Chapter 252

It was the sudden quick movement of the aurors that alerted the two teens to them having magical visitors.

Less than thirty seconds later, Ted and Sirius came into the dinette.

As soon as Ted saw the two of them working through the finance documents of the House of Potter, he smiled. "I see why you think I'm trying to bury you under parchmentwork, Lord Potter. You don't have to go through all this right now, you know."

"I just want to get it out of the way," replied Harry. "The more I get done now, the less I have to worry about needing time to get it all done later."

"Not that we mind," said Hermione, rising to give both men a hug. "But, what brings you here, today?"

"We're looking for a suitable location to install a fireplace," smiled Ted.

Confused, Hermione asked, "A fireplace?"

"A fireplace for a floo point, Hermione," said Sirius. "If we go ahead with getting you two private tutors instead of returning to Hogwarts, we thought it would be a good idea. If you have private tutors off-site, I expect you'd want to regularly come home."

"Are my parents allowed?" she asked.

"No, but Lord Black is," replied Ted. "And, as you are his ward and he may need you to visit him so he can keep an eye on you, the only form of travel available to you is via floo, portkey or Knight Bus. You are not permitted to apparate until you are of age, have met the testing requirements and have a licence; the Knight Bus is a security risk; portkeys can only be made by certain people under licence from the Portkey Office; leaving only the floo, which is both secure and relatively risk-free."

"But, this is still a muggle home," said Hermione. "It was one of the first things I looked up when I found out about floo travel―"

When she saw the twin smiles from the two adults she stopped.

"And while this is a muggle home, you can't have the floo installed," smiled Ted. "So, what's the answer?"

Harry gave a snort and looked to his betrothed. "Hermione," he said, getting her attention. "If what's stopping this home getting a floo connection is that it's a muggle home, thennnn...?"

"Make it a wizarding home?" she asked. "But, how?"

"Simple, dear," said a now grinning Sirius. "I, or another qualified wizard or witch, simply has to own part of it."

"With Sirius owning part of it, that part becomes a wizarding home," added Ted.

Hermione looked shocked and started to nibble her bottom lip as she went through all the permutations she could think of. "I... don't know if Daddy will like that. Which part are you thinking of?"

"A part that's not been built yet," replied Sirius. "We can either build an extension to the side of the house, or a separate construction in the backyard. Actually, that second one is probably the better option. More secure, that way."

"How big would it have to be?" she asked.

"Not very," replied Ted. "A telephone box would be big enough with space expansion charms employed. Does your dad have an outside tool shed, garage, workshop, whatever?"

"Yeah, a brick shed; but, he never uses it," she replied. Suddenly her eyes widened, "You can use that!"

"No one else goes in there?" asked Ted.

"No," she replied. "Actually, I don't think anyone's gone in there for... well... years."

"Then we won't even need to build anything new," said Sirius. "As long as it's big enough to put in a large enough fireplace, it'll do 'as is'."

"Is it locked?" asked Harry.

"Ummm..." she muttered as she thought. She then gave a firm nod and said, "If I remember correctly, it is and the key is hanging on a hook next to the back door."

Enthusiastic for the idea, Sirius said, "Then, let's go check it out."

It turned out the key was hanging where Hermione thought it would be, but the lock had rusted to the point the key would no longer fit.

Sirius was about to blast it off when Harry blocked him. He then cast a Reparo at the lock; and the key then fit.

Once inside and, aside from the evidence of the rusty lock showing disuse, it was clear the building wasn't in use because there was nothing of any real value within. Only lots of spiderwebs and a real musty scent filled and permeated the room.

"This will be perfect!" said an excited Sirius. "I think your father will be happy to sell me this building when I offer him a suitable price for it."

_‗_

―==(oIo)==―

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Back up in the dinette, the four of them sat around the table as Ted began to explain what he had to do.

Ted explained, "Once Wendell signs over ownership of the 'shed' to Lord Black, Lord Black will need to come here and install a permanent fireplace. Then, once the fireplace is installed, I can submit the parchmentwork to have it connected to the floo network under Lord Black's name."

Hermione asked, "If it's that easy to get around the law, why haven't more people done this?"

Harry grinned and replied, "Because, they're... what?"

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