Reading Time: 104 Minutes

Title: An Accounting Problem
Author: Meri
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Angst, Drama, Family
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: *No Mandatory Warnings Apply. Discussions Of Child Abuse, Implied (Briefly) Spouse Abuse
Beta: SerpentsGarden. Many thanks for all their hard work on my story. Also useful were Grammarly and Text Aloud
Word Count: 76,169
Summary: In the complex tapestry of Wizarding Britain, a single loose thread can unravel the most intricately woven of plans.

In October 1983, a seemingly minor discrepancy in a goblin accounting ledger is discovered in an audit, and the investigation it sparks begins to unravel the plans of some highly placed people in the Wizarding World. It changes the trajectory of everything and sets Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Narcissa Malfoy, Minerva McGonagall, Ragnok Winterkill, and Amelia Bones on new courses in their lives.
Artist: ani
Artist Appreciation: Many, many thanks to ani for her wonderful artwork!

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Chapter Seven

Gringotts’ Bank

It was not always convenient to meet Ragnok in his office, but it was secure, and it was easier for him to meet her on his land. The ministry was not conducive to winning the trust of the goblins, and Amelia needed him to trust her.

“Good evening,” Ragnok said pleasantly. “I hope your investigations were fruitful.”

“They were,” Amelia said. And went on to tell him about what she’d found out. “Where do we go from here?”

“We have found the individuals who aided Dumbledore in his larceny. They have both signed a full confession and have been dealt with appropriately.” There was a certain amount of satisfaction apparent from Ragnok right now.

Amelia winced a little. She was sure she knew what that meant. And by the look of Ragnok, he knew that she knew. “How you deal with your employees is not the concern of the ministry, Director. You are on your own land. Your laws are your own.”

“Our justice is not for the faint of heart,” Ragnok agreed. “We are still a warrior race.”

She nodded. “Why did they do it?”

“Greed. Dumbledore paid them well, better than their meager salaries.”

“I would ask why, though,” she met his eyes. “Given the penalty for being caught, why go for something like that.”

“Because there are always individuals who think they can get away with gaming the system. Those who feel the rules don’t apply to them or who feel that they have not been sufficiently rewarded for their efforts. Any society has those types.”

Half of pureblood society fit into that category, Amelia thought. “I know that to be true.”

“And we have documentation on the accounts held in abeyance that you mentioned. We did not find anything out of the ordinary on the accounts for the living. They may have willingly given twenty-five percent of their income to Albus Dumbledore. Or Dumbledore found some other way to get it.” Ragnok rubbed the back of his neck. “He would have needed to have documentation processed for the funds to be withdrawn out of one account into his own.”

“As I mentioned, Vance, Jones, and Weasley all said they did not willingly give Dumbledore anything.” Amelia had to wonder just how Dumbledore had managed it. And no one had spoken to Diggle yet. She should send a message to Kingsley for tomorrow to see if he could find him.

Amelia was done for the night. She stood. “Thank you for your help. I will require all the documentation you have, and I’ll bring it before the Wizengamot during the trial.

“I will be there as well as our accountants. They can testify to what happened. But the paper trail for this is clear,” Ragnok said, his expression irritated. “It is in the bank’s best interest to see this kind of thing dealt with swiftly and firmly.”

Amelia agreed with that. “Thank you again. I will make sure you know when the trial is. I’m going to arrest Dumbledore tomorrow.”

“Doing so at Hogwarts is not ideal,” Ragnok said.

“I agree. But we have no choice in that,” Amelia said. “I will take half a dozen Aurors with me. Hopefully that will be enough.”

Ragnok also stood and nodded.

*****

The Following Morning

Minerva McGonagall was on her way down to the gate right after breakfast. She had received a note late last night from Amelia Bones, and she had asked her to meet her there. Amelia had not said why she was coming, especially at this early hour, and she had also said not to let Albus know. Which was strange, but Minerva was used to that. She and Amelia had been friends for many years.

She arrived at the gate and was surprised to find not just Amelia but six armored Aurors as well. This was serious, then. “What is going on here?”

“We are here to make an arrest,” Amelia explained in a tone that said not to ask her any questions.

Which was fair enough. “Come along then,” Minerva said, starting back down the path to the castle. She knew there was no more that needed to be said.

They reached the Great Hall, and there was no one lingering after breakfast. “Where are you headed?” Minerva asked.

“To see Albus Dumbledore,” Amelia replied. “Where is he now?”

Minerva sighed. What had that foolish wizard done now? “He’s either in his office or roaming around in the halls.” Not doing whatever it was he was supposed to be doing, like running the damned school. But she didn’t say that. She looked around as Dumbledore came back through the Great Hall.

“Oh, Minerva,” he said, coming to stand next to her and glancing at Amelia and the Aurors. “What is going on here, Amelia?”

“You’re under arrest for –”

“What are the charges,” Dumbledore asked, his face paling and sounding shocked by the very idea.

And so was Minerva, but she knew Amelia well enough to know that she would not even be here without conclusive evidence of a crime. So, Minerva was going to keep her mouth shut and let the Aurors handle it.

“If you had let me finish, I would have read you the charges. Theft, illegal transfer of monies, misappropriations of funds, and manipulations and theft of ancient and/or noble family monies for families that are in abeyance, and several others,” Amelia said. “Will you come quietly?”

“I think not,” Dumbledore said, raising his wand to cast something at Amelia.

He never got the chance. Minerva raised her wand and said, ” Expelliarmus!” She caught his wand as it sailed towards her. “What were you thinking, Albus?” she said, annoyed at him.

Both Albus and Amelia looked shocked.

“What have you done?” Albus said, his face as white as his beard. “How could you?”

Minerva wasn’t paying much attention to him since his wand was now telling her that she was the master of it. And to her dismay, her beloved fir wood wand no longer felt as perfect as it had when she cast the spell. She looked at his wand and realized it wasn’t an ordinary, bought at Ollivanders’ kind of wand.

“Minerva?” Amelia asked. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. The wand says it belongs to me now. That is very strange.”

“No,” Albus said. “No. It can never belong to you.”

“I think the wand does not agree with you, Albus,” Minerva said tartly. Her fir wand also didn’t feel as powerful as this new one.

“You took it from him,” Amelia said. “Some wands have deep allegiances to the witch or wizard who wins them.”

“I suspect I will need to look into that,” Minerva said, sliding the wand into her sleeve and glancing at Albus. Who looked rather sick right now. Well, it was his own damned fault. “Are you going to transfer the wards to me?”

“No. I am quite sure this is all a mistake,” Albus said. “And I shall be back before lunch.”

If it was a mistake, why was he willing to fight his way out of being arrested? Minerva rather thought it was much worse than he was saying. She was not going to say anything else.

Without his wand, Albus would have no choice but to go quietly. And that wand? She had no idea what to make of that. And right now, she didn’t have time to worry about it. “I need to get to my first class.”

Amelia nodded. “I will speak with you later.”

*****

Ministry Of Magic
Later That Morning

“You are making a huge mistake, Amelia,” Dumbledore said as he was brought into the auror office for processing. “I will make sure you are made aware of that –”

“Please do not try to threaten me. Aside from being impervious to it, Albus,” Amelia said. “It is illegal to threaten a law enforcement officer.” And really, she had been threatened by experts her whole career, and he was not any better than they were. “I have evidence of your financial crimes against the Potter estate and the estates of several other families. Do you wish to call an attorney?”

“I do. Please contact Dedalus Diggle for me. He will make all of this right.” Dumbledore sounded very sure of that.

Amelia wondered what was going on with Dumbledore. There would be no wiggling out of the charges. There was too much evidence for Diggle to do anything. There could be no defense for this kind of crime. But stranger things had happened.

“I will have someone contact him for you,” she said. “And there will be an arraignment in a few days. And likely a trial before the Wizengamot in a week or two.

*****

Amelia got back to her office and Kingsley was waiting outside it.

“What can I do for you, Kingsley?” she asked as they both went into her office. She waved him to a seat in front of her desk.

“I’m just following up with you about Dedalus Diggle. He said specifically that he’d allowed Dumbledore to have a monthly stipend from him, but not twenty-five percent of his income.”

“Dumbledore just named him as his attorney,” Amelia said.

“I think that’s going to be a conflict of interest,” Kingsley commented. “I also think that there’s something more going on here. How could anyone not notice their vault being that out of balance all the time.”

“Obviously, you have some suspicions about this?” Amelia suspected that something else was happening here, and it would be on her to figure out what.

“He’s a powerful wizard and could easily have manipulated their minds,” Kingsley suggested.

Amelia sucked in a breath. She hadn’t wanted to think that. But it resonated with her. “We should have all of them checked for memory charms.”

“I suggested it to Arthur Weasley,” Kingsley said. “He and his family are the most egregiously affected by the money loss. He agreed and was heading towards St. Mungo’s after work.”

“Is there more?” Amelia asked.

“Dumbledore does not seem to think that You-Know-Who is actually dead. That he’s going to come back at some point in the future.” Kingsley sounded slightly worried about that.

Amelia closed her eyes and repressed a shiver. “I hope not. Do you know why he thinks this?”

Kingsley shook his head. “I don’t know, but that was why he was still actively recruiting for the Order of the Phoenix.”

“I will mention it to Ragnok. Maybe he has some idea,” Amelia suggested. Although Ragnok had been very upfront and helpful since all of this began, it was unlikely that he knew more than he had already said.

“Whatever it is, it’s not going to be good,” Kingsley said ominously.

Amelia agreed with that. Not only that, if it were true, she would probably have to negotiate with Dumbledore for the information. And that might mean a deal for him. But that was for the future. First, they had to convict him of the charges.

*****

A Few Days Later

Sirius knocked on his grandfather’s office door and waited until he heard his grandfather say, “Enter.”

He pushed open the door and went in. Arcturus waved him to a seat in front of his desk.

His grandfather’s office was a mix of traditional furniture and more modern elegance, no doubt from his Grandmother Melania’s taste. The massive cherry wood desk had protective runes cut into the edges. And those runes were repeated along the edge of the wooden paneling that was on all the walls. One wall held a bookcase made of the same cherry as the desk, also with runes for protection cut into the underside of the shelves.

When Sirius was a boy, he’d gotten into trouble more than once trying to climb that bookcase. He smiled, remembering it. He glanced at the fireplace, which was burning luminously. “You wanted to see me, Grandfather?”

“I did. I have spoken to Madam Bones, and she told me that Walburga has been convicted. I thought you would like to let your father know this. Also, given the conviction, his petition for an annulment has been granted.”

“I will do that,” Sirius said. He’d hated his mother for most of his life, and now that he’d found out the level of her perfidy, he was appalled. “I hope to have some kind of relationship with my father now that he is finally free of my mother.”

“I think he will need a lot of healing. We will support him through that, of course. He was an innocent victim.”

“I cannot believe that no one noticed. It has been going on for twenty-five years. How could we have missed it.” Every time Sirius thought about what she’d done to Orion, it made him feel sick.

“You were a child. How could you expect to know something was wrong, when it had been wrong your whole life? Your mother was –”

“She was a monster,” Sirius spat and stood, walking over to the tall windows. They were draped in heavy, dark brocade with dark cherry accents and fancy ropes holding them back. The afternoon light streamed through the sheer undercurtain beneath.

He looked out at the grounds, which were beautiful, manicured lawns and stately trees. His grandmother’s gardens and greenhouses were beyond that.

He turned back to his grandfather, who had stood and was coming towards him. “Was she sent to Azkaban?”

“For life,” Arcturus said. “There will be no parole. She does not have the family magic to protect her at all. I doubt she will last out the year.”

“I am torn between wanting her gone completely and wanting her to suffer for what she’s done,” Sirius said honestly.

“For all intents and purposes, she is gone,” Arcturus promised. “And I think it was easy for her to accomplish what she did because your father was always a quiet, studious boy. He never fought with anyone. He was happier reading and studying. I never understood how he was sorted into Slytherin rather than Ravenclaw.”

“I cannot remember him ever doing anything like that when I was a child. He just followed her around like he was a damned lapdog and did what she told him to do.” Sirius sighed. “I had no reference for what it should have been like between a married couple until I got to the Potters, and by then, I hated both of them so much, and everyone else related to me, that I just did not care anymore.”

“I know. And I allowed it. I thought you would come home. I had no idea that Walburga tried to burn you off the tapestry. It was never going to matter what she did. I told her more than once that I was never going to disinherit you.” Arcturus let out a sigh.

“I believed her when she said she could disinherit me,” Sirius said and took a breath to steady himself. “Maybe I should have known better, but I believed her.”

Arcturus smiled at him. “I understand she tried to make you take the mark. I was actually proud of you that you’d resisted. I wish your brother had as well.”

“Regulus wanted their, her, approval enough to sacrifice himself to her need to control and then to the Dark Lord’s insanity,” Sirius said bitterly. He’d always wished he could have spoken to Regulus one more time before he died.

“You should speak to your father tonight unless you want me to do it,” Arcturus said. “I thought it might be better coming from you.”

“I think he will be very relieved to have it all done. No matter who tells him,” Sirius said. “I am relieved as well.”

“I think your father will wish to return home as soon as he can. As I said, he will require a mind healer for some time to come,” Arcturus said.

“Is Grimmauld Place even habitable?” Sirius asked. “I have not set foot in that place since I escaped when I was sixteen.”

“I have not been there in years. Your mother was never one for entertaining. And once she became adamant about pureblood supremacy, I was not going to go there at all.”

Sirius shuttered. “I understand that. Do they still have the elf –”

“Kreature,” Arcturus said in a tone that actually called the elf.

There was a pop, and Kreature appeared wearing a filthy pillowcase. “Lord Black,” he said. “You called Kreature?”

“I did,” Arcturus said, looking appalled. “What is wrong with you? How can you appear like that? Dress yourself properly in the Black uniform.”

“Mistress said I was not to wear the Black livery. Kreature must obey.”

“I am telling you to change what you are wearing. I will not have elves dressed as slaves. Do you wish to leave the service of the Blacks?”

“No,” Kreature said, tears forming in his eyes. “But mistress said –”

“Who am I?”

“You are Lord Black.” Kreature’s eyes got wide, and he looked terrified. “But she is the Mistress.”

“Not anymore. She’s in Azkaban and will not be getting out,” Arcturus assured him. “Now, change, or be prepared to leave our service.”

With a snap of his finger, Kreature was dressed as the rest of the house elves. “Kreature has done as he was told.”

“Prepare the house for Orion. I want it clean and all of Walburga’s possessions gone. I want no trace of her in the entire house.”

Kreature looked like he wanted to argue about that, but he just nodded. “What should Kreature be doing with Mistress’ things?”

“I want them burned. Do not keep anything of hers,” Arcturus ordered. “Now go. Orion will be there tomorrow.”

And Kreature was gone with a pop.

“Do you think keeping him there is a good idea?” Sirius asked, worried just how damaged Kreature actually was.

