( Madam Bones' Office - Tuesday Morning )
"Lord Black, Mr. Potter, I was hoping to see you," Madam Bones announced with a hint of amusement in her voice and eyes. "But that can wait until later. What can I do for you two this morning? Does this meeting happen to have something to do with the fact that Mr. Potter is an animagus, by any chance?"
Letting a smile appear on his lips, he answered, "Let me guess, Susan told you?" Harry answered back from his padded chair as he discreetly examined the rather spartan office, trying to get a read on the witch in front of him. He did notice a new-looking small picture frame carefully positioned on one side of the desk that caught his attention.
"Yes," the Head of Law Enforcement confirmed with a fond smile before it slipped from her features. "I also heard from half a dozen other parents who heard similar rumours from their own children, all demanding that I immediately investigate the matter and arrest you if they were true. They've obviously forgotten that a witch or wizard has a week to register from the time of their first successful full transformation before it becomes an illegal act. After all, not everyone can instantly come to the Ministry to register their form."
He smiled back at this unpleasant but not unexpected news, rather curious just who was calling for his arrest over such a trivial thing. "It's kind of funny how fast such news can spread," Harry observed with a sense of detached amusement, even as he noted the fact that Susan was Madam Bones' trusted eyes and ears within the school. 'I'll have to be more careful around Susan.'
"Indeed," Sirius seconded from his own chair, reminding them both of his presence in the room. "And yes, that's why we're here. I was hoping you would be agreeable to putting Harry's animagus status and details under a security-level clearance, to prevent it from being used against him. But if this knowledge has spread so far already, there hardly seems a point to it now, since rumours would still remain at large."
"So now that our business seems moot, what is it you wished to speak to us about?" Sirius asked.
He watched as the experienced law enforcement officer composed herself by taking a deep, calming breath before answering Sirius' question. "As you two already know from our earlier meetings, Mr. Pettigrew has confirmed that Lord Malfoy was behind both the attempts on Harry's life and the opening of the Chamber of Secrets within Hogwarts.
Unfortunately, even with Mr. Pettigrew's willing assistance in our investigations, we have failed to find the hard evidence necessary to effectively prosecute him. The evidence we do have at the moment is weak at best and isn't enough to get a warrant issued for his arrest, much less questioning him under truth serum, not with his political connections within this government at least.
And if brought to the courts, it could simply be dismissed as slander and hearsay. If he's cleared of these charges, it would make him immune to future prosecution. In short, Lucius has proven to be extremely skilled at covering his tracks," she lectured as Sirius gave an annoyed sigh.
"Regrettably, the one piece of hard evidence we could have used to potentially link all this back to Lord Malfoy had to be destroyed," she voiced. The tiger within him began to stir at this, his anger starting to boil over at this depressing news.
Despite his rising anger and the primal desire to lash out at something, anything, he reined his inner tiger in, pacifying it by plotting different ways to retaliate against the murderous Lord. This helped to quell the primal impulse to tear the man's throat out with his very jaws. However, his plans for death and dismemberment were interrupted as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement spoke up again.
"What was this evidence?" his godfather asked from beside him.
"A cursed diary, enchanted to bewitch its user into opening the Chamber of Secrets. Mr. Pettigrew admits to placing the dangerous artefact within the belongings of the Weasleys' youngest daughter on Lord Malfoy's orders. Regrettably, during Miss Weasley's treatment, the diary had to be destroyed to release her from the hold of its powerful dark magics," Madam Bones offered with a sad smile. "And Miss Weasley herself is in no state to provide any evidence."
"So the headmaster is involved then," Harry stated, trying to control his increasing anger at these unfortunate events.
"Yes, I approached him after Mr. Pettigrew explained his role in the Chamber of Secrets and the diary, hoping to acquire any evidence linking Malfoy to the case and to retrieve the cursed diary," Madam Bones explained whilst giving Harry a curious look. "You don't seem surprised that Miss Weasley was involved."
"Who do you think helped the headmaster to catch her in the first place?" Harry stated with a small smile. Madam Bones blinked rapidly at this unexpected answer.
"You did? The headmaster didn't mention your involvement at all," Madam Bones stated. Sirius just gave him a look that clearly said, 'why am I not surprised.'
"Well, that's rather interesting, since there is meant to be a public reward ceremony for our efforts at the end of the year," Harry muttered as he wondered what the headmaster's game was this time.
"Our efforts?" Madam Bones asked.
Letting a smile appear on his lips, he answered with a hint of smugness in his voice, "Me and a small group of talented associates investigated the matter ourselves when we saw how ineffectual the headmaster and his staff were at resolving the issue.
We used a mixture of non-magical and magical investigative techniques to locate the probable entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. This ultimately led to my elder cousin Tonks and I confirming this idea for ourselves. She, by the way, has a desire to become an auror upon her graduation. However, our efforts were discovered by the headmaster, who unsurprisingly questioned us on the matter.
We dutifully passed on the information, as well as a list of our primary suspects, which notably included Miss Weasley as our prime suspect. A couple of days later Miss Weasley went homesick on extended leave, thus confirming our suspicions of her guilt."
"So you know what the beast is within the Chamber of Secrets?" the seasoned law enforcement officer asked, with a hint of eagerness at finally getting this information.
"Of course, Madam Bones," he replied with a cocky grin that clearly said 'I know something that you don't know.'
"Care to share with the rest of us?" Sirius asked, beating Madam Bones to the question.
"A basilisk," he answered with an indifferent shrug, like they were discussing the weather rather than a supremely deadly snake in a school full of children.
"A basilisk?! You have got to be kidding me!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I, too, find it hard to believe. A basilisk kills outright with their stares after all," Madam Bones seconded.
"Not if you see its eyes through a secondary medium, Madame, say a magical eye that can see through walls?" Harry replied evenly with a sly smile.
"Just like the other victims saw it through an additional medium. The only one that didn't was Myrtle, and she remembers seeing a big pair of yellow eyes before she immediately died and began her existence as a ghost." Sirius continued to look at him in sheer disbelief before realization dawned in his eyes. He could already see his godfather beginning to connect the dots in his mind and ultimately what Harry was planning.
"But I believe we're getting sidetracked. Why can't we simply use Peter's testimony? Surely his word is enough to warrant the mere questioning of Lord Malfoy?" He was desperately trying to move the discussion along before his godfather blurted out that he was a parselmouth in front of the law enforcement officer. That was information that didn't need to be spread about.
"Regrettably, Mr. Pettigrew himself can be easily discredited by even a moderately skilled lawyer, undermining his testimony and value as a witness in open court. Without additional hard evidence and witnesses of a more prominent nature, nothing he says alone will stick.
More evidence and better witnesses are exactly what will be required now to ensure Lord Malfoy is prosecuted and convicted. It's also the reason why he hasn't even been arrested yet," she lectured, answering Harry's question as Sirius gave an exasperated sigh.
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/loveran