Chapter 306
"Excellent, Harry!" Minnie clapped her hands. "Excellent!" Hedwig barked her approval.
"That was brilliant." Sirius added, moving into the room properly to hug hisson.
"Maybe we should call you Feathers?" Remus offered, coming forward tosit
beside Harry. Harry pulled a face at him and gestured at Sirius impatiently. "Did you see
Bill?"
"I did," Sirius said, "he was sleeping but he's going to be fine. I'll go back later
to talk with him. Arthur and the other Weasleys send their love. They're all OK, just being kept in for observation." Harry breathed out and relief skittered over his features before settling thereas though he'd accepted that he could be vulnerable enough to showit infront
of them.
"That's a relief to know." Minnie said. "I believe I should join you in duellingpractice. It has been many years since I have had to defend myself in suchaway and I was less than useful."
"You were brilliant!" defended Harry gallantly. "The thing you did setting thechairs on him was really cool." Minnie flushed with pleasure at the praise but she shook her head. "I needpractice I'm afraid." She looked directly at Sirius. "I would like to join your
DADA lessons."
"You're more than welcome." Sirius said. "However, Harry will be back inHogwarts this time next week." He had to hide the smile that he wanted to make at the stunned expressiononher face as she realised she'd forgotten.
"However, we can always stop by the school and provide some extra tutoring." Remus offered, sounding as amused as Sirius felt. "Just a thought."
"A good one." Harry said eagerly. "Maybe we could do a session mid-week? I'dhave practice for the duelling elective that way."
"We'll be in the Hogsmeade property so close by." Remus reminded himbrightly. The Hogsmeade property was a three bedroomed cottage on the outskirtsthat had needed complete renovation; the tiny kitchen, dining roomand front
parlour were being remodelled into a kitchen with an attached small orangeryat the back and an open plan living and dining area. Remus would take theattic room which would have an en-suite shower, leaving the two bedroomson the first floor for Harry and Sirius. Harry had the small room; Sirius hadthedouble; they'd share a bathroom. It was cosy and charming, and would doasabolthole for Harry if he wanted to spend Hogsmeade weekends with them. Sirius was happy to live there while Harry was in school. The Three
Broomsticks was a brisk ten minute walk from the front gate; Honeydukesand the Shrieking Shack were also within walking distance and offering easypassage into Hogwarts.
"I think in the circumstances Albus would not say no. There is a clear andpresent danger to Harry which would justify the extra training and the special
treatment." Minnie said enthusiastically. Sirius was certain that Albus would say yes and offer to help. But if it meant
he would get time with Harry while he was at school, Sirius wouldn't complainoverly much. He might suggest opening up the training to Harry's friends tomitigate the special treatment issue and that would hopefully put Albus off for
a while. He nodded. "I'll speak with Albus later. We're due to have a War Council at six." He decided a change of subject was in order. "The animagus training is
obviously going well."
"Harry is a natural." Minnie gushed – gushed! – and smiled proudly at Harry. "I've rarely used this meditative technique in animagus training but it workswonderfully for him. It seems to be easier than training separate body partstotransform and then to resize the whole." She considered Harry as thoughcontemplating an interesting object. "Perhaps there is a study to be doneof
the experience. What do you think, Mister Potter?" Harry looked surprised. "Me?"
"Well, you would need to keep a journal as would I." Minnie suggested. "Publication, of course, would wait until you would want to make your
animagus form public."
"Is it really different what I'm doing?" asked Harry, worrying his bottomlipthoughtfully.
"Unique." Minnie said dryly. "You have an instinctive talent, Harry. I actually
think you'd have a good chance of transforming into one of the other forms
available to you if you meditated on it long enough." Harry perked up again. "Really? Because I love my raven formbut if I couldchange into the others that would be brilliant."
