Chapter Forty Eight - Islands and Electrickery

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!

Chapter Forty Eight - Islands and Electrickery

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

Once back at the Black House, Hermione said, "That was more annoying than Harry's induction. What was it with those people putting up a fuss?"

"One; Harry is the Boy-Who-Lived, and no one was going to contest him being a member. The press and, through them, the public would have torn them apart," said Daphne. "Two; you're a muggleborn, which is really what the problem with the diehard conservatives was all about. They just couldn't say that, so they came at you from a different direction. And, three; they're right to be worried that the Potters now have three seats in their ranks. Because we're there due to being awarded Orders of Merlin, it means we're there for life.

"The only way we can be removed is for them to prove the Orders of Merlin were falsely awarded. Which they can't do because too many people saw us actually earn them. And it was done in practically the most public of places in wizarding Britain, the atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

"That's... that's..." began Hermione, looking like she was building up to a rant.

"Stupid," said Daphne, cutting her off. "Yes. There was a reason Harry and I were so pleased we'd face Riddle in the middle of the atrium, and with over two dozen aurors and Unspeakables backing us up. No one can deny we didn't actually face Riddle, after all."

Clearly accepting the explanation and considering the matter closed, Hermione asked, "So, what now?"

"We plan, we graduate and we act," Daphne firmly replied.

"And, what are we planning?" she asked.

"That's part of the planning process," smiled Harry. "What exactly it is we're going to do."

"Oh, sure," he continued. "We have the general idea of improving the wizarding world here in Great Britain... dragging it up to the twenty first century, and all... but how we go about that, is currently unknown. That's what we need to work on."

"Alright, then," said Hermione. "Planning, I can do. But, I'm going to need some ideas. Somewhere we can start... Let's make a list. A list of all those things we see wrong, or bad, and then add to that with what we can do to start to fix it."

And, so, the three Potters pulled out the parchment and ink and started to brainstorm. Ideas were posited. Then, they were either dismissed, given a lower priority, or added to the top of the pile.

* Get better treatment for house elves, quickly became get better treatment for all sentient magical beings.

* Werewolves are wizards and witches with a treatable disease, not dark creatures.

* Veela are witches with an added gift, not creatures.

* 'Muggle' studies needs to be updated to the cusp of the 21st Century, and then built upon. Studies of the non-magical world? Force Hogwarts to employ a mundane raised expert.

* The term 'muggle' should be considered offensive. Replace it with mundane, non-magical, or something even less obnoxious.

* Make terms such as mudblood an offence, and considered akin to common assault upon all those who overheard it.

* Have an 'integration'/reintegration' expert visit the homes of any so-called muggleborn (mundaneborn, first gen, new gen, re-gen, 're-activant') upon the first time the child expresses accidental magic.

* Finally send in for publishing the final draft on the book of soul bonds, souls and the theory of souls going into the bodies of muggle-borns due to the lack of new magical babies being born.

* Force fairer hiring practices upon the Ministry. No less than ten percent of all positions must be mundane-raised, move to fifteen percent within ten years. Ensure no 'glass ceiling' develops.

"That's a lot, and I don't think it's anywhere near what we're going to have to do," said Daphne.

"That's okay," said Harry, with a shrug. "After NEWTs, we've got the rest of our lives to work on it all."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

While staying at the Black House during the first week, Narcissa and Draco finally returned to Malfoy Manor. The goblins had assured the entire grounds had been searched, including the extensive basement with it's hidden rooms.

During their search of the basement, they'd come across a great deal of dark arts items and reported such to Narcissa. She immediately said, "Destroy it. Destroy it all."

And the goblins did exactly that, and presented her with a list - and the curses involved on each - at the end of it.

Harry and his wives and Sirius were still pretty ambivalent about sharing a home with the ex-Malfoys, but were happy to see them return to their own home. For Sirius he'd had to 'tolerate' his cousin, Narcissa, underfoot almost all day every day.

And it was during their stay at the Black House that their OWL results arrived.

All three Ministry owls arrived at almost the same time, while the three and Sirius were having breakfast together. All three landed on the informal dining table in the kitchen; the same one that was often used as the meeting table for the Order of the Phoenix in the old timeline.

A quick scan to check for curses and other foul magics and the three birds were quickly stripped of their loads.

"They're charmed," said Harry immediately.

"They're charmed so that only the person to whom they're addressed can open them," said Padfoot. "So... go ahead."

