Chapter 21
“Excuse me,” said a quiet voice at Amelia’s door. She looked up, face lined with impatience at the interruption, but her mouth dropped open at the sight of an apparent ghost. Percy Weasley had disappeared from his home when he was seven. The children had been playing in the makeshift quidditch pitch at the Burrow, with Bill and Charlie up in the air and showing off to their awestruck little brothers. Fred and George were shouting encouragement, but Percy was standing off to the side, quietly watching the spectacle and wishing he were as brave as his older brothers. The eldest had gotten into a bit of a scuffle, trying to outdo each other, and when no one was paying attention to Percy, a disheveled man sneaked into the pasture and snatched the tiny redhead before he could make a sound, stupifying him and spiriting him away before anyone ever noticed that the seven year old had disappeared. Several hours later, after Bill and Charlie had finished trying to one-up each other, they looked down to see if Percy and their baby brothers were tired of watching, but they stopped circling the pitch when they noticed that their younger brother was nowhere to be found, and neither were the twins.
Landing their brooms, they ran to the house, bursting through the back door and into the kitchen, where their mother was preparing dinner. “Are Fred, George and Percy here?” Bill asked a little desperately. Being the oldest, he felt more responsible for the boys’ safety, and he knew his parents depended on him to keep an eye on the younger ones.
“Fred and George came in a little while ago, dear,” she replied, frowning in puzzlement. “I thought maybe you lot had taken Percy up on the brooms, and that’s why he didn’t come in with his younger brothers.”
“He’s not out there, Mum,” Charlie told the Weasley matriarch fearfully, voice trembling. “We started trying to best each other and lost track of him.”
“ARTHUR!” Molly shrieked, hands fisted in her apron fretfully. Thundering on the stairs brought the family patriarch running into the kitchen, eyes wide with panic.
“What? What is it?” he huffed out, slightly breathless from the run and his panic.
“Percy’s missing,” she said flatly as she stormed to the back door. “Spread out everyone, search every nook and cranny until you find that boy.” That night, they spent hours scouring the countryside in search of their introverted little boy. They knew he wouldn’t wander off; after a bit of a scare in Diagon Alley one afternoon, the boy rarely ventured past the wards.
Over the intervening weeks, Aurors would apparate in when they had a spare moment and go door-to-door, searching fruitlessly for the missing child, and it would be nearly a year later that Molly Weasley would finally give up the search, but she never forgot her stolen child. Yet, here he stood, framed in Bones’ doorway like a specter. “Percy Weasley?” Amelia asked weakly, still not willing to believe what she was seeing.
“It’s Ambrose McNulty now,” the redhead corrected as he entered the Minister for Magic’s office and took a seat. “My father kept me apprised of all the goings-on over the last decade, and when I found out that many of the Weasleys were now gone, I decided to return and figure out what I should do.”
“Could you tell me what happened, at least?” Bones queried. “We were out there as often as we could be for months, searching high and low for you. We were hoping to find you alive at first, but after a while, we were just hoping to find a body, so that your mum’s and dad’s minds could be put at ease. The disappearance was rather shocking, for such an out-of-the-way community, and there was no magical trace left behind that indicated that someone magical had taken you.”
“Mum and Dad couldn’t have kids of their own, and they were too poor to foster or adopt any,” Ambrose told the woman sadly. “Dad saw how many kids the Weasleys had and decided that they wouldn’t miss one, so he spirited me away, and we went to Australia to live. Between having me with them and the change of scenery, Dad became the specialty spellcrafter he’d always been meant to be, and Mum had her own restaurant. They took very, very good care of me, and I love them very much.”
“Whereabouts in Australia are they located?” was the Auror’s next question, but McNulty noticed the cagey way that the woman looked at him, and he sneered at her.
“We are somewhere that you’ll never find us,” Ambrose replied, nose in the air. He held that pose for a few seconds before dropping his chin and staring eye to eye with Bones, the threat in the air very palpable. “Mum and Dad made many, many lucrative investments and they retired from both businesses about five years ago so that we could enjoy the fruits of their labor. As well, we are citizens of the country now, and there’s no way that the authorities will let you in to harass citizens.”
“We could always keep you, and use you as bait to bring your parents here,” Amelia suggested, hand reaching for an orb on her desk that would alert the department to a crisis situation.
“Try it, and see how much of the Ministry remains standing when my family gets finished with you,” the redhead snarled, blue eyes snapping in rage. “I came here as a courtesy, and to visit with my surviving former family. I’ve committed no crime for which you can hold me, and you’ll bring the full force of Australian law down on your head if you try to prevent me from going home when I wish. Now, how do I find the rest of the Weasleys?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 1, 1998
The Daily Prophet
PRODIGAL SON RETURNS!
Percy Weasley to visit remaining family
Elliot Hirsch, reporter
In yet another shocking turn of events, during a year full of them, Percival Ignatius Weasley has returned from wherever he’d been taken when he was seven years old. He showed up at the Ministry of Magic and spoke to Head Auror Amelia Bones, and this is what she has to tell us about the visit.
“I was sitting at my desk, looking over the paperwork detailing all the recent deaths and misadventures, and a voice at my door startled me, so I looked up to see who was bothering me at so late an hour of the evening. Imagine my shock and relief when I saw Percy Weasley standing in the doorway, wanting to discuss something with me. The first thing he did, though, was correct the name I used. He goes by Ambrose McNulty now, and the persons responsible for his disappearance had adopted him into their family, severing any and all ties to the Weasleys.
