Chapter 14: Words at the Burrow
The next day there was a strong sense of unease in the house. Harry's relatives were dreading the thought of a wizard coming to their home. Harry did his best to keep their minds from working themselves into a frenzy but there was only so much he could do.
Dudley couldn't help but remember the time Hagrid in his anger at his parents had given him a pig's tail. Vernon and Petunia had to take him to a hospital to get it removed. Harry still wasn't certain how they had managed to keep that incident from winding up in a medical journal or making it on to the evening news. But while Dudley was worried about finding himself on the wrong side of a wand again, he was also fairly interested in seeing what a full-blown wizard was like.
Vernon was still convinced that Mr. Weasley was going to show up in full wizard robes, perhaps on a broomstick, in full view of the neighbors to embarrass them all. He had dressed in one of his best suits to remind himself of how important he was at his own job. Harry did his best to build his confidence and assure him he would be able to easily handle the whole situation.
Aunt Petunia was actually kind of excited to meet a wizard, and angry at herself for feeling excited. Harry still had no idea how to really handle that, so he mostly ignored her and was grateful she wasn't trying to work anyone else up. It was a long day for Harry as he tried to keep things under control in his house. How an Elder Brain managed to keep control over an entire colony on its own was well beyond him.
It was half past five when Mr. Weasley arrived about half an hour after he had said he would. He was wearing a full set of formal wizards' robes like he normally did which would be a point against him in the minds of Harry's relatives. Luckily, he arrived in the middle of the dining room with a crack of apparition.
"Well, hello there." Mr. Weasley introduced himself as he looked up at the surrounding muggles. "I'm Arthur Weasley, Ron's father. I'm sure Harry has told you all about him."
Mr. Weasley strode into the living room advancing on Uncle Vernon. Vernon met him part way and shook his hand, likely trying to shake it as hard as he could. It was an odd sight: tall and lanky Mr. Weasley standing alongside his broad and stocky uncle. Mr. Weasley gave a wide smile at the man and then turned towards the fireplace.
"So that's your electric fireplace, is it?" He asked and before Uncle Vernon could respond he carried on. "Very clever bit of work, that. I would never have thought of such a thing. Must save you so much time and money getting wood or cutting it up."
"Uh." Uncle Vernon groped for words facing a man who still thought people needed firewood for the winter. "Yes, it's very convenient. Quite an efficient model. Hardly costs a thing to run it."
It didn't cost them anything actually since they never used it, Harry thought. But the situation was going fairly well as far as he could tell. Vernon had decided he was much smarter than Mr. Weasley and so felt much more comfortable around him. Dudley found the whole situation very funny and was looking at Harry with a wide grin on his face. Only Petunia's thoughts were still dark and brooding.
"This is my wife Petunia and my son Dudley." Vernon finished off a round of introductions that politeness eventually forced him to make.
"Good to meet you all." Mr. Weasley said. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't waste too much time. Harry, why don't you go and fetch your things."
Harry withdrew upstairs and returned to his room. He had already packed everything away earlier that day. He had made very certain not to forget a thing. He had all his books, all his robes, all the regular clothes he had that still fit him, his broomstick, its cleaning and maintenance supplies and everything he needed for Hedwig. The trunk that it was all packed away in was fortunately magically enchanted so it only weighed a fraction of what it should. Even so it took some effort to get the big bulky thing down the stairs. Mr. Weasley and Uncle Vernon it seemed had been talking about Vernon's work while Harry had been gone.
"Drill bits then?" Mr. Weasley said in response to hearing about the Grunnings company. "Metal work is always so fascinating. Do you do much of the casting?"
"It's mostly machine work these days to keep up with all the custom orders." Vernon explained. "I can run a CNC machine if I need to of course, have to be able to know what is and isn't possible. But I mostly work with clients to plan out their needs."
"Seaensee?" Mr. Weasley asked, very confused.
"Computer guided machining." Vernon explained in a way that left Me. Weasley completely in the dark. Harry's uncle pulled out a set of demonstration bits to show off. "We've got one of the most advanced systems in the country. See this crown molding shaver? Laser sharpened to less than half a millimeter of specification. And the stuff we can do nowadays with water erosion? Absolutely astounding."
"Very impressive." Mr. Weasley complimented though he still had no idea exactly what he was complimenting. "An obvious sign of craftsmanship and skill."
"Of course." Vernon said, pleased as punch and now in full salesmanship mode. "Would you like to take a sample pack back with you? Show your wizard friends what normal people can do with a bit of thought and skill."
"Could I? I would be ever so grateful." Mr. Weasley said with growing excitement. "I've collected plugs for years but maybe a drill bit collection might be worth starting. Fascinating stuff plugs."
"Er." Vernon paused, caught slightly off guard by the words plug collection. "Yes, why not? Here take this example of our premium series."
"Thank you so much!" Mr. Weasley beaned. "Ah, are you ready to go then Harry?" Harry nodded. "Good, good. Well, I'm afraid I can't quite manage to disapparate with that much stuff, so I'm afraid we will have to use the floo. I talked it over with Molly and we went out last night and picked a portable door for this. Don't worry about your fireplace, this won't risk a thing."
Mr. Weasley then produced a large brass doorknob from inside his robes along with his wand. He tapped his wand in four places around the top and base of the electric fireplace and then said, "Movostium!" Finally, he placed the doorknob on a line between one of the top and bottom points he had touched and turned it.
