The Veiled Vestiges

Disclaimer – This is a work of purely speculative fiction. It is not intended to infringe on any rights by and of the companies and/or individuals involved in the production of any series mentioned here. The characters involved are the intellectual property of their respective authors/creators except for the ones that are listed as an OC, which are mine.

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It all started with an almost quiet hum. A pleasant sound which was heard by all in the atrium. None really registered it though. The ministry atrium was known to house more than a few showboarding elements, this was probably another one of its kind. There were people going about their own way, moving to and from the various entrances provided for their convenience. Some of the reporters were also present, conducting last-minute interviews with many of the people who had been in the spotlight recently. The highly vaunted vultures had already picked their carcasses, it was time for the smaller ones to have their fill. And one such motley crew of seven junior reporters was hanging around in a secluded corner to ask questions of one Sirius Black.

He was surrounded by a few Aurors assigned on his protection detail. On account of the word of his sacrifice not having reached much of the populace still, the Minister's office in their vaunted wisdom, had arranged for an Auror guard for the man. And the man himself? He was very much distracted chatting up a newly promoted Junior Reporter from some across-the-pond newspaper that he understandably missed some of the conversations taking place around him.

"…so you decided to bring him to work? Are you completely daft? Do you know how much shit we would have to deal with if the Capt'n sees you with him while on duty? I do not, under any circumstances, want the boat duty again. You know that place scares the shit out of me, Johnson!"

"Yeah. Yeah. I hear ya. Don't get your panties in a bunch, Adams. Besides, what was I supposed to do, leave him with Cassandra for the whole day? That hag makes even the Captain uncomfortable. You would have liked had I left a five-year-old kid with her?"

"Of course not! But...Ughh. Look, just get him home quickly yeah? We gotta get this casanova back to the safe-house." He then turned his eyes towards the kid and gave him what he thought was an appropriately menacing stare before addressing him directly. "And kid, don't do anything stupid, get me?"

The small boy nodded his head fearfully.

It was at that time the Minister entered the atrium along with his staff and his personal Auror guards. As he arrived though, the soft melody that had been playing elated itself to a piece of grandiose music. Those who had their muggle roots still attached to themselves recognised the music to be a lovely little ditty called 'Entrance to the Queen of Sheba.' The Minister, seeing the effect of the music, smiled grandly to the public within the atrium and waved before departing.

It was within these few moments when the boy noticed that the attention had been lifted off of him, that he pulled a sickle out of his pocket and dropped it in the slightly enlarged wand pocket of the man in front of him.

He had certainly earned the two galleons in his other pocket now. And he could even tell his new friend about the prank he had pulled on the pompous prick standing in front of him, currently engaged in the recitation of one of his many secret adventures.

"…And here I was in the middle of a fearsome battle when it came to me, if not now, then when and if not me then who would be the most suitable to rid the world of two of the darkest wizards we had ever encountered. Knowing that I was very likely putting my life at risk, I enacted my plan and…"

An Auror interrupted him mid-sentence, "Mr Black, we need to move you to a secure location. The word about your innocence hasn't spread as much as we had hoped. It is better if we left now rather than chancing a run-in with a wannabe good samaritan," he said in a bland tone.

"It's Lord Black now Auror. Didn't you know? I can't see how you wouldn't, seeing as you were the one who escorted me to the Wizengamot chambers when I took my rightful place as the Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black amidst my peers. Keep things in mind, won't you? How you passed the academy with a memory like that is beyond me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to apologise to this lovely lady for leaving before giving her the story I had promised."

Turning towards the now thoroughly indulged woman, he flashed his brilliant smile and gave a shallow bow before taking her hand and kissing the air above her knuckles.

"I apologise, milady. It seems our dalliance must end for the night. I am sure I'll have the pleasure of being in your company again. Till then…Au Revoir."

Without looking back at her but knowing the blushing woman had most certainly become putty in his hands he moved towards the direction Aurors indicated.

"Thanks, Adams. I had just about run out of ways of getting myself out of an ambush by the Carrow twins. Drinks on me tonight," said Sirius.

"Sure thing Lord Black."

"Don't mock the title Johnson, I have earned it. Now, let's get out from here." He paused a moment as if trying to remember something. "What was the bar called again?" he asked at last.

A surly Auror to his left who hadn't spoken a word since he had been assigned to watch the pillock in front of him gave a grunted reply. "The Quiet Woman*, Lord Black."