Arcturus glanced at him and then shrugged. “I am not sure. I would not give Kreature clothes without a lot of thought.”

“He has always been a problem. He was very loyal to Walburga. I’m sure he will not be as loyal to my father,” Sirius suggested.

“Maybe I should move Kreature back to the Manor and one of the other elves to the townhouse to take care of your father,” Arcturus suggested. “If you run into a problem, call for Rammy immediately. He can contain Kreature, if need be.”

“I think that is probably a good idea,” Sirius agreed. He had a feeling that Kreature was likely to do more harm than good for his father.

“Take one of the elves tomorrow and send Kreature back to me. I will have Rammy find a place for him.”

Sirius nodded.

*****

Grimmauld Place
The Following Afternoon

Sirius and his father apparated to the park on Grimmauld Place. If Sirius could have put his father off a few more days, he would have, but Orion was intent on going home. They waited on the street until number twelve appeared between number ten and number fourteen.

“We’re going to need to cast the Fidelis again,” Sirius commented as he and Orion moved towards the stairs leading up to the front door.

Orion just nodded.

Sirius had noticed that he was a man of very few words most of the time. And that his grandfather was right. That was how Walburga got away with keeping him quiet and subdued for all those years. Still, the very thought of what she had done to his father was enough to send Sirius into a rage.

He sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. She was paying the price for her crimes, and Sirius letting it enrage him did no one any good at all.

“Let it go, son,” Orion said. “We do not have the ability to change what has already been. All we can do is go on from here.”

“How can you be so calm about this –”

“Because it is as I just said, I cannot change it. And to continue to rail against it will be counterproductive for all of us.”

“That’s very wise,” Sirius said. He should adopt that attitude for what happened to him. Which as awful as it was, it only lasted two years. Not twenty-five. And things were so much better now.

Again, Orion just nodded and did not say anything more. Sirius opened the door and was immediately bombarded with the smell of dust and decay.

Orion sucked in a breath and coughed. “Merlin, what has that elf done now?”

“Clearly, he has not cleaned the place in a year or two –”

“Walburga would not have tolerated this kind of laziness from him. Kreature!” Orion called.

With a pop, Kreature appeared. He was once again wearing the filthy pillowcase, and this one was torn in two places. “What are you wearing?” Sirius demanded.

“Mistress wishes me to wear this,” he said. “I must obey.”

“Walburga is not here,” Orion said. “She is not your Mistress any longer –”

“NO!” Kreature wailed, and tears started to form in his big eyes. “No. She is always to be my Mistress.”

“Rammy,” Sirius called.

With another pop, the Black Family head elf appeared. He took in Kreature’s appearance and the smell of the house. Rammy’s eyes grew large, and he frowned deeply at Kreature. “What is the meaning of this? How dare you let a Black property come to this state?”

“Kreature does as Mistress requests. Kreature must obey Mistress.” Kreature’s hands were twisting in his pillowcase.

“I think he has a problem,” Sirius muttered.

Rammy peered at him, as if he were looking through him. “He is tainted by dark magics. He is not well.”

“Do you know where to take him to be healed?” Sirius asked because he had no idea. He had never heard of an elf getting sick like this.

“I would send him back to the elf enclave for healing –” Rammy started to suggest but was cut off.

“No. No. No,” Kreature shrieked, “I will not go there! I must serve Mistress.”

Sirius looked at Rammy. “What other options do we have?”

“I do not know, Heir Black,” Rammy said. “I have never seen an elf so tainted as he.”

He had no idea either. But the goblins had all been helpful with the dark magic that they had been encountering. Maybe one of their healers could help. “Take him to the goblin healer Glint Thistlewild and see if she can help him. Or if she has any idea what we can do to help him.”

Rammy nodded. “If there is nothing that can be done?”

“Then he goes to the enclave for healing,” Sirius said, and Kreature screamed again that he would not go, but at this point, Kreature was beyond knowing what was good for himself, and it was up to them to get him some help. Sirius also did not want to put his father in danger, which might happen if Kreature was not dealt with properly.

“It will be done, Heir Black,” Rammy promised. “I will call another elf to clean the house and rid it of Mistress Walburga’s possessions.”

“Thank you,” Sirius said.

Rammy took hold of Kreature’s arm and apparated them both out of the room, presumably to the bank.

*****

A few seconds later, another elf popped in. He was dressed appropriately for a Black elf, except his pants were short enough in the ankle to show his socks were yellow. As long as the elf was wearing the basic uniform, Sirius supposed he could wear whatever socks he pleased. And Sirius appreciated the individualism that went with the yellow socks.

“I am Dobby. I will clean the house for you. And discard the old Mistress’ possessions. Is there anything you want to keep from her?” Dobby asked, looking around and frowning at the mess.

“No, thank you. We do not wish to keep anything. While you are cleaning up, please collect all the dark artifacts and put them in lead-lined boxes so that we can get rid of them,” Sirius said. “Do not touch any of them. Use your magic to move them.”

“Dobby can do that. Will do that,” Dobby said and popped away.

That was one strange elf, Sirius thought.

“Let us get some tea,” Orion suggested. “I can make it in the kitchen.”

Sirius nodded and followed his father out of the foyer and down to the kitchen. As soon as they entered, Sirius felt something dark in the room. He could not be sure what exactly it was, but it felt ugly.

He glanced at his father, and Orion looked sick. “Father?”

“I feel it, too. It feels like it is malevolent,” Orion said.

“That was as good a description as any for it,” Sirius agreed. He pulled out his wand and cast “Tenebris Malum Magicae Revelio.”

He glanced around and saw a faint glow coming from under the door of the pantry.

Orion put a hand on his shoulder when he would have crossed to the door. “Do you think you should investigate on your own?”

“I think I can handle it,” Sirius said and went to the door. He pulled it open, and as he had already suspected, Kreature’s nest was at the bottom of the pantry. And he could feel there was something very dark buried in there. He used his wand to move the bedding aside. There in the corner was a locket that reeked of dark magic.

Orion gasped when Sirius used his wand to bring it out. “That feels like a –”

“Horcrux? Yes. I think it is.” Sirius was sure of it, actually. It felt exactly like the one Narcissa had found. She’d conjured a lead box for it, and Sirius looked around for something he could transfigure into a safe vault for the thing. A bread basket was on one of the shelves above the nest, and he quickly transfigured it into a lead vault and dropped the locket into it. As he did so, he realized that it was Slytherin’s locket. The vault would last long enough to get it to Gringotts.

“I need to take this to the bank right now. Would you like to come with me or stay here?” Sirius asked.

“Unless you need me to come with you, I’ll stay here. I am looking forward to some quiet. I want to take stock of my life and begin planning what I will be doing from now on.”

Sirius smiled at him. “I can take care of this on my own. Have your tea. Dobby should be done in a little while –”

Just as he got the words out. Dobby popped back in. “I am done with the cleaning. Kreature did a bad job on that. It is all clean now.” He looked at Orion. “All the possessions are gone from her rooms. And I begin work on the dark items now.” He looked at the transfigured vault on the counter. “That be very dark.”

“I am going to take that to Gringotts and ask them to help me deal with it,” Sirius said. “If you find anything else that dark, bring it straight to them.”

“Dobby will do that. First, Dobby makes Master tea and then gets to work on the dark items.”

“Thank you, Dobby,” Orion said. “I could really use that tea.”

“I will check on you later, Father,” Sirius said and picked up the box and went back to the sitting room to floo to the bank with it.

*****

Chapter Eight

Gringotts’ Bank

When Sirius exited the floo room off the lobby, there were two guards armed with sharp-looking spears waiting for him. He probably should have called first to let Ragnok know what he was bringing in for them.

Before he could speak, one of them stepped forward. “We have been ordered to bring you to Director Ragnok,” he said. And clearly, that was not what he wanted to do.

“Thank you,” Sirius said politely.

The guard pointed in the direction he wanted Sirius to go in, and Sirius followed them to one of the smaller conference rooms. After he’d been left there, the door opened again, and Ragnok came in. “You should not bring dark objects through the public floo and into the front of the bank.”

“I’m sorry, but I had no idea what else to do with it. I did not want to leave it in my father’s house. He has enough to worry about.” And Sirius thought that it might do him more harm, too. It was pretty clear to him that whatever was wrong with Kreature probably came from him sleeping with that thing for however long it had been that he’d had it. Any amount of time in close company to that much dark magic was probably going to be too long.

“I also understand that your house elf had been tainted by contact with the artifact,” Ragnok said.

“Do you have any idea how long it has been?” Sirius asked.

“Healer Glint estimated from the level of taint on him more than a year, possibly as many as three,” Ragnok told him grimly. “He is beginning to go mad from the darkness.”

Beginning? Sirius snorted. “He was always a little mad, anyway. But he did what he was told to do. Now he seems fixated on my mother, who was never kind to him in any way.” Sirius glanced at Ragnok. “Can you help him?”

“We are not sure yet, but I believe so. The elf will never be completely as he was, but he should be functional after a ritual cleansing,” Ragnok said. “You might consider that for your father as well.”

“I will mention that to him,” Sirius said, though he suspected that his father would want no part of that. “It might not be a bad idea for me, either.”

“I can arrange it with one of my contacts outside of Britain. Most British wizards do not participate in ritual magic. They have been taught that it is dark and believe that without question.”

“Which it is not,” Sirius said. “There are a few covens that are still around. I want to say Minerva McGonagall has one.”

“She does indeed,” Ragnok said. “But that will not be useful for you.”

“No, you’re right about that.” Sirius sighed. “Can you take the horcrux I brought?”

“We can. We’ll cleanse it and return the artifact to you.”

“I understand that You-Know-Who could come back.” Sirius met his eyes. “I will wager that is what this is all about.”

“I agree,” Ragnok said. “I believe we should all be working to see that doesn’t happen. But I feel we need more information.”

Sirius thought that as well. “I do not think we will get it from Dumbledore. And he’s likely to be the one who has it.”

“A trade might be possible,” Ragnok suggested.

“I do not know what you mean. Trade for it, how?”

“We would need to include Madam Bones in this discussion, but a lesser sentence in Azkaban might be persuasive enough to Dumbledore for him to give us the information we require.”

While a part of him understood that was not a bad idea, the other part of him was appalled to even hear that suggestion. Dumbledore deserved to pay for what he’d done to Harry and to him.

“I can see what you are thinking, and while he should be held accountable, we do need information from him.” Ragnok held two hands up. “We must play the hand we are dealt.”

“All right. I’ll relay this to my grandfather, and maybe you and he can work something out with Madam Bones, as well.”

Ragnok nodded. “I believe that is a worthy possibility.”

*****

Later That Week

Amelia was shown to a large conference room as soon as she entered the bank from the Alley. Around the table were Arcturus Black, Sirius Black, and Narcissa Malfoy, who was a surprise. She’d heard that Narcissa had left her husband. In fact, everyone had heard that. And that Lucius Malfoy had threatened to beat her to death for the supposed affront. As far as Amelia was concerned, that was a death threat, and whatever Narcissa did in retaliation would stand up in court.

She nodded to those assembled and took her seat. Ragnok came in just after that.

“Good day,” he said, taking a seat at the end of the table across from Arcturus. “Thank you all for coming.”

Amelia cleared her throat and said, “I am not sure why we are gathered.”

“I believe we need to discuss several things concerning Albus Dumbledore and the information he might possess,” Arcturus said in a flat tone.

“What kind of information?” she asked. “Why include me?”

“We believe that Albus is thought to have information about You-Know-Who’s possible resurrection,” Arcturus said.

Amelia really hated referring to him that way, but most people were understandably afraid to say his name. “What kind of information could he possibly have?”

“We believe he knows about the manner in which The Dark Lord will return,” Narcissa said, and then sighed and folded her arms over her chest. “We will not be able to continue this discussion without telling Madam Bones what we already know.”

“I agree,” Sirius said. “I cannot stress this enough, this information cannot leave this room –”

Well, that was never going to go over well with her. Amelia shook her head. “I am sorry, but if a crime has been committed –”

Arcturus looked right at her, meeting her eyes. “The crime is against magic herself –”

“All right, tell me,” Amelia said, wondering what this could possibly be about.

Sirius cleared his throat. “We have found three Horcruxes with Voldemort’s magical signature on them.”

That was not in the realm of things that Amelia had expected to hear. She took a deep breath, as shocked as she had ever been, and given her line of work, that was damned shocked. “This has been verified?”

“Gringotts’ has verified the objects, and we are holding them to destroy them together,” Ragnok confirmed. “We believe that if we find all the pieces, we can banish them and what is left of his soul at the same time.”

“And how does Dumbledore fit into this equation? How would he know anything about this?” Amelia asked without inflection, but she was trembling inside.

“He more than likely knew about the piece of Voldemort’s soul that was attached to the scar on Harry’s forehead,” Sirius said, his anger very apparent.

And Amelia froze for a second with the implication of that. “He left a piece of you-know-who’s soul in Harry Potter? And did nothing?” That was so far beyond the pale that she could not believe he was that corrupt.

“We believe that it would have been impossible for someone as powerful as Dumbledore is to have missed how dark that magic in that scar was,” Ragnok said. “He might not have known it was a Horcrux, but he would have known it was dark.”

Amelia took another deep breath and steadied herself. This should not surprise her about Dumbledore. “All right, what do you need me to do. I can question him, but I’ve already tried. He does not seem to think the charges will stick.”

“Will they?” Sirius asked. “Can you convince the Wizengamot that Dumbledore took the money?”

“Oh, of that, there is no doubt. I think he believed he had a right to it,” Amelia said. “I have no idea how he thinks that he will get away with what he has done.”

“Do you think you can convince Dumbledore that he will go to Azkaban for his crimes?” Arcturus asked. “And possibly offer him a way out by giving us the information that we need.”

“I do not know. I want him to be prosecuted for the crimes he has committed. He was well outside the law with so many of the things he’s done,” Amelia said. “And yet never was held accountable.”

“I think this might have to take precedence,” Narcissa spoke up. “It is likely the Dark Lord made more of the Horcruxes. He was deeply superstitious and would have made either three or seven. Both are –”

“Magical numbers, and he would have known that,” Arcturus said. “None of us want Dumbledore to get away with what he has done, but we cannot sustain a second coming of the Dark Lord.”

Ragnok nodded. “I do not believe that anyone will survive that unscathed.”

And everyone was looking at her. Amelia closed her eyes and then opened them, resolved. It had to be done. “All right. I will speak to him tomorrow.”

Sirius breathed out audibly. “Thank you,” he said. “You should be aware that Dumbledore’s interest in Harry is related to this business.”

She looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“The reason James and Lily went into hiding was because of a supposed prophecy about Harry. Dumbledore never told them exactly what it said,” Sirius said.

That might explain a lot about Dumbledore’s motivation, Amelia thought. “If Dumbledore does not tell me tomorrow, I can take you and Harry into the Department of Mysteries, and you can retrieve the prophecy as his parent.”

