June 30th 1994
The first weeks of summer had been odd, Albus considered as he adjusted the sleeves of his lime green robes. The glittery pink stripes that edged the garment in a random pattern made Albus smile as he put on his glasses and determined he was ready to head for breakfast in the Great Hall.
Oddity wasn't a bad thing, Albus mused whimsically; he'd had odd days where things had gone wonderfully well – like finding the chamber pot room and losing it again – because losing it was just as wonderful as finding it. And most odd things did have an explanation if one was inclined to look past the oddity.
So, although some might have thought it odd that Alastor Moody had suddenly taken an interest in checking on the wards around young Harry, Albus believed it had been precipitated by his own request to Alastor to take up the DADA teaching position. That had led to a nostalgic discussion about the old days, and Sirius Black still being at large (Albus had forgotten that Alastor had arrested Sirius but he had forgotten so much more than he remembered that it didn't really worry him), and from there it had been a short hop, skip and a jump to the Potters and Harry and the wards…
It wasn't at all odd that Alastor had paid no attention to Albus's reassurance that all was well and Sirius was not a threat; Alastor was Alastor which meant paranoid and not inclined to take anybody else's word, not even Albus's. It was a marvellously successful worldview for an Auror and had its uses. Indeed, Albus had fully expected Alastor to do what he had done in tracking down Harry and checking on the wards. Albus had congratulated himself with a lemon drop after Arabella's report that she had seen Alastor and that he had reported the wards were fine. Of course Alastor's visit had probably coincided with Harry's interview about Sirius come to think of it. Arabella's report had mentioned a woman that in hindsight met Amelia Bones's description.
Her second report though had been most odd; the gossip that the Dursleys had taken Harry with them to wherever they had gone because of whatever family emergency had transpired. But Albus wanted to take it as a sign that the Dursleys were finally treating Harry as part of their family so he did. Perhaps the explanation could be found in the events of the previous summer when they had caused Harry to run away from home. Perhaps they had realised that their treatment of the boy was unacceptable and turned over a new leaf. So, yes; it was odd but odd could be good – the chamber pot room was such an example.
But there was odd and there was odd. And it had been odd that out of nowhere Cornelius had decided to allow Amelia Bones to investigate Sirius's past alleged crimes and events at Hogwarts at the end of the school year. It wasn't odd that Amelia had done a sterling job and exonerated Sirius – she had been a wonderfully bright student if Albus remembered correctly.
Of course there was an explanation for Cornelius's about turn: it appeared that a new and surprising patron had appeared on the scene. Albus had spies – contacts – everywhere and his contacts had managed to scrounge up the interesting fact that there was a new Lord Black. Oh, it was all being kept very hush-hush but Albus had confirmed that someone had taken ownership of the Black Manor in London as whoever it was had consigned all the portraits to sleep and so Phineas Nigellus Black was stuck in the one at Hogwarts.
Again, a new Lord Black wasn't odd so much as odd. Not that there was one as there were plenty cousins all of whom had more or less equal claim to the family magic but it was a surprise as Sirius was the blood heir. And while Albus just couldn't see Sirius taking up the mantle with the depth of derision he held for his family name and heritage, the whole thing was very odd in the timing.
There again, thought Albus as he navigated the corridors and stairs with ease, Sirius had been in the news constantly following his escape. Media attention may have prompted one cousin to assume the Lordship and make a plea on his cousin's behalf. Or maybe Sirius had fled to this cousin and made a deal: Sirius giving up all claim to the Lordship in exchange for getting him exonerated and perhaps a job for a friend? It would explain Remus Lupin's immediate success in finding alternative employment. No matter…Albus was sure all would be revealed in time.
So, Albus wasn't alarmed by a new Lord Black appearing on the scene. The Black family had been powerful and traditionally Dark but the old alliances were broken and Albus couldn't see someone like Lucius Malfoy simply accepting an usurper in his dealings with the Ministry. And if this was a Lord Black that had taken the position at Sirius's behest then Albus wasn't overly worried as he doubted Sirius would have approached someone truly Dark. No, there was no need to assume a political threat until more was known about this Lord Black's agenda.
The more immediate wrinkle was Sirius himself.
In hindsight Albus wondered if it wouldn't have been better to have pushed Cornelius for a trial the night Sirius had been locked up in Hogwarts. Albus could have offered his personal protection and insisted on due process under the auspice of his Chief Warlock authority. From there he could have controlled the issue of Harry's custody – using the debt Sirius would owe him to convince him that the boy remained with the Dursleys. But Albus had decided at the time that he couldn't take the risk; Sirius as a fugitive made it easier for Albus to keep Harry safe, and so he had determined to simply allow Harry to help Sirius escape – after all, Sirius was innocent and didn't deserve to be incarcerated or Kissed. Albus regretted more than he could say not visiting the boy in Azkaban and not ensuring there was a trial – the chaos of the end of the war and his own grief at the various losses were poor excuses for his inattention in that regard despite being the truth of why he hadn't.
