Chapter 3: c2.2
"Dorea was distraught but she hid it well from everyone, but she couldn't hide it from me. I could see it in her eyes how much it hurt her for him to leave like that and it made me even angrier at him. We carried on with our lives, there was little more we could do. Charlus had vanished and no one heard anything from him for a long time. Dorea carried on with her healing training and I went back to duelling as I had always intended. It was six months later that I got a surprise by owl post. I had been made a Baron for my efforts during the war" he said proudly. Seeing the confused look on Harry' face he explained further.
"Being a Baron means a lot more than being a Lord" he began. "Any idiot can be a lord as you can see by most of the morons they have sat on the wizengamot" he said with a sneer. "A lordship is an inherited title passed down to the head of the old families. It gives you a seat on the wizengamot and a single to vote on new laws and so on" he explained. "Being a Baron means that you are a protector of the land and of its people. You are given a seat on the wizengamot and 3 votes. You can only earn the title of Baron with exemplary battle skills and be a proven warrior, it is the greatest honour that can be bestowed on someone in the wizarding world, it's held in higher esteem than an order of Merlin. Charlus and I were to be the first two to receive the title in more than 400 years, it is a very rare honour and to have 2 people in one life time is almost unheard of" he finished the pride evident in his voice.
"I attended the award ceremony expecting to see Charlus but he never showed. The minister at the time was furious and ordered me to track him down. I was still mad at him but Baron or not the minister would have made my life difficult had I disobeyed. It took me 2 months of looking to track him down. I found him in Germany, a complete drunken mess" he said clearly disappointed. He put his wand to his temple and withdrew another memory and Harry knew he was about to be treated to a vision of his grandfather he was unlikely to be proud of.
They entered the pensieve and appeared on a street outside a very rundown looking bar that would appear to be abandoned if not for the dim light that shone through the murky windows. They entered the bar and Harry was not surprised to see that the inside was in no better condition that the outside. He spotted his Grandfather sat at a rickety table in the corner clearly inebriated close to the point of losing consciousness.
"More whisky" he shouted spilling the contents of his already full glass.
"I'm not serving you anything else you drunken swine" the barman replied.
Charlus was furious and drew his wand, pointing it at the barman he spoke in a deadly quiet voice. "You'll give me what I ask for you bastard or I will end you where you stand".
The barman stepped back and the fear in his eyes was obvious. He gulped loudly but he wasn't going to back down. Before he could reply a younger Arcturus appeared and placed a bag of coins in the barman's hand.
"For a room" he said "and to clear his tab" he added jerking a thumb towards the drunken mess that was his friend.
The barman nodded and handed him a key. "Upstairs, second door on the left" he said before walking away quickly.
Arcturus grabbed a heavily protesting Charlus and dragged him to the aforementioned room and threw him on the bed. He drew his wand and aimed a heavy jet of water at his face. When the spell stopped he could see the shocked look on Charlus' face which quickly turned to anger.
"What the fuck are you doing here Black?" he asked, his sopping hair and untamed beard dripping large amounts of water on the bed.
"I was sent to get you" he answered simply. "Oh, and to give you this" he added, punching Charlus with all his might on the jaw.
Charlus grunted in pain and looked up in shock. "You hit me" he said dumbly.
"I did" Arcturus replied "And I think I'm going to do it again" he added looking furious once more.
"Wait" Charlus said holding up his hands. "Why are you hitting me?" he asked confused.
Arcturus looked at him incredulously. "You're asking why I'm hitting you?" he asked rhetorically. "You broke my sisters' heart" he said dangerously. "She loves you you bastard and you walked away from her like she was nothing" he spat.
"She told you?" Charlus asked.
"She hasn't said a word but I was awake the night she opened her heart to you and you just left" he answered shaking his head. "I see it in her eyes every day, she tries to hide it but I know her too well" he finished looking upset.
"She deserves better than me" Charlus mumbled quietly to himself.
"And who the fuck are you to decide what she deserves? It should be her choice who she wants to be with and hers only" he roared.
Charlus laughed bitterly. "And you would approve of me and your sister?" he asked sarcastically.