“I had no idea that was even possible,” Sirius breathed out, and she could almost feel his anger. “Lily and James asked him repeatedly what it was, and he refused to tell them.”

“That does not come as a surprise,” Ragnok said, and Amelia agreed.

“We should meet again as soon as I have spoken to Dumbledore,” Amelia said. “I can only hope he will cooperate.”

Sirius snorted. “I cannot help feeling like he will make things as difficult as possible.”

Amelia agreed with that as well.

*****

The Following Morning

Kingsley was waiting outside Amelia’s door with a cup of coffee. “I have been assigned to you for the duration of your investigation,” he said, handing her the cup.

She waved him inside and refreshed her privacy charms. At this point, she did it every day. “I was not sure Alastor Moody would agree.”

“I think he senses something is happening. Alastor was pretty upset by Dumbledore’s arrest,” Kingsley said.

“I was surprised that he was not standing at my office door the morning after,” she said. He had not contacted her at all. “Do you know something about that?”

“I might have told him some of what I know about this case. He and I talked about the three estates and Diggle. I am sure he was shocked.”

She sat back and looked at him. He was stalling about something. “Is there something else, not about Moody?”

“Very good,” Kingsley laughed. “Dumbledore has been demanding to talk to you since Diggle left yesterday afternoon. You were not in your office. And he seemed to feel you should be at his beck and call.”

“I see. Did you talk to Dumbledore? What did he want?” Amelia asked.

“I tried, but he wanted to speak with you, and no one else was going to satisfy him,” Kingsley said. “I think Diggle refused to be his counsel.”

That would tilt the odds in her favor for a deal. She had more than enough evidence to convict Dumbledore, and there were enough of those on the light side who were disenchanted with him for his behavior with Harry Potter to push it farther in her favor. “I will speak to him this morning.” She picked up her coffee and took a long sip, sighing in pleasure at the bitter taste. Just what she needed before she had to deal with Dumbledore.

By the time she made it to the holding cells, it was mid-morning. Dumbledore was waiting for her in a conference room used for those detained to visit with their attorneys in private. As soon as she got there, she did a routine listening device spell to show they were not going to be recorded, and she sat down across from him.

Dumbledore did not look impressed. He did seem tense. But that could just be his becoming aware of the circumstances of the case.

“You wanted to see me,” Amelia started.

“I did. I want you to drop this case and let me go,” Dumbledore said.

She just looked at him. “Why would you think I would do that?”

“Because I have information that Voldemort is not dead and will be returning.”

“I do not believe you. And I would not begin to have this conversation unless it was under Veritaserum and it was witnessed or recorded,” she said. “So, no. I am not going to drop the charges, and I am not going to let you go.” She stood. “I am quite busy right now. You are not my only problem.”

“I would agree to be questioned under Veritaserum,” Dumbledore said before she could step away.

“I might listen to what you had to say at that point,” she said, looking at her watch. “But not right now. I have another appointment.”

“When is the trial set for?” he asked as if he did not want her to go yet.

“I believe it will be next week.” She walked toward the door. “I will be back this afternoon. We can talk then.”

He nodded once and turned away.

*****

A Few Hours Later

Amelia returned to the interrogation room where Dumbledore was waiting. She had a vial of Veritaserum. It was a special kind that the Department of Mysteries had developed so that even the most skilled Occlumens could not shield their mind from it. There would be no hiding for Dumbledore.

She held up the Veritaserum. I can ask a healer to administer it, or you can let me,” she said and waited while he thought about that.

“I suppose I can trust you,” Dumbledore said.

She moved closer to him and showed him the seal. “It has not been tampered with.”

“All right. Three drops.”

She took out the eyedropper and administered three drops onto his outstretched tongue. “It should begin to work immediately.”

He nodded, his face going a little dull. That was to be expected.

Amelia set up a dicta-quill. “This will record our conversation without embellishment of any kind.”

Dumbledore just stared at her, waiting for a question.

“Can you tell me what you know about Voldemort returning?”

“I believe he created objects that will allow him to return,” Dumbledore said.

“What objects,” Amelia asked.

“I would rather not name them,” Dumbledore said.

“What are the objects?” Amelia asked again, and she could see him struggling not to say anything or to find a way around it.

Ultimately, he realized that he had to answer. “He made Horcruxes.”

She already knew that. “How many did he make?”

“I do not know the number,” Dumbledore said.

“Can you take a guess,” she asked.

“Possibly three, or as many as seven.” Dumbledore’s tone was without inflection. “He may not have made that many yet.”

“Could he make more than seven?” Amelia asked.

“I do not believe he could split the last piece of his soul that small. I am sure if he made six, that is the limit a soul will split,” Dumbledore said, sounding sure. But he always sounded like that, even when he was dead wrong.

Mentally, Amelia sighed. They were going to be dealing with at least four or five. “How will he return? Do you know the ritual?”

“He will need a body to return to, so the ritual must provide that for him. There are only so many that will do that for him.”

She made a note to ask Arcturus or Ragnok what dark rituals existed to bring someone back this way. “Do you know what artifacts the Horcruxes are attached to?”

“I believe he will use Hogwarts founders and other recognizable objects. I do not know what they are, and I can only guess their locations,” Dumbledore said.

Well, locations might be a good starting place. “What locations?” Amelia asked.

“The Gaunt family home, it’s a shack really, which is on the outskirts of Little Hangleton.”

That sounded ominous. “Why there?” she asked.

“As much as he hated the Gaunts,” Dumbledore said. “They were still his magical family.”

Something in the way he had said that startled Amelia. It implied he also had something other than a magical family. “Who was his father?”

There was a pause from Dumbledore, and then he said, “Thomas Riddle, Senior.”

That was not a magical name that Amelia had ever heard. Not in England, anyway. That lent credence to her first suspicion. “Was he magical?”

“No. He was a Muggle,” Dumbledore said with obvious and profound distaste. That did not go with the image that Dumbledore had always presented. And it was remarkably clear that Dumbledore’s façade was just that. An image to hide behind so that his real motives were unknown.

Amelia was not going to address it now. But the information about his father meant that Voldemort was not his real name. “What was his actual name?”

“Thomas Marvolo Riddle.”

That would come as a shock to a great many people. The pureblood supremacist Voldemort was, in fact, a half-blood. Amelia bit back a laugh. “Let us go back to the possible locations of the Horcruxes. Where are the rest of them located?”

“I do not know where they all are,” Dumbledore said. “I believe that there is one in a cave on the shore where Tom Riddle had visited when he was a boy.”

“What do you know about Tom Riddle’s life as a boy,” Amelia asked. “Did he go to Hogwarts?”

“He was raised in a Muggle orphanage and went to Hogwarts in the very late 1930s. Tom was sorted into Slytherin and was head boy in his seventh year.”

Amelia made a note to ask Arcturus about him or possibly Minerva since she went to Hogwarts in the mid-1940s. “Do you know the location of the cave where he hid the Horcrux?”

“Not exactly. But it can be extrapolated by going through the records of the time for Wool’s Orphanage.”

That would be another task she could give to Kingsley. “Did you know that Harry Potter’s scar held a piece of Tom Riddle’s soul?” she asked.

That got a reaction out of Dumbledore. His eyes widened, and his face paled. But he was still under the influence of the Veritaserum. “Yes,” he said very reluctantly.

“Why did you fail to do anything about the fragment?” she asked, not at all surprised that he knew.

“Because it was not my place to interfere with his destiny,” Dumbledore said as if that were an answer to allowing a child to suffer that much dark magic.

Amelia reined back her anger. “What destiny?”

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, probably trying to fight the Veritaserum, but finally, he exhaled deeply. “There is a prophecy about Harry and his destiny.”

“Can you tell me what it says?”

Again, Dumbledore looked like he was trying to fight the Veritaserum but finally had to speak. “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…”

“That could literally be anyone,” Amelia snorted. “Why would you think it was meant for Harry Potter?”

“He was born on July 31, and his parents were members of the Order of the Phoenix. They defied Voldemort three times.”

There were so many things wrong with that narrow interpretation that Amelia could not believe he just jumped to the conclusion that Harry Potter was the subject of the prophecy. Dumbledore decided that it was a Gregorian Calendar. It was entirely likely that James and Lily Potter defied Voldemort more than just three times. The prophecy was vague in the extreme. It was clear that Dumbledore wanted it to be about Harry Potter and had created a narrative so that it would be Harry Potter.

“Who else could the prophecy have been about,” Amelia asked.

“It could also have been Neville Longbottom,” Dumbledore said after several seconds of trying not to answer.

Someone else who had lost his parents, though not to death in this case, and was being raised by someone else. Although, Agusta Longbottom was not someone to be trifled with. Amelia made another note to look into the situation of Neville’s parents, whether they were ever expected to recover from the trauma of being tortured nearly to death by Death Eaters.

Amelia cleared her throat. “Moving on. What have you done to stop Voldemort from coming back?”

“Nothing. It is not my place to do anything to interfere with Harry Potter’s destiny,” And didn’t Dumbledore just sound so self-righteous saying that.

“And do you not think that placing him with his abusive muggle relatives against his parents’ wishes was interfering?”

“I was trying to do my best for him –”

The Veritaserum had to be wearing off for him to give that answer. She was done anyway. “We are done now. Thank you for the information. I will tell the Wizengamot that you have been very cooperative.” Amelia turned off the dicta-quill and stored the parchment roll in her cloak.

“That is all you have to say to me?” Dumbledore asked scathingly. “I know that you used an illegal Veritaserum on me –”

“No, I did not. I used what the Department of Mysteries gave me,” she said. “None of the information you provided was relevant to your court case. I did not ask anything about it, which would have been illegal unless I had gotten permission first.”

Dumbledore looked furious. But there was nothing he could do. He agreed to it. And she was well within the law.

*****

After coming back from the interview with Dumbledore, Amelia needed a second or two to decompress. She had been braced for it to be awful, and it turned out worse than she had been expecting.

She sent an owl to both Ragnok and Sirius, requesting a meeting to discuss her findings. She provided no details as this was something that needed to be kept quiet. There was no reason that anyone not involved needed to know about the Horcruxes. There was also some research that needed to be done, and maybe that could be assigned to Kingsley.

Her office door chimed. “Come in,” she called and was unsurprised to see Kingsley standing in her doorway. It was as if thinking about him could produce him. “What can I do for you?”

“I was just checking in before leaving. Did it go all right with Dumbledore?” he asked.

“He has generated more work for us,” she told him. “Sit down, I have a project for you.”

“Sure thing,” Kingsley said, dropping into the chair in front of her desk.

“I need you to do some research. First, see if you can find the Gaunt family house, which is in a wooded area on the outskirts of Little Hangleton.”

Kingsley raised an eyebrow. “Can you tell me why?”

“There might be something very dangerous there. I do not want you to approach the structure in any way. I believe it to be warded and possibly boobytrapped.”

“I see,” he said. “I will get started on that in the morning.”

“Also, see what you can find out about Thomas Marvolo Riddle. He went to Hogwarts in the late 1930s and early 1940s.”

“Who is he?”

“That is what I’m trying to figure out,” Amelia said. She was not ready to talk about more than she had said. If Kingsley found something, she might read him in on the whole thing. But right now, it was need to know only.

“Is there anything else,” Kingsley asked.

“What do you know about Frank and Alice Longbottom’s condition and the circumstances of how their wards fell to Death Eaters?”

“Not a lot. Do you want me to look into that as well,” Kingsley said.

“Yes, please. I would like this information kept quiet and on my desk as quickly as feasible.”

“I will do that.” Kingsley stood. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said.

“Good night,” she replied as he went out.

One more thing was assigned. It was probably time to head out for the night.

*****

As soon as she stood, her floo chimed with an incoming call. She knelt in front of the fireplace. “Yes?”

“It is Sirius Black,” he said. “Do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure, what can I do for you, Sirius,” she asked.

“I got your note, and I was wondering what I can do to help you. Can you tell me what Dumbledore told you about? I’m assuming there is more information.”

“Why not step through, and we can talk about it face to face,” she said.

Sirius nodded, and she stood and stepped back. He came through and dusted off.

Before he could say anything, she ran a quick check to make sure her wards were still in place and that there were no listening devices or spells in the room.

Amelia waved him to a small table in the corner. She began to explain what Dumbledore had said about the Horcruxes and ended with her assigning Kingsley to do the research on the Gaunt family and Tom Riddle.

Sirius looked at her and tilted his head. “Is Voldemort related to the Gaunts or Thomas Riddle?”

“Very good,” she said and realized that if Sirius made the connection that quickly, then there was a good chance that Kingsley had as well. “Yes. The Gaunts apparently were the last of the Slytherin line, mostly squibs due to inbreeding.”

“And Riddle?”

“Was, is, Voldemort’s real name. He was born Thomas Marvolo Riddle,” she said.

And watched as Sirius’ eyes widened. “That is not a pureblood name.”

“Apparently, his mother was a Gaunt and potioned one of the local gentry. Tom Riddle was the result. His mother died in childbirth, and Tom was raised in a Muggle orphanage.”

“This is enough to make my head explode,” Sirius said. “The pureblood fanatic is actually a half-blood. That is ridiculous.” He laughed for a moment. “How hard is it to find out this information?”

Amelia wondered where he was going with this. “You would probably have to know his real name, at the least.

“I wonder how many people knew who he actually was and followed him anyway?” Sirius asked.

“That is an excellent question,” Amelia agreed. “But one I do not have an answer to at this point. He was too young to have gone to school with your grandfather.”

“I could ask my father or some of my other relatives,” Sirius asked. “I wonder if Narcissa knows. I am sure that Lucius doesn’t know. His father possibly did. He might have been the right age. Or Theros Nott.”

“Abraxas Malfoy died last year of dragonpox,” Amelia said. An owl appeared in her office, looking like it was from Gringotts. She got some treats and took the note, resizing it. “It is from Director Ragnok.”

“What does he say?” Sirius asked.

“That we should meet tomorrow about the information I got from Dumbledore. I am going to ask him to give me a few days to see what Kingsley comes up with on Riddle and the Gaunts,” Amelia said. That and she wanted the information on the Longbottoms as well.

“I think that is wise,” Sirius agreed. “I will speak to my grandfather and possibly Narcissa. I think she is very concerned about Voldemort coming back.”

“I have heard rumors that Lucius Malfoy is enraged by her leaving him and plans to do her harm.”

Sirius’ eyes widened. “I had not thought him that stupid. She is a Black. She knows how to defend herself better than he could imagine.”

“Well, because he has threatened her more than once publicly, whatever action she takes to defend herself will be considered justified. I will see to it,” Amelia promised. Not because she was a Black, but because she or any woman should not have to defend herself officially for having met this kind of violent threat.

“That’s good to hear. And I will make sure she knows that. My grandfather would not be pleased to hear she was hurt by him. Or anyone for that matter.”

Amelia nodded.

