With Knowledge Came Help

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Sirius was sitting in his seat in the Wizengamot. He had already given his vows to do his duty to uphold the laws of the land, though he was sure they weren’t binding since more than half of the people on the Wizengamot were on the take. He knew that if they were binding then they would have lost their magic the first time they took a bribe. He wondered if there was a way to make them binding. Nah, he’d never get it through.

Right now, they were discussing something stupid. The thickness of cauldron bottoms. Which was just ridiculous. The cauldron bottoms had been the same thickness for centuries, why change them now. There were no reported deaths over the regulations that were current, nor accidents. Why change now? Was this a scheme to get money from business using the Wizengamot to do so? Well, he was going to put a stop to that.

He raised his wand to say something. “Why are we discussing this?” he asked when Dumbledore acknowledged him. “We are lawmakers, and judges. We should not be talking about cauldron bottom thickness. If this is some scheme for a business to make money let them duke it out themselves,” he stated, looking around at all the bored people. “Oh, I get it. You have nothing left to talk about, and you need something to discuss to get paid. Well, I have some topics for you. Here’s the first one, I want to recommend Harry Potter for the Order of Merlin first class,” he said, still standing and looking straight at Dumbledore.

“Whatever for?” Fudge said, looking confused at the request. “He is just a child. What could he have possibly done to get such a prestigious award?” he snickered at the thought. A lot of the crowd did the same.

“He killed a basilisk and saved the entire school,” Sirius said, still staring down the old man. He was just waiting for him to argue the point. He knew he would.

“Why did we not hear of this?” Augusta Longbottom asked, she too was looking at the Chief Warlock, as were most of the other members. “My grandson goes to that school. We were told that the danger had passed, but not that a basilisk was the culprit.” She looked very upset about this bit of news.  

“I did not want to start a panic. The beast was dead,” the old man said, holding his hands out in a placating manner. “There was no reason for you to know,” he said, trying to stop the raised voices from flaying him alive.

“No reason for us to know?” Augusta stated, her voice raising above the rest. “Of course, we should have been told,” she said, stamping her foot in agitation.

“You don’t have the right to keep this type of information from the public, Albus,” another concern grandparent said, looking around at all the agreeing people.

“I was only trying to keep the peace. The beast was dead, like I said. Young Harry killed it, and it was no longer a threat,” Albus tried again. “I did not want it to be bandied about. Harry does not like to be seen as a hero,” he added, giving Sirius his disappointed grandfather look.

“Harry earned that medal,” Sirius said, loudly and clearly, not fazed by the look in the least. “He was only twelve and he killed a thousand-year-old, seventy-foot-long basilisk. He deserves to be recognized for that,” he stood firm on that. He was going to get people to see that his godson was not just some kid they read about in the storybooks. He was a hero in his own right.

“Have you asked Harry if he wants this honor?” Albus Dumbledore asked, twinkling his eyes at Sirius.

“Were any of the other recipients asked? No. They were simply given the award. I am his guardian. It is up to me to decide if he gets things or not. I say, he deserves it,” Sirius said, feeling like choking the man with his own beard. “Where do you get off asking such a question? It is not your place to say these things,” he stated, glaring for all he was worth.  “You are his headmaster, not his grandfather. For all you like to believe you are everyone’s grandparent, you are not. If you were mine, I’d disown you,” he said, folding his arms, and staring the man down.

“Now see here,” Fudge said, pointing his finger at Sirius like he was a naughty child, “you can’t talk to Albus like that.”

“No, you see here, if this was anyone else, there would be no questions asked, but since it is Harry Potter, this old man thinks it is inappropriate that he be awarded. Where is the fairness in that?” Black said, slamming his fist on the rail in front of him.

“He’s right, Fudge,” one member said, standing to be seen. “Dumbledore was out of line.”

“Hear, hear,” was a chorus of agreements from the gallery.

“I did not mean that the child did not earn it,” Dumbledore started, only to be interrupted by Sirius.

