HPWW231-240
Chapter 231
After their big lunch, Harry and Hermione decided to take a walk rather than sit down and work on House of Potter documents. They were both too mentally done for the day to have accomplished much.
When they found one of the aurors and let them know what they planned, he said, "One of us will meet you at the front door."
Harry just gave a nod and said, "We'll see you there."
Now, after what appeared to have been a pretty slushy day, both teens needed to rug up quite warm. Other
than their short trips from the front door to the portkey/apparation point and back again, they'd not often been outside.
Then the walk, though it started out quiet, ended up being enjoyable. Hermione hesitantly began to point out different features and even pointed to a couple of homes where some of her old school-yard nemeses lived.
Pointing to one, she said, "Oh; that's where Kathy Johnson lived. She was a real cow. Used to call me the 'Buck-tooth Beaver Bookworm'."
"Well, I give her points for the alliteration, but... really?... calling someone a buck-tooth beaver is like calling a giraffe a long-necked giraffe, or a rhinoceros a heavy rhinoceros. And, 'beaver bookworm'? Now, that's all sorts of wrong. A beaver and a bookworm aren't even in the same Phylum, let alone Class. A bookworm is what is actually called a booklouse, it's an insect for Merlin's sake!"
Hermione start to, at first, giggle. Then the giggle turned into a chuckle, before it morphed into her high and clear tinkling laugh.
"Oh, Harry!" she laughed. "Don't ever change."
"Ha!" he said. "It's seems cousin Andi's potions are going to make that impossible to achieve. I'm beginning to feel all... gangly! You know, arms and legs."
"I know what you meant," she grinned. "You are, as my Mum said, currently growing like a weed. It'll stop soon, though.
"I'm also noticing you're starting to become a lot more defined across the chest and in your upper arms. It suits you."
Harry blushed, even in the cold. "It's a little embarrassing. I used to want to stand out. Then, when
I got to Hogwarts, I did everything I could to hide my true self. Now, I'm going to be towering over everyone else. No more hiding, for me."
"There's no longer a need to," she firmly said. "All your enemies, bar one, have been effectively vanquished. Now you're free to be you."
Harry walked on silently for a while. 'There's two, Hermione,' he thought. 'Dumbledore and Riddle.'
With a sigh he then stopped before he turned to 'his' girl.
She stopped with him.
Pulling her slightly towards him so he could hold her about the waist, he looked at her with a serious expression and said, "Hermione Granger, I know there is that clause in our Betrothal Agreement that allows either one of us to back out of it at any time we want.
"However, I want you to know this... I don't believe there is ever going to come a time when I'm going to want to say that line. Unless you decide to say it in the not too distant future, you and I are going to marry."
She stood with her own arms around his waist; now needing to be under his, due to the reversed and still developing height difference. At first she almost panicked, thinking he was warning her he was going to say it. But, by the end of his clearly heartfelt confession, she felt herself falling in love with him even further.
She simply stepped in and kissed him. She noticed she now had to tilt her head back to do it.
When she pulled back she said, "Then, it appears we will be getting married, Lord Potter. Because, there's no chance I'm ever going to say it, either."
When they arrived back 'home' it was to see the garage door closing the last few inches.
"Mum and Daddy are home," declared Hermione. "They'll be expecting news."
She then grabbed him by the hand and dragged him the last few yards to the front gate, before then dragging him up the path.
As soon as she dragged him in through the front door she called, "Mu-um, Dad-dee, we're ho-ome!"
"Come into the parlour!" called Monica. "We're having tea in here!"
Walking in, still hand in hand, the two saw the couch was vacant and sat there. Dobby popped in with a small serving of tea for them.
Once they made their own cups each, Wendell asked, "Well? How'd it go?"
_ ̳_
―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Augusta had rearranged the office, so Frank had to take a bit of time to rearrange it back to how he liked it. He was grumbling about it the whole time.
After she'd shooed Neville out to his greenhouses, Alice walked in and saw him talking to the house elves as he had two of them using elf magic to shift things back.
"Damned woman!" he grumbled to her. "It's like she didn't want me to ever come back here."
"She'd given up," said Alice. "We knew that. Why else order the Mungo's staff to stop trying to find ways to heal us?"
"She'll have an excuse for it," he muttered.
"Of course she will," she agreed. "And she's probably
already had to use it a few dozen times since then, when others have made enquiries."
Once the office was reconfigured, including having the little office trinkets his mother had put up or around the place removed, he called Fluxy to inform his mother she was wanted in the 'Lord's Study'.
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Chapter 232
The woman walked in about five minutes later.
As soon as she entered she immediately noticed the changes and mentally winced. The room was now almost back to how her son had it before that night just after Hallowe'en, 1981. She also noticed her little personal knick knacks were all missing.
Frank was sitting behind the office desk and facing her. Alice was sitting to the side in another chair, also facing her. Her chair was almost hard up against the side of the desk.
A vacant chair sat facing the desk and back about ten feet; obviously hers.
"Come in, Mother," Frank firmly said. Then he gestured to the vacant chair and said, "Take a seat."
As soon as she sat he said, "Alice and I have questions for you. You're going to answer them as truthfully and honestly as you can. This will not be an open discussion. And you most certainly do not get to refuse to answer a question I put to you."
Once Augusta sat, Frank stared at her for a few moments and asked, "Why did you not report the two murder attempts against my son, the Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom, by
your brother to the DMLE when they happened?"
Behind her now solid Occlumency shields, Augusta again mentally winced.
"They were not attempts to murder the boy―"
Interrupting, Alice snapped, "You mean Neville. We did not name our son 'the boy'."
"My apologies," Augusta quickly corrected herself. "Yes, Neville. As I was saying, they were not attempts to murder Neville. They were attempts to... encourage him to use accidental magic."
"In other words, to scare the life out of him," snapped Frank. "True or false?"
"T-true," she replied.
"And did you give permission for that man, your brother, to do that?" he pressed.
"N-no, but I think he may have thought I did when I expressed to him my disappointment Neville had not, at that time, expressed any accidental magic, at all."
"And what were you doing telling anyone outside of the House of Longbottom anything about the Heir Apparent of the House?"
"He's my brother. I trust him," she replied.
"But, not a Longbottom!" he snarled.
She dropped her eyes and sadly nodded her head.
Frank continued. "Apparently, he also dropped Neville out of an upstairs window, here at the Hall. If Neville hadn't shown any accidental magic when that occurred, he would have likely been killed.
"Why did you not report that attempted murder event to the DMLE?"
"Neville wasn't hurt!" she replied.
"It's called attempted murder because it's an attempt that fails," he snapped. "When it's successful it's simply called murder!
