"So why is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement playing babysitter?" Harry asked madam Bones as they all settled into their seats on the Knight Bus, which had been parked in front of Kings Cross for all of the wizarding families to board to head home.
"Basically, I've been acting as your godfather's parole officer since he was released from Azkaban."
"But he was innocent?"
"Of betraying your parents and serving Voldemort. Had the circumstances been different, he would still have been charged with the crimes of being an unregistered Animagus, along with several other smaller crimes. The only reason no charges were filed was because he already served a longer sentence than he would have if he was charged for all of those. As it was, there were some who firmly believed that he should have been sent straight back to Azkaban once the trial was over."
Harry's expression darkened as a certain toad-like face came to mind, who he had no doubt was one of the ones advocating for Sirius to be sent back to prison.
"I'd like to see any of them try." Harry stated firmly, making Amelia look at him curiously.
"Well, leaving all of that aside, how was school?" She asked, forcibly changing the topic while looking at Susan curiously.
"School is amazing, aunty!" Susan declared excitedly, before she began to rapidly tell Amelia about everything that had been going on since the term began.
The ride to Potter manor was a fairly long one, since there were several stops the Knight Bus had to make along the way. Thankfully though, they weren't thrown around as chaotically as the other riders since Harry was secretly holding their chairs in place with his Telekinesis.
Along the way, Harry learned that the reason Amelia was picking Susan up was because his classmate was being raised by her aunt after her parents had been killed in the wizarding war with Voldemort. Something he mentioned they had in common, but he didn't elaborate how his life with his aunt had been before leaving them.
It was well into the night when they finally arrived at Potter manor, the sight of which hit Harry like a sack of bricks as he laid eyes on his new home for the first time.
He had requested a Nordic style long house that would remind him of home in Skyrim. What Harry was looking at though reminded him more of Dragonsreach in Whiterun.
The main materials used in its construction were wood and stone, and it had steep slanted roofs that were tipped with covered holes to allow ventilation for the smoke from the hearth inside. The main entrance reminded Harry of his home, Lakeview manor, which was an entry way that opened up to the main hall.
Behind the hall though was the main building, which consisted of several wings and dozens of rooms that Harry planned to put to use.
"This is your HOME?!" Susan exclaimed as the two of them stared up at it.
"Yeah... It turned out better than I expected." Harry answered, earning him a shocked look from her even as they approached the front door.
The interior was basic as several hooks protruded from the walls around them to take their hats, coats and anything else that needed to be left at the door. It was also there that Harry and Susan deposited their trunks to deal with later, though Susan and Amelia planned to leave via Floo Powder once the latter's business was over with.
Once that was done the trio stepped into the main hall, where they were greeted by noise.
"WELCOME HOME!" Sirius bellowed as soon as he saw Harry, while a notably pale Remus waved his wand to produce numerous popping noises and showers of sparks.
Despite himself, Harry couldn't help but to crack a smile as he saw the place for the first time.
Just as the manor reminded Harry of Dragonsreach outside, the main hall reminded him of it as well as a long hearth burned down the middle of the room, surrounded by a table in the shape of a horseshoe. The only thing missing was the throne at the other end.
Aside from the hearth, six large Christmas trees decorated the hall, one in each corner with two in the middle on either side. Magical icicles hung from the ceiling above them, while boughs of holly decorated the rafters along with bunches of mistletoe.
Most eye-catching of all though was the large banner that stretched across the hall, with the words 'Welcome Home Harry!' charmed to flash a multitude of colors on it.
"What do you think?" Sirius asked while beaming in anticipation.
"Very festive." Harry replied while looking around, before looking back at Amelia. "Did you know about this?"
"No..." She said while shaking her head in exasperation, and Susan was looking around in awe.
"Well, this IS my first Christmas as a free man in a decade!" Sirius stated pointedly.
"I also haven't had much reason to celebrate for the last ten years, so this is refreshing." Remus said from the chair where he was sitting.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked Remus with concern while sitting in the chair next to him.
"Getting better, especially ever since I had Sirius to keep me company again." Remus stated while his expression showed gratitude.
"Good. I actually wanted to talk to you about that, but we can wait until you're feeling better." Harry told him, not mentioning any details since Amelia was here as well.
"Alright then. I was planning to stick around until the holidays were over anyways, if that's alright with you." Remus said while also looking at Harry questioningly.
"Of course. You're welcome to stay as long as you want." Harry said as if it were obvious. The manor was quite large, so there was more than enough room, and Harry would only be staying himself until it was time to go back to Hogwarts.
"See Moony! I told you Harry wouldn't mind! Now let's eat!" Sirius declared while waving his wand, making several dishes appear on the table to make Harry's stomach rumble as he realized he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He had slept for just about the entire train ride after all.
"I think Susan and I should go." Amelia tried to refuse, only for Sirius to wave his wand and make a chair fly behind her to sweep her legs out from under her.
"Nonsense! You brought Harry here for me, so the least I could do is feed the two of you! Plus we can handle our business after we eat!" Sirius declared as if it were already decided, earning himself a pointed glare from Amelia that he readily ignored.
Soon however she and Susan, who had been staring hungrily at the food, were seated beside the three guys as they all dug in.
"So did either of you make all of this?" Harry asked between bites, which he washed down with some mead while Amelia looked on disapprovingly.
"Nah. Neither Moony nor I can cook to save our lives, and Kreacher is basically useless. I ordered it from a muggle catering service in the nearby town." Sirius explained, while Harry noticed a certain figure glaring at them all from one of the doorways.
