Chapter 8
Regulus watched, half in awe and half in horror, as Hydrus held the soul of a recently deceased muggle in his hand. The man had died of an overdose barely two hours ago, Hydrus had lead them to him just as the man took his dying breath. He didn't like the idea of killing someone himself, not unless they really deserved it (thank Merlin?), so he was practicing claiming souls and raising Inferi with those who had just died by other means.
Regulus had never seen a human soul until his son reached that stage in his Necromantic learning, and it was a strange sight to behold. The Muggle's soul was a pale, almost transparent thing, that dripped down in between Hydrus' fingers, but never split off from the rest. Hydrus had told him that Wizard's souls were different, though Regulus wasn't sure he wanted to see just how.
He walked back to stand against the opposite wall, keeping an even further distance from the chalk lines than he had before, as Hydrus began to chant in the Tongue of the Dead. It was an awful sound, one that grated on the ears like nails on a chalkboard yet so much deeper, but it was the language of all the rituals Hydrus had to complete in his role as a Necromancer. That was another thing Regulus had never known before Hydrus began his learning- Necromancers carried out Death's wishes. Hydrus was Death's Chosen, here to carry on the Forgotten Art and claim the souls of those Death requested. In time, he would be able to help others commune with dead relatives and the like, but for now he was just learning everything he needed to be in control. A Necromancer who didn't know what they were doing was the most dangerous thing the world could possibly face.
Hydrus' chanting reached a crescendo of sorts, and Regulus couldn't look away as the soul in his son's hands began to fracture. Hydrus pushed a sliver of soul back into the chest of the corpse, as the rest of it began to fade into nothing. He then turned his attention to the corpse, carving runes Regulus didn't understand into it. Minutes later, he stood up, grinning, and said something short in that ominous tongue. Slowly, as if it were a newborn lamb, and much to Regulus' increasing horror, the corpse began to rise from the stone floor it had lain on. His son had just raised a fucking Inferius before his eighth birthday. On his first try.
Hydrus gave it what was presumably orders, and the Inferius marched sluggishly out of the dungeon.
"That was amazing, mon soleil. Well done. What did you tell it to do?" Regulus asked, hugging Hydrus tightly.
"I asked it to bury itself in the back garden, close to the edge of the wards. I'll raise more Inferi soon, and they'll do the same. If the wards are ever attacked, they'll protect us and the house."
Regulus' heart warmed, "That is truly incredible, Hydrus. How close are you to establishing the link with Death?"
"Hmm... I think I'll be ready after I turn eight. Maybe August? I'll be able to do a lot more when I have the link, Death will be able to guide me and we shall be able to communicate when I meditate."
"Wonderful, I look forward to it," Regulus smiled, and he meant it, "Now, go have a bath and get changed, you are going out today, yes?"
"Oh, yes! I almost forgot. Uncle Sirius, Uncle Lucius, and Uncle Marvolo are taking Draco, Tom, Alphard, Corvus, and I for lunch in Hogsmeade before we go see the Ballycastle Bats!"
"I know, I know. Who are they up against, again?"
"The Grodzisk Goblins, they're the best team in the Polish league and Tom's favourite team. They've won four leagues in a row!"
"Oh my, mon soleil, you'll need to cheer extra hard for the Bats then."
Hydrus nodded enthusiastically, before running off upstairs. Regulus smiled to himself, before making his way up to the study. Juggling being an Unspeakable along with being the Peverell proxy kept him very busy, and he used Hydrus being out of the house to catch up on paperwork.
He was halfway through skimming over a proposed Bill on standardising potions ingredients after Hydrus had went out when he was distracted by the tapping of an owl at the window. Regulus frowned, recognising it as James' owl.
Opening the window, and giving Monty a scratch on his favourite spot on the back of his head, Regulus took the letter attached to his ankle.
Regulus,
I am hesitant to bring this matter to you, but I am unsure where else to turn. I have compiled proof that Lily was the one dosing me with Amortentia, and proof of her trying to tempt me into removing my Lordship ring (which I have not taken off since I was made aware of the interference, but used to take off to sleep and shower).
Would it be possible to meet with yourself and some people that you trust would be able to assist me? I am not as well versed in these sorts of Legal issues as I should be, and I need to know my options soon.
-J
Merlin bloody fuck. Regulus had been so sure that it was all Dumbledore.