"So, you're sitting there telling me the man who attempted to murder the Heir Apparent of a Noble and Most Ancient House, you did nothing about?"
"I've banned him from the Hall!" she declared.
"That's it?" he ominously asked.
"He apologised."
Frank and Alice both stared back at her with anger in their eyes and on their faces.
It was some time before Frank finally said, "Well... since you didn't do the right thing about that;
tomorrow Alice, Neville and I are going in to the DMLE. Madam Bones has already set aside time in her schedule for us. She is already aware of why we are coming to see her. A case file has already been created for it.
"Alice, Neville and I are going in to see her so that Neville can make a formal statement regarding the two murder attempts upon him by your... lovely... brother.
"Once he has made that statement, I will be demanding your brother's immediate arrest under two separate charges of attempting to murder the Heir Apparent of a Noble and Most Ancient House. We will then let justice decide his punishment.
"Quite frankly, I wouldn't be displeased if his arse was tossed through the Veil in the Death Chamber.
"You, too, will be questioned by the DMLE as to why you did not report either event. It is a crime not to report an attempted murder, let alone when it's the
attempted murder of an Heir of a Noble House, as you should bloody well know!"
Both threats were to put Augusta in a position where she was so terrified for what could likely happen to her brother and herself, she would be less likely to lie to the questions Frank and Alice put to her after that.
"Next," he continued. "After you knew our wishes were for our son to grow to do what ever he wanted with his life, why have you been trying to force him to look towards a career as an auror?"
"To honour you," she immediately replied.
"You knew that's not what we wanted for him. You knew we wanted him to be successful at whatever profession he chose to follow... he chose to follow. Neville is clearly a prodigy in Herbology. He also clearly wants to be a Herbologist.
"You tried to force him down an auror track at
Hogwarts to honour us? Hippogriff crap! You were trying to force him to become a clone of me, you lying―"
Frank had to shut his mouth to rein his temper in, so Alice took over.
"Why did you not complete what we started back in November 1981 by forcing Dumbledore to hand the then infant Harry Potter over to the alliance?"
"Dumbledore took care of him," Augusta replied.
"Again you lead with, as Frank said, hippogriff crap. You were the Chief Adjudicator for the first part of his trial. You were the Chief Adjudicator for the trial of the Dursleys. And you call that 'taking care of him'?
"The House of Longbottom was required to step in and take direct and primary care of Harry Potter on the death of his parents. You knew this! We had talked to you about it the very day we were attacked! You knew
we were demanding Dumbledore hand him over and you knew we were citing the alliance Charter to do so.
"So, I'll ask the question this way... Why did you decide to bring dishonour and shame upon the Noble and Most Ancient House of Longbottom by not upholding the conditions in the alliance Charter?"
"I... couldn't do it!" she began to sob. "You were badly injured and no one knew how to properly treat you. I had Neville and he was my priority―"
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Chapter 233
"You could have immediately called for succour from the other Houses of the alliance," Frank pressed. "Greengrass, Davis, Bones, MacMillan, Abbott,
Marchbanks... the list is extensive. And yet, you did not do that! Why not?"
"The alliance had slipped my mind, at the time," she tried. "I didn't know if any of them could be trusted."
"That's what it's bloody there for!" he roared. "For just that sort of situation!"
As Frank had to again rein his temper in, Alice said, "Next. We'll jump forward until July 1991. Explain to us why it is you did not take Neville to Ollivander's and get him his own wand. Why it is you stupidly... irresponsibly... decided on your own, as if you had suddenly developed into wizarding Britain's leading expert on wand-lore, that Neville would use Frank's wand when he attended Hogwarts?"
"To honour you, Frank," she tried.
"Again with the hippogriff crap!" snapped Frank. "I don't know if you're deliberately lying to cover your
own arse; or, if you truly are that stupid or senile!
"How you could possibly think him using my wand would honour me, is so outrageously daft it beggars belief!"
Alice, added, "Everyone who owns a wand, including you, knows that Ollivander claims it is the wand that chooses the witch or wizard; not the other way around. You would have been given that same spiel. According to Ollivander, he has used it for the near one hundred years he's been selling wands.
"As such, you know it was wrong to force Neville to use Frank's wand. To us, it appears you were deliberately trying to smother his use of cast magic. And, we'll get to why we believe that, later.
"Next..."
Slowly, Frank and Alice worked together to drag the initial information out of Augusta they wanted. It took
time, but they got there.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
"So," said Wendell, "You won the case for Sirius. However, it wasn't because your godfather had not done anything legally suspect, but because you pointed out what would happen if you presented your evidence. And they had to scrap the entire law from their books because..."
"... It was proven to be completely unworkable and unenforceable in its current state," said Harry. "Yes. I knew that... on the merits... Sirius should be fined for what he did. However, if they were going to go after Sirius for his legally purchased motorcycle he then enchanted, then I was going to force the situation where they had to go after those involved in the enchantment of some pretty important icons in wizarding Britain, many of which were stolen."
"You didn't like the legal battlefield, so you changed it," said Wendell. "Clever."
"They were being so outrageously hypocritical it beggared belief," he nodded. "I just made them completely aware of it and what would happen next if they decided to find Sirius guilty.
"That's why Ted and I were very happy that Madam Bones was pushing and doing as well as she did in her role as prosecutor. By 'winning' her prosecution of Sirius, she was actually strengthening our real case."
"And Lord and Lady Longbottom?" asked Monica.
"Were magnificent!" he grinned. "As expected, they're both now as fit as they can be. Actually, they're even fitter than I kind of expected them to be, considering their treatment over the past thirteen years. Then, when the Rosier-bi... errr... woman stood and tried to declare blood-feud on me? Wow, did he go spare!"
"So," said Monica. "The whole reason you couldn't tell anyone you'd taken the Longbottoms and put them into that time dilation chamber with healers and all is because the goblins made you promise not to tell anyone... that is, any other witch or wizard... except a select few until after they came out."
"Well, that and I didn't want Augusta Longbottom to find out where they were until after they came out. If she'd found out, she'd have charged in there and tried to get them out. If she'd done that she'd have caused anything from the next goblin war to a cascade failure of the magics involved, which would have caused a significant part of the land around to... blow up.
"That last one, I suspect, is the real reason the goblins don't want anyone knowing when they're using their time dilation chamber. They don't want some idiot deliberately causing the cascade failure in the hope it's a big enough explosion it'll kill them - the goblins, that is."
"But, you told us," she said. "How'd you get away with that?"
"Something to do with the magics involved, I guess," he shrugged. "The information wasn't under something like a Fidelius charm, which would have worked against me telling you. I think it has something to do with, as you surmised, you being muggles.
