That Night when Harry fell into his bed, he fell further than his pillow to end up in the clearing again.
This Time Grimm was wearing cold weather gear and a climbing harness.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"American Mountain climber in Chile. You know how I am; Work, Work, Work." the sexy female smirked at him. "Why did you not go get the Stone?"
"Because I did not remember that I was supposed to go." Harry sighed. "There is only a ten percent chance to remember your dreams, and with my Nightmares… even your beauty is drowned out."
"Then tonight, you will not have nightmares, and remember in the morning." She snapped her fingers…
POMP
Tuesday Morning Harry bolted upright.
"Shit…I need to go to Haggleton. And I will need back-up." He got up, showered and dressed muggleish.
In the Dining room, Sirius was abusing his mush with honey and blueberries. Lupin was grinning as he ate a Full English, as was Kreature.
Harry looked them over, "I take it there was a bet involved."
"The old dog over there bet me that he could prank Ginny and get away with it. She nailed him with a Quaffle." Moony smirked as he scooped beans onto his toast then into his mouth.
Kreature grinned around the fried tomatoes he was enjoying… more because Sirius was not allowed any.
"Yeah… could have told ya you that. The only one who can block her is Ronald." Harry nodded as he sat beside Gampy Kreature. "But…"
"With the speed and force of a blunder." Sirius grumped, as he adjusted something in his lap. "An underhanded low blow… literally."
"Yep. That's Ginny for you." Harry poured himself a cup of coffee. "Just be glad Molly takes their wands during the summer." He sipped. "What did you do?"
"He turned her hair green with silver highlights." Remus forked a banger, before rubbing it in the runny yolk of his eggs.
"Charm, Potion, or Item?" Harry smiled as Tonks joined them, dressed in her red robes.
"He jinxed the Quaffle to turn any female who touched it into a green haired witch."
Sirius muttered something.
Harry glared at the cracky wizard. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that."
"I said that I was trying to turn her into a green witch with silver hair." Sirius threw down his bowl and spoon.
"And when did this happen?"
"An hour before we left the Burrow… last night." Lupin smiled "We would have left earlier, but Ron wanted his Quaffle back and…"
"So… Tonks, why the official dress?" Harry was disprite to change the topic of conversation.
"Bonesy called. I need to report in, and they need to see if I am really a deterrent for your Bloodthirsty ways." She snagged a rasher off Kreature's plate while she rubbed his head.
Harry nodded as he grabbed a scone, split it, slathered it with butter and jam. "Well, I need to make a trip to Haggleton. There is a Graveyard there and I think that the old Lord's Manor will suffer some Damage. Kind of a place where a Grim might like to haunt for a bit. Of course the Hobo shack nearby will burn down… by the time the Law gets there… total loss." Harry sighed. "Too Bad that the next Dark Lord is unsupervised."
"You are really playing into this." Tonks huffed. She exited towards the parlor and they heard the Floo roar.
"Steward. House Black if not House Potter is interested in acquiring the Manor and surrounding Lands. Find out who owns the Property and see what their Price is." he wiped his fingers on his napkin. "I do not want to take no for an answer. You coming, Paddy?"
He turned and walked to the Front door. Padfoot was waiting for him. As they stepped onto the front porch, Crookshanks joined them. Harry swooped the Cat into his arms, and with a Hand on the Grim's head… He twisted into the Void.
POMP
They arrived in the Graveyard of Little Hangleton. Crookshanks sprang from his arms and darted off to hunt.
Harry ignored Padfoot as he focused on Tom Riddle's grave. "Forgive me, Milord. I do this to remove your spawn's chance of returning to power. You never deserved the things that happened to you. Just because you were a pretty boy. Rest in Peace." He knelt to send the magic through the ground. [Pailliso Maxima] He felt the Ground shift under him.
He looked up and saw he was alone.
"Well… Job one, Done." He stood, and called out. "Heading to To Job two!"
It took him five minutes to walk to where he thought the break in the hedge was… and another ten minutes to find it.
