Mechinations
*****
Arianna barely got to the edge of Hogsmeade before she apparated to Uncle Theseus’ office in the Den. He’d commandeered one as soon as he’d returned from the Ministry after Moody delivered Sirius and had proceeded to litter the place with parchment and notes as he worked to uncover the extent of rot in his former department. Uncle Grey wasn’t far behind him and the two shared the space rather than try and communicate their efforts across a hall or even consider an office at the Ministry for anything other than show. The large office at the Den was instantly covered in piles of files and theories and bits of detritus, even with the elves tackling feeding the pair of ex-Aurors and attempting to remove any useless rubbish like broken quills or dirty dishes. So, it didn’t really surprise her when she landed on a stack of unused goblin tests and promptly slipped. Uncle Grey caught her easily, snaking an arm around her waist without even looking up from the report he was reading as he leaned against his desk.
“Hello, little Ari,” Theseus greeted from where he was bent over the desk proper, scribbling intently on a sheet of parchment. A quick glance showed a letter to Moody, detailing the latest batch of Aurors to be cleansed. “What brings you by? I would have thought the discovery of a herd of unicorns in the Aiaia vault would have kept you far longer.”
“What?” she asked excited. Apparently, she had to read Charlie’s reports sooner. Then she thought to Harry’s stressed face and pushed aside her excitement at possibly having a group of such pure creatures living in her sanctuary. “Never mind. How do you feel about teaching?”
That earned the undivided attention of both men and she was very glad she’d gotten over her fear of them within months of living with Aunt Queenie. They were both much scarier when they tried than by nature.
“As we’ve discussed before, I’ve led a class or two,” Theseus said with a soft smile. “Why?”
“That Ministry woman is a right bint and I can tell Harry’s trying to make up for her abysmal teaching. But she’s recently banned Harry’s study group. I want to set up those classes we considered over the summer. I explored the castle a bit while I was there, and I think I have an idea of where you can work without notice. I even have ways to get you there undetected, so there’s no way the wench can see you.”
Theseus sighed and leaned back in his chair, studying her intently. She tried to convey her anxiety about Harry’s mental state without giving him away completely. She really hadn’t liked what she’d seen today and with what the twins had indicated, that was after hours of stress-relieving flying….
“I’m open to it, but that’ll mean one of us will need to stay and help Sirius with the Aurors. We’ve just found another spy for Voldemort and Moody needs to officially come out of retirement now. We both can’t leave. I don’t trust the hacks there right now to be able to spot a rampaging dragon let alone a spy. And sweet Merlin, I thought MACUSA was bad after Grindelwald’s short stint as Head of Magical Security.”
Theseus winced as soon as the words left his mouth, glancing quickly towards Graves, but her uncle just shrugged and nodded.
“You think Aunt Tina would be willing to help? Show the girls that they’re just as capable?” Arianna asked after a moment of awkward silence.
“Maybe,” Theseus agreed with a nod. “Depends on if we can convince her to leave Newt alone and trust Charlie can prevent a reoccurrence of New York. It may have been decades ago, but the disaster left an impression.”
Arianna chuckled at that but conceded the point. She would need to make a trip to Gringotts then.
“Alright, but she’ll have to wait then. I want to get these started as soon as possible and I can’t make it to Gringotts for another week or so. I’ve got the Wizengamot meeting in two days and a trip to the properties to give the elves feedback on their efforts before we can assess using one of the castles as an orphanage or school. And I know as soon as Ragnok has me within reach, he’ll not let me go for a while. He’s not extremely thrilled about having to conduct so much business via message box…. And we have a number of business ventures to finally make decisions on. He finalized the list last week and has been not so subtly demanding my presence soon.”
“Oh the joys of being saddled with so much power,” Graves said dryly.
Arianna just glared and plotted an appropriate prank.