"As for Hermione, once she became the Lady Presumptive of the House of Potter, she became for the intent of this an actual Potter. When I asked the goblins for the use of the chamber, I did so as an owed boon to the House of Potter; a boon owed just as much to her as my betrothed as to me. She just couldn't claim it."
"So, what's going to happen to this woman?" she asked.
"None of our business now, I'm afraid," he said. "With the rightful Lord of Longbottom back at the helm it's now his problem to deal with. Even as a partner House in the alliance, I can no longer interfere.
"Whatever he decides, though... once he makes that decision... because it has so much to do with me, I'm expecting he'll let me know before it becomes public," he replied. "But, it's entirely up to him to decide whether he's going to do that or not."
Though he'd been quite mentally exhausted from the day at the Wizengamot, Harry still tried to go into the kitchen to help with dinner. However, this time, Dobby was having none of it and 'ordered' him out. That night wasn't a 'Harry' dinner.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
In the Unspeakables 'Spectral Threat' team, they had
been paying close attention through the 'Knight's Shadow' team to what had been happening with the young Knight and his 'support group' all day.
By the end of it, they were in somewhat awe of the young man. Under the noses of his auror and even Unspeakable watchers, he had engineered two brilliant political moves. He had a Statute that was at the heart of wizarding British society for over two centuries stripped from the books simply by showing how unworkable it was. Then had his second play ready on the sidelines at the same time.
One member of their team mused, "I wonder what he's going to do next. And I don't know whether I should be excited with anticipation while waiting for it to happen, or fearful it will."
That summed up their general thoughts, completely.
"He had the dog's case won before he even stepped into the chamber," said one. "He even deliberately
stepped out of Monocle's way to let her go for it."
"He knew her arguments and questioning didn't matter," sighed another. "She became pretty much a non-entity as soon as the CA told her she could begin her case. All she was doing was delaying the inevitable."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Ted hadn't held back for the actual Wizengamot session. His reasoning for not waiting back and for the fireworks to occur in the General Meeting was for two reasons. His first was so he'd not be considered having been involved in any of it. And his second was because he had far too much work yet to do for the Houses of Potter and Black. His professional ethics would not allow him the indulgence.
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Chapter 234
On returning to the office he immediately checked over the Press Releases he would be sending out on behalf of both Black and Potter. The first one he sent out, right away.
That one was on Sirius being cleared of the charge and why. It included the information of the stripping of the Statute from the books and just why that needed to happen. That second part would go a long way to protecting both Lords Black and Potter of any negative fall-out from forcing the stripping of the Statute from the books.
The second release would be delayed. He'd sent a young man, looking to make a few sickles, to go and watch the session in his place. That young man
would, immediately on the closing of the session, directly come to him and give him a quick overview of what had happened.
He did exactly that, was paid for his time and sent on his way. Ted was satisfied he didn't even need to adjust anything on the release as everything, in general terms, had occurred exactly as planned and anticipated. And the second release was immediately sent out.
Neither Sirius nor Harry had requested he do it, but he'd be a poor Law-wizard of Record if he didn't do it as a way to protect them both.
While finalising and releasing both only accounted for a small effort of the day's work, he was also working on more.
That morning he had received an update on one Charlotte Claire Wilkins of Perth, Western Australia. The school term had only finished on the Friday just
gone - they broke for just over six weeks over Christmas, rather than the middle of the year. And he wanted a report on how she interacted directly with her family.
As well as some candid photographs of the girl and them, the report was glowing with praise for the public interactions, at least, between the girl and her adopted family. Her adopted parents clearly loved her and she just as clearly loved them.
The wizarding private investigator he hired also had a background in sociology, which focussed on the family group. It was one of the reasons Ted had hired him.
The man's report gave his views that the 'nomag-born' girl - he was never told her real identity - was well- loved and emotionally centred. And was unsurprised, even when considering her initial start to life was as someone's 'discard'.
He wrote a quick report on 'Mary' to hand to Sirius. Then, satisfied, he put the new information in with his secured file on the girl and locked it away in his true, Fidelius-charmed, safe. There was another safe in his office, but that was a decoy.
He next pulled out the fiscal information he was working on for the House of Potter, specifically developing a background on the multitude of companies in which the House of Potter held substantial shares. He'd already determined there were three which were worrying and noted them for his personal report to the young Lord Potter for him to check the details he'd supplied on them.
One dealt with a combined major British-Australian company called Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation. Over the past decade-plus, the company's profits had dipped. However, a merger with its parent company had recently been announced and was due to occur in less than a year. This was a strong investment that, while it had fallen of late, was definitely going to grow strong.
The second was a major British corporation known as the Virgin Group. Apparently, the latest late Lord Potter thought the name hilarious and bought a significant shareholding in the company as soon as it went to Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the British Stock Market.
While James Potter may have bought the initial shares because he thought the name funny, the results of that purchase were an outstanding financial success. It would be Ted's recommendation that even more shares in the company be purchased as soon as they became available. But, recommended those shares be of subsidiaries so as not to trigger the BSX's laws regarding public announcements of major share acquisitions.
One giving all appearance of going the other way was Apple Incorporated. Over recent years they had tried to bring out superior devices to their desktop computer systems called by the acronym PDA.
However, that was proving to be a failure and they had just entered into an alliance with two other US companies to form what was known as the AIM Alliance. This year, through that alliance, Apple had returned to the desktop computer market, of all things, and just released a new desktop computer called the PowerPC. In other words, the company appeared to be going backwards. Ted's recommendation was to dump the stock as soon as possible.
(Less than a decade later he couldn't believe how wrong he was proven to be with that third one.)
With that then set aside, he pulled out the Tri-Wizard contracts and other documents. He was pretty sure Harry's understanding of them, without even sighting the contracts, was correct that he didn't have to compete. However, the young man's magic was on the line and he wanted to make sure. He might even have to have the Goblet tested to see if it was still, or ever did, bind him to participate.
Plus, he was also looking into just who he needed to see at the Ministry regarding who was involved in the theft of Potter Cottage from the House of Potter.
The public Wizengamot records he'd already acquired from the WAS showed the Wizengamot voted to 'acquire' the Cottage for use as a 'Site of National Importance'. However, it appeared someone within the WAS thought that meant to just take it without paying for it.
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Chapter 235
If that was the case then that person within the WAS was the unintentional culprit. If, however, it was someone else, then he needed to track down who that
person was to begin legal proceedings. He'd be doing that the next day.
Either way, Harry still owned the Cottage and could do with it what he liked; even if the wizarding public-at- large got all up with their wands about it later.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
After dinner Monica took Harry aside and said, "You may not have realised this, but Wendell and I drove past you and Hermione while you were standing on the path down the road and kissing."
