Upon returning to the manor, the first thing Harry did was familiarize his new elves with the layout before giving them their assigned sleeping quarters. Or rather, giving them the places they requested.
Sweets asked for a small cupboard in the kitchen for her 'room', allowing her to move immediately whenever Harry would need something to eat or drink. Stumpy asked to use a small alcove in the greenhouse for himself, though he planned to move into the barn once it was finished to let him stay close to care for and protect the animals Harry planned to get. And finally Goggles moved into a closet close to the room that Harry decided to turn into his office, allowing him to respond whenever Harry needed him.
Their 'rooms' chosen, the three elves then started working on their own specific duties as Sweets began preparing dinner, Stumpy started cleaning around the manor, and Goggles joined Harry in his office as the Boy-Who-Lived went over his spoils from the night before.
"Haaa...." Harry sighed tiredly, as he never went to bed the night before. And while normally he would be used to going a few days at a time without sleep, his current body was still young and soft.
"Would the young master like some tea?" Goggles asked as he brought Harry a teapot.
"Thank you Goggles." Harry replied as he accepted the cup that elf poured for him.
Feeling slightly more awake once he finished his tea, Harry started pulling out all of the documents he had stolen from the Malfoy family, both at Gringotts and their home.
There were literal mountains of paperwork and even tomes where Lucius compiled his misdeeds and illegal activities, as well as several of those in prominent positions within the wizarding world in the form of blackmail and leverage.
One would normally think it was foolish for Lucius to keep such incriminating evidence around that could be used against him later, but that was without taking into consideration the context of where these documents were being kept.
The goblins of Gringotts were neutral in the conflicts of wizards, and had strict policies regarding the items and documents placed under their care by their customers. Even when entire families had been sent to Azkaban for serving Voldemort, they still maintained their vaults and records in case they were ever needed. None of it was ever turned over to the Ministry.
But now it was all in the hands of Harry, who also had a reporter in his pocket. It was just a matter of when and what he would give her to publish.
Shortly after Harry started going through the files though, he noticed a large beetle flying around his office before it landed on his desk.
Harry had just barely pulled out a knife to skewer it with, when the beetle suddenly transformed into the very same reporter he had been thinking about.
"Was it you?" She immediately demanded with a tone of excitement, as if she hadn't almost just been skewered by Harry's knife.
"Was what me?" Harry asked while playing innocent.
"This." Rita stated, pulling a newspaper from her robes and slapping it down on the desk in front of him.
Harry cocked a brow as he picked up the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet, on which there was a photo of Malfoy Manor, burned to the ground. A quick perusal of the article detailed how the only vault that had been stolen from was the Malfoy family vault, as well as the office holding all of the records of their dealings over the years. Additionally, the party responsible burned down their home and tortured their house elf with the Cruciatus curse afterwards as well.
Within a matter of hours, the Malfoy family went from being one of the wealthiest and influential families in wizarding Britain, to being completely broke and homeless. And the group responsible, the mysterious Thieves Guild, was now the center of a massive manhunt as the Ministry fought to bring them to justice, especially after they used an Unforgivable on the poor house elf.
"Ah, that." Harry said, before reclining calmly while narrowing his eyes at one of the accusations being directed towards him.
"And IF I was, what would you do?" He asked Rita curiously.
"I'd ask for the files you took from Lucius's office!" She immediately stated, practically drooling at the mere idea of juicy information she could gleam from those files.
"Hm..." Harry hummed in what seemed like contemplation, before he slid a large book towards her as well as a worn journal.
"What's this?" Rita asked, even as she flipped the first book open curiously.
"THAT, is what you are going to discover in one of your desk drawers tomorrow morning. Along with Lucius's journal, and this." Harry said as he pulled out a piece of fresh parchment and a quill to write with. And on that parchment he drew the same symbol that had been found in Lucius's vault, the mark of the Thieves Guild, before writing a note on it.
~~~
This is a message from the Thieves Guild to wizarding Britain. We are not dark wizards. We are merely an organization. A business.
The use of Unforgivable curses goes directly against our policies, as we are merely thieves. Not thugs or killers.
To Lucius Malfoy in particular.
Do not fuck with us.
We have every single dirty secret of yours, some of which has been included with this letter to make an example out of you. We know who you are, and what you are capable of. Do not try and pin your actions on us.
Sincerely, The Thieves Guild.
~~~
"I see... I discover this, and then the story becomes that the Thieves Guild is exposing the corruption of the Ministry?" Rita asked as she flipped through the pages of the book, which detailed the bribes Lucius made to manipulate various new laws and bills. The journal on the other hand detailed several Death Eaters and the things they did from his days serving under Voldemort, which was also evidence that Lucius himself willingly served the Dark Lord.
