392(A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews. Some of you knew who Odd Job was before the A/N at the bottom of chapter 1 – take a silver star if you did. Since I forgot to state it at the very beginning although a few of you correctly inferred it, this story has only 3 chapters. I hope you enjoy this next installment...)
Chapter 2
Harry was fixing breakfast the next morning, although it was a much smaller one than normal. According to Petunia, everyone was going to eat like Dudley, even if they didn't need it. Dudley got a half of a grapefruit and a single scoop of eggs. Everyone else received the same, except that Harry did cook a few slices of bacon, although he managed to eat only one before Vernon took the other three. If this continued, he'd be walking to store to get his own food and wouldn't be surprised to find out that Dudley was eating more at his friends' house.
While he was cleaning the kitchen, a very ordinary brown owl landed on the window sill. Thankfully, Petunia was off somewhere else and Vernon had already left for work. Harry went out the back door and relieved the owl of its letter before it flew away, obviously not waiting for a reply.
Inside, he opened it and read the letter from Dumbledore telling him to stay at home where it was safer as Voldemort would do terrible things to him if caught, and not to use his owl as she was far too easy to identify. Harry made a face at it before he tore it up and tossed it into the garbage bin.
He knew there was always a chance for him to be attacked and he was careful, or he thought he was. It was part, all right only a small part, of why he'd asked for a Floo Connection.
The doorbell rang so he answered it, expecting it to be a salesman. He was surprised when he saw an older man in strange looking dungarees, like they belonged in the 1960's. "Number 4 Privet Drive?" he asked. "Sorry, I got no name on this work order."
"Yes it is. Why are you here?" Harry asked.
"I need to attach your fireplace to the Floo Network. I have a rush order," the man told him but didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"Oh right, come in," Harry told him. "It's over there." At least Vernon had removed the boards he'd put over it last summer.
The wizard come in and waved his wand a few times at the fireplace before he pulled out a small bag and tossed a pinch of powder in which ignited a flame that immediately turned green. "Testing a new connection; Danberry here." A face appeared in the flames and acknowledged the call before the flames went away.
Danberry held out a clipboard to him. "Sign at the bottom."
Deciding a little misdirection didn't hurt, he scribbled, "J. P-" on the line with the last five letters of his name practically a line so they couldn't be read.
The man signed his name and then tore off a copy and gave it to him and a small bag. "It's good for only about twenty calls, but I just used one," he said with a mischievous grin. "You can get more in Diagon Alley; be sure to get the self-starting kind like that since it doesn't look like you keep a fire going all the time. Oh, no address needed since it only goes to one place. Good luck." He Disapparated with a light crack.
Looking over the paper, it saw it was for an outgoing only, and calls only (no travel), connection to the emergency Auror Floo. It was scheduled to be turned off on Sep 1st, but it was also marked paid in full until then. "Nice," he commented as he headed to his room to put the receipt and bag of Floo Powder away. Apparently the Head Auror had liked what Harry had sent.
When he reached the top of the stairs Petunia stopped him. "Who was at the door?"
Harry smiled. "Someone came to drop off this," he showed her the bag, "for me. Don't worry, it won't affect you." He went to his room, leaving a wide-eyed and frozen woman behind.
— — —
He'd had a later start than he'd planned, but at least it was still morning, even if only barely. Albus Dumbledore strode through the Ministry, nodding and saying hello to former students as he passed them. Entering the Department of Transportation, he strode up to young woman at the desk. "Ah, Ms Henderson, it's good to see you. I wonder if you could help me."
He wasn't sure why she frowned nor looked at her nameplate but he went on blithely. "I understand a student of mine is having his fireplace connected to the Floo Network and I'd like to cancel that as I fear it could violate the Statute of Secrecy." A nice excuse that always went over well.
With a frown, Mrs Masters asked, "Name on the account?"
Dumbledore leaned forward and whispered, "Harry Potter, I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread that around."
The former Ravenclaw wondered what was really going on, but she dug into the files of recent connections and connections for the next week. After a few minutes she said, "I have no requests for that name." Sure, there was that one request that had no name but only an address, but if he was as smart as he tried to appear, he would have asked about an address too.
"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked. "I was told the order had been put in."
"Positive," she replied and picked up her quill to return to her work. "I think you were told incorrectly."
"I see, well, I suppose I should go check my source. Thank you, Ms Henderson." He turned and left wondering what was going on.
Ellen Masters, nee Henderson, wondered why she'd ever looked up to him.
It had been a little over a week since Harry had first met Odd Job. Yesterday, he'd received an owl with an invoice and a request to meet at the same place as last time in about half an hour.
Grabbing a Gringotts draft from the book of them that he was given, he wrote out the amount for 3,000 Galleons, which was for four Death Eaters. One had been marked "No Charge", something for him to ask about. Also, other than the report for McNair, he hadn't seen any report in the Daily Prophet for the other three. Still, he finished the draft and stuck it in his pocket along with his vault key.
Wearing his Invisibility Cloak, in case there were still stalkers out front, Harry carefully made his way towards the park, pulling his Cloak off behind a large shrub just before he got to the park. He sat one bench further down and waited, watching some children on the few swings Dudley and his friends hadn't wrecked. Their mothers were nearby too.
Like last time, Odd Job was there fairly suddenly as if a charm was dropped, before he sat on the other end of the bench. He held out an envelope. "Good afternoon, Mr Potter."
"Good afternoon, Mr Job. Is it going well so far?" He opened the envelope and looked inside to find four photos, each with an arm showing a Dark Mark held up to be next to a pale gray face, one was even a woman that looked a lot like the man in the next picture, probably related. Then again, the pictures did have the same last name of Carrow on them now that he looked.
"It is going well, although it will start to get harder as they realize they are being hunted," the man said.