"Well, let's focus on getting you trained up in the raven formfirst." Remus saidbefore realising he'd stepped into Minnie's territory and hastily correctinghiserror. "I mean, if that's what you think, Minerva." Minnie sent Remus a sharp look to say she wasn't fooled but she nodded. "Quite right, Remus." She turned back to Harry. "We'll get you comfortablewithyour raven form first before trying any others." She grimaced a little. "AndnowI think I shall retire to my room and rest for a while."
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She turned away the offers to escort her and the three men were left in thesun room feeling rather helpless.
"She is going to be OK, isn't she?" Harry asked worriedly.
"She's going to be fine. She's a tough old cat." Sirius reassured him. "We, Remus and I, thought we might invite her to move in here more permanently–consider it her home away from Hogwarts? What do you think?"
"Sure." Harry nodded.
"You don't have any concerns about living with one of your Professors duringthe holidays?" asked Remus when Sirius floundered. Harry shrugged. "If it was Snape maybe." Sirius gave a dramatic shudder. "Perish the thought."
"And besides, I'm already living with Remus and he was a Professor," Harry
pointed out with simple logic, "and she was Dad's godmother and my Gran'sbest friend, and I think they'd want us to be Aunt Minnie's family. Right?"
"Right." Sirius said faintly.
"Can I take my Firebolt out?" asked Harry abruptly. Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I thought we agreed you were grounded." And there they were; those green eyes of pleading doom.
"Harry." Sirius said warningly.
Harry gave in, folding his arms tightly over his chest. Sirius sighed and reached over to drag his son into a hug. "I love you, youknow that, right?"
"I know." Harry said, his arms creeping around Sirius to return the embrace. "And I know I'm grounded and why. I shouldn't have gone chasing after theguy."
"We all made mistakes yesterday." Sirius allowed, tightening his hold. "At least
going after the Weasleys helped saved their lives but you have to stop puttingyourself at risk." He gave another sigh. "But I have to make better decisionsabout your safety too." He didn't want to fall into Albus's trap of protecting Harry at the cost of hishappiness but neither did he want to indulge Harry too much and risk his life. And speaking of indulging…
"One hour on your Firebolt." Harry yanked himself backwards in surprise before he hugged Sirius hardenough to drive the breath from Sirius's body. Harry dived out of the door
before Sirius could say another word, obviously deciding that he shouldact
before Sirius changed his mind. Hedwig followed no doubt to keep an eyeonhim in the sky. Remus waited until Harry was gone before he raised an eyebrowknowinglyat
Sirius.
"Don't say it!" barked Sirius. He gathered what was left of his dignity and made for his study. He was not asoft touch just because he let Harry go out on his broom. He was simply
allowing Harry some freedom since Harry would be going nowhere else for
the remainder of the Summer except to Black Manor for his lessons. Siriuswas a perfectly responsible parent. His chest ached anew at the memory of the night before; at the thought of
losing Harry; the panic and the terror he'd felt when he'd realised Harry hadgone after the rogue. He took a deep breath. Harry was safe. That was all that mattered.
Sirius's jaw clenched with determination. They wouldn't make the same
mistakes again.
.....
o-O-o
It was irritating. Beyond irritating. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 308
Severus glared at the teacup in front of him as though it was the fault of theteacup that he had to spend his Friday night in the Headmaster's office
listening to the old wizard recount to him and Moody what had happenedat
the War Council. Moody took a swig out of his flask and Severus shot him an annoyed look. Moody could have at least shared the alcohol, Severus thought sourly, evenif
it was Firewhiskey and not the twenty year old Scotch that Severus had inhisquarters. Moody simply smiled at him, a twist of his lips that gave his scarredface a grotesque edge.
"…and so that was all that was discussed." Albus finished at last. "Your
thoughts, gentleman?" Moody looked at Severus daring him to go first. Severus looked at Moody witha raised eyebrow. Who did Moody think he was? Black? Only a Gryffindor
would respond to that kind of a dare and jump in first.
"Alastor?" prompted Albus smoothly when neither spoke. Moody grunted but gestured over the polished surface of Albus's desk inAlbus's vague direction without looking at him. "Clearly mistakes were made. Expected better of Black. He must have gone rusty in Azkaban."