The whole section of fake brickwork swung back as if on well-oiled hinges. The newly made door revealed a large open area full of dust and cobwebs around an ancient fireplace. Dudley was staring wide eyed and full of wonder. Even Uncle Vernon looked impressed by it all. Petunia just tutted and muttered under her breathe that the fireplace better work when he put it back. Mr. Weasley said: "Ignis!" And started a fire before he threw some powder into the flames which turned them green.
"There you go Harry," He said, quite satisfied. "I'm sure you remember how this works. Just step in with your trunk and say you want to go to the Burrow. I'll close up the door once you're gone and will make my way back once everything is fixed up here."
"Bye Harry." Dudley said.
"See ya Duds." Harry shot back. "Have fun with the boxing."
"Stay out of trouble boy." Vernon said since he had to say something. Aunt Petunia said nothing, but Harry hadn't expected her to. Harry waved goodbye to them both and then took off through the floo network.
In a blur and a rush of colors and wind, Harry sped through the magical network of connected chimneys and fireplaces. After what only seemed like seconds, he arrived with a wave of soot at the home of the Weasley clan. He climbed out of the fireplace into a large and welcoming kitchen. Ron and Hermione's presence in his mind swelled as the distance between them vanished and he could feel their thoughts once more. A tension in his mind, that had steadily built throughout the summer finally eased, as his eyes shot towards Ron who was grinning madly at him from across a table.
"Welcome back bro." Ron said in a warm welcome. If there hadn't been four other people in the room, he would've hugged him close and tight.
"Cheers Harry!" Fred cried from next to Ron.
"Here, have a celebratory toffee for escaping the muggles early." George said as he walked over to Harry and took his trunk out of his arms. Ron's mind cried a warning to him about the offered candy, but Harry took it anyway interested to see what would happen.
The soft candy was sweet and salty on his tongue, and he couldn't help but wrap it up in his tongue to savor the sweet flavor. Dudley's diet had been torture to go through and a return to the world of wizard sweets was a welcome one. But when the toffee seemed to fuse with his tongue, he realized that maybe he should've taken Ron's warning more seriously.
In seconds Harry's tongue had swelled up to the point that he couldn't keep it in his mouth. A long fat purple foot of tongue pushed out of his mouth and started leaking saliva onto the ground. It felt tingly and numb, and it made the air around it taste like the toffee he had just been enjoying. Harry flexed his ESP and telekinesis to fix his own sight to the ceiling and view himself from outside his body. He looked absolutely ridiculous, and he couldn't help laughing uproariously at the sight. Fred, George, Ron and the two other young men at the table all joined in.
"It looks like a bloody python is trying to force its way down your throat." Fred laughed.
"Oh, those are some excellent colors we're getting." George noted. "And there coming in very regular bands too, perhaps we should give this one some rainbow marketing?"
"I think that's quite enough of that." One of the young men commented as he brandished his wand. "Reducio." He ordered and Harry's tongue quickly shrank back to its regular size.
"Merlin's beard, that was great." Harry declared as he wiped up the surprisingly sweet drool from his chin. "What was that and where'd you get it?"
"That's our new Ton Tongue Toffee." George declared with an incredibly smug look on his face.
"And we made it ourselves." Fred explained. "We've been trying to get a test subject for it for ages. Lee Jordan thinks they're a choking hazard. How was it Harry and be honest we need the market research."
"It was perfectly safe I think." Harry confirmed for them. "All the drool comes from the bits that are already out of your mouth and since it grows forward, I don't think it poses any risk. I like that it makes everything taste like toffee as it grows. You might want to sell an antidote with it though. I doubt I could've cast that reducing charm on myself with a mouth full of tongue and you can't always guarantee there will be another wizard around."
"Fair point." Fred said. "Maybe we could sell them in two for one packs with a tiny tongue toffee."
"Those do still need more work." George commented. "A three-foot-long tongue isn't a huge problem but a tenth of an inch short tongue is really hard to aim at."
Harry thanked the wizard who had shrunk his tongue. He confirmed that he was Bill, the one Weasley brother that Harry hadn't met yet. He was much cooler looking than Harry expected, with leather boots earrings, long hair and tattoos that all made him look more like a punk rocker than a professional curse breaker who worked for Gringotts bank.
The other young man at the table was Charlie Weasley, whom Harry had only met very briefly during his first year at Hogwarts when he took away the baby dragon Norbert that Hagrid had won in a poker game. He worked for one of the Dragon reservations out in eastern Europe. He had the look of a working man, well used to hard labor and proud of what he did.
"So, you two have taken to making magical candy pranks?" Harry surmised turning back to Fred and George. "Hoping to make the feasts a Hogwarts really interesting this year?"
"No, we're preparing a line of products for our future business." George explained.
"Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes." Ron explained. "They're planning to open a joke shop. Isn't that grand?"
"Bloody brilliant." Harry complimented. "With stuff like this you'll make money hand over foot."
"If only we could convince our dear mother of that." Fred lamented.
"Convince me of what?" Mrs. Weasley said as she swept into the room with Hermione and her daughter Ginny on her tail. When she saw a candy wrapper on the table though her expression darkened. "Oh, don't tell me you forced one of those wretched things on poor Harry, did you?"
"It was fine Mrs. Weasley." Harry tried to defend the twins.
"It was a great laugh is what is was and no trouble to set right." Bill joined in.
