Chapter 43
‘When was someone going to tell me?!’ snarled Sirius as he stormed into Tom’s office.
‘Tell you what?’ Tom asked evenly, wand hand twitching.
‘That there’s a Prophecy about my godson?!’
Tom sighed. ‘I had actually been meaning to tell you, but there have been many distractions lately. Miggy – fetch the others.’
Sirius paced angrily while Tom sat behind his desk, continuing with the endless paperwork that somehow accumulated each day. It didn’t take long until Lucius, Barty, Severus and Carrick arrived, each watching Sirius with a mixture of curiosity and a hint of wariness.
Tom laid down his quill and gave Sirius a pointed look. ‘Stop wearing holes in my rug. Sit down.’
Sirius gave him a dirty look as he sank into a chair.
‘What is going on, my Lord?’ Barty asked warily.
‘Sirius is aware that there is a Prophecy regarding Harry. As Harry’s godfather, he has a right to know it.’
Sirius deflated slightly at the easy capitulation, as if he had been gearing up for a fight. ‘Damn right.’ He muttered instead.
‘Are you sure it is safe to tell him, my Lord?’ Barty asked hesitantly.
‘My Occlumency is fine!’ snapped Sirius.
‘Even after Azkaban?’ Lucius asked carefully. ‘You seem a bit… addled, at times.’
‘I made a mess of the outer layers before I went in, to stop anyone trying to take anything from me. It’s taking longer than I thought to sort through it all again, what with the whole brain damage and shit.’ growled Sirius.
‘Brain damage?’ Lucius asked, alarmed. ‘You have brain damage? How is that possible – how has your mind not healed itself?!’
‘Too much to heal all at once. Isolation and lack of stimulation makes the brain deteriorate and die off in certain areas. Takes a long time to grow back brain matter when you’ve also been starved and beaten and frozen and kept from your magic for several years.’ Sirius’ biting edge faded as he spoke, until he just sounded weary and worn down.
Various expression of horror and anger met his words.
Tom cleared his throat. ‘We shall discuss prison reforms soon, as you suggested a while ago. Let us come back to the matter at hand for now – the Prophecy.’ Tom drummed his fingers on the desk for a moment, gathering himself. Around the room, the other men straightened and focused carefully. Most of them had heard it before, but it still didn’t feel like something to listen to with anything less than full attention.
‘One with the power to destroy the Enemy approaches. Born to those who have thrice betrayed, born as the seventh month dies. He will have a gift the Enemy knows not, marked by the hand of Death. Neither can be free while the other survives.’
Silence reigned for a while, then Lucius began. ‘We believe Harry fits the description of ‘born as the seventh month dies’.’
Sirius nodded, eyes fixed on his hands in his lap.
‘‘Born to those who have thrice betrayed’, we think is about you being put in prison, and about Harry being left with abusive guardians. We aren’t sure about the third betrayal, but we already agreed that we are limited in perspective, where Lady Magic is not.’ Barty added.
Sirius nodded again. ‘Prophecies come from Lady Magic.’ He agreed quietly.
‘The Gift the enemy knows not is, we think, the Death rites – the connection to Lord Death. That also fits ‘marked by the hand of Death.’’ Lucius continued.
Sirius frowned but gave a slight nod.
‘I believe the Light side intended Harry to be a weapon to kill me.’ Tom said, voice a little hoarse. ‘The ‘power to destroy the Enemy’. We had initially planned to turn Dumbledore into Harry’s enemy, but the old fool has done a fine job of that himself.’
‘You intended to use Harry as a weapon?’ Sirius asked, voice cold and soft and venomous.
Tom swallowed. He wasn’t worried about attack – he was worried about his child’s godfather being furious enough to enact his guardianship rights and take Harry away. ‘Initially, we considered it. That plan very quickly was dropped. Harry is a child. He should not- he will not fight.’ He said determinedly.
Sirius’ heavy glare held Tom in place for a long moment, before he relented. ‘Good.’ He heaved a sigh. ‘I have my own interpretations of this Prophecy. The House of Black follows the stars, and there have been many prophets and seers among us through generations. Interpreting prophecies is a skill as important as reading or writing in the Black Family.’ Sirius paused, considering. ‘Send an elf to fetch Marius.’
Fortunately, it was a weekend, and Marius wasn’t otherwise occupied.
Not with anything critical, at least.
‘I was halfway through a jigsaw puzzle with my wife,’ he grumbled. ‘This better be important.’
‘There is a Prophecy about Harry. I want your input.’ Sirius said bluntly, before repeating the Prophecy verbatim, despite only hearing it once.
Marius’ contemplative gaze was fixed on Tom’s desk as Sirius recited it, and he nodded slightly at the end. The other occupants of the room watched the ensuing conversation like a tennis match, as the two men quickly fired back and forth in truncated sentences.
‘Harry’s birthday?’ Marius began.
‘Fits. Just before midnight, 31st July.’ Sirius replied.
Marius nodded. ‘Hand of Death – the Rites?’
‘Yep.’
‘Betrayals?’
‘Harry’s guardians, me in prison, not sure the third.’
‘Lady Magic is not limited as we are in perspective.’
‘Yep.’
