An Interesting Little Legal Problem

Chapter Two: In Which Harry Finds Some New Relatives and a New Home

Harry thought about the tangle of charms and curses that protected the house at Grimmauld Place. "But how can Draco inherit something he can't even see? Or will the Order have to reveal the secret to him?"

"You can see why we need a good solicitor," said Lupin drily.

"And Jack's one of the best," said Arthur. "He's known about our world since childhood, and he's published several articles on the differences between Muggle and wizarding law..."

A vague hope rose in Harry's heart and almost immediately vanished. Mr. Evans and his son didn't look anything like his mother, and besides, Professor Dumbledore had said his mother had no living relatives -

"I'm actually a sort of uncle of yours, but not by blood," Evans said. "Your grandmother and grandfather took me in as a foster child when I was ten, and then adopted me. Petunia was eighteen and had already left home - she never got along with our parents, and I barely knew her at all - and Lily was in her fifth year at Hogwarts and away most of the time. They were lonely and wanted another child about the place..."

"As a Muggle-born child grows up in our world, the parents have to let go of a large part of their child," said Arthur Weasley quietly. "You were a special case, of course, because you and the Dursleys never cared for one another - but it happens in the most loving of families, sooner or later. It will happen to Hermione."

Harry remembered that Hermione had been spending more and more of her school breaks with the Weasley family and Harry, rather than her own parents. He had never thought to wonder how Mr. and Mrs. Granger felt about this.

"Lily was the most brilliant older sister a kid could ask for," said Evans. "She never made me feel like I was in the way or a tagalong, even when she had friends visiting, and she told the most wonderful stories about Hogwarts. I was just an ordinary Muggle kid, but I never got tired of hearing about it. I spent my childhood in love with a world I had never seen..."

"He's never stopped being in love with it," said Harriet with a smile. "I'm used to sharing my husband with Hogwarts."

"Well - that's not entirely true. A lot of things had to happen first. Lily left school and got married, and by then I was a teenager and had friends who would have laughed at me if I said anything about wizards and magic. And then my adopted parents and Lily ... died. I'd lost two families by the time I was sixteen, and for a while I was running away in fear of my life. I suppose some kids would have gone over the edge and become delinquents. I went the opposite way, threw myself into schoolwork, went to uni and got a law degree, and started work at a large firm in London. I was working about sixty hours a week, and I was married by then and had a young child. I almost succeeded in forgetting about my sister's world - but as Mark grew older, I couldn't resist telling him some of Lily's stories. I pretended that was all they were - just fairy tales for children."

"And then," Mrs. Evans said, "when we moved to Surrey a few years ago, I came across one of Lily's old notebooks with a map she drew of Hogwarts and some sketches, and the whole truth came out."

Jack Evans nodded. "And I decided it was time to stop running. I began to study wizard law

at work, and at home, Mark and I started building the castle together. I told myself it would be a fun father-son project; I hadn't anticipated how hard it would hit me emotionally. It felt like I was getting part of my big sister back."

Harry swallowed hard. So much of what Jack Evans had said sounded familiar.

"I like to think our model does justice to the original," Evans continued, "but of course I've never seen the place, so I'll have to defer to the experts." He looked around at his guests with a hopeful expression.

"It does," said Lupin. "It's almost a perfect reconstruction - of Hogwarts in 1978."

"Oh," said Evans. "Would you mind helping me bring it up to date?"

"With pleasure. And - " his eyes met Harry's and crinkled slightly at the corners - "I think I might be able to show you one or two features that didn't make it into your sister's notebooks."

Harry wondered why on earth everybody seemed so interested in the model when Jack Evans hadn't yet answered a far more important question. "Why didn't you get in touch with me before?" he asked.

"I wanted to," Evans replied. "It was in the back of my mind when we first moved to Little Whinging, but you were already away at school during most of the year, and your other aunt and uncle ... well, let's just say they made it very clear that my family and I were not to contact you. But now - " he grinned - "I don't think they'll have much of a choice about it. Over the last year or so, while we were working on the model, I began to suspect Mark might be magical. Odd things started happening, like lights appearing in the castle windows when I hadn't put in any wiring yet."

"And then just a few days ago," Harriet put in eagerly, "we had a visit from Professor Dumbledore telling us Mark's name was down for Hogwarts. We knew who he was, of course, and most of what he had to tell us, but it was ever so exciting, having him in the house and hearing it all from someone who'd been there, and of course we're so proud of Mark."

The Evanses beamed. The lines on Lupin's forehead deepened, but he didn't say anything. "You do know, of course," said Mr. Weasley after a pause, "that now isn't ... necessarily the best time to be a wizard. Or even related to a wizard."

"Nobody knows that better than I do," said Mr. Evans quietly.

