Chapter 35
Marius Black was unmistakably Sirius’ uncle. Or cousin. Or possibly both – hard to tell in the Black family sometimes.
Regardless, he had the look of a Black about him. The silvery eyes, the dark wavy hair, the air of grace and confidence that all Blacks seemed to carry effortlessly, as if it was their right to be wherever they found themselves.
Right now, Marius found himself standing in the manor house of the Dark Lord, who reportedly hated squibs and had plans to eradicate them, as well as all muggles. He kept his chin held high, though. He had been invited here, which seemed like too much effort to go to if they planned to just kill him.
‘Hello, Uncle Marius.’ Sirius greeted politely.
‘Are we not cousins?’ Marius replied, brow furrowed.
‘Who knows?’ shrugged Sirius. ‘Hello, family member Marius.’
Marius snorted. ‘Hello, family member Sirius. As irreverent as ever, I take it. Clearly, seeing as how you introduced yourself before the Lord of the manor, and still have not make a formal introduction. It is a pleasure to meet you, your Lordship.’ Marius said, turning from scolding Sirius to bow his head politely to the Dark Lord.
‘Please, call me Tom. We have invited you here in a professional capacity, in which we hope you will be able to teach us. Having you defer to me as a Lord will no doubt impede progress.’ Tom said graciously, inclining his head. ‘Shall we retire to my study and discuss matters?’
A small procession gathered as they headed for Tom’s study – Lucius and Sirius followed along, then Barty turned a corner and saw them, promptly shoving something into his companion’s hands and following them instead. Severus and Carrick were already outside Tom’s study, Harry’s hand in Carrick’s careful grip.
‘See, I told you he’d be back soon. He had to go and greet somebody downstairs.’ Carrick was saying quietly as they all made their way into the study.
Tom’s ears burned in embarrassment as he gave Harry a sheepish look. ‘My apologies, Harry – I was a little eager to meet our guest, and I should have asked you if you wanted to come along or wait up here.’
Harry gave a little nod but avoided Tom’s eye.
‘Do you remember how I said we were looking for someone to help us all with sign language? This is Marius.’
Harry’s face lit up suddenly, and he glanced between Marius and Tom, feet shuffling in excitement.
‘No bad dad Tom good boy good boy something something.’ Harry signed rapidly, nearly bouncing on his toes.
Tom looked at Marius. ‘Do you know what those last two words were?’
Marius hesitated, giving a non-committal hum. He crouched down in front of Harry and smiled. ‘Hello. My name is Marius. What is your name?’
Harry wiggled in excitement, then held his hands up, signing quickly. ‘No words what name what me more more more please rules what me you yes.’
Marius’ smile became a little fixed. Harry seemed to pick up on it, shrinking back. ‘No me bad bad sorry bad words no no no what bad.’
‘Can you hear me, Harry?’ Marius asked gently. Harry nodded. ‘It’s just speaking that you have trouble with?’ Harry ducked his head, shuffling back a little till Tom laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
‘Harry has spoken only one word that we know of, and that was under duress. He hasn’t spoken since.’ Tom supplied.
Marius frowned. ‘I hope nobody has been pressuring him to speak again?’ he asked sternly.
‘No – that is why you are here. The circumstances… well, that is a conversation for a different time.’ Tom said, giving a meaningful glance down at Harry, out of his line of sight. ‘We would like to learn how to speak with and understand Harry better. He likely also needs to learn new words, I’m sure his vocabulary is limited. We are unsure where he learned to sign at all, given his previous guardians’ lack of care.’
Marius nodded, then looked back at Harry. ‘Where did you learn to sign, Harry?’
Harry thought for a moment, before drawing a square with his hands, and signing, ‘S-E-M-S-E street.’
‘Semse…’ Marius mumbled. ‘Sesame Street? On the telly?’
Harry nodded.
‘Sesame street is a great show!’ Marius smiled. ‘Did you learn some letters watching that show?’
Harry tilted his head. ‘L, H, D, E, S.’
‘Very good! Can you point to something that starts with this letter?’ Marius asked, signing L.