*****

A Few Days Later

After meeting with Ragnok, Sirius, Arcturus, and Amelia Bones, Narcissa was on her way into the Alley. The meeting had been an information exchange and some of that information had been quite shocking. Most specifically that the Dark Lord was actually a half-blood. Shocking and very amusing. All of those branded idiots were following a half-blood. She would laugh in their faces the next time she saw any of them.

“Narcissa,” someone called.

And Lucius was coming towards her swiftly, as if he had a right to speak to her in public. Which he did not. She turned slowly, letting her cloak fan out behind her.

“Do not think you have the right to speak to me,” she said with a glare. “I do not have time for you today. Call my attorney and make an appointment.”

“Do not speak to me in that tone,” Lucius said, his wand in his hand. “It is you who have no rights unless I give them to you.”

“I am no longer your wife. You forget to whom you speak now,” Narcissa said, not letting any of her anger show. She would not lose her temper. It would make her seem as if she were weak and not in control of the situation.

She saw he was about to raise his wand. Sweet Merlin, he telegraphed what he was about to do. Had no one ever taught him how to duel?

“You fool, you will not cast on me on a public street like a common ruffian,” she said, hoping to forestall dealing with him in public. But she knew he would try anyway. When Lucius was enraged, he abandoned all propriety and decorum. He really had no idea how to keep private matters private.

The look on Lucius’ face was ugly. He also did not know how to appear calm when he should. “Oh, I do not think anyone will mind my putting you in your place –”

“I give you no leave to speak to me. If you disagree, you may call my attorney,” she said in a dismissive and cold tone. “Now let me pass.”

“You are going to learn who is in charge of this relationship.” He said, and he tried to reach for her arm.

Well, that was annoying. She sidestepped him and ground her very sharp spiked heel into his boot. The cheap leather gave way, and she pressed into his foot.

He screamed in pain. How completely undignified. She just stared at him.

“I’m sure that hurt,” Narcissa said, not letting herself smile at all. “And there is no relationship. I have already told you that you will not engage me in the street like a degenerate. Although, I suspect that is exactly what you are, serving your half-blood Dark Lord.”

“What,” he looked up at that, his eyes wide with disbelief. “What are you talking about? The Dark Lord is Slytherin’s heir. He is a pureblood.”

“No. He is not. He is the son of a Muggle and a squib. The last of the Gaunt line. I would tell you to look it up, but I am not convinced you can actually read.”

He growled at her and once again attempted to catch her arm.

She stepped back and raised her wand. “I warned you.” She cast one of the Black family’s more intense paralysis spells. And he crashed down into the gutter, unable to move.

“That might wear off in a few hours or not. Oh, and it paralyzed your vocal cords as well.” Narcissa smiled sweetly at him and then stepped over him to move onto the sidewalk.

And nearly ran into Minerva McGonagall.

Narcissa nodded to her. “I apologize for your having to witness that.”

“Do not bother yourself with that, my dear,” McGonagall said, smiling at her, seemingly pleased by what she had seen. Not like she had ever done at school. “You handled that with aplomb. You made him see the error of his ways in approaching you in such an ungentlemanly fashion.”

“Yes, he does not have any manners at all. I wonder how I stayed married to him as long as I did.” Narcissa nodded. “Good day to you, Lady Ross.”

Before Narcissa could move away, McGonagall held up a hand.

“When you are ready, come have tea with me at Hogwarts,” McGonagall invited.

Had Andromeda spoken to her? Narcissa nodded. “Of course, I would like that. Expect my owl directly.”

*****

As she walked away, Narcissa’s heart started to pound. She needed a moment. She slipped into the bookstore, which fortunately was nearly empty, and made her way through the stacks until she was no longer near the entrance. With a hand on the shelf beside her, she took several long, deep breaths. Even expecting something, she was not prepared for the violence in Lucius.

“Can I help you?” an unfamiliar voice startled her out of her reverie. “No, thank you,” she said, hoping she did not sound as breathless as she felt. “I am just browsing for something to read.”

“Of course,” the clerk said and moved away.

She moved towards the fiction section and picked two books at random. What they were, she did not know or care. They were rung up and paid for, and she was on her way. But a day of shopping had lost its appeal, and she flooed back to Black Manor.

As soon as she had crossed the threshold of the fireplace, Sirius came into the room.

“Are you all right?” he asked, sounding more breathless than she had been.

“I am fine,” she said without any inflection. “I assume you heard about my encounter with Lucius on the Alley.”

“I expect everyone has heard about it by now. Apparently, you put him down when he would have attacked you.”

“I made him see the error of his ways in trying to confront me on the street, yes.” She sniffed and moved towards the door. “We should have tea. I will give you the details.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Sirius said, holding out his hand for her to precede him out of the room.

They settled at a table on the terrace. It was spelled for warmth.

“Daisy,” Sirius said. The elf popped in, and Sirius asked her to bring them some tea.

After a sip or two, she looked at him. “It was not a big deal. I was perfectly safe.”

“Except –”

“I had not expected that level of malevolence from him. It is as if he blames me for all that is wrong with his life. It seems to have become an order of magnitude worse since I left a few weeks ago.”

“I’m sure he’s had plenty of time to dwell on it,” Sirius said. “Word on the street is that he’s desperate for money.”

“Well, it is not my fault that he gave most of his galleons to that half-blood Dark Lord of his. And now there is nothing left. He thinks he is far too good to actually get a job and earn a living.”

“That is true,” Sirius agreed. “Speaking of that. Did you want to continue your studies?”

“You knew?”

“That you had a potions apprenticeship and had to give it up to marry Lucius? Yes. We all knew. You seemed happy enough at the time to do it.”

“Ten years ago, I was a silly little girl just out of school. I believed Lucius when he said I could go back to it once I had our children,” Narcissa said. “But because of the taint of the dark mark, it was not as easy to create children as he had led me to believe. And then, after Draco was born, he was so changed from the man I knew at school.”

“So, does that mean yes, you want to go back and pursue a potions mastery?”

“In theory, I would like that. But there is Draco to consider,” she said and held up a hand. “I am not going to make that decision now. I need time.”

“I understand that.”

“You were going to be an Auror. Do you still want to pursue that?” she asked, glad to put the subject of what would happen in the future on someone else.

“I think that ship has sailed. I would like to do something in the future, but now, I would just like to get past the last two years,” Sirius said. “As I am sure you know, I also have duties as heir that I will need to attend to.”

“I would say that healing from your ordeal will take some time, and you should give yourself that, cousin. I know that our grandfather has brought in healers for your father. Maybe talk with them?”

“I could say the same.”

“I have my own ways of dealing with the past. I am going to approach Minerva McGonagall about a cleansing and healing ritual,” she said. Narcissa was surprised that she would even mention it to Sirius. But he had matured quite a bit since he had come back from Azkaban. And as he just said, he was Grandfather’s heir which meant that eventually he would be her Lord.

“I would have done something like that, especially for my father, but apparently, there are no conclaves left in Britain,” Sirius said, sounding like it bothered him.

“I would not be surprised to find one operating in secret,” Narcissa said. “I don’t know of any, but I can’t believe they are all gone. Perhaps you can ask around with some of the gray-leaning wizards. Or you could create one. You were raised in the Wiccan tradition and know all the basic rituals. You could create the rituals as you needed them.”

The idea seemed to startle Sirius. “Who would I even ask to join me?”

“Light, dark, and gray wizards, I would think. No one who was truly dark, of course. What about your father, grandfather, and maybe some of the younger Aurors you were in school with?” Narcissa paused and thought about it for a moment.

“You do not want anyone with deep connections to Dumbledore or Death Eaters,” Narcissa said. “There are probably a lot of wizards who would like to practice ritual magic. You know, what about Edward Tonks? He might be a Muggleborn, but he lives in our world and is part of our family. He should learn about the greater wizarding traditions.”

Sirius smiled widely at her. “I like the idea of including Ted. From what I have seen of him, he would probably love that. I’ll think about it. I would like something for my father. I think he’d find comfort in it. I’d need at least seven wizards to start a conclave.”

But clearly, Sirius was going to think about it. Narcissa was all for bringing back magical traditions. But she had other things to think about right now.

“I should get back to Draco and see how he’s fairing,” Narcissa said. “He was going to take lessons with Harry this afternoon.”

“I think those two are becoming fast friends,” Sirius said with a laugh. “I am quite sure they are going to be a lot of trouble when they get older.”

She smiled, too. That would not be so bad. “I do not want Draco to grow up in isolation, especially not with those who follow the Dark Lord.”

“I am hoping we’ll put a stop to him before he can resurrect himself, and that will be the end of it.”

“I hope so as well,” Narcissa said. “I want to go on with my life from here.”

*****

Chapter Nine

A Week Later

As the members of the Wizengamot filed into Courtroom Ten, Amelia saw most of the wizards and witches she was expecting. Arcturus took the Black seat, and Sirius took the Potter seat. That was new but not unexpected. She had heard that Dumbledore had not wanted to give it up but had no standing to object. Lucius Malfoy came in and looked, well, unkempt, which was something of a surprise. But she had heard around things were not going well for him.

She took a deep breath and let it out. She would be glad when this was over. Dumbledore was not likely to see full justice, but that wasn’t for her to say.

Griselda Marchbanks was still acting Chief Witch, and she took her place on the high podium. “Clerk, if you please,” she said.

The clerk of the court stood and cleared his throat. “The Wizengamot is now in session, and the honorable Griselda Marchbanks is acting Chief Witch.”

Madam Marchbanks touched her wand to the podium, and it rang. “We are going to hear and judge the actions of Albus Dumbledore on charges of taking unauthorized galleons from several estates held in abeyance and from people who were aligned with his organization. Bring in the prisoner.”

Dumbledore was brought in, wearing his usual mismatched and outlandishly colored robes. He was accompanied by a wizard that Amelia didn’t recognize. She assumed he was Dumbledore’s attorney.

As soon as they were seated at the defense table, Dumbledore’s attorney stood up and said, “We request that all the charges be dismissed. Mr. Dumbledore was given permission from all the –”

“Sit down,” Madam Marchbanks said sharply. “And no, we are not dismissing charges. Do not ask again. Mr. Dumbledore will answer the charges and be questioned by the Wizengamot.” She looked down and glared at him. “And it is quite impolite to make a motion without introducing yourself first.”

The wizard, who was quite unremarkable looking and dressed in drab brown robes, said, “Forgive me, Chief Witch, I am Bartholomew Renolds. I am counsel for Mr. Dumbledore.”

Madam Marchbanks nodded once and looked at Amelia. “Please read the charges.”

“Yes, madam,” Amelia said politely. “The charges are as follows, five counts of illegal appropriation of funds without authorization from living wizards or witches, one of which is a minor child, and three counts of illegal appropriation of funds from the estates held in abeyance without authorization from the last will and testament, bribery…” Amelia went on to list all the related charges.

There were enough charges that if he were convicted on all of them, it would put Dumbledore in prison for a very long time. She did not believe that would happen; the system was too corrupt, and like what had just happened, Dumbledore did not think he should pay for his crimes.

Emmeline Vance was called as the first witness for the prosecution.

“Ms Vance,” Amelia asked, “Did you sign or verbally in any way designate twenty-five percent of your income to Albus Dumbledore or The Order of the Phoenix Corporation?”

“I did not –”

“Objection,” Mr. Renolds called. “I have a signed document –”

“Oh, no, you do not,” Vance said, pointing a finger at him. “You could not have any such a document because I never signed a thing, and if you do have something, it is a forgery.”

“Are you sure about that, Ms Vance,” Dumbledore said with a knowing smirk on his face.

Amelia wondered just exactly what Dumbledore had and what he used to get it.

“Very sure. You stole from me for years, Albus. I’m not going to forget or forgive you for that. My family died serving what we thought was the light and, in fact, was just your ego,” she snarled at him.

For a moment, there was a din of people talking at once. Some seemed offended that Vance could say something like that about their beloved Albus Dumbledore, but more seemed to sit up and listen.

“Order,” Madam Marchbanks demanded, tapping her wand twice. “I will have no more outbursts from you or your counsel, Mr. Dumbledore. Mr. Renolds will have a chance to question the witness after Madam Bones is done. Do I make myself clear?” She looked at them like they were recalcitrant schoolboys.

And both Renolds and Dumbledore nodded.

“Madam Bones,” Madam Marchbanks said.

“Ms. Vance, there is no way you could be mistaken,” Amelia asked. She needed to make sure that everyone understood that Vance did not agree with this in any way. “There is nothing you have ever said nor signed that said you would give any amount of money to Albus Dumbledore or his organization.”

“No, nothing. And if they have something, it’s a forgery,” Vance said, her tone strident and sure. “I have spent years trying to make ends meet without understanding why I never had enough money for even the basic things like a new pair of shoes when mine are worn out and could no longer be fixed by repair spells.”

“I understand. I have no more questions,” Amelia said. She felt sorry for Vance. What was done to her was unlawful and cruel. Amelia was more convinced than ever that there was something else going on here.

“Do you wish to cross-examine?” Madam Marchbanks asked.

Mr. Renolds nodded and held up a rolled parchment. “I would like to show Ms Vance a document that she did, in fact, sign giving the Order of The Phoenix twenty-five percent of her salary in perpetuity. It has been magically verified.”

“No,” Vance said, shaking her head in what looked like complete disbelief. “I do not care what you have. I did not knowingly sign anything, nor have I ever agreed to that, and I want it stopped.”

Mr. Renolds shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ms. Vance, the document is for life –”

“No, it is not. You cannot possibly compel me to do something like that, not for life. That simply cannot be legal,” she roared at Renolds and then glared at Dumbledore. “I am done with you, Albus Dumbledore.”

“I am sorry you feel that way, Emmeline, but the document is real,” Dumbledore sounded apologetic, which made it all the worse. “You knew that when you signed it. You agreed that it was for the greater good.”

“I did not sign it,” she said, so clearly outraged. “I want my money back.”

Before they could go back and forth again, Arthur Weasley stood up. “If you please, Chief Witch. May I address the court?”

“Mr. Weasley, do you have something to add?” Madam Marchbanks asked.

“I do. I was going to wait to see what kind of lie Albus came up with for me, but I see he will use the same thing for all of us. If Emmaline’s document was signed as mine was, then it was not forged so much as signed under Imperius. Which I suspect legally is the same thing.”

“I would never do that,” Dumbledore said, sounding shocked, but under it, he now looked a little worried. “You signed it just like they did.”

“Except that I did not sign it willingly, and I would never do that. I have seven children, you monster,” Arthur snarled and pointed a finger at him. “You literally took the food out of my children’s mouths.” Arthur held up a vial of what looked like a memory. “And I can prove it. I got this memory from a goblin healer after I went to St. Mungo’s, and they sent me to Glint Thistlewild.” He held up a piece of rolled parchment. “This document is the certification on the memory. I believe the Wizengamot has a pensive that will play for everyone.”

“No,” Dumbledore snapped. “I will not allow it. It is inadmissible in this court.”

