Harry Potter and The Heirs of The Founders

Chapter Five

Inquiry

Sirius made his way to the Headmaster's office for an operative meeting. He had not spoken to Chrys since her meeting with Draco and wondered what he had said. He was still a bit disappointed. It wasn't just that Chrys wasn't pregnant; it was her entire reaction to him suggesting it. He glanced at his wife as he made his way into the room. She didn't look too happy at all. It couldn't be a good sign. Not at all.

'Well, we're all here,' Dumbledore said surveying the room. 'Let's get this underway.'

'I spoke with Mr Malfoy today,' Chrys said. 'He seems very concerned about his welfare and Ginny Weasley's as well.'

'That's understandable,' Dumbledore said. 'He's put himself at great risk if anyone discovers that he is spying. What did he have to say?'

'He's been assigned to decode The Prophecy of Saoghal,' Chrys said. 'He's been given six months. It seems a strange amount of time and I wouldn't have said that Divination was his strong point from my limited knowledge of him. I'm not entirely convinced that there's not something more sinister going on. The only thing I can tell you with certainty is that he's scared.'

'Six months?' Sirius exclaimed. 'I would assume Voldemort must have other plans if he's giving Draco that amount of time.'

'Perhaps he does not want the confrontation,' Dumbledore said contemplating the thought. 'Perhaps he feels he will be defeated and is trying to delay the confrontation for as long as is practically possible.'

'That's certainly a possibility,' Snape said from the corner. 'Voldemort seems to have quite a few schemes in his head. I can guess that he is trying to implement at least one of them at the moment. I unfortunately do not have any knowledge of his latest exploits. I can not comprehend why he would attack The Three Broomsticks or why he would be after Madam Rosmerta. I can hardly envisage her as a threat to him.'

'The other thing Draco mentioned was that Voldemort has plans for some islands in Scotland,' Chrys continued. 'It has something to do with Muggle-borns. It requires some investigation, I feel.'

'Who would be appropriate for such an assignment?' Dumbledore asked. 'Depending on the way we did it, it would place the person in great danger.'

A thought came to Sirius' mind.

'What about air surveillance?' Sirius asked. 'I mean the Ministry uses Auror's to do surveillance by air, so why can't we?'

'What are you suggesting?' McGonagall asked.

'What if we found an operative to fly over the islands?' he said. 'I'm not talking about on a broomstick though. That would bring too much attention if someone was flying in an area where there's normally not a lot of broom traffic. I'm talking about on horses. People who are just training. Jockeys. They fly all over so-called deserted areas of Scotland because they can't risk Muggle's seeing the flying horses. If we just got someone to fly a little lower than usual they could get a pretty good view. All we would need to do is supply a horse and I think we can take care of that fairly easily.' That is if Chrys would agree. He glanced at her and saw that she had gotten his meaning.

'Who do you have in mind?' Dumbledore asked.

'I could ask Alec McLachlan for a trustworthy jockey,' he replied. 'That way we can use a legitimate person who won't be questioned. Remember jockeys are very proficient at defending curses.'

'Alec is trustworthy enough,' Dumbledore replied contemplating the thought. 'He's a good operative. He should be able to find us a trustworthy jockey. Well if Severus has nothing to add,' Dumbledore glanced at Snape, who was shaking his head, 'I guess that's it for today. I think we should be concerned about the increase in missing persons recently, but we won't act until we know something conclusive.'

Sirius made his way to the door with his wife.

'I'm not teaching this afternoon, are you?' he asked her as they made their way towards the Staff Quarters.

'I've got third year Hufflepuff's after lunch,' she replied.

'Then the rest of the afternoon off?'

She nodded.

'How about we go to Black Manor then?' he asked her. 'We could have dinner with Mum, Alec and Maddie then come back early in the morning. I'm sure they'd like to see us and I may be able to get some work done as well.'

She nodded once more.

'Sounds fine,' she said. 'I had better go and teach my class. You had better go and let your mother know that we're coming so she doesn't have a heart attack when we walk in.'

She headed towards her classroom with Sirius wondering the reason for the coldness in her voice. He hoped it had nothing to do with the night before. She had just seemed so distant and detached throughout the entire meeting. Going through the motions.

He sighed as he walked to the fireplace in their suite to let his mother know she should expect them.

*~*

He met Chrys in the Entrance Hall once she had finished her class. They walked in silence towards the village of Hogsmeade until she finally broke the uneasy silence.

'Do you think Voldemort killing Madam Rosmerta is related to the disappearances?'

'Well she's not Muggle-born,' he replied. 'I think he killed her because he disliked her and for no other reason. I can't see why else he would go after her. I mean, she had no real allegiances. I agree with Snape's comment about her being seen as a threat. It's simply not plausible. She wasn't a Death Eater; there was no sign of a Dark Mark anywhere on her body. He only killed people who were her family and they're about as pure-blood as they come. I just don't see how it can be related.'

'Nor can I,' she murmured. 'And it's so unusual for Voldemort to do such a trivial task himself. There must have been some motivation.'