“Ignore the yank, Ari,” Theseus said with a chuckle. “You’re making good progress. We all are. And as soon as we can trust more people, we’ll be able to delegate. It was a good idea to start with the law enforcement first, though. Once we can get them all cleansed and on board, it will make taking on the injustices easier and keep Voldemort from gaining too much ground before we’re ready. Already, I have reports that some of his former Death Eaters are making inquiries into the cleanses and why they’re necessary.”
“Malfoy wouldn’t be one of them, would he?” she asked warily.
Theseus just smirked and tossed her a file. She opened it eagerly and looked at the copy of the man’s tests. She was shocked at the lingering effects of an Imperio over a decade old and nerve damage from overuse of a Crucio.
“Turns out, he was telling the truth when Voldyshorts was in power last and now we have proof,” he said smugly.
“Harry will be happy about that,” she muttered, flipping through the other papers quickly. “Apparently Draco is proving to be quite the protective little snake and Harry was worried he’d side with his family if it came down to it. Well, he will, but not against Harry at least.”
“We’re working on his cleanse now and he and Narcissa are working on earning Sirius’ trust so he’ll accept Narcissa fully into the Black family,” Graves muttered. “She’s on probation right now, but she wants to be able to reach out if needed and she can’t if she’s disowned. Technically, the Blacks are more powerful than the Malfoys, since they’ve been around the isles longer, but it took a great deal for Malfoy to admit it and urge Narcissa to try and gain the protection afforded her as a daughter of the House, even married as she is. They’ve also confirmed that Voldemort is looking to move from his current hole to Malfoy Manor but they’re stalling. If those tests are any indication, it won’t go well for them if that happens and they’re already risking it by delaying it if the man ever finds out.”
“How comfortable are they with spying?” she asked, searching for Narcissa’s file in the mess that was the desk.
“I’d say not, unless need be,” Theseus said. “Sounds like they’ve had reservations about the methods, if not the ideologies, of the idiot for a long while, and they’re already on thin ice since Lucius got rid of an important item Tom had entrusted to him years ago.”
“Then we’ll leave that to Severus, since he’s already working on it, and get them out of the situation as much as we can. Maybe move them to another property until we can assess the wards at their Manor fully for curses or compulsions that might have been added when Lucius wasn’t in his right mind or his father still held them. I’ll get Bill on it when I visit Gringotts. Severus is already providing some good information and it’s an open secret he was spying on both sides. Now he’s just on our side and pretending well. If ever there was a true master of cunning, it would be him. I wouldn’t be able to keep it all straight.”
“That’s because you’re a Hufflepuff,” the man in question announced, startling the room and almost getting hexed for his efforts. Arianna refused to be embarrassed by her reaction. The two ex-Aurors just glared at the ex-Death Eater. “Apologies. I just wanted to check in and ensure nothing would delay the cleanses we have planned for over the winter break. I am getting tired of being the only professor Potter and his friends can reliably come to when there’s an issue. I am also tired of that Umbridge woman going unchecked.”
Arianna narrowed her eyes at that then turned to her uncles as if to say ‘see? Not crazy’.
“Never thought you were, Ari,” Theseus said with a chuckle, answering the look. “And, Severus, we’re good. We were just discussing secret Defense lessons to make sure the students are actually competent at the end of the year.”
Severus studied the three of them for a moment then nodded. “I would teach them myself,” he admitted. “But there are only so many hours in a day and the Ministry revoked the Time Turner Ms. Granger utilized a few years ago.”
“They gave a kid a Time Turner?” Graves demanded, horrified.
“Unfortunately,” Severus sneered. “Albus thought it was a grand idea to allow the little know-it-all to take all the electives without adjusting the class schedule to accommodate. As if he has forgotten that the school once had dozens of electives and she was not the first to take more than the normal few.”
“Yes, we’re already aware of the cancelled classes,” Arianna said with an eye roll. “And if you’d remembered Harry’s accounting of his school years, you’d know that Sirius was only alive because they had it. Though now I’m wondering if that was Dumbledore’s exact plan, to invoke a life debt between Harry and Sirius…”
“I wouldn’t put it passed the bastard,” Graves muttered. “I’m liking the man less and less as time goes on. And I’m more and more glad Newt is away from his influence. It was bad enough when he sent my curious husband to the States after Grindelwald. I don’t like to imagine if he had even more time to manipulate the poor man.”
