Great Hall - June 29, 2005
Albus was sitting in his throne like chair looking out at the students. He was already planning on what he was going to say to the students. They needed to believe that he was sad about the, more than likely, chance that the champions had all been killed.
Most of last night had been spent hunting down Igor. The man had been clever, but not clever enough.
Igor had ran when he had seen Albus's reaction to the disappearance of the champions. He had finally realized that he had been played. Albus had known that the man was a liability so he had started to track his magical signature, making sure to erase his own. It took a lot of power to fully erase ones magical signature, but it had been worth it.
Now, although he was exhausted, and had to take multiple wide eye potions just to get out of bed, Igor was dead. Albus had made it look like a drunken accident. The man was floating down the river just outside of Hogsmeade. Depending on when he was discovered, if ever, it would be impossible to link it back to him. All he needed to do now was get everything in order with the aurors. He wished that Amelia Bones hadn't gotten involved, but he was sure that he could get her on his side. After all, her brother and his wife had been kidnapped by the man. Surely he could sway her to his side once Voldemort made his resurrection known.
Albus wondered just how Voldemort was going to return. Igor had told him that he had had some sort of ritual, but since Albus had lost his library when the pub burned down he didn't know what it was. He knew about the horcruxs, but it really irritated him not to know about the ritual.
The more he thought about it the more he thought of just how much he didn't know. Albus had always prided himself on knowing exactly what was going on and who was involved, but in this he was almost clueless.
He didn't know who else was involved. He didn't know where the ritual was being performed. He didn't know what was going to happen with the bodies. He didn't know what the aurors were doing.
He needed to get control. But, with the death of their saviour the public would be weak and open to his guidance. Like sheep in need of their shepherd.
Through all of his musings he never noticed that there was an extra table set up.
When the champions all woke up they knew what they were to do. Sending their friends on ahead, they went to meet up with their parents and Madame Bones. They were all going to go to the great hall. Everyone was all still tired, but thanks to the potions they weren't exhausted.
Amelia came out of her room going over copies of the different reports that had been filed by her aurors. There wasn't much more information. They had people out looking for both Barty and Karkaroff, but they weren't having any luck. She knew that the goblins were also in search of the two and they would let her know if they found anything.
After having a few quick words with each other, they all headed down.
The great hall was quiet as the students whispered to each other. All trying to figure out what was happening. Half of the student body already knew that the champions were safe but weren't talking about it out of respect for what they had been told the night before. The other half of the school knew something was going on, but didn't know what it was.
Albus had just gotten his speech worked out in his head and his sad face on and started to get up to call the attention of the students when Amelia led her party into the great hall. There was chaos.
Most of the Gryffindors and Slytherins were surprised to see the missing champions. Many were glad they were safe, but there were a few that weren't impressed. Some of the children of Death Eaters had heard over Yule break that something was happening, but it was clear whatever it was had failed since the champions all looked unhurt, Potter-Black especially.
There were a few students that wanted to get up and rush to the champions, but they knew from the look on Madame Bones's face, as well as the head shake from the champions, that they needed to stay put. So everyone just watched as the group all walked up to the front of the hall.
"Amelia, I see you found our lost students." Albus smiled, trying to pretend that he was happy.
Albus couldn't believe it. The brat was alive and he was here. Voldemort was supposed to kill him, not let him come back to the school. Then there was the involvement of Amelia. Amelia and the DMLE being involved was the last thing he needed.
If he had managed to get one of his people in charge of the investigation then he would be able to direct them in the wrong direction. But no, Amelia seemed to have taken over the case. Which meant he would have no control over the investigation. Amelia just didn't listen properly.
He had spent so much time the night before getting rid of the loose end known as Igor, so he hadn't been able to check in on who the DMLE had sent to his school. After all the work of cleaning up his magical signiture he had been so exhausted he had gone straight to bed.
"Actually they found us." Amelia gave him a frigid smile before she turned to address everyone. "As you can all see, your fellow classmates have returned safe and sound.
It was decided that I would tell you everything you need to know. This is still an open case so the others aren't aloud to give anyone specifics of the case. But we all do understand that you would be curious so I will tell you what I can. I would request that you not question the others on what happened last night, at least until the case is closed.
Now, as you all know at the end of the third task all four champions disappeared after taking the triwizard cup. That is because the cup was a portkey. They were taken to an undisclosed location where there were 5 Death Eaters waiting.
As we had suspected the entrance of Hadrian Potter-Black into the tournament was a set up. Thankfully this attack had been suspected not only by us but by the champions themselves. Working together they managed to escape unharmed.