Of course, Hermione began to immediately fret.

"Hermione, we've done this before," reasoned Daphne. "You ranked near the top of the year, last time, if I correctly recall. It's not as if you could have done worse; what with what we know now."

With trembling hands, and after taking a deep breath, Hermione gave a firm nod to herself before quickly breaking the seal and opening the envelope.

A few moments later her face slowly broke into a wide smile and then her hand tremors stopped. She sat back with a big sigh of happiness.

"Well?" asked Daphne.

"Open yours, first," she shot back.

"Very well," said Daphne. She quickly flipped her envelope over, broke the seal, and withdrew the parchment.

After a quick scan through it she, too, broke into a wide smile.

Both wives then turned to Harry.

"What?" he asked.

Sirius gave a snort and said, "If you don't open it, Pup, I think they'll kill you."

"Oh," he said. "You mean my OWL results?"

With glared daggers from both his wives, Harry gave a bit of chuckle and opened his own.

Sliding it out, he schooled his face not to show emotion, opened the parchment inside and read.

Taking a deep sigh and smashing down hard on his occlumency, he adopted an expression of disappointment. He looked to his bondmates and asked, "Well, Hermione. How did you do?"

With a big smile she read, "Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Charms, DADA, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies and Transfiguration... all Outstanding Plus. Care of Magical Creatures and Potions... Outstandings.

"Twenty out of twenty-two possible OWLS. Ranked first in our year."

"Bloody Hell!" muttered Sirius. He earned a frown from Hermione for his language. She knew, now, not to berate the man, especially as they were in his home.

"Daphne?" asked Harry.

Daphne flipped back open her results parchment and listed them. "Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms, DADA, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions and Transfiguration... all Outstanding Plus. Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies... Outstandings.

"Nineteen out of twenty-two possible OWLs. Ranked second in our year."

"Harry?" asked Sirius, almost squirming in his own seat out of anticipation.

Harry grinned and flipped open his.

"Ancient Runes, Charms, Dah-dah, Herbology, Muggle Studies and Transfiguration... all Outstanding Plus. Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Potions... all Outstandings. History of Magic... Exceeds Expectations.

"I also received a bonus OWL for Dah-dah. First in Europe, apparently. And, seventeen out of twenty-one possible OWLs. Ranked sixth in our year."

"Woohoo!" cried Sirius, immediately hopping out of his chair and doing a jig. "That's... that's... better than even your father or I did! Merlin; that's better than Remus and Lily did!"

Suddenly he stopped, stood tall and declared, "Today; we celebrate!"

"We need to mail our friends," said Daphne.

"Yes, but first, we need to mail our family," said Hermione.

"Better yet," said Sirius. "We'll Floo to see Matthias and Deece, then apparate to Ant and Cele. I think this is the sort of news that should be shared in person!"

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After a quick stop at the Farm, the Greengrasses, Potters and Sirius all portkeyed to the Grangers.

After a quick whirl in her father's arms, and a squeal of 'Daddy!' from Hermione. The full family, with Astoria this time, met in the Grangers lounge. Extra chairs were conjured so everyone could sit.

With the results passed around between everyone, even Astoria wanted to see, there were hearty congratulations for the three.

"Twenty, nineteen and seventeen OWLs," said Matthias. "I suppose we really shouldn't be surprised, considering your... history."

"But, it's still amazing," said Deece.

"So, what subjects are you considering for your NEWTs?" asked Sirius.

Hermione started. "I'm taking Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and History of Magic; and probably the Enchanting and Healing electives, making seven subjects," she quickly stated. "However, I want to speak with the Unspeakables about what subjects I should take to get into spell and general research before I consider those firm. I was thinking about doing law, too; but, I can take the lead from Daphne and Harry for that."

"Daphne?" asked Matthias.

"Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy for core subjects. Then the Law and Healing electives," she quickly replied. "That's also seven subjects."

"And, Harry," said Sirius.

"Ancient Runes, Charms, Transfiguration and Dah-dah for the core subjects; and the 'Estate Planning', law and Introduction to the Ministry electives," he replied. "Though, the last one is still 'iffy'; but, makes seven subjects, too."

"So, we know Hermione wants to get into research with a focus on spell research," said Deece. "And, we know Daphne wants to seek a career in healing. I can't tell what field you're seeking, Harry. Your choices are quite general."