However, Sirius was now exonerated; he was free to try for custody of Harry and, from the press over the past week, the wizarding world was eager to give it to him. Albus had lost a great deal of leverage because he'd had nothing to do with securing Sirius his freedom. It wasn't a disaster – the good news was that Sirius remained abroad, whereabouts unknown, and Harry was safely away with the Dursleys. If there was a move to award Sirius custody, Albus was certain that he could advise a long period of convalescence for Sirius after his ordeal in Azkaban before any access to Harry was allowed.
And beyond that… he had confidence in his own ability to persuade Sirius to his point of view that Harry was safest at the Dursleys. After all, Sirius had acquiesced to that view on the fateful night of the Potters' deaths when Albus had arranged for Hagrid to collect Harry from the wreckage of the Potters' home. Although possibly, Albus mused, back then Sirius had thought the plan to hide Harry with the Dursleys was a temporary one – and it had been until Albus had discovered the blood protection Harry carried. Maybe he would have to give up the secret that Harry's blood carried within it his mother's sacrifice; that it was renewed under the blood wards she had left around her sister's home and imbued back into those very same wards by Harry residing within them. The advantage it gave far outweighed any other consideration.
Like the boy being raised by people who loved him.
It was deeply unfortunate that the Dursleys hadn't accepted Harry; hadn't loved him. Albus had hoped Minerva had been wrong about the kind of people they were but Arabella's first report to him only a few months after leaving baby Harry with them had left him with little doubt she'd been perfectly correct in her concerns. Albus had felt a twinge of conscience about removing the Potters' will from their solicitors at that point but by then the poor Longbottoms were no longer viable contenders to look after young Harry, Sirius was in prison, and Minerva…well, he was certain she would agree him which made the Tonks' claim moot.
And the Dursleys had looked after Harry; housed him, clothed him in a fashion, fed him poorly perhaps but enough, and through their example of how not to behave, Harry had grown into quite a splendid young boy.
No, Harry's home life wasn't ideal but it was sufficient and more importantly, the blood protection Harry carried was maintained which was the important thing; it had already saved his life once more. Sirius would understand the necessity of leaving Harry with the Dursleys when Albus explained it. He was certain of it.
Albus entered the Great Hall in good spirits then. The holiday seating was out: one long table in the centre of the hall. He sat down in his usual chair which had been placed in the middle of the right hand side.
Minerva had chosen to sit opposite him rather than beside him, (she still hadn't forgiven him for barging in on her meeting with Remus at the beginning of the week, and for not yet having his promised discussion with Severus), but Filius was on his left as normal and Severus had taken the seat to his right. Pomona Sprout was across from the Potions Professor, rounding out the Heads of the Hogwarts Houses, while Poppy Pomfrey sat opposite Filius. Hagrid was at one end of the table, Argus Filch at the other. The rest of the staff had already been released from their duties and had departed for their holidays – or in the case of Sybill Trelawney retired to quarters.
Albus let their conversation – a mix of glee at the absence of students, irritation at the end of year bureaucracy and paperwork, and anticipation of their holiday plans – drift over him as he tucked into a bowl of porridge with warm honey. Instead he focused on the vexing problem of Tom Riddle. He was confident that defeating him was still achievable.
He had spent years suspecting that Tom hadn't died the night he had attacked the Potters, based on his discovery of a vile soul fragment of the evil wizard within Harry when he had examined him in the Hogwarts' infirmary. It had horrified Albus and the staff with him – Hagrid who had brought Harry to Hogwarts, and Poppy, who had been administering healing. Albus had no idea how to remove it and had settled for binding Harry's magic to ensure the fragment was kept weak. Then he'd erased Hagrid's and Poppy's memories of Harry being there and what they had learned: he couldn't risk news of the soul fragment – or indeed the blood protection which he'd also discovered – leaking out to the general public. He'd sent Hagrid off with the child to Privet Drive on the motorcycle, beating him there easily, and allowing Hagrid to think he'd come directly from Godric's Hollow.
It had been easy enough to think up a plan to confirm his suspicions once and for all when he had finally tracked down rumours of a wraith in Albania. The Philosopher's stone provided a tasty bait in the trap and Harry beginning his schooling provided a second temptation to draw in Tom. He hadn't quite planned for Quirrell to be possessed – the poor boy – even if he had suggested Albania as a possible venue for Quirrell to gain some practical DADA experience, and in his defence Albus had tried very hard to find a solution that would leave Quirrell alive once the wraith was exorcised. And initially everything had gone well; Tom through Quirrell had come to the school. Then Quirrell had let a troll into the school and, according to Severus, tried to kill Harry during his Quidditch match. After that, Albus had sent for the Mirror of Erised to place an additional protection on the stone, one he hoped would keep Tom trapped until Albus could face him.
