Chapter 5 of 9
Decisions need to be made
“We need to talk,” the silver bird said and disappeared.
“What was that?” Harry asked in wonder.
“A Patronus,” Sirius explained. “It’s a type of shield against creatures called Dementors and can be used for communication. See a Patronus is unique to every person and can’t be replicated, so you can guarantee the message isn’t a fake. That was Dumbledore’s.”
Harry’s face fell at this and he asked quietly as he sat next to Sirius on the couch, “Will I have to go back?”
“Only if you want to,” he ruffled Harry’s hair. Sirius hoped he didn’t though. Not right now. With what he had learned about Hogwarts of the last few decades he wasn’t sure it was the best choice anymore. Apparently things had been going downhill since Voldemort’s first rise. With Dumbledore and the teachers being more worried with the war than with school.
He was astounded to find out in the Bylaws that the Head of Houses were expected to have head counts every night after curfew, bi-monthly meetings with each of their students to follow their progress and a weekly House meeting to see if there were any inter-house issues. That sure hadn’t happened during his student years or he and his friends would have been caught out of bed at least once a month, most times more. And he never had a meeting about his school progress. Detentions, he had many. Scolding from McGonagall, he lost count, but never had she discussed his school progress. Most Gryffindors managed their studies on their own and he found out that the other houses had done so too.
Sirius looked at one of the complaints from the father of a first year who went back home on Christmas with most of her things missing. How did Flitwick let that kind of bullying within his own house go on? With students from different houses that was normal, maybe even expected despite needing action too. But within the house. Where the girl should feel safe, where Harry should have felt safe?
He hated to admit this but from the records, despite being an atrocious teacher, Snape was the best, or maybe the least worse Head of House. He at least did take the head counts and didn’t allow bullying within his house. From what the former students he interviewed said, Snape expected the Slytherins to show a united front. But he did not have the monthly or weekly meetings or else he would have noticed his own students’ abysmal grades in Potions.
He looked at Harry and asked seriously, “Do you want to go back?”
Harry shrugged, “I miss the school and having friends but,” he scrunched his nose and bit his lip as if he was afraid of saying it out loud, “I’m scared of going back.”
Sirius heart squeezed at Harry saying he missed having friends. He knew Harry thought that his friends hated him. He had received an apology letter from a girl named Susan Bones but Sirius knew Harry hadn’t been close to her. She wasn’t the one Harry wanted back in his life and Sirius wished he could fix that for Harry, that he could find out what happened and fix it, but he knew from experience that friends needed to work things out without parents forcing them or else things wouldn’t go back to normal.
He pulled Harry into a one armed hug. “I’m working to make sure you don’t have to be scared if you ever want to go back. But I want you to be happy, wherever you are.”
“I’m happy here with you,” Harry said with a smile and Sirius felt all kinds of warm inside, “and Moony,” the little sneaky bugger added with the most innocent look. “He’s very nice. I feel bad with him having to prick his finger every time he comes,” Harry finished making puppy eyes at Sirius. The gall, Sirius had showed him those puppy eyes!
Far from London, in a castle, in a dungeon, an apprehensive headmaster was delivering the ruling of the last Board meeting to his Potions Master, and said Potions Master was not pleased with his new situation.
“Repeat that,” he said curtly and Dumbledore felt that maybe coming to speak with the man in his potions lab was not the smartest move. There were knives about for crying out loud.
“The Board of Governors feels you need to change your way of teaching. That you actually have to explain things to the students and be less, er, abrasive. They have decided you will be on probation-“
“You mean Black thinks that and he is getting what he wants-“
“No Severus,” Dumbledore sighed. “I’ve been fending off complaints about you for years. I’ve been telling you for years that you need to change. Sirius is just the first Board member who didn’t just accept my word for things and went to dig out information for himself, and when presented with the information the other governors could not fail to see what everyone else has! You’re an awful teacher!”
“Oh, you think so?” Snape sneered, “Well I never wanted this post anyway. I only applied because-“
“Voldemort wanted you to spy on me, I know, and if you want to be able to say you kept your position you are going to have to shape up or we’ll have to figure something else.”
Snape’s nostrils flared and he crossed his arm looking murderously at Dumbledore.
“And if I do not wish to change my ways?”