"Don't you two encourage them." Mrs. Weasley denied. "Such clever heads on their shoulders and this is how they waste their time and talent? I can hardly believe it. How ever did Arthur and I go wrong?"
Harry slipped around Mrs. Weasley as she started to rant at and berate her two twin sons, to go and hug Hermione. She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. She had known the moment that Harry had arrived of course but had been busy helping clean something upstairs and so hadn't been able to come as quickly as she wanted.
Now that they were both there, Ron and Hermione began quickly combing through Harry's memories about everything that had happened to him over the summer, to make sure nothing had gone wrong for him. They mostly focused on Harry's unexpected visit to the Illithid colony, since that was the most dangerous thing that had happened to him. Harry let them do so, offering the occasional comfort and reassurance that everything had been going alright. He also checked their own memories to make sure they had good summers as well. Ron had spent his time at home, and it had been fairly normal, though the last few days hanging out with his oldest brothers had been a lot of fun. Hermione's parents had taken her on a tour of Spain back in July. She had gotten to see a bull running and enjoy the surprisingly Celtic culture of the Basque Country.
Once all three were satisfied that nothing too horrible had happened when they were out of each other's sight they enjoyed a quiet moment of basking in each other's emotions and presence. They sat back and enjoyed the fireworks of Mrs. Weasley trying to talk some sense into her boys, which soon evolved into her trying to convince Bill to dress more sensibly and wondering when Charlie was going to find someone nice to settle down with.
"My scar starting hurting Saturday night." Harry informed Ron and Hermione telepathically. "I woke up from a dream of Voldemort killing some poor old man. I think he's back in this country."
Ron flinched even hearing the thought of the most hated and feared Wizard name. He and Hermione both turned their full attention to Harry's memory of the event which they had quickly glossed over since Harry wasn't worried about it. Their minds firmed with determination to help protect Harry and see the wretched soul gone once and for all.
"Have you told Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
"I sent a letter to him and Sirius." Harry confirmed. Then he indicated his empty owl cage and added. "That's where Hedwig is right now."
"Why would he come back to England if he doesn't have a proper body?" Ron wondered. "He's just putting himself closer to Dumbledore."
"He must have some plan to make a new better one that needs something in this country to work." Hermione reasoned.
"I doubt he's worried about Dumbledore too much." Harry guessed. "He probably got pretty good at keeping away from him during the last war. But we may get lucky if he is here."
"You are not going after him mate." Ron insisted and Harry rolled his eyes.
"I don't intend to." Harry assured them. Even in a weaker body Voldemort wasn't to be underestimated. "But I also don't doubt he's going to come after me at some point."
The other two nodded at that thought. Harry noticed that Ginny was giving the three of them an odd look and Harry realized how strange they were acting, reacting to words no one else could hear. They would have to be careful about that in the future. Ron turned to face his sister as Harry's thoughts turned in her direction and gave her a hard look.
"Something look funny to you, squirt?" He demanded to know.
"You're such a weirdo." She declared and walked off in a huff. Harry was actually a bit grateful that she left.
Ginny had had a crush on Harry for as long as he had known her. What had started as simple celebrity obsession had grown into hero worship after Harry had helped save her life. Now it seemed like she had settled down a bit and was no longer obsessed with him. But from the way she felt jealous watching Hermione hug him, to the way she had paid more attention to him and his friends than the family drama playing out in the rest of the room, it was clear she still wanted to get closer to him.
Harry thought it might be much better for her if she got over her crush and moved on. Harry had never been in love with anyone and sort of doubted he ever would. Illithids were an asexual species. They all made tadpoles from their bodies at regular intervals throughout their lives which were given over to the Elder Brain to cull or cultivate as it saw fit before being implanted into people to make new Illithids. They didn't need to have sex with each other to make a tadpole and the generic diversity of their race came from the variety of hosts they used to make more Illithids. Illithids couldn't even feel love or lust and had no emotional attachment to the tadpoles they made and no extra concern for any Illithid made from one of their tadpoles.
Harry hoped his ability to feel love, joy and happiness would survive his eventual ceremorphosis. The fact that he hopefully would still have a human through the animagus ritual should guarantee that. But he wouldn't be surprised if ended up losing what little sex drive he had as a fourteen year old boy.
"Don't be so gloomy." Ron interrupted his thoughts. "Of course you're going to find love one day."
"It's not like your father only liked deer after his animagus transformation." Hermione sensibly pointed out. "You are still human, Harry, whatever anyone says, and you're going to experience all the joy and wonder that a human can in life. You deserve it."
"We may want to tell Ginny and the twins about this Illithid stuff anyway." Ron suggested. "Honestly, Ginny is probably the most sensible person in the family and the twins can do whatever they set their minds to. They'd all know enough to keep it a secret and they would think it was cool. Just like they did back when the school found out you were a parselmouth."
Harry had to agree with that. They had joked about him being able to talk to snakes of course but that actually helped out a lot at the time. Plus, they would probably find out on their own somehow if he didn't tell them. The twins had a habit of knowing everything anyone didn't want them to. Neville Longbottom was another person he wouldn't mind telling. The boy didn't have a dishonest bone in his body and was as brave as any when it counted. Plus, his family was as well integrated into the magical world as Ron's was, so he could be very useful ally to have when they graduated and started infiltrating the ministry.
"And Ginny wouldn't be the worst match for you." Hermione added, which made Harry turn and glare at her. "She would. She's one of the few girls I know daring enough to put up with a trouble magnet like you."
