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~ Corvus Black - POV ~
~ Hogwarts Castle, Highlands, Scotland ~
Rita's articles are usually meant to be taken with a grain of salt, as it's popularly known that the women in question is known for her stories being, whilst partially truthful, dramatically enhanced. But since Sirius' and Pettigrews store had drama in abundance with; betrayals, secrets, a faked death, false heroes, wrongful imprisonment, and a defeated Dark Lord; Rita probably realized that the story was dripping with juices enough to feed her fan base thrice over. Not to mention that she was now under a binding magical contract with me and she knows better than to bite the hand that now feeds her.
Add on the fact that the whole story was word for word true helps to boost her ever teetering credibility. It was also a draft of said story that was written for the Minister to read by Arcturus when he ambushed Fudge this morning along with proof and a demand of an immediate release of Sirius back into Black family hands. The rest is just fact checking, handing over Pettigrew to the Aurors, and finding out what kind of reparations are negotiated for Sirius' unlawful imprisonment. All easily seen to by Arcturus himself.
This story was perfectly timed to be released for this mornings, anticipating that the Minister would be scrambling to getting the facts straight while trying to covering his ass. Not that he would've needed to as it was under the previous Minister that this had accrued. Either way he wouldn't be ready for the whole of the wizarding population to be getting the whole truth of the story first thing in the morning just as he's forced into handing Sirius over to Arcturus.
Public perception is everything, especially to a career politician like Fudge, being seen doing something is how he now survives while keeping his office.
The whole of the school was either buried within the article as the whole story is covered in multiple pages, or they've already finished with the article and are now discussing it while constantly glancing my way. Which didn't bother me much at all, but by the sporadically twitching eyebrow on my girlfriends face, the attention is definitely getting to Nymphadora. Honestly after all her shenanigans over the year's here you would think she'd be used to being the center of attention by now. Especially given that she also happens to be one of the most attractive members of Hogwarts female population, top three even, alongside Professor Sinistra and Helena Ravenclaw.
Obviously Helena is a ghost, but she happens to just also be a very gorgeous and very gracefully attractive woman. Plus with my ability from Amatsu-Mikaboshi; the Lord of Death, gives me the ability to interact with the dead, and hopefully, if they were actually created by this universes concept of death, it'll potentially give me some control over the three of the Deathly Hallows.
'They were probably just power artifacts either created by the three brothers or discovered by them somehow. While the concept of death is just flavor for the story.' Atleast that was my hypothesis on the tale of the three brothers and the Hallows.
Although proving that'll have to wait until canon actually begins. Other than the Resurrection Stone, which I'm sure I can retrieve without having to worry about the withering curse or moving the Horcrux it's housed in now, another will be close by soon enough to study them all. One of them already is, not that I'd try to snatch it from Dumbledore.
'For now I'll just have to get through my O.W.L year first.' I thought to myself as I finished my modest breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast with Nymphadora.
"Should we head out and wander the castle grounds before you decide to sequester us in the library for the rest of the bloody day?" Nymphadora asked as she also finished the rest of her cookies and tea. "I still say it's obviously month's too early to be studying for the O.W.L's, we could be spending that time out somewhere else. Anywhere else."
"Quit your whinging Nym, it's a couple of hours before it's even noon, we'll have all of the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend for you to get us into some trouble. But, I wouldn't be against a quick walk around castle grounds before heading towards the library. " I say to her while fondly sighing at her pouting, it's becoming one of her favorite tactics, probably because she already knows that it will always works on me.
"Good, because today is too nice of a day to be wasted on the inside, especially the inside of a library with Madame Pince of all people." She half jokingly says as we stand up from the Slytherin table and start heading out of the great hall. The delivered letter from Arcturus, which had arrived sometime during my second serving of eggs and sausages, already tucked into the inside pocket of my leather jacket and that'll read over in the library.
