The Privy Councilors 21/33
Oct. 1st, 2011 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
herumtreiberChapter: Prank wars gone awry
Author:
Genre: AU to HBP, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Epilogue compliant? No way!
Chapter length: ~4,515 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Luna/Neville, Ron/Hermione, Narcissa/??? Harry is about to be sent to Azkaban. The story explores Wizengamot politics and the fight against evil Dumbledore - where he gets vanquished early and does not prattle on and on - but is he gone? Plus de-aging. Someone returns whose name begins with a S. (And my revenge on characters whose accents are hard to read – like Hagrid and Fleur ;-)
Table of contents
20. Prank wars 1
With one look I can break your heart
With one look I play every part
I can make your sad heart sing
With one look you'll know all you need to know
(With one look, Andrew Lloyd Webber; Christopher Hampton; Don Black)
After the fateful dinner, Draco accompanied Sirius and Harry to the Gryffindor tower. There was no way in hell he would risk Sirius among the Purebloods. They might find sport presenting a deaged Sirius into the hands of Voldemort.
Harry conjured a small bed and placed it next to his. When Draco was leaving, however, Sirius cried dejectedly "Dwaco!" He went to the blond and hugged his legs, trying to convince him to stay. Inwardly Draco mused that it was no mystery why he would become a dog Animagus, when his puppy-eyed look worked perfectly.
Harry offered to bring another bed, but Draco replied nonchalantly that they only needed to make his a bit larger. Even though Draco was 1 cm shorter than Harry, he always managed to look down on him – thought Harry irritated.
Amid some more grumblings from Harry and Draco, and lilting questions from Sirius, they fell asleep.
Harry fell asleep. In his dreams, he woke up to the sound of a laughing child. Turning, he saw Sirius playing intently with a red dragon. He didn't see Draco anymore, maybe he had left?
When he looked at the end of the bed he noticed two small red mops, oh Merlin! The Twins had been deaged!
Then the door opened and a five year old platinum blonde girl and a studious-looking boy appeared, obviously Narcissa and Remus!
Then another blond child came in, strutting and preening. It could only be Draco. He started fighting with Narcissa and soon every seemingly menacing child was involved in the melee. However, Sirius came back to him and sat on his chest. He almost made it too hurtful to breathe, until Harry moved his arms –
- And managed to get free from beneath a slumbering blond that definitely was not five years old!
Harry breathed deeply as he realized that had only been a dream. Thank God! The world was not ready to suffer the effects of Narcissa and Draco deaged.
oOoOo
They were in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione. Draco was proud of young Sirius' fine penchant for revenge and subtle cunning, like a true Slytherin. It was no surprise to him that Sirius had the guts to choose Gryffindor. He wanted to get out from his parents' orders. One way to do that would be to be sorted into Gryffindor. He got sympathy and support because he was young. The case may have been that the Hat wanted him in Slytherin but Sirius argued for the lion house. That he outwitted the hat was a wondrous thing.
Draco shouted innerly with glee as he became aware of the final coffin in the laughing duo's illusions. Sirius approached Harry and Hermione and said very concerned, "My mom wanted me to 'tact the phone-elfs. How communicate without them?"
Ron saw Harry and Hermione believing in the boy's story. How could one disbelieve such an innocent little boy?
Hermione asked the boy, "What do these elves do, Sirius?"
Young Sirius replied, "They contact phones all over. They secret."
Ron and Draco high-fived each other unbeknownst to the duo. The revenge was complete, Pu'bloods 1, H&H 0.
Draco would later rue the fact that his joy was to be short-lived. The room of the Seventh Years was opened, and two nearly adult steps could be heard, along with two tentative, soft steps of young children.
Harry had a sense of foreboding as he recognized the Twins, deaged almost like his dream. The Twins were looking at the world with the innocence of a child, which wasn't new to them. They seemed more restrained than his older selves.
They were guided down the stairs to the Common Room by a very subdued Blaise and Neville. Once Draco took stock of the situation, he said in a very menacing voice as he glared balefully at Blaise and Neville, "Tell me what you did!"
Blaise started explaining how angry they had been when Narcissa and Remus fell asleep, victims of pranks. They were horrified by Sirius' predicament.
A small voice piped up, "What's a predimen?"
Hermione answered patiently, "It means a problem, Sirius."
Fred, or maybe George, looked at the brunette. "You sound like mom!"