“I want the full story about that at some point,” Severus said mildly. “You’ve alluded to your adventures many times but I’ve yet to hear the full tale.”
“Not much to say,” Graves denied. “Newt discovered in two weeks what no one in my entire government had in two years. He exposed the insane man, saved the city from said insane man and an obscurial, and then set his rescued nundu loose to track me down. Found me locked in my own mind in my own home and rescued me like one of his creatures. Been stuck with me since, though we did release the nundu into the wild. Still visit the thing occasionally too. Seems to like me.”
Arianna chuckled at the stunned expression on Severus’ face. Obviously, the man hadn’t thought much about the true tale and, even with a lack of details, the tale was a strange one. Especially when taking into account nundus were particularly feared as man-eaters. It just illustrated how adept at interacting with creatures Newt Scamander really was. And how fearless he was.
“Anyway,” she interjected before the potions master could recover. “Defense lessons?”
“Ah yes, well, you’ll be needing a classroom that cannot be detected. There’s a space that might work that I found when I was a student,” Snape offered, shaking himself to focus.
“Seventh floor? By a painting of someone trying to teach trolls ballet?” she asked, wondering if he was talking about the room she’d discovered in her own wanderings.
Snape narrowed his eyes at her then nodded. “Yes. It has a number of names. The elves call it the Come and Go room, but I prefer the Room of Requirement. I heard tales of its ability to be exactly what the student needed, but I’ve only ever seen the Room of Hidden Things, which was frankly a mess. I believe it was on your tests as part of your inheritance from Helga Hufflepuff.”
“Oh, joy, more to clean out,” Arianna muttered. “Hopefully, it doesn’t need doing to allow classes.”
“It shouldn’t,” Severus said. “I know the twin menaces have used it as a potions lab occasionally and I doubt the castle would want them to wander the Room of Hidden Things. They’re enough trouble on their own. The last any of us need is them discovering something in that mess”
Arianna smirked at that but nodded. “Alright, I’ll let Harry know.”
“Might I suggest a face-to-face meeting?” Severus urged, suddenly intent. “The boy is struggling, and it might do him good to see you.”
Arianna smiled softly at the concern but gave the man a short synopsis of her meeting earlier. He seemed shocked at the wards, almost more so than the two ex-Aurors listening. But it wasn’t until she repeated Peeves’ information about Hogwarts waking that Severus interrupted.
“The castle has consciousness?” he demanded.
“That’s what it sounded like,” she agreed. “If it’s actually able to act on that consciousness, that would be extremely helpful.”
“You Potters will be the death of me,” Severus groaned.
Arianna tried not to cackle.
*****
Regulus sighed as he managed to extract another fang without injuring himself. The last thing he needed at this point was Basilisk venom in his system. He had no doubt he’d be dead before anyone could do anything and it would be at least a few hours before Kreacher was back with his dinner.
“Well, at least talking to myself won’t look strange down here,” he mumbled as he carefully placed the large fang in one of the glass containers Sev had left him. “No one around to question my sanity…. Though, I am a Black so that might be already assumed…”
“Oh, I say! Who would you be?” a cheerful voice exclaimed.
Regulus sighed but turned to face the voice, only to pause at seeing the translucent figure of Sir Nicolas, the ghost of Gryffindor.
“Good day, Sir Nicolas,” he greeted, bending slowly to place the container on the ground but mindful of his slowly showing stomach. Robes could hide a lot but at three months pregnant when he’d been taken and three months free now, he was starting to show past the level he could hide. Especially as a male.
“And who might you be? It’s been a long time since I visited this chamber and yet I do not remember anyone having access,” he said warily. “Perhaps I should get the Headmaster.”
“No!” Regulus shouted, drawing his wand without thought and trying to remember what hexes worked on ghosts.
“Now, Nicky,” the familiar poltergeist cackled as he zoomed into view. “Why you be wanting to inform that nasty liar?”
