Harry woke up with the beak of an owl persistently pecking his arm.
Finding it weird, as Hedwig had never done so, he opened his eyes alarmed. On the side of his bed was an elegant brown owl, looking at him disapprovingly.
"I had a rough day, okay? I deserved the rest." He tried to justify to the owl why he had decided to sleep in. He then noticed he was arguing against a bird and sighted.
The brown owl lifted her paw, showing a small piece of parchment attached to it.
Carefully, he opened the letter and read the contents.
Mister Potter
We have much to discuss.
Be outside my classroom after the last class of the day.
Alastor Moody
Harry tensed up while reading it, unsure of what Moody wanted with him, but decided he shouldn't ignore the request from the former-auror. He also noticed the bluntness of the letter. The man wasn't suited to be writer, of that he was certain.
"Moody wants to speak to me." He informed the ever-present Founder.
"Do you have any idea of the topics?"
"Last time we spoke it was at Sirius' trial. It should be about that. If not, then he has some tips about the tournament? For some reason, I don't think he's inviting me for a simple tea."
"From what you described about the man, I doubt that as well. We'll wait and see. You are meeting inside the castle, so we can assume he won't do anything dangerous."
The two discussed the subject for a little more time, while Harry did some of his exercises.
Later, he went to the lakeside for his run. This time, as he went later than usual and due to it being a school day, he found no one in the halls, something which he appreciated profoundly, as it was always unpleasant having to deal with the frightened stares of his schoolmates.
After he finished with his workout routine and taken a refreshing shower, Harry decided to have his lunch in the chamber, asking Dobby to provide him with some food. He had been neglecting his lessons with Salazar, distracted with the tournament and his romantic flings.
Soon enough, it was time to go and meet with Moody. He was curious about what the former auror had to say.
The experienced man could prove to be a valuable ally, but his allegiance to Dumbledore was a little bit worrying. The headmaster had been almost suspiciously quiet in the last few weeks, and while it was great to have a break from his manipulations, Harry couldn't avoid feeling a little bit of unrest. He knew he was important for the older man plan's but was thrown off by his recent behavior.
Could this conversation with Moody be part of some labored plan by the headmaster? He wondered to himself. He would need to be careful around the Defense Professor.
Harry patiently waited for a few minutes as the students from the last class of the day packed their things and quickly exited the classroom, facing a few stares from his younger schoolmates. When the flow of exiting students stopped, Harry peaked inside the classroom and seeing it was empty, he entered. He immediately noticed Alastor Moody siting in the teacher's desk, with an amused expression on his face, his magical eye buzzing up and down Harry's body, scanning the boy over and over again.
Harry focused his attention on the former auror, noticing how healthy the man looked compared to the last time he had seen him. The malnourished look was gone, and some meat filled the space between his bones and his skin. The face of the man was more roundish again, gone was the ghostly sucked face Harry had found when he had rescued the man from his prison-trunk. The transformation reminded Harry of the process his godfather had gone through as well, with the big lacking being the haunted eyes Sirius' still carried. Moody's eye, the human one, was burning with a fiery intensity.
"Professor, I received your letter. What is it that you want to talk about?"
"Potter!" the old professor snarled. "Take a seat."
Harry did as he was told and sat at one of the student tables in the first row.
"How did you do it?" he asked.
"Do what, professor?"
"Find Pettigrew. The entire trial. Gathering the support of Amelia. Go against the most influential wizard in the world and wipe the floor with him, all while only being fourteen years old."
Harry looked at the older man critically. His expression going colder.
"The first step was knowing who to trust, Professor."
His eyes were ice cold as he stared Moody down, waiting for what the professor would say next. The confrontation lasted for only a few seconds, and Harry did his best to hold the gaze of the man in front of him.
Then, to Harry's surprise, Moddy burst out laughing. He had to wait almost half a minute for the professor to gather himself again.
"You really are something special, aren't you? Wise attitude, let me tell you. Very… Mature."
"I was forced to grow up faster, professor. Dumbledore made sure of it, placing me where he did."
"I've heard the rumors, yes. You don't like Dumbledore." It wasn't a question. Moody was just stating and obvious fact.
"How could I? The man is a manipulative bastard, borderline psychopath. He has been pulling the strings of my life for a long time, and honestly, it barely benefited me anytime."
"Dumbledore is a complicated man." Moody agreed.
'Here we go' thought Harry.
"We all play checkers in life, he plays chess. He has a goal in mind and doesn't care if he has to run through half the wizards in Britain to achieve it. I was a good friend of Sirius before Azkaban, you know?"
