Author note: From this chapter onward we will start observing things that are beyond what Harry and friends will be directly aware of. This episode we see the adults start to do their research. This all takes place over about a week.
AUTHOR NOTE Part 2 (Due to Kevin Finkel pointing out a few errors that slipped past myself and my wife (my main check and balance.) I went in and edited those glaring ones at least. I apologize if you receive an update notice from this but I would rather any time I don't make sense be due to plot and not getting a name wrong or referring to the wrong person. I will respond to the rest of the reviews in the next actual chapter update.
Begin chapter
It was Tuesday evening before Adam Bricker heard from his friend among the Unspeakables. He had been approached by the Unspeakable just before his wife left him to help with a case, it had resulted in him disappearing for almost a year and when he had returned his wife had left him and moved in with another man. So Adam Bricker now lived in an empty apartment and did his best.
He had just left his bathroom to begin dinner when he realized he had a guest in his living room. Spinning he saw the Unspeakable sitting on the couch.
Bricker still had no idea who the person was beyond their designation of 47. Their robed uniformed hid any trace of gender or physical differences of any kind. The hooded and cowled faceplates of mirror smooth reflective metal, or glass, hid any chance of seeing their face and their voices were modulated into an aesexual reverberating monotone. Like the shiny robots from an old seventies muggle show about a Battlestar something something.
"Hello 47." Bricker said once his heart had sunk back out of his throat.
"Greetings Adam. I hope I did not startle you too badly." the being asked in what sounded sort of like a polite tone.
"No. You're getting better. Although you do recall there is such an invention as a doorbell?" Adam had this conversation every time. Which made him briefly pause how he would know if this was the same being he had known for over a decade now.
"Yes, I am aware. I brought you some Italian from Caponelli's." The being offered making a set of take out boxes appear, along with a small bottle of a nice wine.
Adam came over and sat on his end of the couch, "Okay. Apology accepted."
A modulated laugh came from the figure, "Good. Now about the problem you needed to contact me over."
Bricker sighed. The Unspeakable never did have time or patience for chit-chat and idle conversation. "Problems." He corrected, "I have two but the first one involves Harry Potter."
"What of Mr Potter." the being stated. The body posture was one of relaxed authority and calmness.
" His scar has an interesting thaumic energy pattern behind it." He said, "The findings are in my desk."
The head tilted slightly before a folder of papers came floating into the room. Landing into the outstretched gloved hands of the Unspeakable. They began to read the notes quickly, pausing when looking at the energy readings. The body stilled even more than normal and Bricker could hear the ticking of his clock in the silence. He worked very hard on the veal, his favorite.
"When did you acquire these scans?" 47 finally inquired without looking at him.
"On Saturday." Bricker was becoming concerned as the voice was still modulated and emotionless but he sensed a degree of urgency in his guest.
"And this was from Harry Potter's scar?" they demanded.
"Yes." Bricker set his fork down, "Is there a problem?"
"I have seen this energy pattern before." 47 stated, "It is the same as the dark lord's."
Bricker knew better than to ask how they had a copy of an energy pattern of a being that had been killed over a decade ago. "How would it have gotten in there? How do we get it out?"
The mask turned towards him, "The events of that night played a role with its implantation. As to how to get it out, it will depend greatly on if was been processed or not, are these the only magical energies that are foreign to him?"
"Yes. The secondary one infuses his entire body but is strongest in the region of his scar." Bricker explained, "It almost looks like another witch or wizard."
"Most likely his mother. She was the last living person to be with him." 47 said casually. "Her sacrifice would have placed an ancient blood magic upon her son. Although Albus is wrong about Petunia. Her existence or lack of it has no bearing on this protection."
"Okay. His defense at the trial." Bricker said nodding, "So do you think he was processed or not?"
"I do not believe so. The process must not have been completed. You should be able to remove that part from him with a bit of psychic surgery. I would suggest you contact Magda Kovacs in Caerbannog. She has more experience with this than you do." 47 declared before putting the papers back in the folder and floating them over to Bricker, "Now the other problem."
Bricker took a deep breath. "The other problem is a fellow student of his has had a future version of themselves send backwards almost a century the contents of their mind, their memories and emotions. Is there any way you can help this person get those memories out of their head without injuring them?"
"When did this occur?" 47 inquired with their body posture resuming a posture of forced relaxation it seemed like.
"On September first. Why?" Bricker sometimes managed to get his friend to answer that question without a deep philosophical reply like why not.
"Because we detected a temporal incursion of a class 5." 47's modulated voice did not betray any emotions but the body posture seemed to be one of tenseness.
"Okay and this is bad?"
"The subject that received this transmission is lucky to be alive." 47 stated flatly changing their posture to sitting upright. "Their mind should have melted out of their skull in seconds from that much temporal energy being shunted into it."
"So even more reason to pull those memories." Bricker gasped.
