Chapter Twelve: The Letter From Drumstrang
"Hadrian! Happy birthday!"
Lord Sirius Black can't help smiling to himself even as he watched his now eleven-year-old son greet his friends happily as they arrived at Grim Manor—with the kids all armed with brightly wrapped presents in their arms.
Hadrian, and even Draco, have both came a long way since the day the Black family had moved to Bulgaria due to everything that had happened at Britain. Even now, after the levies and embargoes were lifted on Britain due to Dumbledore's actions, from what Sirius knew from Andromeda, things haven't gotten any better for Britain due to their arrogance and their tendencies to look down on the 'creatures'—which unfortunately for them, at least half of the world has 'creatures' working in their Ministries, and in high positions, furthermore. Heck, the Ministry in Norway actually has a vampire as their Minister!
In his place, Andromeda had taken great delight in causing several painful headaches for Dumbledore, with allies in the Longbottom and Bones families.
After Bulgarian healers have managed a feat that not even the best of British healers could manage, Augusta Longbottom would hear no word said against Sirius Black—considering that it's with his assistance, and that of the Bulgarian healers that have seen her son and daughter-in-law brought back to her.
Frank and Alice Longbottom however, are both very disgruntled to hear just what their country had become since the war. And for obvious reasons, both Frank and Alice have declined returning to the Auror crops.
Frank is going to have his hands full with handling the Longbottom lordship anyway—a task that Augusta Longbottom is more than happy to hand over. Alice on the other hand had expressed a desire to undertake an apprenticeship with Andromeda Tonks to become a lawyer. That was initially her backup plan after the war was over anyway.
"You came!" Hadrian Potter was all sweet smiles as he greeted his best friends—Mikhail Vasilev and Kalya Romanova—he had met both of them at the magical primary school that he and Draco have attended with Viviane Krum when they have turned seven.
"Of course I would come." Mikhail Vasilev grinned. He had a close resemblance to his uncle—Lyuben Vasilev, the current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—having the same dark hair with slight wavy curls at the end and silver eyes. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Next to Mikhail, Kalya Romanova grinned. Unlike Mikhail and Hadrian who have dark hair, and Draco who had blonde hair, Kalya had dark auburn hair that reaches down to the middle of her back. Much like Mikhail, Kalya can be quite protective over Hadrian; since both children have met Hadrian when he was then still in recovery. Not to mention that as an omega, Hadrian is quite gentle and petite, and not to mention, small even for an omega. Most of the rest of their peers practically towered over him, even the few omegas that were in their class.
And while it is considered impolite to ask someone their secondary gender, Sirius could tell that it's more than likely that Mikhail is an alpha and Kalya might just be a beta. From his interactions with Lyuben, he knew that majority of the Vasilev family are alphas, though a rare few are betas.
"Everyone's here already?" Kalya asked curiously, looking around the sitting room where she could already see Draco and Viviane having a game of Gobstones in a corner. "Are Neville and Susan not coming?"
"They should be here soon." Hadrian reassured his friends. "Viktor's friends are invited too. I think we've met them before when they were still in primary school before they've gone off to Drumstrang."
"Viktor's friends…?" Mikhail furrowed his brows even as he placed his gift for Hadrian amongst the already growing pile on the floor in a corner, being joined by Kalya's gift. "Oh. Ludmilla, Katerina and Alec?"
The three older kids (along with Viktor), have watched out for the younger children when they first joined the magical primary school in the Alinea district. Kalya for one seems particularly taken with Katerina who had been the star Chaser on the junior Quidditch league team.
Sirius can't help but feel wistful even as he watched Hadrian chatted nineteen to a dozen with his friends before dragging them over to where Draco and Viviane were having a game of Gobstones. Neville and Susan should be here soon as well, along with their families.
Today is already Hadrian's eleventh birthday. He will be off to Drumstrang soon. Where did all that time go?
