Chapter 28: Third Year Part 8

"Do you have any idea why you have been imprisoned, Mr. Black?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Sirius asked. "It's because they thought I betrayed James and Lily Potter, and killed twelve muggles, right?" But Karl shook his head, puzzling Sirius even more.

"No. We initially thought so, but once the emergency state was lifted, and Death Eaters were getting trials, it was clear to us that you were not the traitor. Legally speaking, you should never have spent twelve years in Azkaban." The frown on Sirius face increased gradually, and his head started hurting. Wasn't he sent to Azkaban because everyone was thought he was guilty?

"Tell me, Mr. Black, did you get a trial?" At Sirius' nod, Karl continued. "There was no evidence whatsoever against you. The only crime they could've sanctioned you for was the killing of twelve muggles, but even for that, there was no evidence whatsoever. If anything, the evidence pointed toward Pettigrew doing it and running away.

There was no dead body, only a finger, which doesn't make sense. Pettigrew thought that by leaving his finger there, he might lead others to believe he died there. But how could the only thing that remains of him in the resulting explosion, a cleanly cut hand?" Karl reasoned.

"The evidence against you was circumstantial at best. Once your wand was checked, it was crystal clear you were innocent. At least from killing twelve muggles."

"What about Dumbledore? He was the one who cast the Fidelius, and Peter was under the polyjuice potion. He must have thought I betrayed James!"

"Yes, perhaps he thought so at the time. But it became moot once you take the previous facts into consideration. Dumbledore is a smart man, after all." Karl explained patiently, and Sirius was getting angrier by the second. Did Dumbledore want him to stay in Azkaban? That doesn't make any sense!

"I, too, fail to understand why Dumbledore wouldn't want you to be free. In fact, I've recently read Professor Snape's report on the incident. And his sighting of Peter Pettigrew, alive. But no actions were taken. It's safe to assume that Dumbledore will not be offering you any help." Karl said.

"What about the others? Dumbledore isn't the only in the Wizengamot, is he?" But Karl shook his head.

"Why would the light faction help the son of one of the dark families in history? What would they stand to gain from it? Not only that, whoever tries to free you will declare a war on the dark faction, since Malfoy has a lot to gain from your imprisonment. You see, his son, Draco Malfoy, is the legal heir to the Black assets."

"What about you?" Sirius finally asked the question that truly matters. Dumb as he was, he could still see something as clear as this, especially when Karl was doing his best guiding him to this conclusion.

"The neutral faction does not concern itself with political struggles. We are only interested in the prosperity of the Wizarding world, though economic means." Karl said, and Sirius' hopes were suddenly squashed, but Karl's next words were the light at the end of the tunnel for him. "However, Mr. Lunar is very good friends with your godson (As if that would've truly mattered, he added internally.), and has pleaded your case." Karl saw the color come back to Sirius' face, and smiled.

"Unfortunately, in order to convince everyone to invest in this endeavor, we need to show them the value of doing so. Mr. Lunar found the perfect way to do so." Sirius nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

"You see, the Black family was the foremost supporter of the previous Dark Lord, and we suspect he owes a lot of his achievements to them. Especially those cursed objects. There are no records of their nature, how they are made or how to destroy them."

"And where do I come in? I don't know anything about those cursed objects either." Sirius said, unable to understand his role in all of this.

"You may not know, but the Black Family library certainly does." Karl offered a friendly smile.

It was time for Sirius to frown. Sirius knew that family libraries were very valued in the Wizarding world, and no family would ever think of giving their own. On the other hand, wouldn't his hateful mother turn in her grave should he do that? That does sound like a good idea, he thought.

But, if Voldemort used the knowledge in that library to do reach such level in the dark arts, who is to say the neutral faction won't as well.

"We do not require you hand in your family library to us. The only one who has to access it is Kaiser." Karl added. He knew about Kaiser's monstrous memory, and his uncanny ability to conjure books. "However, you would need to sign a binding contract on it, where we would ensure your release from your current predicament. You don't have to answer us now. Take your time, speak with your godson, and give us your answer when you are ready. This is the contract we would like you to sign, give it a read, and tell us if something is inconvenient to you."

Kaiser sat quietly in the Great Hall with his friends. The rumors about him venturing in the forbidden forest has spread among the whole student body by now, and following his party's one week of absence, it was obvious something happened to them there.

Some were gloating at their misfortune, and the golden trio got their fair share of snide remarks. Kaiser neither confirmed nor denied, and outright ignored anyone that brought that subject up.

Among the many rumors that were in Hogwarts, only one of them was truly cause of concern. It's been seven months since their new DADA professor joined the school staff, and a lot students enjoyed his lessons. He is the best DADA professor they got since ages ago, said some of the older students.

"By the way, guys. Have you heard about professor Lupin?" Tracey Davis said with a hushed voice.