‘Enemy?’
‘Previously Tom, now Dumbledore. We assume.’
‘Hmm. The Gift?’
Tom jumped in before Sirius could speak. ‘We believe that is likely something related to Lord Death, and the Rites Harry performs. He appears to be able to make souls depart at will.’
Sirius and Marius exchanged a glance, then turned to Tom with nearly identical expressions of apologetic disagreement.
‘No.’ said Sirius simply.
‘No,’ agreed Marius, ‘Family.’
‘What?’ asked Tom.
‘Family – family is Harry’s gift. A boy twice neglected, found by those who would seek his end in the name of a Prophecy, only to find they cannot condemn a child to such a fate, and instead take him on as a son, a nephew, a member of their cobbled together family. You are Harry’s gift. All of you here.’
Carrick spoke up for the first time. ‘He’s right. This… family is a gift.’ He agreed, voice tight.
Lucius reached over and gave Carrick’s shoulder a squeeze. Tom gave Lucius a grateful glance, too far away on the other side of the desk to comfort Carrick himself.
Marius’ sharp eyes caught the whole little scene as it played out and gave Tom a meaningful look. Tom blinked, then nodded, ears warm. ‘Okay.’ He agreed quietly. ‘Family.’
‘What about destroying the enemy?’ Barty asked. ‘Does it mean Harry has to kill Dumbledore? The last line says neither can live while the other survives.’
‘It says ‘neither can be free’ – that likely just means the whole thing will hang over their heads until it is resolved – they will be unable to get away from it, unable to avoid it.’ Marius said. ‘Harry most certainly should not be sent to destroy Dumbledore. He is a child.’
‘Agreed.’ Tom growled. ‘I will keep him as far away from Dumbledore as possible.’
‘Then who kills Dumbledore?’ asked Carrick.
‘Probably nobody.’ Sirius shrugged. ‘It says ‘destroy’, not ‘kill’. There are plenty of ways to destroy someone without killing them.’
At the confused and curious expressions that met his gaze, Sirius continued. ‘Draco dying,’ he said, looking at Lucius who paled and nodded. ‘Returning to your birth family,’ Sirius went on, looking at Carrick. He turned to Severus, giving him a sad, bitter smile.
‘Returning to how things were before,’ Severus said quietly. Sirius nodded.
‘Death is not the only way to destroy someone. Dumbledore could be destroyed by taking away what is important to him – his little kingdom, his toy soldiers, his power and influence and authority. If those are stripped away…’
Tom nodded slowly, taking in the pained expressions of Lucius and Carrick and Severus. It certainly sounded logical, put like that.
‘How do we know you are interpreting the Prophecy correctly? How do we know if actually we had it right?’ Carrick asked hesitantly, his eyes still haunted at the thought of his former family.
‘We don’t know for sure, but we Blacks grow up researching prophecies, learning to study and interpret the stars, learning from those who have the Gift of Sight, and so on. We are certainly not infallible – but we have a better understanding than most, I would say. I quite enjoy riddles, and I would say prophecies are similar – there is a pattern to these things, a certain way of interpreting words and reading between lines, if you take enough time to learn it.’ Marius answered. ‘Regardless, there is room for manipulation within a prophecy. If we decide this is what it means, and we take action, then things will fall into place to make the prophecy come true. In the same way, if Harry had stayed with those beasts he was with before, he would have been raised into a weapon and aimed at Tom by Dumbledore’s hand, because Dumbledore decided that’s what the prophecy meant.’
‘But how does that work – if Dumbledore believes one thing, and we believe another – how do we know what the results will be, if both sides are trying to control the outcome?’ Carrick asked.
Sirius gave him an approving nod. ‘An excellent question. There is often a specific element to a prophecy that the end result hinges on. I believe in this case, it all hinges on Harry – on who has his loyalty, I suppose.’
‘But Harry isn’t going to be the one to actually act against Dumbledore, if we are trying to discredit him and take away his power – what can a little kid do in a political game?’ Carrick asked.
Marius smiled when Sirius glanced at him for help. ‘I believe the prophecy becomes a little… oblique here. My take is this – Harry has the power to destroy Dumbledore, because of the gift of his family, who will act on his behalf to protect him.’
Carrick nodded thoughtfully. ‘I suppose that makes some sort of sense…’
Sirius snorted. ‘Prophecies are fickle things – ‘sort of’ making sense is about as good as we can hope for, until we know in hindsight what actually ends up happening.’
‘I think we have plenty to be getting on with for now, at least.’ Lucius piped up. ‘Destroying Dumbledore seems like it’s going to be largely political manoeuvring. Sirius, perhaps you ought to take up your mantle as Lord Black officially, take your seat in the Wizengamot, and help me start poking holes and creating suspicion.’
Sirius gave a little grimace. ‘If I do that, I will have to return to Grimmauld Place. I can’t just appear in the Wizengamot without a word beforehand.’
‘Yes – it would be beneficial if you at least pretend to be on the Light side to begin with.’
‘Ugh, I am not looking forward to going back there and making up a story about where I’ve been.’ Sirius groaned.
Severus grinned, sharp and gleeful. ‘Don’t worry about that – I have the perfect cover story!’