text stringlengths 0 57.5k |
|---|
Sirius stood tall. He looked at Kreacher and tried to hide the disdain that he felt at the elf who had blindly followed the orders of his mother when he was a child. |
"Kreacher. This house is not even remotely worthy of the House of Black. I want that changed as of this moment. Get it cleaned and get it done now. Also, you are not to tell any secrets of this house without my permission. I bind this order to your magic. Do you understand?" |
Kreacher looked as if he wanted to flee, but he had already vowed to honor the House of Black. For the Lord of the house to bind an order to an elf’s magic was rare after all. "Kreatcher will follow masters orders." He said as he bowed low once more. |
Sirius took a contemplative look at his surroundings, and looked again to the aging elf. "Kreacher along with getting this house cleaned, I want it redecorated. Neutral colors and more lighting. You will move all family portraits upstairs to the attic starting with Phineas Black. There will be no spies in this house unless they work for me and the good of the House of Black." Sirius went to his knees in front of the ancient elf and stared at the large eyes on the elf’s head. "I intend Kreacher, to bring the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to it’s former standing. I would like to remind the wizarding world why we were the house to be respected by most." Sirius gave a savage grin. "And feared by all." |
Kreacher almost burst into tears at that statement. Even if the house was now run by the blood traitor son of his poor mistress, it would come back to prominence. "Kreacher obeys and agrees to help master any way he can." |
"Go ahead and get started then. I am going to change the Fidelius Charm on this house. The wards should only be controlled by it’s master." Sirius stated. The elf bowed out and popped away. |
Sirius sighed and rolled his neck; attempting to ease the tension that lay there. He turned on the spot, and made his way to the ritual room that was located in the study on the third floor. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of mold and decay. As He was making his way up the stairs two at a time, it had finally clicked in his mind that he needed the power of the name Black to protect Harry. |
He reached the study door. Hesitated a moment and opened it. This was where his lessons on becoming the Head of house had taken place. His grandfather was a fearsome man to behold; strict and quite stern. Arcturus had always seemed cold as ice to him. His father however was just plain cruel and crazy. He crossed the width of the study, and placed his hand on a bookcase in just the right spot. He felt it prick his finger and take a sample of blood. The bookcase swung to the side and revealed another door. He opened the door of the circular room and made his way to the middle of the room where there was an ornate pedastal of black and silver. |
On the pedestal was an ornate bowl that had the family incal carved into it. He removed the knife he always kept on him that also had the house crest carved into the handle, and made a cut to his palm. He watched as the blood dripped into the bowl while he made a fist. He dipped his right |
index finger into the blood and traced the family crest. |
"I Sirius Orion Black do claim my rightful place as the Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." At first Sirius waited on pins and needles while waiting for magic to answer him. Then from the bowl rose a mist that took the form of the Black family raven. The raven looked Sirius in the eye and nodded to him. Then quick as a flash the animal screeched and slammed into Sirius’ chest. He stumbled back a bit, but Sirius knew he had to stand still as the family magic judged his worthiness. |
And then it happened. Sirius was soon filled with all of the family history, the access to all of the Black family properties, he felt the faint connection to all of the direct descendants of the Black family members through their magic. Sirius had been accepted by the family magic. |
Now it was time to begin the changes he needed to make. Sirius placed his hand on the ward stone near the pedestal. "Fidelius. I Sirius Orion Black call upon magic, and the blood of the House of Black to protect this home from all who seek to do those inside harm. I hereby raise the wards to follow the commands of Lord Black only." Sirius dipped his finger in the bowl again and placed a drop of blood on what would be considered the north, south, east, and west points around the bowl. The bowl began to shake and a white beam of pure light shot to the ceiling and began to spread around the whole house. |
"I Sirius Orion Black, am named Secret Keeper for all Black owned family properties under Fidelius." Sirius placed a spot of blood starting to the right of the bowl and drew a circle clockwise. He felt the magic surround him, and he knew the spell was complete. Sirius began to heal the cut to his hand when he noticed the back of the platinum band on his hand and turned it over. There on his small finger was the raven and the motto of the House of Black. |
Sirius whispered. "Toujours Pur." The ring glowed briefly, and Sirius blew out a breath. |