But Albus had underestimated Quirrell's, or rather Tom's, sneakiness, and Harry's sense of responsibility. Tricked out of Hogwarts, (he suspected a strong Confundus and compulsion spell on the parchment which had called for his presence at the Ministry and for him to travel by broomstick of all things), Albus had arrived back just in time to realise Quirrell-Voldemort had gone after the stone and Harry had gone after him. In some ways, Albus believed the confrontation between the two was fated because of the prophecy Sybill Trelawney had given to him – the prophecy that had led Tom into attacking the Potters in the first place; that nothing he could have done would have prevented it. But that hadn't lessened his guilt when he had found Harry slipping into unconsciousness, his mother's protection having saved him once again (although Albus had also felt a moment's vindication in his decision to leave Harry with the Dursleys). Tom's wraith had fled rather than face Albus.
It was as he watched over young Harry in the hospital wing that Albus realised he'd grown fond of the boy, and he was consumed by sorrow because he couldn't think of any way for Tom to be eliminated without Harry dying because of the soul fragment. Albus had resolved to wait. Tom remained a wraith and powerless: there was no rush. He had decided that Harry should have as much of a childhood, as much of a life, as possible before the ultimate confrontation.
He hadn't planned on Harry facing another shade of Tom in his second year. The Chamber of Secrets fiasco had been exactly that – a fiasco. Not that Albus would admit it to anyone. He had been unable to pinpoint the Chamber's location; unable to think of an effective strategy to defeat the basilisk without allowing it to roam the school; unable to tell who was possessed and therefore he couldn't take the risk of closing the school and allowing the possessed individual to disappear…and Lucius Malfoy's political manoeuvrings hadn't helped matters.
In the end, the entire awful affair had been horrendously valuable in terms of intelligence because it had revealed the diary. Tom had created a horcrux to anchor him to the land of the living, probably more than one, and likely the partial fragment that had ended up in Harry had been a mistake or an accident caused by the instability in Tom's soul. It gave Albus a new avenue for investigation and narrowed the field on how Tom might regain a form. There were rituals of restoration…one in particular called for the use of the blood of an enemy. If Harry's was used then Harry would have an anchor to life, although it would open up the soul connection between them fully. But Albus couldn't count on it. He had to assume that there would be no advantage and that Harry's death was inevitable.
Time was of the essence, Albus mused. The prophecy Harry had overheard at the end of term seemed to indicate that Tom would regain his form sooner rather than later. That was problematic. Albus had only just started investigating the issue of the horcruxes and they would need to be destroyed before a final showdown between Harry and Tom could take place. Certainly his plans for the summer had taken on a new urgency.
He sighed and started on the plate of sausage, eggs, beans and toast. He finally tuned back into the discussion…
"Personally, I don't think we need a bullying policy." Pomona said firmly. "Just because the muggles have issues doesn't mean we do."
"Bullying does take place within these hallowed corridors," rejoined Severus silkily, "no matter how unpleasant you may find the topic."
"Perhaps then it would be prudent of us to set a good example and refrain from bullying students ourselves before we ask the same behaviour of the students." Minerva snapped at Severus who raised an eyebrow at her.
"Bullies are a part of school life and a part of life." Filius interjected. "I was bullied but I learned how to deal with it and make my own way."
"Not everyone has your fortitude, Filius." Poppy countered. "There are some young children who come into the infirmary week after week having been hexed and nothing is done! It's not acceptable."
"Well, if they don't report who did it to a staff member, what can be done?" Pomona asked.
"And they won't," Severus pointed out, "telling tales is against the unwritten rules of the school-yard."
"Well, I happen to think a bullying policy that encourages children to come forward with a promise of anonymity and confidentiality coupled with a supportive teaching staff who don't simply pat them on the head and say 'well, I was bullied and I turned out alright; buck up, old chap' would be beneficial." Poppy said strongly.
"What do you think, Albus?" Filius asked. "Are you for or against?"
"I don't see any need to implement something additional to our normal policy." Albus said firmly.
Poppy snorted loudly. "What policy?"
A rush of wings had everyone at the table looking up as the mail delivery arrived. Albus accepted the Daily Prophet from a tawny owl in exchange for some sausage. The headline had him choking on his juice.
SIRIUS BLACK AWARDED CUSTODY OF THE BOY WHO LIVED! Rita Skeeter
The Ministry of Magic have announced their decision to revoke custody of the Boy Who Lived from his muggle relations and to place him with the newly exonerated Sirius Black. Calls for this very action have multiplied since Black was cleared of all charges related to the deaths of his good friends and the muggles who died in his confrontation with wanted Death Eater at large, Peter Pettigrew.
Minister Fudge noted in the press announcement of the decision that it had been made after a copy of the Potters' missing will was handed over to authorities. "It is clear that the wishes of James and Lily Potter were to place their only child in the safekeeping of long term family friends, two of whom had been named as the child's godparents."
It is understood by this Prophet reporter that Frank and Alice Longbottom were the first choice of guardians for young Harry, a well-respected couple from an Ancient and Noble House in a stable marriage with a child of their own. Sources suggest that they had begun a search for the will in the days before they were attacked with the intent to challenge the placement of Harry with the muggles by Albus Dumbledore. They are currently residents of the long term spell damage ward at St Mungo's and unable to take custody. Augusta Longbottom commented, "The Longbottoms and the Potters have long been allies and it is regretful that my son and his wife were unable to assume guardianship as the Potters wished." Alice Longbottom nee Kerrigan also enjoyed a close friendship with Lily Potter nee Evans at Hogwarts, each choosing the other as godmother for their sons who were born only a day apart.