“Yes, you did,” the dogman said all but shouting. “You told me as much before this meeting started. And you said as much not a moment ago. You just want to keep his accomplishments hidden. I don’t know why, and I don’t like it,” he finished, knowing that the rest agreed with him, judging by the looks on their faces.

“I say put it to a vote,” another member said, nodding their head to the member next to them who nodded in agreement.

There was another chorus of, “Hear, hear.”

“Very well,” Albus said, banging his gavel. “Those in favor,” he said and watched as the wands lit up. A majority of them lit the room. There was no need to cast for those not in favor since the majority won. “Very well,” he said again. “Harry Potter will receive the Order of Merlin first class,” he said, banging his gavel again.

Sirius silently cheered for his godson, even though he wanted to yell it to the world. For all the child had done in the last two years alone, he deserved the recognition. He would make sure that Harry knew that he was special and hopefully get him over that self-pity attitude that he carries around.

“I would like to point out that right now the goblins are rendering the basilisk for Harry and that none of the funds are going anywhere but Harry’s vault,” Sirius said, looking at Albus again, just daring him to argue again.

“As it should be,” Augusta stated, generating another chorus of, “Hear, hear.”

“Very well,” Albus said, for the third time that day. He knew that he would not see a knut of those funds.

“I have another topic of conversation,” Sirius said, bringing the Wizengamot’s attention to him again. “Right now, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures are in the Forbidden Forest getting rid of a nest of Acromantula. Half of the profits from the sales will go to Hogwarts, the other half will go to the Ministry. I want to make sure that those profits go to the appropriate places, and not someone’s pockets. If we discuss it now and budget it out, then there is less chance of that,” he said, sneering at the minister.

Fudge was looking like someone stole his cookie and ate it right in front of him. It was bad enough that Dolores was still missing and that she was outed as a half-blood, now he was denied some creative bookkeeping. For all she was not a pureblood, she was the best at seeing his pockets were full. Blast that woman.

There was some general grumbling, but they did settle down to get the funds budgeted to the departments that needed them the most. Sirius made sure that the DMLE got at least a third of those funds. He stated that they had been woefully under budgeted for so long that they were now inefficient. If there was a crime spree, then they would lack the staff to take care of it. He made sure not to mention Dark Lords, or Ladies.

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Amelia went home after the long day at Hogwarts and finally sat down to finish the final book in the series. She was halfway through it, and she wanted to complete it tonight. She reflected on the day before she started reading though and thought of that little car and how it had saved her life, and those of her men.

She would have brought it back, but as soon as the spiders were taken care of, it took off into the forest again. She did wonder if that made it under the control of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures since it was sentient. She would have to study it to make sure. Probably not since it couldn’t procreate. Well, she hoped not. The last thing she needed was to have Hagrid find the Ford Anglia a mate.

She sighed and started reading about how Harry and Hermione were alone in the woods, trying to figure out what to do next.

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That night Harry called Sirius like he did almost every night. There were some nights that he or Sirius were just too tired to talk. Or they had other plans. Like the time that Sirius had to go and do something with Bill. He never told Harry what it was that he did, but he had been gone the whole night.

Everyone in the dorm was asleep, so it was a good time for a mirror call. He charmed his curtains to block out the noise of the other boys’ snoring. To be fair, it was mostly Ron and Seamus, but they were both loud. “Sirius Black,” he said to the mirror.

“What’s up, kiddo?” Sirius said when he came into view.

“Hi, Sirius, how was your day?” he said, being the polite boy that he was.

“I spent the day talking to boring old men. How do you think it was?” the other man said, looking at him like he lost his mind with that question.

“I forgot,” Harry said with a giggle.

“What’s on your mind?” Sirius asked, seeing that Harry was tense about something.

“I was wondering if I should share that money I got from the basilisk,” the teen said, starting off with what was bothering him the most.

“Why do you ask?” his godfather wanted to know. He wondered if someone said something to him, or if he came to the theory on his own.

“Well, Hermione did help with finding out what it was,” he said, thinking about the piece of paper in her hand.

“Yeah, but that didn’t put her life in any more danger than any of the other students. As a matter of fact, it saved it,” Sirius said, trying not to reveal how much he knew. He wracked his brain to remember if Harry had told him that information and was glad to remember that he had.