He made his way back to the master bedroom, and saw that Kreatcher had already cleaned it. Oh the décor would have to go, but at least it was spotless. He called for Kreatcher again. The elf appeared with a small pop, his head bowed in submission. |
"Kreatcher. I know you have been alone many years and it has been a long time since you have had a proper master. However, I must tell you that our enemies are many and take many forms, and of all blood statuses. Keeping that in mind. No one is to know yet that I am Lord Black. We will let them think that I am only the heir at this time. It is not yet time for me to take my place. I will however do so when the Wizengamot meets in September. With that in mind, I order you not to reveal my true status as Head of House Black to anyone. Whether they are family or not. Until I give you my express permission. Do you understand?" |
"Kreatcher understands Master. Kreacher looks forward to crushing our enemies." Kreacher disappeared again. |
Sirius blinked a couple of times where the elf had stood and shook his head and made his way to the door that was inside of his room he knew to be the lav. He freshened up in the master bathroom and prepared to head downstairs to the kitchen, where the wards had told him that the others had assembled. |
He reached the closed door of the kitchen, disillusioned his ring with Black family magic. He took a deep calming breath and walked into the room. Ron and not surprisingly, Hermione looked to him expectantly and were about to say something, when Sirius held up a hand to forestall any questions from them. |
Of course Albus was above such requests. |
"Sirius, it was very unwise for you to remove Harry from the safety of the blood wards. You had no right t..." |
"On the contrary Albus. I had every right." Sirius produced muggle paperwork and wizard parchment. |
"With these two documents, I am Harry’s legal guardian in both the wizarding and muggle world. Just as I was supposed to be when James and Lilly died. Petunia said and I quote "We never wanted him in the first place’. That bitch signed away all rights to Harry. You may keep a copy if you like. I have given copies to the DMLE and Gringotts. Just to be on the safe side of course." Sirius smirked. |
Albus made a show of looking at the paperwork, but it was clear to anyone who knew him that he was not happy. "Very well Sirius. You may have the right temporarily, but there were certain agreements that you were to fulfill first. May I ask why you felt it was necessary to do this now? And where is he at this moment?" Though a part of Albus was concerned about Harry’s welfare, another part of him was concerned about the influences that Harry might be around. Albus needed to be sure that the boy was on the right path to his destiny. |
"You may ask his location Albus, but I will not give it to you. As much as I tried to get him to not come back, he will return to Hogwarts September 1st as usual. Don’t worry." |
Sirius took a seat at the ornate kitchen table and put his feet up. He placed his linked hands behind his head. Much to Molly’s disagreement and everyone else’s eye roll. Kreacher had placed a cup of tea to his right. "Tell me Albus. You are aware that a ritual was used to bring Voldemort back correct?" |
"Yes." The Headmaster conceded. |
"Then you would know that those so called blood wards are now useless." Sirius stated plainly. |
Albus looked as if someone had thrown away his lemon drops. He had not thought along those lines to be honest. But he did have another thought. |
"Not entirely Sirius. The blood wards may be weakened, but with the additional wards set upon the house, the anchor of blood protection remains." Albus stated. |
"And as to why you felt it was necessary to remove him Sirius?" asked Molly with a hint of annoyance. |
"Ah yes." Sirius said with what could only be described as a wicked gleam in his eye by those in attendance. Sirius was doing his best not to hex the old bastard into oblivion. He knew that he could not take Albus on alone, but he was tempted to try. Of course with the head of house protections, it wouldn’t be much of a fight. Sirius believed the old goat was not evil, but his manipulation of people was most...disconcerting. |
"Why was it necessary? Tell me. How many times has Harry asked, or more precisely, how many times has Harry begged you not to send him back to that damn house every summer?" asked Sirius. He was clearly trying to reign in his temper. |
"He said that the muggles were unkind to him, but every child complains about their parents Sirius. He was exaggerating the situation I’m sure." Albus countered. |
"You know Professor." Sirius said with a shake of his head. "I truly think that you believe that. Which is why I have told Harry that I do not believe that you are an evil man, merely misguided. He has enough enemies thank you very much." Sirius stood and made his way to the window overlooking the back garden. He used to hide there as a young man. The elf never liked going out there, so he could hide for a little while. He looked out at it for a moment then turned around and looked at Albus. |