Harry immediately blushed and said, "We were... relaxing from a stressful day at the Ministry. We decided not to tackle more of the books of the House of Potter and go for a leisurely walk, instead."
"Oh, I'm not saying it was wrong for you to kiss," she
clarified. "I just thought I could tease you a little about it."
Still blushing, but with his blush receding, Harry gave a snort of amusement.
Monica seemed to think about what to say. Then said, "How far have you and Hermione taken your relationship?"
"W-what?" he squeaked.
"I asked, how far have you and Hermione taken your relationship," she replied.
"I-I-I... ummm... just kissing?" he stammered out.
She gave a nod and asked, "Haven't tried to touch each other more than that?"
"N-no?!" he exclaimed. "I-I... wouldn't!"
"Why not?" she pressed. "You're both teenagers in your mid teens. I would have thought you would."
"N-no," he stammered. "I wouldn't! I-I... don't... ummm... No, I wouldn't. Besides, H-Hermione would have to... ummm... I just wouldn't do that! It wouldn't be right!"
Monica gave a nod and said, "Fair enough, Harry. I'm a mother and I just wanted to make sure you weren't trying to press her to go beyond what she was willing to do, or anything."
"Never!" he firmly declared. Still blushing, he had to turn away and find something... anything... to do with his hands. "I need to make the cream," he mumbled.
"Very well," she said. "And... Harry? I'm her mother. Even though I know Wendell and I can trust you to take care of her, we still fret; we're allowed."
Harry just nodded, still looking away as he pulled out
a bowl and hand beater. She walked out a moment later.
'Wow!' he thought. 'That was uncomfortable.'
Monica, however, had been using a little white lie to dig information out of Harry. She caught his little 'almost' slips in what he was going to say and knew what it meant. What she got was what she expected and she now knew she needed to talk to Sirius. As Hermione thought, Harry clearly didn't really have a clue when it came to women and it was Sirius's job as godfather to rectify that.
However, there was no chance she was going to tell her husband she was going to tell his teenage daughter's boyfriend's godfather he needs to give his godson 'The Talk'.
Wendell was a good man, he was a good father and he was very good at his job as a health professional. However, she did not want to see what would happen
when his professional ethics to ensure good health, including sexual health, came into conflict with his instinctive nature to be a protective father to a teenaged daughter.
'It's best he not know,' she firmly thought.
Before she went to bed that night, Monica sent a message off via Hedwig to Sirius with a request he stop by the next evening to talk to her about something important.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
After an early night and a great night's sleep, Harry rose to be the first up - except Dobby - by just over half an hour. And he only got up when he did because his stomach was behaving as if his throat had been cut. He was 'starving' hungry. He even had his 'first' breakfast before the Granger adults joined him.
As he was building his second plate for the morning, they joined him, together. Usually, Monica beat her husband down by about fifteen minutes. She'd have the first shower then come down to get the tea and breakfast started. He'd jump in after she got out and had his own. Hence, the fifteen minutes.
However, they were now starting to get used to having breakfast ready and waiting for them. So, occasionally, they came together.
After morning greetings Monica asked, "How long have you been up?"
"About half an hour," he replied. "And, no, I didn't set an alarm, or anything. My stomach woke me up and demanded attention."
They both grinned back.
"How much longer to go?" asked Wendell.
"Not sure," he shrugged. "But, I really want it to be over with well before Christmas Day. This is... irritating."
Even though it was an 8.00am start for the Grangers, Hermione came down and joined them for the last twenty minutes her parents had remaining before they had to leave for the day. It was still after the delivery of the Daily Prophets, though.
Harry was reading his copy without Hermione while Wendell was sharing his with Monica.
They were discussing the articles related to the previous day - Sirius's trial being aborted, 'The Regent' Longbottom's behaviour between the trial and the start of the General Meeting, then the opening of the Wizengamot meeting, Regent Longbottom's immediate 'poor' behaviour when Harry stepped forward to take his Seat, the shocking revelation Lord and Lady Longbottom were now both awake and
looking quite well and the very public berating of the now ex-Regent of Longbottom for her behaviour towards a named partner member of the Potter- Longbottom Alliance.
Of course, noticing Harry wasn't reading the newspaper, Hermione immediately snagged his copy so she could read it, herself.
As they were rising, Monica turned to her husband and sighed, "One more day after this, sweetheart."
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Chapter 236
"Then two and a half weeks break, just to unwind," he added.
Hermione perked up from where she was reading the paper and asked, "Really? I thought you might have cancelled your break since... you know... I'm here for a lot longer than just the two weeks."
"Not on your Nelly!" declared Wendell. "I've been looking forward to my break for more than two months."
"Just because you're home for longer, dear," said her mother. "Does not mean we still don't need the break."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
When Neville rose to go down for breakfast, he was surprised to see his parents already up and chatting.
"Good morning," he said. When they both turned to him and smiled he said, "I... didn't think you'd be up, yet."
"While under time dilation, once we were able to get up on our own we also rose early," said Alice. "We were both like that for the first couple of weeks, at least."
His father explained, "When you're stuck in bed for as long as we were, you make the most of the day and get up as soon as you're awake. Besides, we also had a pretty stringent exercise course we were on to get our health and fitness levels back up."
"Gran not coming down?" he tentatively asked.
Both parents immediately frowned, and his father said, "No. Your grandmother is to spend her next couple of days, at least, spending time thinking about her actions over the past near decade and a half. She'll be doing that in her suite."
Neville nodded. While he loved his grandmother, he also understood she didn't do the best by him. That
included him desperately wanting to help Harry when he turned up at Hogwarts and her blocking that. Both his parents were pretty upset she'd done that when he told them about it.
"Don't forget we're heading directly back to the DMLE once you've finished breaking your fast, Neville," said his father. "Madam Bones informs me she usually arrives at her office just on 8.00am. We'll be meeting her soon afterwards."
Neville nodded. After talking with his parents about the two incidences, he was no longer so reticent to give a proper statement about what happened.
"After that," added his mother. "Your father and I need to go about getting ourselves back to being recognised as being people of sound mind. That means we'll need to spend some time in various Departments within the Ministry and then on to Gringotts. I think it would be best for you not to be with us for that."
Neville, his mouth full of sausage, gave a slight wince and nodded.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Over at the Tonkses' place, Sirius was woken by Andi. Ted had already left and she would need to leave soon, too.
As soon as he opened his eyes, she said, "Get up, lazybones!"
"I... am the Lord... of a Noble and Most Ancient House," he declared. "I am also wealthy beyond most people's ken. I do not need to be up before the sun is properly up."
"You've got mail waiting for you," she said. "I think one's from your friend, Lupin; and the other is from
the Granger lass's mother, Monica."
"Huh?" he asked, sitting up suddenly.