“I guess,” the teen said, rubbing his forehead out of habit. “It’s just that… well, you see… well…”

“Just say it, Harry,” Sirius said, encouraging the boy to speak his mind.

“Ron found the contract, it fell out of my pocket, and got mad that he didn’t get any of the profit,” Harry said quickly. “He was down there with me. I mean, he did come to face the danger and everything,” he tried to defend his friend. If the cave-in hadn’t happened, then Ron would have been in the tunnel and cavern with the basilisk, wouldn’t he have? He’d like to think the boy would have been there to save his sister.

“Did he even face the snake at any time?” the dogman asked, knowing the boy had not.

“Well, no. He got blocked off. But he would have if he hadn’t,” Harry tried again to defend his mate’s actions.

“That’s not the issue. The issue is that he didn’t face the beast. You did. You ran the sword through its mouth. Not Ron. If he has a problem with it, tell him to tell his dad to contact me. It is not you that is doing this. It is me. I am in control of the contract. Not you. And if there is a dispute, it will be from his father. Not him. You guys are kids,” Sirius said in chopped up sentences to emphasize the point.

“I’ll tell him, but I don’t think he’ll like it,” Harry said, with a frustrated sigh.

“That’s his problem,” Sirius said, completely without sympathy for the redhead. “I do have a bit of good news about that, though I think your friend Ron, might not like it either,” he added, better to get it out of the way now.

“What’s that?” Harry asked, with a bit of trepidation. Anything that made Ron madder at him wasn’t good news.  

“You will be getting the Order of Merlin first class for killing the basilisk,” Sirius said with a proud smile.

“Oh,” was all Harry could say about that.

“Aren’t you happy?” Sirius asked, his smile fading.

“What is the Order of Merlin?” he asked. He had a theory about what it was. He had heard of it, of course. He just wasn’t sure exactly what it was

“It is the highest medal of honor in the land,” Sirius explained, trying to get the boy excited. “There are three classes, third, second and first. Each being harder to earn. You are getting yours because you were twelve when you defeated the basilisk, and you saved the entire school doing it.”

“Lockhart was a third-class winner, and he was a fraud,” Harry said, not feeling all that special.

“Oh, I see,” Sirius said, his smile dimmed again. He could see where Harry was going with this.

“Didn’t Pettigrew have a first-class one for supposedly beating you?” Harry asked, again not seeing how this was supposed to make him feel special.

“Harry, you earned yours,” Sirius tried again. “Take heart in that,” he said, he smiled proudly again.

“Okay, since you got it for me, I’ll try,” Harry said, feeling a bit happier about it by saying those words. It was true after all. He did risk his life for Ginny.

“How are the lessons with Neville going?” Sirius asked to change the subject since Harry didn’t seem to get excited over the medal.

“He’s doing really good, actually. I didn’t think he would. His wand is wonky though, like it’s old,” Harry said, having noticed that the other boy’s wand was chipped and worn. He knew that Neville took good care of that wand, so it wasn’t his doing that it got in that condition.

“I think it’s his dad’s,” Sirius said, sounding like he was guessing. He hoped that Harry would encourage Neville to talk to McGonagall about getting one of his own.

“I thought you had to have your own. I know since Ron got his own, his practical work has gotten better,” the teen pointed out. He had noted that right away too. Though Ron’s written work was still average, he was getting his practical work right a lot faster.

“It is better to have your own, though some legacy wands do work well enough. If you are getting Neville to cast a Patronus out of his dad’s wand, then maybe it is just lack of confidence,” Sirius suggested. “Remember what you told me about his family trying to scare the magic out of him? That affects a kid, you know,” he added, hoping Harry would help the other boy get over that.

“Maybe,” Harry said, then yawned a huge yawn. “I’d better get to bed,” he said, looking around like he might have disturbed someone. He hadn’t of course, but he was tired and needed to get some sleep.

“You do that. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Sirius said, then canceled the call. He then turned to the men sitting around the table and said, “Well, how did it go today?”