Regulus decided to take a break so he could watch the show. Never in his time as a student had he seen the pair bicker so much. Nor seen the prankster who listened to no one defend anyone, let alone a former student. He settled into a quickly conjured chair, in the middle of the famed Chamber of Secrets, and let a pair of ghosts argue about whether or not the Headmaster of Hogwarts should be alerted to the pregnant former Death Eater hiding in his domain. Oh, the presumed dead, pregnant, former Death Eater.
He was laughing in short order and entertained for hours.
But surprising no one but Sir Nicolas, Peeves won.
*****
Harry snickered and deftly dodged Hermione’s chastising swat as they waited for the prank to be triggered. It had taken some doing, but this prank was almost entirely his, Neville’s, and Ron’s, thanks to some inspiration from Arianna’s love of muggle things. Neville had been a surprise addition, but a welcome one. Harry felt bad for how he’d ignored his fellow lion previously but was making up for it this year. He’d caught them brainstorming and had actually seemed to love the idea, volunteering to help. Harry and Ron hadn’t needed much prompting after that, just pushed aside their notes to include him and set about explaining what they wanted to accomplish. And they’d finally managed, after weeks, to research and perform the needed spells all on their own, without having to involve the twins. So even they would be surprised.
And if it was literally only on the students, away from where the professors normally ventured, then so be it. They may or may not have even managed to set it up in all the common rooms with the help of a few accomplices. Neville had volunteered to set up Hufflepuff and Luna had already seemed to know what they needed when they’d gone to her for Ravenclaw. Slytherin had been questionable, but a rather shy second year that Harry knew from their study sessions had offered to help, with Malfoy listening in. When Harry had noticed, Malfoy had only rolled his eyes and joined them to help.
It was a bit surreal, to be honest.
Now they were just waiting, hidden away behind a few sofas and as close to the exit as they could get in case a quick escape was needed.
And then, there!
Lee Jordan came down from the dorms, still half asleep and barely vertical. But it was enough that he walked into the common room. Harry spent a moment to thank Merlin it was Lee and not someone like Seamus that absolutely hated him this year.
Instantly, a ball appeared at his feet. Bright and invitingly colored crimson, it sat there on the floor.
Harry held his breath waiting.
Lee looked at the ball for a moment, scratching his head in confusion before he bent to pick it up. But the moment he touched it, a second ball fell from his hand, this one a bright gold.
He started snickering when Lee looked at it even more confused before he picked it up as well. Only for another two to pop into existence, back to the first color.
Lee seemed to realize what was going on at that point. Harry was afraid for a moment that the boy would simply leave it at that, let the balls fall, but he just chuckled and reached for the new balls.
By the time someone else ventured down, also still half-asleep on this wondrous Saturday, Lee was surrounded by a small mound of balls, smiling widely and waiting until Colin was within range to lug a ball at his head and cackling when a full seven hit the poor boy.
Colin blinked at the assault then stared at Lee, confused before he seemed to realize what was going on. Then he was reaching to his feet to grab his own ball and was throwing it just as Lavender entered.
By the time the twins finally ventured down, drawn by the manic laughing going on, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione were rolling on the floor by the exit, laughing hysterically at the all out war of small balls going on by the stairs to the dorms as the common room slowly filled with the duplicated things.
Lee was buried up to his hips and could no longer really dodge the pelting he was receiving, but the balls were small and soft and felt more like warm snowballs than they looked.
The twins shared an incredulous look, hotly denying any involvement when accused, then simply dove into the growing pile of balls, causing a small avalanche with the newly duplicated balls and effectively knocking Lee off his feet finally.
By the time Professor McGonagall wandered up to see why none of her lions were coming down for breakfast, the entirety of the common room floor was covered in balls so deep some of the first years couldn’t stand and be seen in them. The fireplaces all had wards around them to keep the balls out but allow the fires to still burn and keep the chill out, but other than that, there was little to be seen but the continued war as crimson and gold balls sailed around and continued to bury students.