"The letters are sitting on the kitchen table," she said. "If you want to read them you'll need to get up and go get them. I've also told Benny not to give them to you unless you go in and get them yourself."
He scowled at her as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, "You're an evil woman, you know that?"
"I'm a Healer," she said right back. "Health-wise, it is in your best interests for me to get you up and moving before the crack of noon."
Grumbling about it as Andi walked off, heading for the floo, Sirius got himself ready for the day.
After half an hour of a long soak under the shower, he finally reached the dining room. The letters were sitting before where his 'place' would normally be for
meals.
A quick few detection charms that proved both clear of any dangerous charms - he, too, had learned from Harry's almost kidnapping - and he was sitting down to open them.
~# ~
Sirius Black III Somewhere in England
Padfoot,
I've only just got back to wizarding Britain from the continent. I hope you've got time to quickly catch up with me. The news I'm getting is amazing. Too amazing to be true.
Can you meet with me in the Leaky Cauldron at 11.00am? Clearly, we have a lot to talk about.
Moony
~# ~
'You better believe we do, Moons,' he thought. 'You'll be starting with answering questions about why you deliberately kept Harry in the dark about his true heritage.'
Checking the second letter was from Monica, he quickly opened it.
~# ~
Lord Black,
Can you please stop by tomorrow evening (this evening for you) for a private chat?
I need to speak with you about Harry's education in one specific area where it is clearly lacking, if you get my drift.
I do not want either of the kids or my husband to know about what it is we need to talk about.
Dr Monica Granger
~# ~
From what she'd written Sirius had a pretty good idea what she wanted to talk to him about. This was a talk he didn't think he'd have to give his godson; but was well prepared to do so.
Checking the time was only just past 8.00am Sirius had thought about going back to bed for a couple hours. However, now that he was up, his stomach was letting him know it was time to feed the savage beast.
With a sigh he called for Benny. He needed to eat and, by the time he was done, he wouldn't have time to get any more to sleep in. Besides, he hated going to bed on a full stomach.
He sighed, 'Well, at least after I eat I'll have time to think about what questions I want to ask Moony before I get there.'
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
At the Burrow, the owl for the Daily Prophet arrived while only Arthur and Molly were up. Therefore, only those two and Percy knew about the happenings within the Wizengamot by the time Arthur and Percy needed to head to work.
"But, what does this mean for you, Arthur," she worriedly asked. "If the Statute has been stripped, what does that mean for your job?"
He sighed and replied, "I don't know, Molly. I guess I'll just have to wait and see when I get into work."
"Try to let me know as soon as you can, will you?" she fretted.
"Of course, I will," he gently replied.
After he and Percy stepped into the floo and were gone, Molly began waking the kids up. As far as she was concerned, it was a school day and they should be up. It mattered not that school was not 'in session', at the moment.
Coming down it was the twins that noticed her emotional state first.
"Something's wrong, Mum," said the first.
"What's up?" said the other.
Then both turned to check the clock. Ron's hand was on 'At Home', so that wasn't it. And no one else's was at 'In Danger' or 'Mortal Peril'. So, that wasn't it either.
"Just some news in the Daily Prophet, is all," said their mother.
"And?" asked one.
"Don't go keeping us in suspense, Mother," said the other.
She hesitated for a moment before she squared her shoulders, looked back at the pair of them and replied, "It's nothing for you to worry about."
Then spun about to organise their breakfasts.
The twins sat staring at each other for a moment before they both turned back to look at their mother's back.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter 237
One then said, "We're sixteen, Mum."
"When do you think we're going to be―" asked the other.
"... old enough?" they finished together.
"We're of age in just over three months," said the first.
"Fifteen weeks," said the other
"And you're still treating us like little children," said the first.
"Is there some magic we don't know about that makes us instantly adults on the first of April?" asked the second.
Molly sighed and said, "Then in a little over three
months... or fifteen weeks... you'll be allowed to know."
As Ginny walked in she asked, "Allowed to know what, Mum?"
Molly sighed and replied, "While these two will be of age in just over three months, you won't be reaching that for three years. If I won't tell them, I certainly won't be telling you.
"Now, are you three ready for breakfast?"
Knowing their mother was going to be inflexible about this, the twins each knew they'd be writing to Harry and asking him, directly. He'd know and he'd tell them.
Straight after breakfast they headed back to their shared room, set aside their prank-making experiments and began to draft a letter to Harry.
_ ̳_
―==(oIo)==― ˇ
When Dumbledore opened his morning's copy of the Daily Prophet at the head table in the Hogwarts Great Hall that morning, he was utterly stunned by what he was reading.
'Harry successfully defends Sirius in a trial to the point the Wizengamot was forced to completely repeal a Statute? What, in Merlin's name?
'Then, when he goes to take his Seat, the Longbottom woman tries to end the alliance, one moment, before then turning around ready to declare blood feud, the next, of all things!
'And then, to everyone's complete shock, the Longbottoms step onto the main floor of the chamber, completely awake and healthy. And Harry's supposed to have had something to do with it through the calling due of a boon and the goblin's subsequent
help.
'And finally, the now ex-Regent of Longbottom, that dragon of a woman, is sent home in disgrace and Longbottom - Lord Frank Longbottom - gives Harry a public House to House apology for the behaviour of his mother.
'Sweet Merlin above! Why am I only just finding out about this now? Why has no one already contacted me to let me know?
'I need to be allowed to come and go from the castle, as I need. This keeping me a... prisoner... must end!'
From four chairs away to his right, Headmistress Lady Marchbanks was quietly watching Dumbledore's reaction to the Prophet with quiet amusement, while seeming to be in a discussion with her two new Heads of House for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
Babbling, seeing her smirking at Dumbledore, quietly
checked the man out for herself for a moment.
Turning back she said, "It appears Albus is shocked by what's in the Prophet. Think he might need a Calming draught?"
"Albus's problem is he's now out of the information loop, as the muggleborns would say," said Sinistra. "He always insisted he know of everything that was going on. It must really get into his craw that he's no longer in a position to even ask it, let alone demand it."
"I do believe you've hit upon the truth, Aurora," smiled Marchbanks. "Yes, indeed. Albus always was one who had an almost pathological need to know everything."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Harry had been wondering if he'd not received any
mail, that day, when one of the aurors brought it up from the servants' quarters. It was a pretty decent stack.
Harry took one look at it and sighed. "Fan mail?" he asked.
"Not unless you believe Ted Tonks to be a fan, Lord Potter," smiled the auror.
"Just him?" he asked.
"Just him."
He sighed again and moved the pile to the centre of the table so he could start to look through it all. Hermione stepped forward to help as the auror retreated.
After a little while she said, "This is all financial. Your liquid assets in the form of gold on hand and muggle investments."