"Can I keep these?"
"You may."
Harry pulled out the draft from a pocket. "Who do I make this out to?"
"Odd Job."
Harry wrote the man's name (or perhaps company, he still wasn't sure) in and then pressed his vault key to it to certify it. "If I may ask, why was one marked 'No Charge'?" He handed the money over.
Odd Job pocketed it inside his coat. "That one had something that paid for the work," was all that was said.
Somehow Harry knew not to ask for more details. "Should I assume I'll see you again next week?"
"Yes, my … team prefers to be paid on a weekly basis. Good day, Mr Potter." The man stood and walked away, not disappearing quite as quickly this time, but Harry found it harder and harder to look at him until he didn't see him anymore.
Harry shrugged and reversed his course, putting his Cloak back on while hiding then making his way back to his house. That was four down and maybe another twenty or so to go he thought.
Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour were sitting in Cornelius Fudge's office, the Minister for Magic, along with his top aide Dolores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary.
"Director, you have to do something now!" Fudge blustered. "These are good people who are being murdered and dropped on our doorstep and making us look like fools! It's also happening every other day! I don't know how much longer I can keep the Daily Prophet from reporting about this."
Bones looked at Scrimgeour for a moment and realized he was having to contain himself as much as she was – not to laugh at the Minister for failing to see the obvious. "Minister, by what definition of 'good' are you using?" People who gave him gold she was certain but couldn't really say - at least not until her investigation was over. "I've read the transcript for each person and if I had known what each one of these people had done, I could have had them sentenced to Azkaban for multiple life sentences. Those were people who tortured and committed murder."
Fudge stared at her, not really able to refute her as he'd seen at least some of the transcripts that had come in with the victims.
"Hem, hem," Umbridge coughed into the silence. She had not seen the transcripts. "These are outstanding members of our society, leaders of their family and our country, people who will be hard to replace because they are Purebloods. We need them."
"So you're saying, Madam Umbridge," Bones said steadily looking her in the eye, "that you want our leaders to go around murdering people. That you think it's fine for these outstanding members of our society to torture people with the Cruciatus Curse just because they feel like it. Oh, and we need them and others who act like they do by using the Unforgiveable curses on people? Curses that carry an automatic life sentence in Azkaban. Is that what you're saying? I want to be really clear on what you find acceptable and even lawful – please don't forget the current laws."
When Umbridge didn't answer, Scrimgeour added, "Tell me, if they're allowed to do that, shall we send them to your house to torture and kill because I don't want them at my house."
"Of course they wouldn't come to our houses, we're outstanding people too," Umbridge retorted.
"Oh, so you condone torture and murder as long as it's the shop keepers, the people who grow our food, and all of the secretaries and janitors in this building? And what about children because they've killed children too." Bones added. "Is it all right to murder all of those people?"
Umbridge stayed quiet, obviously unable to spin that question in a way that benefited her.
"Minister," Bones turned back to him, "we have a task force looking into this." It was two people but she wouldn't tell him it was that small. "So far they have determined that this is probably being done by a group of professionals. That means it was probably hired, which means – given the 'victims' and I use that term very loosely – the person who hired this work has a vendetta against this Death Eater group that probably killed someone in their family. The list of people who fit that profile is hundreds of names long. As long as the group doing this does not make a mistake, we're not going to catch them because we can't investigate all of the possible suspects."
"But they're all innocent; they were Imperioused," Fudge all but whined.
"Not true," Scrimgeour disagreed. "There is absolutely no proof they were under the Imperious Curse because not one of them would submit for the test; they all refused when asked; that's in their records. They claimed it and Bagnold and possibly others allowed them the excuse and pardoned them.
"All a pardon means is that we know the person almost certainly did the crime but we've decided not to care. So you'll have to ask Bagnold about this; but wait, she's not in the country any longer but is living a luxurious life on the Mediterranean Sea last I heard. This is not a law problem, this is a political problem." Which makes it your problem, he couldn't say.
"Minister," Bones said slowly and a little weary of the conversation, "you can continue to cover this up for a time, but assuming this killing spree continues, and I have no reason to believe it'll stop any time soon, eventually the scope of the problem is going to become obvious when more people go missing and their families go to the Daily Prophet about it. At that point, you're going to have to address this in a public forum like a press conference.
"In my opinion, the best you can do is to point out that Bagnold started this by pardoning these people; put the heat on her. Second, you're going to have to release a summary of the transcripts so people understand this isn't some random killing spree, and that as long as they aren't a Death Eater then they have nothing to fear and no reason to panic."
"But there are no more Death Eaters and You-Know-Who isn't back," Umbridge said hotly.
"Of course he's back." Bones barely stopped herself from adding 'you toad'. "I'm sure you've seen the Dark Mark on the victims arms. It's dark black; that means he's back. Until a month ago, the Dark Mark on those prisoners in Azkaban were a light gray, barely visible. It's strength shows his strength."
"Pure conjecture," Umbridge said disdainfully.
"Actually, it's a fact," Scrimgeour corrected her. "The last time it was dark black was in late 1981; but it turned light gray on the night of October 31st, when the Potter boy did something to the Dark Wizard. The changing of the Dark Mark is too well documented and known.
"There's also the problem that you two want to ignore. Who killed Cedric Diggory with a Killing Curse last month? I can tell you it wasn't Potter because he was only a fourth year and I've never heard of a fourth year be able to cast a successful Killing Curse, the favorite curse of the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who."
"It just looked like the Killing Curse, but I'm sure Mr Potter can tell us how he did it and he's covering it up," Umbridge insisted.
Bones looked at her partner and shook her head in frustration, wanting to say what she knew but also knew the time wasn't right yet. "Look Minister, we're looking into these crimes, but they're not nearly as bad – at least morally – as you're making them out to be.