A loud chuckle escaped him. "An impossibility I am afraid Auror," he remarked. "Nevertheless, let us see how quiet women of this place can be."

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Their party left the ministry taking the least conspicuous exit they could hope for in muggle London, the visitor's entrance, known popularly among the wizards as the 'feletone booth.'

It took a moment of distraction and a joyish scream of a boy to bungle it all. A split second. The sight of a muggle Ice cream truck ahead of the alley and an exclamation of childish desire was all it took for the trained Aurors to lose sight of their package.

"HEY! ICE CREAM!"

Sirius Black, being ahead of the party he was travelling with, was just about to turn towards the sound, his hand reaching for his wand in the robes when he inadvertently touched something that felt like a coin? in his pocket and felt a hook somewhere behind the navel as a word activated portkey took hold of him.

Recovering from the false alarm, the Aurors turned back to see the empty space where their quarry was just standing.

They would look everywhere. But neither his flowing black hair nor his hide would be found until much too late.

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It took quite a few moments for him to settle himself after the abrupt journey he had been forced to undertake. He did get himself upright though. Not that it did him any good. He was disarmed and bound almost as soon as his eyes lifted from the ground. A thoroughly hitched Sirius Black felt himself float towards an empty chair where he was unceremoniously deposited.

Darting around for a look in every direction to find his attacker, he screamed some of the harshest profanities he could muster at the moment. Realising that no sound had been coming from his throat, he snapped his mouth shut with an audible click. A soft tap took his attention and he was just about to turn his head towards his side as a voice coming from seemingly everywhere had him looking around in a futile attempt to identify his abductor.

"A clever one, aren't you?" The voice taunted even as a spell was sent forth towards him to allow him the use of his voice once again.

"…"

"Lord Black, as I do not wish to waste both of our times, well, mostly mine, considering it is much more important than yours at the moment, I will come directly to the point. How many, besides the minister's personal staff know of your little arrangement?"

"…"

"I see. That is a very telling answer. Normally, I would be able to gain much through your silence and would have even provided you with a choice between answering further and experiencing mind-shattering pain. However, at the moment, my time is, as I stated previously, quite a precious commodity. And considering you are just a…well, It would be generous to call you a puppet, but let's settle on it at the moment…as you are merely a puppet, I doubt you would know much. Thus, giving you any sort of choice is moot. More so, as the life of an innocent hangs in the balance, I cannot tarry. It would be prudent to just go through with it. Don't you agree, Mister Boardman?"

"…"

"I had at least hoped for a very dramatic gasp. No matter…"

"Legilimens."

A thrilling ride – which involved him barring down on his prisoner's less than useless mental shields – later he was coaxing the correct set of memories to find his answers. It took a while, but he got there in the end.

"… you need not do anything Mister Boardman except to keep your mouth shut. Do that and no one will be any the wiser. It has been five years since anyone has seen Black. Short of a blood test by the goblins, there isn't anything that can identify you. You both look somewhat similar. The lack of memories can be credited to some odd time that you had to be in the presence of the dementors to maintain your cover. And if all else falls short, I believe you have considerable experience from many of the productions, do you not? Its time to channel those long-forgotten skills…"

"…of course Madam Secretary, I understand. I will not fail you or the Minister."

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"…Robards, assign a light protective detail for him. See that no harm comes to him from anyone outside our control."

-x-x-x-x-x-

"…We need to clear the ground for Boardman's, shall we say, adoption of the role. Black needs to be disposed of. See that it is done, Gawain. Do it tomorrow. Preferably at night. Silently…"

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He came out of Boardman's mind as quietly as he had gone in. Seeing some of the memories in the forgotten singer's mind, he was quite certain that it was just a few people who were in the know. And given the fact that the Minister's personal staff did not consist of many, it was a safe bet that except Robards and Umbridge, there wasn't anyone involved. At least not directly. He would have to look into that. But that was for later. Priorities needed to be set. And tonight one such task took the aforementioned priority. The bitch had said tomorrow night.

That was tonight.

With a negligent wave of his hand, the bound Stubby Boardman was stunned, even as he moved past the door.

He had a lot of preparations to do.

