Chapter 24 Back to Obscurity
Before Mrs. Malfoy could supply Shadow with transportation to Gringotts Chandos Kane and party apperated in.
Chandos looked around wildly and catching sight of his son grabbed him in a tight hug. Pulling back but keeping a hold of the boy he shook him by the shoulders and said, "Don't you ever do something like that again or you're grounded till your 20! Do you hear me?"
After the abeyance was put into effect, a direct reaction to the interference of the dark and the gray father and son slipped back into the obscurity that the family had worked so hard on.
The education of Shadow and his brothers and sisters continued with a few changes. These changes being the inclusion of several new teachers for the children. Severus Snape, Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupen all quietly relocated to Colorado and with the exception of Bill Weasley quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to the full time training of these powerful elemental teens. Bill Weasley was transferred and given this duty by his employers.
In an unprecedented show of support the goblin nation underwrote the expenses incurred during the move by the four and even went so far as to supply them with a salary for their teaching these children.
About a week after the group made their way home the goblins sent a team of Ward Setters in to strengthen and reinforce the wards around the compound. Included were wards powered by goblin and elven magic to make the place truly unapproachable, untraceable and unreachable without express permission from one of the adults living there.
A promise was made to the Kanes to supply when the children were ready a battle master from the goblins and a battle mage from the elven nation to help complete the children's training.
Remus moved around a lot gathering information on various laws that the human and fey lived by. He learned about the ways that nonhumans dealt with justice, how they lived what they wanted. He also learned about the inequalities practiced by humans against the nonhuman population. The classes he held were of course centered around the laws and traditions that others lived by.
The ministry tried to sweep the whole sorted mess under the preverbal carpet but all they really managed to do by ignoring it was to cause rumor to run ramped. Albus Dumbledore was lauded as a hero who had sacrificed his life and freedom to 'cage' the dark lord in his manor house in Little Hangleton.
After the unspeakables finished investigating the site and declaring it safe it became a tourist attraction. Witches and Wizards would come from all over the world to see the home of the most powerful dark wizard ever and to watch him live his life in his cage along with the hero. The Great Albus Dumbledore.
(A Typical Day in Little Hangleton)
The aurar who had been assigned to guard duty that day looked around in wonder. He had not pulled this duty status before and had quite frankly had a lot of apprehension before he had portkeyed in. He checked in with his superior and was told to just keep moving around the house and grounds with his eyes peeled for anything unusual.
When he questioned Tonks as to what could be considered unusual she told him to watch for death eaters or even misguided but under normal circumstances what would be lawful citizens acting in what would be classified as an unlawful manor. He had also been told to respect the privacy of the occupants of the house if they were engaged in anything personal but under no circumstance try to touch, talk or otherwise contact them.
With those instructions he began his rounds. A lot of work had been done to the grounds of the house with new gardens being put in and gathering places made with benches, statues and in one case a fountain. The flower beds were mulched and the paths that ran around the beautiful landscaped area was both restful and well thought out.
He meandered down to the family cemetery taking in the restored headstones and the well cared for graves. Side stepping the group of tourists busy taking pictures of the weathered marble markers he stood back and thought that this would be a good resting place for when he died if he had been a member of that family. The place just oozed peace and tranquility.
He made his way back up to the freshly painted manor house and walked around to the back before he decided to go inside of the house.
The first room he entered was the kitchen which was staffed by three house elves preparing an appetizing lunch. He closed his eyes and drew the wonderful smell of freshly baked ginger cake into his lungs as his mouth started to water with anticipation of the noon meal. One of the elves, catching sight of him cut a small piece of the freshly baked cake and slipped it onto a paper napkin before dusting the top of it with powdered sugar. With a bow he presented it to the auror then went back to his work.
With a smile the young man took a large bite of the cake burning his mouth slightly. Heaven. He made his way into the dining room and looked over the large set table waiting as if in anticipation for hungry diners to seat themselves. The heavy drapes were pulled back from the crystal clean windows letting in natural light that highlighted the place settings on the table.
With a totally relaxed air about him he entered the library. This was where he first caught sight of one of the two occupants of the house. The old man was sitting in a chintz armchair reading a book. Occasionally he would dip his fingers into the crystal bowl full of candy set on the small table beside him, taking a piece he would slowly eat it then read a few more pages before repeating the process. The auror was fascinated by the golden glow that encased everything around the old man in a four foot radius. His hand almost itched to reach out and test the shield but he knew that such an action would come under the heading of 'trying to contact' and quiet honestly he didn't fancy having to pay a hefty fine not to mention the black mark that would be entered onto his service record for such an action so he just stood there and watched for a short time before leaving the old man to his reading and candy.
He continued to explore the rest of the ground floor without seeing the other occupant of the house till the bell announced that lunch was served. Once he was back in the dining room Captain Tonks told him that the aurors were to spread themselves down along the table, mixing themselves in amongst the paying tourist. Seating himself close to the small round table that would only seat two people he watched as others filed in and took the chairs that they were directed to. When all were seated the food appeared on the table. He noticed with some surprise the two prepared place setting that appeared at the small round table complete with food and filled glasses. He was even more surprised at the golden shield that sprang up around the small table.
Almost everyone watched in awe as the old man who had been reading came into the room and made his way to that table. Before he could seat himself the other man came into the room and pushed past him with an impatient shove. Reaching the table first the younger, black haired man yanked his chair out and sat down. Pulling his plate closer he started to shovel the food into his mouth. The older man reached the table and sat down across from him. He started to eat at a much more dignified pace before he noticed the fresh peas on his plate. Picking up his spoon he scooped up some peas and using the spoon he flicked them at the younger man.
The peas made contact and the younger man jumped to his feet and started yelling at the older man, shaking his finger in his agitation. All of the paying tourists stopped eating to watch the interchange between the two men wishing they could hear what was obviously a very good rant directed at the older man but alas, sight but not sound or touch was granted to those who watched.
The unspeakables who had investigated this site after what had been done was done speculated as to weather the two men were even aware of others as they lived their lives in the house. Everyone knew that the were aware of the changes that had taken place and things like a bowl of candy could be left out and when one of the men moved close enough they could move the bowl, eat the candy or even break the bowl if they wanted to. That was established after the shields went up but because neither had ever given any indication of being able to see the investigators the current consensus was that they could not see anyone else but themselves.
Further proof to this was the many things the two had done that would have caused a lot of embarrassment to the two if they knew they were being observed by others. There had been picked noses and buggers eaten by one of the men. There had been cases of scratched butts and balls, once dancing and singing in the great room in an impromptu show put on by one. Sometimes the two would fight each other and screaming matches were an almost everyday occurrence
After the remarkable lunch the young auror finished his tour of the house then went back outside for the rest of his shift. When it was time for him to leave he picked up one of the pamphlets about the house, grounds and occupants and took it with him to show his new wife…
He portkeyed home, kissed and hugged his love and soothed the worries she had about his new guard assignment. Handing her the pamphlet he told her she should make time to come see the house. She sat down on the couch next to her husband and opening the pamphlet titled The Abeyance and Magical Warding and Holding of Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldermort she started to read.