"True, we should not be having vigilantes running around killing these people, but if the victims were turned in to us with all of this evidence, I'm sure I could get a conviction for them so that they're spend the rest of their lives in Azkaban, which is effectively killing them but with torture by Dementor added in. So in a sense, they're saving us money even if it's not strictly by the law.
"That also ignores that we're safer this way as You-Know-Who can't try to break them out of prison. Let's also not forget all of that assumes these victims don't go running to some politician with a bag of gold in their hand to buy themselves a pardon."
"I'd never do that!" Fudge couldn't miss her point.
"I didn't say you would," Bones claimed neatly, "I was just saying how these things happen, and did happen under Bagnold as I know you didn't become Minister until about three years ago, long after all of the pardons were given out." On the other hand, she wouldn't bet Fudge would keep his hands clean if a good enough opportunity came along that he thought he could get away with.
"Yes, well," Fudge cleared his throat, "still, this has got to stop. We can't have panic out there. Families who are losing people will start saying something soon and we have to have an answer."
"As I said," Bones tried to drive it home, "explain they are all Death Eaters and summarize their crimes. No one can defend cold-blooded murder, torture, arson, rape, and all of the other things these people did. The average wizard and witch will understand and you'll be fine politically.
"As for the families these people are coming from, when they complain you should ask them why they didn't turn these people in for these crimes and because they were a Death Eater. I'm sure they'll say they didn't know about the crimes, wink wink, and then you can say that now we know and they've effectively had their trial and have been sentenced. This is happening to hard-core criminals, not innocent people no matter what their family wants to say. If they still don't believe you, then let them read the transcript on their family member. It makes me sick to read some of it and I'm used to reading about crimes."
It took another ten minutes, but eventually the two law enforcement officers were able to leave, although Fudge was still dithering on what he had to do.
Scrimgeour talked quietly as they walked back to their offices. "I know what you wanted to say as I wanted to shout it at them, but I think it's good that you didn't."
Bones nodded. "Surprise is a powerful tool and we need as much help with some of this as possible."
Sirius noticed his elf, Kreacher taking what looked like some jewelry into the little closet the elf slept in. "Kreacher, stop. What do you have and where did you get it?"
The elf did stop and turn around, but looked very belligerent. "Master Regulus gave it to me," he said, as if that solved everything.
Sirius considered that since the elf had adored his brother but hated him that the elf did think his statement was true. However, even people in his family didn't give their house-elves expensive looking jewelry like that heavy gold locket. "Why did he give it to you?" When Kreacher didn't immediately answer, Sirius said, "I order you to tell me about the locket and why Regulus gave it to you."
Kreacher looked very angry, but he answered, "Master Regulus gave it to me keep safe until I could destroy it," his head drooped, "but I have been unable."
Sirius considered that for a moment before pulling out his wand and conjuring a short chair and sitting down. "Tell me more, this sounds unusual."
It took over half an hour of tedious questioning, but Sirius got the story out of the elf. His brother had left the Death Eaters and he'd thought the locket was a key to defeating Voldemort if it could be destroyed.
"What have you tried?" Sirius asked, a little intrigued that the elf hadn't been able to destroy it yet because house-elves were stronger than most knew.
"Fire, a hammer, lots of elf magic, none of it has worked," Kreacher said bitterly.
"There are hotter fires, I think the Muggles have some. There are also volcanos with liquid rock in them which is pretty hot. I wouldn't be surprised if the Muggles have very big hammers," he mused, "but I don't have access to any of those. Hmm, let's go down to the basement to try something as I don't think we want to be disturbed."
It was late at night and so the two shouldn't be interrupted, but who knew if Ginny would come down with a nightmare or anyone else could appear just because they wanted a snack - it had happened before. The elf followed him down into the musty and very dirty basement. Sirius almost said something about the lack of work from the elf but held his tongue at the last second so the elf wouldn't start fighting him.
"Put it over there on the floor and against the wall; I want to try something," Sirius ordered. Kreacher did that before stepping back.
"Master is going to try to destroy it?" The elf sounded like there was little hope for that outcome.
Sirius stood there with his wand out for a moment and looked at the locket across the room. Hitting it wouldn't be a problem. The question was if he could do what he wanted; because if not, his next try would take a lot of effort and would probably require help.
"Be prepared to put up a shield as we don't know what that thing will do," Sirius told him and received a nod. The man was almost amused that it was taking this task to bring them together – at least a little.
Pulling up his feelings for being put in Azkaban unjustly and just how much he'd enjoy killing Peter Pettigrew, Sirius suddenly shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" The sickly green spell flew across the room and hit the locket, causing it to bounce up into the air and...
As it dropped back to the floor, Sirius looked down at his elf. "Did that thing just squeak or maybe yelp?"
"It did." The elf walked over and Sirius followed. "It is scorched and might be open a little." He looked up in amazement. "You have damaged it."
"Right, let's try again." Sirius walked back to the other side again and the elf stood next to him. Again dreading up the hate and how much he wanted to kill Pettigrew, Sirius shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
This time when the spell hit the locket, it sprung open and something started rising out of it. Sirius had no idea what it was but he cast, "Avada Kedavra!" one more time. This time the locket shrieked and wailed before the apparition that had been come out of it dissipated.
The elf walked over again while Sirius just stood where he was catching his breath. "Master, you have destroyed it," he said gleefully. Picking it up, the elf carried a now twisted and mangled and even partially melted locket.
"Bloody hell," Sirius swore. "I don't know what that was, but we're not telling anyone about this. That was bloody awful."
"Yes, master," Kreacher said happily. "Master is better than I thought." Kreacher disappeared with a pop taking the destroyed locket with him.