"He mentioned that you were one of the people who trained him when he went to the Auror Academy."
"Yes, I was. And we were together in the Order of the Phoenix, fighting back to back more than one time." Moody noticed the look of confusion on the boy's face. "You don't know about the Order, right?"
Harry simply nodded, and that gathered a sigh from the scarred man.
"The Order of the Phoenix was a secret organization founded by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort. You'll probably recognize some its members. Remus, Sirius, Andromeda Tonks, your classmate's parents, the Longbottom's, Pettigrew and, of course, James and Lily Potter."
Harry knew who Longbottom was, but the weak boy had never gained much of his attention. He was one of the main victims of Malfoy's bullying, but Harry had never given him a second thought. He wondered if the boy could reveal himself to be an ally.
"My parents were part of a secret organization to fight Voldemort? How didn't I know about it? And why are you telling me this?"
"They were. I'm telling you this because I want you to understand. I liked Sirius. He was a good man and an excellent fighter. It surprised me a lot when he was sent to Azkaban for betraying your parents."
Harry was now more interested in the point the older man was trying to reach.
"Sirius was like a dog with your father. Loyal to the bone, ready to die for him in a heartbeat and then, he sold them out to Voldemort. It didn't make any sense. Dumbledore had performed the Fidelius, therefore he knew who the secret keeper was, and he was convinced of Sirius' guilt. So, we had no basis to doubt it. I regret that decision now."
Harry remained in silence as he waited for Moody to finish, but he couldn't avoid the glimmer of hope that filled him. He could be on the verge of gaining a very valuable and powerful ally without any effort. The repercussions of his actions could be starting to be felt.
"I know now that we sent an innocent man to prison for twelve years. And you boy… On that day of the trial, you confirmed to me that Albus knew. He knew Black was innocent, yet he allowed the ministry to send him to prison. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I do, sir." He said, calmly.
"Good, you're a smart lad, keep doing what you're doing, and If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."
Harry smiled at the professor. He had just gained a powerful ally. Moody was old but was one of the most experienced fighters in Britain, He had powerful friends and a lot of important connections. Today Harry had took an important step to win both wars he was involved in. At the same time, Dumbledore had lost one of his most important generals. It was a good day.
"Actually, there's one thing you can help me with, while I'm learning at a very fast pace, and I have the raw magical power, I need experience. The one teaching me magic is unable to provide me with that. I thought you would be the perfect person for that."
The eyes of the old professor sparkled for a fraction of a second.
"Oh boy, you don't know what you just got yourself into." He chuckled. "I'll give you some pointers, for sure, and some bruises." He gave a small smirk.
This time it was Harry's turn to smile. "We'll see."
"Lord Black, the Minister will see you in just a few minutes, if you'd like to take a seat please."
Sirius nodded at the young Weasley in front of him. If he remembered correctly the family was as poor as they come, so seeing one of them as the assistant of the Minister of Magic was unusual. He remembered Arthur and Molly from the times of the Order. He actually enjoyed Arthur, the man was quiet but intelligent and much too curious but fair. It was his wife that he wasn't a fan of, she was too over the top for Sirius' liking, and had convinced herself to be the mother of everyone even at a very young age. The women had convinced herself that she was the pinnacle of morality, and that everyone that didn't agree with her was from the dark side. Sirius, whose morality could best be described as grey, had butted heads with the women at almost every interaction they had.
Suddenly, the door to Fudge's office opened, and Sirius saw it as his cue to enter, his rumblings about the Weasley's completely gone from his mind.
"Lord Black, a pleasure to see you. Please, take a seat." said the bloated Minister, eager to make friends with the new political powerhouse.
Sirius laughed, looked Fudge in the eyes and retorted. "I think I'd rather stand, Fudge, I'm sure you understand my distrust of the entire Ministry at the moment."
Sirius didn't really care for the Ministry or even the Minister, but he had a role to play, and an objective to accomplish.
"Of course, of course." A look of shame passed over Fudge's face, but both men knew was fake. "I asked you here to discuss the matter of your… wrongful incarceration."
Sirius faked a surprise look. He had been informed that Fudge was now overseeing that particular issue.
"I thought Amelia was supposed to take care of that." He would rather have that discussion with the enticing head of the DMLE than with Fudge.