For a moment, Sirius felt a pang of guilt in his chest at how he is sending Hadrian to Drumstrang instead of Hogwarts. Generations of Potters have attended Hogwarts before Hadrian where they have wandered the halls and attended classes, and even pulled the occasional prank and joke. Sirius had discussed this with Narcissa and even Remus last year, and all three have agreed that sending Hadrian to Hogwarts under Dumbledore's eye is too risky, considering that they don't even know what the old man wants with Hadrian.
Even with the loss of his political positions and his hit in reputation due to what he'd tried to do a few years ago, the old man still has a lot of influence and pull with several people in high positions.
"Sirius, the Bones and Longbottoms are here." Remus' voice cut through Sirius' thoughts just then, and the Lord Black looked at his best friend. In the entranceway beyond Remus' shoulder, Sirius could see Narcissa welcoming the two families warmly. "What's wrong?" Remus frowned, seeing the troubled expression in Sirius' grey eyes. Most people wouldn't be able to tell, since Sirius make masking his own emotions an art in itself—no thanks to his own rough childhood, no doubt. But Remus had shared a dormitory with Sirius for seven years, and they've been friends since they met at Hogwarts. He could tell when Sirius is trying to hide something.
"Nothing. Just…" Sirius managed a weak smile, shrugging weakly. "Bambi's eleven now." He murmured wistfully, looking at where the little omega is sitting with Draco and his friends. "He's came a long way from that timid and shy child he was when we first managed to rescue him from those bastards that dared to call themselves human beings." Sirius growled low in his throat when he recalled what was actually done to Hadrian as a child. "I just wish that Prongs and Lils could be here, that is all." He admitted.
It should be them that is here, after all. It should be them that should be helping to organise Hadrian's eleventh birthday party, and later, accompanying him to buy his school supplies. Eleven is a very important age in the wizarding world, as it is the age when magical children would be buying their first real wand and going off to a magical school.
The ages of eleven, thirteen and seventeen are considered milestones in a magical child's life. Eleven because that is when a child would be going to a magical school. Thirteen is normally the age when most would start their first heat or rut if they are an alpha or an omega, though there are always some that presented early. Seventeen is when a magical child comes of age and becomes an adult.
"James and Lily would never berate you for trying to protect their son, Sirius." Remus said gently, knowing what Sirius is thinking. "I know that it's kinda a Potter legacy to attend Hogwarts, but we all agreed that it's too risky for Hadrian and Draco both. Hadrian because we have no idea what Dumbledore wants with him, and it's just too dangerous to send him to Hogwarts. Draco because we know there are several families of Death Eaters out there that wanted revenge on Narcissa and even you being partially responsible for sending their loved ones to Azkaban."
Sirius sighed, nodding, knowing that Remus is right. "I should go and receive the guests," he said at last. "It'll be rude as the host to not receive them."
Remus smiled as he followed Sirius with his eyes as the man walked towards the entranceway where his cousin was welcoming their guests, watching as Sirius put on the infamous Black charm as he welcomed the Longbottoms and the Bones families.
Frank and Alice in particular were really pleased to see him.
"James… Lily… Watch over Hadrian." Remus whispered.
XXXXXX
The Shadowcloaks' library is one of the most famous in the world, and one where every magical yearn to at least look at once, and for good reason.
In the labyrinth of a library existed every single book that had ever existed in the world – mundane or magical. And the books were preserved so well throughout the centuries that it still looks as if it was just written yesterday.
The organisation however is extremely picky about who gets to enter their library and access their vast knowledge of spells in there. Even their own members have to gain permission before being allowed to enter the library. And even with permission, depending on what they need to use the library for, they are only restricted to a few sections.
With how old the organisation is, there are all kinds of wards and spells layered around the library so that someone without the necessary permission will not be able to enter, and the books they have in the library are also unable to be brought out or copied.
The team that was put together for Sirius Black's request had been going through several of their records and reaching out to their contacts for the six years that followed, even with the Horcrux searching tool that George Nome had made for them.
As of now, the team had managed to track down the locations of five of them, but had yet to make a move to secure and destroy it until they could figure out what kind of protections are around them and how to take it down. The sixth Horcrux however is currently giving them a bit of a problem, as it's constantly on the move. Towa had theorised that the sixth Horcrux might just be a living being. And unlike the accidental Horcrux that Voldemort had made in little Hadrian Potter, this particular Horcrux might just be made on purpose.