Sirius shook his head and decided a glass of Firewhisky - no, better make that two - would be a good way to go to bed.
At the next Order of the Phoenix meeting, Dumbledore looked over the group, which was a little larger this time. "Does anyone have any information or idea on who is killing the Death Eaters?"
Most shook their heads, the rest didn't seem to care. Moody spoke up though. "If I knew who was doing it, I'd buy them a pint. Hell, I'd buy them enough to get drunk on."
Severus Snape did not look happy at hearing that.
"Alastor," Dumbledore said reprovingly, "those were people too and they didn't get a trial."
"I got a few friends on the inside and I've read the summaries of the transcripts of their confessions," Moody said. "They had their trial, it just wasn't in front of the Wizengamot. They all deserve what they got." Sirius and a few others nodded.
Dumbledore didn't look happy and changed the subject. "How is guarding Harry?"
"He hasn't given us any problems since we moved to across the street," Tonks said. "It's a little harder to watch for him though. If he's left for any length of time, it hasn't been on my watch." She looked at Mundungus Fletcher, but the part-time thief didn't rise to the baiting.
"Good job in working out a solution," Dumbledore said. "Does anyone else have any news?" …
Harry walked to the park under his Invisibility Cloak again. The letter with the invoice mentioned meeting on the other end of the park. The invoice had six names on it. Two were 'No Charge', three were the minimal fee, and one was the max fee of 5,000G. He had to assume that was because this one was harder to get.
From the pictures, he recognized one person in particular: Lucius Malfoy. He noticed a line on the man's neck as if he'd been cut with an extremely sharp razor. Harry held up the picture. "Was this the expensive one?" He also noticed the next two pictures were labeled Crabbe Sr's and Goyle Sr's after Malfoy's picture; as the fathers did so the sons tried to follow it seemed.
Odd Job gave his biggest smile yet, which was barely noticeable. "He was a 'No Charge'."
Harry snorted in amusement and then made out the draft to pay for the work and handed it over, still thinking he was getting a good deal by not having to put himself at risk. "Any good leads on Pettigrew? It'd be really nice to have him found and free Sirius."
"We're working on it," was all that was said.
"Thank you, Mr Job, and good luck," Harry told him.
The man tipped his hat and simply disappeared since no one was around, silent Apparation Harry assumed as he returned back to where he stayed. It was time to write another letter to Sirius asking about joining him.
— — —
Amelia Bones walked into Fudge's office the day it happened and handed him a report – really another transcript. "I imagine this one will be in the newspaper tomorrow." She made herself comfortable while Fudge read it, growing paler almost by the second.
He looked up at her after only the first page. "There must be some mistake."
"Don't stop reading, Minister, you've got five more pages to find out all of the things Lucius Malfoy has done," she said calmly, as if she didn't have a care in the world. "You need to read it all."
By the time he reached the end, his hands were shaking and he looked like he was about to pass out. She arose and pulled out a pair of manacles and placed them on his wrists; Fudge didn't resist at all. "Don't worry, I'll ensure you're safe until your trial. You also don't have to worry about Delores taking over either; she's being arrested at this moment too. This should make the emergency Wizengamot meeting that's about to be called very interesting, don't you think?
"Oh, I know you're going to say that you didn't do it and this is just a Death Eater and very good friend making things up, but we've already uncovered evidence for at least half of the bribes on our own before this body and transcript came in. This forced my hand a little sooner than I'd expected, but the investigation is already solid enough I know you won't get out of it. The only real question is what the sentence will be and how big the fines will be."
Bones pulled him out of his office and handed him to two Aurors who were standing outside the door and waiting. She sealed the door into the Minister's office, a team would be by to look for clues to other crimes later today.
"Stacy, no one goes into that office except for Aurors until I say otherwise. I'm sorry, but that includes you too," she told the secretary for the Minister.
"I understand, Director." Stacy gave her a friendly look. "If you know specifically what you're looking for perhaps I can help you find it. For example, I'm fairly sure the bottom right drawer of his desk holds more than it first appears, although I've never looked through it."
"Thank you, Stacy, I'm sure we'll be talking to you soon," Bones said with a smile before she left.
Back at her office, she found Scrimgeour had already returned. "Any trouble? Fudge didn't resist at all."
The Head Auror grinned. "I got to stun Umbridge myself. I'd thank Malfoy for his help in allowing me to do that if I could."
They both laughed at that.
Scrimgeour became more serious. "Amelia, at the upcoming meeting … it needs to be one of us taking over. I'm not going to run against you, so tell me if you're going to try for it."
Amelia Bones dropped into her seat. "You have a point." She pondered the question as she made tea for them. By the time it was done and she handed him a cup, she said, "I truly am not sure what I want yet, but you're right, it needs to be one of us."
They each sipped for a moment, thinking about the situation.
Scrimgeour broke the silence. "Do you mind if I try for it? The DMLE will always be yours. In fact, I think you run it better than Crouch or his predecessor did. Probably even better than I could," he admitted with only a little hesitation.
After a moment Amelia said, "For little Susie I think I'll let you be Minister. There will be a target on you and it'll be long hours, at least until you get things under control."
Rufus nodded. "You know, Susie is not so little anymore, but you're right about of the rest."
"I'll support you," she told him.
"Thanks, I think," he replied and they both laughed again.
— — —
Late that afternoon, Amelia Bones told the Wizengamot about the arrest of Fudge and Umbridge along with their well-documented crimes, along with how enough evidence had been uncovered to support the arrests. Fudge was easily given a vote of no confidence. She then nominated Scrimgeour as interim Minister, surprising many by not running herself.