The tale was continued by Neville. He explained that he was the proud possessor of a Revitalizing Lily. This is a rare flower that is supposed to originate in the Fountain of Youth. He had extracted its essence and knew of a potion he could use to deliver the essence to a person. He invited Blaise to make it and it was the Slytherin who brewed the potion. They used it on the Twins and this morning they checked and found the small Twins.
Draco was so angry at the fumbling morons that he started to transform. His pale mane appeared, and he sported a tail. Neville couldn't help noticing when his friend suddenly grew a lion's mane. He prepared to shield Blaise's body with his own. If Draco pounced on them, he would transform into the panther and defend himself.
Draco was so irate that he didn't notice a small boy approaching him and taking hold of his mane. Sirius was bewitched by Draco's mane. He wanted one of his own! So much did he want it that he transformed a little, growing some Grim fur on his neck, that remained unseen under his clothes.
George saw that the dark-haired boy had gotten hold of the mane and also grabbed it. Fred became interested because it was something that George wanted. He got hold of it, too, and pulled, believing it was a wig.
Needless to say, Draco was not a happy lion. The attack of the Infants had left him with enough self-possession to remain human, though with some aches.
He proceeded to give a verbal lashing to his friends: "Sirius being transformed was a problem, as was my mother and Remus' continued inaction. Still, I wasn't too worried. I hoped we would weather it. If something should happen there was a way out. The operative words are "a way out." You have destroyed that road. Let me explain why:"
"Remus and mom would be asleep one day. That led me to believe and hope that Sirius would be transformed only one day. When the allotted time passed, the Twins would administer the counterpotions. Nothing to worry about. Until you came up. You conceived a harebrained scheme as stupid as anything I've ever seen, and you used it. You did not consult Harry, Hermione, Ron or I. You just enacted your plan."
"But Draco, let me explain!" mumbled Blaise.
"Let me tell you what will happen. The Twins will be unable to provide any information about the counterpotion. Your own counterpotion will need refining, and Sirius is stuck being five-years old. Meanwhile, Voldemort's spies have undoubtedly told him what happened. He will seek to gain something from it. It happens that Sirius Black, the third wealthiest wizard of all the world, is a small boy and unable to assume responsibilities for himself. Why, he needs to be adopted!"
Hermione pointed her index finger at the cowed Zabini and Longbottom. "Who will adopt him? Of course the redoubtable Bellatrix Lestrange, who is his cousin. Narcissa Malfoy would be a better choice, but we must tell you with regret that she is asleep and unable to come."
"If Sirius falls under the power of one of these persons, we can kiss him goodbye," said Draco. "They will rejoice at the new opportunity to mold his young mind and will indoctrinate him with all the repertory of the Death Eaters. Our Sirius will be no more."
Hermione turned to Draco. "But wouldn't it be better for him if he doesn't have to endure the memory of Azkaban for 12 years?"
Draco shook his head. "It would be a tragedy for Sirius, being unable to harvest what he has sown. A man's life, Hermione, is more than a happy present. It is the walk through the valley of fear and despair, and the climb into ecstasy, gaining insight provided by comparison with past experiences. However painful it might be, no one has the right to expunge the memory."
Hermione fussed with the hem of her sweater. "But those memories hurt him!"
"What about you?" The blond stared intently at the witch. "Would you decide to obliviate all the memories of you that your parents have, lay them under compulsion to go to Australia and just let them leave? I submit that if you do so you are being worse than a Death Eater. It would be like raping their entire life. But you would not do that, Hermione, would you?"
Hermione gulped and didn't say anything. In fact she was planning to do precisely that, in case the war got worse. She consoled herself with the thought that she was only looking out for her parents' welfare.
Draco said to a chastised Blaise and Neville, "I suggest you try to pry the secret out of the mini-Twins. They are under your charge. You'll care for them."
Harry observed how the Twins gave each other one of their inscrutable Twin looks, and he was sure that Neville and Blaise would pray for a quick resolution to their problem.
Finally only the Musketeers were left. Draco moaned about the situation they were in. Ron tried to provide strategic thinking: "What will we do once Bella sues to adopt Sirius?"
Harry groaned. "How can Bellatrix be eligible? Isn't she charged with being a Death Eater, not to mention the happenings at the Ministry when they failed to retrieve the Prophecy?"
Hermione replied softly, "The charges have been dropped or proved to be futile. Bellatrix submitted to an inspection and the Dark Mark was not detected on her body. She also got free from Ministry raid charges because she wasn't prosecuted strongly enough. Apparently Dumbledore had bigger fish to fry."
Discussions were started and quickly fizzled out.
Harry ventured his opinion. "It would be all right if we had Narcissa with us! She could easily appear, and with all her poise, she would silence the creatures!"