"Have you heard from Sirius recently?" Ron asked, sensing this would be a good time to change the conversation.
"He's doing well." Harry confirmed. "He's hiding out somewhere in the Caribbean, I think. Some local witch doctors have taken him in."
"Ah makes sense." Ron commented and when he felt Hermione and Harry feel curious about why he continued. "Witch doctors aren't in good standing with the international wizarding community. They refused to sign on with the statute of secrecy and still offer their services to muggles in need. And a lot of people don't think they count as proper magicals since they don't use wands, incantations or the usual kinds of potions. I don't think they really care about being kept out from the International Confederation of Wizards, but they get really sensitive about people saying they're not real witches, even though most of them are men. So, if Sirius went to them saying he was a victim of false accusations they would easily believe him and would keep him safe just to thumb their noses at the rest of the world."
That was very reassuring for Harry to hear. He worried a lot about his godfather and was terrified that he might get sent back to Azkaban. Harry never wanted to see another dementor in his life again, after they had threatened to turn him and Esharry into some kind of happiness devouring, demonic Elder Brain. So, it would be incredibly frustrating and terrifying if he had to break into Azkaban one day to get Sirius out.
"Have you got your mandrake leaf?" Hermione asked. "We could probably slip away right now to brew it up real quick. Otherwise, we might have to wait until after the world cup to do it."
"I have a leaf, but it isn't ready for potion making yet." Harry answered with a mental sigh. "I lost the first leaf I was working with when the Illithids arrived. It was so shocking to feel one of their minds in Little Whinging, I swallowed it without thinking. The one in my mouth now needs another two weeks at least before it's ready. We'll have to wait until after school starts to make the potion."
Both of his friends groaned over the news. As much confidence as they had that Harry's personality and humanity would survive ceremorphosis they didn't want to test it. Much better for Harry to undergo a reliable and somewhat understood magical transformation than the alien Illithid changing process. Harry was confident they still had time, but he didn't want to delay things any more than he had to.
There were two big potential time sinks in the animagus ritual. The first was keeping a mandrake leaf in the future animagus's mouth for a full month. Every accidental swallow, every time it was spat out, or bitten, reset their progress by a month. The other was that once the potion was brewed it had to be buried in the ground until a natural thunderstorm blew over it.
Since they lived in England waiting for bad weather wasn't that difficult, the weather was always bad as the stereotype went. But it was a different kind of bad at different points of the year, and so they were on something of a time limit. By November they would be getting snowstorms, not rainstorms, and lightning was almost unheard of in a blizzard. They might luck out in spring, but in Harry's experience around Hogwarts by springtime the weather was usually very lovely. So, their best chance of getting a good thunderstorm would come between September and October. That was a generous timeframe to work with, but the less they had to tempt fate the better.
The Weasley family drama finally wound down and work began in earnest to prepare for supper. Hermione, Ginny the twins and the eldest Weasleys were sent outside to help set up tables in the garden. Harry and Ron went to take his trunk upstairs to Ron's room where Harry would be staying. The twins would be sleeping with them as well since the whole house was so cramped. Aside from Ginny, only Percy was allowed the luxury of his own room, and he only got that because he was very busy with work.
"Would you two keep it down?" He angrily demanded when they first came up stairs before announcing self-importantly. "I've got a very important report to finish, and I don't need all this racket."
"It's a report on cauldron thickness." Ron dismissed. "Hardly the most earth-shattering topic ever pursued."
"Laugh if you want Ron," Percy warned. "But there's a lot of shoddy work being sold on the market today, and people like our parents are the most likely to suffer because of it. Mr. Crouch and the whole department of international cooperation are counting on people like me to do this kind of important work so that people like mum don't get hot boiling half made potions spilling on their floor from a leak."
"Truly you are doing god's work." Ron sarcastically praised him, but Harry hardly noticed. A deep scowl had settled on his face, and he could hardly be blamed for it.
Barty Crouch was the man who had sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial. Harry had assumed that after such a blatant disregard for a person's civil rights and English Common Law the man must've been run out of the government. After all the department of magical law enforcement was now being run by Amelia Bones. But to hear that he was still running a department turned Harry's stomach.
"Harry are you alright?" Percy hesitantly asked. "I don't think anything like what I said could actually happen. Accidental leaks are only up three percent this year and mum has a very good English made cauldron she always uses."
"It's not you mate." Ron explained. "Harry's just still mad at the ministry for how badly they bungled the whole Sirius Black incident. And who could blame him? He and Hermione were almost killed by dementors because of that."
"Oh yes of course." Percy said apologetically. "That whole thing was a massive mess from beginning to end. Don't worry Harry. I've heard that the dementors have all been sent back to Azkaban and Madam Bones has some of her top men working on the case now. You don't have anything to worry about."
Harry thanked Percy for the news and then made his way to Ron's room to unpack. Ron helped Harry find space in his chest of drawers for his clothes and helped get Hedwig's cage set up. All the while he complained about how insufferable Percy had been since he got his new job at the ministry.
"Honestly I always knew that Percy was a ponce, but I never imagined he could be such a brown noser." Ron declared. "Every other word that comes out of the man's mouth is about how sunshine flies forth from Mr. Crouch's asshole. It's sickening."
Harry thought about what he had briefly seen in Percy's mind during their conversation. There was a lot of anxiety in there, along with quite a bit of desperate hope. Harry connected up some dots in his head and then spoke back.