"Impossible. Anything above a class 3 fuses the incoming memories with the mental energies of the person receiving them. Any attempt to remove those memories will prove detrimental." 47 explained, "On the positive side the person is immune to legilimancy now."
"So what can they do?" He asked.
"They can meditate and attempt to allow the memories to integrate on their own. That is the only way to prevent a complete mind wiping." 47 shrugged, "At least that is what the various experiments have shown."
"Right." Bricker shuddered inside as his associate had the nasty tendency to let slip vague comments about other experiments that happened in the ministry.
"This student are they connected to Mr Potter?" 47's tense body posture seemed as tightly wound as a clock spring wound by a power drill. "And if so how closely."
"Uh. Why does that matter?" Bricker had a shudder of concern run through him.
"Just answer the question Adam, it is important." 47 commanded in that modulated voice which had taken a slightly deeper tone somehow.
"She's his girlfriend. They're both in Gryffindor." Bricker replied with a suddenly dry mouth.
"Have they become intimate?" the question bothered and startled Bricker.
"They're eleven fer Christ's sake!" He exclaimed.
"Irrelevant. Have they become intimate?" 47's masked face seemed to be looming in Bricker's field of vision, choking out any air he said in a harsh whisper, "No. They've held hands and maybe kissed a bit. Nothing else according to what Poppy knows."
"So there is an emotional connection. I see." The head tilted upwards and to the right before 47 nodded. Bricker got a strange feeling he was going to be forgetting this conversation very soon.
"Uh. You're not going to do anything to them are you?" Adam didn't ask about himself. He had walked into this but didn't want to see the kids harmed.
"No, we are not going to do anything to them. Number 1 has declared that we are not to interfere directly in the Potter situation." 47 intoned in their modulated voice.
"The Potter Situation? He has his own title?" Bricker tried to joke.
47 rose stiffly, staring at Bricker from behind their silver mask silently. They seemed to come to a decision based on their body posture, "Harry Potter has a destiny. We are not allowed to directly alter the course of his life."
"But I could right?" Bricker smiled weakly, "Oooor will I wake up tomorrow forgetting all of this."
"The path has been altered already. We may not intercede, We shall not raise our hand in this matter."
Bricker nodded. He took a deep breath and was going to say something but 47 was no longer there. He looked at the take out boxes and wondered once again why he didn't move to the Bahamas and get a job on a cruise ship.
…...
47 returned to the Department of Mysteries. Moving through security after giving the hand gestures required to respond to the others. They came to a chamber that had four other Unspeakables sitting in front of large crystals sliding and moving stones and levers around the crystal as lights flickered and shifted in hue and brightness. A fifth one sat on a dias in the center of the room on a large metal throne that had a cluster of buttons along one armrest.
"Number 1. The temporal incursion was Potter related as was suspected." 47 reported as they stood in front of the dias.
"Interesting 47. The girl?" Number one asked in their deeply modulated voice.
"Yes, leader." 47 bowed their head briefly. "May I look at the chronoscopic record of the night?"
"For what reason?" Number 1 requested.
"There may be another interpretation that has not been considered, Harry Potter may have a part of the adversary within him."
"A part of the adversary? Number 12 why has this not been considered before?"
"My apologies Leader. It has not been considered before as the Adversary did not have time to prepare the boy for activation as a receptacle."
"Alert the Archivist. We will need to see the record of that night." Number 1 said as their dias lowered itself into the floor.
…...
The Chronoscopic chamber was a large blackened glass mirror with minute runes etched into the backing that permitted limited viewing of past events, viewing only with no sound. Common and mundane things could never be observed, their impact on the universe too minute, like throwing a pea into a pond. Major events like the destruction of Lord Voldemort in a spell backlash was more than sufficient to leave a temporal echo that the device could detect and display. The energy level of that event was more like dropping the Empire State Building into a pond.
The images of that night settled into solid clarity on the mirror as the leader, #47 and #12 watched silently. When the burst of green light flared into existence ending the life of Lily Potter the leader raised their hand, "HOLD!"
The images froze. The sickly light that was just beginning to fade colored the scene a pale emerald. The others strove to see what their leader had observed.
"Look at the boy. He is glowing." The leader pointed at the small figure of Harry Potter sitting in his crib. A crib that had dully glowing runes on each slat, the mobile over his head cascading bolts of energy downwards. Causing young Harry to glow faintly.
"How long did this effect last?" The leader asked the operator of the device.
A few flicks of switches and the answer was reveled, "Less than half a second leader. Too quick to notice unless someone was looking for it."
"She must have been expecting this. A willing sacrifice to the ancient Gods." #12 gasped, the modulation making it sound strangled and distorted.
"She was friends with Pandora Lovegood. A known seer, class 2. She could have been warned." #47 pointed out.
The Leader nodded, "Step the images forward, slowly."