Harry blinked, then looked around. After a moment, he pointed to the desk.
Marius smiled. ‘Good try. This is a tricky game. This letter is L – L for Lucius!’
Harry looked at Lucius, copying the sign.
‘What about this one?’ Marius asked again, signing S. ‘Sounds like ssss. Can you point to something that starts with ssss?’
Harry looked around again, before pointing at Severus.
‘My apologies, sir, what is your name?’
‘Severus Snape.’
‘Oh, very good Harry! That’s two sss words! Ssseverus Sssnape!’
Harry grinned, blushing furiously and tucking himself partly behind Tom’s leg.
‘Harry, I’d like to have a bit of a chat with the grown-ups now. Is there somewhere you like to play? Perhaps you could go there while we talk.’
Harry’s grin faded in an instant and he clung to Tom’s leg, looking up at him pleadingly. ‘No no no stop ears please please ears no no no.’
‘Would you like me to cast the special spell that makes everyone sound silly? So you can stay here instead?’ Tom asked quietly, and Harry nodded quickly.
‘Alright. Same as before, come and tap me on the arm if you want it to stop. Shall I fetch a quill and some- never mind.’ Harry pushed Tom back towards his chair and clambered up into his lap, setting his head against Tom’s chest and tapping along with his heartbeat.
Marius watched quietly, but his eyes were sharp. ‘I believe I need some context before we go any further.’ He said, leaving no room for arguments.
Tom nodded, hand settling over Harry’s back. ‘Agreed, however I feel that we have already let far too much be known without any degree of surety from you.’ His voice was cool, eyes sharp.
‘A Vow? I may not be able to access my magic, but I still have it. The loss of it would kill me as surely as any wizard.’
Tom looked intrigued but pushed it aside for now. ‘A Vow will suffice, then.’
‘In the name of Lady Magic, I vow not to share information about this child,’ Marius raised his hand towards Harry, ‘or about this Lord,’ he raised his hand towards Tom, ‘or about this Lord’s people or plans, to any adversary known or unknown. Should I break my Vow, may my magic be stripped from me. But let there be an allowance to share with my wife, should she also take a Vow. So mote it be.’
Tom’s eyes blazed as he glared at Marius, but Marius shrugged. ‘You didn’t specify a Vow, so I made up my own. That’s your mistake, not mine.’
Sirius snorted, reaching across the desk to give Marius a high-five. ‘An uncle-cousin I can truly look up to!’ Sirius cried, wiping fake tears from his eyes.
‘The Vow is solid.’ Marius said dismissively, when the irritated silence stretched. ‘There are more pressing matters. Harry looks very underweight. I can see hints of old bruising on his arms, and some of his fingers look crooked, like they were broken and healed incorrectly. I would not be surprised to find other bones in similar condition. His use of sign language is very basic – effective enough for now, but very limited. He relies heavily on pointing. Add to that, some of his signs are not correct BSL – British Sign Language,’ Marius clarified at the blank looks some were giving him. ‘That’s not an issue right now, but he won’t be a little boy forever – he needs to know correct forms of signs for when he eventually begins to speak with other people. It’s like baby babble – you might know as a baby’s parent, that ‘buh’ means blanket – but nobody else does. Harry almost needs to learn from scratch, along with everyone else.’
Marius stopped, giving them time to digest.
‘I can see that you are all looking rather daunted. Harry is clearly a traumatised little boy with a long road ahead. But it looks like you have already achieved the most difficult step – gaining his trust. And trust in more than one person – I have seen him interacting with several people here. In different ways, but still interacting. Many children who have faced suffering and abuse as Harry clearly has, will focus on one person and be frightened of just about everyone else. Some will shut down entirely, turning inward and not letting anybody get close. The fact that you have all gained a measure of trust in such a short span of time is… remarkable.’
A mixture of surprise and a hint of pride lit on several faces, glancing at Harry still snuggled against Tom’s chest.
‘Given that I have lived most of my life in the muggle world, I am sure I am not up to date with the latest advancements in potions and healing spells and the like. If you have access to a potions master, that would likely be highly beneficial in building Harry’s health and correcting some issues. There are muggle remedies if magical healing is not an option, but they will take more time. Is Skele-grow still a thing? Though I seem to recall that being a rather miserable potion – no pain-relieving potions were able to be used with it, from memory. What advancements have been made?’