On the other side, he saw the 'shack'… and with nothing repressing the foulness of the Ring… Harry could 'taste' the maliciousness permeating the air.
Blackthorn spun into the Staff, and he brought in Down on ground causing a Ring of Fire to spread out in both directions and around the Property. Only it was not a normal fire… He could see Serpents and Dragons fighting among the flames. Once the Circle, with a ten metre radius, was complete the flames spread inward faster than a rabbit could run. The Flames roared in the voices of Dragons.
Then the Wards cracked.
The Wards burned.
Then the Shack Bloomed into flame, releasing black smoke into the air..
And Harry focused on his breathing, standing still, holding his Staff firm…
"Wow." Harry heard Sirius speak softly from beside him. "You have a circle of twenty metres inflamed with fiendfyre and are holding it firm. Your Grandfathers could not do this until late in their sixties. And they were War Wizards of the British Empire."
A sharp Screech wrent the air as a Shadow rose above the shack.
Harry Drew Holly and fired a hex bolt at it. $[repozie epio netwaye'a]$ the clear bolt hit the shadow causing it to dissipate. HE tossed Holly to Sirius, as he refocused on Blackthorn and wrestled the Flames under control, and reversed their burning… First they pulled back to the perimeter, and then the circle rescinded to the Staff. Once the flames were gone, Harry spun the Blackthorn, and holstered the Wand on his left hip. He reclaimed Holly from Sirius Black and vanished it up his sleeve.
It was then they heard the sirens of the approaching Emergency Services Vehicles. Sirius turned, took two steps and dove into the Hedge as Padffoot.
Harry swore, and twisted into the Void, to twist out behind Riddles Headstone.
Crookshanks was sitting at the feet of the Angel, licking his paws clean.
"Of course… you finished your agenda." Harry scratched behind the cat's ears, before the orange beast jumped to his shoulders. He wandered down to the street, arriving just as the fire fighters finished chopping through the Hedge wall. As they vanished through the hole, a Bobby approached from the side.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"Hello Officer." Harry continued to watch them. "Charon Romulus Black." Harry turned to look at the copper. "I was just visiting an old family friend." He jerked his thumb at the Graveyard. "A really old friend."
"Do you have any ID?"
"No, Left it at home. Just out walking my Dog."
"That is a cat." The Officer pointed at Crookshanks.
"Yes… and he is not walking." Harry let out a sharp whistle.
A rustling in the Hedge down the way, and a black shaggy dog stepped out of the Hedgerow. The lanky dog came trotting to his side.
"I see. And where can we reach you, should we have a need?"
Harry looked at the Officer. "I was planning on walking down to the tavern for Lunch with a friendly Rival of mine. We heard that the Riddle Manor might be up for sale. I should be in the area until about three." Harry turned to walk away, Padfoot prancing at his side.
"Meow?"
"Yes, I will be ordering Fish and Chips." Harry huffed. "And a Kidney pie. If they don't have that, Shepherd's pie."
POMP
"So, Junior Auror Tonks." Bones sat back as the three Lords and three Directors joined her and Fudge. "Tell us about the young Lord you are observing."
"Which one?" Tonks settled into a parade rest stance. "I am watching two Lords. The Little Brat has a nasty habit of switching Lordships at the drop of a hat… any hat." She smirked. "The Warrant was for Lord Potter. Lord Black is not covered by the Warrant as written. If this committee wants to change that, It will only cover from today forward." She smiled. "With me being called away… Potter was planning to head to Hangleton to look into acquiring the old Riddle Manor. Lord Black was also interested and threatened to burn it to the ground rather than let Potter take it."
"Shacklebolt. Dwalish. Little Hangleton. Code Code Copper." Bones yelled while pressing a rune on her table.
Fudge frowned at the junior MLE officer. "Why did you …"
"So you can see what I am dealing with." Tonks grinned, "Unless you want to demand that his Witches take him in Hand now…"
"Are you saying he is a danger to Society?" A Lord she could not place, but was not of Albus's faction, asked.