"You and my sister? Never" he answered. "But my sister and the man I fought side by side for all that time? The man who watched my back as if it was his own? The man my sister spoke of that night in the hospital? That man would have my approval in a heartbeat, without hesitation" he said truthfully. "You're a fucking mess Charlus, pull yourself together and be the man you really are instead of the drunken slob sat in front of me and then you will deserve her". "But right now you don't deserve her, you're weak and a fucking coward" he finished looking at his friend in shame.
Charlus simply looked down at the floor and when he didn't reply Arcturus shook his head and left the room.
Once again Harry was pulled from the memory feeling angry and disappointed in his grandfather.
"What the hell was wrong with him?" he growled "He was pathetic".
"He was" Arcturus replied. "War affects people in different ways but what you saw wasn't war related. That is ultimately what happens to you if you blame yourself for things you have no control over. The guilt consumes you and you become that" he said pointing at the pensieve.
"So what happened next?" he asked. Obviously he came out of it but it can't have been that easy".
"No it wasn't and it was a very close call" Arcturus responded. "I left Germany and went home to inform the minister that I had found him and that he was dealing with some personal issues. He wasn't happy but there was nothing more that could be done".
"I carried on with my life running the family and duelling when time would allow me. It was almost a year after I had last seen Charlus that I received an unexpected owl from Gringotts" he frowned at the memory. "My father had apparently signed a marriage contract with the Selwyn family for any daughter of the Black family they thought suitable and it just so happens that they chose Dorea for their son Marius" he said with disgust.
Harry looked horrified at that but kept quiet waiting for Arcturus to continue.
"There were two ways out of the contract. Firstly, I could forfeit the Black lordship and the contents of the family vaults to them. This was something I was unwilling to do I would not be the one to dishonour the family name that way. The family would become a disgrace and I refused to allow that to happen. I was proud to be a Black and was raised to hold those values until death" he said defiantly. "Secondly I could duel to void the contract but it would be against a champion of their choice. The Selwyn's' themselves were excellent duellists and I knew if it wasn't a Selwyn then their champion would be extraordinary. This was the more viable option but there was a problem. I had only 3 days to do one or the other to void the contract or the wedding would go ahead. The real problem was that I had been injured the day before in a duel and my wand arm was literally in pieces, skele-gro wasn't what it is now and would take a week to heal. But I decided I would fight with my off arm, my pride would not allow me to back down, so I sent off the owl with my request" he finished.
"This is what happened the day of the duel" he said after a moment drawing another memory with his wand and placing it in the pensieve.
They entered the memory and Harry found himself in what appeared to be a small qudditch stadium filled to capacity with around 3000 witches and wizards in attendance to watch the duel.
"This was the venue the Selwyns' chose" Arcturus said from his right. "Duels like this were done publically often" he explained. "Especially duels of this magnitude, it was very rare that anyone was willing to duel a Black" he said knowingly. "I knew they were up to something. They wouldn't have accepted a duel with me if they didn't have a plan they truly believed would work" he finished.
Harry took in his surroundings. In front of him was a large area marked out where the duel would take place. To his right he could see the younger Arcturus with a heavily bandaged arm placed in a sling looking nervous.
Next to Arcturus was Dorea who looked nothing short of terrified surrounded by what appeared to be the entirety of the Black family. The Selwyns were stood on the other side of the marked area looking very smug. Harry immediately disliked them all simply by how much they reminded him of the Malfoys. Harry could see Dorea and the younger Arcturus whispering furiously so he moved closer so he could listen.
"Please don't do this Arcturus" Dorea begged. "I'll marry their son you don't have to fight" she said in tears.
"Yes I do" was his simple reply. "If I don't then everyone will think they can treat us like this and I won't stand for it" he whispered back furiously. "Just let me handle it Dorea it will be ok" he finished turning away from her to face the Selwyns.
