Chapter 301
ATTACKS AT THE WORLD CUP! Rita Skeeter
To the shock of all, the wondrous Quidditch World Cup last night endedinterror with a series of attacks from malcontents. A serious fire broke out at the stadium itself resulting in the evacuation of theMinister's party which included prominent members of the Wizengamot, theIrish and Bulgarian Ministers. Although initially thought of an accident, theerection of anti-transport wards suggested a bleaker purpose. Aurors onsitewith the help of volunteers led by Lord Sirius Black managed to keep the firecontained to the East and North stands before relinquishing their place totheMagical Catastrophe team who brought a Magical Fire Unit. Questions wereraised by Lord Black at the scene why a Unit hadn't been acquired for thestadium to meet standard fire regulations. The Minister of Magic has
promised an immediate investigation. Unfortunately, the fire was but a diversion for four different attacks. The first
was directed at Lord Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and it was only thebravery of family friends William Weasley and Minerva McGonagall that
prevented the kidnapping of young Harry, who heroically shielded everyoneelse in the tent including many women and children while the brave twoengaged the attacker. Close friend Karen Abbott stated: "Harry, Minerva and Bill protected everyonein the Potter Alliance tent. We owe them a great debt of gratitude." Professor
McGonagall, a Hogwarts teacher for many years, sustained minor injuriesandwas released last night by St Mungo's into the care of Lord Black. Mister
Weasley remains in critical condition at the hospital having sustained a darkcurse that turned his liver to jelly.
The Weasley family was itself a target of the second attack which foundtheir
tent subjected to a lockdown ward and set on fire. Alerted to the danger by thetaunts of the Potter Alliance attacker, Harry once again played rescuer alongwith the Weasleys' youngest son Ronald and school friends, Hermione
Granger and Neville Longbottom. In an impressive show of magic, Harry
overpowered the ward and the children rescued Arthur Weasley, the current
Chair of the Muggle Affairs Committee, his daughter Ginevra and his sonCharles. All three remained in St Mungo's overnight for observation. Additionally, a muggleborn family was attacked by two men wearing blackrobes and white masks reminiscent of You-Know-Who's followers, and
separately there was an incident of muggle-baiting by similarly dressedmen. These attackers were apprehended by the DMLE and the families involvedsustained minor injuries.
It is suspected that these attacks are a protest against the move to
acknowledge the recent technological and scientific advances of mugglesinorder to better protect our world. Minister Fudge stated forcefully; "Thesemenwill be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We will not bow to terroristsand trying to invoke the past fear and anguish of You-Know-Who's reign by
wearing similar costumes and executing similar tactics is particularly
despicable." We at the Daily Prophet fully support the Minister's position and our best
wishes go to the Weasley family for a speedy recovery. Simeon finished reading the article over Sirius's shoulder and sighed as hetook a seat on the opposite side of the desk. "At least the press came out
positive for our side."
Sirius grimaced. "That was pretty much Cornelius's reaction."
"From his point of view, everything worked out." Remus said fromhis positionby the window. "The Death Eaters were caught; nobody died; all else is
manageable in his view. He'll end up giving Bagman a slap on the wrist
because of the missing Fire Unit and call it a job well done."
"And they call me the pessimistic one." Sirius muttered. But Remus was right. His conversation with Cornelius via the floo had already covered every singleone of Remus's points although he had agreed a proper investigation for theFire Unit was called for since its lack was used to enable arson.
"So the main issue is the life debts, right?" Simeon said. "Working out themess of who saved who?"
"Unfortunately." Sirius confirmed glumly. "I think everyone considers the fireagroup effort since it threatened everyone and everyone took care of it…"
"So quid pro quo." Simeon nodded. "Obviously nobody is going to claimthemuggle family owe a life debt?"
"If they owe a life debt to anyone, it's possibly Harry who distracted the DeathEaters when the boys stumbled over them according to what he said last
night." Sirius said thoughtfully. "But there's no precedent for enforcing a lifedebt when a muggle owes it because of the Statute of Secrecy so…"
"No life debt." Simeon concluded.
"Nor for the muggleborn family as they were ultimately rescued by Aurors, who are, by virtue of their profession, excluded from life debts." Remus shiftedposition, turning to face the room rather than the gardens.
"Which leaves the attack on the Potter alliance and the Weasleys." Simeonsaid.