The operator turned a knob, pulled a lever, and the images began to move again. Lily fell to the floor never to move again. Voldemort turned to the crying child raised his wand and the green light leapt forth. It struck Harry and swirled around him, the runes flaring into intense light briefly blinded all of them as the top floor of the house exploded outwards.
Voldemort's body dissolved into pure energy with the explosion. In the swirling maelstrom of particles and plasma a piece broke off of the sickly dark cloud that once was the dark lord and was absorbed into a dull angry red lightning bolt scar.
"He was not prepared. He is not a true Horcrux. That is why his soul is still pure enough to feel love." #12 stated. "Her willing sacrifice, made in the purest motives of love, has protected him from the corrupting influence of the soul part embedded within him."
"Indeed. You have informed your friend of this?" Number one asked #47.
"As you will command." #47 bowed.
"You have done very well. Thank you." Number one declared as they turned to leave.
#47 sighed as they looked at the fading image of a crying baby in the ruins of the house. The temporal echos fading below the threshold to detect them. Turning they left to return to their home and the real world.
…...
Francis Muldoon was sitting at a desk in the DMLE records division reading the record of a murder. This murder had occurred in 1956 and was listed as a closed case which still irked him. He had been a freshly promoted detective sergeant and this was his first case. He was working under Detective Inspector Hudson who was only a few weeks away from retirement so did not exactly work very hard to dig for the truth.
Hepzibah Smith was a rich, old, woman who enjoyed a very comfortable life in Mayfair London. She had a loyal and obedient house elf named Hokey who for some reason had killed her mistress. She had been with the Smith family for her entire life and was very well treated as house elves go. So the idea she had purposely murdered her mistress had been immediately dismissed by DI Hudson. Muldoon thought that the fear caused by news of a house elf murdering their master would have caused so many little old ladies to clutch their pearls in fear the Ministry would collapse.
DI Hudson had done a little bit of the work leaving the majority to Muldoon. He had found out that the cause of death had been Thallium poisoning. The Victorians had called it the inheritance powder as it was easily acquired as rat poison, great aunt Edna being just as susceptible to its effects as Rodney the rat.
Her son Chester had been the prime suspect for a long time until Hokey had confessed. Once she had done so DI Hudson had declared the situation resolved, Chester had given Hokey clothes and all was right with the world according to the Ministry.
Muldoon picked his notebook out of the box and frowned as he recalled there had been more to the situation than the official story. Chester had been an associate of a young man by the name of Tom Riddle. A clerk at Borgin and Burkes that bought antiques and curios, especially darker ones.
Chester had been convinced by Tom to introduce him to his mother Hepzibah. According to Chester he had only visited a few times and nothing ever came of it. However once she had died Chester had reported two items from her collection had gone missing, Hufflepuff's chalice and Slytherin's locket.
Muldoon read the report Chester Smith had filed after inventorying her assets. He claimed those two items were stolen by someone. A brief investigation had not turned them up and then suddenly one day Chester had dropped the matter claiming he had discovered his mother sold them several years ago.
Muldoon had interviewed the clerk who had gone to the Smith house, Tom Riddle, and confirmed he had discussed them with Hepzibah but she had not wanted to sell them so he had left. Muldoon looked at the notes describing Riddle as an intense and focused young man but generally believable.
Muldoon sat thinking as he chewed his unlit pipe, cursing whomever it was that had prohibited smoking indoors, connecting widely disparate points that had not seemed important at the time.
Pulling the photographs of the crime scene out of the box he spread them around reacquainting himself with the place. It had been as over stuffed as a curio shop with antiques and valuable pieces of art. How anyone could ever discover something was missing was amazing.
Point number one was Hokey. She had been a smart, quiet, loyal little elf who did not seem prone to confuse rat poison for sugar, much less purposely exchange the two like she confessed to doing. A confession which was quickly accepted to prevent mass panic in the public.
Point Number two was Chester Smith pushing the case for those two items having been stolen. He had all but openly blamed Borgin and Burkes or their clerk Riddle for the theft, then suddenly he said it was alright they hadn't been stolen after all. To just forget about it as it had been a misunderstanding.
Point number three was the revelation from a time traveling young lady that those exact two items had been cursed or otherwise altered at some point.
Muldoon frowned as he realized that the most logical answer was someone had thrown a spell on Hokey to make her poison her mistress so they could steal those items. And those items were the only ones that had been stolen, nothing else at all. Picking up one picture Muldoon could see a portrait of a young man by Raphael hanging on the wall right above a Faberge egg sitting on a Louis the fourteenth table.
Removing his pipe Muldoon had a horrible thought, Tom Riddle had gone missing in the early 1970s, a victim of you-know-whos early rampages, perhaps he had not been just a random victim but the adversary had killed him to keep the secret of his acquisition of the chalice and the locket.