“You’ll lose your post at the end of term and I will be expected to have a new Potions Master for next year,” Dumbledore sighed and said simply. “Look Severus, think about what you want to do before you react. We might come up with another way to make it look like you are in my favor but this is the best one. You know that. This doesn’t just give you access to me but to Harry and you know Voldemort will want that.”
“If I start favoring the brat, who by the way is just as arrogant as his father, lazy, and…” he faltered with the look he receive and continued his previous line of thought, “The Dark Lord will not believe I am on his side.”
“Lucius was at the meeting. You don’t need to favor Harry or anyone else. Just be fair, to all of them. Lucius will be able to vouch that you had no other choice. He was the one to suggest you be given a chance to change.”
Snape just glared at Dumbledore and Dumbledore shook his head sadly, “Think about it. You have until the end of term. From now on you will be teaching first through fourth year and sixth year. Horace will take over your OWL and NEWT classes. I’ve already spoken to him. He’s accepted to come and get paid only for those hours even if it doesn’t reach the minimum wage. Those hours will be deducted from your salary.”
“WHAT?” Snape shrieked.
“The Board decided so, and between you and me, if you had listened to me a long time ago Horace wouldn’t need to come anywhere near Hogwarts,” Albus finished with a sharp tone and turned to flee-er-walk out of the room.
“This is so good,” Harry said as he took another bite of the pizza he was holding. Sirius smiled from the other side of the table. They were on their weekly outing. Sirius had decided that Harry needed it. First, so he could see what normal families did and second, to interact with the world outside their bubble. So, after meeting Dumbledore while Harry was in classes with Remus, he had taken Harry out for Pizza. And a little celebration.
Dumbledore had finally decided to work with him instead of around him. They had talked a lot about the Horcruxes and Dumbledore shared what he knew. He had produced a few memories from a House-elf, one of his own and a couple of memories that were about the Gaunt family, who apparently had been Voldemort’s family. No wonder the man was deranged. He of course didn’t understand a lot that was said, since they were speaking Parseltongue, but what interested them the most was the items that had been pointed out. A cup from Hufflepuff, a ring from the Peverells and a locket from Slytherin. Sirius had shivered once he realized that James had been a direct a descendent from one of the three famous Peverell brothers too. The youngest. But he soothed himself by remind himself that as small and inbred as the Wizarding World was, most half and purebloods were related.
“I know, your mum introduced us to pizza. At first we had been very skeptical, it looked so greasy. But I have to admit to have fallen in love at first bite.”
“Me too,” Harry said and Sirius’s smile faltered a bit at the reminder that Harry had never had a Pizza. He shoved the thought aside not wanting to think of the Dursleys. That case was going slow since they didn’t have actual evidence of the abuse. The Healer’s report wouldn’t be admissible in Muggle court and they were having a hard time finding someone who would speak up against the Dursleys. Apparently Vernon had ties with important people in the community and people were scarred of what might happen to them.
“You have to leave a bit of topping to eat the crust with. It tastes better that way, see,” he said showing Harry how his crust still had a thin slice of cheese and sauce and taking a humongous bite off the crust. Harry tried to imitate but his mouth was considerably smaller and he ended up smearing sauce all over his face. He only protested a little bit when Sirius took a napkin to clean his face up.
On mid April Remus was surprised when he entered the flat (Sirius had finally conceded for Harry to grant him permanent permission) and on the counter where he and Harry worked he found the boy arranging a tray with tea and sandwiches next to his text books. He looked at Sirius who was studiously ignoring him in favor of whatever paperwork he was dealing with over the couch and coffee table. Sirius had decided to take an active role as Lord Black and was taking ownership of every and any position the title granted him. He was determined that what happened to him and Harry could not happen again.
He had personally supervised the trials of the students who were charged to make sure every aspect of the law was followed using the Black seat in the Wizengamot.
The four boys who had attacked Harry were current residents of Azkaban and would stay there for a very long time.