"Politics," replied Harry, promptly. "That, plus taking care of the finances of House Potter. Both Daphne and Hermione have convinced me the field of politics is where I should direct my efforts."

"I think that's a wise choice," said Matthias. "But, if they hadn't suggested it to you, what field would you have chosen?"

"Probably working on Mysteries," he replied with a shrug. "But, not in their combat arm; though, Croaker would probably want me in that area. I had originally thought of being an auror, like my Dad, but not any more."

"James only entered law enforcement because we were, at the time, at war, Harry," said Deece. "He knew magical Britain needed as many fighters for the light as they could get. It was his strong sense of duty that led him to that career. Otherwise, I assure you, he'd never have become an auror."

Perking up, Harry asked, "Oh? And, what would he have become; if not for the war?"

"In his early years at Hogwarts he showed a strong interest in becoming a teacher," replied Matthias. "His dream, at the time, was to one day replace Minerva MacGonagall as Professor of Transfigurations at Hogwarts. And Minerva was encouraging him to do so."

"I... didn't know that," Harry softly replied, a little in awe. "A professor, eh?" he quietly mused.

"I could see it," said Deece. "He always had a certain 'knack' for teaching difficult parts of both theory and practicalities in Transfiguration."

"That's where it must come from, Harry," said Hermione , perking up a bit as she realised something. "Your ability to teach, even though it's in DADA, must come from your father."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After a second week at the Black House the three bondmates were ready to move to Potter Retreat; their true home.

However, just before they were due to depart, Sirius pulled the three of them into his office for a last minute chat.

After they all sat down, he said, "I remember you saying that the three of you didn't get much of a honeymoon, and stayed in isolation at Potter Retreat after your wedding. So, I've been talking it over with the family, and have come up with a solution."

"Padfoot..." Harry quietly began, before Sirius raised his hand in a stop gesture.

"Hear me out," he said. "You mentioned how you'd like to spend your honeymoon on a tropical island, and playing on the beach. At least, that was the impression everyone got from what you said."

He then reached into a drawer on the desk and pulled out a large polished wooden ring, and placed it on the table before them.

"That is a permanent portkey that will take you from the welcoming hall here, to Black Island in the Caribbean and back," he explained. "We expect you three to make use of it for no less than two weeks during this break.

"The island comes fully victualled and has only the single house. Because of the wards, no one will find you there, let alone disturb you. You three deserve a proper honeymoon and this should count for that."

Harry was completely gobsmacked. It was Hermione who eventually asked, "This island is where you holed up during the first part of fourth year, right?"

With a wide smile, Sirius replied, "It is."

"Thank you, Sirius," said Daphne, picking up the wooden ring. "I, for one, really appreciate this."

Sirius waved off her thanks and began to stand. "It's my pleasure. I wasn't able to take care of more than a few of my godfather duties, but ensuring my godson can take his wives to a tropical island for their honeymoon is well within my abilities to accomplish."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

With Dobby moving their trunks across, the three walked into the informal dining area part of the kitchen and relaxed at table. Three cups of tea and a side plate of sliced cake between them.

With a sigh, Harry said, "Finally."

"Home," said Hermione.

Daphne nodded in agreement.

"Jeeves," Hermione softly called.

A bare moment later and the elf major-domo for Potter Retreat popped in alongside her. "Yes, Mistress Hermione?" he asked.

"Anything of note happen to any Potter property while we've been away?" she asked.

"No, Mistress," the little elf immediately replied. "All Potter properties are being safe and well cared for."

"That's excellent news, Jeeves," said Hermione. "Thank you."

The elderly elf gave a slight bow and popped away again.

"That reminds me," said Daphne. "Now that Riddle's been dealt with, are you going to go ahead with your plans to have the Manor wired for that... ummm... elec... tricker... tris..ity."

"Electricity; yes," said Harry. "And, yes. As long as I can find a squib electrician who can do it for us. Otherwise, how do we get a muggle electrician to do the work when they can't even see the property. I really don't want to drop the wards to allow one in for a couple of weeks, as it means Potter Manor will immediately be 'remembered' by all those who've been here in the past and the fidelius charm made forget."

"How would we go about finding something like that out?" asked Hermione.

Harry grinned and replied, "The goblins, of course."

"They'll want a cut," warned Daphne.

"If they can find such an electrician, it'll be worth it," said Harry. "Can you imagine how long it would take us to find one? If the goblins want an extra ten percent, I'll happily pay it. It'll be worth it."