"According to Harry's statement last night to Amelia, we can deduce that theefforts of three people saved those in the Potter alliance tent; Bill and Minervawho fought with the attacker, and Harry himself in raising the shield." Remusstated quietly. "The presence of Harry within the tent arguably was the reasonfor the danger thus negating any life debt owed to him, and it's also arguablethat he was acting in concert with the oaths taken between the alliance soagain; no life debt owed."
"Some will feel that no life debt is owed to Bill and Minerva because they weredefeated in the duel and the attacker ultimately left because he couldn't get toHarry or anyone else behind the shield. Well, he tried to hurt Neville but theHouse of Longbottom saved itself in that instance." Sirius added.
"I would suggest proposing to the rest of the alliance that any debt to Bill andMinerva is owed by the House of Potter and allow us to handle the matter." Remus advised.
"Is any debt owed by the House of Potter for Weasley?" Simeon interjected. "Forgive me if I'm wrong but he was there because he's sworn to service andthat includes an element of acknowledged risk. He took on the duty of
guarding Harry of his own accord."
"I agree with Simeon," Remus held up a hand when Sirius went to argue, "I
would feel that there was no debt if it had been me instead of Bill. Plus there'sthe fact that Harry in turn saved Arthur, Ginny and Charlie last night. In thebalance of things it may be better to suggest to the House of Weasley that inthe spirit of the alliance of friendship, both Houses agree no debts are owedon either side, although Arthur probably needs a separate discussion withtheLongbottoms – Neville did risk his life saving Arthur and Charlie."
"Fair enough." Sirius said. "Which leaves Minnie."
"Who is the Regent Apparent to the House of Potter and therefore by lawisdirected to protect Lord Potter as a minor." Simeon pointed out. "No life debt."
"Well, we may still want to do something personally to acknowledge her." Remus said to Sirius.
"I was thinking of offering her a permanent home in Griffin House," Sirius
mused out loud. He'd been thinking about it for a while since Minnie hadspent
a lot of time with them during the Summer. She'd actually been releasedintotheir care the night before by St Mungo's and was currently at Griffin Housebeing fussed over by Dobby and Harry. "What do you think?"
Remus nodded. "It's OK with me. But you'll need to talk to Harry." Sirius nodded. He'd intended to without Remus's word of caution. GriffinHouse was Harry's home first and foremost. "Well, that deals with the lifedebts. I'll send out a letter to all the Heads of Houses who had family in thePotter alliance tent to confirm they agree."
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"How is Harry this morning?" asked Simeon, reaching for his discarded coffeecup.
"Grounded until he's thirty." Sirius replied dryly. He didn't think the fear of
losing Harry that had flooded him on receiving news of the attack wouldever
leave him. The terror he'd felt when he'd arrived at the Potter alliance tent onlyfor Harry not to be there; in arriving at the Weasleys' tent only to be told by
Hermione that Harry had just suddenly charged into the woods… He'd listened when Harry had given his statement to Amelia and had beenalternatively proud and furious; proud at Harry's heroism, his skills and hissteadfastness in his friendships; furious that so much of what Harry haddonehad put him at risk especially his last act…
The fact that Harry had acted in anger going after the attacker was somethingthat Sirius understood – he'd done the same thing with Wormtail after all –but it scared Sirius. The outcome could have been so much worse than that of
a bad cut and some colourful bruises. Harry had sheepishly admitted that he'dbeen outclassed in his duel and if Neville hadn't turned up and created a
diversion…
"Seriously?" asked Simeon with amusement. "He saves everyone and youground him?" Sirius leaned back in his desk chair and ignored the snort fromthe peanut
gallery also known as Moony. "Just you wait until Jason gets older."
"Actually, Harry pinpointed his own mistakes; going with Ron without askingany adult to accompany them and going after the attacker alone in the woods. He even suggested his own punishment," Remus added, amusement
colouring his tone again, "since Padfoot and he have this punishment systemthey worked out a while ago so we're consistent across the board when hedoes something wrong." Sirius harrumphed but he couldn't deny Remus's charge. They'd waited until breakfast before a discussion and a rehash of events
because they'd all been exhausted the night before. Apart fromthe attacksthemselves, everyone had been interviewed by Aurors and then they'd all goneto St Mungo's for treatment. Bed and a good night's sleep had been the
priority for everyone once they'd gotten home. But coming down to breakfast, Sirius had been all ready to yell at Harry, point
out just how much danger he had placed himself in by running in without
thinking, and hand out Harry's punishment of being grounded for the rest of
his life. Before he could utter a word, the blighter had apologised, acknowledged his mistakes and accepted his punishment according tothesystem they'd worked out. Sirius had settled for hugging the daylights out of
Harry again. Simeon nodded slowly. "I guess there have to be rules. Or so Anna keeps
telling me." He grinned, drained his coffee and stood up. "Speaking of theball
and chain, Anna wants to hit Harrods today for last minute souvenirs andshopping. You need me for anything?" Sirius shook his head. "Don't forget tonight's the Farewell Dinner; family only."