"Or perhaps he is now beginning to recognise the true challenge of keepingyoung Harry safe." Albus smiled smugly, as though Black's incompetencesomehow justified his own.
Severus scowled. "It does not surprise me that Potter was his usual recklessself." And once again, Severus hadn't been anywhere near saving the boy, protectinghim as he had promised. It was not his fault. It was Potter's. Merlin knewtheboy was attracted to danger like he was an iron filing and danger was a
magnet.
"Why Severus," Albus said his eyes twinkling, "one could almost make theargument that you are defending Sirius Black." Severus stiffened and threw Albus a disgusted look. He didn't bother sayinganything verbally; he wasn't going to dignify Albus's comment with a reply. Albus hurriedly cleared his throats. "Regardless of the mistakes made inkeeping Harry safe, my original question was more about our mysterious
opponent and what the threat means for us here at Hogwarts as Harry andtherest of the students will be arriving shortly, and let us not forget that thereisthe Tri-Wizard Tournament to consider."
"We should cancel that bloody tournament for a start." Moody said
immediately. Severus nodded in agreement. The tournament was the height of foolishnessin his opinion; it would have been without someone after Potter, without
Potter himself around. Who wanted more brats around? And BeauxbatonsandDurmstrang had their own issues. Albus looked at them both with disappointment. "We can't cancel the
tournament. It is a wonderful opportunity…"
"For someone to take advantage of the holes that will open up in our security
and kill Potter." Moody interrupted gruffly.
"We'll bring in additional security and we'll discuss specifics nearer the timethe tournament begins but cancelling it is not an option; it would cause adiplomatic incident." Albus countered. He placed his hands flat on his desk. "Let us put the tournament aside and concentrate on immediate issues. Severus, what about you? Any thoughts on our mystery attacker?"
Severus pursed his lips. He hadn't told Albus about the block on his memoriesand he didn't believe Moody had mentioned it to Albus either. He carefully
weighed up whether to keep his secret and decided it was too soon to believethat the hidden memory had any value. "I agree with Lucius's comments toBlack; whoever made the second death threat and went after Potter yesterdaymust be someone kept secret from the rest of us just as Pettigrewwas kept
secret."
"Do you think whoever it is, it's someone who You-Know-Who trusts to hideout with?" questioned Moody. Severus resisted the urge to shift position under the intensity of Moody's
regard. "It is the most likely conclusion. I suspect that it was the Dark Lord'sdecision to keep this person sequestered and thus it is someone he trusts. Further, no follower of the Dark Lord, hidden or otherwise, would have
presumed to go after Potter with such zeal yesterday if it did not have theDark Lord's approval. The fact that Pettigrew was part of it suggests in itself
that the attack happened at the Dark Lord's behest."
"Indeed," muttered Albus, with a weary sigh.
"I also concur with Director Bones that it was an improved Polyjuice that wasused." Severus said. "The Dark Lord himself undoubtedly provided the recipe. He had me brew it once."
"All of which substantiates that this fellow is working with Riddle." Moody
huffed. "So, Bones has tagged the Death Eaters who are identified –we knowit's not the likely suspects. We know it's someone was has the ability tocall ahouse elf to them. We know whoever it was had access to the Longbottoms' party either impersonating someone or they were present as themselves." Hegrunted. "Amelia will be doing her nut. There're too many suspects to tag; theAurors would be spread too thin."
"Amelia said the same thing." Albus nodded slowly. "It is unfortunate but our
best hope lies in Voldemort or one of his associates making contact withoneof the known Death Eaters."
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Which was unlikely to happen, Severus thought. The Dark Lord had foundsomewhere safe to use as a base and had surrounded himself with loyal
followers. What need would he have to call upon someone who had deniedserving him and thus was no doubt a traitor in the eyes of the Dark Lord? If
Severus was the Dark Lord, he would wait until he was fully restored to abodybefore contacting any of them. He refocused on the question of who elsecould be helping the Dark Lord.