"Can we get it organised during our time here, this break?" asked a clearly excited Hermione.

"If that's what you want," replied Harry. "But, please, don't be disappointed if it takes them well past the break before they can track one down. And then see if they can get it done. And then see when they can get it done; et cetera."

Hermione nodded back, but clearly thought it wasn't going to be too hard for the goblins to track one down.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After sending a letter via Hedwig to Account Manager Sharpclaw, the almost immediate return letter from the goblin proved Hermione correct. As Sharpclaw explained through his letter, the goblins kept an up-to-date record of all squib tradespeople they were able to track down. For electricians they had no less than half a dozen dotted across the Isles. And one was located no less than a few minutes away from where Potter Retreat was located on the outskirts of Merlin's Bridge village; in the nearest major town, Haverfordwest.

Reading the letter, Harry sighed and passed it to Daphne. "Hermione was correct, as usual," he muttered. "The goblins have a... database... of squib and those-permitted-to-know tradespeople and other assorted professionals."

Hermione laughed and said, "I know. My parents are on the register as dentists, parents of a muggleborn and, therefore, in the know."

Harry stared at her in shock for a few moments before turning to an amused Daphne. "Daphne-love, our wife pulled a prank on us."

"No, dear; just you," she smirked. "I already knew of it, and that the Grangers were on the register. My father introduced them as muggle 'teeth healers' to the goblins."

Harry stared at both wives, who were impudently grinning back. "You pranked me!" he accused them. "The pair of you; you pranked me!"

"We did," admitted Hermione, before both girls broke into laughter.

"Just for that, I could cancel the whole concept and not have electricity installed," he grouched.

"No, you promised," retorted Daphne.

With a sigh, he huffed, "Fine!" And set to work drafting a letter to the squib electrician to meet up to discuss their needs. He even sent the man a portkey that would take them to the welcoming hall in the manor. Now that Riddle was 'dealt with' the risk of an attack via that method had, of course, significantly dropped.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

As the holidays progressed, life at Potter Retreat quickly settled down.

The squib electrician quickly accepted the job to retrofit the manor will electricity, and work began a little over a week later. Because of the effect magic had on electricity they wouldn't have the entire manor fitted. Instead, they opted for certain rooms, and for the cabling to be heavily shielded.

There was sufficient lighting provided by gas lights, so there was no need for electrical lighting to be installed.

They decided that the Lord and Lady's offices would have wall sockets for the possible installation of computers at a later date; together with a phone line each, for contacting the non-magical world. The family's wing would have power provided to the private sitting room, which would become the 'multimedia' room and contain the television and like equipment.

The electrician also spoke of special runic arrays that could be installed around the entirety of the new multimedia room, and where the computers would be installed in each office. They acted as a sort of magical 'Faraday cage', and kept magic performed outside the room or area from permeating the room or area. He claimed that, though he was a squib, he discovered that runes were not beyond him; and had a witch relative teach him all she knew on the subject.

In exchange, the three taught the electrician the anti-magic runic arrays they'd helped develop for the corridors and other public areas within Hogwarts. And installed those inside the electrician's own array, in a 'nested' fashion.

The rest of the house would remain free of electrical devices, so magic could be cast through the house.

When the day came for the electricians to commence their work, the three made use of the portkey given to them by Sirius to finally have that tropical island honeymoon.

They loved it.

The island was barely large enough to be considered an actual island. However, it was more than big enough for the three bondmates. The small house located not too far from the edge of a beautiful white sand beach had made plentiful use of space expansion charms on the inside.

The house was outfitted with a decent sized combined library and office, an extravagant kitchen, a master bedroom with an oversized king-size bed with attached ensuite. The ensuite was fitted with a magical Jacuzzi whirlpool bath, shower and adjacent toilet. The walk-in robe had plenty of hanging and shelf space for all their clothes. And extra bedrooms for guests, though they had none.

Outside had a lovely combined BBQ and entertaining area. A permanent gazebo down on the edge of the sand for the beach, with running fresh water. An outside shower to rinse off with before heading back inside was attached.

Everything else was just extraneous to their needs.

The first two days was spent exploring the island; the third was spent swimming and relaxing. On the fourth day, Hermione calmly walked outside, nude, to go for a swim. Which had the other two glance at one another, grin and immediately shuck their clothes to join her, frolicking in the shallows of the gentle surf.