She then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, my god!" And was looking at a sheet of parchment in shock.
"What is it, Hermione?" he asked.
"Harry," she said, slowly looking up at him. "You're rich!"
"I'm aware, Hermione," he said. "I believe I've told you that before."
"No," she said, still looking almost in awe at him. "I mean you're rich rich. You'd challenge Her Majesty and Richard Branson for being the richest person in Britain sort of rich!
"And that's just your liquid assets - gold, bonds and stocks in both worlds - not your Net Worth!"
Gently sliding over and grabbing her by the upper arms, he held her at arms length and said, "Hermione.
Once you reach the point and can honestly say you're rich, how much above that it gets is somewhat irrelevant.
"I could, quite literally, spend over a million galleons a year and not make a dent in the Potter fortune. I rake in far more than that in interest alone.
"That's why, once I realised I was way past the point I'd ever have to worry about money again, it became just a number to me. I know some people 'keep score' about those sort of things... such as Malfoy, obviously... but that's not how I think.
"To me, money is just something I have that I can give to someone else for them to give me something I want or need in return. And I have way more than enough of it to never, ever again go without.
"I value other things more highly than simple gold. I value friendship, love, family and things like that to have a value far higher than any overfull vault of gold I
have.
"Do you understand?"
Hermione had calmed back down as Harry talked. She was still trying to get her head around the fact her boyfriend... her betrothed... was in the top five of the richest people in the country. And he didn't consider it important.
"But―" she tried.
"No buts," he firmly said. "You make me feel like I'm the richest man in the world just by being my girlfriend."
That earned him a proper snog; and he got it, right there in the dinette. No 'wandering hands', though.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 238
When the Longbottoms arrived at the Ministry, people stopped and gawked. Neville felt distinctly uncomfortable about it.
"I think all this staring is what Harry has to go through all the time," he muttered to his mother. "I used to envy him that. Not any more."
His mother just smiled back and said, "It'll pass before too much longer. People just need to get it out of their systems."
"It's still uncomfortable, though," he firmly but softly stated.
He ended up glaring at anyone that gawked at them until they reached Madam Bones's office. At least it meant he wasn't fretting about the upcoming interview
he had to give.
After a quick greeting with the Director of the DMLE. Neville and his parents were escorted down to an Interview Room. It was actually the same one Harry and Hermione were interviewed in only a couple of weeks earlier.
It was also the same auror interviewers, Constance Hammer and Beauregard Fleming; though Neville did not know that.
After being told about the mild calming slash truth enhancement potion that was available to him, though he didn't know the two teens accepted the offer, Neville wisely decided he'd prefer it, too.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
The previous evening, after much bugging from
Dumbledore about the subject, Marchbanks finally informed Dumbledore he could go to Diagon Alley, that day, to replace some items from his partially destroyed wardrobe. However, he was not to go anywhere else but the Alley.
"You're treating me like a child," he grumped.
She immediately and firmly cast back, "I'm treating you like someone who: 'A', I really don't want here; and 'B', has been behaving appallingly since I arrived here to be Headmistress. If you don't like it, quit! If you won't quit, then lift your game and behave as the professional educator and school representative you're supposed to be.
"You get to go to the Alley... only. You get to go there to buy clothes to replace items damaged beyond repair of your wardrobe... only. I also expect you to be purchasing your black Professor's Robes. Then you are to immediately return here to the school. If you do not meet those conditions, the likelihood you'll be
allowed to leave the school during a school day ever again will go from being 'possible' to 'highly doubtful'.
"Now, will you meet the conditions set, will you quit or will you simply not go?"
"I'm going," he grumped. He really did want to replace his wardrobe of the damaged robes.
Dumbledore left about an hour after breakfast, so as to miss the first rush of crowds.
As soon as he was gone, Marchbanks sent a house elf off with a note to a Ward Mastery team currently waiting at the Three Broomsticks that they could now come to the school.
Under Madam Bones's recommendation while as Acting Madam Minister, she organised for an expert team of Ward Masters to go through the Hogwarts' wards to see what was there. And, if and where necessary, update them.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
After arriving early in his office to collect what documents he needed to go forth and do battle with the bureaucrats of the Ministry, Ted was out through the floo at almost right on 9.00am.
With his mokeskin-lined briefcase in his offhand, he made his way up to the first floor and the Minister's Administration Office. He sought a copy of the building assets owned by the Ministry.
After a quick peruse through it, he smiled. The Potter Cottage wasn't listed either by name or by address; 77 Phoenix Avenue, Godric's Hollow, Devon, England. That meant even the Ministry truly recognised they did not own Potter Cottage. The fact many thought they did was just an erroneous 'guess'.
His next stop was the third floor and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and its sub- department the Obliviator Headquarters.
When he walked in, one of the admin personnel took one look at him and sighed.
Coming forward, he politely asked, "What can Obliviator Headquarters do for you today, Mister Tonks?" He already knew it was not wise to annoy the law-wizard.
"My client would like to know more information on the work done by your Office regarding Potter Cottage as of the night of Hallowe'en, 1981," Ted replied. "He is very concerned that the enchantments, after more than a decade of being in place, might be failing."
The administration clerk gave a nod, replied, "I'll pull out the records." And turned about to go and do exactly that.
Three minutes later he was back with the file.
Ted had a quick look through it - the admin clerk could see no wrongdoing by him doing that - and asked, "Mind if I have a copy of this?"
The clerk gave a shrug and replied, "I can't see any harm in that."
Ted was quick to create a legal copy of the entire file, slipped his copy into his brief case and bid the man a good morning.
His quick perusal showed that the Obliviators had moved in within an hour of the 'event'; cleared up the mess, memory-wise; and were back the next day to put up wards to protect the place. The orders came direct from the Minister's, Bagnold's, office.
And that meant he now had a complete timeline of events, as per the documented evidence, that led to the Ministry taking possession of the cottage.
'It was a mistake,' he thought. 'A simple one; but a mistake, nonetheless.'
Happy he had the records to back up what he knew Harry would immediately move to do, he made his way out again.
Back in his office, he contacted Sirius by floo. And Sirius was stepping through a few moments later.
"I was glad to see you were up," grinned Ted.
"Andi woke me," grumbled Sirius. "Now, you said you found out something about Potter Cottage?"
Ted stepped him through the parchment-trail and said, "As you can see, it was a simple mistake by a 'staffer' in the WAS. The Wizengamot ruled the cottage was to be 'acquired as a historic site of National significance'.
"The staffer mistakenly thought that meant simply claim it. I think the 'Mot seriously meant purchase it and he or she misunderstood.
"The Minister, Bagnold, was quick to move in case of souvenir hunters picking the site clean.
