Chapter 241 - Order of the Phoenix! Part-2

{15th July 1991} 

{Sirius's POV}

"What happened, Sirius?" Albsu asked his voice even as he waited.

"They took us, Albus," I said, and once I started, I didn't bother to slow the current. "Rigel and I noticed that something was wrong with the treasure hunt, so we were planning on finishing the trip—Portkey home primed and humming—when the Patils attacked. They pulled the lot of us off: me, Harry, Rigel, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny. We woke up in a ward with blindfolds on and were left to do nothing. Our mana was sealed as we waited, and somewhere along the way, we were stunned unconscious. The next time I woke up, Rigel had already managed to bargain for our release—he told me to get to you after 6 hours, as he would be back by then—he must have signed a contract and stayed behind to keep the deal from collapsing."

Minerva drew in a small, sharp breath. "Did the Patils not appeal for your emergency permits? They did that under the pretence of hospitality," she said, and the words landed like a verdict. "Dear heavens."

Moody's magical eye spun once and came to rest; the ordinary one narrowed in approval. "If the boy structured the bargain that cleanly and you were let go without any contracts, he bought you time and bought himself leverage," he said. "It isn't pretty, but it's good work. They won't dare harm him with knowledge that we know it was them now."

Dumbledore inclined his head, eyes steady. "Tell me what they were after, exactly. A vault? An object? You used the word 'treasure,' but I suspect you do not mean coins or money."

"Not coins," I said, regaining my bearings again after Moody's words. "Rigel found a book in Mumbai—an odd book written in Parseltongue, he said it felt almost alive to touch." I notice Dumbledore's eyes widen slightly, so I continued, "—at a shop called Jyoti's Staff & Rings. The author was named Dhanvantari, a healer they treated as half-legend. The text was written for Parselmouths and covered healing magic. Rigel could read it as if it had been written for him, and he showed me that he had learned at least one from it—some sort of mana-mapping diagnostic spell, he tested me, and then on Ginny after he commissioned a staff."

I paused, taking in the looks that everyone was giving me before continuing, "The book ultimately revealed hints about a sanctum, a place where Dhanvantari supposedly left his research on healing and spatial magic. The last, clearest clue pointed to 'where three rivers meet.' Rigel's research led him to the Triveni Sangam at Allahabad. We were planning to take a long way around to avoid suspicion that we know something, but Parvati revealed that their family had keen eyes on us. Rigel decided that we should go, and I started making a portkey back home when they attacked with swift precision. I managed to wound one, but a stunner to the back is the last thing I saw..."

...

The silence stretched for a bit before Emmeline spoke, voice thoughtful rather than doubtful. "I cannot recall a single mention of Dhanvantari in any of our history books."

Kingsley shook his head. "I've never seen the name in the international briefs either."

Minerva's mouth tightened. "Nor in the school library, and that covers more odd corners than most Ministries."

Dumbledore's gaze slid briefly toward the dark line of the forest and the pale rise of the moon. "I have not heard that name as well, but it's to be expected. Most of the ancient knowledge about India has been locked away by the Old ones that reside there," he said.

Moody let out a low grunt. "It reads like a trap to me, and one that was set long before this summer. Why India, Black? You could have taken the children to France to mangle their accents and offend a cheesemonger."

"That was Rigel's choice," I said. "He wanted a very different kind of magic to study, and he was interested in Parseltongue as it is his unique ability, and he had contacts who could smooth the travel permissions."

Moody scratched at an old scar as if the thought itched. "And perhaps those contacts nudged him in the first place— likely spoken words about the diverse magic to instill his curiosity, nothing as crude as a Confundus, just a suggestion placed in the right ear at the right moment. It happens. Though it doesn't change what we need to do next."

I stepped in because patience felt like a coat I couldn't keep on. "Then let's move now. I know the destination according to Rigel's research: the confluence at Allahabad. It should be somewhere around the area where the three rivers meet."

Minerva looked from me to Dumbledore. "Do you think the Guardians are involved? If they catch even a whisper of interference from a foreign force, they will make it their business with great enthusiasm."

"Yes," Dumbledore said quietly. "Which is why we will not pound on the door with a hammer. If we arrive like raiders, we do not only risk Rigel. We invite a quarrel with old families who have access to ancient magic and even longer ledgers."

"I don't need anything else, no treasure is worth him," I said, the words coming out rougher than I meant. "I just need to put my hand on his shoulder and bring him home."

"You need to stay," Dumbledore replied, and he didn't lace the words with any scolding. "Anyone of your name and your face will make this larger than it must be. Involving the Ministries would blow this incident out of proportion. One set of boots will leave a lighter trail than six. I'll go and bring him back"

Moody flicked a look at me that was almost kind. "He's right. The fewer people who go, the easier it would be for Dumbledore to move."

"I can be careful," I said, hearing too much of my old stubbornness in it.

"You can," Remus put in, his first words had the familiar gentle tone said with a firm tone of belief, "and you'll be less useful there if something goes wrong after. "

Minerva stepped half a pace closer, as if the movement could place weight on all of us at once. "Bring him back," she said to Dumbledore, not pleading and not commanding—just stating the only acceptable outcome. Then she touched my sleeve and added, lower, "Do keep breathing, Black. Panic would get you nowhere."

Dumbledore raised two fingers to Fawkes's breast, and the phoenix leaned into the touch as if that was the point of being a bird. "I will go alone," he said. 

"Give us a signal if you need help or need us to prepare anything," Kingsley said. 

"I will," Dumbledore answered, with a wisp of a smile. "Your help will likely be needed."

Fawkes spread his wings. Heat rolled over the road, and a gout of gold light opened like a curtain being yanked aside. For a heartbeat, the air tasted of cinnamon and clean fire; then the light folded in on itself, and both man and bird were gone.

"Come on, I'll bring some tea," Minerva said, "He'll be back with the boy in no time." She said as she guided me toward the open gate, I noticed that all the footsteps followed, as I sighed, feeling powerless yet again.

'Why does it always come to this...'

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AN: The Next chapter will expand the scope of the world by quite a bit.