"See you then, mon frère." Simeon left the study and Sirius dropped his gazeto the Prophet again. Remus moved from the window and dropped into a chair. He steepled hisfingers together. "Harry wasn't the only one to make mistakes yesterday."
"Are you suggesting I should ground myself, Moony?" Sirius asked disgruntledat the criticism but feeling that he deserved it.
"Actually I was referring to me." Sirius's head shot up at the chagrined shame of Remus's quiet statement. "You didn't do anything wrong. Merlin, I was the one who pushed you intotaking on translation duty for Cornelius instead of protecting Harry as weagreed."
"If I had objected you would have apologised and found someone else. Youwere only asked in the first place because I showed off my language skillsinstead of keeping Mum, and drew Cornelius's attention." Remus protested. "And once the fire broke out, I should never have asked you for help andI
should have made my way straight to you and Harry rather than letting Ameliaside-track me with finding the anti-transportation ward." He sighed. "Andlet'snot forget my letting the rat get away again!"
"Firstly, I will state again that it was me who made the decision on the
translation duty and, honestly, if I had sent Harry home with Simeon andAnnaafter meeting the Quidditch teams, none of the rest of it would have
mattered!" Sirius countered, rubbing his head at the slight throb of a headache.
"You wanted him to enjoy the moment!" Remus argued. "And we thought
everything would happen later!"
"We knew there was a death threat, I was stupid not to have evacuated himimmediately when you sent the message." Sirius said simply. "And I shouldnever have left Harry even if I do have the training to deal with a fire," he
continued, "if I had been there…"
"It may have deterred the attacker, it may not," Remus pointed out, "we don't
know for certain. You might have ended up the same way as Bill. The attacker
probably would have still gone after the Weasleys and if he did and we didn't
have a warning of it…" he sighed heavily, "Molly could quite have easily beenmourning a husband, a son and her only daughter this morning."
Sirius acknowledged the truth of that by inclining his head a touch. It was asobering thought.
"The truth is that no single decision either you or I took in isolation was wrong, necessarily at the time. We just need to learn from yesterday and…" Remuswaved a hand at him, "not make the same mistakes again."
"Yesterday shows we should dump plan B and go with plan A." Sirius muttered.
"No, Sirius, we're not wrapping Harry in cotton wool and hiding himfromtheworld for the rest of his natural life." Remus objected before he grimaced. "Nomatter how much I might want to go with that plan. Besides, plan B isn't
working out too badly." Sirius harrumphed and got up. He wandered over to the far side of the studyand with a stab of his wand, revealed the hidden blackboard that detailedout
their original plan.
"Politically, we're solid." Remus said walking up to stand next to him. "ThePotter alliance is back; the Order of Merlin recipients are already agreedtojoinat the September session. You'll have the neutral bloc alliances to announcealong with the détente with Wilkes and Selwyn to go along with the one youhave with Nott." Sirius folded his arms. "Solid is a good word. We can start to make somereal
changes to the laws by Christmas."
Remus nodded. "Just as we planned. So, we're shutting down Voldemort'saccess to political power and decreasing the number of allies he has andthefinancial base he can draw upon." He sighed and pointed his wand at theboard. 'Foreign policy' appeared as a task. "We need to think about this more."
"Agreed. The Treasure Hunt isn't going so well." Sirius commented.
"It's stalled," agreed Remus, "but I think getting rid of three of the six horcruxesisn't a bad showing. We only have two to go since the diary is already
handled."
"We should probably get rid of the snake too, Albus is right about that." Siriusadded a note to the board. "Well, Godric's Hollow is on hold until Bill's out of
the hospital and we'll have to wait for him and Caro to have a legitimate
reason to be in Hogwarts to search for the diadem."