"Define Danger." Tonks sighed. "Lord Potter is a Warrior for Change. I would say the Light, but Albus is the first person he bitch-slapped. He leads House Black as well as his House Potter. Potter is courting Heiress Bones… even went so far as to buy her a Familiar… that just happens to hate him. He has taken a pair of Twins from Perisa, and the prospective Lady Potter is a muggleborn. I am not even touching what he is doing as Lord Black… But My Aunt will answer any questions you have for House Black."
"Your Aunt?" the new Director of Games asked.
"Narcissa Black, Matron of Black." Tonks grinned.
"What Happened to House Malfoy?"
"Last Heard, Lucious did a runner, Draco is staying with friends, and there is no longer a Lady of the House." Tonks looked at Fudge, watching him twitch. "Black has called the Loans Due. Loans that Malfoy made with the assumption that Draco was the Black Heir. Everyone was wrong… deceived by Bagnold and Dumbledor. Sirius Black still held the Rank and Title when he was locked in Azkaban… untried… unconvicted."
"And the boy?" the new Magical Cooperation Director sneered.
"He protects what he sees as his. He wields his power like a Club instead of a wand. The Witch that holds his leash is not even the country." Tonk shook her head. "I can distract him, and warn those who interact with him when he starts getting twitchy. Have you even taken an accounting of your Factions?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Malfoy was using the Black Proxy. Longbottom, Bones, and Greengrass are changing their colours. Albus has lost control of the boy… and that is not including their followers. And every minute that I am standing here… He is unsupervised. I am his watcher… not his bodyguard. That means that everything Potter does, I can be asked about."
"He has been seen in and about Knockturn Alley." The third Director could give Runcorn a run in the 'Son of a Gargoyle'.
"Yes. Potter and Black both own property down that street." Tonks smiled. "Are you saying that a Lord can not check on his property?"
A ghostly Lynx bounded into the room. "Black has done something here. A perfect circle, scorched black with fiendfyre, with the Symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Inscribed in white ash. In the time since he crafted this, it has cooled and now is smooth as glass, hard as diamond. Requesting Officer Assistance." The short tailed cat faded away. Tonks was running for the bullpen, before Bones was even on her feet.
Everyone was running for the open space before the Grand Floo. "Squads Three, Five, and Eight. On me!" Bones' voice cut through the din.
Tonks was pulling out a Jump Rope from a cubby, the Little Hangleton Cemetery. Where Potter and Diggory were spirited away to last month.
The rope was passed to everyone who wanted to go… including Fudge.
POMP
Fifteen Witches and Wizards landed lightly among the headstones of the graveyard. They then followed the smell of burning grass and wood to a hole in the hedgerow. Where Dawlish was bonding with a Metro officer over hardass commanders.
Bones ignored the two of them, as she walked up to Kingsly. "Report."
"One Charon Romulus Black, was spotted exiting the graveyard."
Tonks choked as she heard the name.
King continued on. "He was walking a black long haired dog, while a large orange cat rode on his shoulders."
Bones turned to glare through her monocle at Tonks. "Something you want to add."
"Not really." She stepped around the black man as she moved to inspect the burn site. "When He was escorting your Niece around… I overheard that he called himself Charon Black when he was covering his Identity."
"So… LordBlack is…"
"He wandered off towards the tavern, the Metro said it sounded like he was holding a conversation with the Animals." Shack huffed as the rest of the red-coated members were inspecting the area.
"Because he was." Tonks turned to head for the Tavern. "Padffot was his fathers Familiar, and the cat belongs to the one witch he always listens to."
"McGonagall got a cat?" the witches turned to look at the black man.
"She is his Head of House, and the Deputy Headmistress." Tonks shook her head. "No…"
"Granger." Bones sighed. "Hermione Jean. Muggleborn. A teacher's pet and Bossy Swot."