Gryffindor house, or at least the students that were deemed to have been active participants of destroying Harry’s property and not just bystanders, were ordered to pay Harry back for every item they destroyed (which was quite a heavy considering Harry had a state of the art broomstick). Remus had been shocked but pleased to know that they weren’t going to be allowed to share the expenses. Each student had to pay the full value of Harry’s destroyed property. Their lawyers tried to argue that that meant Harry would receive many times more what was destroyed but the Wizengamot was adamant. Each student was responsible for their individual action. They made the decision to destroy Harry’s things alone and therefore they had to face the consequences individually too. They shouldn’t be allowed to share the sentence just because they were many. The values had been deposited directly to Harry’s trust fund.
The students who had conspired to stop Harry from getting food where sentenced to community service during the summer. Helping out at St. Mungo’s. Seeing firsthand what being denied food does to a person.
The teachers were another matter all together. The DMLE had decided that since they hadn’t actively known what the other students were doing until they realized Harry was missing they couldn’t be deemed criminally responsible. But the faculty had been deemed negligent and the Wizengamot ordered Hogwarts Board of Governors to take disciplinary action. The Board was already currently making a thorough investigation of everything that had been going on in the school to decide the best course of action. They had been given until the end of term to pass on their ruling. Dumbledore, who had to excuse himself from the Wizengamot for the proceedings duet to conflict of interest, accepted all the decisions without faltering, almost resigned and Sirius had been pleased to see, accepting.
“Hi there Harry,” Remus said approaching the counter. “What’s this?” he finished as he pulled the stool to sit.
“It’s Green tea. It’s really good for colds sir. I looked it up,” Harry said eagerly peering at Remus with a clinical eye.
“Oh, er colds?” Remus asked confused.
“Yeah, well. You had to go away on business again,” Harry said and paused as Sirius heavily dropped one of the law books he had been reading on the coffee table. Remus ignored him. Sirius should really get a proper table for them to work instead of using the coffee table. He could go use the perfectly good desk in Harry’s room too. “And every time you go off on business you come back looking like death warmed over so I made this to help you get better,” he finished happily and Remus was touched by Harry’s thoughtfulness. He accepted the tea and almost choked on it when Harry continued. “I think you shouldn’t go away on that business anymore. You should tell whoever hired you you have another job. It’s not good for you.” Even as busy as he was spluttering and having a worried Harry pat his back to help him he did not miss the other slap of books nor the scowl that came from the couch.
“Thank you Harry,” he composed himself. “But I’m afraid it’s not something I can just quit.”
“Oh, did you sign a magical contract? I was helping Padfoot research them the other day. If you did that’s bad. You can’t get out of one,” Harry said with a sympathetic look.
“Something like that,” Remus flustered a bit trying to go for Harry’s homework. “So, er- the essay I set you.”
“Here.”
Remus engrossed himself on the essay trying and failing to ignore the burning sensation of someone glaring at the back of his head.
“He’s too young to know!” Remus cried after the class when Sirius had told Harry that he was going to show Remus out of the building. Harry gave them a look that clearly stated he knew Sirius wanted to talk to Remus without Harry listening. They were currently on the doorsteps of the building and Remus was worried a Muggle would hear them.
“Bollocks, he’s no younger than we were when we found out! You’re just being a coward.”
“No I’m not!”
“Yes you are. And you’re thinking poorly of Harry,” Sirius snapped and Remus sighed. He knew why Sirius had chosen those exact words. He and James had figured his secret by Christmas of first year and then spent the next term giving him hints to open up. Right before school ended James walked up to him and said. “My folks told me I can invite my friends to come over during the summer. Except I don’t know if I should invite you since you think I’m gonna bail on you because of your furry little problem. I am quite offended of you thinking so poorly of me. When you decide to believe I am your friend, let me know.”
Sirius glared at him and said in a low tone, “Too many people have let that boy down Moony. I won’t let you keep lying to him. I don’t want to lose his trust so you decide. If you want to stay in his life you have to tell him. He’s a good kid. He isn’t going to desert you. You have till next full moon to decide, and I’ll pester you for your answer every time you show up. You have to decide, are you going to man up or are you going to abandon us again?” with that Sirius turned on his heal and slammed the entrance door. Remus stood watching the man go. That was part of the problem wasn’t it? That Remus had abandoned both of them.
Sirius had hated this house and the oppressiveness from his mother the house still reeked of. And shrieked thanks to a portrait he had the misfortune of finding as soon as he entered the house.