Of course, Sirius Black was named as godfather to young Harry and was therefore the immediate second choice, despite being young and single. His solicitor, Brian Cutter of Cutter, Glock and Baron gave us this statement: "My client Sirius Black is delighted at the decision of the Ministry and looks forward to fully introducing his godson to the wizarding world beyond Hogwarts. He is currently abroad and undergoing medical treatment in line with conditions set by the Ministry. He'd like to thank Minister Fudge for expediting the decision on behalf of himself and Harry so they may spend part of the summer together before Harry resumes his schooling."
Black's upbringing as an Heir to an Ancient and Noble House also prepares him for his new duty as Regent of the House of Potter. The current proxy for the House of Potter is Elmer Samson, appointed by the Chief Warlock in the absence of a Regent as per WIzengamot rules. Mister Samson, a former Order of Merlin recipient, was unavailable for comment.
We at the Prophet wish Harry much happiness with his new guardian.
This was a disaster, Albus thought sadly.
"Fabulous," drawled Severus beside him, "if the brat wasn't already spoiled…"
"Enough!" Minerva interrupted sharply, banging her hand down on the table with so much force the plates rattled and the cutlery jumped. "I have had enough of your derogatory comments and snide remarks about Harry Potter. You are entitled to your opinion on Black – although I despise your daily commentary about him, Merlin knows the two of you have quite a history between you and you are both adults – but belittling and bad-mouthing a boy, a student no less, who has done nothing," her eyes flashed when Severus would have interrupted, "nothing," she stressed, "to incur such abuse beyond being James Potter's son, is entirely unacceptable behaviour for a teacher within these walls. You will speak respectfully of him as you would insist he speak of you!"
"Now, Minerva…" Albus said hurriedly.
"Don't Minerva me!" Minerva glared at him across the table. "Too long have I looked away from less than acceptable behaviour but no more!" She gave an angry huff. "Poppy is quite right; we do have a problem with bullying and why? Because we condone such behaviour by inaction; because we do not open our eyes and see what is under our very big noses." She threw down her napkin and departed before anyone could say anything.
The rest of the table was silent, unnerved by the confrontation between their colleagues.
"Well," Albus cleared his throat, "perhaps Minerva is correct. We should all pay more attention and speak out against any signs of bullying especially in light of our planned visitors to Hogwarts this coming year." He turned to Severus who looked faintly stunned. "Severus, would you join me in my office, please?"
Albus didn't wait for Severus's agreement but immediately rose from the table and glided away, fully expecting Severus to follow him which he did. He waited until he was settled behind his desk before he waved Severus into a visitor's chair.
"Headmaster, you cannot…" Severus began.
Albus raised his hand and stopped him before he could get any further. "Severus, I more than anyone know your history with Sirius Black." He said. "I know you provoked him into daring you, knowing full well what awaited you at the end of the tunnel, and I know you hated James Potter for saving you because you had hoped to kill Remus Lupin and get Black expelled. Did they bully you? Yes, but in later years you started just as many of the skirmishes between you as they did. This is the truth of your history and I told you at the time that I knew all that had transpired."
Severus blinked at him.
"I do not expect you to befriend Sirius Black nor do I expect you to suddenly proclaim a positive view of the man, but I do expect you to realise that your reactions to the news over the past week have alienated Minerva, who is distressed at the thought that an innocent man, a former Gryffindor student of hers no less, spent the better part of twelve years in Azkaban, and who finds you glorying in that same fact so openly and wishing that he had been Kissed, distasteful in the extreme. I do expect you to address that misstep on your part and mend your working relationship."
"Perhaps I have been less than discreet in my comments," allowed Severus, adjusting his robes.
"You have made a similar mistake in regards to Harry." Albus noted coolly. "Minerva's point was well made and I have allowed your attitude towards him to continue for far too long. I had hoped that you would come to see for yourself that Harry is not his father and has many of Lily's qualities; that his life has not been easy or spoiled, and certainly he will face much hardship in the future given what we know must come to pass. While I trust your commitment to helping him defeat Voldemort, your enmity towards Harry will not serve us in achieving that goal. Don't think I don't know that Minerva had to step in as Deputy and adjudicate Harry's mark in Potions at the end of last year. It is not acceptable professional behaviour and you will stop, Severus."
Severus flinched from the criticism and sat back. "You and I both know it is not that easy. If Sybill's latest prediction was correct then even now Pettigrew helps the Dark Lord rise again. If I am to regain my position as a spy…"
"You will say that I have ordered you to be civil to the boy." Albus interrupted him. "It is even the truth, Severus, so it should suffice. Civility will not harm our plans."
He repressed his smile at Severus's scowl and picked up the newspaper.
"This, on the other hand, may derail things significantly." Albus sighed and leaned back. "Has Lucius mentioned a new Lord Black?"