"He's young and is striking out on his own for the first time in his life." Harry explained. "He thinks he's taking his first steps as an adult and is trying to measure up to the world, and so he's competing against your dad trying to prove he can be a better man."
"Against dad?" Ron asked, surprised. "What would he do that? Dad's never tried to pressure us to do anything like that."
"He's pressuring himself," Harry clarified. "He's trying to prove to himself that he's ready for life. The only role model he's ever known is your father so that's what he's measuring himself against. He'll spend the next year or two trying to advance further than your dad ever managed to prove that he can. Talk to him in a year about whether it's better to live comfortably or with your pride in tack and maybe you can get him to see that he's making a fool of himself."
"Since when have you been full of ideas about how to fix other people's lives?" Ron asked slightly accusatory.
"Ah sorry." Harry backtracked. "It's because I've spent the whole summer trying to make my relatives into people fit for civilized company. I guess I'm still in a corrective headspace."
"No problem, man." Ron said simply. "Just remember that people prefer to ask for advice before they're given it. But I will remember what you said, I think it does make sense. I guess that alien brain is good for more than mind reading huh?"
"Don't try and butter me up, Ron." Harry shot down the thoughts forming in his friend's mind. "You're going to have to do your homework on your own from now on. No more mooching off of Hermione and especially no begging for answers from me. If you're going to be the head of the department to mysteries, you're going to have to be able to walk the walk all on your own."
"Damn it." Ron jokingly took the rejection. "I was hoping that hadn't occurred to you yet and I would get at least one more year to take things easy. Any chance I could get one of them smarter Illithid brains to make things easier for me?"
Harry slugged him in the arm, and they made their way downstairs to help with dinner preparations. Mr. Weasley had finally made it home and was in the kitchen admiring his new sample pack of drill bits while Mrs. Weasley gave him the exasperated look any spouse perfects when they realize there will soon be a new type of useless junk cluttering up the house. Ron and Harry were each given a stack of plates to take outside to help set up.
They arrived in time to see Bill and Charlie finishing up a duel in which they made the two tables they were floating in the air bash into each other over and over again. It ended when Percy shouted at them to keep the noise down. The eldest Weasleys floated the tables back to the ground and easily magically repaired them. Only then did the work of preparing for dinner finally begin.
Between Bill and Charlie showing off their magic, the twins badgering people about what they thought of different kinds of magical pranks, and Crookshanks darting in and out of people's legs as he chased after garden gnomes, it was almost seven o'clock by the time the work was done. Harry loved every minute of it. The wild loving chaos of the Weasley family was probably the single thing he was most jealous of in his life.
When they finally settled down to talk the chaos only shifted to wild and constantly changing conversations. Charlie and Bill were constantly trying to one up each other with wild stories about dragons Charlie had tamed or terrible ancient Egyptian death traps that had nearly killed Bill or one of his coworkers. Harry asked Bill about why Gringotts back even employed a team of excavators and curse breakers.
"For the gold of course." Bill explained. "Ancient magical treasure is the just about the only substantial source of gold for the banks to make new galleons. All the major gold mines are controlled by muggles these days, well aside from a few of the really old dwarf ones, but it's much easier to get gold out of a thousand-year-old death trap than out of a dwarf."
"Couldn't they buy gold from the muggles?" Harry asked. "I don't think they use gold for much these days since everyone uses paper money and credit cards now."
"They used to get gold by selling things to the muggles and melting down the pounds they paid with." Bill explained. "Can't do that anymore with the statute of secrecy and everything. The real problem is that any gold we buy from the muggles gets made into coins and never gets back into the muggle's hands. Since gold is rare and is traded back and forth a great deal on their stock markets a whole lot of people would notice if it started disappearing. Gringotts only ever buys gold if it's a real emergency to keep the currency supply intact."
"I don't mind telling you Harry, but deflation is becoming a bigger and bigger concern in the magical world these days." Bill continued. "Old families don't let their money move around enough. They keep it all hoarded away in their ancient bank vaults while they make do with generation old hand-me-downs and other heirlooms. And it doesn't help that so many heirs of the old families got locked up in Azkaban back when you know who fell from power. Their vaults are practically untouchable. Honestly our department considers it a good year if we manage to just hold our ground and make as much money as gets locked away in people's vaults."
Hermione was talking very excitedly about their classes for next year, during which she brought up that Harry had decided to take an extra class. This caught Mrs. Weasley's attention and so she swiftly questioned Harry about it. Caught on the spot, Harry recounted the matter as simply as he could, how he had gotten interested in ancient runes from working with Hermione, talking with McGonagall and taking his placement test. He had passed that test of course, his Hogwarts letter for that year already confirmed that he needed the textbook for next year's rune lessons.
"Oh, that's wonderful Harry." Mrs. Weasley praised him. "You should always be willing to push yourself a little bit further, especially when it comes to your education. If you know a class would be good for your future, you should throw yourself into it and learn as much as you can."
Harry got the sense that Mrs. Weasley wasn't entirely talking to him. The blush on Ron's face and the eye rolls the twins gave confirmed that intended recipients had heard her remarks. The twins didn't take it lightly.
"We are taking every class we need for our future." Fred insisted.
"Potions as much as we would rather not," George explained. "Charms and transfigurations for the effects we need. Care of magical creatures and herbology to know where our ingredients are coming from. Honestly, we're taking a fair few more N.E.W.T.s than anyone would've expected from us."