He put the things back in the box sighing as he thought about what had happened to all of the people connected to this case. Hokey had not lasted very long once she had been given clothes. Blacklisting by the agency had prevented her from finding a family or anyone to let her bond with them. Chester Smith had been the victim of a horrible floo accident when a switching station had malfunctioned sending pieces of him tumbling out of several random floos. And Tom Riddle vanished to never be seen again.
He shook his head as he made his way out of the DMLE basement into the sunlight. There was now more things not adding up about this case than had been before. A hunch began to form in the back of his head which tickled as he thought about who could have been involved.
…...
Walking into the store Muldoon frowned. He hated this store and never understood why the Ministry did not close it down. He figured it was because the roaches that shopped here for their dark arts items would then scurry off and go underground.
"Ahh Mr Muldoon." Gustav Borgin greeted him in his oily slick voice that made Muldoon's skin crawl as he met him halfway through the store. "What brings you into our store today?"
"Ahh Gustav. Can't an old friend come by just to chat?" Muldoon adopted a cheerful air.
The stooped wizard stared at him with a gimlet expression for a long moment before grunting something.
"Sorry bout that. Didn't quite understand eh?" Muldoon was being cheeky he knew but it was the old game. Only now he didn't have a badge to protect him, just his own skills and reflexes.
"I said you and I have never been friends and as you are retired I do not have to 'chat' with you." Borgin hissed in a nasty voice.
"No. You don't have to, but I am looking for a pair of items that I would like to purchase." Muldoon declared looking around for Burke. The other half of the creepy proprietors of the establishment.
Borgin looked at him in surprise then laughed, "You seek to buy some of 'my' items?"
"Well perhaps. The Chalice of Hufflepuff and Slytherin's Locket. I was told that you might have a line on them." Muldoon studied Borgin closely when he said that.
Borgin's face slammed shut faster than a BMV window at lunchtime. "I do not have those items,nor do I know where they are."
"Really now? I had heard your young clerk Riddle had managed to acquire them from Madam Smith so many years ago." Muldoon countered.
"Borgin turned his back on Muldoon and began to shuffle towards his counter, "No. Young Tom was unable to procure them for us."
"Ahh. A mighty shame." Muldoon said with fake sympathy. "I'll have to let Albus know that he was wrong about this."
Borgin spun, "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Well he's the one that told me you had them." Muldoon lied, he had not spoken to Dumbledore in months but it was okay to lie to bad guys. Especially as Muldoon would check if Borgin told him his hair was on fire.
Borgin smiled a yellow toothed, snaggly, smile, "Well you can tell him that I did not have them then, and I do not have them now, and I will never have them. They are removed from circulation."
Muldoon did not like a happy or amused Borgin. "Well then. I suppose I'll just be going then."
"Yes do so. And good luck on your teaching career, let's hope you survive it." Borgin sneered making his nose hairs touch his lip.
Muldoon just gave him a jaunty wave then saw himself out.
Walking back up Knockturn he was lost in thought when he heard someone call his name. Looking he saw two young aurors, "Ahh. Malloy and Reed is it not?"
"Yes sir. Did I just see you come out of Knockturn?" Malloy asked.
"Aye that you did. I was just trying to find something for my new job, chatting with an old associate." Muldoon banged his pipe on the wall.
"I heard about you getting the Defense Professor Job." Reed said shaking his head sympathetically, "I hope you can make it."
"Hey. Inspector Muldoon will be the one to break it. I'm sure." Malloy declared empathically.
"Ahh thank ye for the vote of confidence. But can we step to the side here and let me ask you both a question." Muldoon had decided to at least see if they had heard anything. He had been off of the street for a long time and he remembered that the aurors on the street heard things.
Malloy and Reed shrugged and stepped off to the side with the retired Inspector, "You ever hear of an elf killing their master?"
Reed shook his head looking horrified, "No way. Those little guys would never do something like that."
Malloy looked a bit more thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head, "Yeah. I mean the worst I've heard of is a few have gone rogue and ran away or bent their master's orders to serve their own goals but never one going so feral to be a threat like that."
Muldoon nodded, "That's what I thought."
"Is this part of an old case or something?" Reed asked.
"Ye might say so. If you have a long enough career there's always a few cases that you never forget." He said, "I don't suppose you've ever heard of Hufflepuff's Chalice or Slytherin's Locket have ye?"
Malloy shrugged, "not since Binn's class."
"I think I saw them in their paintings." Reed confirmed, "Although that's about the only time I have."
"Well thanks boys. I don't suppose you've seen anyone of note going into Borgin's eh?"
"Not really. Just the usual sort." Malloy said.
"If anyone of importance does, let me know eh?" Muldoon asked. Might as well keep an ear out if his little fishing expedition calls in any nibblers.
"Sure thing. Good luck on the position." Malloy said with a nod as he and Reed began their patrol again.
