Potters in Peril

It was a pleasant summer day in London. The sun shone brightly. The song of birds and laughter of children ringing out amongst the silence. Nestled in between two houses in a quaint cul-de-sac known as Grimmauld Place, stood a house painted a deep black. It looked out of place among the colorful walls of the neighboring houses, but nobody seemed to notice. The neighbors had never met the occupants of the house, as every time they tried to approach it, they remembered something important. Unknown to them, this was the effect of a powerful Muggle-Repelling ward. The house in question was known as 12 Grimmauld Place, the ancestral home of the Black family.

Despite the joyful atmosphere beyond its walls, the air was thick with tension. Inside the study, two men sat facing each other. One one side sat a regal-looking man with salt and pepper hair and steely grey eyes. He was dressed in a luxurious silk cloak that reflected his wealth and status and twisted a sleek black walking stick in his hands as he stared at the man opposite him. The cane was made of dark ebony and was topped with a silver raven with rubies for eyes as a handle. His face was adorned with a scowl that accentuated the age lines on his face.

Sitting across from him was a man with fully grey hair and soft brown eyes. He was dressed in a Muggle business suit that wouldn't look out of place in the Financial District. It was a light charcoal 3 piece suit with thin blue pinstripes. A sky blue linen dress shirt and a dark navy tie in a Windsor knot gave a sense of tradition. The outfit was completed with a pair of tan wholecut oxfords with an elegant chisel toe. The entire outfit gave a bespoke vibe that told of the man's wealth and influence. It was an odd juxtaposition between Victorian and modern fashion that was on display in the study.

Arcturus Sirius Black III sighed as reached for the glass of whiskey on the table beside him. He slowly sipped the dark golden liquid and let the taste slowly wash over his tastebuds. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the smoky taste that left a pleasant caramel aftertaste. "Say what you want about Muggles, but they sure know how to make excellent whiskey. I remember wanting something different than Ogden's and it was Sirius of all people that gave me the bottle. At the time, I nearly hexed the boy into next week for giving me Muggle-made alcohol. After a taste, my opinion was changed. Feel free to drink as much as you want Charlus, as Merlin knows we're going to need plenty of it to get through this talk."

Charlus Henry Potter sighed as he mimicked Arcturus' actions. The whiskey was indeed pleasant and smooth, but he was not about to admit to having collected better ones. Arcturus would then hold all their meetings at Potter Manor to raid his liquor cabinet. "Arcturus, this is a serious problem. These attacks are getting out of hand. Just the other day, Dorea and I were strolling through Diagon Alley when those bastards came. They were wearing black robes and cloaks with hoods along with white masks that resembled skulls. They threw dark curses and Unforgivables around like candy. 3 businesses were torched and several people injured or dead. I honestly think that it has come time for the Old Guard to step in."

Arcturus kept his gaze on his whiskey as he contemplated Charlus' words. The fact that Dorea was among the injured in the attack had incensed him. 'When I find out who these jokers are, I'm going to enjoy breaking them.' He looked up and spoke. "Needless to say Charlus, I will find out who participated in the attack and educate them on what it means to strike a member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. How is Dorea doing by the way?"

Charlus sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Dorea is fine. She was in shock for a little while afterward but quickly collected herself. She ignored her injuries and started to triage and treat the casualties before the Auror's started arriving. I wanted to take her to St. Mungos immediately, but she wasn't having it. You know how she can be when she goes into nurse-mode." Arcturus gave a light chuckle as he recalled his sister. She was a stubborn and headstrong mediwitch and Merlin help anyone who prevented her from treating her patients. "It was a good thing she fought me. It was only later that the healers told us that her emergency care saved the lives of almost all the patients. Some of them were too far gone, but sadly, that tends to happen in war."

Arcturus' eyebrows rose slightly as he regarded Charlus' last statement. "War, my friend? We fought in an actual war, this is nothing but simple terrorism. At the very least, the tactics used by these shameless 'Death Eater' whelps don't speak of any overarching goal. They probably get their jollies by hurting others and when the Aurors catch them, they'll be sent on a nice little one-way cruise to Azkaban." Charlus glared at his drinking buddy, his eyes hardening at the memories of battle. Arcturus and himself had distinguished themselves on the frontlines against Grindelwald and his lieutenants.