Ron added, "What if we simply used a poly-juice version of Narcissa? Hermione could be like her, she is that imperious too!"
Hermione sputtered, but before she could deny that, Draco interrupted with some Slytherin cunning.
"You two had a great idea. Let me refine it thus, we know a Metamorphmagus that could easily transform into mom. This witch also knows intimately the family history, as she has lived with it. Further, she could use Sirius' Elder wand. I believe he allowed it to be used by any Black. Surely the presence of the Elder wand would imply that of my mother. If Hermione were to go, neither wand would function for her."
They discussed and refined the idea some more. Sirius was falling sleep, so they went to the kitchens and got a big breakfast. Apparently Sirius was a fan of cereal breakfasts, because he insisted in having three of them, each one with different figures. He drew the line at a chocolate-flavored one, though. It would seem that Sirius had turned a jaundiced eye on chocolate, seeing as it robbed him of two friends.
When they finished, Draco took out his cell phone and dialed Tonks' number. Nymphadora had risen in The Quibbler staff. She was now Assistant Operational Director. She had a big say in what made it through the Quibbler's front page and other sites. She stayed at the top of the stories and tried to detect what was important or would become so. She had done several small jobs for the Ministry, for them, but it appeared she liked it more at the newspaper.
When Tonks answered, she said cheekily, "Hiya, cuz!"
Draco grimaced as he replied huffily, "Chère cousine, some things have come up and I believe your presence in Hogwarts is required, it's a serious business!"
"I suggest you Apparate near the Hogwarts wards borders. There's a marker that will guide you, courtesy of the new generation of Marauders, the Prowlers." Loud grumbling and shouts were heard from the other members. Draco continued blithely, "We need you, Tonks, Sirius needs you. We'll wait for you."
Hermione said, "Prowlers, Draco? They are slimy, they … prowl. Why could we not be named something nice like Angels or Owls or Pigeons?"
Ron nodded his approval. "I like it. Prowlers imply something powerful, that could turn out to be dark or not, something unknown. It would strike fear into the hearts of the opponents, which Hermione's proposals do not do. I can imagine a group responding to a challenge issued by the Owls! They would laugh. It's OK by me."
"I kind of like it and hate it," said Harry. " I wish you could have told us, Draco. I suggest we take a vote about our name. Everyone can put forward a name and we'll see who gets the most support. Voting will start in two days."
Draco did not answer as he was busy looking for Sirius. He could not find the black-haired boy. He became fidgety as he imagined Sirius going to the Slytherin common room and being imprisoned. He told the others about Sirius missing and went out the door, looking for him.
Everyone looked around for long minutes and eventually they returned to the kitchen, without the little boy. Draco was crushed, until he noticed a small black shoe poking out from beneath the tablecloth. Soon he saw that it was Sirius and took him out. He patiently waited for an explanation that never came.
Sirius had been very sleepy after his breakfast, and this talk about P'owlers bored him, so he decided to look for a place to sleep. Draco sighed, got up and went to retrieve Tonks. He was musing ruefully that caring for a small one was perhaps more challenging than fighting evil like Dumbles and Voldie.
They took her to the Gryffindor common room, their current base of operations, after they discreetly - or not so discreetly in Draco's case – convinced other people they were better elsewhere.
Tonks shouted, "Wotcher, Harry!"
Harry nodded affably
It was Hermione who explained to Tonks the predicament they were in, in the usual clear and non-nonsense way that she had. Tonks visibly paled as she learned about Sirius' de-aging, the de-aging of the Twins and the very real danger of Bellatrix suing for adoption.
A small boy, with wild black hair, very vivid grey eyes and a visage that would transform slowly into the features of Sirius came out from behind Draco's legs. He approached Tonks.
She knelt and opened her arms whilst Sirius went to her. He tried to say, "Nymphad, Nymph…, Tonks."
Tonks cried a little and said, "It's Ok, Siri. I know you."
Ron then explained to Tonks why they wanted her to portray Narcissa.
Tonks looked a little unsure of herself as she replied, "I don't know if I could be Narcissa convincingly, especially good enough to fool her sister Bellatrix."
Draco said, "Don't sell yourself short, Tonks! I think you are a very good actress, you've lived near mom long enough so that you can imitate her mannerisms. Most importantly, you have grown up hearing stories about your mother's family. You have internalized them. If Bella tries to catch you unaware using one of those, you will know what she is talking about and you will be able to respond in the true Black way!"
Tonks stared at her cousin. "You would think so, wouldn't you?"