Sirius thought about this for a while.

'How many Muggle-borns are missing?' he asked.

'Fifty-six at last count,' she replied. 'Though Alastor said that many of their families have been told that they're dead, not that they're missing. After all some of them have been missing since well before summer and the chances of them being found alive are slim.'

'Hmm,' Sirius thought a little longer. 'Do you have a list of the missing?'

'It's in my bag,' she replied. 'I thought you might want something to do this afternoon while we wait for Alec to make his way back from the stables. That is if Madeleine's news doesn't keep us busy all afternoon.'

'Well,' he said ready to defend his sister. 'Between what she and Alec are set to inherit and what Alec makes on the horses, she didn't need to work, which was good because having met my nieces and nephew she would have had her hands full. And now that one of them is at school, she has a bit more spare time so she makes do with the local gossip.'

She laughed.

At last. The sound of her laughing was a relief.

'So you're okay?' he asked hesitantly.

'Just a bit worried,' she said. She paused as if to say something and Sirius stared at her piercing blue eyes. 'I'm sorry about last night. I should have been more honest with you. I just snap too quickly. Why don't we have a talk about it somewhere quiet away from everyone when we get to Black Manor?'

Sirius nodded. He would do that. He wanted to know why she was hesitant. And he hoped that he would be able to understand her hesitancy.

With a nod they apparated and appeared outside Sirius' family home.

Sirius spied his mother, who had apparently been waiting there since he had contacted her to tell her that they were coming.

'It's so nice to see you both,' she said leading them inside. 'A very pleasant surprise. Madeleine is out with the children; she won't be back until at least four, so why don't you and Chryssy take a couple of horses out for a ride. That way you can see what's changed since you were last here.'

Given that Chrys had expressed her wish to talk Sirius took his mother up on the offer.

'Afternoon tea will be at four,' she said as Sirius led Chrys towards the stables. 'Don't be late.'

'That gives us just over two hours,' he said as he harnessed up a horse. 'I know a pretty little spot. Come on.'

He handed her the reigns and quickly saddled another horse up, mounted and was out the stable door quickly. Sirius led her to a nice flowing creek in a meadow not too far from the house, but far enough away that it was unlikely that anyone would bother them.

'What's the problem then?' Sirius asked.

'I have a few concerns, Sirius,' she said. 'Last night you said that you wanted a piece of me in case I die in the conflict. That is not a good reason to have a child. At all. It's selfish and it will only result in trouble. Part of my hesitation comes from the fact that I don't know that you would be fine if that happened. I don't know if my child would be okay. I don't want what happened to Harry and Rose to happen to my child.'

'Chrys,' he said. 'I know I began digging a hole last night, but can I explain a little more. If you were to die, I would survive. I would be upset, angry and would probably feel like I wanted to die for a while, but ultimately I would be fine. And if we had a child, well there's my family and your father who would be more than happy to help if it were needed. Your child wouldn't be abandoned, I would guarantee it would grow up knowing just how much it's mother cared for it.'

'On a similar note,' she continued, 'I don't necessarily want to bring a child into the world knowing that I may not even be there for it in a year's time. And it's selfish on my behalf. If I can't see it grow up, then I don't want it. But on the other hand, you touched a sore point. I've changed over the years in a lot of ways. I know that before you went to Azkaban I wanted a husband and my six children, but that was before I knew about The Prophecy. That changes everything. When my mother died, I received the ring along with the curse of being the Heir of Ravenclaw. I can't help but think that if I die before the conflict, then the ring will pass to my child and they will have to live with the curse. That's just not fair on them. I could live with that though if I knew you could.'

'As I said to you last night Chrys, Sirius said pausing. 'I think you now that it's your destiny. And it wouldn't pass to them unless you died. Then it would be my problem as well and believe me I am quite prepared for that. Tell me this mo àilleachd do you have any other objections? Or can we get on with it?'

'Na mo gràdhaich,' she said and pulled him closer toward her. 'You win now that you've wooed my heart into accepting your point of view. But you're right about my age. It could take a while, so shall we get started.'

Sirius smiled. That was a much better outcome than what he had hoped for. He guessed they wouldn't get to those papers that afternoon.

*~*

Looking at his watch, Sirius decided that they had better head back to the house so that they wouldn't miss afternoon tea.

Sirius was glad to see his sister and his niece and nephew, but was even more pleased when he noticed that Alec was home early.

'Sirius,' he moved forward and shook his hand. 'We'll have afternoon tea with this lot, and then make our way to the Billiard Room for some brandy and cigars.' Sirius ignored the dirty look he was getting from his sister.

'Sounds good,' he replied. 'We may have to tie this one down though.' He pointed at Maddie. 'She doesn't look too happy about it.'

Everyone laughed at the look of Maddie's face as a house-elf brought out the afternoon tea. Sirius got stuck into the food.

'Despite the wonders of the Hogwarts kitchen, there's nothing like home-cooked food,' he said tearing into a cupcake.