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"Tag the Death Eater worked well for the World Cup." Remus said. "The
problem was the rogue who upset the applecart and who apparently is
working with Voldemort since Peter was helping him last night." Sirius took in the pain on Remus's face and placed a hand on his friend's
shoulder. "It's not your fault he got away."
"It is my fault." Remus argued. "I should have done something more! Tomas
thinks he managed to catch him with a cutting hex when Peter transformedtoapparate but as it was meant to disable rather than kill, Peter probably
survived it. I couldn't even nail Peter with a stunner!"
"Because he transformed into his animagus form." Sirius said. "He's bloodydifficult to catch or hit because of his form. I should know!" Remus pointed his wand at the board and 'find a way to neutralise the rat' appeared. "We need to take away his advantage. There are some old wardsthat will force an animagus into human form. I'll research them." Sirius patted his shoulder
"We also need to know who this Hollins guy really is since the real Auror
Hollins was busy dealing with the fire." Sirius murmured unhappily.
"Agreed; we need to focus some effort on finding out who the rogue is andshutting him down." Remus said, adding the item to the blackboard.
"I'll settle for killing him." Sirius said evenly. That Remus didn't argue showed the werewolf's own anger at the man who'dmanaged to get close enough to Harry to almost kill him.
"We have an unknown rogue and we have Voldemort and the rat stayingsomewhere unknown. We know they're working together." Remus musedout
loud. "None of the known Death Eaters are hiding the bastards." Sirius frowned. "You think they're staying together?"
"It's probable," Remus said, "since Wormtail admitted that the rogue was
acting on Voldemort's order. I think this guy must be whoever is giving
Voldemort house-space. Voldemort knows about him. The other Death Eatersdon't, yes, which is why Lucius doesn't know about him…but his Master? No. I
hate to agree with Lucius but I think he's right; this is someone like Peter;
someone Voldemort kept secret in the war."
"Great." Sirius snarled. He swept a hand through his hair.
"Thinking about it, this was all probably an attempt to grab Harry for this ritual
we think Voldemort is planning," Remus continued, "if they had Harry, they
could keep him terrorised and challenged for the nine months without usingthe tournament."
"You think the tournament is their plan B?" Sirius asked as his blood ran coldas he thought about Harry being kept somewhere, being tortured and hurt.
"Yes. The more I think about it, the more I do." Remus sighed. "I think I'mpleased Harry has grounded himself until he goes to Hogwarts."
Sirius couldn't speak. He nodded.
It was Remus's turn to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be OK, Padfoot. The other thing that is going well is Harry's training. He needs somemore duelling practice but he's good. He survived long enough against
someone who downed Bill for help to arrive; that's no mean feat."
"Right," said Sirius, trying to take comfort in Remus's words, "and he knowshisanimagus form now. He just needs to perfect it. If he could transform…"
"Even if he was abducted, he'd have a way out nobody would suspect." Remusagreed. He sighed and pointed at the board where they'd written 'the power heknows not.' "We have two candidates for this power: the Hallows and thefamily magic."
"He called the Longbottom magic." Sirius said. "Augusta told me that she'dasked Amelia to change Neville's statement to say family magic rather thandetailing that it was theirs and not ours that got called. Harry only said inhisstatement that he had called family magic."
"Do you think Ollivander's story is right? That Harry as the most powerful
wizard of his generation can call on all of the family magic?" Remus asked.
"Maybe, or it could be the oath of fealty allowed Harry to call Neville's familymagic when Neville was in danger – Neville pledged his magic to Harry." Siriussighed and shrugged. "We still know so little about how it works and Harry'srelationship to it."
"Which leaves us with the Hallows." Remus sighed. "The source Ollivander
quoted wasn't in your grandfather's papers. I haven't been able to track it
down. I think I should ask Ollivander."
"We're not there yet." Sirius cautioned him. "We still have to confront Albusabout the wand."
"Are you telling Harry as planned?" asked Remus frowning.
"Yes," Sirius nodded, "and we'll discuss what he wants to do." He sighed. "I
want to protect him but he needs to know that Albus will continue to keepthings from him."
"And justify it all with 'it's for his own good.'" Remus added with a touch of
bitterness.
"Or the Greater Good," pointed out Sirius wryly, "whichever he feels will most
suit the situation at hand." He shook himself briskly like Padfoot and didatempus charm. "I'm going to head to St Mungo's. I promised Harry I'd lookinon Bill and the rest of the Weasley clan personally since he can't leave thehouse." Remus nodded crisply. "Leave the board out. I want to have a think and maybeadd a couple of things."