Muldoon cheerfully lit his pipe as he wondered where to go from here.
…...
Madam Bones spent her own time in the Ministry archives, her focus though was on Albus Dumbledore. His life and career had never been explored very closely beyond the official public image.
She knew he had become Headmaster of Hogwarts in 1966, Chief Warlock in 1988 and Supreme Mugwump a year later. Holding these three positions simultaneously was not too strenuous as the ICW met once a year in Bruges, the Wizengamut only had monthly meetings and Hogwarts was, well Hogwarts. Amelia was never really sure who was in charge there and no one else was either.
She looked back over his actions as Chief Warlock to discover that he had really done nothing. Before that as a sitting member of the lower half of the Wizengamut, elected not hereditary, all he had done was argue for all of the criminals to get a second chance. All but one, Sirius Black.
Amelia frowned as she looked at the reports of Black. Dumbledore had given a half-hearted defense, urging he be locked in Saint Mungo's instead of Azkaban but his pet Death Eater had received a far more strident defense than Black had.
That smelt worse than a bucket of day old fish to Amelia's sense of justice. What had Black done to get on Dumbledore's wrong side. Maybe it was time to go meet with the Lord Black and see his side.
…...
Saint Mungo's always depressed Amelia. She had spent far too much time here consoling friends, family members, or associates in the Ministry during the last war. As she got older she had managed to build a strong facdeof calmness but inside she wanted to cry.
Entering the ward that Black was residing on she knocked and was granted entry into his room. The man was sitting up in bed wearing a silk monogrammed shirt speaking to a rather thin and reedy looking brown haired man with a thin mustache. Her mind clicked over the pictures in her reports and placed the name Remus Lupin with the face.
"My apologies Lord Black I did not know you had company. I can come back later." She said politely after introducing herself.
"Nonsense this isn't company this my best friend Remus Lupin." Sirius said before looking sadly at the wall between them, "The only friend left alive."
Madam Bones clamped hard on her emotions as the brown haired man winced slightly to hear the sad tiredness of his friend's voice. "Yes well. I do not wish to interrupt."
"I was just telling him about the letter Harry sent me and discussing how it seems he is moving faster than his father." Remus said in a polite amusement.
"Yeah. He already has a girlfriend and forming his own cadre of friends it seems like." Sirius seemed to get a spark of happiness when he said that.
Madam bones smiled as she said, "Ah yes. My niece is one of his friends. They do seem to be getting along nicely. Although from her letters she seems to be close to young mister Longbottom."
"Yeah no doubt. Frank was a bit of wild man in an accountant's sweater." Sirius enthusiastically remembered then his grin faded, "He's a few rooms down with Alice."
"Yes. Well. I was wanting to visit you as I was wanting to speak about a few things, off the record of course." Madam bones said reassuringly.
"I don't know what I can tell you that I haven't already told your investigators, the healers, the nurses, the walls.." He said waving his hand around listlessly.
"Well as he is my niece's friend and you are his godfather I wanted to see what sort of influence you might be on him." She smiled her most charming smile.
Sirius barked out a sharp laugh saying, "Ahh. I see. Maybe setting up a backup plan in case things don't work out with Longbottom eh?"
"Not quite. I have no desire to meddle in her life to that degree. You understand though as a veteran of the last conflict why I might be a bit overzealous in my protection of her."
Remus and Sirius both sighed deeply. "Yeah. Well sit down and let's talk." Sirius said waving his hand at the nearby chair.
Amelia pulled it so she could see him and Remus on the other side of the bed. "So. How did you get to be Harry's godfather?"
"The usual way. Lily and James decided to make me Harry's godfather as James and I were blood brothers, Alice was his godmother as she was Lil's best friend." Sirius explained with a slight twitch of his cheek.
"So the godparent ritual was performed?" she asked.
"Yes. But you know that's not a binding oath or anything." Sirius scoffed, "The accusator at my trial pointed that out repeatedly."
"Yes I know but to a man of honor it would be stronger than an unbreakable. I suppose you are that sort of man?" She asked cautiously. The healers had said he was making great strides but still had some emotional issues.
Sirius looked so intently at her she felt a twinge of concern go through her. His dark eyes bored into her soul. "I would suffer the fires of Hell forever rather than hurt, Jamie, Lils or Harry. I would burn the world and dance in the ashes of those who harmed him." he declared in a deep haunted voice as his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. "I am not like the others in my family Madam Bones."
She patted his arm, "I know Mr Black." She deliberately chose not to use his title to help calm him. "After what happened to my Brother and his family, my family, I have strong feelings too."
Sirius nodded in acceptance, "So many families lost people, so many families broken."
"Yes. It was quite the mess." She agreed.
"So what happens to Pettigrew now?" Sirius inquired, "No one let's me read the papers. They say it might be too stressful."