"Not exactly. The Thieves Guild is a business, not a righteous organization. The story right now is that we were hired to take the Malfoy family down, and made a show of it to display our prowess and skill. The evidence we needed to eliminate the influence of Voldemort's followers is just a bonus, and can be 'leaked' bit by bit over the next several months."
"Hahahahaha!" Rita cackled as she flipped through the book, and listened to Harry talk. It was obvious she was enjoying the current situation very much.
"So about this guild of yours..." She said after taking a moment to compose herself.
"It's just me right now. I'm hoping that everything I did will draw some decent talent out to hire." Harry stated, to which Rita nodded slowly in consideration.
"What all does this guild entail?"
"Well, aside from the actual thieves, I also need some fences for selling stolen goods, partners who will help finance the guild and allow us to spread our influence, and finally informants who can tell us of valuable items to steal, as well as general information about our marks. The most important thing to know is that we are THIEVES, not killers. I'm not starting a band of cutthroats."
"I see... I think I can help with that, provided that I get to be a part of your information network." Rita readily offered. It was obvious that the potential riches and juicy tidbits she could acquire from the guild were too tempting.
"I was hoping to put you in charge of that actually, as who is better informed than a journalist? Plus that little transformation you did tells me just how you can get all your scoops without anyone knowing. Also, wait right there."
Rising as he finished speaking, Harry quickly departed the office while leaving Rita and Goggles alone together, the house elf staring at her intently the entire time to make sure she didn't do anything questionable.
He returned a moment later with a pouch in one hand, and a set of brown leathers in the other.
"Here. Courtesy of the Malfoy family." Harry said as he tossed the pouch to Rita, which she opened to see it was filled entirely with gold coins.
"They truly are quite generous~!" Rita exclaimed, before Harry handed her the leathers.
"This is the uniform of the Thieves Guild. You don't have to wear them all the time, but I recommend you do if you're conducting official guild business." Harry told her as he retook his seat behind his desk.
"Oh, you shouldn't have..." Rita said in a dull tone as she examined them with a look of distaste.
"I personally made them. Not only will they protect you from most weaker physical attacks, but they are also enchanted to enhance your stealth, muffle your movement, and also protect you from most magical attacks. That's not even considering the other enchantments I put on them, like making it easier to unlock locks and steal from people without them knowing." Harry told her without looking up from the numerous papers in front of him, which he began to properly organize by importance to his current agenda.
"A-are you serious?" Rita asked him incredulously.
"No. Sirius is downstairs." Harry replied, earning himself another deadpan look.
"Fine then. I guess I can wear them when I'm collecting info. But for now I need to go. I have an entire book of delicious secrets to go through~!"
With that said, Rita promptly turned back into a beetle and began to fly away.
"If you find out about anyone that can act as a partner, then let me know." Harry called after her, but he wasn't sure if she heard him or not.
...
"Hahahaha! Serves you right you bastards!" Sirius cackled at the dinner table as Harry and Remus tried to eat.
"How many times has he read that already?" Harry asked Remus, gesturing to the special evening edition of the Daily Prophet that Sirius was holding.
"Ten, last I knew. It's probably double that now though." Remus replied while shaking his head.
"Hey! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to see some of these arseholes be knocked down a peg! I spent my entire childhood around them!" Sirius retorted, before going back to reading the paper as it detailed the burning of Malfoy Manor.
Harry shook his head wryly, playing ignorant as he turned his attention back to his dinner.
"Is Sweets's food to the young master's liking?" Squeaked a high-pitched voice suddenly, drawing Harry's gaze to the small female elf at his side.
"It's excellent Sweets. Thank you." Harry replied, making the small elf beam before she took his empty tankard and ran off to refill it.
"Sure is handy having them here." Remus commented idly.
"Yeah it is. I wonder if they'll rub off on Kreacher at all?" Harry mused while glancing towards the elderly house elf, who was peeping from one of the doorways as if they couldn't see him.
"Hm... Maybe it'll be his own professionalism and competitiveness instead?" Remus suggested, which Harry had to agree with.
Though he'd only interacted with them for a short time, it was obvious that house elves took great pride in their work and their ability to serve their masters, even though they were technically considered slaves. They kinda reminded him of the housecarls he'd received in Skyrim after becoming a Thane. Except they didn't cook and clean.
After dinner was done, as well as dessert, Harry decided it was time he discussed something with Remus since it appeared he had completely recovered from his transformation a few days back.
"Remus, I need to talk to you about something." Harry told the werewolf as the house elves cleared their plates, grabbing a goblet before they could take it as well.