Sirius patted his back. "Thanks, Moony."
It didn't take long to get to the floo and travel to the premier wizarding
hospital. He had left orders that the Weasleys be treated with the honour
bestowing an Ancient and Noble House so he wasn't surprised to find they'dbeen designated a private suite on the Spell Damage Ward. He bought a
couple of things from the gift shop and headed up in one of the lifts withasurprisingly cheerful ghost who had died two weeks before fromchokingonachicken bone in the waiting room. He slowed in the corridor as he spotted Percy Weasley outside the suite door
in the corridor, facing the wall and crying into the sleeve of his robe.
"Percy?" prompted Sirius gently. "Is…are you alright?" He huffed. "Stupidquestion, I know, I mean obviously you're not alright. How could you be alright
with half your family in the hospital?"
"That's not…" Percy swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, and Siriusjuggled the balloons and gifts to hand him a handkerchief. "Sorry, Lord Black."
"Call me Sirius." Sirius corrected softly. "Now, what's the problem?"
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Percy hesitated but he heaved a sigh and gave in to the need to confide insomeone. "I had to go into work this morning. The department has a huge
amount of clean-up to do and Mister Crouch is still recovering fromthe flu–he had to leave straight after the match yesterday and sent an owl this
morning rather than coming in himself!" He said defensively. "I took an earlylunch break so I could come and see everyone but they're all mad at me
anyway."
"Because you went to work rather than staying with your family?" Sirius
clarified. And he could understand why the rest of the Weasley children might not
appreciate Percy's work ethic. With the exception of Percy himself, Molly, Fredand George, the rest of the Weasleys had been attacked and hospitalised. Most people would have taken the day to be with them. On the other hand, thesense of responsibility that had dictated Percy's action in going to work
wasn't a bad thing. Crouch should have offered him a personal day, Siriusthought irritated, but then that was Crouch all over; unthinking and
uncompromising. Percy nodded. "I do care that they almost died…" he looked embarrassedat
the admission. "But I'm needed at work."
"Percy," Sirius began cautiously, "I know you admire Mister Crouch greatly," and Sirius tried hard not to feel aggrieved by that – Barty had sent himtoprison without a trial, "and Barty has always had a strong work ethic," he couldsee the mutinous expression forming on Percy's face, "but Barty spent somuch time at work and in pursuit of his ambitions that he didn't realise hissonwas a Death Eater. There is a balance, and I'm not saying you haven't gottenit
right today but just…nobody would blame you for taking a personal day."
Percy straightened his shoulders. "I don't want to let Mister Crouch downandI
have responsibilities. I don't know why others don't see that." Sirius knew it was futile to keep arguing. "Well, I should make my way inside. Will you join me?"
"I should get back to the office." Percy said, looking towards the door withamixture of want and hurt. "Tell them I'll be by later."
"Of course." Sirius watched him walk away and sighed. He was hardly goingtoget through to the young man, he reminded himself. He and Percy's newhero, Crouch, had too much enmity for that. He knocked sharply on the door andentered at the chorus of 'come in' from the Weasleys behind the door. The room was very restful, decked out in calm sea-greens and deep night-timeblues. Large windows let in lots of sunlight. There were four beds; two either
side of the room. Arthur and Ginny were on the left, Bill and Charlie on theright. Bill was closest to the door designating his position as the one most
requiring attention; the twins sat one either side of the bed keeping watchontheir sleeping brother. Ron sat on Charlie's bed playing chess. Most of the faces lit up with one notable exception; Molly who was campedout with knitting needles between Arthur and Ginny. Remus had been theoneto collect her from the Burrow and escort her to St Mungo's the night beforeand Sirius wasn't looking forward to her reaction to seeing himespecially
without…
"Where's Harry?" Molly immediately asked.
"Hello to you too, Molly." Sirius greeted her wryly. Before she could say
anything more, he handed her the 'Get Well' balloons. He made his way toArthur and handed him the large box of chocolates and tin of biscuits he'dbought. "For you and your family, Arthur."
"Thank you, Sirius." Arthur said, watching in amusement as his wife's faceturned red. "I take it you kept Harry home given the attempt on his life
yesterday?"
"He's also grounded for taking unnecessary risks. Obviously while we're happyhe saved you, some of his actions lacked forethought." Sirius began to explain.