"Especially since I don't think any teacher at Hogwarts really expected us to take any." Fred added.
"We're even still taking defense even though we don't plan on having anything to do with fighting for the rest of our lives." George added. "Doing that one for the sheer love of learning we are."
"And the love of seeing what new idiot gets lumped with the job this year and how they'll mess it up." Fred admitted. "I wonder how long it will take for this one to try and kill Harry?"
"Lupin never tried to kill me." Harry insisted.
"Don't lie Harry, we all know that the full moon night he lost control must've been the one you ended up in the hospital wing." Fred pressed. "He was a great professor and sure he probably didn't mean to try and savage you, but he did and so the streak is unbroken."
This derailed the conversation enough to prevent Mrs. Weasley from no doubt reminding the twins that Percy and Bill had managed a N.E.W.T. in almost every class Hogwarts offered and so had made themselves employable to anyone looking to hire a wizard. Ron still looked somewhat down though. Harry felt in his mind that he was worried that he might not have the right courses to become an unspeakable. Harry reassured him.
"You've got all the basics covered." He pointed out. "And you've got some pretty good extra credits too. You got past half of the best traps the teachers of Hogwarts could think up, you helped find the Chamber of Secrets and you helped catch Sirius Black. We'll talk to McGonagall if there are any courses you're not taking the department of mysteries might be interested in."
Ron sent him a mental thanks. The two of them both turned on Hermione who was once again considering if she could take every a N.E.W.T. the school offered. She relented under their mental barrage quickly enough.
Percy and Mr. Weasley were wrapped up in a discussion about office politics. Percy was complaining about the head of the department of magical sports, Ludo Bagman, who according to Mr. Weasley was a former professional quidditch player and the reason why they had tickets to the World Cup. Harry felt himself growing somewhat irked as Mr. Weasley explained how smoothing over some matter for Ludo's cousin had earned him the tickets to the world cup.
Ron shot him a bit of a glare over it, but Harry couldn't help himself. It was tit-for-tat corruption. Mr. Weasley had helped a man avoid the charges he should have faced and had been paid off for it. Both men were using their connections to the government to benefit themselves in ways normal citizens couldn't. Yes, it was small, and Harry hardly thought Mr. Weasley was a bad person for it but it wasn't right.
"You really are mad at the government over the whole Sirius thing, aren't you?" Hermione observed.
"Well yes I am." Harry admitted. "That doesn't mean I'm not wrong. Government should be more fair than this."
Before they could argue back though the conversation with Percy and Mr. Weasley turned in a direction they couldn't ignore.
"Do you realize that Berka Jorkins hasn't been seen in almost a month now?" Percy explained as part of his ongoing tirade about how Ludo Bagman was a worse boss than Barty Crouch. "Went on holiday to Albania and never came back."
"Oh, Bertha gets lost all the time." Mr. Weasley dismissed. "She's always been so forgetful and easily confused. I wouldn't be surprised if she just got lost somewhere along the way."
"Isn't that really dangerous though?" Harry interrupted. "To get lost in Albania I mean. Professor Dumbledore told me once that's where the spirit of Lord Voldemort is hiding out until he regains his powers."
The table had one great collective flinch to the name of the most evil wizard in living history, as they usually did whenever Harry actually said the man's name. Harry had forgotten about that; Sirius had no trouble speaking or writing the self-proclaimed dark lord's name. Not for the first time Harry wondered if maybe he should start referring to old Tom Riddle by a different name. Maybe Dam Lori Dolemvort, that was also an anagram of Tom's full name and was much less intimidating than I am Lord Voldemort.
"Well, I mean, professor Quirrel also got lost in Albania and look what happened to him." Harry pressed.
"Well yes but…." Mr. Weasley started, and then stopped as he thought about things.
"Don't worry Harry," Mrs. Weasley tried to reassure him. "Every wizard knows how dangerous those woods are. No one could ever be so silly or forgetful."
"Bertha Jorkins could." Percy pointed out with his usual tact. "I've heard about her. She's been bounced around from department to department as a perpetual screw up. I wouldn't be surprised if she did get lost and wander into You Know Who."
"I think I'll send a letter to Dumbledore this evening." Mr. Weasley announced. "He's got people keeping an eye on those woods. Maybe one of them has caught wind of Bertha. Hopefully she made a much more innocent mistake and mixed-up Albania with Australia. That's easy enough to do."
"That was a good catch, Harry." Percy complimented him. "I had forgotten about the Albania thing. I guess people don't like to think about the fact that he's still out there. But I also suppose you can't really forget it. Still though, I've always been impressed by that head on your shoulders. You've got the kind of mind that could go far in the ministry."
"Thanks." Harry accepted the intention behind what Percy had said. Percy had always been Harry's least favorite Weasley, since he was a stickler for the rules and so not all that much fun. But that didn't mean he disliked the man, Percy was smart, reliable and a good man at heart. He had never dog piled on Harry the way others at school had and he took his responsibilities seriously. It was a shame the man had no sense of tact. But that could be useful.
"Actually, I had a question about the ministry I wanted to ask someone who had learned its ins and outs. Maybe you could help me?" Harry continued before the conversation could shift again.
"Well, I can certainly try Harry." Percy offered. "I don't profess to know everything yet, but I can certainly take a stab at anything."