"Yesterday morning, I fire called the Burrow and spoke with the twins. They came through the floo and we spoke together about not hearing from Harry. We decided to go check on him. What I am about to reveal to you will not be spoken of to anyone outside of this room. I will have your oath on your magic." The people assembled, gave their wizard oath. |
"Fred, George and myself made our way to Mrs Figg’s house, then over to Harry’s home. As I was about to knock, I heard a scream and kicked in the door. When I got upstairs, I was greeted with the sight of that fat land whale you consider family to Harry, with his pants and underwear down to his ankles fondling Harry through his pants. While a beaten and bloodied Harry was tied to his bed." Sirius paused to let his words sink in |
"I’ll kill that son of a bitch! How dare he touch him!" screamed Ron in pure rage. He turned to his mother with a look of pure disgust. "I told you! We all told you! But no! "Let the adults handle it’ you said. "Harry is exaggerating’ you said! Well I hope you’re happy with yourselves! He needed your help, but because the Headmaster said everything was alright, you followed his word as law!" |
The adults in the room were visibly uncomfortable at the evidence of their obvious neglect of a student in need. And for that student to be Harry Potter made their crimes seem all the more terrifying. |
Ron Weasley had expressed on more than one occasion to Minerva that he was afraid for Harry to go back to his relatives. He had gotten glimpses of scars on Harry’s back once when they were changing after Quidditch pick up games. He knew Harry would deny it, so he told his head of house. Nothing came of it to his knowledge. These people were trusted with the care of children? |
"That poor child. How could anyone do such a thing?" cried Molly. She had a feeling something was wrong, but she was assured by Dumbledore that it was best for Harry’s safety. |
Sirius continued. "The twins and I grabbed his things and carried him to Mrs Figg’s house to portkey to Gringotts. Once there they found he had four broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, a broken wrist and a partially broken hip. He could have been killed in that house at anytime." At this point Sirius pulled out the list that he had compiled of the injuries that Harry had sustained throughout his life. |
"The following is a list of injuries Harry has ever had with the accompanying ages he received them. Along with memories for you all to view in a pensieve." He magically made copies for everyone to view. Ron looked livid, while Molly cried harder. Albus mumbled under his breath and shook his head. |
"Sirius how do we not know these are not normal childhood accidents? Children do tend to hurt themselves." Minerva chimed in. Hoping against hope that there was another explanation because the alternative would mean that she had missed abuse in one of her lions. |
"Lucky for us all, I have the memories to accompany them. Kreacher!" the elf popped in the room. "Please put the pensieve on the table." After the pensieve was retrieved Sirius poured in the first of seven memories. |
A small boy about the age of two was being slapped very hard in the face and thrown into what looked like a broom cupboard. The thin woman doing the damage was yelling at the child saying "You ungrateful freak! You already ate Three times this week! You are lucky I give you anything at all! Useless just like your mother." |
On and on it went. As Harry got older the abuse got worse. They also saw how Harry was forced to do all the chores. Long hours in the hot sun, gardening. Being beaten for drinking out of the garden hose. |
When the memories finished playing out you could here a pin drop. That was until the silence was broken by a very loud crack. |
"THEY ARE THE ONLY FAMILY HE HAS YOU SAID!!! I TOLD YOU THEY WERE THE WORST SORT! BUT DID YOU LISTEN? OF COURSE NOT MR. ALL KNOWING AND ALL SEEING!!! FOR THE GREATER GOOD MY ARSE!!!" Watching Dumbledore cower in fear at the anger of his longtime friend and deputy Headmistress, was slightly amusing. Watching the red hand print slowly begin to turn a deep purple color on his cheek was just a bonus. |
"Minerva!" Molly gasped loudly. |
"Don’t Minerva me Molly. I watched those bastards all day before we left him there. I told this...genius that they were terrible people. And against my better judgment I trusted your word "old friend’. It will be a long time before that happens again Albus!" Professor McGonagall stood abruptly and walked to the floo, calling out the Leaky Cauldron. |
"Sirius I knew nothing of this. I swear to you." Albus stated. He was currently flexing his jaw as Severus healed him. It felt like she may have broken something for sure. |
"But that is part of problem now isn’t it? You didn’t know. Tell me Albus are you getting senile these past 15 years? Everyone new Petunia hated magic. Hated everything about her sister’s gift. What on earth made you think that he would be safe there?" Sirius was doing a remarkable job of not hexing the old goat into oblivion. |
"Harry is family. I refuse to believe that someone of his own flesh and blood could behave so evil. Family does not treat family that way." Albus shot back. |