“It is not for you to allow or disallow evidence. It is for me to do that,” Madam Marchbanks snapped at him. “And one more outburst from you, Mr. Dumbledore, and I’ll hold you in contempt of court. I am the Chief Witch here, and I will thank you to remember that.”

“If it is from the goblins,” Renolds said. “It could well be tampered with –”

“If it is magically certified, then it has not been tampered with, and as such, it is admissible as evidence in this court,” Amelia added. “Just like the magically certified documents you have entered as evidence.”

Dumbledore was turning an unpleasant shade of puce. “No. I forbid it,” he said again in a firm tone, as if that would change anyone’s mind.

Madam Marchbanks smiled at him with all her teeth. “What are you trying to hide, Mr. Dumbledore. I think we shall see your memory, Mr. Weasley.” She turned to the clerk. “Please bring out the pensive.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said and came down the stairs to hand them the certified memory and the documentation.

The memory played and showed Arthur and Dumbledore arguing about the donation to the Order of the Phoenix fund and Arthur saying they did not have the money and to stop asking. Arthur turned away. Then, Dumbledore pulled his wand and cast the Imperius Curse. Arthur was told to sign the document. Then, Dumbledore memory charmed him to forget what just happened.

The entire Wizengamot sucked in a breath of disbelief. Among his most ardent supporters, several looked devastated by what they had seen.

Merlin knew Amelia was just as shocked as the rest of them. “Chief Witch,” Amelia said with all her authority. “I would like to amend the charges to add the use of the Imperius Curse to coerce compliance.”

Madam Marchbanks nodded. “I will allow it. And because that is the much greater charge, we will vote on that one first.”

“I object,” Mr. Renolds said. “A goblin memory extraction shall not be used as evidence in a British Court.”

“As Madam Bones has already pointed out, it can be used if it is certified, which we just heard that it was,” Madam Marchbanks said. “Your objection is overruled.”

“I call for a vote on the Imperius charge,” Amelia said.

Six people seconded it at the same time. There were no arguments or further questions.

The vote was guilty, and Dumbledore looked furious. As if he thought he was wrongly convicted. Amelia found that unbelievable. What did he think was going to happen if he were caught using an unforgivable?

“I call a vote on the rest of the charges of theft from living wizards and witches and those estates held in abeyance,” Amelia said into the silence that followed the first verdict. They needed the conviction on the theft to release the funds from the account.

This time seven people seconded that at the same time.

Again, Dumbledore was convicted on those charges as well.

“You may address the court before sentencing,” Madam Marchbanks said and glared down at him. “This is where you apologize to those you have hurt and say that you will accept the judgment of this court.”

“I do not accept your judgment. I will appeal,” Dumbledore said as he stood. “What I did, I did it for the greater good. I did not use the funds for my own gain. Most of the galleons are still in the accounts. But Voldemort is coming back. He is not dead.”

“Of course he is,” Madam Marchbanks said. “You have said your piece. Now sit down.”

She waited for him to sit.

“Now I will render judgment,” Madam Marchbanks said. “The conviction of Imperius carries a lifetime sentence in Azkaban. There is no argument for that, nor parole or lessening of that sentence in any way. And in this case, it looks like you did it several times. For each further conviction, it will add another life sentence.” She glanced at Hestia Jones, Arthur Weasley, and Daedalus Diggle. They all nodded, clearly going to bring further charges.

Madam Marchbanks went on. “For the conviction on the thievery charges, you will forfeit the Order of the Phoenix account, and those galleons will be returned to those whom you took the funds from. All of your personal galleons and assets are forfeited. Your personal assets and galleons will be split between those who are alive and were harmed by your actions. The court will take the rest in fines. And as a convicted felon, you are hereby stripped of the headmaster position at Hogwarts and any other position you hold anywhere in the wizarding world.”

That was a fair judgment as far as Amelia was concerned, and from the look of it, most of the Wizengamot agreed.

“No,” Dumbledore shouted, “You cannot do that to me. I am the Leader of the Light. I must –”

“This is a final judgment,” Madam Marchbanks cut him off and touched her wand to the podium. It clanged twice. “We are done here. The court is adjourned.” She touched her wand to the podium, and it clanged the end of the session.

*****

After the final judgment, the entire room erupted in chaos. Aurors came forward to take control of Dumbledore and he had no wand to fight them. He was quickly removed from the courtroom and would likely be on a boat to Azkaban this afternoon.

Sirius let out a long, slow sigh of relief. It was finally over. He stood and moved down the aisle toward the steps. He met his grandfather there. “I was not expecting that,” Sirius whispered to him.

“Nor was I,” Arcturus said. “I think you should be checked out by Glint Thistlewild as soon as possible.”

Sirius sucked in a breath. “I think you are probably right. I will see if she can see me today.”

“We still have work to do,” Arcturus said. “I believe I will pay a visit to Director Ragnok today as well.

As they stepped onto the main floor, Sirius saw Minerva McGonagall step down. She looked ill. “Are you alright, professor?”

“I believe so,” she said, but she put a hand out to the wall to steady herself.

“We should get you out of here and maybe get you some tea?” Sirius suggested.

She smiled at him. “I do not think tea is going to help right now,” Minerva said. “When Dumbledore was stripped of the headmaster position, the wards fell to me.”

“And you are struggling to carry them?” Sirius asked incredulously. Minerva McGonagall was one of the strongest, most powerful witches he had ever met.

“It is not the wards themselves that are the problem,” Minerva said with a sigh. She pushed off the wall. “It is complicated to explain. But perhaps some tea will help.”

“We should take Professor McGonagall over to the new restaurant on the Alley and have tea. We are headed to the bank anyway,” Arcturus suggested with a smile towards her.

“I think that is a lovely idea,” Sirius agreed. He was worried about what was wrong with her.

“That would be fine,” Minerva said, sounding a little stronger. “I need to see the Goblins about several things anyway.”

“We are all headed in the same direction, then,” Arcturus said, holding out an arm for her to take. “We can floo to the Alley from here.”

*****

After tea, Arcturus and Sirius escorted Minerva to the bank. She did not need the care, but she did appreciate it. She was shown into the Hogwarts account manager’s office.

“Good day to you, Headmistress,” Ricbert Driftknife said in what passed for a pleasant tone. “How can Gringotts help you today.”

“Good day, Ricbert,” Minerva replied. She was aware enough of Goblin culture to know that Ricbert was his surname and that they did not use Muggle titles or honorifics. “I would like a review of all the accounts for Hogwarts. And some advice about several other things. Most importantly, where the funds to run the school are allocated.”

“I understand. There has not been an audit on the school in a very long time,” Ricbert said and met her eyes. “And by a long time, I mean decades.”

Minerva tried to keep the shock off her face. “How is that even possible? It was my understanding that a full audit was to be done yearly.”

Ricbert shook his head. “It was discontinued within a few years of Headmaster Dumbledore taking over the school.”

“I see,” Minerva said, closing her eyes. After today’s revelations, why was she even surprised? There had been less and less money and more and more work over the years she had taught there. Another question of equal importance was why she and the other staff had not realized what was going on? “I would like to request a full audit of every single account that has any contact with Hogwarts.”

“Everything?” Ricbert asked, and he seemed pleased with the thought.

She could tell already by his tone that it was not going to be good. “Every damned thing,” she reiterated. “How long will that take?”

“I can show you all the accounts now and what is in them,” Ricbert said. Clearly, he knew this was coming. He held out his hand, and a large account book appeared in it.

“I would appreciate that a great deal,” she said. “Where do we start?”

“There are four main accounts for the school and many minor ones. There are also stipends that were left to the school by various students and parents over the years,” Ricbert explained. “The four main accounts are the general operating fund, the salary account, the tuition account, and the OOTP account, which most of the money that isn’t tied up in the rest of the accounts goes to.”

“As I understand it, the general operating fund should have most of the money so that the school can run, and the tuition account should cover that,” she said.

Ricbert shook his head. “At least fifty percent of the tuition account is transferred to the OOTP account, along with twenty-five percent from the salary account and the general operating fund account.”

“We need to fix that,” Minerva said. “I would also like documentation about this issue to give to Madam Bones. It seems that Dumbledore not only robbed his followers, but he also robbed the school as well.” She felt even more sick and looked at Ricbert. “How much is in the Order of the Phoenix fund?”

“Enough to offer free tuition for a decade, buy new books, give the teachers a raise in pay, hire new teachers, and fund all the courses that have been dropped over the years,” Ricbert said without inflection.

Fury rang through Minerva. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “All right, close the damned Order account, and put all the money back into the general fund, and I’m going to work for the rest of this school year to make sure that we start to come up to the standards we used to meet by the beginning of next school year. Thank you,” she said.

“Was there anything else?” Ricbert asked.

“As a matter of fact, this was not even why I came in here today,” Minerva said. “When the wards settled on me, I felt the school’s distress due to the number of dark objects that are located in and around the school. There is one that is so awful that the school is miserable about it. I have no idea how Dumbledore could miss this.”

But she knew the answer, and clearly, so did Ricbert. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she breathed out, trying to control her fury. Dumbledore had not missed it. He had ignored it.

“What would you like us to do about it?” Ricbert asked.

She looked at him. “What are my options? I am going to assume I can afford a curse breaker or two to clean out the school, and while they are at it, they could fix the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.”

“Easily done,” Ricbert confirmed. “When would you like them to arrive?”

“What about the Yule holidays next month? I can have the school cleared out of students, and a team from the bank can come in,” Minerva suggested. That would work well. She’d have a few weeks to work through some of the more egregious problems. In the coming summer, she would work on staffing.

“Very good. I will arrange it for the day after the students leave,” Ricbert said. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you,” she said, standing. “As always, you have been very helpful.”

“Thank you, headmistress.” Ricbert stood as well. “I would suggest you see one of our healers to check you for memory charms.”

“An excellent suggestion, Ricbert, but not today, I’m afraid. I need to get back to the school,” Minerva said. “I will try to see to it this weekend.”

*****

After meeting with Ragnok, Arcturus joined Sirius when he went to see Glint Thistlewild. Not that he needed his grandfather there, but it was nice to have the support. He was afraid of what he was going to find.

“Given what happened today in court,” Healer Glint said, “I am sure you will not be surprised to learn you have been memory-charmed several times. More than one goes back to your school days.”

“I would have been underaged,” Sirius pointed out. “We will need full documentation on this.”

“Of course,” Healer Glint said. “I was expecting that. Do you want me to remove the charms? It would be better to release them one at a time rather than all at once.”

“We will defer to your expertise on this,” Arcturus said and then turned to Sirius. “If that is all right with you?”

“Of course,” Sirius said. One at a time would likely be easier for him to deal with.

“We will start with the latest one and work backward,” she said and raised her hands. “With your permission?”

Sirius nodded, and he felt the block and then it gave way to the memory.

He and James were in Dumbledore’s office, and they were arguing about the invisibility cloak. Dumbledore wanted to study it, and James refused, saying it would be useful to have it when they went into hiding, which was supposed to happen in the next few days. Dumbledore cast a paralysis spell on each of them and took the cloak from James. Then, memory charmed them so that they both only would remember that James had lent it to him. Sirius also remembered that Dumbledore had muttered that James was never going to need it again, anyway.

Sirius sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Do you have a pensive viewer?”

Surprised, Healer Glint nodded and pointed to the basin against the wall. Sirius pulled the memory out and put it in the basin. She waved her hand, and the memory played out in the air above the pensive.

“That was horrifying,” Arcturus said. “But unfortunately, not surprising.”

No, Sirius thought, it wasn’t surprising at all. “Can we do the next one?”

“If you are sure you wish to,” Healer Glint said.

“I do. It is better to know than to worry about not knowing,” Sirius said. And beside him, Arcturus nodded.

The next memory also took place in Dumbledore’s office. This was right after the death of James’ father. He tried to use the Imperius curse on James to make him give Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix fund five hundred galleons a month for life, but James threw off the curse. Dumbledore memory charmed them both to forget that.

Sirius played that one for both of them and Healer Glint documented that as well. “If you’d like, I can send both of these certifications, as well as the memories, to Madam Bones.”

“Yes, thank you,” Sirius said. “I think that might be all for today. How many more are there?”

“It is hard to tell exact numbers because correcting one might allow others to show up. Judging from the surrounding memories, I would say there are some from the end of your fifth year and the others from sometime in your sixth year. But it also might go further back than that.”

Sirius closed his eyes. Some of his worst lapses in judgment came from those times. Part of him wanted to know what Dumbledore had done to him. And part of him was too tired right now to think about it. “When will I be recovered enough to finish this?” he asked, stifling a yawn.

“I would wait a week at least,” Healer Glint said.

He wasn’t going to argue with her. “All right,” he said, standing then stumbling. Damn, he was tired.

“Do you want to rest for a while before we go,” Arcturus asked.

Sirius shook his head. “We should just floo home,” he said.

*****

Chapter Ten

Hogwarts
That Evening

In her office within Gryffindor Tower, Minerva sat at her desk grading essays. The room was filled with bookcases of all manner of subjects, mostly transfiguration, of course, but there were many other subjects she was interested in. Just not this second.

Now, she wondered, once again, why there was no magical primary school to teach these children how to put together an essay. It usually took until the end of the first year to teach the structure. As far as she was concerned, it was a massive waste of time.

More than once, she had asked for a course for first years to teach it, but no, there was no money for anything other than the basic magic courses. So, only the Muggleborns, who had gone to primary school, and the high-end purebloods whose parents had hired tutors, knew what they were doing to start with. That left the majority of the students without a clue, and she and the rest of the teachers struggled to correct structure as well as content.

She sighed as she finished the last of the lot she had been working on. As she sat there, she felt something at the edge of her consciousness, as if it were, what, trying to get her attention. “What?” she said out loud and looked around. There was no one in her office.

There was a faint sense of someone or maybe something needing help. “I am more tired than I thought,” she said out loud. But the niggling in her mind would not leave her.

After another second or two, a picture of Dumbledore’s wand flashed into her mind. She had put it in a drawer and tried to forget about it. Her own wand did not work as well as it had, but it was sufficient to her needs. Dumbledore’s wand had felt…needy. Like it wanted to be the one wand she used. She didn’t like that feeling.

“What would you like me to do with it?” she asked, feeling foolish to be talking to the air. But no one was there to hear it.

Another image flashed into her mind, and she recognized the wand movements for Finite Incantatem. She picked up the wand, which seemed very excited to have her touching it. Not that that wasn’t creepy enough.

“Finite Incantatem,” Minerva said forcefully, pointing the wand at the outside wall. Something shimmered, and an older woman with long, gray hair and dressed in ancient dress robes came out of the wall, startling the hell out of her.

“Bloody Hell,” Minerva said sharply. “Who are you?”

“I am Hogwarts,” she said. “Or rather, I am a manifestation that can speak to you.”

Minerva closed her eyes. “All right, what do you want from me?”

“As headmistress, you must remove the abomination from within my walls,” she said. “I will help you find it.”

“I’ve already contacted the goblins to come the day after the students all leave,” Minerva said. “It is only a few weeks.”