Seeing that Arcturus was ready the head of the Selwyn family stepped forward and raised his wand to his throat.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, today you will bear witness to the embarrassment and humiliation of the Black family" he began gleefully. "A contract between our families was signed and that contract stated that we would be given any choice of any unmarried Black female of our choice. We made our choice and that dishonourable family" he said pointing at the Blacks "have gone back on the word of their former head of house" he finished eliciting a mass of jeering from the crowd. "He had a choice and could have simply forfeited the family title and wealth to me and my family but he chose to take the approach that would force my family to use violence, something we did not want" he said shaking his head in mock disgust. "However, it will not be a member of my family fighting this man today; I would not risk my blood against their dark magic, so I have found a willing champion who will fight for my family honour and the right to the stated marriage in the contract" He said bowing to the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you, representing the Selwyn family, the undefeated warrior, Hans Gaulitier" he finished with a flourish.
The crowd was in what appeared to be stunned silence and Harry looked at Arcturus questioningly.
"Gaulitier was Grindelwalds right hand man during the war and escaped justice through bribery and corruption" he said bitterly. "He was a disgusting pig, famous for his brutality and sickening perverse tendencies. Rape, murder and torture were his forte and that was before he aligned himself with Grindelwald. He was feared across the continent and the Selwyns' would have had to pay him a fortune for him to fight for them. Brutality, no matter how disgusting, at that level does not come cheap" He said with a grimace. "Using him became the Selwyns' down fall, they had exposed themselves as a dark family and have not recovered since" he stated.
A giant of a man entered the stadium into pure silence but he seemed not to notice the crowd any way. He looked as though he was taking a leisurely stroll not going into battle. He was as almost as big as Hagrid but with less hair and very ugly to boot.
He wore nothing on his top half but wore brown trousers with charcoal boots on his feet. He was very well built with well-conditioned, defined muscles.
He had various scars on his torso and face and his head was completely hairless and shaped like an egg. He looked like a simple brute but his eyes had intelligence to them that Harry did not expect to see, even he knew in his very limited experience that he would be a formidable opponent.
By now Dorea was beside herself and inconsolable. The rest of the Blacks looked a mixture of horrified and nervous. Arcturus stepped forward looking apprehensive but also determined, he knew there was no backing down now. Upon seeing his arm in a sling the brute of a man laughed and turned to the Selwyns'.
"What's this" he questioned them clearly annoyed. "You promised me a real fight and yet you hand me a cripple" he stated.
"You're quite right" the head of the Selwyn family said amused and laughed a pompous chuckle. "It would not be fair for you to fight a cripple" he mused.
"Black" he called in an amplified voice. "My champion is unwilling to fight a cripple can you offer an alternative" he laughed again.
He offered the Blacks the chance to have someone fight for them knowing they were very unpopular in the wizarding community despite Arcturus being a Baron, a title that many thought he had bought or obtained through dubious dealings with high up people. He laughed again knowing no one would willingly fight his champion for all the money in Gringotts. He turned and addressed the crowd in a confident and cocky manner.
"Is there anyone who will fight for the cripple and his dishonourable family?" he asked the crowd mockingly. Silence followed his question. "Surely there's someone with a death wish out there, you may even earn a favour from the Black family" he finished jokingly.
Many in the crowd laughed at his quip and then began to talk amongst themselves. Arcturus growled at Selwyn and his antics furious that the man was treating the situation so light-heartedly.
"I'll fight for them" an amplified voice suddenly broke through the murmurings of the crowd.
Selwyn looked momentarily shocked before smirking and addressing the crowd again.
"Ahh we have a corpse, I mean volunteer" he mock corrected. "Well then step forward my brave fellow and make yourself known" he finished with a flourish.
A section of the crowd parted to reveal a very intense looking Charlus Potter.
Harry gasped at the difference in the man. He had packed on several pounds of muscle and the fire in his eyes was ferocious even more so than he had seen it before. His hair was still messy but had been cut short and he was clean-shaven, no longer looking like a drunken mess.
The crowd was shocked in to silence both by someone being foolish enough to volunteer and by the fact that it was a Potter stepping in to defend a Black.
Arcturus was simply stunned. He had not seen Charlus in a year and clearly he had been very busy. He watched as Charlus approached looking every part the man he knew he should be.
Dorea looked torn. She was a mixture, of happiness, her eyes alight with the love she still felt for him but her face was a mask of anger. She sat completely still not being able to decide between pummelling him and jumping in his arms.