Four of the Death Eaters have already been apprehended. One did manage to escape and a search has already been organized. He is not believed to be anywhere near the school, but we will be keeping an eye on things just to be safe. His name is Bartemius Crouch Jr. and his photo will be made public in the papers.
Also, it would appear that Headmaster Igor Karkaroff also played a part in what happened last night and is wanted for questioning. If any of you have any information please speak with myself or one of the aurors here at the school.
With all that said, please go back to enjoying your breakfast."
The hall had been nearly completely silent as Amelia had spoken, but as soon as she finished the students started whispering with their friends filling the room with a dull roar.
While their families sat at the extra table that the elves had set up for them, all four champions went and sat together at the Ravenclaw table. Luna had spoken to a few of the others, so there was plenty of room for them. Many of the Ravenclaws had understood that the champions would most likely prefer to stay together so they were sitting with friends at other tables.
Draco, Neville, Fred, George, Autumn, Lily, and Fey had all sat at the Ravenclaw table when they entered. Luna had also warned them that the champions would all be sitting at the blue table. Everyone had been understanding for the most part.
It took Albus a few moments before he forced himself to work through everything he had just learned. He was ready to start screaming and cursing everyone in sight.
Not only were his own people proving useless, Voldemort's were as well. How had those fools not only failed to kill the brat, but got caught? He needed information. Wy hadn't any of his people informed him?
Sure, he had closed and locked his office when he had returned, but they still could have sent him a letter. Didn't anyone understand the importance of information like that? Now, because he hadn't been warned he was going to have to completely rework his plans again.
Everything he had been working on had relied on the brats death, but no. The brat just had to survive. Albus was ready to kill the boy himself just to make sure he did what he wanted, but no… He needed to keep a cool head. In spite of everything the brat was still the peoples hero. If he could just gain control of him then he would be able to follow his original plans. But how?
Everything he had been doing for years hadn't worked. The brat just wasn't what he had intended. Why oh why did the Dursley's have to lose the boy. It had taken him so many years, but he had finally managed to track them down and learn that the brat had run away when he was only 5. They were supposed to have kept the boy imprisoned.
But, no? They had lost the boy only four years after he had delivered him to them. And they hadn't bothered to inform him. He had made them suffer for that failure. It was just unfortunate that he hadn't been able to kill them like they had deserved for destroying his plans. He hadn't wanted there to be any more attention paid to them, and if they had been found dead there was a risk that somehow the brat or his family would learn of it.
Albus just sat and stared. This summer he was going to have to work hard to get everything back the way he wanted it. He remembered Molly whining to him that the DCW hadn't done anything with her reports of child abuse agains Severus, Sebastian, Remus, and Sirius. He was going to have to speak to the Wizengamot about the DCW not properly doing their job.
If it worked out properly then he might manage to discredit both the DCW and the brats so called family. He knew Molly wanted custody of the boy, but Albus wasn't sure. If Ron and Ginny were the best examples of her parenting ability then he really didn't want her anywhere near the boy. He needed the brat weak and subservient.
Albus was honestly starting to question his original plan of using Molly and Ron. So far, he wasn't willing to give up on his plans of marrying the boy to Ginny. The girl was overbearing and controlling like her mother and as long as he was the one to dictate the terms of their marriage contract he knew he would be able to control them both.
But he was still wary. None of his plans had been working the way he wanted. He didn't want to risk another public backlash if things didn't go the way he wanted. He was going to have to find someone that he could use to get the job done, but still allow him some deniability just in case things went wrong.
And through all this, he needed to figure out what to say to the students.
Albus pulled the world back into focus just to hear the students cheer. Looking around he saw that that idiot, Ludo Bagman, was announcing the final scores of the tournament. The man was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Albus knew that the man was now in debt with the goblins.
At least he knew the man was going to suffer after taking his spotlight. Albus knew good and well that Ludo had every last galleon he had, and much more, riding on the out come of this tournament. And, judging by his shifting eyes, and the dark circles underneath them, he had just lost it all. The goblins weren't going to be kind.
Although the students were happy that Hogwarts had ultimately won, there were many that were still angry about the four champions taking the cup together. No one yet understood why they had. Even Albus was confused by that. Didn't those children understand the kind of glory they had given up by going about things the way they had? Now they had to share.
Albus watched and listened as Ludo finished his announcement and retook his seat. It was his time to regain the students attention.
"Yes, yes. Well done my boys. This evenings dinner shall be a grand feast." Albus announced as he grinned at them all. "Now, while I do understand that last evening was more than a little dramatic, many of you still have exams to finish up so I shall only wish you all good luck."