"What is it Harry?" Remus asked while following him, along with Sirius as he grew curious.
"First, I need to show you something." Harry said as he stepped out into the frigid winter air, a few flakes of snow falling to join what was already piled around them. He then started to strip.
"Harry! I'm sure that whatever it is-" Remus started, before cutting himself off as Harry began to change form.
Pitch black fur that matched his hair sprouted all over his body. His arms and legs elongated, while also growing lethal claws on each finger. A tail sprouted from his backside, and his mouth elongated into a snout filled with razor-sharp teeth while his green eyes turned yellow.
"Merlin's beard!" Sirius swore, as the two of them looked up at a fully transformed werewolf Harry.
"Harry! What did you do?!" Remus exclaimed as a surge of emotions went through him, a mix of fear, despair and urgency.
Harry just ignored him though, and instead picked up the goblet where he dropped it with a couple of his claws, taking care not to damage it in the process. He then used one of his claws to open up a gash on his wrist, alarming the two other men, before allowing blood from the wound to fill the goblet.
Once the goblet was fairly full, Harry began changing once more as his figure shrank, the fur receded, and his eyes changed back to the green he was known for.
"And THAT-" Harry began once he had fully changed back. "Is a werewolf of Skyrim."
""...""
Both men were silent as they stared at Harry in disbelief, their brains apparently struggling to catch up with everything that just happened.
Harry didn't mind though, as he carefully set the goblet down and healed his arm, before pulling his robes back on.
"So you can do....THAT, whenever you want?" Sirius asked in awe.
"Not quite. It takes quite a bit of energy to make the transformation, and to maintain it. We can sustain it for lengthened periods of time by consuming the hearts of others though."
"You have to eat hearts?!" Remus exclaimed with a mixture of disgust and disbelief.
"You don't HAVE to, but it helps sustain the transformation, and eating enough of them will help you grow stronger too. The first night I transformed, I butchered and ate the hearts of like a hundred spiders in the Forbidden Forest." Harry told him, though that didn't seem to convince Remus or even Sirius. And the latter wasn't even the one Harry was offering the blood to.
Seeing the reluctance Remus had, Harry stated, "You can choose to drink the blood or not, its your choice. But there is no perfect solution to everything. By drinking it you will possibly remove the curse you are currently suffering from, and remove the stigma you carry in society. It would be hard for people to discriminate against you when they see you walking around during the full moon."
"But I might have to eat hearts..."
"And you will also have to maintain your own consciousness to prevent the wolf from taking you over completely. But on the other side you will no longer lose control during every full moon, and you will be able to remove the stigma once people see that. As I said before, the choice is yours, Remus."
The werewolf looked between the goblet and Harry for a few seconds, his mind deliberating over which choice to make, before finally he took the goblet from Harry's hand.
"Stand back a ways in case something happens." Harry quickly warned Sirius.
"I thought he would be able to control himself when he transforms?!" Sirius asked while backing away warily.
"He should, but the first transformation is more intense than the ones after it. He'll be lucid, but his animalistic urges will be overwhelming." Harry explained as Remus lifted the goblet to his lips, prompting Sirius to pull out his wand.
For a moment nothing happened as Remus drank the blood, every last drop. But then, he suddenly doubled over in pain.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Remus cried out, dropping to all fours as his body began to shift and change under his robes.
"What's happening?!" Sirius demanded.
"Like I said, the first transformation is the most intense. Plus, he's already a werewolf. In this world it's like a disease, so maybe my blood is burning the disease out of his body."
"MAYBE!?"
Though it looked as if Sirius wanted to say more, he was unable to as Remus's transformation began to speed up.
His body began to grow larger, larger than Harry's own transformation had been thanks to physical age difference, until his robes were literally torn off his body. Fur that matched his hair began to sprout all over his body, claws protruded from all of his fingers and toes, and his eyes turned a sickly yellow.
"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Remus howled the second the transformation finished, sending a wave of fear through the manor and the forest surrounding them, though Harry remained unflinching. He had felt that howl more times than he could count from Aela, and there was no way a fledgling werewolf would make HIM flinch.
Instead, Harry quickly threw a ball of potent bluish-green light at him.
"!!!"
Immediately, Harry noticed the tension easing out of Remus's arms and legs as the Calm spell took effect, his posture becoming relaxed instead. A moment later, the fur began to recede, the claws began to shrink, and his eyes changed back to their original color.
"Congratulations." Harry said as a naked Remus stood before him, gasping while looking around in a slight daze, until Harry lifted the over powered Calm spell from him.
"Welcome to the pack.