"We haven't spoken since just after Black's escape and the topic of conversation revolved around that debacle." Severus said, hiding his surprise too slowly for Albus not to see it. "I can make contact, see what he knows."
"Please do." Albus said gratefully.
Severus regarded him thoughtfully. "You believe a new Lord Black is responsible for Black's good fortune with the Ministry?"
"It is a theory." Albus said mildly. "But if there is and he is…" he spread his hands wide, "we need to know more before determining friend or foe."
Severus got to his feet. "With your permission, Headmaster?"
Albus dismissed him with the advice that Minerva preferred chocolate covered apologies. He settled back and considered his options.
The only good thing was Harry remained away from Privet Drive with the Dursleys and therefore hidden. Albus could go to the Ministry and protest the guardianship but that would expose the level of his interest in Harry and provoke questions he did not want to answer. No; it was best to deal with Sirius directly and come to some agreement before Sirius returned to take actual custody of Harry.
Which meant approaching Remus Lupin or Brian Cutter, the solicitor mentioned in the Prophet, for information on Sirius's whereabouts.
Both were difficult but Albus perhaps had a little more leverage with Remus – the former Professor did owe him for allowing him to come to Hogwarts as a student and for employing him for a year. He picked up some parchment and began a letter.
o-O-o
Time Bubble: August 9th 1994
Harry heard the crunch of footsteps coming up the mountain path and hurriedly wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands. He wasn't surprised that someone had followed him – he had run off abruptly in the middle of his mind healing session – but he really, really, wanted to be alone. As much as he'd hated his life with the Dursleys, he'd sometimes enjoyed the solitude they'd effectively gifted him with his many chores and general dislike of his presence, and he rarely had that kind of solitude at the clinic between the treatments, lessons, and living with Sirius.
It seemed stupid to resent the lack of solitude when he'd gained so much more – someone who did seem to care about him, love him even. Sirius had been nothing but endlessly patient with Harry during the past month. Harry's magic was under control again and he knew he'd learned more than the first time through his lessons at Hogwarts, they'd even begun some fourth year material. Then there was the duelling Sirius had added to the curriculum which was just wicked and Harry had quickly fallen in love with Runes too. Sirius was as a good a teacher as Remus.
It hadn't all been work though; Blackhawk – or Noshi as he insisted on being called – had introduced him to his grandchildren as promised. Kimi was fourteen and enjoyed Quidditch – she reminded him of the Gryffindor Chaser girls. Huritt was fifteen, quiet and studious but he had a wicked sense of humour. They were both loads of fun and they spent every Saturday afternoon flying or playing games or exploring the hiking trails with Harry. Neither of them seemed overawed by his whole Boy Who Lived thing and he hoped he had made two new friends. Still, he missed Hermione and Ron. He missed being able to write to them and to hear their replies. Healer Fay had suggested he write a journal of his time at the clinic to give to them when he returned. He'd felt a bit stupid the first couple of times but it did help. He figured Hermione would read it but he doubted Ron would be interested.
He began to realise that although he'd heard the crunch of steps, no-one had actually approached him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the familiar animagus form of his godfather sitting by the pathway with a rucksack at his paws, obviously guarding him but otherwise leaving him alone with his thoughts. He felt a surge of affection and cleared his throat.
"It's OK, Padfoot," Harry said softly, "you can come sit with me."
Padfoot responded eagerly, picking up the rucksack in his mouth and jogging up to Harry quickly and dropping the rucksack at his feet. He pushed his head against Harry's chest and Harry patted the Grim. "I'm sorry, Padfoot, but I think I need to talk with Sirius."
Padfoot hustled back a bit and transformed. Harry reached out for a hug and Sirius immediately gathered him up. It didn't occur to Harry that it was the first time he had eschewed the dog for the man, or that it was the first hug that he had initiated – he just savoured the security of knowing Sirius cared about him.
Sirius ruffled his hair. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No?" Harry murmured. He sighed and shuffled back from his godfather. "I didn't blow anything up, did I?"
"Nope," Sirius assured him, snagging the rucksack and opening it to get to a water bottle he handed to Harry, "you controlled yourself wonderfully and nothing blew up. Well, maybe a small ornament, but Healer Fay said it was hideous and deserved to die."
Harry grimaced but given how powerful his magic truly was, an ornament blowing up was minor. He sipped his water and stared out at the view of the Valley. He could see for miles. "Did Healer Fay tell you…"
"No," Sirius opened another water bottle and took a large gulp. He gestured with it. "All your mind healing sessions are confidential, Harry."
He sighed and rubbed his nose as he considered how to tell Sirius what he had realised. "I was telling her about overhearing the Professors talk about you in Hogsmeade." He shifted on the uncomfortable ground and plucked at a blade of glass. "I don't know why I didn't put it together before but Hagrid met you at Godric's Hollow and took me because he had orders from Dumbledore. He was the one who left me with my aunt, wasn't he? Dumbledore, I mean. But Hagrid too! He delivered me like a parcel! WHY?"
A sharp gust of wind around them had Sirius placing a hand on his arm.
"Take a breath, Harry."