Severus’ face twisted. ‘No advancements have been made – Skele-grow is still a miserable potion which reacts poorly with most other potions. I would love the opportunity to experiment and improve or even invent new potions entirely, but unfortunately at this point in time, it is not possible.’
‘You are a potions master?’ asked Marius curiously. ‘You seem rather young.’
Severus smirked. ‘Youngest in history. Gained my mastery at nineteen.’
Marius whistled. ‘Most impressive. And yet you do not work in a research capacity? It seems that your level of skill and knowledge would be best suited to a role where you might bring the most benefit to society by creating and researching. Forgive my rudeness, but anything else seems like a selfish choice.’
‘Severus is far from selfish,’ Tom interjected a little sharply. ‘We are not all given the same opportunities. It is easy to look from the outside and see a choice and make a judgement – but that ignores the fact that before the choice was made, only certain options were available. Severus is doing an extraordinary amount of good, given his talents and the options that have been available to him.’
Severus’ ears burned as he kept his eyes fixed on the floor. Sirius was giving him a strange look, something between assessing and impressed, as he listened to the Dark Lord’s praise.
Marius nodded slowly. ‘I see. My apologies, Severus. May I ask, what were the options available to you?’
Severus glanced at Tom, who gave a subtle shrug, as if to say tell him whatever you feel like sharing.
‘Become a spy for Dumbledore, or go to Azkaban.’ Severus said bluntly.
Marius winced. ‘Then I must ask your forgiveness again for my lack of manners. I should not have made a disparaging comment with so little context. I am sorry, Severus.’
Severus shook his head slightly. ‘It’s fine. I have heard far worse criticism about far milder infractions than not using my mastery as I ought. I still hold hope that one day, I may be able to fulfil that desire to create and experiment.’
Tom gave him an apologetic look. ‘You know I would let you if I were able, Severus.’
Severus gave him a wry smile. ‘I know, my Lord. But it is not yet time. One day soon, I hope.’
Marius watched on, quiet but intently focused. Interesting dynamic, he thought to himself. Likely the stories of the ‘evil Dark Lord’ hell-bent on murder were… inaccurate. Marius felt anticipation building at the thought of spending more time in this Lord’s manor for the next… however long – and learning for himself the true goals of the Dark Lord.
‘I believe we have strayed from our original conversation. In what capacity do you see me teaching you sign language? Does anybody know any already? Do you have other tutors? Books? Do you want an in-depth course, or do you want to learn a few quick things to get by with and take time to learn more thoroughly later on?’
‘The only person who knew any signs to begin with was my own young son,’ Lucius began. ‘He was the one to indicate that Harry had a method of communication, and we have been eager to learn more and communicate with him better than, as you said, relying on pointing and gestures.’
Marius nodded. ‘Perhaps we might have an introductory class for whoever is interested initially, and then we might separate into groups? If your son would like to learn more, he and Harry could have a little class together – short and simple lessons to build vocabulary and confidence. Then perhaps a more and a less intense class for the adults. I can only be away from my own responsibilities for so long – my being here today was rather unexpected.’ Marius finished drily, looking over at Lucius.
‘Yes, pardon my poor manners, Marius. I have been searching for some time for a suitable tutor – when we located you, I admit I was perhaps a little hasty in having you brought here.’ Tom said, slightly abashed.
‘Understandable,’ Marius smiled. ‘However, the fact remains that I can only spend so long here before I must return to my duties, and my dear wife.’
After some discussion, a rough plan was mapped out, for Marius to remain for three days and teach some basics, then return twice a week until everyone was at a reasonable level.
Harry’s signing improved immensely, as the small boy picked up signs at a prodigious rate. No doubt his previous lack of voice – both physically, and through sign – spurred him to learn as much and as fast as possible. Even so, Marius made comment of Harry’s impressive progress several times, much to Tom’s poorly hidden pride, and Sirius’ open delight.