"You knew my mum when she was little? What was she like?"
"That is a story for another time, Potter," Snape said, his tone surprisingly gentle. "One that I would be willing to share with you. Not tonight, however." "You're safe from Dumbledore here, cub. He'll never even know you're gone," Remus promised.
"And you wanna know the best part?" Sirius was practically bouncing in his seat as he spoke. "The place is Unplottable, and the woods are full of old, wild magic — you can do as much magic as you like here and the Ministry won't know a thing."
Harry's eyes were round and gleaming at the prospect of being able to do as much magic as he wanted all summer. "Brilliant."
When their plates started growing empty, there was a small pop, and the centre of the table suddenly held a delicious-looking tower of profiteroles. "Your house elf is going to give me diabetes, Black," Snape muttered, though he served himself a decent-sized bowl of the dessert. Sirius barked out a laugh.
"She'll calm down eventually, she's just happy to have people to cook for again. Besides, according to her we could all do with a bit more meat on our bones. I can't say she's wrong, to be honest."
Harry looked around the table; all four of them were indeed painfully skinny, Sirius and Harry more than the other two. "It's like being at Hogwarts, but better," Harry remarked, swallowing a mouthful of profiterole. There wasn't much talking while the four ate their dessert, and when the table was clear Remus cleared his throat. "I thought we might head to the living room and talk for a while. There's still so much Sirius and I don't know about your life, Harry, and I thought it might be good for Sirius and Severus to learn about what happened to you last summer." The two men in question gave him a concerned look, and Harry grimaced. Yes, he had a lot of explaining to do.
The living room turned out to be upstairs, and Ceri already had a fire going to ward off the evening chill. It held two comfortable-looking sofas and a pair of squashy armchairs, and Harry chose one of the sofas, surprised when Sirius sat next to him. Remus and Snape took the other sofa. Ceri popped into the room. "Can Ceri be getting sirs anything to drink?"
"Just tea if you wouldn't mind, Ceri," Remus requested. The house elf nodded, her large ears flopping, and she returned moments later with a tea tray set for four, a small pile of biscuits in the centre.
"How does Master Harry like his tea?" She was already making up three other cups, and Harry blinked.
"Uh, bit of milk, one sugar, thanks." Ceri floated a teacup in his direction, then bowed and disappeared.
"What happened last summer, pup?" Sirius asked, dark brows knitted together in worry. Harry took a deep breath.
"Well, I suppose I should give you a bit of backstory, first. You know I live — lived with the Dursleys. Well, Uncle Vernon has this sister…" Harry gave them a brief run-down of the joys of Aunt Marge, and a summary of what she'd said about his parents; something that had Sirius growling like his canine counterpart, and even Remus baring his teeth.
"So I ended up living in Diagon Alley for the last couple weeks of summer. And at one point, I went to Gringotts to get money from my vault, only I didn't have my key, so the goblins scanned my magic. And…" Here he swallowed thickly. Sirius' hand rested on his knee, squeezing in support. Slowly, Harry revealed what the goblins had discovered — all of it. He told them all four houses he was inheriting, and their suspicions about who cast the magic, and the consequences Gorrak had heavily implied would come of him turning seventeen with the block still active.
By the end of his tale, Sirius was pacing the length of the living room in white-knuckled fury. "That manipulative, lying, no-good, scheming," he muttered under his breath. Some of the knickknacks on the shelves began to rattle.
"Sirius, control yourself," Remus called in a firm voice. "I'm as angry as you are, but blowing up the crockery won't help anything." Sirius seemed to realise his magic was getting away from him, and his shoulders slumped, a long breath escaping him.
"I knew Dumbledore was ruthless in the face of the Greater Good, but I didn't realise he would go to such lengths on a child," Snape murmured. "Mr Potter, might you permit me to do a scan of my own? I have no doubt the goblins were entirely thorough, but there are certain spells their particular brand of magic will not catch."
Harry went wide-eyed in horror at the thought of having more of Dumbledore's magic on him. "Please," he agreed, nodding frantically. Snape stood, waving his wand and murmuring something under his breath. Harry's chest glowed blue for a second, then red, then black. "What does that mean?" "A Tracking spell. A passive one — he can only find you if he checks the spell, rather than knowing exactly where you are at all times. Also a minor Suggestibility charm, and a Truth-Telling charm. The combination would encourage you to spill secrets to the headmaster you might have preferred to keep to yourself. Not in a way you'd notice, but rather to make you feel like you can trust him. Though they're weak enough that I'd imagine you've been able to ignore them since you learned the truth." Snape looked disgusted all the same, and Harry mirrored his expression.
"Can you remove them?" He especially didn't like the idea of Dumbledore being able to check his location at any time.
"Of
course."
Snape
did
some complicated-looking wandwork, and when he scanned Harry again, his chest glowed white. "You're clear. I do wonder, though…" He turned his wand on Remus, raising an eyebrow. After a nod of consent, he performed the same spell he had on Harry. Remus glowed black, then purple. Snape swore loudly. "The same Tracking spell, and an incredibly rare spell designed to target dual-natured creatures. I haven't seen it in years; The Dark Lord used to use it on the werewolves who had displeased them, to cut them off from their wolf halves; it would drive them insane, eventually."
"Moony," Remus breathed, looking heartbroken. "Severus, do— do you know how long that spell has been present?"
"By the looks of it, since you were a child. Perhaps since Hogwarts, maybe even before then."
Remus' expression was devastated. "I always wondered why it felt like my wolf and my human mind were always fighting each other," he said softly. "I thought that was just how it was to be a werewolf. That it was normal to be scratching myself to pieces every moon."
"That one will take work to remove," Snape said. "But I can do it, if you give me time." He met Remus' gaze, and Harry looked away suddenly, his cheeks heating. It felt like he was watching something he shouldn't.
Eventually, Remus cleared his throat. "Well," he said, a little flustered. "That was… unexpected."
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