“It is far too long to wait,” she said. “I have been silenced for too long. We must remove it now.”

“It has been here a long time already. Surely, a few more weeks will not hurt anything,” Minerva reasoned. But she had a bad feeling that was not going to satisfy Hogwarts.

“Every second the abomination remains in the school means another second a student or teacher could be tainted by it. Once tainted, it will be difficult for them to come back to the light,” Hogwarts said.

“Of course,” Minerva said, standing. With all the grading she had to do, that was one of the few arguments that could have gotten her out of her office that evening. “Are you visible to anyone else?”

“I can be,” she said. “But it takes energy, and I do not have much to spare.”

Minerva nodded. “Where are we going?”

“To the seventh floor. Wait for me in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach the trolls to dance.” She faded out.

“Bloody hell,” Minerva muttered and made her way up to the seventh floor. As soon as she got there, Hogwarts appeared again.

“To get into the room –”

“You will provide a door for me,” Minerva said, putting her hands on her hips. “And any time I come up here from now on, you’ll provide a door. I do not have time for shenanigans, especially since you asked me to find whatever this object is.”

“Very well,” Hogwarts sounded disappointed, but she waved her hand, and a door appeared.

“Where are we going?” Minerva asked as she put her hand on the doorknob.

“The Room of Hidden Things,” she said.

“Fantastic,” Minerva muttered and opened the door to a massive room filled to the brim with…things. But she could feel the dark object already. It was somewhere in the rows of things piled high on shelves. “What is all this?”

“Things that are lost, abandoned or hidden,” Hogwarts said.

“And how do you find anything in here?” Just walking through the room could take hours or maybe days. “I do not have a lot of time right now.”

“This will not wait,” Hogwarts said. “I can only pinpoint the object so well. You must search for it.”

“Well, I can feel it,” Minerva said. “To the right, I think. Let us continue. Curfew is in an hour. And I have many things yet to do tonight.”

“I understand, but this is hurting the school. Me,” she said.

Minerva moved off to the right and chose a long row. There were brooms of all sorts, books, clothes, and jewelry all piled together. When there was a break in the row, she turned right and went back down the next row. The sheer number of things on the shelves was overwhelming. But she tried to concentrate on following the source of the darkness she felt.

After what seemed like a long time, but was probably a little more than an hour, Minerva came to a pile of miscellaneous junk. A bust of stone was resting on the shelf in front of it, and it had a diadem sitting on its head. Her first thought was to reach out and put the diadem on, but she resisted that easily enough. The dark magic coming off the diadem was the source of the problem.

Hogwarts appeared beside her. “That is it,” she said.

“I am aware of that,” Minerva said. “And it wants me to touch it.”

“Do not do so,” Hogwarts warned.

“No, I got that,” Minerva said and looked around. She found a hatbox and emptied the hat out of it onto a shelf. She took Dumbledore’s wand and transfigured the hatbox into a lead-lined case that would lock when she closed it. Using the wand, she quickly transferred the diadem into the box and shut the lid, putting her strongest locking spell on it. The relief from having the darkness contained was stunning.

Hogwarts seemed to sag against the shelving. “Thank you,” she said. “I am grateful to have that gone.”

“What is it?” Minerva asked, but she was very much afraid she already knew what it was.

“A Horcrux,” Hogwarts said, confirming her worst fears.

“And who made it,” Minerva asked. But again, she was afraid she already knew. And that Dumbledore was right, that You-Know-Who was not dead.

“Thomas Riddle,” Hogwarts said. “You might know him as Voldemort.”

“Bloody fucking hell,” Minerva hissed. “Tom Riddle became Voldemort?” She had been a first-year the year that Riddle was a seventh-year. She had never had any contact with him, but he was headboy that year.

“All right, we’re actually going to leave the box here until I can get in touch with the goblins to help me get rid of it. You were correct to have me take care of this now. A student would not have been able to resist the pull to put the diadem on.”

Hogwarts nodded. “Come to the seventh floor and call me when you want to retrieve it.”

“It will be safe here. I’m going back to my room to finish tonight’s grading, and I will contact Director Ragnok and Amelia Bones tomorrow.”

Hogwarts faded back into the wall, and Minerva sighed. What a damned mess this was.

*****

It was after curfew when she finally made it back to the tower, and she’d had to take points from several students who did not feel the rules were meant for them. As she approached the door to the Gryffindor common room, she saw Bill Weasley, who was a second-year, sitting on the floor outside the door.

“Did you forget the password, Mr. Weasley?” she asked, not unkindly. But as good a student as he was, he was still out after hours, which means he had better have a good explanation.

“No, professor,” Bill said. “I just got a note from my father today about the headmaster, or ex-headmaster, really. He told me about him taking our money without asking. And that he was going to take me to get a new wand for Yule this year. And maybe a new broom since I made the team this year.”

Minerva thought of all the brooms she’d seen in the Room of Hidden Things and all the good she could do with them. Bill was already a great seeker and would likely get better as he got older.

“Why did you come out here to read it?” Minerva asked.

“I read it in the common room, but I wanted a quiet place to think about what he said,” Bill said, and he glanced around. “There isn’t anywhere in the common room, and the library is already closed. My dorm is very noisy.”

“I see. But I am sure you know it is after curfew,” Minerva pointed out.

Bill looked down. “I know. But I thought if I just sat outside the door, no one would care. I told the prefect that I needed to think.”

“What did they say?” Minerva asked.

“That I could do it at my own risk, but that they wouldn’t report me if I didn’t go beyond the corridor. Which I didn’t.”

“What did you think about out here?” she asked.

“That Dumbledore always seemed nice, but he hurt my family. He made us more poor than we already were, and sometimes I saw that Mom or Dad skipped dinner so that there would be enough for the rest of us.”

Minerva had years of practice keeping the expression off her face, but she felt like she’d been stabbed again with Dumbledore’s treachery. How could he have done this to the Weasley family? “I think that Mr. Dumbledore is going to pay for what he did. And that he will not be able to hurt your family or anyone else again.”

Bill bit his lip. “I know. I wish he hadn’t done it at all.”

“I do, too,” she said. “But I need to grade papers, and you need to go to bed. So, in you go. And one point from Gryffindor for being out after curfew, and two points to Gryffindor for caring deeply about your family.”

Bill smiled at her as he went through the portrait hole.

*****

Minerva sat down at her desk and stifled a yawn. She had work to do, and the first thing she did was write an owl to Ricbert about finding a dark artifact at Hogwarts, asking if he could help her. She was cautious not to name what it was. A school owl appeared at her summons, and she gave it a treat and tied the note onto its leg.

“Please take this to Gringotts, and if Ricbert is not available, then leave it for him. Come back if you want another treat,” Minerva said.

The owl hooted and slid out the window, which was spelled to allow an owl to come and go as they needed.

Within half an hour, the owl was back with a reply tied to its leg. Minerva untied the note and gave the owl a treat. She resized the note and read it quickly. It was not from Ricbert but from Director Ragnok. He asked her to floo him when she got his note.

She’d only managed to get a handful of essays graded. Well, that was what tea was for.

“Director Ragnok,” she said as she threw some floo powder into the fireplace and put her head into the flames.

“Headmistress,” Ragnok said. “May I ask you what kind of dark object you found at Hogwarts this evening?”

“The darkest kind imaginable,” she said. “I would prefer to show you rather than tell you.”

“I can come through and look at it, if you’d like,” Ragnok offered.

“I would prefer you to take it with you when you leave,” McGonagall said tartly. She was too tired right now to be as polite as she should have been. “Forgive me. It’s been a very long day already.”

“I am sure it has been,” Ragnok said sympathetically. “I will come through, and depending upon what it is, I will take it with me if I can.”

She stood and stepped back. A moment later, the fire turned green, and Ragnok stepped through.

“We will need to go to the seventh floor to retrieve it. I left it there, in a lead-lined box,” she said and opened the door to her office. At this time of night, there should be no one in the halls.

Fortunately, there wasn’t, and they made it quickly to the seventh floor. “Hogwarts,” Minerva said. “I need that door.”

Surprisingly, the box was easier to find the second time than the first. Ragnok touched a finger to the outside of the box and looked troubled. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

“I do,” she said. “It is why I want it gone from the school grounds as soon as we can manage it.”

“I understand. I shall take it with me,” Ragnok told her. “Have you been checked for memory charms?”

She shook her head. “It is on my list of things to do as soon as I can.”

“You might also think about hiring some temporary help to do some of your administrative work,” Ragnok suggested.

Minerva started. “That is an excellent idea. Why have I not thought of doing that before?” She had, she realized, many times and suggested it to Dumbledore, who brushed it off as an unnecessary expense. “I do need to be checked.”

“If you come by after your last class tomorrow, I will make an appointment for you with Glint Thistlewild. She is our best healer.”

“That would be ideal, Director Ragnok,” Minerva said. “I can be there by two tomorrow afternoon. Thank you. I appreciate your and Gringotts’ help with this situation.”

Ragnok picked up the box as if it didn’t weigh more than the hatbox it had been. “I will be in touch about the status of the item inside the box.”

“Thank you again,” Minerva said as they reached her office. “The transfiguration on that box should last at least a few weeks and possibly more.” Using Dumbledore’s wand was much more powerful than using her own, though she did still prefer her own wand.

With a nod, Ragnok stepped through the floo.

*****

The Following Morning

Minerva woke with a start. She was lying on her bed, fully dressed. The last thing she remembered was working on the sixth-year essays. It had been very late, and tea had not been keeping her awake any longer. She got up and checked the time. Fortunately, it was early yet, but she had only gotten a few hours of sleep, and there were classes to be taught today.

On the plus side, there were only three, and she would be done by lunch. She needed to make it to the healer at the bank by two. It was possible. But she had a full schedule tomorrow, and she needed to have all the essays ready to go back before she started today.

The essays were neatly stacked, and as she looked through them, she saw they had all been done. If she hadn’t known better, she would have said that she’d done them all, but she knew she had had at least six or seven left of the sixth years to do as well as all of the seventh years. They were now done. “Hogwarts? Did you grade my essays?”

“I did not,” she answered. “I would not be good at that. I asked Helena Ravenclaw to do it.”

“Isn’t she a ghost?” Because as far as Minerva knew, a ghost was not corporeal and could not write on paper the way this had been done.”

“She dictated it to a house elf, who mimicked your handwriting to write down what she said.”

Minerva let out a sigh. “Thank you, and her, and the elf. She did all the grading then, the seventh years as well?”

“She did. She was glad to help out, since, by finding the abomination, you have freed her to move on,” Hogwarts said. “Both she and the Bloody Barron will move on at Yule this year.”

“I’m sure there is a story there,” Minerva muttered. “I have no time for it now.”

“I can help you with many things,” Hogwarts offered.

Minerva sighed. There really was too much to do it all herself. “Can you get me some administrative help so that I’ve got time for all the other things that come with being Headmistress?”

“You can ask one of the house elves to do what needs to be done?” Hogwarts suggested.

“They already do so much,” Minerva said. “I hate to ask more of them.”

“They are not uncompensated. The more efficiently things run, the more magic is generated, the stronger they become,” Hogwarts explained. “It is a beneficial relationship for all involved. Or it should be.”

“I did know that,” Minerva said. “At least, in theory. But I need a bath now and to get ready for breakfast. I also need to make an announcement about Dumbledore, and I have got nothing nice to say about him.”

“I believe that the truth will be the best thing,” she said.

Minerva agreed.

*****

Amelia looked up as Minerva came into the restaurant they had chosen for tea and waved to her. She’d said she wanted to talk to her away from the ministry or her office. Minerva made her way over and hugged Amelia. “How are you?” she asked.

“I’m busy,” Amelia said. “Insanely busy. Dumbledore’s folly has generated so much work for my department.”

“I understand that only too well. I am actually doing two jobs right now,” Minerva said. “I haven’t spoken with Jonathan in days or seen him for weeks.”

Lord Jonathan MacLachlan was Minerva’s longtime lover. MacLachlan had the only conclave that Amelia knew of in Britain. All others had been eradicated by Dumbledore, and their ritual circles were desecrated so that they were useless to their followers.

“I’m sure he understands,” Amelia said. MacLachlan was a gray-leaning wizard and Amelia had a lot of respect for him.

“Of course he does. But I miss him, and it’s unlikely that will change before the first of the year.” Minerva glanced at her. “I have gotten some help from a most unlikely source.” She also talked about Hogwarts being sentient and being able to make herself visible and heard.

Amelia smiled at that. “I bet the children will love that when they find out. I had always heard the castle was sentient but had never seen anything to prove it while I was there.”

“I think that Dumbledore somehow blocked her access to power or restricted her in some other way. I cast a Finite Incantatem on the wall, and she emerged.”

“What did she want,” Amelia asked, fascinated by the very idea.

As she watched, Minerva cast a discrete privacy ward. Auror level. Something she should not have known about, let alone been able to cast without training. Amelia said nothing but raised an eyebrow at her.

Minerva just smirked. “I know many things, Amelia. I’m sure you know that.”

“I see that,” she said. “So, what did she want?”

“To show me the darkest possible thing I have ever seen. Something so remarkably dark that most people do not even know such a thing exists.”

“But it does, and you found one at Hogwarts,” Amelia asked, shocked that such a thing could be at the school. “Do you know who created it?” Though the pool of wizards who could have done it was small enough that she probably already knew the answer to that question.

“Tom Riddle,” she said.

Amelia closed her eyes. She remembered what Dumbledore had told her. And given what she now knew about Tom Riddle, maybe it was not such a stretch that he would hide one of those things at Hogwarts. Who would even consider that? “I see.”

“I can see that you do,” Minerva said. “I went to school with him for one year.”

“I missed him by three,” Amelia said. “I will say that I am not disappointed by that.”

“I would not be either,” Minerva said. “Though as a first-year Gryffindor, I was completely beneath his notice.”

“Have you dealt with the problem?” Amelia asked.

“I saw Director Ragnok last night. He took care of it for me. Gringotts has a team coming out the day after the students leave for Yule break to look for anything else that is dark. Once that is completed, I want to call a full coven to cleanse Hogwarts of any remaining taint. I’m hoping to do the ritual by the new moon, which corresponds with the new year this year.”

“I will make myself available,” Amelia promised. “What else?

Minerva sighed. “I’ve been memory-charmed for years. I have not retrieved all the memories yet. We’re going backward from now, or really two years ago.”

“What?”

“I told Dumbledore not to place Harry with those Muggles, but he disagreed with me, saying Harry would be safe. I was planning to file a complaint with Child Welfare Services at the ministry, but I never got the chance. I also told him that I did not think that he should have James Potter’s invisibility cloak when they were in hiding. Those were the two more prominent blocks. There were other small ones, mostly about staffing or other school-related decisions. You shall receive a list from my healer.”

“How did you get into St. Mungo’s for the check,” Amelia asked. “I asked them about it and was told at this point it was a three-month wait to be checked because everyone needed to be checked.”