Honestly, this entire task is certainly not endearing humankind to the Shadowcloaks' organisation in the least.
One of the reasons being that this is so far the first wizard that they have ever seen who is insane enough to split his soul more than once, and currently, the organisation wanted to know what had driven this wizard to do the things he did.
The team certainly wouldn't be surprised if the Chief should give the order to purge the entire world of any tomes and books that even hint towards the creation of Horcruxes. Even for the Downworld, the creation of Horcruxes is taboo even for them.
Machias Regnitz's brows furrowed as he poured through one of the endless and countless tomes in the library.
They've been going through records of the Dark Lord for days now. And even for the Shadowcloaks, it took them nearly three months before they found out his birth name—as it seems like the wizard really went to pains to erase his personal history and past to the point that there is hardly anyone left alive that still knows his birth name.
And the moment they got his birth name, it wasn't that complicated and difficult to trace his family history to one family in particular that the Shadowcloaks' organisation are unfortunately quite familiar with.
"The Gaunts." Jusis murmured, acting as if he is carrying on a conversation, and not starting one. "I thought that we'd seen the last of that family decades ago when Morfin Gaunt died in prison."
If there are any humans that they detested, the last generation of the Gaunts are amongst them. And if Jusis is being honest, probably, the inbreeding that they've delved into for generations have gradually turned into insanity for the members. And not to mention the deformed looks.
The pureblood houses in Britain have a nasty habit to marry within their own circles, and that is already bad enough. But the Gaunts took it too close by not only marrying their children with close cousins. The organisation has no idea when it begun; but at some point, the Gaunts begun marrying their children together with each other.
It is honestly no surprise that the family had died out.
"Actually." All heads in the library looked up as one as the gigantic ornate doors opened, and a grim looking Rean entered, a leather bound journal in his hand, being followed by his mate. "Apart from the Dark Lord, there are still Gaunt descendants around. But they now go by a different name."
Jusis, Machias, and even Towa and George who were helping with the research blinked in confusion before turning their attention towards the omega.
"What do you mean? And how did you find out?" Towa asked with interest, even as Rean cleared a small part of the table so that he can put down the journal that he had been carrying. Tracking down long lost family members is tricky, even for the goblins.
"We looked into the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle and the Gaunts—starting from the late 18th century." Crow explained, looking from face to face. "We were actually in Britain during the rise of that goblin rebellion." He gestured towards himself and Rean, "so we definitely remembered all the rumours that were flying around at that point in time. Marvolo Gaunt was still a Hogwarts student at that time."
Towa frowned, reaching for the long roll of parchment that has the Gaunt family tree inscribed on it, and whatever that she could track down and find out about that family. "According to this, Marvolo Gaunt has two younger siblings – a brother and a sister," she said. "His younger brother however died young—just after he finished Hogwarts, I assume. Their parents too died just after Marvolo finished Hogwarts. And as per Gaunt tradition, he married his sister, and his sister-wife gave him two children – Morfin and Merope. She however unfortunately died due to complications in childbirth when delivering Merope. Due to the inbreeding however, both children hardly have any magic. Definitely not enough to even be able to attend Hogwarts. And by the time that both Morfin and Merope were born, the Gaunt family fortune is long gone, anyway, and they would never be able to afford Hogwarts. From statements from their muggle neighbours, the family was erratic, bordering on insane outbursts—particularly Morfin. Both men of the family had a reputation amongst the village for attacking the villagers, particularly the son of the Riddle family. The daughter, Merope Gaunt, however, is actually Tom Riddle's mother, the wizard who would later become known as the Dark Lord Voldemort." She recited.
"Mostly true, Towa." Crow nodded his head, ignoring how green that Machias is looking at the mere mention of how Marvolo married his own sister. "Except for one thing. Marvolo's younger brother never died. He faked his own death and then went on to have children with the girl that he married in secret after Hogwarts, and even took on his wife's maiden name. They moved overseas after they finished Hogwarts."
"What?"
"Are you sure about that?" George asked, startled.
