"As do I." Albus chipped in. "I would suggest that apart from the passive surveillance we leave the ring and Tom alone should he go there until the Ravenclaw object has been found and we've confirmed there is no object at Godric's Hollow. If captured, we would then only have the ring to deal with."
"In which case I would suggest if Riddle isn't already in residence, we locate it first so we can move on it rapidly when we do the capture." Bertie said.
They all looked at Sirius for a decision.
Sirius considered the options. Merlin but he could do with Remus in the room. "Three plans," he said finally, "plan A; we scout the Manor and Gaunt place this weekend, see if they're occupied, see if the ring is there and what the situation is. If the ring is there, we take it, leave a transfigured copy, rebuild any traps and exit, leaving the passive surveillance in place. A switch is risky, I grant you, but if he sees the traps are in place, I doubt he'll investigate further until he regains full strength."
"Oh," Amelia grinned, "sneaky."
"Quite brilliant, my boy." Albus exclaimed.
"And plan B?" asked Bertie dryly.
"Well, if the ring isn't there and they are; passive surveillance until we get the objects sorted unless it looks like old Voldie is going to regain his body." Sirius said. "And plan C assumes neither is there, in which case we set up passive surveillance in case he shows up."
"Neatly done, Sirius." Cornelius said.
Sirius nodded. "We need to move on this quickly if we believe Riddle could be headed there."
"We'll send the teams first thing in the morning." Amelia said after a quick and silent exchange with Bertie.
"Anything else?" Sirius asked.
They all shook their heads.
"Albus, if you could stay a moment? I'll see the rest of you to the floo." Sirius escorted the others out and quickly returned to his study. The old wizard had moved to peer out of the window into the back garden. "More tea, Albus?"
"No, my boy, thank you." Albus turned around. "You're going to berate me about attempting to recover the basilisk."
"By law, the basilisk belongs to Harry as he killed the beast." Sirius said, sitting on the edge of his desk and folding his arms over his chest. "I'm fairly certain that Amelia suspects that you were planning to swindle him out of his rightful reward and it was your intent that kept you out of the Chamber."
"And you?" Albus enquired, placing his hands behind his back.
Sirius cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you would have given Harry something, possibly commensurate with whatever damages you were planning to give to those petrified. But something is not the same as all which is what he should get under law."
Albus nodded slowly and once again looked his age. "It was not…sporting of me, I know, but I am aware that Harry will inherit a large amount of money. With a diminished student population in these last few years because of the war at the time of their birth…the Hogwarts' budget would have benefited tremendously from an infusion of funds."
Sirius refrained from arguing with him that due to Albus placing Harry with muggles the Potter estate had been left to rot and, if not for the adoption and change in guardianship, while Harry wouldn't have been destitute when he came of age, he certainly wouldn't have inherited what he should have. Luckily, Remus was turning it around.
"I will talk to Harry about the basilisk," Sirius said firmly, "and I think Albus you'll find that he'll make a fair and equitable decision and Hogwarts will get something."
Albus inclined his head.
"How did the Conference go?" asked Sirius, motioning towards the door.
"The Conference was the same as always, a lot of talking, not much listening or agreeing." Albus said as they walked out. "Unfortunately Rita's articles haven't served to express the opinions I shared with the Conference in a positive light."
"Well, that's Rita for you." Sirius said unsympathetically. He rather agreed with Skeeter that the views Albus had expressed were rather old-fashioned and out of date. But he didn't like the reporter even if Cornelius's insistence on maintaining a good press for Harry and Sirius meant that he had to deal with her. So far she had been supportive in print but Sirius knew the headlines would change in an instant if she believed she had a good story.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the Longbottoms' party?" Sirius checked as they said goodbye at the floo.
"I'm afraid not, my boy. I'll be travelling first thing to France for a final meeting on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and will be gone until the Wizengamot session on Thursday." Albus said a goodbye and disappeared in a flash of green flames.
Sirius took a moment to check in with Kreacher before he headed home.
Home.
It was definitely what the house in Hampshire had become. He, Remus, Harry and Dobby had settled in wonderfully together. Minerva came round most evenings and Remus had jokingly suggested that they should just invite her to move in. She had become a maternal figure to Harry – more of a grandmother than a mother or the 'Aunt Minerva' persona she'd been to James, Sirius mused, but a maternal figure nonetheless. Which was good because Harry did need some feminine influence in his life, and a positive role model to replace Petunia's horrendous example. Andromeda had stepped in as a favourite Aunt; Tonks into a big sister role.
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