“No, I did not go to them. Director Ragnok made an appointment for me with one of their healers who treats humans. Glint Thistlewild. She was excellent.”

“I should talk to him about that,” Amelia said. “I have been working with him on finding what we were talking about previously.”

“Dear Merlin,” Minerva breathed. “There are more of them?”

“We’ve found two plus a fragment in Harry Potter’s scar. We believed that he made or was going to make six total but may not have made quite that many yet.”

“That’s insane,” Minerva said. “Dumbledore knew about the one in Harry’s scar, didn’t he. I asked him about the scar when he placed him with those horrible Muggles, and he gave me some stupid nonsense about some scars being necessary.”

“We can only assume he did know precisely what it was. That might have been another reason Dumbledore memory charmed you,” Amelia suggested. But it sounded like any time anyone did not agree with him, Dumbledore charmed them into compliance. Given everything, he was never getting out of Azkaban.

Minerva nodded. “We should order. I need to be back at Hogwarts after tea.”

*****

That Evening

Narcissa took a deep breath and threw the floo powder into the fireplace, stepping through as she said, “Professor McGonagall’s office at Hogwarts.”

Minerva McGonagall was standing there when she emerged. She nodded politely and used her wand to remove the ash from her robes. “Good evening,” she said. It was after dinner, later than she’d expected to be invited to McGonagall’s office.

“Thank you for coming this late,” McGonagall said, waving her to a chair in front of her desk. “I am quite busy as of late, but I did want to speak to you about the ritual you wish to take part in.”

“Thank you for seeing me at all,” Narcissa said, sitting down. She had not been sure that this coven was the right option for her, but she also felt the need to have the ritual now that she had extracted Lucius from her life. “I was not sure you would.”

“As I’m sure you are aware, I am the high priestess of the Ross-Blackthorn Coven. As such, I would see anyone who asked.” McGonagall cleared her throat. “That does not mean I will do whatever ritual you have asked for, but I will hear you out. I am sure you understand that I will not do black magic of any kind.”

“I want to have a healing and cleansing ritual done for myself,” Narcissa explained. “I follow the old traditional ways, and that would finish my association with Lucius Malfoy. I could pay for it, if that was an issue.”

“It is not. And I am not surprised by the request. Just the fact you would come to me rather than one of the other covens that still operate in Britain.”

“Those few that still exist lean toward the dark to black arts, and I do not wish to be associated with them or their members,” Narcissa said honestly. “I have been told that your approach is more gray.”

“We are gray, leaning toward the light.”

“So, my sister told me, which is why I am here. Can you or will you do this for me?” That was the big question. She was associated with the dark, and that could be a problem for someone leaning towards the light.

McGonagall looked at her hard as if she could see into her soul. Maybe she could, Narcissa conceded. “If I may, I would ask you some questions about your associations and what your experiences are with the dark.”

“I had a very dark husband for almost a decade. As I said, he is gone now. I would have liked to have had an annulment, but the divorce was more expedient,” Narcissa said truthfully. She knew better than to lie to a high priestess of any coven.

“I see. Have you practiced black arts of any kind?”

“No. And I do not have the dark mark,” Narcissa said. “I have practiced dark arts, but only to a point. I am traditionally gray but leaning toward the dark.”

“I am aware of that,” McGonagall said. “I do not believe that will be a problem. Your sister leans that way, too.”

“I am surprised to hear you say that,” Narcissa said. She was actually quite shocked by it.

“I believe that light, gray, and dark are meant to coexist in magic. They balance each other out. There is more than one dark-leaning witch in this coven.” McGonagall smirked a little. “You might be surprised at who leans dark.”

Narcissa fought hard to keep her face expressionless. “Given your previous association with Albus Dumbledore –”

“Who, for all his preaching about the light, was not nearly as light as he liked to have people believe. He has disgraced himself. I am disgusted by what has come out in the last few weeks.” McGonagall sounded very annoyed, no more than that, disappointed and disheartened. “But that is not the topic today.”

“No. It is not,” Narcissa agreed.

“We can and will accommodate you for a ritual healing and cleansing,” McGonagall said. “I plan to do a healing and cleansing ritual on Hogwarts herself, on the new moon. Would that be an acceptable time?”

“Very much so,” Narcissa breathed out, relieved to have gotten the answer she was looking for. “If you would like, after my ritual, I can help with Hogwarts.”

“We would be grateful for the addition. As I said, someone leaning towards the dark would balance out the witches leaning towards the light,” McGonagall said.

Narcissa stood. “Thank you. You can contact me at Black Manor. My son and I are living there now.”

McGonagall stood as well. “I will do so. And perhaps we can talk more about traditional practices. Now that I am headmistress, I would like to bring back some of the first and second-year classes on traditions of the wizarding world.”

That surprised Narcissa. “I have never understood why that was removed from the curriculum in the first place.”

“I suspect to make sure that Muggleborn and Muggle-raised children were left ignorant of their heritage,” McGonagall said.

“So that traditional leaning wizards would scorn them,” Narcissa suggested.

“Indeed,” McGonagall agreed and looked at her watch. “But that is a discussion for another day.”

“Thank you again for seeing me,” Narcissa said, stepping toward the fireplace.

*****

Sirius looked up as Narcissa came into the drawing room. “Are you well?” he asked. As heir, he felt the need to make sure those living here were doing well. He also checked on his father at Grimmauld Place as often as he could as well.

“I am,” Narcissa said. “I spoke with Professor McGonagall this evening.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. She’d said she wanted to do a ritual cleansing, but he was surprised that she’d gone to McGonagall to have it done. “When?”

“The new moon, next month. She also wants to do a cleansing ritual on Hogwarts as well.”

“I would not have thought you would go to Minerva.”

“She has a gray coven, and after talking to her, I am very impressed with her attitude. I would have said that anyone leaning light would not be interested in someone leaning dark.”

“I think she is much closer to gray,” Sirius suggested.

Narcissa nodded and then met his eyes. “Why are you sitting here by yourself.”

“I put both Harry and Draco to bed earlier. They are fast becoming quite the dynamic duo. They keep all the elves on their toes with their shenanigans.”

Narcissa laughed. “Draco has been too isolated. I am sure that having a playmate has done him no end of good.”

“You say that now, but wait until he and Harry get a little older. They are going to wreak havoc on us all,” Sirius warned. But in truth, that would be fine. They would grow up well-adjusted little boys.

“I am looking forward to that. Having a sibling or cousin, in this case, will do them both a lot of good.”

Sirius agreed with that. He should head to bed. He had a lot to think about.

“You have not answered my question,” Narcissa said. “Why are you sitting here by yourself.”

“I needed to think.” Sirius sighed. “I saw the healer again today, and she released more memories.”

“I am taking that to mean they were traumatic.”

“Every single time I think I have hit the limit on what Dumbledore could possibly have done that was horrific, something new comes up,” Sirius said.

“What now?” Narcissa asked. She had been lucky. There were no memory charms laid on her. “What did he do?”

“He charmed me not to be friends with Severus Snape and then to humiliate Snape at the end of our fifth year. And he charmed Lily to never forgive Snape for calling her a mudblood, which happened as part of that incident.”

“I was no longer at Hogwarts by that point,” Narcissa said.

“I remember that,” Sirius said and took a breath. “By fifth year, we had more or less called a truce with him, and then both James and I were charmed to humiliate him after our OWLs. I used a charm to hold him up by his ankle, and he was wearing traditional robes. Well, you know, all he had on under it was his grungy underwear, and that created a show for everyone to see. It probably came out of left field for him, too, since we were not quite friends but had been less hostile most of the year. After that, it was full-on war.”

“I never knew about any of that,” Narcissa said. “I do know Lucius liked or at least tolerated Severus. He was very bright, and I had no problem with him. He tried to follow traditions, which did endear him to those of us who were traditional.”

“You did always appreciate that,” Sirius remembered. “In sixth year, I nearly got him killed and was charmed never to think about it and never to show any remorse. I am sick about that.”

“What did you do?” Narcissa asked, clearly surprised. “I do not see you trying to deliberately harm anyone. Pranking someone, yes, but actually doing harm to a fellow student, no.”

That was probably a good assessment of him. Sirius looked down. “I am not sure you knew this, but Remis Lupin is a werewolf –”

“Dear Merlin, and he was at Hogwarts? With hundreds of children? Was Dumbledore insane?” She looked just shocked.

“It was only one night a month, and Madam Pomfrey locked him in the Shrieking Shack.” Sirius sighed again. Dumbledore charmed me to goad Snape into going to the shack on the full moon. He came face-to-face with Remus after he’d changed. James managed to rescue him.”

“And just how did he do that,” Narcissa asked. “Because I doubt any sixth-year, no matter how powerful, could have fought off a werewolf.”

“Werewolves do not see Animagus as human or prey. James changed into his Animagus form and led Remus away from Severus,” Sirius admitted. “By sixth year, the three of us, James, me, and the rat, had found our Animagus form and learned to do the change.” They had actually managed the change by the end of their fourth year.

“What happened?”

“Snape owed James a life debt, and that did not settle well with him. The rest of the year and the following year were awful. Snape was furious at us for everything, not without some justification. The fact that Dumbledore did not do anything about what I did to Snape made it all the worse.”

“I can see that. Severus was probably not very forgiving of what was going on. Though he might have been memory-charmed as well. As he got older, his rage in general seemed to increase substantially,” Narcissa said thoughtfully.

“Did you see a lot of Snape after you left Hogwarts,” Sirius asked.

“I saw him occasionally, especially after I married Lucius, and we entertained the Dark Lord and Death Eaters.” Narcissa shivered a little.

“I feel I should talk to him about it, but I am not even sure where he is now,” Sirius said. “Do you know?”

“I do know that after Hogwarts, Severus had an apprenticeship to become a Potions Master. Also, that he finished it more quickly than most. Apparently, he was some kind of prodigy. He had just started to serve the Dark Lord, and then the Dark Lord was gone. I am not sure what happened after that.”

“I was in Azkaban after that, too. So, I have no idea. I guess I can send Snape an owl.” As much as Sirius felt like he should do it, he’d rather not think about that time of his life. Or how much Dumbledore had fucked with all of them.

Narcissa stood. “I think that might be your best bet for finding him. Though with the publicity about Dumbledore, he might already have gone to a healer.”

That made some sense, too.

*****

Chapter Eleven

Wizengamot Winter Session
The Following Week

“May I escort you to your seat, Narcissa?” Sirius asked with a smile, holding out an arm. They were both dressed in traditional purple Wizengamot robes.

Narcissa smiled back at him, taking his arm. “That would be lovely, Cousin. Thank you.”

“What are you doing here?” Lucius demanded as he came up the stairs towards her. “You have no place here.”

“Oh, but I do, Lucius, dear,” Narcissa said. Her smile was bland, but it showed her teeth. “I will be voting in the Potter seat today.”

“No, you will not,” Lucius said, his jaw clenched and his hands curling into fists.

She smiled serenely. “I am quite sure that you do not have a say in what I do anymore,” Narcissa said.

“That is going to change very shortly,” Lucius said, his eyes narrowing.

“Is there a problem,” Minerva McGonagall asked as she stepped up to them. She was also wearing Wizengamot robes.

“None that I know of,” Sirius said. “I was just about to escort my cousin to her seat. May I escort you as well, Lady Ross?”

“Well, thank you, lad,” she said. “I would like that.” She took his other arm.

“What is going on here,” Lucius asked. “Why are you here?”

“I cannot imagine what you mean,” Amelia said, also in her Wizengamot robes. “Did you not expect a full quorum for this session of the Wizengamot. I am quite sure that many of us who read the laws being proposed will be here to vote on them. Is that not our duty as members of the Wizengamot?”

Lucius looked furious for some reason. Sirius smirked at him. “Well, look who else is here,” Sirius said, nodding to Molly Weasley, who was dressed the same as the rest of them. “Good morning to you, Molly. How are Arthur and the children?”

“They are all doing very well. Thank you for asking,” Molly said, smiling brightly. “You know my father-in-law, Septimus, asked me to attend today’s session as his proxy. He said he was feeling a bit under the weather.”

“That’s so good of you to step in like that. I do hope he is doing better soon,” Amelia commented. “Oh, and is that Esmerelda Greengrass? I do hope that Benedict is well.”

“I am sure he will be fine,” Minerva said. “We should take our seats. It looks like they are going to start presently.”

*****

The session was called to order. Sirius found it very interesting that more than half of those represented today were witches.

“First things first,” Chief Witch Marchbanks said. “We have a full house today, well over a quorum. So, we shall review the old business first and then get on to the new business. And then open the floor for other things, as needed.”

There wasn’t much old business. Apparently, most of it was handled in the last session.

“There is one thing we should vote on,” Theros Nott said. “I call a vote of no confidence on Millicent Bagnold.”

A hiss of shock went through the room, but not as loudly as Sirius would have expected. He could see that several people, himself included, who were not only not surprised by the call but also looking forward to voting her out.

“Is there any discussion on this?” Marchbanks asked. There was a surprisingly deafening silence to that question.

“I call the vote,” Nott said.

“I second it,” Esmeralda Greengrass said.

“All in favor, raise your wands,” Chief Witch Marchbanks said and waited for a second as the Wizengamot itself counted the wands. “The motion passes, Millicent Bagnold is removed as Minister of Magic.”

Since she had not even bothered to show up, Sirius assumed she knew what was going to happen, and she had already packed up her office. Or was going to do it as soon as she heard about the vote. It could not have come as a surprise to her, given everything that had happened in the last few months.

“I call for nominations for Minister of Magic,” Marchbanks said.

“The House of Black nominates Amelia Bones,” Sirius said confidently. He and Arcturus had discussed it at length and decided that for the good of the family as well as Wizarding Britain, she would be their best option for a new Minister of Magic.

Sirius glanced across the room, and Amelia looked very surprised by the nomination.

“Will you stand for the nomination, Madam Bones?” Marchbanks asked.

“I will,” Amelia said, sounding firm and steady.

“Then the House of Longbottom seconds the nomination,” Lady Longbottom said.

“Are there any other nominations,” Marchbanks asked. Again, there was silence in the chamber. “We will vote on this in our next session. We shall nominate an acting minister to keep things going until a full election of the Wizengamot happens.”

“What about simply using the undersecretary to keep things going for the next couple of months?” Sirius asked. That would be so much easier than finding someone on the Wizengamot.”

“That is a good idea,” Marchbanks said. “Nothing should be happening since there is no Minister, and if something does, the undersecretary will be told to bring it to the Wizengamot. They should not be allowed to do more than keep things going.”

“I propose we meet after Yule with an emergency session to elect a new Minister starting the first of the year,” Theros Nott suggested.

“I second that,” Lord MacLachlan said.

“All in favor,” Marchbanks asked. It was passed. “Now, onto new business.”

“If I may, Chief Witch,” Malfoy said. “I propose that to save us time and the tedium of voting one by one, that we vote on the block of new laws as one.”