"We cross referenced it with several records that we have. We can confirm it." Rean nodded, tapping one finger against the cover of the journal that he had been holding earlier. "Ominis Gaunt, younger brother of Marvolo Gaunt. From his journals, it is stated that he had been blind all his life—likely due to the inbreeding done by the Gaunts. And he is a bit of an…outcast with his own family as it is anyway, with his aversion towards the Dark Arts. It seems like much of the summers of his Hogwarts years were spent at the homes of his friends until he had finished school. He secretly married Aria Michaelis after Hogwarts, even taking on her maiden name, and faked his own death, and they both then left Britain after that. They have descendants still surviving, though none of them took on the Gaunt name. So yes, there are still Gaunt descendants. I doubt even Voldemort actually knew he even had distant cousins still surviving."
"Aria Michaelis…" Towa murmured. "I know that name. She's one of the most well-known Healers in the world. Lots of medical advancements were only possible today because of her! One of the last known wielders of ancient magic—a very powerful form of magic that few are capable of wielding. She is the last known wielder and took that secret to her grave. We believed that part of the reason why she had left Britain is due to the British Ministry of Magic trying to pressurise her. She sought asylum with Bulgaria after graduation from Hogwarts, and the Bulgaria Ministry of Magic at that time gladly shielded her and awarded her citizenship. And her husband…" Towa trailed off slowly, closing her eyes, cussing herself inwardly for not putting the pieces together. "…Ominis Michaelis. One of the world's best Potion Masters."
"Michaelis… It isn't a very common last name." Jusis murmured. "If we can find someone with that last name…"
"Actually." Crow coughed awkwardly, exchanging looks with his mate. "We do know someone with the last name of Michaelis." He said, much to his friends' bewilderment. "Sirius Black actually introduced him to us a few years ago."
"Emil Michaelis." Rean knew whom Crow was talking about. He remembered that particular Healer due to his unusual last name. "Currently, he is one of the best Healers in Bulgaria. He actually assisted Healer Milan with Frank and Alice Longbottom's recovery. A master in Mind and Blood Magic. A Master Healer."
Towa chewed at the tip of her thumb. "Michaelis isn't a very common last name," she said at last. "What are the chances that Emil Michaelis might just be the descendant of Aria Michaelis and Ominis Gaunt?"
XXXXXX
"Nikolai was going to send this out today, as per tradition, since it's Hadrian's birthday. But since I am coming to Grim Manor anyway, I told him that I would deliver it for him." Lyuben Vasilev said smoothly, handing a thick cream coloured envelope over to Sirius Black.
The guests have all departed about an hour ago; even the Longbottoms and the Bones families. Both families would still be sending their children to Hogwarts, as unlike Hadrian and Draco, those children aren't really in any danger. However, Sirius is also sure that those children would be warned to be on their guard—especially around Dumbledore and his cronies.
Susan Bones looks sweet and innocent and looked as if she wouldn't hurt a fly. But if she is anything like her Aunt Amelia at all, Sirius is certain that behind those innocent looks is a viper ready to strike. And Neville as well had come a long way since that shy and timid boy that Sirius had met at Hadrian's fifth birthday party.
He had really come out of his shell since his parents have recovered, and could express himself more, and not being so timid all the time. Last that Sirius had heard, both Frank and Alice were not amused in the least how Uncle Algie had almost drowned or frightened Neville half a dozen times to get him to show some accidental magic.
Now that Frank is Lord Longbottom, Sirius is sure that the rest of their family would be stepping on eggshells around them and their son. Losing their name would just be the least of their worries when it comes to Frank protecting his family.
Lyuben had come over with his brother to pick up Mikhail. But whilst his brother had left with Mikhail after saying their goodbyes, Lyuben had instead stayed behind.
Sirius turned over the envelope silently, with Narcissa sitting next to him, with Remus on her other side, and with Hadrian and Draco watching curiously on Sirius' other side, with Crookshanks resting lazily on Hadrian's legs. Lyuben's lips twitched with the sight of the part-kneazle. Crookshanks is quite infamous amongst the DMLE as 'Hadrian Potter's fiercest protector'.