After that many of the students had to tiredly go to take their exams.
Study Nook
Hadrian met the other champions in the study nook just before lunch. There was plenty of things that needed to be discussed.
Cedric had arrived around the same time given that he managed to finish the written part of his transfiguration exam early, he would be doing the practical portion after lunch. Both Fleur and Viktor had had to do their WOMBATs. The WOMBATs or the Wizards' Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Test, were the equivalent of the NEWTs in the wider world. While there were a few countries that had their own systems like Britain with the OWLs and NEWTs, most countries used the WOMBATs that were administered by the ICW.
The four all talked about when they were going to release the information about why they had all taken the cup at the same time. After discussing it they had all agreed that they wanted to do it at the time that would do the most damage. They were all more than a little disgruntled at what had happened to them and wanted Dumbledore to pay for what he had done that year.
Eventually they agreed that the information would be released before the Wizengamot meeting during the summer. That would not only make him look incredibly bad, but it would also distract him. Hadrian had told the others that his dad, who he referred to as Sebastian, was planning to put forward a major bill. If they threw Dumbledore off balance there was an even better chance of the bill going through.
After their timing was decided they all carried on with their day.
Great Hall
After the students had finished a long day of exams everyone congregated in the great hall for dinner. Everyone was thrilled. Their exams were finished, they would be going home tomorrow before lunch, and it was the awards feast for the Triwizard tournament. This was a feast for so many reasons.
Everyone was still gossiping about what they had learned at lunch. While the Daily Prophet had been delivered at breakfast like usual, The Seer hadn't. Hadrian and the other champions had all assumed, correctly, that the Lovegood's had held off on publishing until after Tamsin managed to get everything in order for her report on the goblin trial.
At lunch The Seer was delivered. And, as suspected, when the paper was delivered the entire front page was covered in what had happened the evening before. The rest of the hall had been stunned when they saw that it hadn't been the aurors that had captured the Death Eater's, but the goblins.
Everyone was a little stunned when they read the sentences. While everyone had expected a harsh punishment, it was from the goblins after all, they hadn't realized just how harsh they would be. Then there was the part about the assets being seized. No one knew just how much they had, but they were all from older lines so they believed that it would be a lot.
Severus had written to Aaron Carrow on the request of the champions to see how he felt about his elder siblings assets being seized. Arron had written back quickly letting Severus know that he was actually happy with how things had worked out. He truly wanted nothing to do with his older siblings and was more than pleased to know they were finally being punished. He had encouraged the champions to spend every last knut of the money they were given.
Hadrian sighed slightly as he heard the whispers of envy coming from a few of the other students, the two youngest Weasley's in particular. Didn't they understand that he had gotten that money because someone had tried to kill him, again.
Hadrian rested his head on Marie's shoulder as he listened to the droning speeches. It seemed there were more than a few ministry officials that had wanted to attend the awards ceremony. This included the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, who spent over 20 minutes using a lot of words to say nothing. All the students were getting frustrated. Each speech just meant they had to wait longer for food.
When it finally came time to accept their awards the four champions all went to the front of the hall and quickly accepted their awards, Hadrian and Cedric accepting a bag of 500 galleons each. Both were a little startled when they were told to make a speech, they had never been warned of that.
Cedric was the one that stepped forward. "We thank you for the award. Although, I think we're all still more than a little angry about Hadrian being force to compete, along with the travesty that was the second task. Other than that, we're hungry. Dinner started over an hour ago and we still haven't gotten any food, so if you all could hurry this along that would be great."
After that all four champions returned to their places and picked up their silverware just to emphasize their point. A few of the other officials and Dumbledore started trying to speak but all the other students joined the champions in picking up their silverware and started a rhythmic banging on the tables drowning them out. Laughing, Sirius stood up.
"Will all you pompous windbags please shut up. I can't speak for the other professors, but i am starving. Either I get food or you're all going back in the lake."
The students all cheered at that. It finally became enough and all the so called windbags sat down and the feast began.
Eventually, all good things must come to an end. As the last of the desserts faded away Dumbledore once again stood up and called all the attention to himself.
"Now that we have finished that fantastic meal there are a few last minute things that must be addressed.
First, a general reminder. The train leaves at 11 sharp. So make sure you have everything packed and ready to go.
Second, once again I will congratulate all four champions for their exemplary performance. And of course to Hufflepuff for winning the house cup this year.