She chuckled, "Trust me you are not missing much. As for Pettigrew he is going to be spending the rest of his life in your old accommodations."
Sirius grunted, "Break his legs and toss him in an alley for the tomcats to have."
She smiled sympathetically, "Unfortunately under our current laws the death penalty has been repealed, and revenge is frowned upon."
Sirius frowned, "Well I hope he enjoys the company. Although I have to say the meal service is a bit lacking."
She chuckled before asking, "So I hope you don't mind but I know the official story that you and the Potters worked out a grand scheme to trap the leak in your resistance organization but surely you could have trusted some of your friends? Perhaps Dumbledore?"
Sirius shook his head, "James trusted Dumbledore far too much. His father and Albus had been close friends, belonged to the same gentleman's club. Dumbledore told James there was a leak, pretty high up, in our circles. We didn't know who it was. So James and Lily had me and Pete do this swap and I was to be bait while he was the one no one would suspect of being the secret keeper."
"I was considered untrustworthy due to my condition. I know Lily was not entirely comfortable around me as she had grown up among muggles and their superstitions." Remus said with a melancholy tone.
"Yeah. As for the rest of our friends Dumbledore pushed James to not trust Pan and Xeno. Calling them too unreliable. Which I argued against. Pan was Harry's other godmother." Sirius recalled as he sighed deeply.
Amelia had never heard fo that, "Excuse me? I know the hall of heralds records showed Alice Longbottom is Harry's godmother but nothing about Pandora Lovegood. I presume that is the Pan you are speaking of."
Sirius laughed heartily, "Oh man. Lils, Alice and Pan. They had some kind of study group in school, and I think they did more than just study. They was close. Real close. Pan was a big believer in free love and all that sixties and seventies hippie stuff. Xeno was a pagan, still is according to Remmie. So their parties were a blast."
Remus chuckled deeply, "There were a few times people woke up with the wrong partners. If it had not been Alice and Pandora I think Lily would have ended the Potter family line."
"She shared her husband's affections with others?" Amelia was finding things out about the heroes of the war she was not sure she wanted to know. "You do not condone that sort of thing do you?"
Sirius shrugged, "Madam Bones there are places in my family tree where it loops. My mother did not have to change her last name when she married my father. To be perfectly honest I do not care what two or more consenting adults do to themselves or each other. As long as they do it quietly and don't hurt someone else."
Amelia raised her eyebrow but said nothing. She wondered how Miss Granger would feel about that attitude, she did not seem to be the sharing sort. "Well then. If they were that close why not tell them of the plan?"
"James tried to tell Dumbledore. He pushed him to not trust anyone and to keep it as close to the vest as possible. I'm not sure he would have told me at that point if he hadn't been required to for the plan." Sirius said with a frown.
Remus sighed, "Sirius was not entirely descriptive when he said James trusted Dumbledore too much. After the death of James' parents Albus became a bit of a surrogate father. Fleamont and Euphemia were not very healthy those last few years. So Albus became a bit of a surrogate father for most of us."
Sirius snorted, "Yeah he collected orphans, outcasts and the rejected the way Slughorn collected the best and the brightest."
Amelia made a mental note of the angry tone in Sirius' voice. "Oh. I see. Well I should let you rest as I seem to have upset you."
"Sorry for not being better company. When I get out you and your niece are welcome to visit." Sirius said tiredly, "I hope to get the home cleaned up. Remus will begin going through it next week with my cousin Andromeda and her daughter. Since my mentus has been declared very compus I've begun to do some much needed housekeeping in the family tree. Bella's going to love it when she finds out she's kicked out of the family and I pulled the dowry back." Sirius grinned ferally.
"Well I sincerely wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to being your guest." she said standing.
"I look forward to getting out of here and being a host. Although I may not be exactly traditional in my lordly duties." Sirius averred.
Madam Bones nodded then left. She had a few records to look up.
…...
A visit to the Hall of Heralds made Amelia a bit concerned. Lord Black and his friend Lupin had stated Dumbledore collected people in the same way as Slughorn, only he collected those with family troubles it seemed. She went over the cold dry facts she had found.
Peter Pettigrew. Father killed when he was two years old in a boating accident. Grew up on Aldernay, Mother died a few years ago. At least she was spared knowing her son was a traitor.
Remus Lupin had parents but the record of the Wizengamut showed that Lyall Lupin had been a very outspoken critic and hater of werewolves. Calling them beasts and animals in multiple proceedings. She wondered how he had felt when his son became a werewolf and how that had affected their family dynamics.
Sirius Black and the House of Black was notorious in their relationships. So when he rejected them she was surprised he had not been disowned. Then she had recalled the disappearance of Regulus Black, Sirius' younger brother, had left no other male Blacks to inherit the title and wealth or pass on the name.