The war had been a long and bloody one with massive casualties on both sides. Every day could have been their last, and it was only due to them working together that they survived. It had brought the Potters and Blacks closer than ever before and set the stage for Charlus' marriage to Dorea. At the time it was quite the controversy. The House of Black had a certain reputation as being staunchly Pureblood, and the thought of a daughter marrying a man from House Potter was inconceivable to many. Potters had been the voice of Muggleborns and had even had a history of marrying them every so often. Many in the Black family had been outraged that Dorea was marrying someone they considered to be a blood-traitor. Arcturus had silenced them by giving the marriage his blessing as Lord Black. Anyone still unsatisfied was told to take it up with Charlus, which no one ever did. Despite their opinions, every single member of the Black family knew how formidable Charlus Potter was. He was equal to, if not slightly stronger than Arcturus, who was an extremely skilled wizard in his own right.

Charlus had earned a reputation as a man who didn't tolerate nonsense and held firm to his beliefs. He didn't sugarcoat his opinions or hide his position, which gained him a lot of respect in the Wizengamot. Unlike most of the other Lords, he lived a modest, yet comfortable lifestyle. He never showed off his considerable wealth and maintained his family's privacy with dogged persistence. Not many knew anything significant about the Potters and their history. The family traditionally stood in the Grey faction but tended to lean towards and vote with the Light faction. At the same time, they also did not appreciate the Ministry of Magic's steady encroachment on their rights. They perched themselves on the fence between the Traditionalists and the Progressives. However, they did not at all tolerate the Pureblood faction that tried to pass bigoted laws to benefit their agenda.

Their stance had earned the family a lot of goodwill from both sides of the aisle and many were appreciative of Charlus' honor and integrity. Nevertheless, the family was reclusive and rarely forthcoming. Potter children were never announced grandly with parties and the like. They oftentimes just turned up on the Hogwarts Express and that was how other families learned of their existence. It was how the family had operated for years and it had been the same way with Charlus' only son James.

The only interaction that James had before attending Hogwarts was with his parents. As the couple's only son, he had been spoiled quite a bit and his behavior when he first arrived had been utterly abysmal. It wasn't until the attacks started ramping up in his 6th year that he finally started showing maturity. His maturing had attracted his long-time crush, Lily Evans and their relationship had blossomed from there onwards. They went on to become Head Boy and Girl, an achievement that filled Charlus with pride. Shortly after Hogwarts, they had married and Charlus had walked Lily down the aisle after her father had passed. He couldn't help but feel proud of his daughter-in-law. Despite being a muggleborn witch, she showed tremendous magical talent and respect towards the Old ways. Her intellect and voracious appetite for knowledge had endeared her to him and his wife. Dorea initially had some reservations of her only son marrying a muggleborn, but after meeting her prospective daughter-in-law, she had immediately given her blessing.

The marriage had attracted quite a few headlines as the match was controversial, to say the least. Charlus couldn't help but draw equivalence to his marriage and had helped keep any poisonous rhetoric to a minimum. Shortly after their honeymoon, the couple had returned to England and were given a little cottage in the village of Godric's Hollow as a wedding present from Charlus and Dorea. Lily had been offered a job with the Unspeakables and James had joined up with the Aurors. Charlus had reservations at the time and tried to persuade James against such a dangerous occupation, but James had been stubborn. He and his cousin Sirius had graduated from the Auror Academy together and were proving to be quite the team.

Their partnership reminded him of the one he shared with Arcturus. Although they had never been close at Hogwarts, their reputations had preceded them. Both of them knew of the other and during the war were forced to fight together on numerous occasions. They had found the synergy between them effective and had gone on to form the most feared Battle-mage duo in the entire war. Even Grindelwald himself had nearly fallen to them and spent the rest of the war avoiding engaging them again. Those on Grindelwald's side learned to never mess with the Potter-Black duo and avoided confronting them.