“Why would you even suggest that?” Marchbanks demanded, glancing at him as if he were crazy. “There are a dozen new laws proposed. Each one is separate and requires debate.”

Malfoy did not look happy right then. “For expediency’s sake –”

“Do not begin to tell me that the previous Chief Warlock allowed that kind of nonsense because I know he did not,” Marchbanks said, sounding very annoyed.

“We have nothing but time,” Lady Augusta Longbottom spoke up. “And given the text of some of those laws, I would vote for none of them as a whole before I would vote for some of those in particular. Did you really think we would vote without reading each one of them?”

Clearly, from the look on his face, he had expected that. Sirius smiled to himself. Malfoy was an idiot. Narcissa was well rid of him.

“We will go through them, one law at a time. Voting yay or nay as each comes up,” Marchbanks said and touched her wand to the podium. “We will begin with the Marriage Protection Act.”

Start with the worst of them first, Sirius supposed.

“Well, as I see it, this law, if voted in, could not be legally enforced,” Amelia said, standing. “Aside from the fact that it strips the rights of all married witches from filing for divorce for any reason. It also would negate the rights of four matrilineal lines of ancient, or ancient and noble houses, which is against the charter of the Wizengamot and would also violate the ICW charter.”

“And as I read it,” Minerva said. “It also seems to be retroactive back to the beginning of this year, which is eleven months ago. For those of you who do not know the numbers, there were forty-five witches and wizards who have been granted a divorce. Some of them were from very abusive spouses. Some have remarried and are expecting children. The repercussions of something like this would be profound.”

“Why on earth would anyone think this was a good law?” Lady Greengrass asked and she glanced pointedly at Lucius. “I certainly do not.”

“It might be that someone felt they needed some help with keeping their wife, or,” Charlotte Bulstrode said and then smirked at Malfoy. “Or, in this case, attempting to force back the one who had left him and does not wish to return. As one of the Ancient and Noble houses with a matrilineal line, I say this is a bad law, and as Madam Bones said, not legal enough to even consider.”

“I would not want the ICW or one of the larger bodies of world wizarding law to look too closely at what has been proposed,” Amelia said. “We could be sanctioned for even considering it.”

“I propose we table it, and look into the legality of it,” Lucius said.

“I counter-propose that we simply vote to drop this stupidity from consideration as a law. It is an affront to all witches in the country. No witch should be forced to live with an intolerable wizard,” Lady Longbottom said. “That would be you, Lucius Malfoy.”

Like the vicious animal he was, Malfoy literally growled at Lady Longbottom with his teeth bared.

Marchbanks snorted at him. “The vote has been called to table it or to simply bin it.”

“As another Ancient and Noble house with a matrilineal line, I second binning it,” Minerva said. “And I would further add that it should be dropped with prejudice, to make sure that it cannot be brought up again in another session.”

Malfoy’s eyes bulged a little. This was probably worse than he thought it would be. Although how he thought that anyone would get something like this passed, Sirius did not know. This was, what was the Muggle expression, a Hail Mary to get Narcissa back under his control. Which was about to fail spectacularly. Sirius approved of that.

“I second the prejudice status of dropping discussion of this law,” Molly said, looking directly at Malfoy.

“All in favor of dropping the law with prejudice raise your wands,” Marchbanks called. It was unanimous, minus one. “The measure is dropped with prejudice.”

“Moving on,” Marchbanks added after a moment or two of people talking. “There are two more measures that are contentious. One is the creature registration, which is not currently legal. This would legalize it and allow it to happen. This would also include werewolves and other sentient creatures such as Centaurs and giants. I believe this was originally proposed last year and voted down. I am not sure why it is back now?”

“I believe we need to know who the dangerous creatures are in our midst,” Lucius said, but it was clear that several of the darker members were at least interested in that.

“I think we need more research on that. Have there been any recent attacks or something else to warrant this kind of action,” Marchbanks asked. “It can be discussed again at the next session when someone has the answer to this question.”

They went through the rest of the laws suggested, one by one. Then, they discarded several and voted on several more. The last contentious new law proposed was designed to restrict goblin’s movements, and it was voted down. Which was good as far as Sirius was concerned. The big thing was that it was in direct violation of the 1890 treaty with the Goblin Nation. The last thing that the Wizarding World needed was a goblin uprising, especially when some of the population, Sirius included, would side with the goblins.

“Finally, we come to the last item,” Marchbanks said. “It’s time to find a new Chief Witch or Wizard. So, we shall open nominations. We can vote on it at the same meeting we vote for the new Minister of Magic.”

“Do you want to continue to serve,” Sirius asked her.

“No. Thank you,” Marchbanks said. “This is a lot of work. I would rather get back to the OWL and NEWT testing, which is why I’m bringing this up now. I need to start to prepare for the testing, beginning this month.”

“Fair enough,” Amelia said. “I nominate Benedict Greengrass. He is a fair and well-reasoned wizard.”

“I’ll second that,” Lady Bulstrode said and glanced at Lady Greengrass with a smile.

“I am sure he will agree to it,” Lady Greengrass said with a laugh.

“The nomination is noted,” Marchbanks said. “Other nominations?” No one said anything. “Then we’ll vote on this too in the next session.”

And finally, it was over for the session. Sirius was relieved to get out of there and go home.

*****

Amelia got back to her desk after the session was over and sat there for a moment or two. Did she really want to be Minister of Magic? The easy answer was no. She did not. But she also knew that anyone who wanted that job probably should not have it.

She closed her eyes for a moment. There were a lot of reasons to take it. And there were policies she would like to see pushed through and some that should be repealed. While in theory, the Wizengamot passed the laws, the Minister had a lot of sway. She could do a lot to help people. Maybe make sure laws like the ones that were voted down today did not come back.

Her door pinged. “Come in,” she said.

Arthur Weasley came in, looking a little nervous and also determined. He really was such a Gryffindor, she thought rather fondly.

“Arthur,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

He cleared his throat. “I heard about your nomination for Minister of Magic,” he said. “You look like you are reconsidering it.”

“I am thinking about it, that is for sure,” Amelia said. “It is a lot of work, and I am not sure how effective I can be with it.”

“If you want my opinion,” Arthur said and waited for her to nod. “I think you will do a damned fine job. I cannot begin to tell you how grateful my whole family and I are to you.”

“It was not only me who found the problems with the accounts. It was the goblins following up on the details that started this whole thing.”

“I know,” Arthur said. “It was your investigation that found out what Dumbledore was doing to us and the others. And then you did something about it.”

“It was teamwork on all of the MLE’s part. But I’m glad you’re doing so well. Having a hole in your finances like that could not have been easy to cope with.”

“No. It was not, but the goblins returned everything that was taken from us,” Arthur said. “Yule is going to be very good for my children this year. Everyone is getting new clothes and new shoes. And Bill is getting a new wand and a broom.” Arthur smiled. “And Charlie will have a new wand when he starts Hogwarts in the fall.”

Amelia smiled at his enthusiasm. He clearly loved his children so much. “Has Charlie gotten his letter already?”

“Yes. He got it last week. He was a late November baby.” Arthur smiled again. “But I wanted to encourage you to take the Minister position. I think you will do so much good with it.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.” And she really did. While she still wasn’t looking forward to doing this, he was right. She could do a lot of good.

*****

After Arthur left, Kingsley came in, and she waved him to a seat.

“I heard about the nomination,” Kingsley said. “Congratulations. I know you will do a great job with it.”

“Not just me,” she said. “If I win –”

“As far as I’ve heard, no one is running against you,” he pointed out.

“True, but someone could stand up at the last minute,” she suggested. That had not happened in some time, but it could happen.

Kingsley snorted. “I suppose it could happen.”

“As I was saying, I am not going to do this alone. I would like you to be my senior undersecretary. I am also going to create a new advisory council of people I trust to help me push legislation through the Wizengamot.”

Kingsley looked shocked. “Me? Really? I am not even a senior Auror yet.”

“And yet, you have done a great job of everything I have asked you to do. I need someone dependable and also honest.”

“I am honored that you would consider me,” he said.

“This is all presupposing that I am actually elected,” Amelia said. “But I was thinking of appointing Gawain Robards as head of the MLE.”

“I think Gawain is younger than some of the others and would do a good job with it,” Kingsley said hesitantly. “Rufus Scrimgeour is actually next in line after you.”

“I am not going to go with the obvious choices for this. I want wizards and witches who I can trust as well as those who are honest.”

“I agree with that,” Kingsley said. “I guess you know I am young for this job, too. I am sure that there are others who will resent my getting it over them.”

Amelia knew that, but the next couple of witches and wizards in line for the undersecretary job were nightmares, each worse than the last. She was never going to tolerate them in any position close to her. “We will see how long they keep me once I start to clean house around here.”

Kingsley laughed. “I am looking forward to watching this happen.”

Yeah, so was Amelia. “Let me get elected first.”

*****

Hogwarts
A Few Days Later

There was a chime on Minerva’s office door. She looked up from the essay she was attempting to read. “Come in,” she called.

Severus Snape opened the door and came in cautiously, almost as if he were expecting to be attacked in some way.

“Sit down, Severus,” she said, waving him to a seat. “I have some things to discuss with you.”

“Well, that sounds ominous,” he said, but it did not come out as amused as it should have. “What can I do for you, Headmistress.”

“Minerva,” she said. “I have been going through the accounts and have found some discrepancies with your salary.”

He paled and sighed. “Surely, I could not be paid any less than what I am already being paid.”

“No. You are not only being paid fifty percent less than you should have been paid with a potions mastery, but you also were never paid for the supplies you created for the infirmary.”

“I was told I was to do that as part of my duties as a teacher,” Severus said quietly, but it was clear his anger was building.

“That is not true,” Minerva said. “No one is being paid what they should be, and their duties far outstrip what they are being paid for them. “But Dumbledore is gone, and I am going to fix things.”

Severus nodded.

“The first thing is that your vault should show your correct salary, and you have been compensated for the potions for the infirmary. If you would like to continue to create potions for Hogwarts –”

“Like to continue?” Severus asked sharply. “I was informed that my contract required it –”

Minerva blinked at that. “I think I need to see the contract you were hired under, then. Do you have it?”

“I can forward it to you,” Severus said and frowned. “I was told it was a twenty-year contract, and there were no options for breaking it –”

Sweet Merlin, what had Dumbledore done? Every time Minerva found something new, she was infuriated yet again. “Why on earth did you sign something like that,” Minerva asked. “Surely you know that a potions master of your ability could go anywhere and do just about anything in your field.”

Severus was already shaking his head. “I am an ex-Death Eater, and he said that if I did not sign the contract, he could have my pardon revoked.”

“He lied,” Minerva said, trying hard to keep the fury out of her voice. “Once a pardon is given, it cannot be revoked. For all that you are brilliant at potions, it is clear you do not know anything about the law.”

Severus snorted. “I would agree with that assessment. I was so afraid I would end up in Azkaban, I signed whatever he wanted me to sign.”

“Slavery is requiring someone to do something against their will without compensation. It is also illegal, and so is a twenty-year contract for a teacher. Five years, maybe. I’m going to offer all the teachers one with one to three-year options. We will negotiate the new contract this summer. I do not have time now. I’ve given you a bonus for the money you should have gotten last year. You’ll get another one when school lets out for the summer.”

“That is very generous of you, Minerva. I thank you,” Severus said and met her eyes. “And if I do not wish to continue my contract as a teacher?”

“You would not be required to,” she said. “I cannot imagine what Dumbledore was thinking. This job is too hard to do under the best of circumstances that I would not force someone to do it, if they did not wish to be here.”

“Thank you,” Severus said, sounding heartfelt. “I did not enjoy teaching. I had hoped to open my own apothecary and create potions. But Dumbledore said that would not be possible.”

“I am sure you realize he said a great many things that were simply not true,” Minerva said. “I would ask that you at least finish out this term before you leave.”

“I will stay until the summer,” Severus said. “I would like to plan out what I wish to do after it. Though the galleons you have given me might make a downpayment on a store.”

“If you do leave, I would like to contract you to produce all the potions for the infirmary for Hogwarts. According to Madam Pomfrey, they are the best quality she has had in years.”

Severus’ eyes widened, and he looked like he was trying not to smile. “I would be interested in that. It will go a long way towards setting up a revenue stream for me.”

“I would talk to the goblins about an account manager. They have been invaluable in helping me work with the accounts here,” Minerva said and then cleared her throat. “Also, I would go to them to be checked for memory blocks.”

“I have thought of that,” Severus said. “Too many things that have happened do not make sense to me.”

“I believe that is true for many of us who dealt with Dumbledore,” Minerva agreed.

“I have an appointment to have my mind checked for memory charms this weekend.” Severus did not sound like he expected good news.

It was probably wise of him to think that.

*****

An Hour Later

There was no sound to alert her, but Minerva looked up as Cuthbert Binns floated into her office. This was just what she needed now. “What can I do for you, Professor Binns?” Minerva asked when he stopped in front of her desk.

“I understand you are renegotiating contracts and compensation for the staff,” Binns said formally. “I would like to be released from my current contract.”

As far as Minerva knew, Binns had gone to sleep in the faculty breakroom and died. Then, he got up the next day to teach as he always had. If he had a contract, she did not know about it. “Were you compensated for your efforts?”

“I am held here by a contract that Professor Dumbledore put into place. I do not remember the details any longer, but I know that without being released from it, I cannot move on.”

Minerva blinked. “How does one bind a ghost to a contract?” she asked. “I did not know such a thing was even possible.”

“I do not know the answer to that question,” Binns said. “I do know I am bound here.”

“Usually, when a ghost is bound to a place, they have something they need to finish. Something that was left undone in their life.” Minerva had not spent a lot of time studying what made ghosts what they were or what could release them.

“I have nothing left undone in this plain of existence. I would like to be released,” Binns said again.

Well, that was certainly a surprise to hear. “How do I release you?”

“I do not know,” Binns said sadly.

If he had no idea how he was bound or how he could be released, then how would she figure it out? “Hogwarts,” Minerva said.

“You requested me?” Hogwarts said and glanced at Binns. “He wishes to be released?”

Binns nodded

“He does. But neither of us knows how he is bound. Do you?” Minerva asked.

Hogwarts closed her eyes. “I can see that he is bound here, with magic that should not have been allowed to happen here. Dark magic.”

“Are all the ghosts bound here with this kind of magic?” Minerva asked. “What can we do about it?”

“I do not know about all the ghosts, but I think perhaps the cleansing ritual will eradicate the dark spell for Professor Binns.”

“And I would guess Helena Ravenclaw and the Bloody Baron,” Minerva said. “All right, Professor Binns, I hope to be able to release you by the new year.”

“I am deeply grateful to you, Professor McGonagall,” Binns said with a bow and then floated away.

“What a dammed mess this has become,” Minerva said with a huff. “Thank you, Hogwarts.”

Hogwarts nodded and faded back into the wall.

*****

 

 

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