Thoughts had been racing through Harry's mind, most of them happy: here was his mother's brother, a real family member, somebody who had known her well, somebody who understood how it felt to lose your real parents and your adopted ones early in life. He would have a cousin at Hogwarts. He hadn't yet had time to wonder how his grandparents had died, or why Aunt Petunia had always said so little about her parents and never spoken about her adopted brother at all, or why Evans (Jack? Uncle Jack?) had mentioned running for his life. He suspected all the answers had something to do with Voldemort.

"We understand the risks and we're prepared to accept them," added Mrs. Evans. "And that includes the risk of losing him to the wizarding world. We're half lost in it already, and we're not even magical."

Lupin still looked troubled, but Harry sympathized. He knew, more surely than he had known for the last month, that he would never trade his life as it was now - even with the knowledge that he was doomed to murder or be murdered by Lord Voldemort - for the safety of Privet Drive. He wondered if he could persuade Lupin to take him away that afternoon.

"Well, back to business," said Mr. Evans, taking a sheaf of papers out of his briefcase. "To begin with, it has always been the law in the wizarding world that anyone who inherits a piece of real estate must visit the property in person to stake his claim. The Integrity of Magical Inheritance Act of 1454 obligates the executors of the will not to impede the rightful heir's access to the property, but whether that includes removing any previously cast spells, curses, jinxes, or hexes was a topic hotly debated over the next two and a half centuries. However, in 1708 the Wizengamot made what appeared to be a definitive ruling in favor of the heirs in such cases ..."

It all reminded Harry of his History of Magic class and the O.W.L. he was now certain he had failed. Mark looked up from his third slice of cake abruptly and asked Harry, "Have you ever seen Nearly Headless Nick?"

"Sure, many times," said Harry, which meant that he spent the rest of the afternoon answering a battery of questions about ghosts, severed heads, and the giant squid from Mark, and about the more mundane aspects of life at Hogwarts from Mrs. Evans. He didn't catch most of the conversation about law that the three men were having, but by the time Mr. Evans had finished talking, Lupin and Mr. Weasley both looked grave.

"Quite honestly, I think the best thing we can hope to do is stall for time," Evans concluded. "I'm going to raise questions about as many points as possible - Mr. Black's death, Mrs. Malfoy's parentage, the exact location of the property and whether it still exists at all - and make them fight for every inch. That's about all I can say from a professional standpoint, but off the record ... I think you said that Mr. Lucius Malfoy has been sentenced to two months in prison for trespassing, is that correct?"

"Yes," said Arthur, rolling his eyes slightly. "And he got a nice, chummy warning to go through the proper channels next time he feels like having visions. Never underestimate the power of bribery."

"Right, but the bright side is that the family does have a few other legal troubles to deal with, so it should be a few weeks before they're ready to take possession of the house. You might want to use that time to -" Evans coughed, "look after the property."

Harry didn't understand what the solicitor was hinting at, but Lupin said, "Noted," with a sudden, conspiratorial smile.

As they said goodbye to the Evanses, Mr. Weasley lingered behind to inspect the model of the castle once again. Harry remembered that he had meant to ask when he could leave the Dursleys' house.

"Er, Professor Lupin, could I ask you something?"

"I haven't been a professor for over two years, Harry, and I'm not likely ever to be one again. I'd rather you called me Remus, or Moony if you prefer. And yes, of course you can ask me anything you want."

MOONY?!? Harry couldn't help feeling that it was a bad sign that his new guardian's first request was something so patently, ridiculously, impossible. He wondered if it would be difficult to spend an entire summer with Lupin without addressing him by name. Perhaps moving in so soon wasn't such a good idea after all.

He retreated to a safer question. "What about Kreacher, is he under the Primogenitrus charm too?"

"He should be - but he's disappeared."

Harry shuddered. He didn't even want to think about the sort of knowledge Kreacher could bring to the Malfoys.

"Finding him is one of the many things we'll have to do before Draco claims the house. I'm hoping we can modify his memory and let him go, but some other members of the Order think he's too much of a loose cannon. They want to take ... more drastic measures."

Harry had heard that note in his guardian's voice only once before, in the Shrieking Shack when he and Sirius had planned to kill Peter Pettigrew. He thought it was time to change the subject again. "What do you think of the Evanses?" he asked.

Lupin didn't answer for a moment. He looked as if he were giving the question serious thought. "I like them," he said at last. "Jack's a bit whimsical, but he seems to know his stuff."

Harry kicked a rock into the gutter. "It's weird, finding out you've got all these new relatives all of a sudden."

"I imagine it is. Must be rather weird for them as well."

"D'you think he'll expect me to look after Mark at Hogwarts?"

"I don't think you're under any obligation to look after Mark if you don't want to - but you might enjoy having a younger kid around. They run you ragged and sometimes you wish there were a permanent way to silence them, but they're fun."

There was a distant look on his face, as if he were thinking of someone other than Mark, and he sounded as if he spoke from experience. Harry suddenly realized that he didn't know whether his former professor had any younger brothers or sisters, or anything else about his family, or much else about him, for that matter.

By now they were standing just outside Number Four, Privet Drive, and looking at one another rather awkwardly. "How fast can you pack?" said Lupin abruptly.