"This new associate of the Dark Lord's," Severus drawled, "will have beentheone to brew the potion. He would have been the one to impersonate Dawlish
and duel Weasley and Minerva. He also set a magical fire detonation skilfullyenough to make it appear to be an accident."
"And set a lock down and the wider anti-transportation ward." Moody noddedgrimly. "He's a powerful bastard alright."
"That," Severus suggested, "should reduce the number of suspects."
"Sirius suggested the same thing," Albus replied, eyes twinkling again, "but asBertie pointed out, the publically acknowledged magical abilities of the
suspects may not match up with their private and secretly practiced abilities. It is likely that this individual has remained invisible as a potential threat by
not demonstrating their power." Unfortunately Croaker was right, Severus thought and refused to think hewasless disgruntled at that than the comment he and Black had thought alongsimilar lines. Moody motioned with his flask. "What about the Death Eaters who were
caught?"
"In Ministry holding awaiting trials which will be held in due course. After what
happened with Sirius, Amelia and Cornelius are keen to ensure all processandprotocols are duly followed." Albus confirmed. "Three of the Death Eatrersareclaiming to be under the Imperius curse; Dennis Travers refused to speak at
all."
"From what I can gather from Lucius today, the blame for their capture is
being attributed to the Aurors being on high alert after the reported fire andrealisation that there was an anti-transportation ward erected." Severus
informed them. Lucius had been smug during breakfast that morning. Traverswas a fanatic and he would have hindered the pureblood nobility's scramblingto achieve some kind of neutrality agreement with Black.
"Excellent." Albus said brightly. Moody glared at him, his magical eye spinning. "Don't get bloody cocky, Albus. Yesterday was an obvious attempt to snatch Potter, possibly for this ritual youthink is in the works. It'd be easy enough to terrorise and challenge the kidfor
the requisite nine months if you have him in your possession."
"An attempt that was thwarted." Albus pointed out serenely. Severus and Moody both looked at Albus with identical derisive glares.
"Only because Potter has sheer dumb luck on his side!" snapped Severus.
"I'd disagree with that," Moody said, waving at him, "boy has to have sometalent to last against a powerful wizard long enough for help to turn up, but mypoint is this: if this attempt failed, that means they'll want to make sure their
next gambit succeeds."
"They will try harder to get Potter into this blasted tournament." Severus
caught onto Moody's point immediately. He pinched the brow of his nose. Albus slumped back in his chair. "Alas, I had not thought of it in those terms."
"Which is why I'll say again that we should cancel the damn thing." Moody saidfirmly. Albus shook his head. "It's not possible, Alastor. We shall just have to be
vigilant." He smiled at Moody as he said the last and Moody gave an amusedhuff. "Sirius has requested permission to continue Harry's duelling tutoringwhile he is here at Hogwarts. He has offered to open up the sessions totheentire fourth year so there can be no suggestion of special treatment." Severus harrumphed.
"It'd be a good idea to run a duelling club for the other years since Hilliardwill
be running the elective for fourth years only." Moody suggested. "Hilliardhimself could take the sixth and seventh years, I could do the fifth, Sirius andRemus the fourth, and Filius the lower years."
"A wonderful idea!" Albus beamed at Moody. "I'll make the request to Filiusand Tobias." He glanced at Severus. "Perhaps you could also lend a hand, Severus?"
"Perhaps." Severus said non-committedly. He had no interest in the duellingclub. He had only participated previously because he'd wanted to put Lockhart
in his place.
"Well, I think that's all for tonight, gentlemen." Albus said, rising. Moody and Severus made their way out of the office and down the spiral
staircase.
"Drink?" offered Moody. Severus nodded, understanding that it was a request to talk without Albus'spresence. They went to the staff room – their mutually acknowledged neutral ground. Severus was pleased to see it empty. They sat in the small seating area wherethey had first talked and Moody poured them both a glass fromhis flask whileSeverus erected a privacy bubble. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 310
"Have you made any progress on your memory issue?" Moody asked bluntly.