Harry could feel his magic straining to get loose as his emotions tumbled out of control, and he hurriedly did as Sirius asked. He closed his eyes and did his breathing exercises, wrestling his emotions back and slowly nudging his magic back into dormancy.
"I'll tell you what I know." Sirius promised. "Hagrid was already there when I got to your parents' house. I was a mess as soon as…as soon as I saw your Dad." Tears shone in his eyes. "I took you from Hagrid for a while – you were crying and bloody and I tried to heal you. But Hagrid told me that he had orders to get you to Dumbledore so that they could take you to your aunt's." He collected himself. "I protested quite vehemently but Hagrid wouldn't be moved; he had his orders. Then I made a decision which is the biggest regret of my life, Harry, and I let Hagrid take you."
Harry bit his lower lip but held Sirius's gaze.
"I knew you see that your Mum had placed wards around your aunt's place to protect her from the Death Eaters – your aunt was clueless about them – hadn't talked to your Mum in ages. But on the face of it, stowing you with her for a little while until all the immediate fervour died down seemed like a good idea." Sirius motioned again with his bottle. "And admittedly I was pleased I would be free to go after Peter. I was very stupid and should have insisted on going with Hagrid and looking after you myself."
"I'm not mad at you, Sirius," Harry reassured him, "I mean I was a little bit at the end of term but you've more than…what I mean is…"
"I'm making up for it now?" Sirius suggested as Harry struggled to put his feelings and thoughts into words.
"Yes." Harry confirmed with a sigh of relief.
"Good." Sirius said. "Anyway, you were meant to go to the Longbottoms according to the will. Alice Longbottom is your godmother and was your Mum's best friend. Frank was a couple of years older and like an older brother to your Dad. They were married, happy, and had Neville. James and Lily figured they would be the best guardians for you and I couldn't disagree with them. Back then, I was a young single male with only occasional baby-sitting experience. Don't get me wrong – if I hadn't ended up in Azkaban I would have happily raised you but they were the better choice."
"What happened to them?" Harry asked, curious. "Neville never talks about them and I know he was raised with his Gran."
"They were attacked a couple of weeks after you got rid of Voldemort. My cousin Bella, her husband, his brother and Barty Crouch Junior tortured them into insanity. They're in St Mungo's."
Poor Neville, thought Harry. He wondered what was worse; losing his parents or what had happened to Neville's – either way they'd both lost the opportunity to be raised by their Mum and Dad.
"From what I can gather from Remus, the Longbottoms were going to challenge for custody before they got attacked. Dumbledore told them your aunt had taken guardianship and they knew that wasn't what was in the will." Sirius said. "Only no-one could find a copy as mine was in my vault and you need a Potter to open the Potter vault. With no will, legally you would have been placed with the Dursleys anyway as your aunt is your closest living relative."
Harry sighed again. "So Professor Dumbledore just did what would have happened anyway?"
"Pretty much." Sirius said.
He let that fact sink into him. "Do you…did he know about…about how it was for me with them?"
Sirius grimaced. "I think he suspected you didn't have the best life there, Harry, but do I think he knew the detail of it? I don't know; only he can tell you for certain."
"It's just…" Harry tore some grass from the ground and let it fall through his fingers. "I thought he cared about me. But if he cared about me, wouldn't he have checked up on me? Made sure I wasn't living in the cupboard? I just…I don't understand." His previous anger and hurt rolled through him again and while he focused on keeping hold of his magic again, he missed Sirius's angry glower at the mention of the cupboard.
"You're right that someone should have checked up on you. It's the job of the Wizarding Orphan Office. Only for your safety, I assume, Dumbledore didn't record your placement with your aunt with the Ministry." Sirius explained. "Now, Dumbledore should have checked up on you himself but he'd promised your aunt minimal dealings with the wizarding world. Remus thinks Dumbledore also kept other people away from you, friends of James and Lily like Remus and Hagrid, so no-one could lead Death Eaters to your door." He shrugged. "In this case, I think there was inaction because he cared about you – do you see?"
Harry nodded.
"However, don't take my understanding for what he did as agreement with what he did – or didn't do rather." Sirius continued. "He could have made different choices. He could have just turned up once a year on your birthday, for instance, to check on you – or he could have sent Remus who can easily pass for a muggle and who would have given you a link to your Mum and Dad. Or he could have installed a monitoring charm that told him how your relatives treated you – your Mum used to use one with babysitters – fair frightened the life out of me the first time she recounted everything I'd done when I sat for you. As it stood, he left your relatives unchecked and obviously they believed they could get away with treating you…not exactly as they should have."
Harry considered everything Sirius had said. "It's like the chessboard, isn't it? That Remus did?" He poked at his laces. "This is one of the decisions you didn't like?"
"Yes," Sirius agreed, "exactly like the chessboard." He shifted position, moving into a cross-legged lotus position from their yoga exercises. "The thing about actions – or non-actions but let's stick with actions for the time being, is that an action on it its own only tells you part of the story."
Harry looked at him dubiously. It sounded like it was heading towards another politics lesson. Sirius sprang one on him every week.
