( Number 12 )
Sirius discreetly watched as his godson sat patiently on the room's brand new leather couch, a large tome taken from the family library in his hands, his eyes darting from side to side as he absorbed the knowledge contained in the ancient magical tome. The young man was absentmindedly tapping his foot on the wooden floor, an unconscious sign of either restlessness, or perhaps a bit of nervousness. It wasn't clear which.
He knew why his godson could be restless; he had been caged up inside the house for three long days so far with no means to burn up his physical energy beyond some light exercises. That was something he could both relate to and envy in equal measure. The boundless physical energy of youth had been robbed from him due to his wrongful imprisonment. He was, of course, still quite young by magical standards, but as he was discovering of late, there were many permanent consequences to being around dementors for so long without reprieve. Every morning his bones ached and groaned in protest, serving as a constant reminder of what he had unfairly lost, of what his misplaced trust in both Peter and Albus had cost him.
He looked at his godson, the closest thing he would ever have to a child of his own, if the specialist healers he had hired were right. 'So much like Lily,' he reflected, seeing more and more of Harry's mother in the lad's personality, and less of his best friend James. "What are you reading?" He asked, wanting to show interest in his godson's studies.
"A study on magical lordship and magical oaths," Harry replied automatically, as he flipped another page.
Harry's short and simple response reminded him of his days at Hogwarts, when he would delight in hounding Lily with annoying questions whenever she was studying in the house common room. "That sounds horribly dull," he replied with his best boyish grin.
Harry placed the old volume down on his lap, just like Lily did whenever she was about to launch into a passionate lecture defending the value of some esoteric piece of knowledge. "It's rather fascinating actually, and answers a lot of very important questions I've had recently."
He recognized the baited tease for what it was. "I'm sure it is," he replied airily, faking disinterest in the subject.
"Really? Well I suppose it could be to some, it only explains how Lord Voldemort came to be so powerful, so quickly," Harry announced. At the name, he flinched out of reflex, even as he mentally digested Harry's shocking statement.
He knew that his godson's words were baited, a lure to capture his attention, but he took it anyways. "What do you mean?"
"I thought you weren't interested?" Harry replied evenly, but the hint of a smug smirk could be seen on his lips. It was a look that clearly said 'I know something you don't know and I'm going to make you beg before I tell you.'
Resisting the impulse to roll his eyes at Harry's teasing, he gave in. "Not normally, but mentioning Lord Voldemort will stir anyone's interest, especially when mentioning the source of his power," he defended. "Now stop teasing me, and share what you know,"
For a moment he thought his godson would toy with him just a bit more, but Harry clearly decided enough was enough and provided an explanation. "It turns out that swearing certain types of magical vows of allegiance, or servitude, creates a magical link between individuals, leading to a small unidirectional power transfer. Some vows result in greater magical energy transfer than others, the amount seemingly based on how submissive the vow was when given.
Based on this theory, every time a new Death Eater recruit swore a magical vow to serve Lord Voldemort, Voldemort gained a small passive power boost as a result. Therefore, the more sworn Death Eaters he had in his service, the bigger the passive power boost he received. The Dark Mark might even enhance that power boost as it's a permanent, tangible representation of their service to their lord, Voldemort. That kind of symbolism has a power all its own in magic."
Pondering this new information, a little piece of the puzzle fell into place to explain Lord Voldemort's sudden rise to power during the last war. The more successful Voldemort and his followers were, the more recruits he got. Each newly sworn recruit meant Lord Voldemort became more powerful. More magical power lead to him being more successful in his campaigns.
Greater success lead to more allies and resources, which tempted even more wizards and witches to his cause, increasing Lord Voldemort's personal power, which in turn tempted even more recruits. One thing built upon the other. "That is interesting," he voiced, still deep in thought. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Can this passive power boost be removed?" he asked, wondering if the old tome could provide an answer to that question, while making a mental note to read it for himself later on.
"It can be removed rather simply, you just have to kill the individual that swore the oath, or otherwise remove their magic through some other means," Harry answered smoothly. He just nodded, expecting an answer like that.
Harry's answer was rather mercenary, but he was right, that was a simple means to solve the issue. It was then that he noticed a calculating look in Harry's eyes. However, before he could question Harry further, Harry spoke up. "Any news from Gringotts on that locket?"
"Yes, they have returned it and paid the contract penalties for failure, which they were none too happy about, let me tell you. I placed it in the Black family vault for the time being, to keep it safe," he replied with an uncaring shrug. "Also to keep Kreacher from trying to steal it and hide it away somewhere."
"Maybe it's been enchanted to only respond to parsel magic? Maybe I could open it?" Harry said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps," he agreed after some thought on the matter. The fireplace sprang to life moments later, grabbing the pair's attention, as Tonks suddenly appeared in a burst of flames.
"You bastard! I thought you were dead! Why didn't you tell me?!" Tonks shouted upon seeing Harry, before pulling Harry into a strong back breaking hug, the sound of soft weeping filling the room.
"I'm sorry; I couldn't tell you," Harry offered back softly as he returned the hug just as tightly, rubbing her back to comfort her. Andy then stepped through the fireplace behind her daughter. "Madam Bones believed it was necessary to keep the number of people who knew the truth to the absolute minimum. Your reaction had to be genuine and believable after all," Harry expertly explained, rather skilfully passing the blame onto an untouchable, aloof figure, one whom Tonks would be hesitant to question or go after. Sirius noted all this proudly; Harry would make a fine head of family.
Rallying to Harry's position, as the man code demanded, he spoke up in support. "Yes, Madam Bones was quite insistent that Harry couldn't tell anyone, mostly due to Lucius Malfoy having his own son in Harry's year. It was a necessary evil," he explained, as Ted appeared.
"Believe me Tonks, I would have told you in an instant if I believed it was possible to, without risking the investigation," Harry added smoothly, his tone sincere and genuine. "But let's face facts, you're a rubbish liar; you display your emotions far too plainly, and someone would have certainly noticed that something wasn't right about your reaction and would have questioned it. Hi Andy, hi Ted."
"Sirius said you wanted to see us," Andy offered, taking charge of the exchange, whilst taking a free armchair, even as Tonks took the free seat next to Harry whilst holding on to him tightly, like he was going to escape at any moment. What surprised him the most was that Harry didn't shy away from Tonks' obvious affections, proving that his godson was truly evolving from that emotionally distant boy he had met the previous summer, which caused him to discreetly smile.
"First of all, will Lord Malfoy even still stand trial? Despite having no memory of his name, much less his crimes?" Harry asked.
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A/N : if we get 400 power stones by the end of the week, I will release an extra chapter ;)
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