"Can I leave today?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore said it would be all right. You'll have to go back at the full moon, of course, so you're not technically away from their home - just on a long visit. By the way, if your aunt and uncle give you any trouble about giving you permission, you may find it useful to mention my ... condition."

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not," said Lupin, perhaps a little too quickly and too heartily. "Sirius didn't mind you letting them think he was a mass murderer, did he?"

But, Harry thought, Sirius hadn't been the same sort of person at all. Among other things, he couldn't imagine anybody thinking one good hex would finish Sirius off. He felt different about Lupin - respectful, a little protective - and since the battle at the Department of Mysteries, it was all mixed with another feeling he didn't fully understand, a feeling almost like resentment. It would be a strange summer.

He went inside the house, where Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were sitting around the dinner table.

"I'm leaving!" he announced. "I've got a new legal guardian, and he says I can move to London with him!"

His aunt, uncle, and cousin didn't even look up.

"He's a werewolf, by the way, so I'll probably be back at the full moon."

Dead silence.

"Oh, and I met your brother Jack, Aunt Petunia. He's very nice. I think you should invite him over sometime."

No reaction. Only the fact that they'd stopped eating told him they'd heard at all.

Oh well, Harry thought as he packed, at least his new status as a nonperson made getting away from Privet Drive much easier than it had been in previous years.

* * *

The Knight Bus clattered away as Harry followed his guardian down a dirty-looking street in East London, trying to look as inconspicuous as he could with a ferociously squawking cage in his arms. "It's a rough neighborhood," Lupin had warned him, "but neither of us looks like we have anything worth stealing. All the same, an owl is going to attract attention. Better go with something more conventional." And with that, he had transfigured Hedwig into a budgerigar. She did not take kindly to the transformation and seemed determined to attract as much attention as possible.

"Right in here." Lupin gestured toward a grey concrete building covered in graffiti that looked exactly like every other building in the street. "The lift hasn't worked in years, so we'll have to take the stairs." Broken glass crunched underfoot as they climbed flight after flight of stairs. "Lumos," muttered Lupin as he opened the door to the flat, and light filled the room.

Harry's first impression was that the place would scarcely hold Hedwig when she returned to her natural size, much less two human beings. The tiny living room was crammed with furniture, mostly faded armchairs and sofas that looked like they had been purchased fourth-hand. Books filled every available surface, including the tank that had once held a grindylow and now housed The Monster Book of Monsters and half a dozen other exotic titles with fangs or legs. The Flying Book of Owls was swooping about from wall to wall and hooting softly. Several books about magical law were stacked on a coffee table, including The Seventh Son's Guide to the Primogenitrus Charm, You Don't Have to Stop Annoying Your Relatives Just Because You're Dead, and Muggle and Wizard Inheritance Law: A Comparative History. Harry noticed Jack Evans' name on the spine of this last book.

A small grey-and-white cat rubbed against Harry's leg, purring.

"Meet Felicity," said Lupin. "I found her in the alley behind Grimmauld Place a couple of months ago, and she seems to have adopted me. She likes you. She'd make no secret of it if she didn't. I've never seen her so affectionate with anybody except Sirius."

Harry stooped to stroke the cat. When he looked up, the walls seemed to have expanded by at least two feet on each side. "I've put a Commodius Charm on it. There's a limit to what you can do in a Muggle building, but it should be quite enough for the two of us, and it'll get bigger if you invite Ron and Hermione over. It's a shame it can't expand enough to accommodate the entire Order, because this building would make the perfect headquarters. No one would think to look here."

There was another moment of awkward silence. It occurred to Harry that he hadn't had the slightest idea a few hours ago that this flat and this neighborhood existed at all, and now he seemed to be a permanent resident. The whole situation was very strange.

"Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. "Your room's the one off to the left. I've tried to clear most of the books out, but if you need more space, you should feel free to throw the extras out into the hall - or somewhere - wherever there's room for them."

Harry looked around the flat, trying to figure out where there would be room for any more books. Obviously his new guardian's ideas about housekeeping were very different from Aunt Petunia's.

"Er, are you hungry or anything?"

Harry shook his head. He had been eating sandwiches all afternoon at the Evanses' house.

"Me either. Um, I suppose you'll want to unpack?"

"Yeah," said Harry, picking up his suitcase. He felt relieved to have something sensible and concrete to do.

"And we'd better do something about Hedwig." Lupin reached for his wand and untransfigured the owl, who hooted angrily and sent a blizzard of feathers flying from between the bars. Harry let her out of the cage, hoping a chance to stretch her wings would calm her down, but she started ricocheting off the walls in pursuit of The Flying Book of Owls. She appeared to regard its existence as a personal insult.

Felicity hissed and glared at Hedwig, but as she was unable to fly, there wasn't much she could do about the intruder.

Lupin gritted his teeth and forced Hedwig back into her cage. "Well," he said dubiously, brushing off a few stray feathers, "at least she can't make the place much more chaotic than it already is."