The rest of the Black family looked shocked and confused. They were unaware that a friendship existed between Arcturus and Charlus and simply could not understand why a Potter would fight for their family when they had always somewhat been at odds.
"Baron Black" Charlus acknowledged his old friend.
"Baron Potter" Acturus returned the formal greeting. "What are you doing Charlus?" He asked quietly.
"I'm fighting for those that can't fight for themselves as I always have" he said nodding towards his injured arm. "And I'm watching your back as if it was my own" he added replaying Arcturus' own words back to him.
Arcturus shook his head. "You don't have to do this" he said "this is a family duel and you're committing social and political suicide by siding with us" he finished.
"Of course I have to do it" Charlus remarked "we always went into battle together why should we break tradition now?" he asked with a mischievous grin.
Arcturus shook his head again still in disbelief at the presence of Charlus.
"Well good luck Charlus" he said extending his hand which his friend took. "If that bastard doesn't kill you my sister looks like she wants to give it a try" he added in amusement, nodding over Charlus shoulder towards his now shaking sister.
Charlus gulped and pulled Arcturus closer. "Is it strange that I'm more frightened of her than that big pile of shit back there?" he asked only half joking.
Arcturus let out a bark of laughter. "No" he replied shaking his head "That means you've got your priorities about right" he said chuckling.
Charlus smirked at his friend before turning to face his foe, the amusement in his face being replaced by a determined look and his eyes now alight with power.
The joviality of the Selwyn family had well and truly finished when Charlus appeared, they all now looked concerned an angry. Selwyn Sr in particular was beside himself.
"What the fuck concern is this of yours Potter?" he spat venomously.
Charlus sent him a death glare that had the other man recoiling.
"Well Selwyn I have reasons which I will not share with you. Other than those, when you bring a murdering rapist and vile creature like that" he said pointing at Gaulitier "into our country then it's my duty as a Baron to deal with it is it not?" he asked glowering at the colossal man.
Gaulitier was furious. No one dared mock him the way Potter was. He had heard of Potter and knew he was in for a real fight if his skill was on par with only half of what his reputation was. He was silently fuming now, waiting for what could be the fight of his life. He was both nervous and excited, the feeling before a worthy battle, a feeling he was no longer familiar with.
Charlus turned back to a nervous looking Selwyn. "Rules?" he asked casually.
Before Selwyn could reply Gaulitier screamed. "There are no rules here Potter".
He charged forward attempting to tackle Charlus to the ground. He simply side stepped the behemoth and as he landed on his front in the dirt he threw a cutting curse and a stinging hex that connect on his rear end. The man roared in pain and fury and was on his feet again in the blink of an eye.
The younger Arcturus on the side-lines face-palmed, shaking his head in his hand an action mimicked by the older one stood next to Harry who was shocked.
"Why would he use a stinging hex?" he asked confused.
"An angry opponent makes mistakes" was Arcturus' simple reply.
Harry turned back towards the action and was simply amazed at what he was seeing. The giant man had drawn his wand and was firing completely devastating curses and jinxes towards Charlus who was simply dodging and twirling with the grace of a ballerina to avoid them. Try as he might the man just could not hit Charlus and it only infuriated him more.
Charlus began to fire back while still maintaining his dodging and footwork. It was spectacular to see. The speed and the power of his spells was magnificent and Harry was completely amazed by his Grandfather.
He landed two bone breaker curses on the giants off arm that resounded with loud enough cracks to be heard throughout the entirety of the stadium.
The man screamed in pain as the broken bones punctured the skin for all to see. His own rhythm was only interrupted for a brief second at this set back before he was back at his own powerful spell casting, still failing to hit his faster and magically more powerful opponent.
He suddenly stopped his casting and focused his power before whipping his arm upwards in a vertical. Stone spikes began to erupt from the ground in an attempt to impale Charlus, who simply looked amused.
He levitated himself wandlessly above the battleground to the surprise of the crowd. He swept his wand across the field and the spikes crumbled to a fine dust which he gathered up with a gust of wind from his wand.
He twirled it in a semi-circle repeatedly and the debris of the conjured spikes formed a tornado that Charlus sent towards his foe while lowering himself to the ground.