By the time they returned to Britain, all three had full body tans, were very relaxed and sported mile wide grins.

Sirius took one look at them and burst out laughing.

"We now know why you headed for the island to recuperate from Azkaban, Sirius," said Hermione. "It's love-ly."

"And I had no idea Harry was such a good cook," said Daphne, sitting on one of the couches in Black Manor with a dreamy sigh. "He's even better than the elf cooks at Hogwarts."

"I... wouldn't go that far," muttered Harry, while blushing.

"No, she's right," disagreed Hermione. "You are."

"We went spear fishing using bubblehead charms, one day, and caught a couple of fish," said Daphne. "As soon as we returned to the beach Harry descaled, gutted and cleaned them; before lightly frying them up on the BBQ to be added to a lovely salad with a lemon and pepper vinaigrette dressing. It was de-vine!"

While Hermione and Daphne seemed lost in their memories, Sirius turned to Harry and grinned. "Maybe it's a recipe you can teach Chuckles and your house elves."

"Honestly, Sirius," said Harry. "It was just something I thought up on the spot and threw together. It was no big deal."

"Oh, but that wasn't the best meal, I think," said Hermione, suddenly. "He made this dish, which was quite simple really. He cut up a rack of lamb ribs and lightly fried them. Then he simply up-ended a jar of plum jam into the fry pan, and brought the whole lot back up to a simmer, and left it like that for about fifteen minutes.

"Now, I thought it was going to be way too sweet to eat. But, it wasn't! They were delicious!"

"But, messy," added Daphne.

"Leaving it to simmer for so long allows the sugar in the jam to caramelise," muttered Harry. "That cancels out a lot of the sucrose sweetness, leaving behind the fructose from the plums. Not a difficult dish. And it really only takes a few minutes to prepare."

"So, what you're saying is... Harry can cook," said Sirius.

"Cook is too... unrefined... a word to use," said Daphne.

"He... chefs... food," said Hermione. "He... prepares it the way food should be prepared. He... oh, I don't know! But, 'cooks' is definitely the wrong word. It's too... pedestrian for what Harry does."

Meanwhile, Harry was blushing away like mad.

Sirius, seeing his godson blush so much, just laughed. "Maybe we can convince Harry to cook for the family, one night," he chuckled. "If he's as good as you say he is, we may have found a bit of a career for him."

"He's cooked breakfast at Hermione's parent's place," said Daphne. "Usually, it's just breakfast. But he can lay on a good spread just doing that, too."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

Finally returning to the manor, the electrician awaited them.

"As per your specifications, everything's done," he explained. "As you requested I've also set up your electricity and telephone account bills to be sent to the 'muggle' address for Gringotts, and the goblins will ensure they're paid on time, each time, they fall due.

"I hope you don't mind me doing so, but I've also sent my bill directly to the goblins for payment. So, you don't need to take care of that."

"That's fine, on both counts," replied Harry. "And thank you, very much. As I've already explained, having electricity in the home is something my wife, Hermione, kind of insisted upon. She loves her television shows and videos."

"Just hope she doesn't become addicted to the Internet, like my eldest boy," grinned the electrician. "We had to get a second telephone line installed, else we'd never have a free telephone for others to ring us, or us to be able to ring them."

Hermione perked up. "You can have more than one?" Before she immediately answered her own question. "Of course you can have more than one. After all, some people run offices from inside their homes. They'd need a phone line for each... and probably another line for a fax machine. I don't know why I didn't think of that."

As Hermione rambled a bit, Harry just sighed and turned to the electrician. "You'd better install another two phone lines. I have a feeling we'll need at least one more before too long."

"Well," replied the electrician, scratching the back of his head in a fashion similar to how Harry did the same. "I can easily have the second line up and installed in a couple of hours. The telephone cable has enough individual strands to allow two lines to run off one cable. However, I'm going to need to run another cable back to the street to have a third or fourth line installed."

"Do it," said Harry. "I take it you've buried the line with a pull through in place?"

"Aye, I have," replied the electrician.

"Then, do it," said Harry. "It's not needed right away, though. Do it when you've got time.

"Call Jeeves when you need to enter the manor. I'll let him know you can come in to install the extra lines."

"That'll make it easy," replied the electrician. "Yeah, I'll do that."

"In the meantime, are both power and the telephone line now connected?" asked Hermione.