"Like going after the bloke who did it?" Arthur nodded. Ron scowled. "I would have gone after him too if Hermione hadn't sat onme."
"And you would have been grounded too if you had." Arthur said firmly. "I
might be very proud of your helping to rescue us, Ron, but I'mstill debatingwhat on earth was going through your head asking Harry to help you insteadof an adult since he has a death threat hanging over him." Ron flushed red.
"Harry sends his love," Sirius said, changing the topic slightly, "we tried toseeyou last night but by the time we'd finished with the Aurors, the Ward wasclosed to all but family and the night mediwitch refused to let us in." She had been singularly unimpressed with Sirius's Lordship or Harry's statusas the Boy Who Lived.
"Then, we were asked to take Minerva home so…" Molly sat down again with a harrumph. "How is Minerva?"
"Mostly annoyed," Sirius waved a hand towards Bill, "and feeling guilty shedidn't do more. Physically she's healed although she was moving a bit
carefully at breakfast. Dobby made her take a pain relief potion."
"Bill will be relieved to hear she's better when he's awake." Arthur said. "They've got him in a healing sleep to get around the pain issue as his liver
heals. He won't wake until late this afternoon." Sirius nodded in understanding. He pointed at a plush soft toy of a snakeonhis bedside cabinet. "Present?"
"From the woman he works with," Molly sniffed, "Caroline Something?" Her
face brightened. "Alicia was here earlier too. She's working a shift right nowbut will be back later. They make a lovely couple." Evidently Molly was already planning a wedding, Sirius thought half-amused.
"The Healers were very complementary about Alicia's immediate care inBill'scase; they think it saved his life." Arthur shuffled further up against his pillowsand Molly immediately moved to help him, pushing past Sirius who movedout
of her way. "Speaking of which, I'm glad you're here, Sirius, because I coulddowith your advice about the life debt issues incurred last night." Molly cleared her throat loudly. "Boys, you can go and get some fresh air for awhile." She shooed the twins and Ron from the room with an efficiency that
enthralled and appalled Sirius in equal measure. She moved onto Ginny veryquickly. "Come along, Ginny, we should get you cleaned up and into freshclothes. The Healers said you would be released this afternoon; no needfor
you to be lollygagging in your nightwear." They were both out of the room were surprising speed despite Ginny's
pleading eyes to her father. Sirius sighed. "Remus, Simeon and I were just discussing the life debt
business before I came here. It's a bit of a mess really."
"What was your conclusion?" asked Arthur.
Sirius explained the discussion succinctly. "I'd like to think we agree that theactions Bill took to save Harry and Harry took to save your family cancel eachother out in the spirit of the alliance of friendship between the House of Potter
and the House of Weasley."
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Arthur grimaced. "I think you're letting us off lightly there, Sirius, but I'll takethe proposal with thanks." He sighed. "I'll also accept that no-one in the Potter
alliance tent owes a debt to Bill, I think he'll agree with that since his actionsultimately failed to protect them." Sirius winced. "I wouldn't put it that way, Arthur."
"You didn't," Arthur reminded him, "and no matter how proud I amof Bill's
actions last night, the truth is that he lost the duel."
"He's going to kick himself silly over that." Charlie offered. The second eldest
son of the Weasley brood had been listening quietly since Arthur and Siriushad begun their discussion.
"Whoever it was that attacked us is a very powerful and accomplished
wizard." Sirius noted. They should really consider that part of the profile asthey tried to reduce suspects. Not everybody had a talent to make the potionneeded to impersonate someone; not everyone had a talent for duellingandwarding.
"So the remaining issue is Neville Longbottom." Arthur broke into Sirius's
thoughts. "The boy risked his life in saving me and Charlie."
"I can do what Bill did, Dad," Charlie offered, "swear service to the House of
Longbottom for a time."
"Actually, I think Augusta would prefer the use of your old stables behindtheorchard at the Burrow. She's been having trouble with finding a newstablefor
the Longbottom horses since she's on the verge of selling their Spanish place. I know Remus has been pricing building one for her at LongbottomManor." Sirius said dryly. "Your stables would be fine with a couple of days work tofixthem up. You could negotiate a reasonable deal there."
"Ginny would be happy," Arthur commented, "she always wanted a pony." Hesighed and glanced over at Charlie. "Thank you for the offer though, son."