"I've been thinking a lot about governments recently, and you see, muggles have this legal procedure in place." Harry explained starting from the beginning since he really had no idea how the ministry of magic worked. "In case they later find out that something about a trial that took place wasn't right. Like: if a piece of evidence was faked, or it turned out someone had been lying. In those circumstances they would host a retrial. They would put the accused through the courts again to see if they would get convicted without that discredited piece of evidence, and if not, they would release them. Do the magical courts do anything like that? And if they do how would you go about arranging for a retrial to take place?"
"A retrial huh?" Percy rolled the word around in his head. "I can't say I've ever heard of something like that. Have you dad?"
"No, I haven't either." Mr. Weasley agreed, he of course had been paying rapt attention ever since Harry said the words "muggles have" as Harry had expected. "Often when it turns out it that someone was sent to Azkaban for the wrong reason, they're just set free, like Hagrid was two years ago. I suppose if you wanted a chance to prove someone being punished shouldn't be you could write a letter to Madam Bones explaining your reasoning. If she thought you had some good points, she could call for an official hearing, either before herself as head of Magical Law Enforcement or before the whole Wizengamot. Why do you want to know Harry? Who are you trying to get a retrial for?"
"Actually, I'm trying to get someone a first trial." Harry explained. "Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban without ever getting one in the first place."
The table went silent. Harry shot Ron an angry glare, had he not explained to his family that Harry's godfather was innocent? Of all the things that happened last year, uncovering over a decade of injustice, false imprisonment and a Voldemort supporter long in hiding should have been on the top of his list to brag about.
"Oh yeah I was going to tell my mother about how close we all came to getting killed at the end of school again." Ron shot back. "I actually wanted to come back this year so of course I downplayed all that stuff."
"I told my parents." Hermione put in. "They thought what had happened to Sirius was awful and are mad that our government has been apparently helping out with it."
Oddly enough it was Percy who broke the silence and did so by ignoring all but perhaps the least significant part of what Harry had suggested.
"That can't be true." He declared. "Mr. Crouch was in charge of the department of magical law enforcement back then. He has a very strong sense of justice, he wouldn't have sent someone, even someone accused of what Black was, to jail without a trial."
"Your confidence in your boss is misplaced here son." Mr. Weasley explained. "I do remember that Crouch sent Black to Azkaban without a trial. And he wasn't the only one either."
"But that's just wrong." Percy shot back. "A right to a trial is fundamental to the law. No wizard that high up in law enforcement would breach that trust. It just wouldn't be right."
"That's easy to say now." Mr. Weasley argued back. "But you don't know what it was like back then. None of you do thank God. Everyone was so afraid, no one knew who the death eaters even were, only that there were more of them than there were of us."
"Death eaters?" Hermione questioned.
"That's what you know who's supporters called themselves back in the day." Mr. Weasley clarified. "Scurrying about at night with their black robes and white masks, but they meant deadly business. And they were willing to use terrible mind control spells or to disguise themselves with Polyjuice potion for months to get what they wanted. Even if you knew your neighbors would never go over to the other side you didn't know I'd someone had secretly replaced them or taken control of them. And every night you watched the sky for the leering green skull of the dark mark to appear overhead to announce that someone had been killed. Every day I went to work not knowing if I would come home to a house filled with my dead family, or to find if Bill or Charlie had been kidnapped. And when I got home Molly had to press me for passwords we had made up that morning to make sure no one had grabbed me and replaced me."
"Dumbledore called on everyone to come together and watch out for each other." Molly took up the account, her eyes watery as she recalled those dark days. "But it was so hard even to keep your own family safe. Most people felt that was all they could, to look out for them and their own. A few brave souls also did what they could for the muggles. They didn't even know they were in danger, but the death eaters would kill a whole family of poor powerless muggles just for the fun of it. Or else place some terrible curse on them that they couldn't even understand let alone ever fix on their own."
"A lot of people said it would be best just to give you know who what he wanted to make him stop." Mr. Weasley declared. "And there were times I think that the ministry came pretty close to buckling. It was men like Crouch who kept it on our side. He hated the dark arts as much as Dumbledore did, maybe even more. The tougher things got; the tougher Crouch got. He let ministry aurors use lethal magic and terrible curses to defend themselves or others. He would torture people to get confessions from them and would raid a home or a business on just the rumor that a witch or wizard might by dark. Dumbledore didn't approve of such methods of course; can't say I did either. But it was pretty reassuring to know that if you got into scrap with a death eater, the auror who might back you up would be willing to pull out all the stops to keep you safe. Barty Crouch did a lot of pretty dark things, but he kept order during a time when a lot of things were falling apart. When Dumbledore turned down the post for Minister of Magicnear the end of the war, most people figured Crouch would be the next best choice."
"Sirius Black told me he was sent to Azkaban without a trial to keep people from being scared by the story of what he had done." Harry put in, nudging the conversation back in the direction he wanted it.
"That sounds about right." Mr. Weasley confirmed with a slow nod. "People were very quick to celebrate when you know who disappeared. But a movement doesn't end just because the person leading it vanishes. A lot of people were worried that the death eaters might try to seize the country outright, one final big push to take power before it could all fall apart. The times were very tense, a big sensation like Sirius Black's crimes might have acted like a spark in a fireworks shop. So, Crouch tried to keep it all quiet. It wasn't the first time he had done it either.