Harry outright laughed at the startled and frankly uncomprehending look McGonagall gave the room.
*****
As time went on, Kingsley found more and more troubling information. And more and more he was wary about reporting his findings. Since looking into the Potter boy’s home life, he was forced to look at the wizarding world in a new light. And it was not one he liked. To have Dumbledore anywhere near that level of abuse? It made the Auror uncomfortable. If he didn’t have copies of the memories of over a dozen people confirming it and evidence retrieved from a rather horrible pair of muggles and their house, he had no doubt no one would believe him.
Then the revelations brought about by the war hero Theseus Scamander? Well, Kingsley wanted in on whatever secret the man was hiding. Seeing Sirius Black freed and walking the halls of the Department again was encouraging but it did not diminish the fear he brought with him. Fear of manipulations and traitors. Between Theseus and Sirius, they’d uncovered more than a dozen Aurors either with extreme blood purist views that had them abusing their power to an extreme degree or were full spies for Voldemort. A few were even potioned to loyalty towards Dumbledore, including himself. He was scheduled to be cleansed at the end of the week and he hoped they’d be able to remove part of the block on his core. The Aurors that had already undergone the cleanses reported that most of the time, the goblins weren’t able to remove them fully because of the length of time it had been.
Yet Kingsley wanted to pass on the information he’d gathered about Harry Potter and the Dursleys before he left for his required days off after the cleanse. Something needed to be done and now that he was assured of at least three people he could trust, it was time.
He knocked on the door to the office the pair were using, only entering when a brisk command was given.
Inside, he had to pause at the sight of the pair. Theseus Scamander was as intimidating as ever, wearing a grey tweed suit. It was not hard to believe the man had fought in two world wars and went up against Grindelwald himself…. And when he stared at a person like that, it was even easier. Add in Sirius Black, the man everyone was still trying to come to grips was innocent. And he’d been intimidating before. Now he stood, having survived twelve years in Azkaban, returned to the wizarding world and pissed. If the pair of them weren’t currently gutting the Auror department with express permission from Amelia Bones, Kingsley had no doubt they’d be doing it without permission but with far subtler methods.
Methods he was hoping would never be turned on him and he could unleash in defense of one Harry Potter.
“Yes, Kings?” Sirius asked, looking up from a file he was examining with Scamander.
“I’ve come to give my report on one Harrison James Potter,” he said only after he’d closed the door. He would have cast privacy spells, but he knew the pair had permanent ones placed on their shared office. He didn’t think they used it much in all reality, but it was still well guarded.
His words caused both men to stiffen and turn to each other for a moment. Then they put the files down and with a flick of their wands, the files organized themselves and flew to the filing cabinet in the corner. Which then locked with a snap. Kingsley couldn’t even fault them their paranoia…. With what he’d seen lately, he was not anxious to allow any unknown spies access to the audit the pair were performing. It would be horrendous if someone was able to read the files of even the cleansed Aurors.
Once the desk was clear and the anticipatory silence dragged on just a bit too long, Kingsley sighed and handed them the file he’d put together.
“I’ve visited Privet Drive, where Mr. Potter once resided. I could only get there after Lord Black advised me of the address. No one knew where he’d been placed immediately following his survival that night,” Kingsley said, narrowing his eyes at the silent exchange the pair made at that. “Once inside, I was able to perform some detection spells and I will fully admit, it was not pretty. You can see the list of areas I found Mr. Potter’s blood. There were more than a few and far more than the typical child produces during normal adventures. I also found evidence of protective wards around a cupboard under the stairs, most likely produced by accidental magic as the spells themselves were unrefined and weak. Strong enough to deter the muggles, but not anything else.”
“I wonder if he realizes he did that,” Sirius muttered, staring dispassionately at the photos Kingsley had included of said cupboard and a number of the sites of blood. Kingsley was starting to wonder if Azkaban had drained the man of all emotion, then it clicked.
“You already knew,” he accused, suddenly getting angry. “You knew and you left him there?” he demanded.