Both Black cousins recognised the red wax seal as the symbol of Drumstrang Institute of Magic and Sorcery. The envelope even had Hadrian's name on it. That means that this must be his acceptance letter.
"Here Hadrian." Sirius handed the letter over to Hadrian who took it eagerly. Draco almost fell over in his haste to look over Hadrian's shoulder, despite the fact that the young blonde boy already had received his own acceptance letter from Drumstrang barely a month ago. "You should read it."
"Come on, Hadrian, open it!" Draco urged urgently, pale blue eyes gleaming with excitement even as he watched his cousin open the Drumstrang letter—too slow for his liking however.
Narcissa, Sirius and Remus exchanged bemused looks. They each recalled how excited each of them were when they have received their acceptance letters from Hogwarts, even though they knew that it is coming. Remus however was feeling more apprehensive that day, especially as he wasn't even sure if he could attend with his status as a werewolf.
And there written on the thick parchment was the easily identifiable script of Nikolai Kostov. It is almost identical to the one that Draco had received on his birthday nearly a month prior; with the letter confirming that Hadrian had a place at Drumstrang Institute, and that a return owl would need to confirm his place within the school.
Also with the letter is a sheet of parchment that Hadrian and Sirius are to show the shopkeepers when they go shopping for his school supplies like the uniforms and books, and those shopkeepers will then charge the cost of those supplies to the school's account. Unlike with Hogwarts, majority of the magical schools don't charge the students anything for the uniforms and the first year books.
However, things like parchments and quills are still expected to be upheld by the students themselves still. And textbooks from their second year onwards are also chargeable unless there are circumstances. From what Sirius knew, there is a school trust fund set aside for orphaned students or even students with financial difficulties to assist them with getting their supplies and even pay for their school tuition.
"Do we have to send a return owl, or would our agreement be enough?" Sirius asked, turning towards Lyuben, even as Hadrian and Draco started conversing excitedly about the upcoming year. Viviane Krum would be attending with them that year too, with her being two months older than Draco.
"I'll just take your reply to Nikolai, since I would be visiting him after this." Lyuben said smoothly. "Nothing to be concerned about." He added, seeing the worried looks on the adults. It after all, is never good news most of the time whenever the head of the DMLE gets involved. "The DMLE has a standard yearly agreement with Drumstrang to post our newer Auror recruits as guards around the school gates for security's sake. I don't know what it's like with Britain and Hogwarts—" Total lie there. "But here in Bulgaria, we take the safety of our children very seriously."
Sirius exchanged looks with Narcissa and Remus. That is a very good idea, and can even put the minds of the parents at ease—knowing that there are Aurors protecting the school. True, those Aurors are new recruits—probably done as part of the Auror training in Bulgaria, but they are still trained Aurors. Why didn't Hogwarts and Britain do the same thing?
A moment later, Sirius knew why.
It comes down to money once more. Probably, that miserable miser Fudge didn't want to waste funds on what he sees as 'unnecessary', and it likely didn't help that the budget and funding to the DMLE and Auror Department are continuously being cut yearly since the end of the war. That, and Dumbledore likely didn't want Ministry interference at Hogwarts.
Sirius nodded. "Lina, can you get my parchment and quill?" he called out for his house elf who appeared with a pop and nodded, and popped away again. A stack of parchment and Sirius' eagle feather quill appeared in front of him a moment later.
"All right, Hadrian. Time to pen your first correspondence." Sirius had a crooked smile on his face as he handed a piece of parchment and his quill to Hadrian. "Just state that you accept your place at Drumstrang."
Hadrian nodded happily, even as he wrote carefully on the parchment—still in the familiar untidy scrawl of eleven-year-olds, but tidier than what Sirius would have been capable of at his age. Seems like all the writing and reading classes that Hadrian had attended at the magical primary school had worked wonders.
"Here you go, Mr Vasilev." Hadrian said shyly, handing the parchment to Lyuben who took it with a smile.
"We're really going to Drumstrang!" Draco smiled, excitement swelling up within him. "Mother, can we go shopping for our supplies tomorrow?"