Because the Death Eater backed faction didn't have time to prepare, Rufus Scrimgeour was elected the new Minister for Magic for the next year by a narrow margin, at which time a general election would be held. This also meant Rufus got to explain to the Wizengamot about the Death Eaters who'd been showing up dead in the Ministry's atrium with their confession pinned to them.
Technically, Amelia needed to figure out how the bodies were appearing, but she didn't feel any pressure at all to do so quickly and she knew Rufus was of the same mind. They each appreciated this cleansing of hard-core criminals masquerading as "outstanding members of society" (according to Umbridge).
As expected, some of the Wizengamot members were upset and demanded these "executioners" be hunted down and given the Dementor's Kiss. Amelia stood up and started reading the summaries of the confessions before she asked, "Are these the crimes you want to defend as acceptable to the public? Are you willing for crimes like these to happen to your family?" No one answered her and or made any more demands even if they didn't agree with her as it wasn't a position they could publicly state, especially with reporters in the audience.
Harry signed the invoice for only two this week. "I don't recognize this name, a Corban Yaxley. I didn't recognize his face either."
Odd Job took the bank draft. "He is one of those not on your list that we uncovered. You did say any marked Death Eater and he was marked as you saw."
"I'm fine with it, I was only surprised," Harry told him in a tunnel under a road this time. "It makes me wonder how many more are otherwise unknown."
"I'm aware of two others that we are tracking. It is getting harder as they are hiding from us now, but we will complete the job," the man assured him.
Harry smiled. "I have no doubt. Good luck to you and your team." They each went their own way.
Harry also considered Sirius's latest letter. Apparently, Sirius had been unable to convince Dumbledore to let him come get Harry, but he was thinking about doing it anyway. That made Harry wonder how he'd continue to meet Odd Job if he went to live with Sirius. He still did a lot of chores for the Dursleys, but he was eating a little better this summer compared to previous years and they didn't bother him too much. He could survive staying where he was if he had to.
Hmm, maybe he'd have to ask Odd Job if there was another way they could meet, maybe in a private room at the Leaky Cauldron or Gringotts, assuming he could get away without explaining it to Sirius.
Harry laughed as he read about the latest joke product from the twins. They generally didn't tell him much news in general, but their letter was always good for a few laughs.
Ginny had turned out to be a good writer. She also tended to talk about the people she saw and what they were like. It was from her that he found out that Tonks was really Sirius's cousin and actually an Auror. That did not help his opinion of the woman.
Ron tried to cover what was going on and, like Harry had asked for, unusual happenings. For example, Ron was the one that mentioned the Order's, and especially Dumbledore's, focus on the Death Eaters that were turning up dead. Ron himself was fairly happy that was happening, as was most of the Order; Dumbledore and a few others weren't chuffed at all. Ron was also the one that explained what the Order was, making Harry think back to the end of this last year in the hospital wing when Dumbledore mentioned getting the "old crowd" back together.
He traded letters with his Weasley friends weekly and he appreciated that.
Letters from Sirius were mostly funny and the man mentioned Ron a few times, making Harry think that Sirius was where Ron was getting his information.
In a surprise, Hedwig also brought him a letter from Hermione. She was doing well but wouldn't talk about anything other than school or holiday travels. Apparently she had decided to follow Dumbledore's request not to tell him anything useful. He shook his head and wondered what he'd say to her later. She'd been a dear friend for most of the last four years, so this snub hurt.
Amelia gathered her notes and headed to the Wizengamot chambers for two trials. She was fairly sure Fudge was going to Azkaban for at least ten years and probably closer to twenty. She was also going to demand fines to equal all of the bribes he took, which would probably force his wife to sell their house to raise the money. She felt a little bad about that as she hadn't been able to find any evidence so far that Patricia Fudge had known about the bribes directly.
Umbridge was going to be in a similar boat, except that she was going to be charged with blackmail in addition to taking bribes. Some of the things that woman had forced others to do made her skin crawl.
These two trials would be a good start to cleaning up the Ministry and to reduce the effect Death Eaters had on the Ministry.
She had mixed feeling on the pause in new dead Death Eaters showing up, but her gut feelings told her they would restart in time.
Harry took his Invisibility Cloak off behind a store not far from where he lived and Odd Job appeared a second later, obviously waiting for him.
The envelope appeared a little thicker this time, even if the invoice was only for 5,000 Galleons; there were five 'No Charge' line items. There were nine pictures. Harry snorted in surprise. "I guess you found out about a party and invited yourself?"
Odd Job gave him an actual half-smile, but continued to be a man of few words. "Yes."
Harry noted three Lestranges in this batch and smiled before he signed the draft for this week's amount and handed it over.
"You should be aware that Voldemort is now aware we're after him as we almost caught him," Odd Job explained, apparently able to have a long discussion when needed. "We did kill a very large snake that he had and it acted most strange as it died. None of my team had an explanation. We could find out why, but that would be a separate contract."
"Thank you for telling me. I'll let you know if I want to do that, but for now I think not," Harry answered. "I did want to know how we might continue to meet if I have to move later this summer and you're not done. It might be hard for me to get away unobserved to meet you where I'd go."
Odd Job considered that. "I will have an answer next time."
Three days later Harry received a letter from his godfather.
Harry,
I know your birthday is in five days. In celebration, we'll be over to get you at 9pm on the 30th. We'll also arrange for the Dursleys to be away so you're alone. As you can guess, it's best not to tell them any of this.
I'm looking forward to seeing you!
Padfoot
Harry blinked and then panicked slightly. As fast as he could, he scribbled out a note to Odd Job and immediately sent it with Hedwig using the original address. He also added that he wasn't sure he would be able to receive owls as he still couldn't send letters to Sirius and the Weasleys directly (now he knew they were all together); he still had to send their letters to Remus to be delivered because Dumbledore had never fixed the owl problem.