Michael: "Heard what?"

Tracey: "There are rumors he is a werewolf! And will be kicked out of the school because of it."

"Really? Doesn't that mean he's highly dangerous? Why did they recruit him at school if he is?! What are they thinking?!" a second-year student, who was eavesdropping on them said in outrage. Their knowledge of werewolves came mainly from stories told to scare off children, which goes to show the amount of discrimination against them, if wizards are taught to hate from that age.

"A werewolf is a human being infected by Lycanthropy. It's a condition, a sickness like any other, except there is no known cure for it yet. And a werewolf isn't as dangerous as you might think. They are exactly like us wizards, except on the full moon, where they would transform to a werewolf, a half-human half-wolf being. Which means as long as they don't meet people during that period, they cannot hurt anyone." Kaiser patiently explained to his ignorant junior.

"It is curious, how a sickness that's been around for more than three thousand years to not have a cure yet." Michael said. "Unless you count the recently developed Wolfsban Potion, that allows werewolf to keep their mental faculties even in their transformed form."

"Werewolves are a mystery in the medical community. No one seems to know where they came from. One undeniable fact is that they are not natural. There has been no traces of a natural werewolf in all the centuries they have been researched." Daphne said. She enjoyed discussing intellectual subjects with her peers, as she learned a lot from them most of the time. "A lot of conjectures has been made, from them being cursed beings of mother nature, a result of a failed ritual etc…

Some people even claimed that their souls become tainted, which is the reason why their Patronuses all change to a wolf form. It is still unknown why the moon affects them, or why they can only get infected through biting."

"The way the Wizarding world handles them is the most concerning." Kaiser added. "Nobody is willing to hire them, or even interact with them, and they are forbidden from working or living in the non-magical world. It's almost like they are begging them to be criminals. It explains why a lot of werewolves joined Valdy's cause. Nothing is more dangerous than desperate people, with nothing to lose. In some countries, they are even killed outright upon being found. Not to mention the suicide rate among werewolves is abnormally high."

"Who is Valdy?" one of the younger years asked curiously. He never heard of that name before.

"A noseless idiot with daddy issues, don't concern yourself with it." Kaiser waved his hand dismissively. If the Slytherins hear about who it truly was, they might start targeting them. And he was more worried about his friends, who spent most of their time at school. Unlike him, who sneaked out through his vanishing cabinet most of the time.

"Where are you at in your Occlumency training, by the way?" Kaiser changed the subject. Kaiser couldn't offer his Legilimency skills because of how busy he usually was. Apart from making expensive personalized watches, he was also overseeing the development of the RPU (Runic Processing Unit). Many of his hopes were centered around it. Unfortunately, it requires a significant amount of time, though they now have access to new technology replacing electricity, that significantly reduces the limits imposed on them.

For instance, they did not have to worry about the device overheating, they did not need to add a lot of security components. All the members of his group were given access to Rune books, to understand the subject better. They were slowly understanding how Runes work, though that is an overstatement. Nobody truly understands how they work.

The basic RPU was estimated to be finished by October. But that still wouldn't be the end of it. They would then need to work on the base operating system, though work on it has already began, albeit they can't test anything without the hardware being available.

Kaiser went back to 'Mother base' through his Vanishing Cabinet after dinner. Karl was already there waiting for him, sipping tea with some cookies and reading the latest news.

"Hello Karl, how do you do?" they were on a first-name basis now, but both had mutual respect for each other. While Kaiser was quite the ingenious "boy", he still could not compare to Karl's knowledge when it comes to magic. Karl was, in fact, a potion master, and it was one of the most difficult practices there is, and required an immense amount of skill and knowledge, where several areas of studies converged, including Runic studies.

"Very well, actually. This was a very productive day. What about you? How are you recovering?" he returned the greeting with a smile.

"Can't complain."

"How is Daphne recovering?" Kaiser's body tensed. He still felt guilty about her, and hoped Karl didn't hold a grudge against him for it. It would affect their relationship greatly otherwise, even though they were bound by contract. "Don't blame yourself. No one could've predicted it. The worse kind of enemy is one that disguise himself as your ally. I know Daphne doesn't blame you either."

"Thank you." Kaiser said, relieved. Karl was his most prized ally, and his first line of defense. Not to mention a most valuable asset. "How did the 'Sirius' matter go?"

"Perfectly, I'd say." Karl said with a grin. "We have secured the locket, and I'm sure he will sign the contract in no time." He took an object from his pocket and presented it to Kaiser. "It has already been checked by several curse breakers, after the soul fragment was destroyed. All obliviated after the fact, of course. The locket is completely safe now."

As Kaiser took Slytherin's locket in his hands, he grinned maniacally. This is the master piece of Salazaar Slytherin, a priceless work of art. Kaiser would make sure to use it very wisely.