"And probably the biggest rule breaker of his year." Tonks huffed. "When he breaks a rule, it is a minor infraction. When she goes all in… What was that line… 'Get us Killed or worse… Expelled'."
Shack looked at her. "Is she a redhead?"
"Brunette."
Bones followed her two most promising officers to the road, where she shook hands with the Metro, gave him her card, and told him that her special investigation squad had it all in hand. They then walked down to the pub and found her nieces bough holding a conversation with a Grim and Knezale as he ate a basket of chips.
"... but you are forgetting the twins." He poked his piece of rough cut potato at the Grim. "The Profit margin alone is enough to shut your mother up. And that nothing compared to their mother… the Harpy Crone." the dog snorted. "No… Once she reaches her stride, she is unstoppable short of gagging her… and Merlin help you when she gets free."
Meow.
"Yeah, I saw them when they crossed the bridge." Harry turned to smile at the approaching aurors. "Hey, Join me… The chips are great, and Crook is looking like he wants another order of fish. Padfoot, do you want another Kidney Pie?"
Woof. His tail wagged.
"Do you know anything about the fire?" Bones sat across from him.
"You mean the Gaunt place?" Harry sipped his cola. "I know that they were the remains of a Pureblood Clan… so pure that their Magic was failing. Even Geralt didn't want them. They had something of a feud with their Neighbors… muggles. The Witch of the House had a thing for the young Lordling, and when her Father and brother were away at their summer place, she ran off with the Lad. He returned a year later without her… she was dead by the Next New Year."
"And the Deathly Hallows?"
"They were descendants of Cadmus Peverell, the second Brother." Harry flagged the Tavern maid. "Considering their Pride in their Bloodline… the Stone was no doubt within the shack."
"You are withholding information." Shack grumbled.
"Of course." Harry grinned. "You are the Law. I am not going to confess to things you do not know about yet. I am not that thick. As you are mixed company… Aunty, are you wanting to join me?"
Tonks shook her head, and sat on the other side of Harry from Padfoot. "You're buying."
"House Potter will cover the bill."
Bones sighed, as she sat beside Padfoot, and as he rated his head in her lap, began to scratch his ears. "If you won't confess just at the sight of us… We will just have to wait for you to blab."
"At ease, Shack." Harry sipped his soda. "Unless you want to run off to Albus to report. After all, I am in the area where one of the Hallows was slagged." He leaned back. "Is he still having Number Four watched?"
The Black man stiffened. "What are you alluding to?"
"Alluding to…" Harry snorted. "Hell, I say it directly. Albus is using you as his private goon-squad. As the brightest flame, every Griffondor sees him as He wants them to see him. Hell, he had me chasing my tail for years. Black spent twelve years in Azkaban, and still thought Albus was the second coming of Merlin."
"And what changed your mind about him."
"I learned that he was planning my death from the minute I was orphaned. The Nail in his coffin… I died." Harry sneered. "Just like he planned."
"How is it that you are…" Shacklebolt glared at the young lord.
"Who do you serve?" Harry interrupted."
"Is this the party you were waiting for?" the 'tavern wench' had arrived.
"No, but they are welcome. I will be wanting another fish'n chips, separate baskets, another kidney pie, and a Cherry Coke for me." Harry turned to Tonks.
"A serving of Kidney pie, and a Cherry Coke." She scratched the cat's ears as he moved to sit beside her.
"Scone and coffee." Bones sighed.
"Berry or plain.?' the food server asked.
"Berry, and extra butter." Her fingers milking the grim's ears.
The Black man sighed, and sat. "Just a Coffee."
POMP
Grimm Sighed as she rolled the stone across her fingers. "Well… that's one way to do it."
"WE TOLD YOU THAT HE WOULD BE OF USE." the twins of Fate and Destiny smirked.
"I presume that I have upheld my side of the Bargain."
"Yes and No." Death turned Lily Potter nee Evens. "Return to your Husband… I will call on you should the need return."
TBC