Chapter 19
The only thing left to worry about was the unconscious, immobile Animagus on the lawn. He couldn't stay on the lawn indefinitely. He shouldn't be in the tent where the babies were. And there was no point even asking Petunia if she would have him in the house. Into the garden shed he went. Jones was all for calling the DMLE and making it their problem. Harry was most emphatically not keen on bringing the Ministry to Aunt Petunia's house, especially given that he hadn't done the Head of House ritual yet. And as far as Grolnok and Stonejaw were concerned, their job was done; they were going back to the bank; the car was summoned and was on its way; the Temporary Muggle-Repelling Magic-Concealing Nothing-To-See-Here ward was also due to be returned to the bank in short order; and the small matter of the Animagus in the shed was wizard business and nothing to do with them.
Wardmaster Abbott made a complicated gesture with his wand, and whispered, "indicitas nomen." Silver letters blurred into view above the dog's head. They seemed to shift between two names: first Padfoot, and then Sirius Orion Black.
"I told you we should have called the DMLE!" wailed Apprentice Jones. "What if the stunners wear off? He killed thirteen people with one curse, you know!"
"No!" said Harry. "He didn't do at least some of what they said he did! He's my oathsworn godfather!"
"The fact that he was named your godfather just makes his betrayal even worse!" snapped Jones. "He's a madman and a murderer and he betrayed your parents to their deaths. You shouldn't defend him."
"He appeared as my godfather on a Gringotts inheritance test done this week!" shouted Harry. "My oathsworn godfather! That means he can't have betrayed us knowingly and willingly, or he wouldn't still be my godfather. And Gringotts' magic says he is, and it doesn't lie, does it?" Apprentice Jones still looked horrified; Wardmaster Abbott was frowning. But elderly Blood Ward Expert Stonejaw smiled.
"Gringotts' inheritance magic does not lie," he agreed. "Wizards lie. Muggles lie. Even a goblin may lie; but goblin magic sees to the heart of things."
"This is known," agreed Wardmaster Grolnok.
"This is known," said Wardmaster Abbott. "I take it it was Ted Tonks who put two and two together?"
"He started looking puzzled as soon as he saw the test," said Harry, "but he took a while to investigate before talking to me. And in the meantime, Black escaped."
"What if he's involved?" asked Jones. "He's married to a Black, you know."
"Former Black," said Abbott. "And really, why would he throw the ministry into turmoil and risk the man getting Kissed by dementors when he could have filed a few injunctions and got him out of Azkaban perfectly legally? You're developing a deft touch with the wards, and you're nearly ready for Journeyman status, but you'll never make Wardmaster if you don't work on your logical thinking."
"What do we do now, then?" asked Jones. Grolnok smiled. It was really quite unnerving.
"I don't think we do anything," he said. "We have completed a Gringotts warding assignment, which was classed as confidential. We cannot go giving the wizard DMLE details about anything that may or may not have happened, or anyone we may or may not have met, on the site and in the middle of the job. Certainly not without the client's permission." The others nodded, Jones reluctantly.
"Can I at least make an anonymous call-in for a Sirius Black sighting in Surrey?" he asked.
"No," said Harry. "He's not guilty of at least some of the stuff the DMLE thinks he did, and we don't know that he's guilty of anything."
"Except being an unregistered animagus," said Abbott drily. "And breaking out of prison rather than, you know, getting lawyers like a normal person. And he isn't very well, mentally, if he's unsure whether his real name is Sirius Orion Black or Padfoot, which I assume is a nickname of some kind."
"I happen to be personally acquainted with the Black account manager," said Stonejaw. "Might I have permission to pass on some of these details to him? Of course, there isn't much he can do, by treaty; Gringotts is officially neutral and doesn't meddle in wizard affairs. But I'm sure he would be interested to know that his client has a definite next-of-kin. And yes, young wizard," he nodded at Harry, "Sirius Black has no parents or sibling living, no child. Only various cousins, and, apparently, one sworn godson."
"All right," said Harry. "If you think he'll be discreet."
"Why does he get permission and I don't?" asked Jones.
"Fine," said Harry. "Make your call-in. But not until the third of August, if things aren't sorted out by then. And just tell them Surrey, Muggle Surrey. Don't mention me at all." Grolnok smirked.
"It has been a pleasure," Stonejaw announced, "but I believe that is the car. Farewell for now, Mr Potter." The warders left, one after the other. Harry grabbed the law firm's flyer from inside the tent, and headed in the direction of the park. There was a public phone box by the park entrance, and he still had some Muggle coins in his pocket from the other day. Time to get Ted involved. Or possibly one of the others from his firm, if Ted wasn't allowed to represent both him and Sirius Black.
Five twenty pence coins later, Ted arrived, Side-Alonging both his work partner, Madam Law-wizard Rodelinda Fawley, and his wife, Madam Healer Andromeda Tonks nee Black. Madam Tonks then apparated Harry to Godric's Hollow, and Madam Fawley took the still-stunned dog. Harry opened the gate, and gave the sloes a little lecture. "Mr and Mrs Tonks and Ms Fawley are my guests," he said, "and Sirius Black is my godfather, which makes him family, though he isn't very well at the moment, mentally, and may need looking after." The gate closed behind them, and Hedwig immediately flew down to greet him, landing on his arm. Harry smiled sheepishly at the adults.
"This is my owl, Hedwig," he said. "There should be another owl somewhere that belongs to the Weasley family, but he must still be resting. Hedwig, this is Mr and Mrs Tonks, Ms Fawley, and the petrified dog is Mr Black, who is also my godfather and a suspected criminal." Hedwig nodded regally to everyone, and shot off, Neville's letter still tied to her leg. "Um. Welcome to Potter Manor? Well, the grounds. Sorry I can't offer anyone tea; the tent's still in Surrey."
"Social niceties aside," said Madam Fawley, "I am to understand that Mrs Tonks is retaining my services on behalf of Sirius Black, as his next of kin, and you, Mr Potter, assert that this dog is, in fact, Mr Black himself?"
"Umm, no, ma'am. Well, yes, the dog is Mr Black, and he is an animagus. But Madam Tonks isn't his next of kin. I am." Harry explained how he knew these things, not to mention the matter of the unbroken Godfather oath.
"You're his nearest relative, but you're still underage. I'm the next nearest, and I'm retaining her," said Madam Tonks.
"I won't be by this time tomorrow," said Harry. "You told me so yourself." He paused. "Could we retain her together? I'm a closer relative, but you're... err... less new to the whole 'adult' thing. And the whole 'wizard' thing. And you know stuff."
"It shouldn't be a conflict," said Madam Fawley briskly, "if it is understood that I am being retained to act in Mr Black's best interests, as determined by the three of us. Do you have any concrete reason to believe Mr Black is mentally unwell, beyond his behaviour at his arrest, and the fact of his having spent over eleven years in Azkaban?"
"When the Wardmaster did the spell for his name," said Harry, "it flickered between Sirius Orion Black and Padfoot." Andromeda put her hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes. "They all seemed to agree that was a bad sign."
"It is," said Andromeda heavily. "Very bad. When a wizard's identity frays to the point that his name is unstable... Padfoot was the nickname his closest friends used, when he was at Hogwarts. Afterwards, too, for that matter. At least it's a long-standing nickname, and a friendly one. The worst is when the name flickers without consistent alternatives, and the second worst is when the other name is a derogatory one." She sighed. "There are treatment options. People can and do recover from this."
"We just need to get him to agree to treatment," said Madam Fawley drily. "Along with sorting out his legal status."