And finally, on a more somber note, we all must prepare. Last nights drama was caused by Lord Voldemort attempting to return to our world. We all must be on guard. Just because he failed last night doesn't mean he won't try again."
The students all just stared at the headmaster as he spent the next ten minutes going over how he believed Voldemort was going to return and that they needed to start to prepare. He encouraged the students to start working together to gather as much information as they could.
Through the entire speech Fudge looked like he was having an apoplectic fit. His little sycophant, Deloris Umbridge, who was sitting next to him was even angrier. Unfortunately for them McGonagall and Moody had both cast silencing spells on them to keep them silent and sticking charms to keep them in their chairs.
They had had to sit through Dumbledore's entire speech silently screaming at the man as they tried to pry themselves off their chairs. When they had seen what the others had done the three Tonks's worked together to cast multiple notice-me-not's on them so none of the students would notice. It would give the students the impression that the ministry was supporting Dumbledore in what he was saying.
Once Albus had finished his speech he sent the students off. He didn't want to give anyone else the chance to talk. He knew Fudge and the other ministry officials would contradict him and he couldn't have that. The students needed to believe in Voldemort's return so that they would look to him to save them.
Everyone left the hall, all having plenty to gossip about. No one bothering to release Fudge or Umbridge. Most didn't notice them thanks to the spells, and those that did just didn't care.
Headmasters Office
Hadrian sighed deeply as he made his way up the stairs to the headmasters office. He had been sitting with his friend when one of the seventh year Gryffindor prefects had tracked him down and told him that the Headmaster was demanding his presence, although he said ask rather than demand, it had been clear he wasn't being given an option. At first Hadrian had said he would just go and get his head of house and uncles, but the prefect had been instructed that they wouldn't be needed. Hadrian had had to settle for motioning his friends to go, he knew they would go and get his family to make sure he wouldn't be left alone for any length of time with Dumbledore.
"You wanted to see me headmaster." Hadrian said in a formal voice as he stepped into the office.
"Yes, yes my boy. That will be all Mr. Tucker." Albus twinkled at the prefect as he sent him on his way. Once he was gone he turned back to the stubborn brat. "Now, Harry my boy, there are a couple things I feel we need to discuss. Please, have a seat."
Hadrian cautiously went to sit in the seat he was directed too. The reason he was so on edge was that all three Tonks's were in the office and were sitting in front of the desk. The chair he had been motioned towards sat between Andromeda and Nymphadora. He didn't trust anyone in this office, all he could hope was that if anything happened Headmaster Black would go to one of his other portraits to warn his family to help him.
"Lemon drop?" Albus offered and was refused like usual once the brat sat down, oh how he wished the brat would just take the sweets. "Well then, I'm sure you are wondering why I asked you up here.
Like I announced at the feast, Voldemort is attempting to return to our world, and I have no doubt that it is only a matter of time before he is successful unfortunately. As much as we all might wish it wasn't so. You will need to start preparing."
"Why would I need to prepare for anything?" Hadrian interrupted. "I am a fourteen year old student, not an auror."
"I know my dear boy, I do understand you're young, but you have a destiny to fulfill. I can't explain everything to you yet, you're still too young, but I can say that you are destined to be the one to defeat him. I think we might need to start private lessons for you this summer. You will come and meet me ad the Lion's Den a few days a week and we will come up here to the school to work on your spell work. I know that it will mean giving up part of your summer, but it really is for the greater good my boy. But don't worry, I will allow Ms. Granger and the two younger Weasleys to attend your lessons with you so you aren't alone."
Hadrian just stared open mouthed at the old goat for a moment. "Are you out of your mind? That's it isn't it, you've flipped your lid.
I am too young to know what's going on, but old enough to kill a man. How does that make any sense? Again, I am fourteen years old. It is not my job to fight zombie dark lords, that is the job of the adults of this world, and aurors. You know, like Ms. Tonks, someone who trained to deal with criminals, unless you're saying you don't have faith in her capabilities."
Albus glanced at Nymphadora. He could clearly see the boy had boxed him into a corner. If he said that he didn't think the aurors could deal with it it would insult Nymphadora. If he said they could, then the boy would use that as a reason to leave it up to them.
"It doesn't really matter regardless, it is your destiny my boy." Albus said.
Hadrian couldn't help himself. He broke down laughing.
"This isn't funny young man." Ted Tonks huffed. "You have responsibilities to this world."
Hadrian suddenly sobered. "Yes, I do have responsibilities. But none of those currently are to save those that are so pathetically weak as to turn to a student to save them. My responsibilities are the same as every other student in this school. I need to do my homework and maintain my grades.