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Imperius Curse was an Unforgivable. Most theories based on its effects stated that it gave the caster complete control over a person. Others stated that until the moment the caster wanted, the person was in complete control of himself and the spell merely gave the caster sort of an "in", for the lack of a better word, inside the person's mind. From what he had found and experienced, it was something in between. Complete control was indeed what it gave that caster, along with the control of all his extremities. It was a lot like possession without actually possessing the person. Though it was severely dependent on the will of the person the imperius was cast on. Many having a hard enough will, would never crack. For those, the triggers came into play. The "in" that was established based on triggers could work indefinitely depending on the power that the cast applied every time a trigger was initiated. But then it basically leeched off the casters magic at an exponential rate.

He should know. He had done it countless times.

Capture an unlucky new recruit that Noseless' minions had assigned a fairly mundane mission to. Wipe the shit out of his memories. Imperius him to be a 'magical suicide bomber' and voila. More resources from the station he just bombarded at zero costs. No. That was untrue. The cost was always there. The price was just not always in gold. Sometimes it took a bit of his humanity to purchase something for his motley crew.

He didn't have any such qualms this evening. It was something that just needed to be done. Without involving any of the usual elements.

Eyeing a tall wizard dressed in the typical dark robes and a hooded face about to enter a brothel house on the outskirts of Knockturn, he made his move. Stumbling with him on purpose and moving rapidly away was always going to make the man come after him. Turning to a dead-end made sure that his quarry followed to 'teach him a lesson'. A quick turn about and a stunner was all it took to take down the man. Either the quality of these seemingly dark wizards had been getting lower by the day or he was so used to fighting his fights to death that these little pissants didn't even register as a threat.

A side-along apparition later, he was in an abandoned alley in London. A quick incantation of "Imperio", had the man completely at his mercy. Fortunately for him, Harry simply wanted a mouthpiece for the moment. Testing the control, he had the man do some quick movements. Satisfied with the results, he** moved.

Crossing the road to reach the only place capable of providing him with the resources for the mission with his almost empty pockets, he lifted his eyes to see the rackety board above.

'Terrance's Drama Company.'

Reaching the space they called their office, he rung the little bell at the centre of the table. When a portly man came from behind, he addressed his query.

"Hullo. I am David. How would you like to make a few Quids?"

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Contrary to popular belief Azkaban was not a very populated place. Neither in terms of its guards nor the prisoners. There were three levels that went from minimum to high-security, based on the degree of interaction between the prisoners and the real guards that were the Dementors of Azkaban. Besides them, there was a single officer who supervised the duties of the guards, the warden. Conveniently, his duties and position had him living mostly off the island prison. At any moment there were only three guards stationed at any of the levels, less if that level was in the high-security region. Sirius Black was a residence of a high-security cell known for housing the worst of the worst. These were the reason that allowed the minister to even think about pulling off his current scheme. There were witnesses, Sure. But their numbers were quite manageable. Especially for a prisoner such as Black. There were still plenty of speculations abound regarding his role in the war, there were plenty that didn't take the ministry on their word, but that was what they had hoped for because that meant that things could be manipulated quite easily then. As was happening presently.

It was half-past eleven when the boat came near enough to be seen. He was laying in the shadows within the bushes nearby as he controlled David to hide with his current collaborators silently beneath the docks. They had been waiting for an hour already and he was sure that if there had been any longer, he would have had to field some very uncomfortable questions from the people that surrounded him. Knowing that those with him would require minute directions, he signalled toward the boat.

Seeing the nearest man nod, he moved David slowly towards the sandy end of the shore on the other side of them.

As the boat came nearer he could finally hear some snippets while others were drowned by the churning sea.

"…Do you think we should just do it on the boat and toss him in there?" came the voice of one Auror asking his partner as he gestured toward the open sea.

"No. Robards said to do it on the level and to make sure his corpse had burnt to ash before nicking ourselves to make it seem like he tried to run. We have been over this. Don't be a chicken, Bailey," his partner replied sternly.

"I am not being a chicken. It's called self-preservation, Jones."

"Yeah? How about I teach you the real meaning of self-preservation by obliviating the shit out of you here and now? One less mouth breather to worry about…No? Then shut the fuck up and do as we've been ordered to do." Bailey shut his mouth quickly after that.

As soon as the guards touched the ground, heaving the unconscious and disgustingly smelling body that was a barely alive Sirius Black, fresh from Azkaban, he struck.

