Chapter 248: Chapter 248
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-Nights' House – Some time after the conversation with my parents-
After I explained the situation to my parents as best I could, they started asking me a lot of questions, trying to understand the situation better.
All of my mom's questions, unsurprisingly, were about the judicial part of Sirius's trial and imprisonment, and with all the answers and information I had given her about the Ministry's stupidity and error, I could see her frown growing.
I could tell by my parents' emotions that they weren't going to try to stop me from helping Sirius, but I could also sense their distrust and wariness.
After a moment of my parents arguing amongst themselves, they turned to me.
"Sigh... That's a lot to take in son," my dad said, and I nodded.
"I know, but I couldn't let an innocent man, who is basically my friend's last family, be arrested again, or worse, killed," I said.
"I'm not saying what you did is wrong, dangerous yes, but not wrong... But knowing that a man who should be a dangerous criminal is actually innocent is unexpected," he said.
"When you said you had something important to talk to us about I didn't think it would be this" my mom said, and then a small playful smile spread across her face, "I wasn't expecting you to discover a mistake by the ministry and that a murderer is actually innocent when I saw you boarding the train to go to school this year"
"Me neither" my dad huffed, and I was glad the mood had lightened.
"Well, for the record I also found out that one of the most important and shocking events of the wizarding war years ago that everyone was talking about was actually wrong" I shrugged with a mischievous smile on my face.
"Yes... In less than three months you ended up discovering the truth about something that will shake the wizarding world" my mom said smiling in amusement.
"Well, that subject aside, what are you going to do Ethan?" my dad asked, and I looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean, what now? You said Black is innocent, and you also said you want to clear him... How are you going to do that?" he asked, and now even my mom was looking at me curiously.
"Well, clearing him isn't going to be that easy, and it's not because of a lack of evidence as we already have Pettigrew locked in a cage" I started to say, "The hard part of clearing him is convincing the ministry to make a real trial for him, but the minister is an idiot, and many purebloods will try to stop that from happening"
"And why would the purebloods try to stop Sirius from being cleared? Isn't he a pureblood like them?" my dad asked, and the one who answered it was my mother.
"Well, from what I've read about the influential wizarding families, the Blacks are one of the greatest wizarding families in Great Britain, and if Black is cleared he may try to claim the lordship of the Black family by becoming Lord Black" my mom said.
"Yes, but what about it?" my father asked.
"Sigh... The problem is that if he becomes the Black Lord, he will gain all the power that the Black family has, and that power probably involves other families' debts, shares in wizarding companies, contracts, and many other things that could cause some unfavorable situation for most pureblood families" my mom replied, and I was amazed at how much she knew about this, however she's a lawyer, so it made sense for her to understand about these matter.
"So that means the dark families might try to do something to stop the trial" my dad nodded in understanding.
"Not just the dark families, the gray ones and the light ones too" I said.
"Why? The gray families I understand, but the light ones shouldn't want to help Black since he's one of them and they're...well, light?" my dad asked confused.
"Well, they may be light families, but in the end it all comes down to politics and who gets the most power" I shrugged, "But I'm not saying that all light families would think that way, just as not all gray families would try to prevent Sirius from being cleared"
"Damn... Politics sucks" my dad grumbled.
""That I can't disagree with"" my mother and I said.
"Okay, you've already talked about the difficulties of getting Black a true trial, but you still haven't said how you would go about clearing him," my dad said.
"Well, that's because I'm not going to be the one to help him get cleared." I said with a small smirk.
"Won't it be you?" my mom asked, looking at my dad curiously, who had a more confused look than hers.
"Nope" I said popping the P, "Nick and Penny will be the ones to help Sirius get a trial."
And as soon as I said that my parents took a while to understand, but then their eyes widened as they started to understand what I meant.
"Oh you smart boy" my dad said smiling.
"Hah, I doubt the ministry will try to deny any request from these two, and even if he does, they can always turn to the French ministry" my mom said, and then she turned to me with a proud look, "Very smart to ask them for help dear"
"Well, I would say my intelligence was inherited" I said smiling at her as she ruffled my hair.
"Well, I know we're not wizards and therefore we won't be able to do much about this Black situation, but I still have to ask... Is there anything we can do to help you son?" my dad asked, and I smiled at him, happy to see his willingness to support me.
"Actually there is," I said, and then got up off the couch as I took my chain out of my shirt, "Since I'm going to be here this Christmas break, Sirius would have to be alone at school, and I really don't want to leave him alone in the castle."
"And you want to bring him here," my mom said, understanding what I was getting at.
"Yes" I said, "After all he's been through, and all the years he's been imprisoned in Azkaban suffering from the negative effects of exposure to the Dementors, I think it would be sad to leave him alone in a castle that holds so many good but painful memories for him"
"I see," my dad said, and then he looked at me, "But you're not at school anymore, and forgetting the fact that it's a very long journey to get here from Hogwarts, I doubt Black will make it across Britain without being discovered by the ministry."
"Yes, I know, which is why we're going to use the Vanishing Cabinet" I said.
"And what would a Vanishing Cabinet be?" my mother asked.
"A Vanishing Cabinet is a magical cabinet that can teleport a living being or some object from one place to another, and they are a pair, and for it to work it takes both of them" I said, taking my suitcase off my chain and placing it on the floor.
"And assuming you have one of the cabinets, where is the other one?" my mom asked, already having an idea of what my answer would be.