Frank Longbottom had come from an ancient and noble family. A wealthy landed family from Ottery Saint Catchpole that dealt with muggles. She remembered him from his days as an auror and how it was always so surprising at how ferocious he could be in combat. Aside from his family being rather traditional and staid she did not see how he could be recruited, until she discovered that Frank's father belonged to the same gentleman's club Albus and Fleamont did.
Looking back she saw that Sirius' father, Orion, was also a member of this club. The Thyrsus Club located in London. Looking that up she had found out it was a gentleman's club for wizards only. It had been founded back in the 1600s and was still around like many things in the magical world.
Xenophilus was an odd duck. He had come from Ireland. His family had ties to druids, pagans and all other sorts. He was about as far from the others as possible, while Pandora had come from family that had ties to the Norse. Her ancestors had been part of the raiders who had eventually settled in Ireland. He, nor his father seemed to belong to anything. She tried to find a link to Dumbledore but couldn't find any. She would have to go ask him directly. She frowned though as Xeno was not popular among the Ministry, having reported on several scandals, conspiracies and other unflattering things about Fudge during his election. If she spoke with him and Fudge found out he would be rather livid.
Preferring to know the truth rather than be safe she made arrangements to meet with Xenophilus Lovegood, off the record of course.
…...
Amelia stepped out of the floo into a cluttered yet comfortable home. A small blonde girl in a bright yellow dress stood beside Xenophilus, she stepped forward and gave the ritualistic greeting, "Greetings our guest, be welcome and join us in peace."
"I thank thee for your welcome and peace be to all who dwell in this house." Amelia replied.
"Now that the formalities are attended to Madam Bones. What can I do for you?" Xeno asked smiling at her sadly.
"I want to make certain you understand my visit here is to be entirely off the record and nothing we discus can be printed yet." she reminded him sternly.
"Father understands these things Madam Bones. He is a professional." The girl said firmly staring intently at Amelia.
"Yes Luna. Why don't you go reply to your friends? I'm sure they would like to hear about that lovely fairy ring you found earlier." he gently said.
"Yes father." Luna said with a smile.
"She seems to be doing well." Amelia said as Luna climb the stairs two at a time.
"Yes she is adjusting well, and the friendship she has developed with the others is certainly helping her." Xeno said proudly, "Now let's enter my office to talk privately."
"Thank you." Amelia found his office to be a reflection of the man in front of her. An orderly chaos with almost a dozen things going on simultaneously.
"So you want to know about the Thyrsus club?" he said after touching several runes on the wall behind him. Amelia felt several wards activate as the office seemed to become slightly more cramped.
"I haven't mentioned that yet." Amelia frowned.
"No, but you said you had some questions regarding Albus Dumbledore and his connections to several people. In the magical world those two data points only lead to one thing, the Thyrsus club. Anyone of any power is, or was, a member of that club."
"Then why aren't you?" Amelia asked.
"Oh I have too many morals to associate with that club." Xeno stated quickly, "You see that club is based on the cult of Dionysus."
Amelia frowned, "I'm afraid I'm a bit weak on my cult knowledge."
"Ahh too unfortunate." Xeno said leaning back steepling his fingers, "Well how frank do you want me to be?"
"Its vitally important that I have a full understanding." Amelia replied.
Xeno nodded before opening a filing cabinet and pulling out a large folder. Handing it to her he sat down and began to tell her things she was not happy to know.
"The Cult of Dionysus goes back through the Romans to the Greeks. He is the deity of pleasure, wine, parties, hedonism. The club is a thin veneer for those whose desires tend towards the less traditional in the performance of their carnal acts. I believe Oscar Wilde came to one of their parties as a plus one."
Looking through the file she blinked at the list of names, dates, all laid out. "I thought these sorts of things were kept secret?"
"Oh yes. Quite secret. Lets just say many Bothans died to bring me this information." he smiled knowingly.
She did not know what a Bothan was but did not care as she saw several names on the list that she recognized, "Some of these people are in Azkaban now, and some of them should be."
"Yes. As I said the club is for those with untraditional tastes." Xeno shrugged, "Albus Dumbledore is currently the President of the club."
She blinked several times, "Alright. The activities of this club are not commonly known."
"Oh no. To the general wizarding populace, even among the squibs, its a gentleman's club for wizards to go, talk shop, drop the social facade and just relax among equals. Not everyone gets to learn the secret handshake to get the deluxe membership package." Xeno grinned like a blonde Mephistopheles.
"And is that membership list in this file?" Amelia asked.
"As Rita Skeeter would give his left bollock for that list I only keep it in one place." He said tapping the side of his head.
Ignoring Xeno's choice of words she asked, "What would it take for me to learn this list."
Looking even more like the prince of deals he leaned forward, "Tell me why you want to know this. Keep me in the loop about Harry potter and his time traveling friends."