He had met Dorea after Arcturus had taken a particularly nasty Dark curse from one of Grindelwald's lieutenants. Despite him recommending Arcturus to stay in the ICW Field Hospital, he had chosen to Floo to one of the Black properties. It just so happened that Dorea Black had been staying there at the time. She had been instrumental in helping keep Arcturus alive while Charlus attempted to find a counter-curse from the extensive Black family library. Through their combined efforts, they were able to save him. Although not meeting under the best circumstances, they slowly fell in love. By the end of the war, Charlus was set to ask her to marry him. It had taken some time for Arcturus to warm up to the idea, but he eventually did and gave his blessing.

It had taken them many years of trying to realize that they might not be able to have children. Charlus somewhat blamed the war and how many Dark spells he had taken. It had been quite disheartening and was a weight on their minds. Just as they had finally decided to stop trying, Dorea had found that she was pregnant. To say that Charlus was happy was an understatement. He had immediately Floo'd over to Arcturus' house with the finest bottle of Ogden's in his collection and proceeded to get plastered with him. Arcturus had also been overjoyed that his friend was able to continue his family line. He had accepted immediately when Charlus asked him to be the child's godfather and couldn't wait for it to be born. James Charlus Potter was born eight months later and both Charlus and Arcturus spent the entire week celebrating.

Raising James had been a real endeavor for both Charlus and Dorea. With the Potters' ingrained sense of paranoia and privacy, they didn't visit with others and kept any news of James from getting out. He had grown up being lavished with gifts as the couple's only child and had shown himself to be magically gifted. After his first bout of accidental magic when he was 1, Charlus called in a favor with Arcturus to get his son's magical potential measured. The Department of Mysteries was the only organization in Britain that had the proper equipment to calculate a wizard's potential and all scores were kept secret. Every single Ancient family had their sons/daughters tested after their first bout of accidental magic. The results of the test were astonishing.

The Unspeakable in charge of testing had shown up at Potter Manor and was curt in his manner. The way he went about it, it was as if Charlus and Dorea were wasting his time. Despite being a little miffed at the treatment, they relented and hurried to get James tested. The Merlinian Scale was a system of measurement that was developed by the ICW to measure the magical potential of infants. The power scale was ranked from bottom to top: squib, wizard, warlock, sorcerer, grand sorcerer, magus, archmagus and finally, grand archmagus. Unit wise, anything less than 50 was a squib. 51-99 was a wizard, 100-139 was a warlock, 140-179 was a sorcerer, 180-199 was a grand sorcerer. The scales used by the Unspeakables had a limit of 200 as they did not have the equipment to properly measure anything above that level. Once an individual passed 200 on the Merlinian Scale, the difference between the ranks became convoluted and only the Mage Association knew the criteria for categorization. It was something they kept a closely guarded secret.

The test only showed potential, but it also depended on the child to grow into their power properly. In most cases, if a child applied themselves, they could find that their potential increased as they magically matured. However, even if they didn't, the latent power of their magic would ensure they still ranked in their category. The Unspeakable proceeded to take out the ruler and cast the revealing spell and was shocked by the results. The numbers kept climbing higher and higher until they stopped near 177. When they saw that number shining above James' head, all the adults in the room were gobsmacked. Seeing such a number caused a profound shift in the Unspeakable's attitude as he profusely apologized for his previous conduct and congratulated Charlus and Dorea. James had the potential to be a sorcerer and possibly a grand sorcerer. Even if he didn't apply himself, he would easily be one of the most powerful wizards of his generation in Britain.

Both parents were ecstatic about the result but were advised by the Unspeakable to not tell anyone they didn't trust with their son's life. Even then, securing a Secrecy Oath was a must. With how important secrecy was to them, they both declared James' result a Potter family secret. The family magic worked its wonders and immediately protected the secret and locked it away in the Unspeakable's mind with no way to retrieve the information. He would not be able to talk about it at all and could only give a fake number that showed James to be slightly above average if ever asked. Needless to say, the Unspeakable was angry but understood their decision.