"That had the DMAC back at the site first thing the next morning, but the official parchmentwork had not reached them yet. There was a high level of urgency and they believed the proper parchmentwork would get to them, sooner or later.
"They went to work and soon had the place secure with wards, charms and the like.
"And that's all she wrote until now."
"So, Harry has the right to move in and simply take it back?" Sirius asked. He was now grinning from ear to ear. If he was in his animagus form his tail would have been wagging.
"That's exactly what it means," replied a similarly grinning Ted. "He doesn't even need to notify anyone, because he's the rightful owner."
"Ha!" laughed Sirius. "Someone screwed up, big time!"
Ted nodded.
Sirius, still grinning, asked, "What are Harry's instructions if it was discovered he rightfully still owns the property?"
"Send the goblins in and secure it on behalf of the House of Potter," Ted immediately replied.
"Do it!" laughed Sirius. "I'll let Harry know."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 239
Arriving via floo in the Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore ignored all the glares aimed his way, wished the room in general a good morning and made his way out the back and through to the Alley.
He was just about to walk up the steps into Gringotts, when he noticed the looks of glee the two 'security' goblins standing either side of the main doors aimed directly at him.
'Oh, bugger!' he thought. 'I almost forgot. I'm currently persona non grata in the bank.'
Instead, he smiled in amusement at both goblins and changed course. He headed direct to Twillfit and Tatting's.
Inside, he was seen by a clerk. "Professor
Dumbledore," said the young man.
While he was shown professional courtesy by the young man, that was all he was shown. There was no true welcome in the man's voice or demeanour.
"I will speak with Terrence Twillfit, please," said Dumbledore. "I always deal directly with him."
The young man gave a curt nod and went to find his boss.
Twillfit came out about three minutes later. The time wasn't long enough to be properly considered rude, but there was a distinct lack of 'alacrity' in his attention.
Terrence, my good man," smiled Dumbledore. "I'm in need of three sets of robes. The full set, of course."
"Certainly," nodded Twillfit. "Any need for remeasurement?"
"No, no," replied the old man, lightly and softly chuckling. "I'll just need to see your colour and style selections, please."
Twillfit just gave a short nod and indicated for Dumbledore to follow him to where the styles catalogue could be found.
"Here are our latest styles," gestured Twillfit. "Of course, Madam Marchbanks has already informed us you'll be needing three robes in the Professor's basic black. However I'm sure―"
"No, no!" Dumbledore was quick to interject. Then chuckled again. "While I'm sure that is the information Griselda passed to you, I won't be needing those styles of robes. I'm looking for something a great deal more flashy that that. I'm sure you understand."
"Well, Headmistress Lady Marchbanks alerted us you would be coming in this morning and informed us
that, due to your greatly reduced... shall we say... financial position, you were to be supplied three sets of basic black professor's robes before you were allowed the purchase of anything else," said Twillfit. "Once those three sets are purchased, I'm more than happy to see to you acquiring what else you seek to purchase. I currently have a lovely chartreuse that's just come into stock."
Angry, Dumbledore demanded, "You allow yourself to be dictated to by Griselda? Why!?"
"Multiple reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss with you," replied Twillfit. "Part of that was the hint that word will be spread by the two main alliances that we ignored her... request.
"The business we would lose far outstrips what business we receive from you."
Without a word, Dumbledore spun on his heel and stormed from the shop.
Twillfit just watched him go, sighed, closed the books he had opened for Dumbledore and shook his head.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Neville's interview was nowhere near as long as Harry's, or even Hermione's, lasting less than an hour. But, at the end of it, he felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
When he told his mother that, she replied, "Because you have unburdened yourself of it, dear. It will also no longer haunt memories of your childhood."
As soon as they were done, the two aurors escorted the three back to Bones's office.
As soon as Fleming passed Bones the Dicta-quilled statement, Frank firmly said, "I'll have a copy of that,
thanks."
Bones simply nodded and created a court-approved copy, before handing it to him.
"Thank you," he said, tucking the scroll into an inner pocket. "Now, I want Algernon Rosier arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder of a wizarding child; and two counts of attempting to end the line of a Noble and Most Ancient House."
"I've already got the parchment drawn up and completed for all four," she said. "With the statement taken under DMLE truth tonic I can now go to the Chief Warlock and have him sign off on it. Rosier will be located, arrested and in a cell before midday."
"Good," said Frank firmly.
Turning to Neville he said, "Now that your necessary part in this is out of the way, how about you head back to the Hall?"
Neville winced and said, "Errr... I'd... rather not do that."
His father frowned and asked, "Why not?"
"It means I'll be there... alone... with Gran," he quietly replied.
"Ah!" said Alice. "Then what do you wish to do?"
"I'd like to go visit Harry and Hermione," he quickly replied.
"It will take time to get an owl to them―" started his mother. She stopped when she noticed his grin.
"Alright," she carefully said. "What am I missing?" Neville's grin widened further. "Watch," he said. Turning back to Bones he asked, "Madam Bones, may
I borrow parchment, ink and quill?"
Quickly offering them across the desk, Neville moved closer to her desk and used the 'public' side of it to write a quick note.
Once he was done, he passed ink and quill back, blew the note dry, folded it and grinned at his parents.
"Dobby!" he called.
When the little house elf appeared within seconds, he offered the note to him and asked, "Would you mind passing this note to Harry for me?"
Dobby gave a quick bob and, while reaching for and accepting it, replied, "Dobby be honoureds to, Mister Neville, Sir."
With the note in hand, Dobby popped away.
Then Neville sat back, grinning. "Something Harry
taught me," he chuckled.
While his parents looked back in surprise, Bones raised her off-hand to use her finger tips to massage the bridge of her nose yet again. "I'm really beginning to hate that boy."
"Actually," said Alice. "Lord Potter wrote to us while we in the time dilation chamber and told us he'd used that method to send Neville a note to alert him he knew Neville was worrying and he shouldn't."
"He did," nodded Neville. "That's what made me think of it now."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Chapter 240
After settling his betrothed down as to how much he was actually worth, Harry finally got them started on going through the finances. Of course, one of the first documents they read was Ted's analysis of his shares in the muggle stock market. He gave that to Hermione to have a good look-over before he'd be telling Ted to go ahead with his recommended changes.
After she determined she could not tell if Ted was wrong on any of them, Harry gave them a quick glance through, shrugged his shoulders and signed off on the recommendations. That sign-off was set aside to be sent back with the rest of what they managed to get through that day later in the afternoon.
There was a short break while Harry answered a mirror-call from Sirius. He was in Ted's office.
After a quick explanation from Ted, Harry was quick with instructions. "Have the goblins, as soon as possible, move in and secure the property. If it's mine I want it secured from any further damage and or
vandalism.