Like I said, I'm not the auror in the room. It is not my job to arrest criminals. I am not going to go looking for a fight if I don't have to. I think all of you might need to take a long hard look in a mirror and question yourselves as to just why it is that you look to a child to save you, and then ask yourself, if you aren't willing to try and save yourself, do you really think your worth saving?
I will be 16 in a little over a year and then I will be able to take my place in the Wizengamot. Once I'm there I will see what I can do to implement criminal reform, but other than that I really don't see anything else I can do to help you."
Albus withheld a growl. The boy was being difficult again. He had hoped that what had happened the day before would scare the boy into being more agreeable, but apparently not. He was going to have to figure this out. Maybe if he used the abuse claims Molly had been filing to get the boy away from those fools he would finally be able to get him to take stronger versions of the potions that he didn't seem to be responding to.
Once he managed to get control of the boy he would be able to fix things. It never occurred to Albus as he thought and planned just how many times he had thought the exact same things only to fail.
Maybe the boy would be more responsive after Voldemort had returned. "We shall leave that be for the time being my boy. Now, the other reason I wanted to speak to you is the Black title."
"Shouldn't you speak to Uncle Siri about that. You know… Lord Black." Hadrian said in a quizzical voice. he really didn't understand what they were trying to accomplish.
"I must agree." Came Sirius's growl from the door to the office as it opened to reveal both him and Severus. Both clearly furious.
"What do you think you are doing Albus? You know damn well that you aren't aloud to meet with students, Hadrian especially, without a parent, guardian, or head of house. I have already warned you about doing something like this." Severus walked into the office and stood behind his son.
"Now Severus my boy, I just wanted to have a few words with Harry." Albus was really getting sick of Severus's disregard for him.
"That changes nothing. There are rules, you are not above them. Hadrian, and yes, his name is Hadrian, is a student of this school and as such any interactions you have with him fall under the school rules." Severus snapped. "We have discussed this before, you know the rules. Senility is not a good enough excuse."
Albus ground his teeth. But before he could say anything Sirius stepped forward.
"I would like to know just why it is you felt the need to discuss my title with my heir Albus?"
"It's just that he is still a student. I feel that it is just too much pressure for one young boy. It really would be for the greater good if you passed the title on to Nymphadora and Andromeda. They would be able to properly manage the title while you focused on your daughters and Harry focused on school."
"Oh, so having titles is to much pressure for me but you think it's my responsibility to kill a man that's already been killed." Hadrian said sarcastically under his breath.
"That is something that we will be discussing, and don't you think other wise." Sirius snapped, glaring at the headmaster when he heard his godsons words. "But, right now we are focused on the title.
As we all know, the Black title is passed down the male line. I might feel that that is sexist, but it doesn't change anything. No female can claim the title. So just how do you figure I could pass the title to Andromeda or Nymphadora? Not that I would even consider it."
"Nymphadora will be getting married soon and it would be for the best for her son to inherit the title. Since the Blacks are known for their metamorphmagus abilities, and Nymphadora has the trait, and more than likely her son will too, the title should go to her child. It really is for the best my boy." Albus gave a grandfatherly smile.
"That won't happen." Sirius said simply.
"Really Sirius, you know that the Black family would be better served by Nymphadora's son." Andromeda huffed. "She could at least start to restore prestige to the family. Get it away from the disgrace it has been in the past.
Sirius glared. "I don't see why you would want to have the title given your complete lack of respect for the family, but then I remember just who you are. This is nothing but a pathetic money and power grab and even a blind man could see that Andy.
But, like I said, it will never happen. First off, for that to happen I would have to abdicate my position and declare a new heir. And again, the heir would have to be a male. Not a potential male child, but one that has already been born.
Then there is the fact that you were disowned Andy. The only way your daughter, or imaginary grandson, could inherit was if you were brought back into the family along with your daughter. And while I might be willing to do that, there are very strict rules on how that could be done.
To fully return to the family you would have to annul your marriage. Not simply divorce, but annul. That would mean that it would be like the marriage never existed. Luckily for you, Narcissa fulfilled your open marriage contract, or else you would have had to.
But, the thing is, only a legitimate child, with the last name of Black, can inherit. Since you would have to annul your marriage that would mean that Nymphadora would then be seen as illegitimate, and, both she, and any child she had, wouldn't be accepted as lord or heir."
When Sirius finished his explanation the others in the office all just stared. Even Hadrian and Severus were slightly surprised by all that.
"So you're just going to give the title away?" Andromeda demanded in fury before she waved to Hadrian. "He isn't even a Black."