"Aye to both, ma'am," replied the older man. He then handed her a piece of paper with a telephone number written on it. "This is your new telephone number. I'll let you know what the numbers are for the other lines once they're installed and connected."

"Thank you," she softly said with a wide smile, accepting the slip.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

As soon as the electrical contractor left, Hermione was immediately on the phone to call her parents and let them know their 'new' telephone number. She even used the opportunity to demonstrate the use of the telephone to Daphne.

Harry was happy to leave Hermione to it, as it made her almost ecstatic to be able to use the muggle communication device. Apparently, the use of owls was 'alright' but instant communication via telephone was much better. Her delight might have been tempered a little if the Grangers had a fireplace that could be connected to the Floo network; but, even if they did, it wouldn't be. The risk of some muggle not-in-the-know seeing the fireplace used in such a manner was too great a risk. Therefore, owls were the only form of communication allowed a 'muggleborn' household.

Of course, that decision from the ministry did not include the use of the communication mirrors, or patronuses with the audible component. They were, essentially, unknown to the Ministry; and, therefore, were not seen as a form of communication.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

By the time the three left Potter Retreat for Kings Cross station at the end of their summer break, the manor had been wired up with the two extra telephone lines. And a network cable had been run from the Lord's office to the Lady's office, for future use of an internal network and Internet connection. Harry couldn't see the value in it, but Hermione seemed almost desperate for it, so he relented.

The final installation of the extra telephone line and network cable had Hermione then dragging the three of them to a computer store in 'town'; where two IBM compatible computers, two printers with a ream of A4 paper each, a high speed 28.8Kb modem, and a couple of other peripherals were all purchased and installed in the two offices in the manor.

While Hermione set them up, claiming she had experience setting up her mother and father's workplace network, and her father's computer at home in his den, Harry and Daphne just stood back and watched.

"I've been itching to get my hands on this," she said, still unboxing computer equipment. "It's called Windows 95 and it was only released eleven months ago, about a week before we returned to Hogwarts after the summer break. Using this means we don't have to use a socket program, such as WinSock, to connect to the Internet via the modem.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing what the new versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer are like. But, I've heard bad things about Windows Mail..."

As Hermione continued to 'rabbit' on, Daphne turned to Harry and quietly asked, "Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

"Nope," he just as quietly replied. "I think I read somewhere something about computers communicating with networks with modems, though. Dudley's had his connect to something called a 'Bee-esS-esS'."

"Bee-Bee-esS," corrected Hermione, barely breaking off her description on the IBM compatible computer she was now starting to set up. "It's an acronym that stands for Bulletin Board System. You could think of it as the precursor to the modern Internet..."

It took Hermione about two hours to set up both computers, another two hours on the phone with a local Internet provider to arrange a temporary volume-use Internet account, and three hours of reading manuals to figure out how to get the first computer to share it's connection with the second computer.

However, she finally got it all running as she liked it; but, due to the lateness of the hour, had to firmly be told that she could show the other two how to use the computer and the Internet the next morning.

Harry and Daphne became somewhat proficient by the time they had to leave to return to Hogwarts for, as Hermione smirkingly called them, 'Newbies' in the use of the World Wide Web and Word for Windows.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After being dropped off via portkey onto Platform 9¾, this time going on their own and without chaperone, the three bondmates immediately boarded the train. As they walked into a free compartment in a carriage somewhat near where their friends knew they could find them, Daphne was gushing about Microsoft Word.

"I cannot believe how much easier Word would make writing assignments," she gushed. "You can move words around on the parchment and put them in all sorts of different orders. And means you can write everything on there before you write out your final draft."

"Hang on," said Harry, interrupting. "Let's set the compartment up, first. Then you two can talk about word processors."

That had both his wives nodding in agreement.

Standing outside the compartment they'd chosen, Harry began with the necessary space expansion charm. "A bit bigger, methinks," he muttered, raising his wand.

He set about making the compartment even larger in both lateral directions than on their previous trip. Again, the window was enlarged both vertically and horizontally. It now ran floor to ceiling and was almost three times as wide to allow plenty of light within, and improve the view. The bench seats were transfigured into far more comfortable plush upholstered couches and adorned with family crests; and, similar to last time, a table was created between the seats nearer the window.

From a compartment able to seat six, or eight at a squeeze, they now had a compartment able to seat about two dozen or more in comfort.