"Hogwarts" I replied, opening my suitcase.
My parents immediately understood what I planned to do with the cabinet, and I could feel a bit of concern and caution coming from them, not that I could blame them for that, as that would be the expected reaction from anyone to learning that a "murderer" and "dark wizard" would be entering your house.
After I opened my suitcase I levitated the Vanishing Cabinet out of it, placing it on the living room floor, with my parents eyeing the odd piece of furniture curiously.
Approaching the cabinet, I cast a wandless [Tempus] and saw that it was almost the appointed time. I then opened the cabinet doors and took a piece of parchment that was in my pocket, and after that I put the parchment inside and closed it.
After that I placed my wand over the cabinet's lock, and passing it through its structure a noise sounded from within, and I could feel the cabinet's magic being activated.
"How long will it take him to get here?" my dad asked.
"Well, the teleportation is almost instantaneous" I said, and my dad nodded, "He should be here in a few seconds"
And hearing what I said my parents nodded and waited, looking into the cabinet intently. I then felt the cabinet's magic activate again, and when the noise sounded again my parents gained wary looks.
The cabinet doors opened, and from inside stepped Sirius, who was in healthier appearance and new, formal clothes, something he chose to wear to try and show my parents a presentable appearance that would show he wasn't a murderous madman.
"Hmm... Hi?" Sirius said after leaving the Vanishing Cabinet, looking awkwardly at my parents, who were staring at him with wary, curious eyes, but I could feel that even after our conversation that they were still a little scared of Sirius, and I didn't like feeling that feeling coming from them.
"So you are Sirius Black, the infamous mad murderer who escaped from Azkaban?" my dad asked, and looking down at my dad's robust body Sirius gulped.
"Yes…err…I mean…well, I'm Sirius Black, but I'm not a murderer" Sirius stammered, trying and failing not to be intimidated by my parents.
And I, who was on the side watching this, felt all the tension leave my body as my lips twitched, with me using all my self-control not to laugh at his expression.
"And you've been talking to my son since Halloween, right?" my mom asked next.
"Yes ma'am," Sirius replied respectfully, "But believe me, I didn't hurt your son, and I wouldn't even think of doing so," he said.
"And why would we believe you? For all we know you're a murderer and a follower of Voldemort" my dad said, and I could tell they were probing Sirius.
Sirius, upon hearing my father's question, smiled sadly.
"I know it's hard to believe me, and I did kill my friends, even indirectly" he started to say, "But know that if I could go back in time to change and right my wrongs, even at the cost of my life, I would do it without hesitation" he finished with a serious look, and you could hear the conviction and truth in his voice.
After hearing this my dad looked at him thoughtfully, trying to see any signs of a lie in his body language, and finding no signs that Sirius was lying my father sighed.
"...We heard your story from Ethan, but we still don't trust you" my mom started to say getting both of their attention, "But we trust our son, and if he believes you are innocent and a good man then we'll believe you too"
"BUT…" my mom continued before Sirius could say anything, "If you ever think of hurting anyone in my family, it doesn't matter if it's by accident or not, I'll make you pay, it doesn't matter if you're a wizard or Merlin himself, do you understand?" she asked, looking serious and menacing.
"Yes ma'am, I understand" Sirius nodded with a look of utter seriousness.
"Good" my mother nodded satisfied.
Realizing they had reached an agreement I decided it was time for me to join the conversation.
"Well, now that all matters are taken care of I will show Sirius the room he will be staying in," I said, and then I turned to him, motioning for him to follow me.
Sirius then nodded at my parents one last time before following me through the hallways of my house.
...
...
...
"Your parents love you very much" Sirius said after a few seconds of silence.
"I know," I said smiling fondly, and Sirius smiled slightly seeing this.
Looking around Sirius noticed the paintings and photographs of my family hanging on the walls, also noticing that the hallway was longer than he'd expected, especially considering the size of the house outside.
"Your house is big," he said.
"Expansion spells" I shrugged, arriving in front of a dark oak door, "Well, this is your room. There are some clothes in the closet, and probably some of them should fit you" I said opening the door .
"Wow" Sirius said upon seeing the size of the fully furnished room.
"Yes, wow" I said with an amused smile, "The bathroom is behind that door, and if you need anything you can ask our house elf Linnly"
"Do you have house-elves?" Sirius asked in surprise, "You're almost a pureblood," he said playfully, and I rolled my eyes.
"I've never been called something as offensive as that," I said, and Sirius made a mock hurt face.
"Ugh... This is the first time in my life that someone has used my blood status as an insult," he said, and I shrugged.
"There's always a first time for everything" I said, "But well, I still have my things to pack, so I'll leave you to settle in your room... Oh, and before I forget, dinner it's in 30 minutes"
And after saying that I turned around and started walking, ready to go to my room, but just as I took my fifth step I heard Sirius call my name.
"Ethan…thanks" Sirius said, and I knew he meant so much more with this thanks.
"You're welcome" I said smiling at him.
I then turned and continued walking, leaving Sirius in the doorway of his room staring at my back.
End.
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(End AN: Hmm, I saw that the Oscar-nominated animations in the Best Animated Feature category have already been chosen...
Honestly I want Puss in Boots 2 to win the award, but I also really liked The Sea Beast.
And you? Do you already have a favorite movie, actor or actress to win an Oscar?)
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