It's almost like a muggle telephone." Minerva and Harry had their mouths hanging open, both impressed with the magic of three 15 year olds. "Well this explains a lot" Minerva snorted which caused the rest of them to laugh. Harry looked at his family and said, "Thanks guys for explaining everything to me. I know We have done a lot but sometimes I feel like I'm not really helping." Severus pulled his son into a hug and said gently, "Son you are doing amazing and you are doing more than enough to help us. We know it isn't easy to pretend like we aren't family but just know soon Albus Dumbledore will regret ever messing with us." Harry smirked at the thought of Dumbledore going down and he remembered what he discussed with his friends by the lake. "Uh guys, I have something to tell you." Harry said a little nervous because he didn't want to disappoint them, "So speaking of Dumbledore, my friends and I thought we would start to take apart his fan base just a little bit. This afternoon Luna interviewed me for the Quibbler and asked me about growing up with the Dursleys and my first two years at Hogwarts. I had Boa deliver it to her dad so it should be in tomorrow morning's edition. We know many won't read the Quibbler but it's a start and maybe more people will read it if they know I gave an exclusive." The adults just stared at him for a moment which made Harry squirm with nerves but the silence was broken by his granny laughing and gasping out, "Oh you kids are brilliant! One step ahead of us adults. I can't wait to see Albus's reaction to that." Having realized how late it was Harry had Dobby pop him to an empty classroom near the common room and headed up to bed.
The next morning Harry heard his mirror vibrating on his bedside table so he grabbed it and threw up a privacy charm around his curtains so no one would hear him. "Hey Kiddo, I know you probably don't remember me but I'm your godfather, Sirius, but you used to call me Padfoot." A skinny man with shaggy black hair and gray eyes said. Harry smiled, "Sirius! I do remember you. Plus dad, Uncle Remus and Granny have been showing me memories of you. Have you seen Iris yet? Wait, are you here in the castle? If yes, can I come see you?" Harry blushed when he realized how fast he was talking. Sirius just laughed at him, "So much like Lily, it's scary. Yes I have seen Iris and man she is scarier than madam Pomfrey. (Harry agreed with him) I am with Remus but no it isn't safe for you to sneak down to see me, we don't know if the portraits will alert Albus of your movement around the castle. I do have a surprise for you but it will have to wait a few more weeks until your Hogsmeade visit. I hope those memories haven't been too embarrassing, Lily and Severus would always prank me and I would look ridiculous." As Harry listened to Sirius talk about the mischief his parents, uncles and their friends would get up to, he couldn't help but smile and think 'one more family member to be reunited with. Watch out Dumbledore because you don't mess with the Riddles.'