"He is more of a Black than you." Sirius snapped. "You turned your back on this family long ago, you don't get to make decisions for it now. We both know that all you want is the money and seat on the Wizengamot Andromeda, it's all you ever wanted."
Hadrian knew that he needed to interrupt this, if he didn't Sirius and Andromeda would descend into an all out screaming match. "It doesn't matter either way. I'm not planning to keep the heirship. I figured I would pass it to Rigel when he's old enough."
Sirius smiled. That actually sounded like a good plan and he couldn't determine if Hadrian had just come up with it or had been thinking about it since the boy was born.
"That sounds like a good plan."
"I just figured that I already have more than enough power and responsibility, it would be fun to make others suffer too."
Sirius broke down laughing, even Severus smirked. They both knew that Hadrian didn't really care about all the power he had and still, on occasion, dreamed of being a normal boy.
"Surely you are exaggerating Sirius." Albus cut in, trying to force the conversation back to what he wanted. "Nymphadora really should hold the title in trust for her future son. It would restore the metamorphmagus gift. As Nymphadora is the only one left she deserves it. It really is for the greater good."
Hadrian practically sighed when he heard the greater good line. Since he had been avoiding the man he had thankfully been able to avoid hearing it, mostly. He had wished to continue that trend, but it would seem Dumbledore was trying to make up for lost time.
"Hadrian, go back to your common room. You still have to pack for the train tomorrow, and I'm sure you will want to say bye to your friends." Sirius ushered Hadrian towards the door. He didn't want his godson to have to endure the old fool any longer.
Hadrian didn't even question it. He finally let his smirk grace his face as he turned towards the door and listened to Nymphadora's near constant muttering about how she hates her name that had started from the first time her name was mentioned. Moving quickly he all but dashes from the office, not noticing two high ranking members of the ministry that had been on their way up to put the headmaster back in his place.
Up in the office, Sirius turned back to glare at the headmaster and the others once he was assured his godson was out of the room. "This is none of your business Albus."
"Don't speak to the headmaster like that." Andromeda snapped, infuriated by Sirius's tone.
Albus knew he needed to try again, the Black's were an extremely powerful seat and had plenty of alliances. If he could gain control of that seat he might be able to use that to maneuver his way back into the chief warlock position if he moved quickly, and maybe added a few potions and spells, or threats.
"Really Sirius my boy, you know that you are being slightly selfish. I'm sure you are doing what you think is for the best, but you really don't have the full picture of what is going on." Albus tried throwing a few basic compulsions under his desk just to try as he tried his grandfather routine. "You've never even sat in your seat.
With Voldemort attempting to return we need to present a united front. The Black seat would be perfect to help form alliances to ensure the lights victory in the coming war. Andromeda and Nymphadora would be excellent in helping to bring the light faction back together. Then there is Ted. With his background in law he would be wonderful at helping to write up laws that will aid us. And, of course, like I said previously, Nymphadora is the last metamorphmagus, she will be the one to bring the gene back, there really must be a way to allow for a female to hold the title if she has such an important trait.
Come now my boy. It really is for the best."
"You really need to take the cotton out of your ears and listen. No. That's N O. It is a very simple word with a very simple meaning, it means no, negative, not going to happen." Sirius said in a tone that one would use with a very young child that just wasn't learning. He had felt the spells brush across his magic, but they hadn't managed to stick thanks to his Lord ring. "They are female, that means they can't hold the title. Ted can't hold it as proxy either, so don't even bother. Only a male, with Black blood, and the last name of Black can hold the title. That's why Hadrians last name is Potter-Black. It was so that he could hold the heirship.
Also, Nymphadora isn't the last metamorphmagus. There are actually four others that have Black blood. Rigel, the child Hadrian said he wanted to hand the heirship to is one of those four. He also has the last name Black, and is clearly male. That means he meets all the qualifications."
"Who is this boy? You only have daughters." Andromeda said thoughtfully. She didn't know of any other boys in her old family, but she hadn't really been paying that much attention.
"He is a Black, and that's all that matters." Sirius said. He didn't want to let any of these people know that Reggie was still alive, as far as they were concerned he had died years ago.
"Now Sirius…" Albus needed this information but he ended up being cut off by Severus.
"Enough, all of you. Sirius is Lord Black, only he can select his heir. None of you have any say in who that heir is.
Sebastian serves as his proxy. Sirius has a full time job, so it only makes sense for him to have a proxy, I use Sebastian myself. Maybe if you focused more on the school and it's students and less on politics we would't have had all these issues with security.