"Your mother still treasured some aspects of her family. I know because she commented that to my mom. Finally, you are a Black. You have a Black's penchant for pranks. Think of the great prank you would play on all of them! The Wizengamot, Aunt Bella, everybody! And for a good cause."
Finally Tonks agreed to help them, and they got to plan the rescue attempt from the claws of Bella.
Draco was relieved to note that fortunately Tonks and Sirius got along very well, and Tonks kept a sharp eye on the mini-Animagus. Contrariwise Sirius had managed to calm Tonks down after she learned of Narcissa's and Remus's forced sleep.
Tonks had wanted to go to the Twins and chastise them when Sirius said, " 'venge, Tonks, 'venge!" This got Draco to thinking about a possible solution to the mini-twins refusal to disclose the counterpotions.
oOoOo
The next morning they were having breakfast in the kitchen, where Draco was pleased that nothing bad had occurred this day, when a small barn owl approached him. He took the letter and offered the owl some of Sirius' breakfast cereal, to the great indignation of the mini-Grim.
Draco read the message and turned to his companions and told them: "It has begun."
Then he called Tonks and asked her to Apparate there and meet them in the Common room.
Harry asked, "How long do we have?"
The blond shrugged. "The audience and vote will take place in one hour. Clearly they intend to have no opposition."
They went to the Common Room and entered. A few minutes later they were joined by Draco, who had gone to retrieve some important things.
Tonks waved at them. "Hiya, cuz and Harry! Hiya Sirius!"
Draco gave her a dress. "This is a dress of my mother's that she uses in some important occasions. It's her good luck dress."
Tonks took it and went to Hermione's room. She morphed and they all saw Narcissa Malfoy returning. She said imperiously, "And what is the rest of that, Draco?"
Draco replied as if it were Narcissa, "This is Sirius' Elder wand, which should work with you, because you are a Black. For all the purposes of magical identification, it should identify you as Narcissa Black Malfoy. These two are rings of the Black and Malfoy families. They cannot be taken from you, but you could never tell if they were duplicates, could you? They will take you to Malfoy Manor or Hogwarts, depending on what you say. If you want to go to the Manor say Homeboy, if you want to go to Hogwarts say Pockwarts. A word of caution: Bella likes to impose Unbreakable Vows. Do not fall into her trap, because then she might control you."
Then, when all was ready, Draco realized a fatal flaw in his plans. What were they going to do with Sirius? It was better if they took him along, he would have a better chance if he was aware of the danger. He would protect his mini-Grim, but he would not blind him to the bitter truth.
Harry and Draco took Sirius aside and explained where they were going, what some people wanted and the perils he faced.
Sirius replied disconsolately, "Why can't we give him the money?"
Harry answered, "Because they would not be satisfied with all your money. They want you, to force you to behave like them."
"What does be'ave mean?"
"To act, they want you to act like them."
"If I stay with you, will you care for me?"
Draco replied, "We will always care for you, Siri."
Harry added, "You're one of the most important persons in my life, we would even bring you back from the dead, right Draco?"
"Right, Harry. Now remember, Sirius, and don't be surprised by what you see."
It was easier said than done. When Sirius saw Narcissa, he launched himself at her. Until suddenly he started crying and he said, "You're not Cissa, you're Tonks! Whatever happen to my Cissa?"
Draco approached Cissa and Sirius and cast an imperturbable charm. He tried to reason with the small Marauder.
"When they launched their attack on you, they also attacked Cissa and Remus, two of your friends. They managed to make them eat a sleep potion. They are fine, they should wake up tomorrow."
"However the bad men won't wait. They want to pounce right now. Tonks is thus forced to become Narcissa so she can win the adoption for you and keep you safe from the speculators. Siri, I know that you love to prank, to cause mayhem. Think on this as a small prank to outwit the bad persons."
Finally Sirius let on a small smirk as he resolutely said, "Fine, I like to prank the Whizzymoth!"
oOoOo
They left Hogwarts using the Floo system and arrived at the Wizengamot. Apparently just in time, because they were almost ready to vote on the matter of the adoption of one Sirius Black.
The sarcastic voice of Draco could be heard saying, "One would hope that one of you cretins would have enough courtesy to invite the other party to the adoption, namely the child and caretakers. We will occupy our usual Wizengamot seats, as the esteemed fellows present do not warrant the effort to move." "Sirius, sit between me and Harry! Don't go beneath the table, don't go around the corners, don't leave us without saying where you're going!"
Sirius meekly nodded, while pondering that that left him plenty of options.