______
It was the following morning that Regulus welcomed Marvolo, Lucius, and Severus into Grimmauld Place. He had spoken to the first two men when picking Hydrus up from Malfoy Manor the previous evening, having floo-called Severus after writing a quick reply to James that he would contact some of his most trusted immediately. Marvolo knew the legal world better than anyone else, Lucius was an expert in politics, and Severus was not the youngest and best Potions Master in Britain for nothing. James would be here any moment now, and Severus still looked faintly green at the fact that his former best friend, Lily, had stooped to such lows.
The floo flared green, and James stepped out, wearing fine robes but looking absolutely haggard. Which, Regulus admitted, was perfectly understandable.
"James," Regulus nodded, "Welcome to Grimmauld Place. Please, follow me to the drawing room."
James nodded, mumbling a greeting, and hesitantly followed him out of the receiving room and down the hallway.
"May I introduce you to Lord Marvolo Gaunt-Slytherin, Lord Lucius Malfoy, and Lord Severus Prince," Regulus announced, "Marvolo, Lucius, and Severus- I introduced you to Lord James Potter."
"Well met, esteemed Lords," James said, straightening up, "I thank you for your decision to aid me, despite not being a member of your faction."
"May I suggest we drop the formalities?" Marvolo suggested, "We are not here today in our capacity as Lords, we are here as experts in the fields of Law, Politics, and Potions, to help you."
"Of course... Marvolo," James said, taking a seat, "Thank you, and thank you to Lucius and Severus as well."
"May you explain everything to us?" Lucius asked, "Regulus gave us the bare minimum, and that did not paint a very good picture."
James nodded, beginning to fiddle with his Lordship ring, "Following the motion you passed in the Wizengamot, Lucius, to have Lords and Ladies checked for compulsions and potions before each season begins, I found out that I was under the influence without my knowledge. Here is a copy of my diagnostic sheet," James paused, passing it to Marvolo for him to read and pass on. Once everyone had seen it, he continued, "My first thought was Dumbledore, and I believed it was solely him for another few days after I had been cleansed, until Lily mentioned off-handedly to me that she had been brewing Amortentia for a client. I made a comment on how I didn't know she brewed it, and she laughed and said it was harmless. She told me Amortentia merely strengthened feelings that were already there. That was in March, and for the past eight months I've been searching for any proof, but it has not been easy."
"Lily doesn't have a licence for brewing Amortentia," Severus pointed out, "It's a highly restricted substance- only myself, Horace Slughorn, a few Potions Tutors and the Potioneers working for the Department of Mysteries are licensed to brew it in Britain, and not for monetary gain."
"Well, that would be strike one against your wife in a criminal case," Marvolo added, leaning forward in his seat, "Brewing a Category A Love Potion unlicensed for the purpose of selling is an offence under the Misuse of Magical Substances Act 1984, punishable by the removal of the title of Potions Master and the forceable shutting down of business on the first offence."
"What proof have you gathered of her trying to dose you?" Regulus asked
"I have memories I'd be willing to provide of her trying to persuade me to take off my Lordship ring, memories of going into her Potions lab and seeing vials of Amortentia labelled 'for James,' along with one of the vials itself. I began glamouring my Lordship ring at home so she would think I was not wearing it, then I went to Gringotts to be tested again for magical interference, and I have the diagnostic test listing all the attempted dosings since I was cleansed. My initial diagnostic test has also been filed in the DMLE since the day it was done, for further investigation when I grant permission."
There was a beat of silence, the other men in the room seemingly shocked that James had been that thorough.
"May I inspect the vial, if you have it?" Severus asked, breaking the silence.
James nodded, producing a small wooden box from his robes. Opening it, he passed the vial to Severus, who began to inspect it. His frown only grew deeper and deeper as he sniffed the potion and began casting spells.
"This," he eventually began, holding up the vial, "Is not ordinary Amortentia. It's been modified to be more concentrated and less noticeable. If Lily had succeeded in dosing you with this, you would have likely forgotten all your past suspicion instead of merely believing you had been wrong. This form of the potion is currently only brewed as an experiment in the Department of Mysteries, and should not be administered to anyone outside of controlled tests. An ordinary antidote is only partially effective, and it can be absorbed through the skin. Say, via a bath. Additionally, the preventative measures on your Lordship ring could have had a disastrous effect combined with this modified potion, and caused you to inflict severe harm on yourself via clawing at your skin."
"Merlin's fucking balls," James muttered, running his hands down his face, wide-eyed.
"That is an immediate Azkaban sentence," Marvolo said in horror, "Not to mention, a whole separate investigation into who could have leaked the potion."