Narcissa smiled with how excited that her son seems to be, and her nephew. "Of course, dear," Narcissa smiled, reaching over Sirius, and patting down her son's blonde hair, even patting the side of Hadrian's face for good measure. Both boys flushed, and Lyuben tried to hide an amused smile, as did the other two men. They remembered when they were that age, and just as embarrassed to accept affection from their mothers or their mother figures. "We were just waiting for Hadrian's acceptance letter before we go shopping for supplies. And it's time you get a familiar of your own, anyway. Hadrian, you too." Narcissa smiled at the little omega. "Shanky is a nice cat, but he is not your familiar. Hopefully, we can find one that is willing to bond with you at the shop in town."
Crookshanks gave a loud meow that sounded indignant.
Before either boys could say anything, there was a sudden surge in the air, and all adults suddenly got to their feet, even as a ball of flames materialised in front of them on the table that they are sitting at.
"Boys, get behind me!" Remus immediately lifted Hadrian easily from his chair and pushed the little omega behind him, with Sirius doing the same for Draco. Crookshanks was hissing on the floor, his fur standing on it's end, and making the feline look two times larger and more ferocious.
"Mother?!"
"Siri?!" Hadrian cried out at the same time with Draco in fear, shaking.
"It's okay, baby." Remus crouched down to Hadrian's eye level, taking him in his arms, also gesturing for Draco. The blonde hesitated a moment before entering the embrace. "Nothing is going to happen. We're here."
"I should have known he will send his fried chicken." Sirius grumbled, eye twitching as the flames died down only to reveal a beautiful red and gold bird, clutching a familiar looking letter in his beak. "Fawkes."
"A phoenix?" Lyuben was mesmerised by the sight of the beautiful creature. Phoenixes are rarely seen these days, and rare is the person to be able to be bonded to one.
"Dumbledore's phoenix." Narcissa answered the unanswered question. "Though knowing what we know about him, I sometimes wonder if it's true that he truly is bonded to a phoenix."
Fawkes gave several indignant squawks. Does he look as if he's silly enough to be bonded to a human like that bearded whiskered man sitting up at that castle? His allegiance is to the lady that is kind to him long ago, and had brought him to Hogwarts to protect him from the poachers that were running about rampart at that time. Fawkes wasn't the only creature that she had protected and saved from poachers, but he is the only one still surviving, apart from the unicorns whom she had saved. Those same unicorns are currently part of the same herd that lives in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts.
The old house elf Deek had cared for him since, though it does seem like Deek is fast approaching the end of his lifespan as well.
To repay the girl that had saved him and the school that she had loved so much, Fawkes had remained behind at Hogwarts as it's protector. Headmaster Dippet who became the headmaster after Phineas Black had 'retired', had known the story when Aria had approached him prior to her graduation, merely asking that the headmaster allow Fawkes to remain at Hogwarts, and the headmaster had agreed, mesmerised by the beautiful phoenix.
Dippet had never broadcasted the fact that there is a phoenix at the school, allowing Fawkes free reign of the grounds. Even still, rare is the student or professor who caught a glimpse of him, though there were always rumours. At least until Dumbledore had become headmaster, and the man is arrogant enough to claim that Fawkes is his phoenix, much to the phoenix's annoyance, and to add insult to injury, the man had even decided that Fawkes is some letter carrier!
Fawkes had remained at Hogwarts for all these years for Aria's sake. But she's gone now. And so are the poachers. Maybe it's time he left Hogwarts as well and return to his original home. Or maybe search for Aria's descendants. He can sense that there are still surviving ones. And he only hope that they would be as kind as Aria had been to him.
Sirius sighed, approaching Fawkes carefully. "I'm normally quite happy to see you, Fawkes, but you being here probably means exactly what I thought it means." He paused, even as Fawkes gave a low, sad thrill. "You're not happy about it too, are you?" Fawkes trilled sadly again, shaking his head. "All right, drop that letter. I want to scan it."
Fawkes obliged by dropping the Hogwarts letter onto the kitchen table before he flew down to the floor and walked over to where Hadrian and Draco are staring at him with wide eyes. Crookshanks hissed at the phoenix, but drew back when Fawkes turned to stare at the feline.