The speaker for the opposite side, a Death Eater sympathizer called Marigold Loving, announced hostilely "No proxy votes for this vote, Malfoy."
Draco smirked wolfishly as he said, "Then without further ado; let the Black votes be represented by Lady Black, Narcissa Black Malfoy." Narcissa entered and sauntered to the place next to Draco.
She said, "It is my understanding that the adoption of Sirius Black is being handled. Who has been proposed as caretaker and why?"
Marigold visibly gathered strength and she said, "It was almost unanimously agreed that Bellatrix Lestrange was the perfect caretaker. She has suffered under the weight of all those unfounded allegations that she was a Death Eater. She is the next in blood."
Harry interrupted thunderously, "I think there is something seriously wrong here. Narcissa Black is just as strongly related by blood. She does not have the onus of having been under Voldieshorts' auspices for so many years. She is the mother of Draco Malfoy, who is a great friend of Sirius. I think his welfare asks, nay demands, that Narcissa Black be given the role of Sirius' caretaker."
Hermione continued, "With all the brouhaha, no one has wanted to ask the small child where he wants to be." Turning to Sirius, she asked sweetly, "Where do you want to stay Sirius?"
Sirius replied, "With Narcissa and Dwaco."
"Why?"
"Because they care for me. They are 'stantly looking for me, which mom never did. And Hawwy can help them to care for me."
Bellatrix was fuming. According to the news related by a Hogwarts spy, Narcissa had been put to sleep due to a potion and she would remain in that state for some days. How could she be about then? Maybe it wasn't Narcissa, but someone polyjuiced as her. She asked a Death Eater to attack Narcissa. She would defend herself, and the magical signature left by the wand would certify that it wasn't her sister! Devilish plan from a devilish mind.
The attack was duly launched by the Death Eater, named Anthony Wood. He was an elder brother of the Wood known by Harry. The attack was deadly, and it was only Narcissa's swift reflexes, like those of the police force, that managed to deflect it.
After casting the Protego shield, Narcissa let loose with a borderline grey curse that put the subject to sleep for three years. The magical detectors recorded the signatures and arrived to the conclusion that Narcissa had used her Elder wand. Apparently they couldn't grasp that there could be two Elder wands, very related but different, and one of them could be used by any Black. An immensely subtle plan from a pranking mind.
Bellatrix recognized that her plans were in ruins. She decided to try to salvage what she could. She said, "I'd like to offer a way out: Narcissa will swear an Unbreakable Oath to do anything that could improve Sirius' welfare."
Narcissa got up and approached her sister, and Bellatrix, who was so used to standing behind the Dark Lord, was afraid. She said, "I will do no such thing. Either they award the guardianship or not. Don't think you can make me behave like you did with Andie. Do you understand me, bitch!"
When Bellatrix did not reply, Narcissa got near her and slapped her forcefully. "I said do you understand me?"
Bella nodded weakly. Narcissa let her go and returned to her seat.
Things looked rocky in the beginning, as they only had the votes of Harry, Draco and Narcissa to offset the negative ones. However, it soon became clear that the Wizengamot was clearly divided on this issue. Before the privy councilors voted the tally was: 90 for Bella, 103 for Narcissa. With the choices of the councilors, the vote was clearly won by Narcissa.
At the end of the vote, Draco panicked. He couldn't find the mini-Animagus. He was thinking that maybe the Death Eaters present had kidnapped him or something. He was proving to be a failure at saving Sirius.
Fortunately the Wizengamot door opened and Narcissa and Sirius came in. Draco sighed and prepared to let them know how worried he had been, but Narcissa successfully defended against the attack. She pointed out that Sirius wanted to go to the bathroom very badly. Draco grumbled but conceded.
Draco felt a vibration in his chest and the sounds of the phone. He took out his cell phone and saw that the caller was Ron. He said, "What's up, Ron?"
Ron was in turmoil, after some false starts, he managed to say what had happened, his mother had just called him and told her that Ginny was being arrested!
His mother continued supplying information about the arrest. There were several men from the Magical Police, when she asked for a warrant they said they didn't need it for a traitor. When they were leaving with Ginny, Molly decided to accompany her daughter.
Ron was dumbfounded, and Draco knew that he needed to shock him to act. He continued, "We are at the Wizengamot. I suggest you get Neville, Luna, Blaise and Pansy and you all Apparate here. Of course there is no one to care for the Twins like us, so they will have to come, too. Just explain it to them as a prank, they have to behave because we'll prank other people and they want to observe how it is done."