But there is something we need to go over. Just what were you thinking of calling a student up here without his guardians or head of house? You know good and well Albus that that isn't aloud. Then there was what you called him up here to discuss. You are not aloud to try and force your political views on the students Albus, and you know that. You have already been warned that something like that could cause us to lose access to the schools vaults again. Or did you forget that was the exact reason the vaults were initially closed off.
As the headmaster you are required to remain politically neutral with the staff and students. I told you this only a few months ago when you tried to get me to reassign my title to you as proxy. You know better.
Then, just what do you think you are doing trying to use students in this war you are planning? They are children. Hadrian hasn't even done his OWLs and you expect him to fight in a war. Have you lost your mind?
Allow me to make this perfectly clear, if I learn that you are attempting to force any student to become a soldier in this little war of yours I will personally take it to both the board and the ministry and request you be fired. I know Molly and Hestia will never willingly agree to that, but I'm sure the minister would be able to find a way to get you out of this school. Even more so now that you have publicly announced the attempted return of Voldemort against the express wishes of Fudge."
Severus was really wishing that they could get rid of the old fool. James and the other governors were trying, but it wasn't easy. To remove a headmaster they needed a unanimous decision, and Albus's supporters on the board would never agree. Alice was in the process of going through the charter word by word to see if there was anything they could use to get the man out. But, Severus was sure Fudge was going to be trying to determine some way to get Albus out.
"I have no intent of using the children like that." Albus twinkled, forcing his anger down. He was going to make Severus pay for this.
"Don't even try that." Sirius scoffed. "You recruited both Severus and I while we were still in school, along with many others. I was 15 when you first started working on recruiting me. If I find out you have tried that with Hadrian I will have you up on corruption of a minor charges so fast it will make your head spin. I am fully backing Sev on this. The students are students, not soldiers. If you want to recruit anyone outside this school there is nothing we can do, but we will not allow you to use students under our care like that."
Without giving Albus or the others any chance to respond both Sirius and Severus quickly spun and left the office. Neither of them wanted to deal with the man any longer. On the way out both glanced at the portrait of Phineas and he gave them a discrete nod, letting them know he would keep an eye and report anything he heard to Regulus.
"How dare they say we cant get the students ready for this war." Nymphadora growled. "I would have been grateful for an opportunity to help the light like that. The students need to be better trained, sure, but they would be able to do a great deal to help the light in the war. It is their duty."
"Who is this Rigel kid?" Andromeda wondered aloud. "We need to figure out if we can get him on our side. Maybe he could be useful."
Ted glanced from where his wife and daughter were muttering to look to the headmaster. "What is you opinion headmaster?"
"We need to tread carefully." Albus sat back pensively in his seat. "I understand your anger my dears, but we need to move with caution. it would do us no good now to make enemies out of potential allies, we can wait until after Harry defeats Voldemort to deal with the others.
We can not risk a hint of impropriety with the students. Molly, Hestia, and Emmeline will be able to keep the board from removing me, but Cornelius will be out for my blood unless I can get the man under control. He would be more than willing to try sending me to Azkaban if someone offered him enough gold, or he thought it would help him politically.
No, we need to move in secret. Once we have conformation of Voldemort's return I will call the rest of the order back. Voldemort will naturally go after Harry again so we can use that to get Severus and Sirius under control. They will want to help to protect the brat."
Albus turned towards the window to think for a few minutes, the others staying perfectly still and silent waiting for his decision like dogs begging for scraps. "This is what we will do, Nymphadora, I want you to return to the auror office and start feeling out your coworkers. You will need to be careful. The last thing we need is to arouse suspicion. Both Amelia and Cornelius won't understand, so you can't let them catch you.
Andromeda, start looking into this Rigel Black. We need to know who he is and who his parents are. From the fact that Harry said he would give the heirship to the boy when he was old enough we know that he is younger than 11. We need to know who his parents are and if we can sway them.
Ted, I am going to need your help with the laws. I will need to start presenting laws that will weaken the dark and strengthen our position and your assistance would be invaluable."
All three happily agreed and he dismissed them. Once they were gone Albus pulled out some parchment and started to make a list of everything he was going to need to do over the summer. It was a surprisingly long list.
Hogsmeade Station - June 30, 2005
Just before 11 everyone was milling around Hogsmeade Station. Many of the students from the other schools were with them, saying their last minute goodbyes to their new friends. They would be going back to their own home countries just after the train left.