"Then, as soon as the goblins move in to secure the property, I want Madam Bones informed it's been done. I don't want her to be caught flat-footed when someone alerts her to how the cottage has been secured. Then we'll sit back until someone visiting the place reports it to the Ministry.
"While Madam Bones might not have had anything to do with the Ministry effectively stealing the property from me, she is still now the Acting Madam Minister; and, as such, responsible for the actions of the Ministry."
"It'll be done," Ted immediately replied. And grinned.
After recovering the documents on the rental properties they'd gone through a few days earlier, Harry and Hermione then compared them with the income the properties were generating. Each property was making a steady profit, but Harry could see a
couple of warning signals within the documentation that Ted must've missed, due to the two piles being dealt with separately. He recommended changes there and set that aside.
The two teens were discussing what else to do about it when Dobby turned up and handed Harry the note from Neville.
"From Mister Neville, Sir, Master Harry," said Dobby.
Harry immediately said, "On the table, please, Dobby. And, thank you."
Dobby popped the letter onto the table and popped away.
Casting his detection charms on the letter and finding nothing, Harry picked it up and unfolded it.
~# ~
Harry and Hermione,
Mum and Dad have to do quite a bit of work with the Ministry and Gringotts to get started on getting their lives sorted out and I don't want to be at home alone with Gran.
Does Hermione mind if I pay a visit? I don't think I've ever been in a muggle home before and I think it'd be interesting.
Do you like how I asked via 'house elf express delivery'? I think it'll really shock my parents that I thought of calling Dobby, when I do.
I'm currently in Madam Bones's office in the DMLE awaiting your reply.
Neville ~# ~
Knowing it was more her permission than his, Harry handed it straight off to Hermione without a word.
After she read it, she said, "That'd be great!" And grinned.
Harry grinned back and said, "I think it'd be best if you replied. That way he'll know, as it's your home, he actually does have permission."
Still grinning, Hermione gave a short nod, pulled over a small blank sheet of parchment and quickly began to write a reply. Stopping after the first line, she asked, "How will he get here?"
"Portkey," he immediately replied. He then suddenly had a thought.
Excitedly, he said, "No, not a portkey! I've got a better idea. Write this..."
As he dictated to her what to write, Hermione wrote it down. When she'd finished, she looked at what was written and stared in shock.
"Harry, you know what this means?" she asked.
"Of course, I do. If it works, it'll show a huge security hole in everyone's wards, especially at the Ministry," he grinned. "But, this will be an excellent way to prove it to Madam Bones."
"She's going to hate you even more," she giggled. "She's going to half panic."
"Meh!" he said with a shrug. "It's not as if I caused the problem. I'm just pointing it out. And who else should I point it out to, if not her? Besides, if I just told her of it, I doubt she'd believe me. This way, she'll see it happening."
He hesitated a moment before he said, "Add a postscript, if you wouldn't mind."
"Yes?" she asked, readying her quill.
"P.S. Harry says, please tell Madam Bones I'm sorry for her to see this happen before I warned her. But, I don't think she'd believe me if she didn't see it with her own eyes," he dictated. "I think that should do."
Once the note was written and breath-dried, Hermione called Dobby and told him what was going on.
He was all for it and popped away with the note a few moments later.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Seeing Dumbledore walk into the shop, one of Malkin's shop assistants immediately summoned her over and quietly said, "I do not wish to deal with the old fool and, if you force me to―"
"No," Malkin just as quietly sighed, "He's my responsibility."
Madam Malkin's was a store Dumbledore would not usually be caught anywhere near, other than to pass it by. However, needs must.
When the dumpy little woman approached him, she politely greeted him, "Good morning, Professor Dumbledore. Here for your three sets of Professor robes, are you?"
That question, of course, alerted him to the fact Marchbanks had also already contacted the woman. He just didn't realise that was exactly why she asked it.
With an initial frown at her that was immediately masked again, he politely replied, "Yes, actually. However, I'm looking for something a lot more colourful than just the plain black. After all, I have an
image to maintain. I'm sure you understand." And gave a light self-deprecating chuckle.
However, she had already been made aware he would try this.
"Certainly," she immediately replied. "I'm sure we can dress it up with some nice colour piping, or maybe something understated at the cuffs or hems."
After hearing the first word, Dumbledore thought he was in the clear. The follow-up, however, shut him down again.
He never saw the amusement on the face of the shop assistant, who had moved to stand out of his peripheral vision and look to Malkin.
"Errr... yes," he quietly said.
The next forty minutes in the store were almost painful for the man who hadn't worn anything darker
than a muted pastel in almost thirty five years.
Eventually, he left with the best he could hope for. He'd pushed and pushed for brighter colours and larger areas but was neatly shut down every time.
"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore," she would say. "That exceeds the limit of coloured material you are permitted to have in the specifications I've been given. I'm afraid we're just going to have to reduce that.
"No, Professor Dumbledore; I'm afraid the piping and external material panels, together, exceed the limits as stated in the specifications. I'm afraid you're going to need to choose between the piping and panels. Perhaps if we use some silk to highlight, instead? Black, of course.
"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but I simply cannot exceed the limitations as laid down by Headmistress Lady Marchbanks. She is using fitting you for Professor's robes as a test to see if I am willing to
rigidly meet the specifications. If I exceed them, then she will inform the rest of the staff that Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions is not an approved retailer. I simply cannot afford to lose the business.
"I believe all clothing retailers the length of wizarding Britain have been given the same specifications and instructions."
Frustrated at every turn he fully intended to just dump the lot into the nearest bin until Malkin said, "I will, of course, be sending the specifications of the robes you purchased, together with a copy of the receipt, to Headmistress Lady Marchbanks... Why? So she knows I met the requirements to outfit you for your Professor's robes, of course!"
Actually, that last was not an instruction Marchbanks had given her. However, she really didn't want the man to have to return when he returned to Hogwarts without them. She decided she'd immediately floo the woman with what she'd said so her bum was
protected from any backlash later.
Besides, she was enjoying tweaking the man over it; especially after what he did to Lord Potter. It was just her sense of satisfaction and 'revenge by proxy' by blocking him at every turn that drove her on.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Neville was getting a little antsy Harry and Hermione weren't going to get Dobby to give him a reply before his parents wanted to go. However, before that happened, the little elf returned.
"Mister Neville, Sir," said Dobby, handing him the note.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Neville accepted the note and read it. As he did so, he grinned and then laughed.
"I take it you can go?" asked his father. "Yes," he chuckled.
"In that case, I'll organise a portkey for you," said Madam Bones.
Neville snorted in amusement and said, "I trust Harry." "Oh?" she warily asked.