"It's my life he saved, Dad." Charlie pointed out. "My Bubble Head must havecollapsed when I got thrown backwards. I'm never going to live that downwhen I get back to the Reserve."
"Well, at least you cast yours correctly." Arthur said with chagrin. "Mine washopeless and the one I cast on Ginny hardly lasted any longer."
"I can't do them properly either." Sirius commiserated. "Mine are completebollocks. Moony always had to cast them for me. Harry said Hermione didhisand Neville's." Arthur smiled gratefully. "Did you read today's paper? The theory that
this…person wants to defeat the move to establish a closer relationshipwithmuggles?"
"I'm not sure Rita's got it right." Sirius said. "But he's working for Voldemort
and it's something Voldemort would want stopped."
"All the more reason to go forward then. You-Know- Voldemort will find that
the Weasleys aren't so easily cowed." Arthur said firmly. "We haven't beenaGryffindor family for years for no reason." Sirius smiled at him. "You're a good man, Arthur, although I suspect that you'll
have a meeting with Amelia to discuss security measures in your near futureto look forward to." Arthur nodded. "I find that I'm surprisingly alright with whatever measuresAmelia thinks I should take." He smiled grimly. "I might be a Gryffindor but I dohave a family to protect." He sighed. "I should apologise for Ron draggingHarry with him to check on us but if he hadn't…" Sirius struggled with what to say and ended up sighing. "They're friends. If it
had been James and I…we would have done exactly the same. Harry knowsheshould have grabbed an adult to go with them or sent an adult in the first
place but…you're right. If they hadn't checked on you…those lockdown wardsare bloody hard to bring down. Harry's probably one of the few wizards ontheplanet who could overpower a ward like that." He shifted his weight. "Remussays we all need to learn from our mistakes and move on. I think he's right."
Arthur nodded. Sirius cast another look at Bill. "I'll come back tonight to visit Bill when he'sawake."
"Thank you for visiting, Sirius, and give our love to Harry." Arthur smiled. Sirius nodded briskly and left the room with a wave to Charlie. He flooed back to Black Manor, spent an hour doing correspondence onthelife debt issue and finally, flooed back to Griffin House. Dobby popped in immediately. "Harry Potter is in the sun roomwith Harry
Potter's Professor McGoggles and Mooey." Sirius thanked Dobby fondly and wandered down to the sun room. He couldhear Minnie's voice before he entered the room and realised she was leadingHarry through a meditation. His footsteps automatically sped up. Harry was once again a raven. He perched on the seat of a chair oppositeMinnie who looked gleeful even as her voice carried on in soothing tones, encouraging Harry to get used to the feel of his wings, his clawed feet, hissharp beak, and his keen eyes.
Remus grinned at him from a corner of the room and Hedwig watched silently, perched on the back of a dining chair. Sirius was relieved that Remus andHedwig were present. Minnie was at heart a tabby cat and if she let her
animagus form gain control for just a moment…well, he trusted Remus andHedwig would protect his little raven. Or, thought Sirius with some
amusement seeing the intent look on Hedwig's face, her raven. Maybe heshould call Harry 'Owlet?'
"Begin to think of your human form, Harry," Minnie said firmly, "consider your
toes; wriggle them, imagine them sinking back into the rug. Consider your legsand how they support you as you sit on your bottom. Consider your body. Consider your arms and your fingers. The shape and feel of your fingertips. Consider your face; your features. Keep thinking, Harry. Remember howyoufeel as a human. You have skin not feathers. You have a nose not a beak. Youhave feet not claws. You have arms not wings. Let the raven fly away andresume your human form." Harry blurred and transformed. But not completely. He was covered with black feathers. Sirius couldn't help it. He burst into laughter and Remus followed. Harry shot
him an annoyed look but then his eyes dropped to his hand, covered withtinyblack feathers and the disgust on Harry's face set Remus off again.
"Really, Mister Lupin, Mister Black," Minnie sniffed haughtily, "I fail to see what
is so amusing." Sirius got a hold of himself. "Sorry, Harry."
"Now, Harry, close your eyes and think of skin, the tiny lines that run acrossit, the colour of it, the small hairs that coat the surface. Keep your skin in your
mind. Think of it. Remember how the wind feels against it or the sun. Focus." Minnie continued, ignoring Sirius and Remus in favour of returning to the
lesson. Harry blurred again and when he solidified he was without feathers.