He had to come here though, not only to see the state of one of his properties. One that unfortunately he could not sell to a non-Black due to family magic –maybe Cissy would be interested- but he wanted the library. The Black Library was a wealth of Dark Magic knowledge and he needed it. The Healers were pretty confident they had found a way to dispose of the Horcrux in Harry but they needed confirmation to their theory, and short of someone turning a rat into a Horcrux to test the theory – which considering what making a Horcrux needed was out of the question- the only way to prove the theory was if someone had already done it before. So they were researching and Sirius decided to research too.
He also wanted to check the lineage tomes his parents had. See if they could find out what else Voldemort might have used to make a Horcrux. They were pretty confident he had used at least two objects from the founders and one from his own family lineage. Maybe he could trace Gryffindor’s and Ravenclaw’s descendants to see if they were missing any relic from the founders.
There was also the fact that he wanted to check the books to figure out the number of Horcruxes Voldemort might have made. Dumbledore thought Slughorn might know and he was going to see if the man could help. With him on staff now that might be easier.
So, that was why Sirius found himself in the dusty library of Grimmauld Place. The place looked as if it had been abandoned since his mother died. He wondered if Kreacher had died with his mother. He had yet to see the elf and wasn’t interested in summoning him. Kreacher had always been foul to him. He had always been an extension of his mother and been the one to punish young Sirius when he did something to embarrass the family and Sirius grew up to resent the elf. He knew house-elves had to do their master’s orders but they needn’t be gleeful about it which Kreacher was because he believe Sirius embarrassed the Black family. Sirius was not ashamed to say that as he grew he had treated Kreacher with distaste and resentment too. But it had been earned. Sirius didn’t mind house-elves in general. Quite the contrary. He had always been fond of the Potter elves and had been delighted to see them again and find out that they had been keeping the Potter properties in perfect shape. But Kreacher he couldn’t stand.
After choosing a few tomes that looked promising Sirius moved to the drawing room that had more light to see if they were safe to take with him. He didn’t want Harry getting hexed if he accidentally opened one.
He deposited the tomes on top of a table and went to open the curtains of one of the windows. He coughed at the dust that rose turning around from the sun’s glare. As he did so his eyes landed on a glass cabinet that had always been there. He was turning again without a second thought when something caught his eyes. It couldn’t be.
He walked slowly towards the cabinet and opened the door. He reached his hand and slowly picked the locket up.
It was. The exact same locket he had seen in those memories Dumbledore showed him. How did it get here?
A loud crack sounded behind him and he turned around sharply pointing his wand to where the sound came from. There, the old and dirty house-elf was looking at him with a murderous look.
“Bad master! Horrible master! You is not stealing Master’s Regulus’s bad locket!”
“Excuse me?” Sirius said bewildered. Had the elf gone mad?
“Bad locket is Master Regulus! You is not stealing it!”
“This locket and everything else in this house is now mine Kreacher,” Sirius said crisply. He needed to check this locket and didn’t want to have to deal with Kreacher trying to protect Regulus’s loyalty to Voldemort. Had Voldemort asked Regulus to store the locket? He had obviously entrusted the diary to Lucius. That, both Sirius and Dumbledore had been certain of even if they had no proof.
“Kreacher is not letting you! Master Regulus is asking Kreacher to destroy the locket and Kreacher is not being able to but Kreacher is not letting bad Master take the bad locket.”
That made Sirius top. Regulus wanted to destroy the locket? Did Kreacher know what the locket contained?
“Kreacher, why is this locket bad?”
“Locket bad, Master Regulus order Kreacher to destroy it. Master Regulus order Kreacher home, poor Master Regulus lost forever for that locket and bad Kreacher not finishing the mission,” Kreacher sobbed.
For the first time in his life Sirius felt sorry for the elf. Since Kreacher had always been the vessel his mother had used to discipline him Sirius couldn’t help but resent the elf. Especially since the elf, much like his mother, had doted on Regulus. Good proper Regulus who didn’t embarrass the family by running wildly in the yard, by asking improper questions. By accepting their vitriol without questions. Sirius kneeled down with a patience and care he didn’t know he was capable towards the elf and asked gently.
“Kreacher, please tell me everything you know about this locket, how did Regulus get it, why did he want it and most importantly why is it so important to destroy it?”
What followed would change Sirius’s perspective of his brother forever.