Severus shook his head. "I have isolated the affected memories but nothingbeyond that." It was slow work. The block was a good one – excellent infact. He would admire Bella's handiwork if it wasn't for the fact that it was his
memory she had played with. He gazed at Moody, his eyes sweeping over themagical counterpart. "I don't suppose…"
"Nope," Moody said succinctly, tossing back his drink, "leglimency has beenout for me since I lost the eye. You need two good 'uns as you very well
know." He gazed at Severus thoughtfully. "You could ask Albus." Severus raised an eyebrow. "Would you want him rooting around in your
head?" Moody gave a short barking laugh and conceded the point. "Howabout aHealer? I know someone who works on the Memory ward at St Mungo's." He did actually consider the offer but regretfully shook his head. He wouldn't
wish his mind on anyone. "I shall endeavour to continue with my own efforts."
"And if the answer to who is hiding You-Know-Who is buried in there?" Moodysaid with incisive insight. "The LeStranges covered up Crouch's involvement
with them. Perhaps what you saw was some other bugger."
It was a possibility. Bella and Rodolphus had a good working partnership as a couple but he didn't
think that they'd shared a bedroom the entire time Severus had stayed withthem. It was entirely possible that just as Rabastan had taken Crouch Junior
as a lover, Bella or Rodolphus themselves had a surprising paramour hiddeninthe closet – one like Crouch that the Dark Lord himself had marked andapproved of as a liaison.
"If Potter is entered into the tournament and I have not removed the blockbythen, I will request assistance." Severus compromised. Moody grunted but seemed satisfied with the answer. "Let's hope our securitycan keep Potter out." Severus nodded but he wouldn't put it past the brat to enter himself. Filius wandered into the staff room and smiled at them both. "Goodness, I
thought I was the only one about this evening. Everyone else seems to havedeserted the place." Severus hurriedly took down the privacy bubble.
"Have you spoken with Minnie?" asked Moody, shifting forward to welcomeFilius into the seating area with a wave of his hand. Filius nodded. "I've had an owl. She was released into the care of the Houseof
Potter. She says she'll be fully recovered and back on Sunday to deal withthefinal preparations for the new school year." He sat down with a small sighand
accepted Moody's offer of a drink (a small silent wiggle of his flask) withanod. "She says she needs duelling practice." Moody smiled as he poured Filius his drink. "There's a duelling club proposed." Severus knocked back the last of his drink, set his glass down and stoodup. He had no wish to listen to Filius and Moody discuss a duelling club nor toget
pulled into any commitment to help. "I believe I will retire for the night." Heinclined his head, allowing his dark hair to fall forward before turning abruptlyand striding out, aware his robes were billowing behind him. The walk to the dungeons was long and his thoughts revolved around theattack on Potter. He was furious with Potter all over again by the time heentered his private quarters. He made for the bedroom and sitting on thebed, opened the top drawer of his bedside table and took out a photo. It was ararephoto that he had of Lily and himself as children before Hogwarts, beforeeverything had been ruined by Potter Senior. It was a muggle one Lily's mother
had snapped with a Polaroid camera and handed to him right there and then.
"I'm trying to keep him safe, Lily." Severus whispered to the photo, strokingafinger over her innocent features. "But your son doesn't make it easy. He hasfar too much of Potter in him and far too little of you." What had the brat been thinking? Going off to rescue the Weasleys? Chargingafter his attacker into the woods? No doubt he wanted further glory andpraisefor his heroics.
Or he had no sense of self-worth which was more likely given his appallingupbringing with Petunia. Well, he would keep Potter safe despite the brat's lack of self-preservation. Hewould do it because Potter was needed to vanquish the Dark Lord so Lily
could be avenged. Potter owed his mother that much for her sacrifice; for
causing her death. And as much as he hated Potter's presence within thecastle, it would be easier for Severus to protect him once Potter was backat
Hogwarts. Severus sighed and put the photo away, closing the drawer on his memoriesand his melancholy.