"One of the Unspeakables, Hestia Jones, is a particular fan of Dumbledore," Regulus suggested, carefully, "I cannot say her role within the Department, due to my vows, but I'm sure you can guess."
"Thankfully, I'm not sworn to any vows," Severus smirked, "Hestia Jones is one of the Potioneers licensed to brew Amortentia for the Department of Mysteries."
"And she was a member of the Order," James added, with slow-dawning horror.
"Well, this is quite the disaster for everyone involved," Lucius sighed, "If the link to Dumbledore can be proven, he will be stripped of all his titles and should face prison time- especially in the grander scheme of the false prophecy and the war. Jones and your wife should face Azkaban if this is reported, but it all comes down to what you want to do."
"I've planned to divorce Lily ever since I was cleansed, I was just going to wait until she opened the Apothecary she wanted to open and until our son was slightly older. Should I do that first?"
Severus gasped, "Your son! I forgot that factor, he's been conceived under Amortentia! It can cause some sociopathic tendencies in a child, along with an inability to feel any positive emotion strongly, but I had a potion approved by the Potions Board in the ICW in early 1979 that should negate the effects. Though, it's best given very young..."
Marvolo looked very, very stressed, and Regulus knew it's because Severus created that potion for him. Marvolo was conceived under a love potion, and fought to feel positively for years. The only reason he is who he is now, a man with two children he adores and many close friends, is because Severus found the right dose of that potion to enable him to feel.
"Lily gave Henry a deep indigo potion just after he was born," James said, worrying his lip, "She told me at the time that it was a brew of her own to aid his health, as he was born rather sickly. I forgot all about it until I realised Henry was born under Amortentia. He's a normal boy, feels all sorts of emotions."
"That would be the potion I created, thank Merlin. Though, it would show up on a health scan of your son and strengthen a case," Severus said, looking very relieved.
"You should begin divorce proceedings when you report this to the DMLE. Go directly to the Head Auror, Madam Bones, and lay out all your evidence and your suspicions about Dumbledore's involvement, and tell her who you want left out of the case," Lucius explained, "Do not alert Lily to your awareness of her involvement, and ask Madam Bones to hold off on questioning her until she's out of your home."
James nodded, seemingly expecting this, "I'll go to Madam Bones today, and then to Gringotts."
"I'll recommend a list of Law Wizards," Marvolo said, summoning parchment and a quill, "You'll need them if this goes to trial. Would you be amenable to working together on Love Potion legislation in the future? The Dark Faction are very against Love Potions, as they have been used often in the past in attempts at Line Theft."
"I would be more than willing to work on future legislation, but line theft is a whole other debacle," James groaned, "Lily and Molly Weasley have my son a staunch opposer of Slytherins and those with Dark cores already. I can't get Henry to listen to anything remotely reasonable, and I don't know how I will get him to listen to family traditions."
"That is certainly Line Theft," Marvolo stressed.
"I'll throw that down to Madam Bones too. She won't have had this much excitement in years."
Regulus snorted, attempting to cover it up with a cough, "Madam Bones is up for promotion to Head of the DMLE in the next couple of years. After bringing this case in front of her, you may find yourself Head Auror."
______
James left Gringotts at eight o'clock that night. Having arrived at Grimmauld Place at ten in the morning and spending three hours there, followed by another four with Madam Bones in the Auror offices, and then three in Gringotts, it had been a very long day.
And, now, he had to go home and serve Lily with divorce papers. Divorce didn't quite work the same in the muggle world as it did the magical, from what James understood. The divorce papers were a lot more of a formality, as the actual divorce required the other person to be cast out of the family they had married into. The wording could vary though, and divorces could be very amicable based on the wording. James didn't think this one would be.
Madam Bones had listened and agreed with everything he suggested, and had two Aurors from James' squad on standby in case Lily took this as badly as anticipated. One of said Aurors was Frank Longbottom, who had been absolutely appalled when he was briefed.
He had never been so nervous to walk into his own home before, staring up at the front doors. He knew putting it off was no good, but it didn't make this any easier. As he opened the front door, James had an awful feeling he would be submitting memories of this conversation to Madam Bones as well.
"Lily?" he called, "I'm home!"