"Your turn, Daphne," said Harry, stepping out of the way. "I loved the finish you used, last time."

Daphne frowned for a moment before she began gesturing with her wand. The plush upholstery developed an even more intricate pattern of mixed House crests and was again dominated by the Houses of Potter, Greengrass, Granger, Black, Davies, Zabini, Longbottom, Abbott and Bones; just like last time. However, with all the extra room this time, she also added in Lovegood, and a few others Harry didn't recognise. Then she turned her wand to the walls and changed the English oak finish to the same European yew with a deeper lacquer finish.

"Nice!" said Harry.

Stepping back, Daphne said, "You're turn, Hermione."

Hermione then stepped forward and raised her own wand changing the gas lighting to polished filigreed brass, clear glass surrounds and multiple gas heads with larger gas bags to provide far more light. Then quickly transfigured the cheap linoleum flooring into a fine weave soft patternless carpet in a deep blue with a deep underlay with a large Potter Crest located right in the middle of the floor with the bottom pointing back at the door.

Finally, she transfigured the internal wall with it's door leading back into the passageway to match the rest of the compartment. Then transfigured the plain glass to frosted and put the Potter Crest engraved into the glass of the door so it was clearly seen from the passageway.

As she finished, Daphne softly said, "Yes. This will do."

"It's even better than last time," smiled Hermione, as she stepped inside.

They'd no sooner sat down and got themselves comfortable when the girls restarted their discussion on Word for Windows.

"It's called a word processor, Daph-love," said Hermione. "The muggles use them all the time in offices across the world. Next break, I'm going to see if our printers can handle printing on parchment. If they can, I'm going to see if I can find a set of fonts that closely resemble what letters look like when we write by hand using a quill on parchment.

"It won't fool anyone into believing we actually wrote them by hand; because, it'll look far too good. However I'm hoping that, if we can make it look as 'wizardly' and handwritten as possible, the professors will accept it."

"Fonts?" asked Harry, before he realised what she meant. "Oh; that's the shape and style of the lettering, right?"

"Right," smiled Hermione.

Hermione was apparently all set to launch into her next wildly educational lecture when the door was yanked open. Tracey stood in the doorway with an annoyed scowl on her face.

Daphne took one look at her expression and said, "Ah!"

"Roger's being a dick!" Tracey suddenly blurted out, before she practically collapsed onto the couch next to Daphne, and cuddled in to the other girl.

"Roger? Roger Davies?" asked Hermione. "Are you two related?"

"Roger is Tracey's older brother," replied Daphne. "They don't get along all that well."

Turning to Tracey, she asked, "And what has 'Captain Snooty' done or said to upset you, this time?"

"Captain Snooty?" Harry suddenly asked, before he almost collapsed in laughter. "Oh! Oh; that's rich!"

"Be quiet, Harry," frowned Daphne, before she turned back to Tracey. "What's he done?"

"Even though Mum and Dad... somewhat... approve of Blaise, Roger picked a fight with him," she replied, almost in tears. "Then... then... he had the gall to tell me I can't see him anymore."

"So?" asked Harry. "His opinion doesn't matter. Only those of your parents do..."

"That's not the point, Harry," said Daphne. "Roger will one day be head of the family. So, his opinion does matter."

"And, with Tommy Riddle now done and dusted, and his lickspittles all either killed or in Azkaban, it's highly unlikely Tracey's father is going to be dropping off the proverbial perch any time soon," he countered. "Therefore, it's highly unlikely Roger is going to become her Head of House for any reason any time soon.

"I'd say ignore what's crawled up Roger's arse about it, and keep living your life the way you want to live it."

"That's... actually... good advice," sniffled Tracey. "The trouble is, now I just have to convince Blaise of that."

"Oh?" asked Daphne, a little concerned.

"Roger's attitude's given Blaise cold feet," she replied. "He's hardly talking to me now."

"Want me to take him out the back of the castle and beat the snot out of him?" asked Harry. "Or, beat the sense into him? Whichever."

That actually made Tracey laugh a little. "No," she said. "I'll... talk to him. I'll make him see that Roger's opinion doesn't matter."

"Good girl," said Hermione.

Tracey had finally noticed the compartment and looked about. "This is even nicer than the last time," she said.

"We thought of some improvements on the basic design," said Daphne.

Tracey gave one of her little snorts and muttered, "Basic design, she says."

_‗_

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