Upon landing he switched control of the tornado to his wandless hand and fired a thick jet black fog into the twister from his wand. The tornado wrapped itself around the huge man who began to look concerned.
Charlus then conjured an equally black stream of fire that he sent into the swirling vortex also followed by a wave of green fire. The two flames snaked into the wind remaining separate but flowing in tandem with one another.
The effect was as beautiful as it was dangerous. With a flick of his wand the twister imploded and cascaded to the ground as though it was water.
What was left behind was quite the gruesome sight. Gaulitier was covered in blackened seared flesh that was smoking and giving off a sweet sickly smell that filled the stadium.
The crowd had expected to see a duel but what they were witnessing was a real fight. Amongst the shocked faces the sound of vomiting could be heard and many covered their ears from the screaming that was coming from the still smoking man.
The Blacks were looking at Arcturus questioningly knowing that the black flame and the fog were family spells. Arcturus simply shrugged his shoulders at their looks and turned once more to face the battle.
Charlus stood just glaring at the man looking as dangerous as Harry had ever seen him. This was why he was respected and this was why he was feared with a wand. He was terrifying but at the same time, knowing he was a good man was equally comforting. He was not dark or evil but did what was necessary to survive and to protect those around them.
It was at this moment that he knew who the voice belonged to who spoke alongside his Mother after he had been hit by Riddles killing curse; it was Charlus, it was his Grandfather who had told him what he was and what he should do to ensure he survived. It made sense to him now, seeing what Charlus had been through and what he had done. It was justice and to him it was necessary.
Harry knew if he was to survive let alone without too much pain then he had to be like Charlus, he had to do what was necessary to survive and protect those he cared for.
Gaulitier suddenly launched a blasting curse towards Charlus that was too large to dodge as he had been, so he quickly raised a shield that didn't quite manage to absorb the whole of the spell. He was blown off his feet from the force of the magic and landed on his back with a loud thud followed by a crack.
The crowd gasped thinking that he had been bested but as soon as he landed he rolled and nimbly sprung back to his feet though he was breathing heavily.
He was clutching his ribs in pain and quickly pointed his wand at his torso and muttered a spell. A loud crunch was heard as his ribs returned to their correct place. He conjured a bandage that tightly wound itself around his torso as he grimaced and gritted his teeth in pain.
He looked furious and his hair and clothes began to ripple in the magic that was escaping him.
He stalked towards a now standing Gaulitier batting the spells aside that the German was firing at him. He conjured a bright ball of light and with a flick of his wand he sent it towards his opponents face. Gaulitier shielded, attempting to block the unknown ball of light but to no avail, the ball simply penetrated the shield as though it wasn't there.
The bright light stung his eyes but that was it all seemed to do. In his temporarily blinded state he did not see Charlus conjure two silver arrows and banish them towards him.
As his eyes began to clear he felt the pain in his knees as the arrows entered through the front and exited through the back. He suddenly found himself wandless as a bone exploding hex hit his hand sending his means to defend himself some feet away, he knew he was beaten.
After he saw his hex hit the mans' hand and he knew he was no longer armed, he paused contemplating what he should do next. He came to a decision and fired off his curse of choice; a castration hex.
The German screamed in pain as the hex connected and he felt the blood seep from the gaping wound in what was left of masculine appendage. Before he could mourn for his loss he found himself bound by his arms and legs by a thick black wire adorned with spikes that cut deeply into his already burnt flesh. He whimpered in pain unable to talk. He chanced a look at Potter and saw that he was walking away. He breathed a sigh of relief that he had been left alive but soon found himself wondering if he would better off dead.
Harry was again feeling nauseas at the sight of so much gore and couldn't help but think that his Grandfather had perhaps gone too far. Arcturus seemed to read his thoughts and cut his thoughts short.
"Charlus lived by his own code of morals. Gaulitier raped, murdered and tortured hundreds of defenceless wizards, witches and muggles for fun and what Charlus did was give what he thought was suitable justice" he said firmly. "Everyone knew what Gaulitier had done and he somehow escaped justice and Charlus was a just man, he did what was right in his own mind. He didn't kill him but he took away his ability to cause the same harm to others that he had before and let him know what it was like to feel the kind of pain he had inflicted on others. It taught him a lesson in a brutal way and it worked, after this day Gaulitier was never heard from again" he finished his eyes boring into Harrys'.