"Yes, usually it is. But the situation is so…" Sirius noticed the effort of the Minister trying not to make a pun. "important, that I took the matter into my own hands. We have a fair compensation model, which would give you around six-hundred thousand galleons, around fifty thousand galleons per year, and to a man of your status, I'm sure whatever the Ministry could give you would just be pocket change. What do you think? He asked nervously twisting his hands.
This time Sirius was really surprised.
"That's outrageous. Twelve years of my life gone, the entire childhood of my godson and you think you can just give me peanuts? No minister, I won't accept anything less than ten million Galleons, otherwise I'll go to the Wizengamot for your head and the head of all those responsible for what happened, and you know it would be a clean sweep."
Fudge's face was now as pale as a wall.
"T-t-t-ten million? That would bankrupt the Ministry, I can't do that, you know I can't. My head would end up on the chopping block anyway."
At this moment Sirius knew he had Fudge in the palm of his hand. Now it was only a matter of twisting the knife until he got what he wanted. After all, if there was one thing politicians loved more than anything was their own power.
"I'm sorry Fudge, but the Ministry took everything from me. We could, of course, come up with some other method to even this debt…"
The panic on Fudge's face softened a little, but he was still noticeably worried.
"And what would that method be, Lord Black?"
Sirius snickered, enjoying the fact that no one knew that he was no longer the Lord Black.
"Let's just say I have some… desires… that I would like to see fulfilled."
"If it's withing my power, they will be fulfilled, Lord Black."
"Very well, but be aware of this, If you fail to complete any of my requests, everything we spoke of right now is off the table, and I'll come for you."
Fudge simply nodded, knowing he was against the wall.
"First of all, you will double the budget for the DMLE, it's ridiculous what you have done to that department, this country would be defenseless if Voldemort or any other wannabe Dark Lord shows up. I will not place our fate in the hands of a child again."
Fudge had no other choice than to nod in agreement.
"Second, you will fire Lucius from his role as your advisor. Known Death Eaters should not have the ear of the Minister."
Fudge tried to protest, but Sirius cut him off immediately.
"I don't want any excuses, Fudge. Increase your own security detail if you have something to fear. I will not tolerate his presence here for one second more." Giving him no time to argue back, he continued. "My third request is that the aurors restart with their raids on the homes of suspected supporters of Voldemort. The Ministry has been weak on those lunatics for long enough. Every single one of them represents a danger to my godson and I will see them eradicated from this planet if I can. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Lord Black."
"Good. Have a good day Fudge."
He stormed out of the office.
"So, how did things go with that professor of yours?"
"He actually isn't my professor, I've never been to one of his classes, but it turned out pretty good. After my little stunt in the Wizengamot revealed Dumbledore's true nature, I think he's on my side of the fight now. We agreed on him training me on the practical part of combat."
"From what you told me, this man was a friend of the Headmaster for quite a few decades, do you think it's wise to trust such a sudden change of heart?" The founder sounded skeptical.
"Do you really think that little of me? Am I not one of the possible heirs of Slytherin? Even if the man is still loyal to Dumbledore and this is all a trick, all we'll be doing for now is practice. I'm not really hiding my abilities, so he won't learn anything new. During this time, I will gain his trust and then demand an unbreakable vow from him. Only if he does it will I trust him."
"Your plan is to demand an unbreakable vow from everyone around you?"
"Of course not. I would never demand one from my friends, or Sirius, or even my girls. But I don't trust adults."
"Oh, so now they are your girls? And isn't Sirius an adult?"
"Well, isn't it more practical? No, Sirius is not an adult. He has the body of an adult, but if we're being honest, he's more of a child than me."
That got a few laughs from the Founder.
"I really wish to meet this Dogfather of yours one day." He commented to no one.
Harry stopped dead on his tracks.
"Did you just call him… Dogfather?"
"I guess I did."
Harry's eyes went to the sky in thankfulness and he whispered, loud enough for his companion to hear. "Thank God."
AN: Hey there guys, I know it's been a while. The interaction between Moody and Harry was particularly hard for me to write, and at one point I decided I needed to take a break to rethink the situation. Also, as the story progresses it gets more tricky to write, as I have more content and have to try not to create major plot holes. I won't compromise to a fixed schedule for now, but even if I don't post for a while, don't worry, I won't abandon this story. It's my baby and I'm going to finish it (not that we are even close to the end).
I'd also like to thank my Beta CalamityXx for his work on the chapter.
Hope you enjoy the chapter, thank you for the follows and the reviews. In this "small" break this story reached 100k views and passed 1000 followers (on fanfiction net), and I'm very grateful for every single one of them.