She emerged from the dining room, smiling softly at him, "James! Hey! Where've you been all day? I drew you a bath, used all these fancy oils and everything-"
"Lily- no. I'm sorry, but here," James said, sighing as he handed her a copy of the divorce papers, though the mention of a bath had alarm bells ringing after what Severus told him about that modified Amortentia earlier, "I'm filing for divorce. I just- we aren't the same people we were when we got together, you know? We have such differing views on raising Henry, of magical traditions, I just- I don't think it's fair to either of us. We could find other people out there, and be so much happier. We argue constantly, half our conversations end up with you storming off, and it's really stressing me out-"
Lily cut him off then, tearing the papers in half. Her voice was so much colder than James had ever heard before, "No, James. We are not getting divorced. You are going to go upstairs and half that bath I prepared you, and we are going to forget all about this silly notion. We are married, until death do us part, and you are mine and no one else's."
James was prepared to draw his wand, his heart beating out of his chest, "No, Lily. I'm not going to do that. We are getting a bloody divorce. I was going to give you a week to get your stuff together and let you live in the Potter townhouse in Coventry, but not after you blatantly disregard my wishes like that. Pack a bag, and get out. I'll gather the rest of your stuff up myself."
Lily drew her wand first and sent off a cutting curse with such ferocity that James could only partially block it. He glanced down at the blood dripping from his arm in shock, before looking back up at Lily, who did not seem to feel any remorse. It was not the first time she had drawn her wand on him when she was angry, but it would be the last.
"Albus told me we would be together forever so long as I listened to him!" she snarled, "And I did! I listened! I did everything Dumbledore told me to do to become Mrs Potter! And for what? For you to tell me you want a divorce? I don't fucking think so, James! It's not up to you."
"I think you'll find it is," James said, calmly, subtly touching the charm on his wrist that would call the two Aurors in, "I, Lord James Fleamont Potter, hereby cast Lily Bridget Potter, née Evans, out from the Potter family with the power invested in me by Lady Magic to protect me and mine. She will become Lily Evans once more, with no connection to the Potter family, vaults, or property."
Lily shrieked horribly, though James knew that she had no family magic to be stripped from her, and thus couldn't have been in pain, "No! No, no, no! I refuse, James! I refuse!"
"Yet, Lady Magic doesn't," James said, feeling the release of his marriage bonds as Frank and Auror Savage entered the house and placed magic dampening cuffs on Lily's wrists.
James sighed, wearily, as he summoned a house elf, Wispy, and instructed her to make sure Henry is fine until he returns and to ensure he gets to tutoring on time. Wispy was also not to tell him a thing that just happened until James could tell Henry himself.
As James readied himself to Apparate back to the Ministry, he thought of what this meant. He was free, yes, but he was a single dad now. Lily was likely getting thrown into a cell and charged with Assault of a Lord of a Noble House now, on top of everything else. It had been a bloody exhausting day, and now he has to go make another statement.
Bloody bureaucracy.
______
James was anxiously anticipating Henry's return from tutoring. He knew he'd have to tell his son everything, and that scared him.
The floo lit up minutes later, and Henry tripped out, frowning.
"Where's mum? Where were you yesterday and this morning? Why wasn't Wispy allowed to tell me anything?"
"One question at a time, Henry," James chided, "Sit down."
Henry frowned deeper, but complied.
"Your mother was arrested and taken into custody of the DMLE last night. We are now divorced, and she has been cast out of the family."
"What? Why? Why can't you just go and save her?"
"Henry, your mother attacked me whilst I was servicing her divorce papers," James explained slowly, pulling up his sleeve to show Henry the jagged scar that now marred his left forearm.
"But why'd you divorce her? Sure, you argue an' all, but doesn't every couple? Ron says Mr and Mrs Weasley argue all the time!"
"Do you know how dangerous love potions are, Henry?"
"Yeah? That one beginning with A, amor- something. Miss Blishwick taught us about it, 'cos someone can make you fall in love with them and force a child from you and that's line theft."
"That's what your mother did to me, Henry," James explained, solemnly, "That's why I got the divorce, and it's the main reason why she's in custody."
Henry shook his head, "No, no. Mum wouldn't do that."
"I didn't think she would either, son, but she did. She will be charged for it, especially because you were conceived under it. That can be very dangerous if you aren't given the potion to fix it, you could have had no emotions for your entire life."
Henry's eyes welled up with tears, and he threw himself into James' arms. James held him tightly.
"It's awful, Henry. I know. It's just you and I now, but you can't tell anyone about this yet, okay? As Lord Potter, I forbid it."
James didn't usually use the family magic to make Henry listen, but he really needed to. Henry would just tell Ron the next time they saw each other, and then Molly Weasley would speak to him, and no one wanted that.
"Okay, dad. Just me and you."