She barely managed to suppress her shock at his comment. "What makes you think there is a time traveler involved?"
"Well seer then. Either way things had been proceeding calmly, orderly, then all of a sudden Harry Potter is in the middle of a hurricane. Ever since he arrived at Hogwarts. Luna has shown me their letters and Mr Potter and his girlfriend Miss Granger seem to know a great deal more about her than would be publicly available. She has spoken to my Luna like someone who has been her friend for a very long time." Xeno explained staring at Amelia closely.
"You'll give me the information if I keep you in the loop? What do you plan to do with any information you get?" Amelia was worried.
"My dear lady. I would get an international publishing award for this book." he said like it was obvious, "And any tidbits you allow me to print in the Quibbler would of course be nothing but gravy to my readership. So do we have an accord?"
Looking at the outstretched hand she felt like she was making a deal with Mephistopheles indeed, but one she needed. She only hoped it turned out better than the last person to make one.
…...
Minerva had joined Pomona Sprout for dinner. The stout gardener witch was five years younger than Minerva but remained good friends.
Looking up at a painting of Helga Hufflepuff hanging in the corner of the plant filled quarters Minerva said, "Its too bad her chalice has gone missing. It would be quote the coup to bring it back to the school."
Looking to cement your fame as headmistress?" Pomona chuckled, "Though I know Filius would love to get Rowena's diadem back on school grounds."
"Aye. Having the full set would be nice. Maybe set a display cabinet in the trophy room or the Great Hall." Minerva agreed sipping the strong dark beer that Pomona favored. "Though I confess I am not able to recall much about its history and how it went missing."
"Helga passed it along to her son who passed it to his daughter and so on and so on." Pomona shrugged, "Until one of them lost it or sold it or something. At least that's the story I've heard. I've not studied the thing much myself."
Realizing that Pomona would not have any more information she enjoyed her evening meal with her friend. Changing the discussion to the upcoming few weeks.
…...
Susan was sitting with Hermione in a corner of the library when she asked casually, "Hermione, since you've got the future you's memories that means you would know some adult stuff."
Hermione looked guardedly at Susan, "Technically."
"Do you remember what sex was like?" Susan asked quickly, blushing.
Hermione's face flushed as she said, "Uh yeah."
"So?" Susan urged, "What was it like?"
Hermione frowned as she tried to find a way to explain it finally settling on, "Messy. I can't really describe it any other way."
"Surely, she had done it." Susan scoffed gently.
"Well yes. But she was only ever with one guy. So didn't have anything to compare it to." Hermione frowned, "Do we really have to discus this?"
Susan sighed, "No, I guess not."
"Okay." Hermione went back to her book dismissing the conversation.
"I was just curious." Susan said off handedly.
Hermione set her book down with a sigh, "Curious?"
"Well you know. To see what it would be like." Susan said with a shrug.
"Hasn't your aunt told you the mechanics of the act?" Hermione asked trying to find a way out of this conversation.
"Well of course I know the basic physical stuff. But I mean you've been there and done it, er will be there and do it." Susan said, "You're experienced."
Hermione closed her eyes as she counted to ten. Out of all of the things future her had sent back this is what Susan wanted to talk about?
"I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone about it." Susan said glumly going back to her book.
Sighing deeply, Hermione looked around to make sure the corner of the library they were in was not populated enough to hear her as she leaned forward and began to talk about the future version of her and Ron's sex life.
…...(Review Responses)
Yaw613: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed. Working on the next one now.
Vallavarayan: As a father of 3 who grew up to be great adults I know very well how to deal with small kids. One can play a game with them without revealing state secrets or classified information. Security protocols have to be taught early, especially for something as important as a secrecy act that can get people put in prison. There is such a thing as a public discussion and a private one. Yes they may have had a car, but we do not know how cheap Floo powder is. The fact in later books people were tossing it around like sand does tend to say it is not expensive. It is against the law to use magic in front of muggles. That point was made in the second book with Dobby and the cake, plus the other other books multiple times. No magic in front of muggles. It is the law. Yes a person talking about muggles and such might not jump to magic in the real world, but say that in front of say a magic hunter (There has to be a secrecy act for a reason.) and you have just tripped the hounds. In the real world it would be the equivalent of a person talking about certain terrorist groups. I am going to pay closer attention to them until I determine if they are a threat or not. As for Ron. I have read the books and watched the movies and I still support Harmony. At best Ron is a sidekick who needs to support Harmony or get out of the way.
Kimjo2: I know. It is always nice when technology cooperates. And yes the adults are going to step up but Harry will have some issues coming up. Reed and Malloy make a brief appearance but I have some ideas for them to get involved as things go. Thanks I'm hoping this stays good. Lol.
HoneyBear84: thank you. I'm working on it.
Katmom: In the grand scheme of things yeah. I mean Javeirt or Ahab are more obsessed with their targets than her...