Harry nodded knowing that the older man was speaking the truth. Charlus was simply doing what he felt was right, he clearly did not enjoy it but he did it out of necessity. He turned again to see Charlus approaching Arcturus again but before he could get there he was cut off by a shaking and teary-eyed Dorea.
"Charlus Potter" She hissed, staring at him through narrowed.
"Hello Miss Black" he replied, nervously dragging his hand through his hair.
"Hello Miss Black?" she asked folding her arms across her chest and raising a single eyebrow. "That's all you have to say after all this time, after I opened my heart to you, spilled my deepest feelings for you and you left, that's all you have to say" she screamed at him.
By now the entire crowd was watching the surprising encore.
"I'm Sorry" he said quietly.
"Oh, you're sorry are you?" she asked rhetorically walking forward and backing Charlus up with repeated sharp pokes to the chest. "And what exactly are you sorry for?" she enquired further.
"Everything" he replied. "I'm sorry for leaving and I'm sorry for hurting you. More than anything I'm sorry for losing myself the way I did after you asked me not to and becoming what I did" he said sincerely looking her in the eyes. "My biggest regret though is not taking you in my arms that night in the hospital and telling you that I love you too with all my heart and that I always have, since that day in your common room when you looked at me as though you didn't want to leave my arms" he finished taking her hands in his.
"I didn't want to" she whispered. "It felt so right being there" she continued more to herself than to anyone else. "What brought you back?" she asked.
"The love of a beautiful woman and the words of a brother" he answered, nodding towards Arcturus. "And a good punch to snap me out of it he added" looking quite embarrassed.
Dorea looked sharply at her brother who looked sheepish under her glare before she turned back to Charlus.
"What if it's too late?" "What if I can't forgive you?" "And what if it's not what I want anymore?" she asked, looking at him intently.
Charlus took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before answering. "Then I will have to accept that, but I will never stop trying to be the man you deserve, I made that mistake once and I won't let that happen again" he said. "If my mistake has already cost me you then so be it" he shrugged. "I have to live with that but it won't stop me from loving you" he finished his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
Dorea was openly crying not able to keep her tears at bay any longer. "Why did you fight today?" she asked. "Did you fight for me?" she questioned further.
He swallowed deeply before answering. "No" he answered. "I didn't fight for you, I was hoping I still had your heart and that giving you mine would be enough" he said. "I fought for your brother because it was the right thing to do. I fought for a friend and a brother of mine seeing that he wasn't able to to the best of his ability" he said motioning to Arcturus' arm. "I fought in the hope that had our roles been reversed he would still fight for me the way we always fought for each other" he added with a hopeful look towards his friend who simply nodded in reply.
"You really mean that?" Dorea asked neutrally.
Charlus nodded in reply maintaining eye contact with the woman who held his happiness in her hands. In a blur she had thrown herself in his arms and began to sob uncontrollably. A shocked Charlus hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hair and holding on as though he would never let go.
"That's the man I fell in love with" she mumbled into his chest.
There was no cheering from the crowd. They were shocked into silence by the sight of a Black in the arms of a Potter. Never had any in attendance ever even considered they would see such a sight.
The Blacks were equally shocked at the sudden turn of events. They looked at each other dumbfounded not able to form a coherent sentence between them. One of them managed to find her voice finally breaking the silence.
"Would someone care to explain just what is going on?" She demanded.
"It's ok Cassie" he replied "I'll explain everything later" he told his older sister firmly, not wanting to discuss it in such a public forum.
"You're ok with this?" She asked him quietly.
Arcturus looked at her calculatingly before replying. "Yes" he answered shortly. "Can you think of a better man for her" he asked nodding towards Dorea.
"Dorea?" She called to her sister who extracted herself from Charlus' chest smiling contentedly. "You love him?" She asked.
Dorea looked up at Charlus, then back to her sister and nodded. "I do" she said quietly. Cassiopeia looked at the other members of her family and just shrugged in acceptance.