“He’d been keeping up with the news here, and discovered that much of his family has died, so he came back here to reconnect with his remaining brothers, the reasons for which he’s never told me. He seems to be very happy and well-adjusted, and since he’s committed no crimes of which I’m aware, I have no reason to detain him. I wish him luck in his pursuit of closure; it’s just unfortunate that it was too late for his parents and his youngest siblings.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 5, 1998
The Daily Prophet
DISAPPEARANCE OF PREMIER REPORTER SOLVED!
Death by misadventure is the cause
Nina Howard, reporter
In what can only be called the strangest confluence of circumstances this reporter has ever seen, the disappearance of Rita Skeeter, star reporter and primary interviewer of the Boy Who Lived has finally been resolved. It turns out that she, in her illegal animagus form of a beetle, had made her way to the battlefield on May second of this year in order to get an up close and personal view of the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named, by the Savior himself. According to the notes she had taken during the campaign, Albus Dumbledore and his sycophants did actually murder Severus Snape and more than fifteen Slytherin students in cold blood, including Mr. Potter’s husband, Draco Malfoy; all of them fifth year and above. This devastating loss, of both his mate and his surrogate father, inspired the young man to finally end the Dark Lord’s life, and when his fate-given task was completed, he collapsed and lapsed into a coma, from which he still has yet to recover. Discussions with the Healers who were in charge of his care, before his in-laws took him out of the hospital for his own safety, have informed this reporter that there’s no hope for recovery; that the young man will most likely die without ever waking up.
From her notes and the movements she made over the battlefield, she had landed somewhere to try and get more information, and was accidentally stepped on during the celebration. Unfortunately, she was crushed enough that she couldn’t survive for long, but she had enough time to get herself away from the crowds before she succumbed to her injuries. Once she passed, the magic of her animagus form dissipated, revealing a battered and broken woman, curled into herself and buried in the weeds and overgrowth at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was Argus Filch, the temporary groundskeeper, who had discovered her moldering corpse and brought it to the DMLE’s attention.
We have lost a shining light in the community, and one who was diligent in getting that story, no matter the cost. Her notes will be transcribed, to the best of our abilities, and will be written up for the Prophet as a final, lasting tribute to a great woman and reporter. Anyone who wants to attend the funeral, contact the paper for further information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hello, Harry,” Ambrose murmured as he sat in the chair next to the raven haired young man’s bed. Behind him stood Charlie Mulciber and Fred and George Longbottom, who surrounded the redhead almost protectively. The twins were easy to find. McNulty had apparated to Diagon Alley, in hopes that the goblins of Gringotts could help him figure out how to get in touch with his remaining birth family, and he spied the gigantic sign on a storefront that said ‘LONGBOTTOMS' LAUGHING LARKS’ in bright neon green letters against a florescent pink background. Remembering the articles in the paper covering the reading of the living will, Ambrose realized that his twin brothers were the owners of the shop, and he smiled softly to himself. Stepping through the door, the former Weasley was instantly noticed, since it was a slow day, and both Fred and George came out from the counter and slowly approached the stranger in their store, eyes struck wide in stunned amazement.
“Percy?” Fred had queried querulously, before glomping their older brother excitedly, George only seconds behind. It was a laughter-filled reunion as the identical pair inundated their older brother with question after question. Fred had cast a patronus to Charlie, who was staying at the Burrow for the moment as they figured out how to fairly disperse their legacy. The dragon handler had apparated directly to Diagon and ran to his brothers’ store, excitement and relief making him slightly dizzy as he nearly pulled the door off of its hinges in his hurry to see his long-lost brother. After many discussions and promises of get-togethers in the coming days, Ambrose asked them for the one favor that he wanted.
“Where’s Harry Potter? I’d like to meet him and apologize for what our family has done to him.” With another message to Neville, the three redheads were given permission to floo to Longbottom Manor and visit Harry. This would be the first time since the final battle that anyone had made any effort to visit the person who had saved them all, and the Longbottoms were intent on staying in the room with their friend, to make sure that no one hurt him anymore.
“I...I had hoped to meet you under better circumstances, but considering what much of my former family has done to you through the years, I can understand why you would want to escape the pain you’d been dealt for much of your life. I wasn’t here for most of it; I was taken away by a couple who wanted me rather desperately, and having that individual attention, instead of being one of the crowd, was something I didn’t know I needed until much later.
“I’m so very sorry for all the betrayals you’d suffered at my former family’s hands, and I wish things could have turned out differently. I wish you would have gotten the happily ever after you deserved for all of your sacrifices, and I’m ashamed that my birth parents were responsible, along with my youngest brother and sister, for taking all of that away from you. I hope and pray to the goddess, with all my heart, that your next great adventure is everything you could have possibly wanted, dreamed of and deserved.”
There was silence in the room for a bit as the four redheads watched their friend sadly, but then Ambrose noticed a lone tear tracking down the side of Harry’s face. “He’s crying,” McNulty gasped out. “Does that mean he’s going to come back?”
“No,” Luna replied sadly. “It means that he heard you from wherever he is, and that he’s grateful for all the love and support you’ve shown him, even though you weren’t here for much of his life. And...and he’s s-saying good-bye.”