Sirius decided to change the subject."Harry needs to be educated in ALL things magic, and wizarding customs. Forgive me Albus, but he is expected to be some savior of the wizarding world? He knew NOTHING of magic until he received his letter to Hogwarts! He is nowhere near where he needs to be. His spell work is mediocre at best, and abysmal at worst. He does not have an adult he can trust to push him to be more than his name. I will not have it!" Sirius slammed his hand down on the table to bring his point home. |
"He is constantly under attack from death chompers and the ministry and not to mention the constant danger he is in at Hogwarts. You people allowed the school to bully him when they found out that he could speak to snakes. But we will get to that some other time. Voldemort is still out there somewhere plotting to not only kill my godson, but take over the world. And Harry’s best offensive spell is the jelly legs jinx? Not bloody likely! You’re expecting a boy who knew nothing of magic until the age of 11, when a half giant showed up to give him his Hogwarts letter, to defeat the foulest, evil wizard of the last fifty years armed with protego and stupify? I love Hagrid, I truly do, but is he the best man to introduce Harry to the wizarding world for the first time?" Sirius stated. |
"Sirius he is just a boy! He should not have so much responsibility placed on his shoulders!" Molly bellowed. Sirius merely raised an eyebrow, and stated plainly. |
"As opposed to the burden he has had to bare so far?" Sirius refused to believe that this woman was this daft. |
"Sirius there were mistakes made, but we should try to do better going forward. He still needs to know what it means to be a child!!" Molly looked as if her head would explode. Sirius looked at her as if she had grown five heads. She wasn’t done however. |
"You have never been mature Sirius. You can’t possibly know what is best for Harry!" |
"Molly I will say this just once. This is my house. Just as easily as you were keyed into the wards, I can throw you all out. You may be used to people falling over at the sound of the banshee like screaming you use to whip people into submission of your will." Sirius put his hands on the table and leaned over looking directly into Molly’s eyes. "That. Ends. Now. If you ever disrespect me in my own home again I will throw you out on your ass and block you from returning. Am I clear?" He finished with raised a dark eyebrow. Molly sat down dumbstruck. No one had ever spoken to her that way before. |
"Am I clear Molly? Or would you like to leave now?" Sirius was waiting for an answer. |
Seeing that Sirius was not joking she nodded. |
"Not good enough Molly. I want to hear the words." Sirius began to get irritated. |
"Fine. Yes I will hold my tongue." Molly sat back defeated for now. |
"Sirius. Do you really think that all of that was necessary?" Albus asked. |
"Oh I’m just getting started. I Sirius Orion Black do hereby ban Mundungus Fletcher from ALL Black properties so mote it be!" Mundungus was not there, but Sirius wanted to make sure that people knew he was not playing around. |
"Sirius!" Albus exclaimed "Fletcher is a member of the Order. You can’t simply just evict him from the house." |
"I believe I did just that. He is sworn to secrecy on his life and magic, so he can’t say anything or he loses his magic. He can still be a member, he just can’t come into my house and continue to rob me blind." Sirius said in a bored tone |
"Ooh but wait. There’s more." He rounded on Snape. "Do you know one of the perks of being Heir to the house of Black, and being in my family home?" Sirius said with his wand at the ready. |
"The mind boggles." Snape replied in a dry tone, but he tensed as he already knew how paranoid the Blacks were. |
"Draw your wand Snape. I beg you." Sirius said in a menacing tone. |
"Sirius that is enough!" Albus tried to push out power but the family magic pushed back...hard. Albus was pushed back in his chair. Everyone sat their stunned. |
"Let me say this once Severus. James is dead. Harry is not James you son of a bitch. You are his teacher. You are not there to bully him. Yes we bullied you in school, but we were the same age. You are a damn adult. Act like it you petty bastard."Sirius took a deep breath and lowered his wand. He shook his head sadly. "She |
forgave you, you know. She just couldn’t come to tell you. You know that stubborn streak an ocean wide that she had She didn’t know how to form the words. She felt she was petty to end your friendship in the first place, over something said in anger after what we did to you. She actually slapped James for that. When she found out that I sent you to the shrieking shack, she punched me in the face and kicked me between the legs. She forgave you for calling her that terrible name, but what we did to you was always a sore spot with her." Sirius cocked his head to one side. "I do wonder though... what she would say about your treatment of her son. I will say this only once. You don’t have to like Harry, but you will not bully him or belittle him. If he misbehaves, fine. Punish him. But you will be fair about it Severus." Sirius had another thought. |