"I told you all that I won't pick your spouses for you or sign any contracts" Acturus said. "I meant that, and if Dorea chooses to be with Charlus then that's her choice and we will all accept that" he said firmly. "He has my approval. I can think of no other man I would trust with Dorea. He fought for us today because it was the right thing to do and he has fought with me hundreds of times before. He shared his family magic with me willingly so I would be a better fighter and we have saved each other's live countless times over the years" he finished.
"You showed him our family magic didn't you?" Cassiopeia asked. "That's where he learnt those spells" she stated.
"Yes I did" Acturus answered unashamedly. "We shared our magic. It was war and we took every advantage we could" he said standing firm under the glare of some of his family members.
"And you trust him?" She hissed the question at her brother.
"With my life" came the reply, "As I have on countless occasions". "And besides, we both gave magical vows that we would not share the knowledge with anyone or use family magic against each other or family" he said casually.
"You gave a vow not to use your family magic against each other or each other's families?" Cassiopeia asked incredulously.
"We did" Acturus answered.
"Wait a minute" Charlus cut in looking annoyed. "That's why you punched me isn't it?" he asked. "You couldn't hex me so you hit me like a common thug" he added, frowning.
"You deserved it" was the simple reply he received.
Charlus just shrugged in reply.
The back and forth between the two was cut short when they were interrupted by the sound of a cough coming from the gathered Black family members.
Charlus turned to see a woman standing amongst them who clearly was not one of them. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes with pale skin. She was delicate looking and quite beautiful in her own right. She was fairly short and petite with a look of intelligence and she was smiling softly. Arcturus took her hand drawing her closer before addressing Charlus.
"This" he said motioning to the woman "Is my fiancé, Melania" he finished introducing her.
"Baron Potter" she greeted him with a slight curtsey. "I've heard a lot about you" she said looking up at the man.
"Ahh well you shouldn't believe anything he tells you" he said pointing at Arcturus. "He's reckless and you can't believe a reckless man" he explained eliciting a huff from the other man.
"I am not reckless" he retorted.
"Yes you are" Dorea cut in.
Arcturus just frowned at his sister.
Melania laughed before addressing Charlus again. "I assure you Baron Potter I have heard only good things about you from him" she said smiling gently.
"Then he is the most honest man I know and you should believe everything he's told you" he replied gaining a laugh from both women.
"When did this whole thing become about me?" Arcturus asked petulantly.
Charlus laughed at his friend.
"Don't worry Arcturus" Dorea consoled him "I haven't even started with Potter yet. Don't think you're off the hook" She finished looking sternly at the now horrified man.
It was Arcturus' turn to be amused by his friends' expression. "Baron Charlus Potter" he mocked. "Will fight any man with a wand, scared of my sister" he finished looking gleeful.
"I don't know why you're laughing Arcturus Black" Melania said glaring at the man. "Do you really think you're off the hook for putting me through what you have the last three days?" she asked in a scolding fashion. "Thinking about fighting that brute with your off hand" she added shaking her head and linking arms with Dorea. "You really are a reckless prat" she finished leading Dorea away from the two, now very cowed men.
The two men shared a knowing look before Arcturus broke the silence.
"Do you really think you can handle my sister?" he asked only half-jokingly.
"Do you really think you can handle your fiancé?" Charlus retorted.
Both men shrugged.
"We can still hear you" a feminine voiced carried to them from somewhere ahead.
They both cringed and hurried to catch up to the departing women.
They were pulled from the memory and Harry once again felt proud of his Grandfather and what he had done.
"Do you have other memories of them" he asked keen to see more.
The older man looked at the teen for some time before answering.
"I have hundreds of memories of them but it is mostly day to day stuff. We can look at more later" he said, placating the boy who looked disappointed. "I simply wanted you to understand where you come from and the kind of man your grandfather was".
"What happened to them?" Harry asked tentatively. "How did they die?".
Arcturus looked sad and stayed silent for several minutes before answering. "Dorea was a healer as you know. Just before you were born there was a wizard flu pandemic and she caught the illness badly" he sighed. "She recovered from it fairly well but she was severely weakened by it. She stayed alive long enough to see you born and lived to hold you as she wanted to. She died a few months after you were born" he said sadly, suddenly looking very old.