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were slowly working their way closer and closer to where Harry was once again talking to that Marie girl. They wanted to get as much information about what Harry was doing this summer as they could. They had all been called up to the Headmasters office after breakfast and he gave them new tasks. If they couldn't force Harry to be their friend, then they just needed to get close to him and allow people to think they were.
Ron snarled softly as he saw Fleur make her way over to Harry and give him a tight hug before she kissed both of his cheeks and then his forehead. He had gone out of his way to try and meet her all year and nothing, she never even spoke to him.
"I'm going to be coming back to France to visit Marie and Dud this summer, I'll send a letter to see if you and Gabi want to come visit." They heard Harry say to the girl.
Now they knew that he would be going to France. Hermione started to make plans. Her family often visited France during the summer, so she was going to have to see if she could arrange a chance meeting, she just needed to figure out where Marie and Fleur lived.
"I'm sure Gabi would love to visit you while you're in France, but I most likely won't be there. I've already gotten an amazing job." Fleur's eyes were practically glowing in joy. "But, not to worry, we will definitely be seeing each other. I can say the same to the two of you."
Fred and George grinned as Fleur looked to them. They had both already taken great joy in teasing their brother on just how quickly he had fallen in love, not that they could say to much because of how they were with Hadrian. Bill seemed to bring up Fleur in every letter and conversation he had since the day they met, it was like he couldn't bring himself to not think about her at least a dozen times every minute.
"Oh, we know." Fred grinned.
"We never thought differently." George winked at her.
"Oh you two." Fleur blushed and gently smacked both twins arms.
"What else…"
"Is family for?" The twins replied.
"Well, I always did wish for a little brother, I just didn't think I would get such delightfully annoying ones." Fleur gave them her best chiding look.
"What else would the use of brothers be?" George brushed off the look.
"We annoy because we care." Fred added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron shouted out in confusion. He couldn't figure out why Fleur would consider the twins to be brothers.
"Just what she said." Fred gave a devilish grin. He and George knew good and well that poor Ronniekins had a massive crush on Fleur, to bad for him she was so madly in love with Bill.
"Dear Fleur is as good as family." George mirrored his twins grin.
"How?" Ginny said in shock. She had no clue how they were related to the French beauty. It was good for her because now she could learn the girls beauty regimens at the same time as making sure the other girl stayed away from her Harry.
"Our dear Hadrian had the brilliant idea of setting Fleur up on a date with Bill." George winked at Hadrian.
"The two are madly in love" Fred fluttered his eyelashes at the girl who just smiled.
"We expect to hear wedding bells soon enough." George sighed.
"They just seemed perfect for each other." Hadrian said in explanation.
"And I couldn't agree more." Fleur beamed at him. "But, back to what I was saying. I have been hired to work with Bill's team as their recorder and and apprentice historian. Bill and I were talking and we were thinking about dividing up our weekends between our families so that we had the chance to get to know each others families. So, I'm sure we will end up meeting up more than once."
Ginny just stared for a moment while she thought. She could make this work. Although she would have liked to have been informed Bill was dating someone, it could be worse. Maybe she could convince them to take her to France with them. That would be amazing, France in the summer.
Ron just stared, barely a thought managing to cross his mind. He had never managed to get this close to the beautiful girl and was dazzled, she was even more beautiful up close. The only thoughts he managed to have was anger at his brother for taking her from him and how he was going to need to seduce her away from him.
After a few more last minute goodbyes, Hadrian and the others made their way towards the train. Glancing at their reflections in the windows and side of the train Hadrian and the others could see Hermione, Ron, and Ginny starting to follow them without taking their eyes off Hadrian.
Hadrian glanced to each of the twins and saw they understood. Using a well practiced maneuver, Hadrian slipped in front of them and they stepped closer to each other, completely blocking view of him. Once he was out of sight Hadrian pulled on his metamorphmagus ability and quickly changed before walking off towards the front of the train. He knew the others would join him once they had lost the stalkers.
With Hadrian safely gone the others split up and all went to different areas of the train. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were all extremely confused as they spun in circles trying to find Harry. How did he disappear like that?
Once everyone made it to the compartment the rest of the ride past enjoyably. Everyone was making plans about visiting each other and how they were going to spend their summer.
Everyone was even able to safely get off the train without being harassed as Molly was at the restaurant and hadn't been able to be there. She had made sure to send multiple letters to Arthur reminding him that she got Ron and Ginny for the next weekend, she had even offered to take Nicole and Leo for the weekend. The reply she had received had been less than pleasant and she still hadn't returned to her usual colour and had to wear a hat since she had lost her hair.
It seemed like the start of a beautiful summer.