They treated James even better from then on and always encouraged him to expand his spell repertoire and exercise his magic. He turned out to be a notorious prankster, having a mischievous streak a mile wide. His gifts seemed to be centered in Transfiguration and he proved to be quite the prodigy. When he was attending Hogwarts, he and his gang, The Marauders, made copious use of his skills in transfiguring objects. Some of their pranks were legendary and James was the driving force behind most of them. It was an odd way to learn, but James ended up learning a lot and specializing in Transfiguration. His skills were recognized to the point that Minerva McGonagall, one of the premier Transfiguration Mistresses in Britain, offered him an apprenticeship. It was at that point the war had started to ramp up, and James decided he wanted to be on the front lines.

Now, Charlus found himself in a tough situation. James had approached him a few weeks ago and told him some worrying information. A prophecy was made about a child that would be born near the end of July who had the power to destroy the Dark Lord. Albus had heard this prophecy, but so had a terrorist spy. The spy went on to tell the leader of the terrorist group known as the Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort. Normally, this wouldn't bother Charlus in the least, as he never really paid stock to divination and prophecies. The problem was that Lily was expecting his grandson around that time. With the attacks escalating and the death toll rising, he wouldn't put it past Voldemort to target his son's family. It also didn't help that James had been fighting against these jokers for a while in his capacity as an Auror. He and Sirius were well-known to them and found themselves targeted for killing numerous dark wizards. This was exactly the kind of situation he wanted to avoid, but Fate wasn't going to allow his family reprieve. He just had to make the best out of a bad situation.

It was why he found himself asking for Arcturus' aid. The Black family was mired in secrecy and nobody knew just how many properties they had. If he could just convince James and Lily to leave the country and stay under Fidelius at one of these properties, all would be well. The problem was the Ministry was compromised, beyond any reasonable doubt. International portkeys would be heavily scrutinized and he did not want to leave breadcrumbs to follow. He was certain that the Black family had covert, slightly less than legal methods to travel out of the country. The only problem he was facing now was convincing his pigheaded son to go through with the plan.

When he had brought the possibility up with James, it had devolved into a shouting match. James had all but accused him of being a coward and that had set him off. The furious shouting match that ensued was the biggest row they had ever had. He told his son in no fewer words that he would fight to the death to protect them, but only if they were safe. James had refused, mentioning that Dumbledore had the idea to put their cottage under the Fidelius charm. Charlus had countered with agreeing to let them stay in the country, but only behind the ancient wards of Potter Manor. James again refused to listen to him and assured him that all would be well. He would choose Sirius as his Secret-Keeper and all would be well. The plan was so slapdash that it made him question whether his son and his family would survive.

"Arcturus, your godson, and grandson have gone and involved himself with Dumbledore's vigilante group. I heard through the grapevine that they've been responding to Death Eater attacks and fighting against them. I thought my son would realize how unsafe it is and listen to me, but he's gone and convinced his pregnant wife to fight with him. They go around throwing stunners and body-binds when the enemy is casting Unforgivables at them. Dumbledore is advocating non-violent tactics against these scumbags that target women and children. One day, they are going to lose, and I sincerely hope that it doesn't cost them their lives or my grandson."

Arcturus slowly leaned forward and picked up the bottle of Glenmorangie. He uncorked it and poured them both another 3 fingers. Whenever Charlus started his ranting, he tended to need a drink to settle down. Goodness knows he wasn't happy with his grandson, Sirius. The boy had the most potential among all the Blacks to succeed him as Lord Black. His father, Orion was a henpecked coward who couldn't stand up to his demented hag of a wife, Walburga. Merlin knows how he begot such a limp-wristed pansy for a son, but that's how things turned out. If anything, he also wanted Sirius to join James and Lily when they went into hiding. The war had created a schism in the Black family, especially when most of his brother's children were Death Eaters, or sympathetic to the cause. The time for him to intervene had been drawing closer with each successive newspaper article about the latest actions of the Death Eaters. The recent attack on Dorea was the final straw. If any of his family foolishly thought a Black would bow to any lord, Light or Dark, they had another thing coming. It was time for a Black Family Meeting. With that in mind, he sipped his whiskey and started to plan their next move with Charlus.