Hedwig returned late that afternoon with a letter requesting a meeting behind another store at 8pm this evening and to bring a draft with him.
He snuck out later that evening. He had no idea how hard this would have been without his special cloak, so he was very glad to have it. Again, Odd Job appeared when he took his cloak off.
Odd Job immediately held out a rabbit's foot on a short chain. "This is a Portkey. It will bring you to a meeting place when you touch your wand to it. I will be able to cause it to send you back to where you came from; so pick a hidden location."
"Thank you!" Harry was very appreciative.
"Check it every night. It will grow warm when we are to meet. If it is warm, activate it at 7 the next morning. I will be waiting where it takes you. Only come at 7 in the morning or you will be stuck there," the man stressed.
"Right, check before going to bed, if warm, get up early and activate it at 7am," Harry repeated to commit it memory. "Got it."
The man handed over a thin envelope. There were only two pictures in it. The first was a very alive looking Peter Pettigrew. The second was a very dead looking Severus Snape.
Doing his very best to ignore Snape, Harry looked up with a big grin on his fact. "You got Pettigrew," he breathed, so happy he had trouble thinking what else to say. "You got him."
"He was difficult. Thank you for telling me he was an Animagus." The man held out an invoice for 10,000 Galleons.
Harry gladly paid it. "When will Pettigrew be delivered to the Head Auror?"
"Tomorrow morning. Don't forget to check your Portkey every night." With that, the man left.
Harry couldn't help but grin as he walked back to #4 Privet Dr. He'd have a birthday party and a party for Sirius being free, or so he hoped.
As for Snape... That was actually a bit problematic even for him. He didn't like Snape – not at all. However, he hadn't really wanted Snape dead. Sacked? Sure! Dead?
Snape was a marked Death Eater, so Harry determined he wasn't going to dwell on it and considered that Snape probably had done something bad to earn that Dark Mark. Dumbledore was going to be a different matter. Harry was sure Dumbledore would have a fit when he found out. That being said, Potions couldn't help but be better and just in time for his OWLs too.
Harry was sending Hedwig to Tom at the Leaky Cauldron every evening for a newspaper to find out about Pettigrew. Two days after Odd Job had told him the news, he received a letter from the Minister.
Mr Potter,
I would like to inform you we have been given Peter Pettigrew as a prisoner. After interrogation, we've found the last evidence we need to declare Sirius Black innocent.
As I'm one of the few who have seen the memories you sent us, I suspect you know how to get a message to him, or perhaps get a message to someone else who can get a message to him.
If you can do that, please tell him to contact either myself or Director Amelia Bones or Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. I will personally guarantee his safety to a Wizengamot meeting where he will be declared innocent or if the Wizengamot does not follow my lead, then I will pardon him. Either way, he will be free – on my word, on my honor, on my magic.
If you could come and meet me for the trial and speak with me afterward, I would appreciate it.
Minister Rufus Scrimgeour
"Holy Merlin!" Harry exclaimed and considered what was the fastest way to contact Sirius. He had one idea, else he'd have to send Hedwig to Lupin and hope for a speed delivery.
Running out of the house with the letter in his hand to the spot near where he'd talked to Tonks before he looked around and not seeing anyone out, he yelled, "Tonks! Are you here? It's important and I promise not to call the police if you answer." He also waved the letter around. "It's really, really important."
After nearly a minute of silence he was about to go back in when he heard a female voice from near the sidewalk. "This better be good, Harry."
He exhaled with relief and walked over, guessing where the invisible woman was and held out the letter. "You need to get this to Sirius as fast as possible.
"Flatten it out and hold still. It's hard to read through this Invisibility Cloak," she told him. "Well crap! Give me that." It was snatched out of his hand; the letter and hand that grabbed it disappeared. "Don't you dare leave this house. I'll be back in five minutes."
"We are so talking about you stalking me when I get to Sirius's house in a few days," he told her.
"You're not supposed to say anything about that," she hissed. "Go back inside and stay."
He heard footsteps hurrying away and then a light crack. With a smile he turned to go back inside.
His aunt was at the door and scowling at him. "What was that about?" she demanded.
"My godfather is about to be declared innocent and I'm trying to make arrangements to go live with him, so leave me alone," he told her, pushing past her at the door and hurrying up to his room. He would have started packing but there was plenty of time. He did start to daydream about never coming back here though.
— — —
An hour after Tonks had brought the letter from Harry, Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived at #12 Grimmauld Place.
"Is it true?" Sirius asked hurriedly.
"Hello to you too," Kingsley said with a chuckle. "Yes, it's true. I was there for the interrogation that went late into the night. I think Scrimgeour was about to declare you innocent anyway because the 'Kiss On Sight' order was revoked earlier this week, but this just guaranteed it."
"So now what?" Sirius asked with excitement, his dream for the last thirteen years about to come true.
"Stay here and stay safe," the Auror told him. "I think it'll all happen tomorrow or else the day after. I'll come back and get you. You'll have to be in manacles, but you're in no danger anymore. I'll have Tonks with me to help guard you just in case."
"Splendid! I think I'll make it a Happy Birthday Harry and Sirius Is Free party," he crowed with a big grin. "Thanks, Kingsley. I've got to go plan this. See you tomorrow."
Kingsley laughed and left, happy this was working out.
Today's "catch" was Bellatrix Lestrange. Amelia was actually a little put out not to get a transcript with this one as the previous transcripts had kept a medium-sized team busy closing cold-cases from the first war with You-Know-Who.
No, all that note said was "Sorry, she didn't want to be taken alive."
Well, Bella had been in Azkaban before for several very good reasons, Amelia thought. On the brighter side this bad witch was gone and they had a trial scheduled today to right some wrongs.