"Tantivus Sling," Mr. Weasley named from his memory. "He made more inferni, corpses made to walk and fight with black magic, than any other death eater. Crouch locked him up quietly hoping the death eaters wouldn't notice him gone and lose control of the monsters he had made and get hurt by them. John and Peter Douligan figured out a nasty charm to make all the lights at muggle intersections turn green at the same time. The death eaters caused dozens of deaths with that spell. But the brothers never cast it themselves, only sent others out to do it for them, so Crouch was worried the courts wouldn't convict them since crimes against muggles aren't taken that seriously. Romanov, one of you know who's international supporters, came from Livonia. Their ministry of magic has been like a big mother bear ever since their muggles got taken over by those, what do you call them? Soviets, I think. Had he gone to trial the Livonians would've called for him to be sent back home so they could try him instead. Only they wouldn't have and then they would never have given him back. He wanted to get the Lestranges sent to Azkaban without a trial too, but his own son was caught up in that affair and he couldn't sweep that one under the rug no matter how hard he tried."
"I can't believe things were ever that bad." Percy said dumbfounded. And Harry agreed with him, he hadn't considered that other people might have been denied trials as well. "Maybe some retrials might be a good idea. Even people that bad still deserve their day in court."
"Well maybe they do." Mr. Weasley said, but Harry could see in his mind that he wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if those men continued to rot in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. He addressed Harry again. "I suppose Black complained to you about his treatment by Crouch? Seems an odd thing to do before he tried to kill you."
"Sirius never tried to harm a hair on my head." Harry dismissed which raised a few eyebrows. "And he didn't really complain about what had happened to him, he just claimed to be innocent. And I believe him."
"Harry, you have to be more credulous than that." Mr. Weasley declared with a dismissive voice. "You can't believe every sob story you hear. I don't know if anyone's had the heart to tell you but-"
"Sirius killed my parents?" Harry cut it. "Yes, I've heard that. I've also heard Sirius's side of the story and what he said was true. He wasn't my parents' secret keeper; he couldn't have betrayed them. He convinced my dad to trust Peter Pettigrew instead, he was the one who betrayed them."
Harry told them all the story of what had really happened. Both during those dark days long ago and what happened at the end of the last school year. When he told them about finding Pettigrew disguised as their old family pet rat Scabbers the whole table erupted in shock and outrage. When it had all died down Harry wrapped things up.
"Professor Snape and Lupin both witnessed Peter's reveal and confession." He offered as evidence, but it seemed the assembled Weasleys believed him. "And Dumbledore believed Sirius after he had a chance to interrogate him, which is why he helped us rescue him from the ministry. Peter slipped through our fingers when Professor Lupin accidentally transformed into a werewolf, so we weren't able to convince the Minister of Magic of the truth. But Sirius says he's willing to take truth serum or allow people to read his mind to prove his innocence, so if he could get a day in court, it might clear his name. Only right now the ministry has a kill order out for him."
"Scabbers was an animagus?" Percy said in stunned disbelief. He looked pale and had a thousand-yard stare. "I slept in the same bed as that rat some nights. Ye gods I think Ron did too! I feel dirty just thinking about it. I'll kill the man if I ever get my hands on him!"
"Sirius Black innocent all these years." Mr. Weasley said with a shake of his head. "It staggers the mind to even consider it. Well now quite a lot of Dumbledore's actions are starting to make sense. Oh dear."
"I think this might be quite enough excitement for one evening." Mrs. Weasley said out of the blue as she watched the gears turn in her husband's head. Harry realized that they both knew. If Peter had been exposed there was one person he would almost certainly turn to for protection. The Weasley patriarch and matriarch had both realized those dark old days might be coming back around again. "We've all got a big day tomorrow and most of us will have to be up very early."
"Um yes." Mr. Weasley agreed as he realized his wife wanted quite a few words with him in private now. "I think everyone will need to turn in early tonight."
There was some grumbling against this notion. But not much, everyone was fairly shocked by all that had been said. Even Harry, Ron and Hermione had things to think about. It was one thing to know another war might be about to break out, but it was quite another to see people they knew and cared about starting to worry over it. When they had made it upstairs, Percy pulled Harry aside and spoke to him quickly.
"Look, Harry, about your original question." He said with stark honesty. "You could write to Madam Bones about your godfather. She has the authority to call for a hearing about him or anyone else in Azkaban. She might even consider it if you argued that people deserve justice no matter what they are accused of. She believes in justice and is a very fair woman. But I wouldn't get your hopes up. Fudge is dead set against your godfather, and the dementors answer to him not to Madam Bones. I don't think he will budge for anything short of Peter Pettigrew trussed up in his office with a signed confession taped to his chest. And if he doesn't, then it wouldn't be safe for Sirius to come into the country for any reason. I can talk to Mr. Crouch for you if you want. If he calls for some retrials it might help your case. Though he's very busy right now so it could take a while for me to talk him around."
"Thanks Percy." Harry said gratefully. "I appreciate that."
After that they parted. Harry took a long while to fall asleep that night. With all the anxiety in the house he ended up having to pull his own thoughts back into his head to calm himself. Harry felt an odd sense of uncleanness as he drifted off. Disturbing the peace of the Burrow felt sacrilegious to him. Would it have been better to keep silent? To let the Weasleys enjoy another year or two of peace in their ignorance? Harry didn't think so. Harry himself would much prefer to be forewarned and forearmed. Besides he knew that the Weasleys were made of sterner stuff than this, he was confident that come morning they all would be ready to face the truth and pull through.