'If you like food so much why did you marry someone who couldn't cook then?' Maddie asked, mouthing an apology to Chrystal over her shoulder.

'That's why I'm working at Hogwarts,' he replied laughing. 'Didn't you know?'

'Well we wondered,' Maddie replied teasing her brother.

Alec gave Sirius a look and then they excused themselves as the words 'typical men' could be heard from his sister's mouth.

'Well Sirius, I am assuming that because you and your wife are here out of the blue, there's something you want to ask?'

Alec had always been very blunt and straight to the point. It was one of the things Sirius liked about him. But Sirius didn't know how he felt about putting one of Alec's jockey's in great danger.

'Gàidhlig?' Sirius asked Alec. Alec nodded to show that he'd understood. They conversed in Gaelic so that if anyone overheard them, apart from the family it was unlikely that they would understand them.

'We have a favour of you Alec,' Sirius began. 'That is the operatives do.'

'I wondered how long it would be before they required something,' Alec muttered.

'Well, you've no doubt heard of the disappearance of Muggle-borns,' Alec nodded. 'The count is over fifty now and we have intelligence that suggests something funny is going on the northern Scottish isles. What we're suggesting is that a jockey fly over there while training winged horses, I know they do it a lot anyway as there aren't any Muggles around. They could see if there's anything going on and report back to us. What we need however, is a jockey we can trust. And that's where you come in. We'd want to look at the Outer Hebrides, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. We can even provide a horse if necessary.'

'So you want me to recommend a jockey,' Alec said slowly and deliberately. 'And I would suppose most of their contact is with me and I will need to pass on the information onto you or Chrystal.' Sirius nodded. 'There's only one jockey I can trust with a job like that. Terri Hamber, the jockey who won when you and Harry came to Loch Avie. She can give as many curses as she gets; she can look after herself and is an exceptional handler of winged horses. I'll talk to her tomorrow. Don't worry about a horse. I've got some new ones that need breaking in and Terri should be able to handle them on her own.' He switched to English. Now I should find Troy, he'll want a game of Billiards. Come help me Sirius.'

Sirius obliged, played a few games with his nephew and then enjoyed the best food his mother had to offer. He sat with his mother after dinner and then later made his way up to the room that had always been kept for him, no matter how long he was away from home.

He opened the door to see his wife waiting for him.

'Mo duinne,' she said. 'Is it all arranged?'

He nodded his head in reply.

'Alec says that there's one jockey he would trust with his life,' he said. 'He's going to send her. Her name's Terri. Have you heard of her'

Chrys nodded her head.

'I've met her before,' she replied. 'Several times while you were in Azkaban. She lives in the old servant quarters down the meadow. Her parents died a couple of years after she began working for Alec and Alec and Maddie decided to look out for her. She's a nice girl. I think she was a Hufflepuff. The point is that I trust her.'

He nodded his head in reply.

'I trust Alec,' he said. 'And if Alec trusts her, then I'm willing to trust her. Besides she won't be told strictly why she's doing it.'

'I hope she tells us something useful,' Chrys said. 'Voldemort appears to be getting more and more careful about whom he tells information. It makes our job so much harder.'

Sirius looked at the clock. He'd almost had enough of this tonight.

'Lets go to bed,' he said. 'We've got an early start in the morning. I've asked one of the house-elves to wake us. We can't have you being late for your first class no can we?'

*~*

The next morning Alec farewelled his brother-in-law and his wife before heading out to the old servants quarters. He knew Terri would be awake; they had gotten into the habit of having a cup of coffee together before heading out to the stables several years ago. And he figured that that would be the best time to approach her. He opened the door to see Terri sitting at the table ready for their morning coffee. He took a deep breath and racked up the courage to ask her.

'I've got a special job for you,' he began. 'Before you agree, I need to tell you that it's extremely dangerous, perhaps even life threatening. And despite you being the best jockey in Scotland there's no guarantee that you'll be safe.'

'Is it for the operatives?' she asked. Alec couldn't help but show the surprise on his face. 'Don't try and deny it; I've known for a while that you and Madeleine are involved. Mrs Black was distraught, because she'd already lost Sirius, she didn't want to lose the two of you as well. I comforted her because no one else was home.'

'Oh,' Alec said. If she already knew about the operatives it would make things much easier.

'I'll do anything to help,' she said. 'My parents were a few of the first victims of Voldemort's new regime. I swore if I ever got the chance to help the operatives I'd grab it and make the bastards pay. Now what do you want me to do?'

'We need surveillance done of the Northern Isles,' he said. 'The idea would be for you to fly over and report on anything you see. It's perfect because you can legitimately fly over the Isles, there aren't many Muggles there and you would be using the horses that need breaking in anyway. It's the perfect cover.'

'It's not a problem Alec,' she said. 'When do I leave?'

'When we've finished the coffee,' he replied. 'It's a matter of importance.'

She nodded to show she had understood. Alec hoped that she would be safe on her trip.

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