The first one had been the layout of wizarding government. That had actually been interesting. The DMLE sounded very cool made up the Auror Force, the Hit Wizard Force (for hunting down dangerous criminals), and the Prosecution Service (which sounded very similar to muggle courts dealing with who could be prosecuted and taking the cases to court).
The Department of Mysteries, on the other hand, sounded like something Hermione would prefer since Sirius had told him the bulk of it was a magical research department. There was also a small Magical Forensics Department that handled magical reversals, obliviations and investigations into weird or violent crimes which sounded slightly more interesting, and the Magical Intelligence Department (MI7) sounded very interesting as it was basically about spying. What was very cool was that everyone in the DOM was called an Unspeakable and the work was highly confidential.
Sirius had explained that both the DMLE and the DOM were part of the Ministry of Magic, but the rest of the Ministry had what he called Legislative powers. The individual departments determined the government policy, created laws and worked to get them passed – same as the muggles, and liaised with the DMLE on enforcement. The Minister was voted in on the basis of his or her known political agenda. It all sounded very boring to Harry but at least he finally understood what Arthur Weasley did and why the Ministry had attracted someone like Percy.
The last part of the government was the Wizengamot, the magical equivalent of Parliament or at least the House of Lords and about as interesting. Unfortunately, Sirius had pointed out to him that he had no choice but to get somewhat interested because the Potters had a seat in the Wizengamot, and whether he sat in it himself (unlikely) or gave his proxy to someone (which his Regent would have until he was of age anyway), he should have an opinion.
The second political lesson Sirius had ambushed him with was actually even more about the Wizengamot – namely the set-up. The history of the Wizengamot was deeply boring and not even Sirius's animated puppets could make it less so. Harry had written as much as he remembered in his journal for Hermione though.
The Wizengamot had three purposes: forming government (by which they meant voting the Minister in or out and approving budgets), passing laws (which was obvious), and effectively being the judge and jury for crimes. The DMLEs Prosecution Service dealt with minor crimes and misdemeanours so only major crimes usually went before the Wizengamot (primarily use of the Unforgivables but also murder and violent assault in general).
There were fifty formal seats of which thirty had been held by the original Ancient and Noble Houses who had been part of the Wizard's Council although only twenty-two Ancient and Noble Houses remained sitting as eight had been sold on or given away after line extinction. Another thirteen seats were held by Order of Merlin First Class recipients, and five seats were held by the Minister, the Head of the DMLE, the Head of the DOM and two other Ministry appointees.
A formal seat was owned by a family and usually occupied by the Head of House or a named proxy. If a seat was empty because the Head of House was underage and there was no legal proxy named, the Chief Warlock, who presided over the Wizengamot and ensured it kept to protocol, had the authority to name one. That had happened in Harry's case and he was kind of disturbed that some unknown person was voting on laws in the name of his family without Harry knowing anything about it.
If a family line ended, the seat was 'returned to the floor.' All members of the Wizengamot could nominate a new family to take over the seat; the members voted on the nominations and the winner awarded the seat. Buying and selling seats had been made illegal as had using them to cover debts (the Weasleys had in the past lost their seat for that reason). As it was rare for the pureblooded original owners of the seats to nominate outside of their social circle, the only muggleborns who had seats had achieved entry as Order of Merlin recipients.
The third lesson had enlightened him to political agendas. Sirius had effectively created an animated drawing of a fictional Wizengamot of ten people debating a fictional law which wanted to make Dark chocolate the only chocolate available…
"See," Sirius said waving at the parchment where a rather disturbing caricature of Lucius Malfoy appeared, "Malfoy wants the law because he thinks Dark is the purest form of chocolate." An animated cartoon of Dumbledore appeared. "He opposes the law because he prefers White chocolate – light and full of milky goodness. And there's me; I oppose the law because I prefer Milk which is the best of both worlds and frankly the most popular kind." He pointed at Harry who was dismayed as a shy animated version of him waved from the parchment. "Those are our agendas: what's yours?"
"Milk," Harry replied immediately, "I don't like Dark chocolate because it's too bitter and white chocolate makes me feel sick. So I guess I oppose the law too."
The animation had then turned to political alliances. Since the animated Malfoy wanted the law to pass: he, Dumbledore and Sirius didn't; all of them needed to find others to help their point of view win. Sirius had added an animated Goyle and Nott: all were known Dark chocolate lovers and likely to side with Malfoy before he added an animated Bones and Longbottom; known White chocolate supporters, and Milk chocolate supporters, Greengrass and Abbott.
"Who wins now?" Sirius asked.
"Us," Harry said confidently, "there are more people who like other kinds of chocolate than Dark."
"Correct. If all the White and Milk chocolate supporters got together, they would defeat the Dark chocolate law by a vote of three for and seven against." Sirius agreed. "But the Dark chocolate people know this so they've amended the proposed law so Dark and Milk chocolate are OK but White chocolate will be outlawed."
"Well, that's not fair." Harry said.
"Why not?"
"Because it still discriminates against the people who like White chocolate."
"So, you're still opposed?"