He paused to compose himself.
"Charlus lived for Dorea and when she passed he was never the same. He stopped taking care of himself and deteriorated. This was when Riddle was becoming a real problem. Everyone knew of Charlus and his prowess with a wand and Riddle knew he would never convince him to work with him so he tried to take him out" he said looking angry.
Harry looked nothing short of murderous. He felt his magic responding to his anger and he wanted nothing more than to curse Riddle into oblivion.
Arcturus saw the look and was again reminded of his friend.
"He tried to attack Charlus but Charlus, even though he wasn't the same man he had been, fended him off but not before being hit with a slow acting curse that stopped the blood circulating properly" he said shaking his head. "Charlus knew about the curse but he didn't see any reason to get it healed. I'm sure he was content to pass on and be with Dorea again. Though I know if he knew what would happen to your father and mother he would have done everything he could to stop Riddle" he said looking sad again.
"Why couldn't my Dad fight like him?" Harry asked quietly. "I've heard their last moments and my Dad didn't last 2 minutes against Riddle" he concluded with a lump in his throat.
Arcturus looked at the boy with something akin to horror but quickly composed himself before answering.
"They were different men born in different eras. Charlus was born into a war and James was born in a time of peace. I think Charlus wanted his son to have a normal childhood and not be raised the way he was. Had he known what was coming it would have been different. Riddle was just a whisper in the distance until James was in his fifth year and even then none of us expected him to become the problem he did" he explained. "James was much more like Dorea than he was Charlus. He was not raised to be a fighter and Dorea doted on him and was his biggest influence. Don't get me wrong your father was a gifted wizard by what I saw and heard but he and that idiot Grandson of mine spent their time joking around. If they put half the effort into the type of training I and Charlus had instead of their games then I have no doubt they would have both been extremely formidable in battle. Whatever you do don't hold what happened to your parents against them there was little to do to prevent it. Once Riddle has an idea it's near impossible to stop him he is persistent. Use it Potter, use what happened to your family to push you to succeed" he finished.
"What can I do?" Harry asked lamely.
"You fight. You fight for all you're worth and with everything you have. Fight for the memory of your family and fight for your life and your future. Fight the way your Grandfather did. I believe everyone should be their own man but if you aspire to be anyone or want someone to look up to then look no further than your grandfather, you couldn't find a better role model. He was the best man I knew and ever will know. I see him in you Potter. You're like him more than you know. Honour him, your grandmother and your parents the way they deserve. Do not die for nothing but if you have to die you die facing your foes on your feet, looking them in the eyes, never on your knees. Riddle saw your Grandfather in you that night and he knows what you can be capable of if you want to be" he finished sternly.
"But how can I be like him, how can I learn that kind of magic" he asked pleadingly.
"By training" Arcturus replied simply.
He opened the draw on the bedside table and pulling out a weathered thick, leather bound book and handed it to Harry.
"This is one of only two copies of this book. It contains both the Black and Potter magic. Charlus and I created them many years ago and added to them throughout the years. Whatever is written in one will appear in the other and they are charmed so that only we, or a combination of both Potter and Black blood can open them" he said proudly. "Read it, learn it and practice it, it's all the magic you will ever need to win a fight" he concluded confidently.
Harry looked at the book in complete awe.
"Thank you" he whispered gratefully.
"You're welcome" Arcturus replied, pleased to see the boy appreciated the book so much. "Now, its time we got some sleep we are going to be very busy from now on" he said making his way to the door.
"Was there anything my Grandfather wasn't good at" Harry asked unexpectedly.
Arcturus smirked at the question. "Potions" he replied. "He could do mind-blowing things with a wand but put him in front of a cauldron it was likely to explode or melt" he said shaking his head. "Dorea never let him forget his ineptitude with potions" he said amused as he left the room.
Harry looked at the book Arcturus had given him in amazement and anticipation. He gently stroked the front cover with his finger tip only to snatch it away after a sharp pain caught him by surprise. He sucked his bleeding finger as the book glowed gold before opening on his lap. He was too awake to sleep. He needed time to absorb and digest everything he had heard and seen of his family so settled down and began to read.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone