Harry Potter Squib Tales Chapter 79: A Thorny Path

Chapter 79: A Thorny Path

Sir Briar did not let the matter lie. I hadn’t expected him to. A man like him cannot stand being made a fool of or defeated. He needed a win, and he was getting desperate for one.

That was why, following the attempted break-in and follow-up kidnapping attempt, Sir Briar decided to stop trying to do things the criminal way, and instead focused on what he honestly should have been doing from the start: leveraging his legal connections to crush me via the law.

A dozen lawsuits were delivered to my office three days after I thwarted his schemes. Four were completely hooey, the sort of thing even a crooked judge would throw out for being ridiculous. The other eight, unfortunately, were not so easily dismissed.

One was about zoning law violations for one of the warehouses connected to Cauldron Remedies, three were about discrepancies in the taxes for my waste removal business, another two were about contract disputes for some my employees, and the final pair of lawsuits were from people who claimed my products had caused some sort of life-threatening allergic reaction.

Of them, the latter two were the most worrying as they could balloon into bad publicity for me and my company, followed by the taxes being the next biggest threat. You do not mess around with the government’s money!

The others I had a good feeling I could handle without too much issue… assuming Sir Briar didn’t try and do something to draw them out.

“Get my lawyers on this,” I instructed, and my secretary nodded briskly.

I had contracts with Archibald Tarworth’s legal practice, with several lawyers and attorneys on retainer, and I was glad I’d maintained a relationship with him over the years, even after no longer needing his help to set up my identity or establishing my first businesses. They would handle the frivolous cases, while also looking into how bad the others would be for me.

‘This… could become a problem,’ I thought bitterly, drumming my fingers on the desk as I looked at the documents that had been served to me. I had a feeling more would appear soon, even if I did get rid of these current lawsuits.

A few minutes later, the phone on my desk rang, and I grabbed it off the cradle. “Hello. Edward Rose, here.”

“Ed, it’s me, Archibald,” my lawyer said over the line.

“That’s quick, I only just contacted your firm,” I said, though I felt a tingle of unease run down my spine.

“About that,” he began, and I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. “My partners and I have been contacted by certain people, and some… suggestions were made that we do not represent you during the lawsuits.”

“So, that’s how Sir Briar is going to do things,” I muttered.

“I am sorry,” Archibald said, voice laced with misery. “There is not much I can do when the pressure comes from my own partners alongside from outside forces.”

“If you cannot help, then I will have to find another way,” I declared firmly. Then, a thought struck me. “Wait, if you cannot offer official help… what about something off the record?”

“That may be doable,” Archibald replied. “So long as I do not actually agree to take on your cases, I can still look over them and see what they are up to. And, I can offer advice on how to handle them.”

“Sneaky. I like it,” I chuckled, before getting serious. “There is nothing else you can do?”

“Not right now,” he replied apologetically. “And not beyond what I’ve already offered.”

“Then that will have to be enough,” I grunted.

“Again, I am sorry,” Archibald sighed. “Will you be alright?”

“I’ll find a way to deal with this. That old man doesn’t know who he’s messed with!” I declared, though the bravado rang a bit hollow without any legal representation to work with.

Archibald apologized a third-time, then hung up, leaving me with more problems to deal with. Only this time, my legal team had just been gutted by a single phone call. I still had people on staff whose job was all about legal matters, but without Archibald’s firm, I had much less ability to deal with this.

‘And I still have that meeting to attend to tomorrow,’ I thought, running a hand over my face. My co-conspirators needed to discuss what was happening, and what to do about Sir Briar.

‘Soon,’ I thought to myself, grabbing one of the files on the desk so I could see what sort of crap I was faced with. ‘For now, though, I have to deal with the problems piling up in front of me.’

111 &&& 111

‘Finally!’ I thought as I locked up my office for the night. ‘I thought it would never end!’

For the past day, I’d been running around, putting out fires. So many problems had been cropping up, all of it due to Sir Briar and his antics. The lawsuits were straining my small legal team without Archibald’s help.

‘Not to mention, some vultures are starting to circle,’ I thought.

Certain people believed that because I was in a pickle, I was an easy mark. Quite a few ‘concerned investors’ offered to take the companies off my hands and deal with the legal issues themselves.

I hadn’t been born yesterday, though, and declined them all. Some had been Sir Briar’s patsies, others had been working with Delilah’s father, and others were just opportunistic scumbags.

Of course, I made sure to make notes of who had made offers so I could crush them later for their arrogance. Once I’d bested Sir Briar, they’d feel my wrath. I wasn’t going to let anyone think I could be bought out so easily. Or at all!

However, that was something for later. Even though I was free for the evening, I still had places to be. My work wasn’t quite over yet.

I bid farewell to some of my employees on my way out, greeted the vampires who were starting the night shift, and walked outside with a smile. My car was waiting for me in its parking spot, and I climbed inside.

Half an hour later, I was pulling up outside of Grimmauld Place. The place was as gloomy as ever, even if Sirius had tried to spruce up the exterior so it no longer looked like a crumbling, neglected townhouse.

‘Hope they don’t mind I’m a bit late,’ I thought to myself as I got out of the car. I must have hit every red light on the way over!

Walking up to the front, I used the doorknocker, which was shaped like a dragon, to let them know I was here. When I let go, it suddenly reared up, the dragon’s head twisting to stare at me.

“Name?” it demanded in a terse, Cockney accent.

“Uh, Edward Rose,” I replied. It grunted and turned back into a regular doorknocker, and a second later the door swung open, letting me inside.

I passed by the wall where the portrait of Sirius’ mother had previously been, glad to see he’d removed it and replaced it with a cheerful landscape portrait of a sunflower filled horizon.

Hearing voices up ahead, I followed them, and reached the dining room, where the others were waiting for me.

Quite a few people were sitting around the dining room table, and I nodded at them. Sam and Delilah were there, but so were Sirius, Nymphadora, Andromeda, and Edward (the other one). There was also Remus. All the members of the inner circle of our little conspiracy to change the world, gathered in one place.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said apologetically. “Traffic didn’t want to work with me today.”

“Ah, no sweat,” Sirius assured me. “We haven’t been waiting long.”

Relieved, I took my seat.

“Remus! Glad you could make it,” I said, shooting a small smile at the werewolf as I plopped down in between him and Delilah. He’d popped over for the meeting by making use of the weekly Hogsmead trip, which was a time nobody would notice he was missing, or mind that he was using the floo at the Three Broomsticks. “How are things with Hogwarts and Harry? No more problems since Christmas?”

There had been no further news regarding the strange spirit Harry had summoned during Christmas. If Remus and Harry hadn’t told us about it, we’d have never known. Right now, the Ministry was downplaying everything, but we knew what was going on.

“Harry is fine. Confused and curious, but in one piece. The Ministry though was acting like a bunch of billywigs and doxies after Christmas, all running around without knowing what to do for a while,” Remus admitted. “Then spooks from the Department of Mysteries showed up at the school. They tried to ‘interview’ Harry and Susan, but Dumbledore for once did something right and limited their access to them. They did take a few samples of the dirt near the site of the summoning and readings of the ambient magic, but that was it and they left soon after.”

“They’re suppressing all knowledge of what happened, but rumors are still leaking out,” Andromeda Tonks commented. “People know a bunch of Dementors are gone, but they don’t know why or how.”

“Not like the Ministry or the Department of Mysteries would admit that there was a way to destroy Azkaban’s unholy guardians,” Sirius snorted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“True,” I agreed, before suppressing a yawn. “Now, let’s discuss the real reason we’ve gathered here today.”

“Yeah. How are things going with the legal stuff?” Sirius asked, giving me a concerned look as I sat down. I must have looked exhausted with those bags under my eyes, and the Animagus wasn’t the only one to shoot me worried glances.

“It’s fine, I’m just busy. Sir Briar is throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks,” I grumbled. “Most of it can be cleared up easily, but all of the noise that’s being made is going to cause ripple effects.”

“The sharks are circling,” Delilah agreed. “And so are the hyenas and vultures. Show weakness in the business world and they descend on you to rip you apart. They don’t care why it’s happening, but they’ll take advantage all the same.”

“Sounds like something my old ma and pa would have liked,” Sirius grumbled under his breath.

“I’d offer my help, Mr. Rose, but I’m afraid my expertise lies in the realm of magical law and contracts,” Mr. Tonks said apologetically.

“The offer is appreciated. And we may need your help, so keep an eye out. After all, we aren’t entirely sure how closely connected Sir Briar is to the magical side of things,” I pointed out.

From what we knew, he had a lot of Squibs on his payroll and access to magical artifacts, so it was possible he had connections to the Wizarding World. It wasn’t likely, but better safe than sorry.

“What do we do, then?” Sam asked. “How do we handle this?”

“I have an idea,” I told them. “It’s not… well, you probably won’t like it.”

“I will reserve judgement until you tell me the plan,” Remus said, though from the way he’d folded his arms, the werewolf was ready to scold me the moment I proposed something stupid. Or dangerous. Or both.

“By now, I think it’s obvious that Sir Briar will not stop,” I said, and everyone gave solemn nods at that. “So, in order to stop him, what we need to do is change is mind. Permanently.”

“With magic?” Nym asked sharply.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“We’d need to get close to him to do that, though,” Sirius pointed out. His expression was grim, but he didn’t seem as opposed to the idea as some of the others.

“That’s why I also suggest we let him think he’s won,” I revealed. “By doing so, he will lower his guard. And, knowing him, Sir Briar will invite me over to a private setting so he can gloat about defeating me.”

“Yeah, that sounds like something he’d do,” Delilah agreed. “My father, too, come to think of it…”

“And that would be the opening I’d need to put him under our thrall,” I said, finishing my explanation.

“Are we seriously considering putting somebody under mind control?” Remus asked, looking around at us when nobody said anything against that aspect of the plan.

Sirius and Andromeda made sense. No matter how much they tried to distance themselves from the Black family, they were still Purebloods and raised in an environment where magic was the solution to every problem. Edward Tonks’ acceptance of the idea was a bit odd, but he did marry Andromeda, so… yeah. He probably knew the risks going in. Delilah, of course, would want any threat to us eliminated, and Sam… her reason was perhaps the most understandable.

Nymphadora looked uncomfortable by the idea of messing with somebody’s mind, but she was also holding tightly onto Sam’s hand comfortingly. Clearly, the events of a few days ago had spooked her, and Nym, despite being an Auror trainee, was willing to bend a few rules to keep her girlfriend safe.

“He went after my family!” Sam said as she clenched her hands into fists with barely suppressed rage. “I can’t… he could have hurt them! Killed them!”

“Not to mention the ‘accidents’ and kidnapping attempts he’s ordered, to say nothing of all the theft and legal troubles he’s been throwing our way,” Delilah pointed out, her own face marred by a furious scowl. “Sir Briar is not a good man, Remus. Ed is right. He won’t stop unless we stop him first. And it’s either mind control or murder.”

Remus’s face twisted in disgust, but he couldn’t deny that those were our only real options. We lack the political and economic clout to buyout or overturn the old bastard’s businesses, and there was simply no way we’d be able to stand up to Sir Brair if he pressured us any further.

“What exactly did you have in mind to make Sir Briar think he finally has the upper hand?” Sirius inquired, bringing the conversation back to the salient point.

“We stage something. Let one of his schemes come to pass and make it look like it hurt us badly,” I told them. “I was thinking we stop fighting against one or two of the lawsuits that I know Sir Briar is discretely backing, and give him the chance to swoop in and ‘save’ us.”

There were plenty to choose from, too. Anti-monopoly lawsuits, patent infringement cases, zoning law violations, false claims of harm from misuse of products… Sir Briar had way too many options and far much time on his hands to try and hurt a medium-sized business owner like myself.

“That’s risky,” Delilah warned.

“Yeah. But we can’t exactly get close to him otherwise. It’d be too suspicious if he suddenly changes his tune, after all. Would Sir Briar ever do that?” I asked her, and my girlfriend grimaced.

“No. If he stops trying to hurt you without gaining anything from it, then people will want answers as to why. And they might not suspect brainwashing, but they will certainly think you had something to do with it. Likely underhanded, too,” Delilah admitted with a sigh.

I nodded at that, glad that we all seemed to be on the same page. Well, except for Remus. Letting him go to Hogwarts had been a risk. Dumbledore could have sunk his hooks into him, turning the werewolf into a double-agent, or just twisted his mind enough to make him see things his way.

“Well, Remus? Are you with us?” Sirius asked his friend, likely fearing the same thing I had just imagined. The werewolf was silent for a while, and I understood his struggle.

‘Was it better to just kill a man rather than make their mind and thoughts no longer their own?’

That was a question I have had for a while. And honestly… mind control was my greatest fear. Moreso than death. With death, there was, to paraphrase a famous old man with a beard, a chance at a new adventure. Yet to lose your mind and freedom and never know if you were truly in control… that was true horror.

Taking away some of Sir Briar’s free will was crueler than killing him, in my opinion, but it was the best option, since the old bastard’s death would just mean somebody else would replace him and we’d have to have the same conversation again if his successor was no better and kept doing the same things as before.

‘At least with mind control I can influence his decisions in a way that benefit us in the long term,’ I thought, nervously waiting for Remus’s decision.

“So long as you do not use the Imperius Curse to influence Sir Briar, I will support this course of action,” Remus eventually said, and I nodded, relief and gratitude in my posture.

It was good to have lines we would not cross, and I was absolutely fine not messing around with souls like with the Unforgivables.

Remus didn’t look happy with his choice, but I think he knew as well as I did that it was the best option out of a bunch of awful ones.

“Absolutely,” I agreed. “I have ideas that don’t involve that at all, and should be just as effective, if not moreso.”

Everyone looked interested, and I raised a hand to stall the questions I knew were coming.

“There are some things we need to discuss before I tell anyone my plan. And I want to do this before Harry and the others return from Hogwarts,” I told them, and received a round of nods in agreement. “So, how do we do this?”

We went around the table, discussing plans and ideas for how we could trick Sir Briar into thinking he’d won. Eventually, after much back and forth and some heated words between everyone, we settled on one.

It was currently early March. We had a few months before June and the end of school at Hogwarts, which meant we’d be have to work quickly to set everything up.

Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup to consider. How closely would things conform to the past events that I knew of? Too many variables to consider. Would the Death Eaters show up this time?

The Dark faction had been thoroughly shamed by Sirius’ exoneration and Peter’s punishment, but so had the Light. It was just as likely that the Death Eaters would act up just because they felt they had to ‘regain’ some ‘pride’ as much as it was possible they’d keep their heads down and avoid trouble now that Amelia Bones was on the warpath and just waiting for anyone to do something stupid.

‘I should warn Remus about this,’ I mused.

“Now that we’ve discussed the mundane matters, let’s talk about something more… magical,” Sirius suggested, leaning forward, interrupt my thoughts.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Andromeda inquired.

“What else? The ritual, the ritual!” Sirius replied, grinning widely. At that, people began to nod in understanding.

“That’s something I’m more than willing to discuss,” I said happily.

“We know it works,” Edward said, looking at me. “Sam, Delilah, and yourself, are all proof. And so far, no problems have arisen. So, what’s the next step?”

“Finding a way to spread it across the entire world is what we need to research next,” I claimed. “Though there’s going to be a few issues with that.”

“Yeah. Making sure it’s kept secret won’t be easy,” Delilah sighed.

“Not to mention, we have to try and find a way to make its effect spread as far as possible,” Sam pointed out. “Though that’s going to be difficult. It affect my parents from a distance, but that was also because they were Kate’s parents.”

“Yes, that seemed to be the case,” I confirmed. “If a parent is standing within a hundred meters of their child when said child undergoes the ritual, they proximity will be enough to also trigger the ritual within them. But this drains a lot more energy from the environment to do so.”

“Sounds like we’re going to need a boatload of power,” Nym mused, rubbing her chin.

“Leylines and Nexus Points are going to be the key,” I agreed. “Unless we find a way to convert electricity into magical energy or can mass produce Philosopher’s Stones to store excess energy. And use ‘em as batteries.”

“Talking about using the Miracle of Alchemy as a battery just sounds weird,” Andromeda muttered, and I shrugged.

“Well, we’ve already figured out a way to mass-produce electricity using magic thanks to Delilah’s brilliant hydro-electric generator mock-up,” I pointed out. “And to make a Philosopher’s Stone, a huge amount of energy is needed, so it’s possible we could make them with electricity.”

“Not a bad idea,” Edward said, Sirius and Remus nodding along.

“I think the next question is ‘how long?’” Sam asked. “When do we need to have this project ready to go?”

“Ten years,” I declared. “Fifteen at the most. Any further than that, and we truly risk the mundane world discovering magic’s existence. Technology is growing even faster than we – or the progress resistant wizards – can keep up with.”

Expression turned grim at my predication. Of the naturally born magicals at the table, only Edward and Remus looked like they truly believed my warning. Though that made sense, seeing as the former was a Muggleborn and the latter had lived a decent chunk of his adult life in the muggle world. Both knew how quickly society could advance, and it’d only been happening more rapidly as the technology got better, which of course lead to faster improvements.

“I’d say aiming closer to two decades should be our ultimate goal, but yes, it needs to happen sooner than later,” Edward agreed.

“We’ll need seven sites,” I continued, having already thought this over. “One for each continent. We’ll also have to place the rituals at the most powerful Leyline Nexi in the regions, so the ritual will be carried throughout the world by the Leylines themselves.”

I fished Flamel’s journal out of my pocket and extracted a map of Europe I’d tucked away in it. “I’ve begun mapping out the Leylines in Europe. Most of the information on them is public, and I’ve gotten all of the UK done. Still working on the mainland, but with my contacts in France, that should be no trouble.”

“Smart,” Sirius commented.

“Your preparations are well-done,” Remus agreed, peering at the map. “And your investigations seem thorough.”

“Thankfully, most of the world’s Leylines are already decently known. For instance, the Nazca Lines in South America seem to be mapped to some of the major Leylines in the area,” I claimed, taking out new maps for North and South America. “And in North America, the largest Leyline concentration is actually in Ohio of all places.”

Why it was there, I had no idea. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the place, but almost all of the Leylines in Canada and the USA passed through the Ohio Super Nexus, or were connected to Leylines that did.

“Australia’s major Nexus point is below Ayers Rock, and Asia’s is located in Tibet at Mount Everest,” I continued.

“And Europe’s?” Sam asked curiously.

“Albania, interestingly enough,” I said. “I think that might be why Moldy-Shorts went there when he was defeated. The strongest source of free-flowing magic in Europe would have helped sustain his wraith-like existence.”

The Tonkses all shuddered at my mention of the Dark Lord, even though I’d deliberately messed up his name.

“The real problem is going to be Antarctica and Africa,” Delilah sighed. “The former because nobody’s really explored it with the intent of magical research, and Africa… is Africa.”

Everyone grimaced at that. The mundane side of the continent was in a state of upheaval, while the magical side was doing its best to ignore it. Muggleborn warlords were even stirring the pot, taking bites out of the war-torn continent.

It seemed that the primary Leylines within Africa were guarded by Uagadou, the main magical school in the continent, and they had done their best to obscure all information about their school’s location. It was somewhere in Uganda, in the Mountains of the Moon, but beyond that, no European wizard or witch had ever been allowed to learn more.

‘Even Flamel never learned of the school’s exact spot. I think only the Supreme Mugwump would be allowed to know the secret, but beyond that, I’d have to try and make a deal with the African magical governments, and those aren’t fans of the rest of the world… for obvious reasons,’ I thought to myself bitterly.

‘Actually, if I’m not mistaken, the Rwanda Genocide will be occurring soon,’ I realized with a horrified grimace as another thought surfaced in my mind while thinking about Africa. 1994… that was the year it happened. This year.

I immediately took a dip into my mind via Occlumency and soon had the exact date from a history class in a previous life: April 7th to the 19th of July this year.

‘Shit!’ I thought. Could I do something about this? I couldn’t stop it… but could I save people?

“Ed? Is everything okay?” Delilah asked, having seen my face turn pale.

“I-I just…” I stammered, before swallowing. “A vision. About atrocities in Africa.”

“Africa?” Nym asked with a frown.

“In Rwanda. There’s… there’s going to be a civil war. And a genocide,” I revealed, and the group paled.