— — —
Sirius walked out of the Ministry a free man and with a very large smile on his face and he had three reasons.
First, he watched Peter Pettigrew go on trial and confess to setting up Sirius. A potion helped that "truthful confession", but it was done none-the-less. In addition, Peter was sentenced and received the Dementor's Kiss for helping to revive You-Know-Who as well as framing Sirius, and it was carried out in the courtroom. That left a lot of people very silent and introspective, but it was done and no one would ever have to worry about Pettigrew escaping. It also made the fact that Voldemort was back official.
Second, Sirius's trial was very quick and he was found not guilty. He was also awarded 25,000 Galleons for compensation.
Third, he'd immediately applied for and received guardianship of Harry. Now no one, not even Albus Dumbledore or Molly Weasley, could tell Harry to go live somewhere else.
When he arrived back at his home, he was greeted by a newly arrived Harry who gave him a hug. "You're my problem now," Sirius told him and showed him a form saying just that.
Harry hugged him again. "Thank Sirius! This will be the best party ever!"
— — —
Harry frowned when his missing "friend" came into the room. He'd known she was coming to the party, but he still hadn't fully resolved how he felt about it. "Hermione," he said, his cool tone stopping her from hugging him.
"What?" she asked, very uncertain of what was going on, her eyes darting around to try to find a clue to the problem.
Others started to pay attention, which was most of the Weasleys and Sirius. "I thought you were my friend, but I'm not so sure of that now."
"What did I do?" she asked, still mystified as to what was going on.
"Tell me, Hermione, who's more important in your life, me or Dumbledore?" He looked at her and waited. Her eyes moving to Ron let him know she'd figured out the basic problem. He waited and everyone else did too; she was on her own.
Finally, she said, "You are, but I needed to follow Dumbledore's orders. Ron was given the same orders," she protested.
"Well, if you need to follow Dumbledore's orders, maybe you shouldn't be talking to me as you might tell me something important he doesn't want me to know," Harry said a bit sarcastically.
"But Ron-" she started only to be interrupted.
"Ron figured out who his friend was and we've been exchanging meaningful letters all summer," Harry told her.
When she didn't say anything, Ron said, "I'll admit I screwed up last year and didn't act like a real friend. We worked that out and I decided I wouldn't do that again by ignoring Harry this summer." He saw his mother about to say something then his father put a hand on her arm to stop her, which he appreciated since this was really between the three friends he thought.
McGonagall arrived via the Floo into an awkward silence. Not sure about the cause, she carried on and hoped it all worked out. "I brought letters for all of the students." She handed them out, except to Fred and George who were upstairs and missing the confrontation.
Harry noticed Hermione tearing into her letter to have something else to focus on. He thought he and Hermione would eventually patch up their problem, but for the moment he wasn't very happy with her not admitting she was wrong and apologizing. He saw her pull out a badge with a "P" on it and knew what that was for. At the moment, he was glad that his envelope didn't feel fat. He also ignored the adults congratulating her.
Opening his envelope, he looked at the books and supplies he needed; they were pretty much as he'd expected except for Defense, which had a note saying "will be available at school". He took that to mean the Defense professor hadn't been picked yet while they'd had to get the letters out for the other classes. With Snape now gone, not that he could comment on it since that wasn't public knowledge yet, he wondered how Potions would go and thought it couldn't help but be better.
Ron pulled a badge with a "P" out of his letter and looked at it in wonder. "I, I don't believe it." He looked at Harry who smiled at him.
His mother cried, "Oh Ron! How wonderful!" as she rushed over and engulfed him in a hug. His father ambled over as there was time and gave his son a hug too when his wife finally let go of the boy.
Harry clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. "Congrats and good for you." Ron looked pleased that Harry said that.
"I better go put this up," Harry told him and left to go put his letter up in his room; Ron came with him. When they were alone Ron told him quietly, "Don't worry, you'll work something out with her eventually."
"How long do you think that'll take?" Harry asked.
"Depends on how long she stays stubborn, I guess." Ron grinned. "More time for flying and chess that way."
Harry chuckled and waved his friend to follow him and they went back down. "It's our OWL year, Ron, it's going to be busy."
"Don't remind me," Ron told him a little sourly. "Are you all right with me being Prefect? I thought it would have been you."
"I'm fine with it," he answered quietly. "I didn't really want to do the whole patrolling thing and all, so have fun with that," he ended with a grin.
Ron looked thankful for the support, but didn't look so happy at the mention of the patrolling.
Back downstairs, Harry saw two banners hand been hung: "Happy Birthday Harry" and "Sirius Is Free". Fred and George had also come down. More adults from the Order started to arrive also.
The Party started and Harry had a good time, though he spent very little of it near Hermione. She seemed to stay near Mrs Weasley.
The morning after Harry's party, a call came through on Albus Dumbledore's Floo in his office while he was doing paperwork, including writing yet another a job ad for a Defense Professor to be placed in newspapers outside of Britain.
"Albus, it's Amelia Bones, can I come through? I have some news for you."
"Of course." He shot a spell at the Floo to open it for her, but three others came through with her and all four had their wands out. Two Aurors that had not gone to Hogwarts moved to stand behind him.
"Albus," Amelia said, "I need to take your wand for this conversation. If you answer my questions truthfully and to our satisfaction, you'll have it back when we leave."
"What is going on?" He didn't move.
"Your wand first. Where is it? I won't ask again." She looked very serious as did Sr Auror Gawain Robards.
"It is up my left sleeve. I'll put it away if you like," he offered. "It's very temperamental and likely to go off if others touch it. I can put it in a drawer."
Amelia walked around to his side of the desk slowly and opened the draw nearest to her and looked in. She didn't see anything more dangerous than parchment in it. "Put it in there, two fingers only and very slowly."