The next few hours consisted of Nymphadora and I walking the grounds for awhile, wandering around the castle's courtyard and the Black Lake. Then afterwards came a couple of hours of reading through a few reference books in the library of previous O.W.L testing. Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch in the kitchen with the house-elves, the lovable creatures almost prepared a whole feast for us before Nymphadora got them to settle for a couple of sandwiches and some pumpkin juice. Though they did pack four more sandwiches and some pastry desserts up in a basket for us, which we gladly accepted.
After the library and our quick lunch in the kitchen, we spent another couple hours walking the perimeter of Forbidden Forest. I even spotted a herd of Threstrals wadding into the lake fishing—those who caught one moved back to the shore while bashing the fish against boulders on the shore. They would then first lay down fish at the feet of their young before wadding back into the lake for another fish.
The Threstrals were quite beautiful and gentle creatures despite their outward appearance and their carnivorous appetite. Sadly, or maybe not, Nymphadora wasn't able to see the Threstrals but took me at my word when I described them to her. She didn't seem to share in my opinion about them being beautiful, she will one day, sadly that day will come at price.
After our encounter with the majestic Threstrals we headed back into the castle and up the moving staircases moving up to the seventh floor. To the wall across from a tapestry of a knight trying to teach some trolls to dance ballet; opposite the tapestry depicting Ser Barnabas the Barmy's attempt to teach ballet to trolls is a stretch blank castle wall, which while walking back and fourth three times while concentrated on something or somewhere you need, a door materializes. For Nymphadora and I it was a training room we needed tonight.
I'd told Nymphadora about the Come and Go Room sometime during our third year and made her promise that the room and it's location would stay between us. We've even explored the lost and found room, if you can even call that deceptively large maze of lost things a room. The Hogwarts house-elves called it the Place Where Everything Is Hidden when we decide to ask them about the room. Not that they knew much beyond what their predecessors had, older elves who have since passed away, told them as they were now telling the younger elves that it was created by Rowena Ravenclaw and nothing else.
Trying to replicate the enchantments of the Room of Requirement that Rowena had so elegantly woven into the room has been a fun side quest for me. I couldn't pass up the chance of getting the spell work for the whole room and it's many functions for my future castle. I will have my own Room of Requirements, it's just a matter of time.
Nymphadora and I practiced our casting and dueled a few times while running through an obstacle course. A great workout routine for an aspiring Auror to go through and a good excuse for me to get her into a shower together before heading down for supper.
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~ Arcturus Black III - POV ~
~ St. Mungo's, London, England ~
"I'm sorry to say Mr. Black, but it's a rare but an already established occurrence, and sadly one we currently do not have any countermeasures for at this time. Mostly because inmates with this level of exposure to Dementors on a daily basis don't usually make it back out of Azkaban Prison without a serious injury requiring immediate medical attention." Healer Edgecombe explains to me outside the door to my grand nephews room on the fourth floor of St. Mungo's, in the Janus Thickey Ward, the ward for those dealing with permanent spell damage.
"You're telling me that my grand nephew, because of his prolonged illegal incarceration in Azkaban... and constant exposure to Dementors, is no longer able to have any children of his own? How is that even possible." I ask with a stoic mask on my face, thanks to my Occlumency, while a overwhelming amount of rage is simmering underneath my skin.
Healer Edgecombe, not aware of the wrath building within me, continued by explaining all they know about Dementor exposure which was not much more than that the creatures were parasitic. At the minimum they drain the life-force of any sentient being just by being near, not to mention their ability to administer the 'Kiss', essentially sucking the soul out of the inmates body.
'Such fell creatures, it's Ministery laziness just having those creatures as guards for Azkaban, now this. Sirius gained his freedom, but at what cost... House Black is further weakened. Corvus is now the sole Black able to carry-on our bloodline. Atleast I won't have to worry about him.' Even as the thought of Corvus relieved some of my concern with House Blacks future, it did nothing for the anger simmering underneath. 'A centuries old family brought low by... themselves, mostly.'
As Healer Edgecombe finished his long-winded explanation for why my grand nephew is now sterile, which was a roundabout way of saying 'because of the Dementors nature'. I turned back to door to Sirius room, no longer acknowledging the Healer as I mentally prepared myself to break the news to my grand nephew that he'll probably never be able to have children of his own.
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