Harry nodded.
"Excellent, so am I." Sirius agreed happily. "Now we have to convince Greengrass and Abbott."
Sirius had encouraged the animated Harry to talk with the animated Greengrass and Abbott with the result that Abbott bought his argument about equality; Greengrass didn't. The law was defeated but only just (six to four). It had almost been fun.
Almost.
It had also been hard work and Sirius had ended the lesson by indicating there was a lot more to alliances than simply agreeing on one particular issue. He'd pointed out that if animated Harry had offered animated Greengrass support for something Greengrass wanted, he might have convinced Greengrass too.
So, political lessons were sometimes fun, sometimes not, but always informative and even if Harry didn't want to know (he was so having a proxy for the rest of his life), Sirius was quite firm that he had to learn. Harry figured Hermione was going to love his journal. He hurriedly dragged his mind back to what he believed was going to be the latest lesson.
Actions and the action itself only telling part of the story.
"Let's look at one of your actions." Sirius declared cheerfully.
Harry grimaced. "Do we have to?"
"We have to," Sirius confirmed with a grin, "after all, you know all of the story about your own actions."
He guessed that made sense. "So what action are we looking at?"
Sirius looked at him thoughtfully. "How about your action in protecting the stone in your first year? What motivated you to protect it?"
He blinked at his godfather. "Because Voldemort would have gotten it otherwise."
Sirius hummed. "So you wanted to ensure he failed in his objective."
Harry shook his head. "I mean, yes, but more like…it wasn't so much me making sure he failed as much as it was about making sure I didn't fail to stop him."
"And why was that important to you?"
"Because…" Harry paused, unsure of his answer, and thought about it. "Well," he began again, "some of it was the Boy Who Lived stuff. I mean, I figured everyone expected me to stop him because I did before, you know? And I guess I kind of thought I had to because I was the one who'd stopped him before too. So that was part of it but I also wanted to stop him because of Mum and Dad, because he killed them and it wasn't right that he got to come back and they didn't. And because it was the right thing to do." He added. "Wasn't it? I knew he was going after the stone, I couldn't just let him get it."
"Yes, it was the right thing to do." Sirius said softly. "Although I would have preferred it if you hadn't risked your life." He poked Harry in the ankle. "But do you see how complicated your motivations were for protecting the stone? Multiple reasons and not all of them obvious or apparent."
Harry nodded.
"And the lesson is…" Sirius prompted.
"People will have reasons for their actions and that they could be many reasons and not all of them will be out there for you to see." Harry supplied. "So, the Headmaster leaving me with my aunt and not checking up on me…you said he did it to protect me but there could be other reasons?"
"Exactly." Sirius beamed at him. "And you always need to question why someone does something or wants to do something. What's the benefit to them? What's the benefit to you? Look at what Remus and I did with Minister Fudge. He initiated the investigation on the promise of a new more powerful political ally. He figured if he gave Lord Black the investigation then Lord Black would look favourably upon him, which means he stays as Minister for longer, and he gets power and money."
Harry sighed. "Doesn't anyone do anything just because it's the right thing?"
"Hardly anyone." Sirius hesitated and ploughed on. "I could say that I got custody of you just because it was the right thing to do – and it was, I mean is – but that's not the only reason. I made it happen because selfishly I want to be part of your life because I love you. And I wanted custody so I could have more say in protecting you. And because I promised your Mum and Dad and I wanted to keep my promise. See?"
He did see and he had to admit that all of Sirius's reasons were good ones and benefitted him in the end. He nodded at his godfather.
"Now, here's the second half of the lesson: what reason do you think Dumbledore thought you had for protecting the stone?" asked Sirius.
The question stumped Harry for a moment because he'd never considered what Dumbledore had thought. "I guess he thought I'd done it because I wanted to stop Voldemort because of my parents."
Maybe.
Sirius hummed again. "That's probably about on target. What about Snape? What do you think he thought?"
That was easy. "That I did it because I wanted the attention or the adventure of it." He rolled his eyes expressively.
"And the rest of the school?" Sirius prompted.
"Probably it was a mix," Harry said, "hopefully my friends knew my reasons pretty well but others probably believed the same as Dumbledore or Snape, I guess."
"People are always going to judge you on your actions." Sirius explained bluntly. "And they may not take your word for it that you did X because of Y because they may not like you or trust you. On the other hand, someone may not take your word for it that you did X because of Y even if they do like you and trust you. That's human nature, unfortunately."
"It's so complicated!" Harry exclaimed.
Sirius ruffled his hair. "Here endeth the lesson. But I want you to think back through some of your relationships with others and consider motivations, OK?"
"Homework," Harry complained, "great."
But he wasn't complaining really and as Sirius helped him to his feet so they could walk back down the mountain to the cabin, he felt better about everything with Dumbledore. He didn't agree with Dumbledore's decision about leaving him with the Dursleys and not checking on him, but he could respect Dumbledore's reasons had probably been to protect him. But he wouldn't just blindly trust that Dumbledore held all the answers or that he always did things for the right reasons. Not anymore.