With four wands pointed at him, Albus pulled his sleeve back so his wand was visible. Slowly, using only his thumb and forefinger, he pulled the wand out and dropped it into the drawer.
Bones shut the drawer then sealed it with a spell. "Albus, we have much to discuss."
"Why am I being treated like a criminal?" the Headmaster asked.
"Another dead Death Eater showed up this morning and his transcript is forcing us to ask some questions," she answered. "You will answer truthfully and fully or you'll find yourself at the Ministry being interrogated with Veritaserum."
Albus closed his eyes for a moment. "It's Severus, isn't it? I haven't seen him for nearly a week. I was getting a little concerned for him, but it is the summer holidays when schedules are more lax. What do you want to know?"
"I want to know why you let a known Death Eater teach at a school with children," Bones told him.
"He gave me a promise never to hurt children and to the best of my knowledge he upheld that promise."
Bones looked at Robards, who nodded while looking at something in his lap. "So you know, Albus, Robards is now the Head Auror. How many of Snape's classes were observed or audited by any other staff member?"
"I'm not aware of any, as none of the other staff members have had their classes observed either; so Severus is not an exception."
"How many complaints total have been filed against Severus Snape?" she asked.
"I don't really know."
"Guess," Robards spoke up suddenly.
"A handful or two," Albus answered slowly.
Robards held up what he'd been looking at in his lap for Dumbledore to see. It looked like a small crystal ball. It was presently a milky color. "This is a very interesting device from the Department of Mysteries." The ball turned clear. "It will change to a color when a false statement is uttered in its presence. I'm told it's not completely foolproof at catching all lies, but I was told it's never changed when it shouldn't. So it might not catch all lies, but if it does change a lie was definitely spoken. Would you like to try again on guessing at the number of complaints?"
Albus shifted uneasily. "I think it's been a handful or two every year, so somewhere between 50 and 100 over his entire tenure." The ball stayed clear and Robards lowered it back to his lap.
"So why did you keep him teaching here with so many complaints?" Bones took up the questions again.
"Because Potion Masters are difficult to find."
Robards held up a pulsing orb. "I've not seen that before, but I have a guess as to what it means." The orb turned clear and the new Head Auror looked at Dumbledore with a raised eyebrow.
"They are difficult to find, but I also kept him here because I knew he'd be needed when the war broke out again. The idea was to make Voldemort think Snape was spying on me while Snape really was spying on Voldemort for me." The orb stayed clear and was lowered again.
"Now we're getting to the heart of my questions," Bones said and leaned forward. "Are you completely certain Snape was being a spy only for you, not only in the last few months since You-Know-Who's return, but also at the end of the last war?"
"As certain as I can be." Albus paused. "I didn't require an Unbreakable Vow, but we had long conversations and I don't believe his sincerity was faked. Severus wanted Voldemort dead because he killed who was once Severus's best friend."
"That would be?" Bones queried.
"I don't think it's important."
"Perhaps you don't, but to us it is. Answer the question," she commanded.
With a heavy sigh, the Headmaster said, "Lily Evans then Potter."
"See, that wasn't so hard," she said with a smirk. "What do you know about what tasks he performed for You-Know-Who?"
"To the best of my knowledge, he only brewed potions when he turned spy. I never asked about his activities before then," Albus replied.
"Fortunately for you, that matches what was in his transcript. Unfortunately for you, Snape did purposefully harm some students, even if you didn't know it; fortunately the incidents were fairly minor but they were purposeful. Also, he wasn't totally loyal to you. He actually worked more for himself and hoped you and You-Know-Who killed each other because he knew he was stuck between the two of you."
Amelia Bones stood up. "I'm satisfied you weren't acting maliciously, and this shows that even you can be lied to and misled – greatly because that man never should have been made a teacher here. I suggest you start looking for a new Potions teacher unless you plan to teach that class. I will also suggest you keep your actions concerning the war and this school separate. I will be filing a report on this to the school's Board of Governors, so you should expect stricter oaths for not harming students to become the new normal and I won't be surprised if they stop taking your assurances on who is a good professor and who isn't."
She walked towards the fireplace and shot a spell at his desk, unsealing the drawer with his wand. "I would also suggest you resign as Supreme Mugwump at the ICW and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot to have more time here at the school – assuming you want to stay Headmaster. Thank you for your time."
"Did you really doubt me?" Albus asked her.
Amelia smiled and it wasn't a kind one. "What I think doesn't matter, at least not too much. Unlike you Albus, I have a job to protect and I will do that. Oh, I have a warning for you too. If a professor ever dies here again, even if he did something foolish all by himself, I expect a report about that on my desk within 24 hours, even if you've talked to the Minister about it. The law applies to you too."
She turned to the fireplace then turned back. "Just one more thing. While a certain vigilante group is helping us find Death Eaters, if I did know who they are I'd have to arrest them. That means that all other vigilante groups should disband too lest they get brought up on charges. I know who all of the members of your group are, Albus."
Bones turned and continued on this time, followed by Robards then the other two Aurors.
Albus opened his drawer and retrieved his wand before closing the drawer again. Leaning back in his chair, he considered the position he was now in. Some things he would take a wait and see approach, but he definitely had a few things to do, like finding two professors as soon as possible. That caused him to sigh.
As for her statement about the Order of the Phoenix, well, perhaps they'd have to hide better and be more discreet.
Albus was surprised the next day, and yet he wasn't, to receive five resignations from the order: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Hestia Jones, Arthur Weasley, and Alastor Moody. He now had no one working in the Ministry in the Order. Moody's resignation was a real surprise since he had retired, but the obvious answer was Amelia had influenced him too.
(A/N: For those wondering, no Dementors this summer because dear Delores wasn't around long enough … luckily for Harry.)