“What?” Sam gasped.

“Are you sure?” Andromeda asked, and I nodded weakly.

“I might be wrong. Some of my predictions haven’t come true… or happened differently to what I’d seen. But I have a bad feeling about this one,” I explained.

“Rwanda… I don’t know much about that country,” Delilah admitted, and Sam nodded at that.

“I know it’s somewhere in Africa, and they make coffee, but that’s it,” Sam said.

“We need to find a way to stop this,” I declared firmly, earning a few nods of agreement.

“Hold on! Is this really something we should concern ourselves with, though?” Andromeda asked, and everyone’s heads twisted to look at her, expressions of disbelief and shock on several faces.

“Mom!” Nym exclaimed. “What the heck?! How can you say that?!”

“I’m just saying that we have many problems of our own here!” Andromeda shot back, trying to defend her words. “And just because we know of the tragedy doesn’t mean we can do anything to stop it!”

“So it’s wrong to want to help people?!” I retorted angrily. “If I know about this, I can try and save people, can’t I?! Shouldn’t I?!”

“Of course not!” Andromeda responded hotly. “But we’re already overwhelmed with matters regarding the Dark Lord and these bloody legal shenanigans! A foreign, mundane issue is not something we can drop everything for!”

“Are you serious?!” I uttered. “Of course we need to do this!”

“You still haven’t told us what your plan for dealing with Sir Briar even is!” the furious older woman reminded me. “How can we stop everything to do this?”

“Okay, okay, simmer down, everyone,” Sirius called out, raising his hands as if to physically separate me from his cousin, even though we weren’t sitting next to each other. “This isn’t productive!”

We did, in fact, simmer down, though there was still anger and frustration bubbling away inside me due to Andromeda’s dismissiveness. I knew that we were stretched thin, but how could I possibly not help when I knew what was coming? Some disasters I couldn’t predict, and some were too difficult to stop, but that didn’t mean I should give up!

“So, we’ve all taken deep breathes, right?” Sirius inquired, and after a moment we all nodded. Seeing that, he grinned. “Great! So, let me tell you all that I’ll be heading off to Rwanda to do what I can to help.”

That caught everyone off guard, none of us having expected him to volunteer to do this!

“Y-you’re really willing to go to Rwanda? On just my word?” I asked, disbelief and hope warring in my voice.

“The reason I’m trusting you about this is because so far, you’ve shown you care about the well-being of other people… and your ‘visions’ have all come true,” Sirius told me. “So, let me help you out.”

He then smirked. “Besides, having a sunny vacation in an exotic locale? That’s exactly the sort of thing that’s expected of Sirius Black, the roguish ruffian head of House Black.”

“More like ‘buffoon,’” Andromeda sniffed haughtily, but it was all to cover up her worry towards her cousin’s safety.

“I’ll be fine, Andy,” Sirius assured her gently. “This might just be what I need to get back into shape, too. I haven’t exactly gotten much practice with my magic since returning from Azkaban.”

“If you’re sure,” she muttered, and he just nodded.

“I also think the kid is right. If we can help, why shouldn’t we?” he replied.

“Thank you, Sirius,” I said gratefully.

“No problem,” he said breezily. “Now, let’s not talk about that, and instead, discuss dinner! We haven’t eaten yet!”

That brought some snorts of laughter from the group, and the mood lightened up a bit after the bombshells I’d dropped on them.

“I’m not up to cook anything,” Sam said, and Andromeda and Delilah both nodded.

“And I don’t trust Kreacher’s cooking at all, so takeout it is, then! There’s this Indian place nearby, and I’m on a first-name basis with the delivery drivers!” Sirius said with misplaced pride.

People chuckled at that, and everyone seemed content to let things end here. Yet even though everyone agreed that Sir Briar had to be taken down, and that there was a chance we could save tens of thousands of lives by intervening in Rwanda, I felt worried.

Something was coming, but I wasn’t sure what. The first ripples of change had already happened, as the Dementors were taken care of by Harry well before the original time.

‘And the ripples will eventually become tidal waves,’ I thought philosophically. ‘Am I going to be drowned by them, or will I ride them to a newer, brighter future?’