Hadrian giggled when Fawkes nibbled at his hair, with Draco staring in awe, before he hesitantly stroke Fawkes' beautiful red and gold plumage.
Meanwhile, Sirius, Narcissa and even Lyuben were throwing every single scanning spell that they ever knew at the letter, and it is coming up with loads of detections that they aren't liking in the least.
"A spell to guarantee obedience. A spell to instil suspicion towards certain individuals—I don't even need to do extensive scans to know who those are targeted at." Sirius sighed, "and even spells to trust and follow the caster. Does Dumbledore seriously think we won't scan for spells and hexes?"
"I think that's exactly what he thinks." Narcissa said, already seeing Lyuben frowning deeply, with a long scroll of parchment already unfurling from mid-air as he performed some kind of unknown detection spell. Probably Auror grade too. "He probably thought that we wouldn't scan a letter from Hogwarts, or that Hadrian will be the first one to touch it. Those spells are likely designed to latch onto the first person who touches it. I'm willing to bet that there are likely tracking spells too, but it likely dispersed the moment Fawkes came through our wards."
Sirius sighed. "I'm going to need to put anti-phoenix wards around the house too—if it even existed," he grumbled.
"Well, I have more evidence to bring against Dumbledore at this rate." Lyuben said. "I'll make a copy and send it to Andromeda at Britain. She's still building up her case against Dumbledore, isn't she?" Both Sirius and Narcissa nodded. "Guess the old man is too powerful over in Britain. She will need to build up her case and gather enough evidence and witnesses first before she can hit at him."
"A Hogwarts acceptance letter, huh?" Narcissa murmured, eyes flickering towards the letter on the table. "I can take it to Britain with me to tell Dumbledore that Hadrian and Draco will be turning down their places there, Sirius."
Sirius shook his head. "Nah, don't bother. I'll make a trip to Britain myself," he said, eyes flashing dangerously at how Dumbledore attempted to ensnare his baby once more. "At this rate, he won't stop sending letters until he has it grinded into his head that Hadrian and Draco are not attending Hogwarts. Furthermore, I think in this case, Minnie might back us up. She hasn't been too happy with Dumbledore in recent years, from what Andy told me."
"In that case, I will come with you to Britain." Lyuben interrupted, much to the cousins' surprise. "I will have to report this incident to the Minister of Magic first. But I think in this case, Minister Oblansk will agree that sending an official warning to the British Ministry might get them to back off, since they are attempting harm against one of our citizens. Again."
"Siri?" Hadrian peeked out from behind Remus. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, baby." Sirius said cheerfully, kneeling to Hadrian's eye level. "I just have some business to take care of tomorrow. I'm sorry, but Remus and Narcissa will go with you and Draco instead to get your school supplies. I'm sure Viktor and Viviane would go with you too." Crookshanks gave a loud and indignant meow. "And Shanky too, I'm sure." Sirius added hastily. "Now, it's late, and fast approaching your bedtime. Why don't you boys go to bed? It's going to be a long day for you both tomorrow."
Hadrian and Draco looked from one to the other with confusion before exchanging looks, but nodded, leaving the kitchen, with Remus behind them, and Crookshanks trailing in their wake with his tail up.
"Fawkes, I don't suppose you would be returning to Dumbledore, are you?" Sirius asked the phoenix who leapt onto his shoulder. Fawkes trilled angrily, and Sirius winced. "Ah. I got you. Looks like it'll just be me and you, Lyuben."
The DMLE head had a dark grin visible on his face. "Oh trust me, I am going to enjoy this." Lyuben said with a cold smile. "The British Ministry never did learn their lesson when it comes to people, or children whom they want to use just because of their power. They tried that with Aria Michaelis long ago when she single-handedly ended the goblin rebellion back in the late 1800s. And they're doing the same thing with Hadrian now. Albus Dumbledore and the British Ministry would only get their hands on Hadrian over my dead body. And if they still want to try it anyway, Bulgaria would willingly go to war with them."