"Severus. Why on earth do you teach children? You are bloody brilliant at potions! That doesn’t mean you should teach. I will not discount your role as a spy Severus. It has been most helpful, and even I can admit, bloody brilliant! But maybe you could spy and do research or something. Your talents are being wasted teaching 11 year olds how to grind newt eyes." Sirius turned to the Headmaster. |
"I have copies of signed statements from all of the students at the school, bar the Slytherins of course. Both past and present. Albus, you will control your spy, or I will bring down not only the full weight of the Board of Governors, but the Wizengamot. Not to mention that I will pull Harry from Hogwarts." |
"I realize that some of Severus’ teaching methods are strict, but..." Albus started to say but was again cut off. |
"Strict is one thing. He is cruel, and you know it. You either fix it Albus or I will." Sirius said very dangerously. Severus turned and walked out. |
"You must not speak to the Headmaster that way! Sirius this has..." Molly began to shout. She was silenced by a wandless spell. |
"Arthur, you may want to inform your wife that the serious lack of even friendly protocol on her part can spell serious trouble for your entire family. She has already been warned once." Sirius removed the magic placed on Molly, while Arthur spoke to his wife. |
Arthur paled. He knew the power that Sirius had. Sirius was the heir to the House of Black. Although he suspected that Sirius didn’t want the power, he still had it. Authur turned to his wife and did something he had never done before. "Molly you will be silent! Or you may leave! It’s your choice. But I will not have you humiliate this family further. If you continue, I will throw you out myself. Am I clear? Answer me!" Arthur yelled to his wife in a tone she had never heard before. |
"Yes Arthur. I understand perfectly." She was royally pissed for being taken to task, but knew now was not the time. She turned to Sirius. "I know I can be quite overbearing at times, but the children mean the world to me. I just fear for them." |
Sirius softened, just a touch. "Molly. Harry is very grateful to have been invited into your family." Molly smiled. "But Harry is not your son. He will soon be mine. You no longer have a say in what he can and can not do. You may give suggestions. But I will not tolerate demands." Sirius finished while staring directly at Molly. She nodded after a moment. Unshed tears in her eyes. |
"Yes he is just a boy. He will go to school. Play pranks. Hang out with his friends. He has found his first crush. These are the things that he should experience growing up. Even with the constant threat of death at every step that he takes, he should always know what makes life worth living. What keeps us whole." Sirius stood tall and proud. He looked around the room. "He should know what is worth fighting for. Yes he is just a boy. A boy with a very large target on his back. From moldy shorts, death nibblers, and the ministry as well. And believe me when I tell you that Voldemort will not care the age of the child he wishes to kill. He never has."Sirius deadpanned. |
"I have told you all that I am prepared to at this point in time. I have a meeting to go to and I cannot be late. Ron and Hermione please come with me. We need to have a little chat." With that said Sirius stood to leave. |
"What do you have to say to our son that you don’t want us to hear?" Molly demanded |
"Just some words from Harry and the twins that are private." |
"My sons are with him then?" |
"Yes they are going to stay with him throughout the summer." Sirius explained. |
"I will not allow it!" Molly yelled |
"You have no choice Molly. They are of age and can make their own decisions." Sirius replied with a smirk. |
"Ronald you will not be keeping secrets from this family do you hear me?" Molly deadpanned. |
"It’s ok Ron. I will have Hermoine fill you in." Sirius took in Ron’s grateful nod. |
"I don’t think that Hermoine should be keeping secrets either Sirius. They are both too young." Molly stated firmly, but making sure that she was not yelling. |
"And since I have already spoken to her parents you have no say." Sirius stated with his usual smirk. He was of course lying through his teeth, but she didn’t need to know that. He motioned for Hermoine to follow him from the kitchen and they made their way to the library. |
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ |
Albus was sitting at the table stunned by the turn of events. This was not how this was supposed to go. He knew Harry was unhappy there, but the extent of the abuse was even more than what he had suspected. The crushing weight of all of his decisions regarding Harry came down on him like a ton of bricks. How could he have been so blind? At any rate, things were becoming complicated. He needed to get control of the situation, because if he didn’t the public outcry would be disastrous for everyone involved. |
"We told you. So many times we’ve tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen would you. Just told us to listen to what you tell us." Ron said in a low tone that didn’t do much to hide his anger and sadness. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.