"Just ignore him. Kreacher will grumble and curse us under his breath, but he's harmless. I'd have set him free already if it wasn't for the possibility that he'd have a heart attack if I did so." Sirius added when he noticed what Harry was looking at.
Rather than dwell on the elderly house elf, Harry instead looked between Sirius and Amelia as he asked something he'd been wondering about.
"Any news on Pettigrew?"
Both of them froze at the mention of the name of the person responsible for Sirius being sent to Azkaban, as well as the death of Harry's parents.
"Officially, Peter Pettigrew is at the top of the Ministry's most wanted list." Amelia answered slowly.
"And unofficially?"
"We can't actually search for him." She answered with no small amount of frustration in her tone.
"Really? But you ALWAYS catch the bad guy!" Susan stated in shock, to which Remus answered on Amelia's behalf,
"Not necessarily this time. Peter is an Animagus, and he has had ten YEARS to go into hiding before they even considered looking for him. At the very least, we would have to examine and interrogate every single rat in Great Britain just to find him."
"And that's not even considering the fact that he might have fled the country. BOTH sides are after Peter because of what happened that night. The Ministry because of him serving Voldemort along with betraying Lily and James, and the Death Eaters because they hold him responsible for the defeat of their Lord. It was Peter that sent him to Godric's Hollow after all." Sirius added, his expression a mask of tempered anger and frustration.
"So it's hopeless then..." Susan said sadly, to which Harry and the adults nodded in affirmation .
Harry couldn't even use the Clairvoyance spell to look for Peter himself due to the spell's limitations. Otherwise it would have been considered the strongest and most utilized spell in all of Tamriel.
They talked a bit more about Peter and the different places he might be hiding, before moving on to school and how Harry and Susan liked it so far. Amelia seemed shocked to hear about the troll attack on Halloween, while both Sirius and Remus appeared thoroughly entertained when Harry told them about the battle.
It was only when Susan stifled a yawn that Amelia finally decided it was time to end dinner.
"Sirius, we should go have our discussion now while they finish with dinner." She said to him.
"I can also give Harry and Susan a quick tour of the manor while you're at it." Remus offered as both Sirius and Amelia rose from their seats.
"Not too 'quick' there Moony." Sirius said with a wink, before he and Amelia left the main hall to have their discussion.
"Does he really think he's being slick?" Harry asked Remus in a hushed voice as the duo left the room.
"I think he's just glad to have actual physical contact with somone after being in Azkaban for so long." Remus replied just as quietly.
"So is he actually on 'probation'?" Harry asked curiously.
"Oh yeah he is. Its just that Amelia knows that Sirius is reckless, not dangerous." Remus explained while getting up.
"Alright, let's go check out the manor." He said, prompting Harry and Susan to do the same.
The first room they saw was the kitchen, which was in the west chamber off of the main hall. In it were numerous wood-burning stoves, plenty of counter space, and several cupboards and barrels for storage. Meanwhile there was a staircase that went down to a small basement separated into two rooms, one for a pantry, the other Harry planned to put some barrels to start brewing his own mead.
Opposite the kitchen was a lounge filled with a couple couches, a few plush chairs, and a small bar with an entire rack of alcoholic beverages behind it. Dominating an entire wall though was a large fireplace, tall and wide enough for a person to stand in with a small pot of Floo Powder sitting on the mantle.
After touring the lounge and kitchen, Remus then led Harry and Susan to the rest of the manor proper, starting with the library. That room was filled with shelves that were almost entirely empty, several comfty chairs to read in, and a large fireplace.
Next was the greenhouse, which was similarly filled with empty pots and planters that were just waiting for Harry to fill them with plants. Thankfully, his experiments with professor Sprout were proceeding nicely, and they had managed to see progress with some of the plants he had brought with him from Skyrim.
Aside from those two, the rest of the rooms in the manor were pretty much empty aside from the two that had been claimed by Sirius and Remus, and the master bedroom that belonged to Harry. There was also the actual basement that was separate from the pantry, where Harry planned to build a vault as well as a secondary workshop in case his trunk was unaccessible.
"So is it everything you imagined?" Remus asked as they returned to the lounge, grabbing Susan's trunks as they did so.
"It's excellent." Harry answered as he sat down in one of the chairs. "I already have a few plans for adjustments and decorations, but most of them will have to wait until after the term is over. For now though, I want to get a few house elves to keep the place running properly regardless of if I'm here or not."
"Hm... There is a place in Diagon Alley that specializes in helping house elves find work. They operate through branches all over Europe, Asia and even parts of Africa. You just need to put in a request for the amount of elves you're looking for, and the type of work you would need them to perform." Remus told him.
"Really? Then it looks like a trip to Diagon Alley is in order soon. You gonna be up for it?" Harry asked him.
"Of course. I also need to do some Christmas shopping myself, so a trip to Diagon Alley sounds good." Remus replied, right as the door opened to admit Sirius and Amelia.
"Hey all!" Sirius said when he saw them, a shit-eating grin on his face while Amelia was avoiding eye contact with them.
"Enjoy yourself?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sirius immediately answered, though his expression said otherwise.
"It is time for us to go, Susan." Amelia stated firmly, still avoiding eye contact with Harry and Remus as she walked right to the fireplace. A couple flashes of green flames later, and both girls had departed to leave the men alone.
"So..." Sirius said as he took the chair opposite Harry. "What do you think of the place, pup?"