The Intelligent Potter

*** Black Manor, 1981, after his duel with Voldy

Arcturus Black flashed into the living room of Black Manor, bleeding to his death on the luxurious carpet.

Tippy the house elf apparated into the living room, at the sound of Arcturus' arrival, a steaming tea platter already in her hands as she knew Arcturus would want.

With a loud shriek, the tea platter hit the floor and shattered on contact, as the house-elf put the Black Lord into a long-term stasis charm, similar to cryogenics that would prevent immediate death and apparated the dying man to the first aid centre of the house.

Thankfully for Arcuturus, he had made sure that his house elf was trained extensively in medication, and Tippy managed to get Arcturus out of critical condition quite quickly, however, it seemed that that Voldemort had laid several curses on Arcturus by the time the older man had managed to flee the fight.

For the next several years, Tippy nursed her master back to health, waiting for certain curses to run their course, and refusing to take him to St Mungos because of his own orders while he was half-lucid enough to slur out orders.

Until the year 1987, Arcturus healed, keeping himself a recluse from the world outside and eventually being declared a casualty of the war, until he was well enough to venture outside the fidelius-hidden manor.

After many awkward questions, he found that Voldemort had been defeated by his sister's grandson and his own grandson, Sirius had been placed in Askaban for betraying James and Lily Potter, preposterous!

He knew his grandson better than that.

He supported him fleeing to Charlus and Dorea.

He refused to kick him out of the family.

He believed in his grandson, but unfortunately the Black Family, led by his daughter had brought their name to ruin to the point where Sirius was arrested for basically nothing.

However, he couldn't get his grandson out of jail without evidence, and he knew he had to gather it.

The first thing he found when he enquired after the Sirius Black file is that, apart from the arrest under suspicion filings, there was no trial listing or any sentencing, so why was his grandson in Askaban!

After gathering all of this, he went and looked at the last letter Sirius had ever sent him.

Hey Gramps!

I know you haven't been replying to my letters for a while, and people suspect you're dead, but my owl finds you everytime. I hope you're okay wherever you are, either way, this is probably the last letter I'll send for a while. James, Lily, Remus, Peter and me are going into hiding. James and Lily made Peter the secret keeper on my suggestion, I'm playing decoy for him as this letter reaches you. Despite the fact that none of the marauders would EVER betray one of our own, Lily has urged me to write to you that in James and Lily's will, it is specified that Peter was their secret keeper as a contingency to keep me out of Askaban, not that we'd ever be betrayed,

Sirius

He had to get access to the Potters' will, which had not been read for some reason, which meant making contact with the Potter boy… the Potter boy who had been missing for the last decade…

Well then, his best hope of getting Sirius out of prison was locating the Potter boy.

*** September 1991

Harry Potter had finally returned to the Wizarding World!

Arcturus had tried writing several letters to him, but they had all been returned with the magical signature of Albus Dumbledore on them.

Bloody interfering nuisance.

He knew Albus was working for the greater good the way he always did, keeping Harry away from somebody who pretended to be a dead man and head of the Black family, but at this point, he was rather annoyed of the old man keeping Harry from contacting him.

There was only one way to get to Harry Potter now.

He would have to keep Albus.

*** Headmaster's quarters

Albus Dumbledore was relaxing in the living room of the Headmaster's quarters, a surprisingly luxurious suite when his fireplace turned green, something that surprised Albus, as his personal floo wasn't a public one and most people who had access to it were either… indisposed or unlikely to call.

"Yes?" Albus asked.

"Let me through Dumbledore!" the annoyed baritone of Arcturus Black called out.

Albus nearly had a heart attack.

"Come through…" Albus said, planning to ambush the man coming through his floo, as he was obviously the person who was imitating being Arcturus in the many letters to Harry.

The man stepped through the floo, and for a second Albus hesitated, the man really did look like his long-dead friend, but that was all the more reason for Albus to take revenge on the man spitting on Arcturus' grave by imitating him like this.

Dumbledore immediately shot a complex chain of spells, all meant to bind the intruder, with an elemental ice binding to follow up, a chain that, ironically, no one short of the real Arcturus Black or Voldemort would be able to break through.

But the intruder did, with relative ease too.

"Seriously Albus, you see an old colleague for the first time in f.u.c.k.i.n.g years and the first thing you do is try to chain me up?" Arcturus' voice broke the awed silence as his wand smoked lightly with the quick counters to the spells and the fire elemental magic that melted the ice chains.

"Arcturus…?"

"Yes it's me, you old fool, who did you think it was?"

"But… you're dead, I accepted that!" Dumbledore said numbly.

"I never died, do you think that upstart Dark Lord could take me out?"

Dumbledore grinned weakly, "You're the same as ever Black."

"So are you, you meddling old fool, reflecting all my letters to my grand-nephew."

Dumbledore looked slightly sheepish, "I thought that they were from dark families pretending to be you…"

"And what dark family would pretend to be another dark family to get on Potter's good side?"

"But you were-"

"-his grandfather's friend, but you know how dark my family is considered, especially with that misconception around my grandson…"

"Sirius Black… Arcturus, I know you've been out for a while, but Sirius Black betrayed James and Lily… I'm sorry Arcturus…"

"My grandson was imprisoned without a trial, he is innocent! He was their decoy, and the proof is in Potter's will, there's a reason I want to talk to the boy."

Dumbledore looked alarmed at the idea of Sirius being falsely imprisoned.

"I-I thought you were going to talk to him about the coming darkness…"

"So you think he's going to be the one…"

"There is a prophecy."

Arcturus raised an eyebrow, "It isn't often that the fates themselves handpick the frontrunner of the war themselves, how have you trained the boy?"

Dumbledore looked slightly embarrassed, "I'm letting him have his childhood, he needs to grow up properly."

"What nonsense are you speaking Dumbledore! Have you truly become senile in your old age! You know how close the darkness is, I know you can feel the grasp of the dark magic spreading! He must be trained at once, if he hasn't already been, it seems like there's one more thing to add to the list of things that I must talk to the boy about…"

Arcturus looked Dumbledore in the eyes.

"You know the boy will do well with your guidance as well, will you stick your head in the sand and leave he his training alone or aid me?" Arcturus asked with heat in his voice.

Dumbledore held Arcturus' gaze before nodding slowly.

"I will."

*** End of Chapter