A little spell to trigger the delayed anti-portkey and apparition wards surrounding the beach area, to secure their targets from going out and a red spark from his wand to the sky brought their attention to his spot as he apparated near his collaborators. As soon as the Aurors turned their heads in the direction of the red sparks lighting the sky, he signalled the people behind him to initiate the plan. He himself had the task of running forward to reach his targets before they gathered their frayed nerves. A stunner left David's wand and struck the one near to the shore. Another one, a banishing hex this time was well on its way even before the first Auror was down.

Seeing his partner hit with something was enough for Jones to realise they had been made. Someone, multiple someones had joined the party and he had no clue as to what their motives could be. He lept aside from the oncoming spell and fired back his own. Hiding behind the boat he engaged the one hooded figure coming straight ahead presumably for him. He could see his opponent was getting tired as his movements became a bit slow and jerky. Thinking he had the person on the ropes, he decided to press his advantage. A bone breaker and a stunner combo left his wand even as he prepared to capture the fool who had the audacity to attack him. A moment of brevity was his undoing as another hooded figure suddenly attacked him with the paddle of the boat, knocking the wand out of his hands.

Jones knew he had been defeated as soon as the wand left his hand. While every Auror had to go through the conditioning required to withstand torture, he was a bit skittish to give his soon to be captors such a chance. With both hands clearly visible he indicated his surrender. The confusion was still present on his face though as he tried and failed to understand was why there was only one person who had his wand out and why, in spite of being seven of them, two were holding the boat paddles. His confusion reached further heights when he heard some of what they were saying to him.

"…you mangy cur. You dare to murder the royal blood when we, the most loyal of the royal line still live. You dare attack us with your evil magic. You shall be hanged in the middle of the town even as the crows feasted on your flesh. Nothing will stop us from…" A deep voice interrupted him.

"That's enough Sir lionel! I do not think that our words would pierce his thick skull much less his warped mind. The witch has gotten her claws in him too deep I'm afraid. It is time we left. The king would be waiting for news. We have to reach the palace post haste. We cannot tarry. Knight Percival, bind the heathen after I have given him a little taste of our might." David said before moving towards Jones with his wand tucked in his sleeves. A muttered and discrete cast and Jones was out like a light.

"…Aaaand CUT! That was some brilliant work gentlemen. I have not seen such authentic performances from even those bastards on Carthwick street. Right. As you were told, the permit for the shooting in this area expired around midnight. Your cheques have already been delivered to James at the reception. I need to take these actors back to their hotel. No matter their insistence, I cannot simply let them lie here, even if they call it method acting. Now if you all would just gather here, I would present you with the certifications. Yes, here. Come forth Samantha, you were wonderful tonight. All gathered… Good.

"Obliviate Vinicio."

"You all performed admirably tonight. After the shoot and meeting the director, you received information about how you will be contacted further. Then you decided to walk around the beach to celebrate for a bit. That is how you found yourself in the public section of the beach. You are content and consider it to be a fulfilling experience." With that, he levitated a rope around them all and activated the portkey.

As soon as they departed, David dropped like his strings had been cut.

A heaving and heavily perspiring Harry came from the bushes he had been hiding in. It had been years since he had to control anyone for this long. He had almost lost control during the fight with the Auror. It had been a very close call. He couldn't let himself be seen and if David had been taken out, that's exactly what he would have had to do. Taking a few moments to calm his ragged breathing, he went near the emaciated body of his godfather. Sirius was looking somewhat similar to how he'd seen him during his third year. Worse probably, considering he hadn't had a chance to scrounge something edible like he did when he had escaped that hell-hole. Securing Sirius' body with his own using a conjured rope tied around them, he disapparated to plan for the newest complication in his life.

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~ Review Please ~

A/N – Here is some of the stuff I have used in the chapter, just in case anybody wants to know.

(*) – There actually is a pub named 'The Quiet Woman' in Earl Sterndale, Buxton. There's a ghostly tale attached to this. Supposedly, the pub is named after a woman called Juthware who was decapitated in the nearby church by her brother. Her body picked up her severed head and placed it upon the altar before finally dying. And now, inevitably, she haunts the place. But at least she does it quietly. Source – Buzzfeed.

(**) – It refers to Harry controlling David.

(Obliviate Vinicio) – Similar effects to obliviate, it just works for multiple people at the same time. But the power is a major factor in this case and for every person added to the spell's effect, the power requirement increases greatly.