Sirius pinned him with a look that instantly froze his words and illustrated well the reputation Sirius Black had his whole life, but it was Scamander that spoke.
“We knew for certain only recently but had no proof other than his word and that wouldn’t hold up in court, even with him being who he is,” Scamander explained, eyes never leaving the report. “Not to mention, how were you expecting Sirius to do anything about it in Azkaban or on the run? He’s doing what he can now and that should be all that matters. Besides, with him in Azkaban, it was not within his power to do something about it before. That guilt lies with others we are still trying to confirm.”
Kingsley took a deep breath and nodded. Scamander waved a hand at him to continue and he did, trying to keep that thought in place so he didn’t hex his mentor for what he was realizing was a wrong the man wasn’t guilty of. Again.
“I spoke with Mrs. Petunia Dursley and can honestly say I have not met a more odious woman in my life. She made no attempt to cover her actions in regards to her nephew and even expressed regret the boy had survived to go to school. I suspect if I had remained to speak to the uncle, I would have been told much the same. The boy is a lost cause at this point, with those two for parents. Unless the Dementor attack woke him up, I’ve no doubt he’ll be just like his father.”
“If he lives that long,” Sirius muttered.
“You want to return to Azkaban?” Scamander said dryly.
Sirius grumbled but kept silent and Kingsley was shocked. The man was known for leaping first and seeing if he could land safely only in the air. To have him restrained by one question was strange. Maybe Azkaban was worse than they’d thought and they should look into retiring the prison.
But that was for another day.
“The interesting part is the remnants of wards I detected on my way out,” he said, pointing to the relevant page in his report.
“Wizard repelling, self-hatred, staying even though it wasn’t safe, and the Death Eater killing curse,” Sirius summarized. “Looks like Snape was right…. Damn that man. I was hoping he’d be wrong about at least one of them…”
“Severus Snape was present?” Kingsley asked, shocked. Didn’t those two hate each other?
“Dumbledore had him assist in assessing the son of a whale after the Dementors,” Sirius explained, pinching the bridge of his nose and ignoring the swat he got from Scamander for something. “He’s lucky the wards shattered when Harry left earlier in the summer or he’d be dead. Something the Headmaster should have considered when drafting the git to join him in his visit.”
“Why would he be dead?” Kingsley asked.
Sirius eyed him for a moment before shaking his head.
“If you don’t already know, unfortunately I can’t tell you. It puts certain people at deadly risk and as much as I dislike it, I won’t be responsible. Already I’ve come too close too many times,” he denied.
Again, Kingsley itched to be included, but he knew better than to demand access to the secrets. He had his suspicions, but Sirius actually sounded serious and that was a rare phenomenon.
“Anything else?” Scamander asked, finally setting the file down and pinning him with his steely gaze.
“All due respect?” he started, eyeing the pair. “Whatever you’re keeping secret, I would like to know. I cannot do my job if I’m in the dark and it sounds like you need help with whatever it is. Everyone knows the Ministry needs a good clearing out, but you chose to start with the Aurors. Obviously you need backup and I’m not the only one asking questions. At least let those of us cleansed join in whatever you’re doing.”
Sirius eyed him a moment with pride, but Scamander was instantly suspicious, if his raised wand was any indication.
“You’re not cleansed yet, Shaklebolt,” Scamander pointed out. Kingsley froze. How in the hels had he forgotten that?! Why in Merlin’s name would he demand inclusion in something that obviously needed absolute secrecy when he wasn’t? His shock and horror must have shown on his face because suddenly, he had two wands pointed at him.
“Theseus?” Sirius asked mildly.
“I’m moving his cleanse up and I’m demanding a holster for him,” Scamander said hotly. “If this is who we suspect, he’s too vulnerable for reapplication.”
Kingsley wanted to demand what was going on, but with two wands and two legendary wizards behind them, he knew it was fruitless. When ropes were spelled on him, he didn’t even fight. The portkey from the office was a bit of a surprise, though. But it explained how the pair seemed to disappear easily.