Chapter 23: Chapter 23 - Start of the new school year
The new school year was about to start, so Ash brought his two apprentices to King's Cross station personally. Hestia and Flora changed quite a lot over the summer and usually looked and behaved like teenage girls their age should behave these days. It was only at the station, while in the public eye, that they behaved like Slytherins once more.
With calm demeanors, presenting the image of proper pureblood ladies, both twin sisters walked beside Ash toward the train. They were quite early, but Ash himself had plans he needed to tend to - he wanted to head to Hogwarts early to make sure the three hot springs he created there were up and running.
Together with Nym's mother Andromeda or Aunt Andy, Ash perfected quite a few potion recipes for the perfect hot spring waters and he needed, no - wanted, to apply them to the bodies of water at the school's own magically created hot springs.
"Don't get into any shenanigans. I'll see the two of you later at the feast," Ash instructed as he floated their trunks into the train and patted both heads.
To his surprise, both sisters gave him a short yet crushing hug to bid him farewell. The three grew close like brother and sisters instead of master and apprentices over the short time they spent together - something his own master Griselda chided him for in their correspondence regularly. Yet, his own great-grandmother Victoria, who sometimes helped out with tutoring, told him not to mind the harsh words of the hag. Victoria reassured him that the words of his master were likely written with a proud smirk, just as much as she herself was proud of how he doted on those two poor girls.
Seeing that his apprentices were seated, Ash ignored the whispers at the platform regarding him and disappeared with Apparition. As he walked towards the hallowed gates of Hogwarts, they opened for him and invited him inside all on their own - sometimes he felt like Hogwarts itself liked his presence.
But then he shook his head. A building being alive wasn't out of the question in their magical world, especially one with so much significance, magic, and meaning, but how could a gate be 'inviting'? That was crazy talk.
Ash turned into his animagus form and didn't even look around while he was lost in thought and flew toward the cliff near the black lake.
He was alone as he updated and reinforced the charm work he had laid during the construction of the spa, including the water level regulation, water freshness, concealing fog, and anti-slip charms for the floor.
Hagrid had asked him if he would allow the groundkeeper's various magical species inside during the summer break, so Ash was honestly relieved when not even a single enchanted rune-block or magical-item was broken. The springs weren't even dirty, a testament to his thorough spell work and the hard work of the diligent elves of Hogwarts.
"Master Sunnyshine is back? Monsy cleaned after smelly Haggy as best she could. Many big scoops of smelly hippogryph feces, but Monsy closed her nose holes and cleaned it all," a house elf exclaimed in an excited voice as she popped into existence close to Ash.
Ash, used to the unpredictable entry of house elves, kept pouring potions into the waters and asked, "Ah, hey Monsy. Did you get any help? Or did you do it all by yourself?"
"Monsy took it as her personal goal to be doing it all by herself for Master Sunnyshine!"
"Mhm, you're a treasure, Monsy. Can I give you a small job as a reward?"
The house elf nodded with so much vigor that Ash feared her head would fall off. Knowing how to reward house elves was a weirdly morbid gift. You couldn't just give them small trinkets or clothes, not even food directly. Ash just hoped that the way he worded it truly had his desired effects at all times.
His personal elf Ilia has always been treated with kindness, and yet she still punishes herself at times and never accepts rewards for her hard work. At least she was much less severe in her actions as most other elves he knew about.
"Monsy will do!"
"Great. I have these new potions that I'm sure can help with hunger. Could you test how you feel when you eat small portions of food for breakfast and dinner anyway despite feeling full? I had my Ilia test it, too. But having more than one diligent house elf to test the results will help me with making sure my work is solid," Ash explained as he offered Monsy a small bag filled with a dozen vials.
He knew the potion worked, of course. Ilia, despite the abundance of food in their home, rarely ate her fill. It took Ash a while to find the reason and how to work around it - the result was the potion. It tasted good, even kept a lingering taste of the drinker's favorite taste in their mouth. And, it helped nourish the body of humans and elves alike.
Just offering the potion like that would lead to a house elf eating even less, so he had to word the request like he did to make sure the elf was eating on top of imbibing the potion.
An hour before the welcome feast for the new school year would start, Ash found himself near the Great Hall talking to his colleagues. Filius Flitwick and his Head of House Pomona Sprout currently had him more or less cornered to discuss Ash's latest juridical misadventure while the other professors kept up their small talk but decidedly listened in to get the newest gossip. Even the quiet Severus Snape listened in.
The first to speak up regarding the matter was Pomona Sprout as she spoke with worry, "Ash my boy, did you really have to sue that pompous Lord Malfoy?"
Filius showed a ferocious grin at Pomona's question and asked, "Him demanding a spell from your family grimoire at the second hearing after your innocence was confirmed - you purposefully stirred the discussion in that direction, right? Are you sure you shouldn't have been put into Slytherin?"
Ash smirked, "Everyone knows a true Slytherin would use his cunning to hide in another house. How could you successfully grift someone if they know you're a snake?"
"Don't skip my question! Why'd you do it?" Pomona once more inquired with a huff before Filius or anyone else could follow up.
Ash turned toward her and shrugged, "He's been wielding these disgusting pureblood laws with impunity while blatantly bribing, backstabbing, and... well, alledgedly enchanting our law-makers. It was about time he tasted his own medicine. When we found the auror who purposefully tried to muddy the results of Avery's mind status at my trial, Malfoy leveraged his standing to make sure the truth would never come out. Yet it was clear for everyone to see that he and his cronies ordered that auror to do it."
Filius nodded with a rare, deep frown, "They didn't even put Auror Perks in a holding cell in the ministry but shipped him to Azkaban instantly where he 'lost his mind' after an unfortunate close encounter with a Dementor. What utter drivel!"
"But must you put yourself in harm's way, my boy?"
Ash patted Pomona's shoulder reassuringly, "Don't mind it, Pomona. If people of my 'blood status' don't stand up, who will? I'd only fear a blood feud with the Weasleys in this world. There's simply too many of them, and the twins would make it their lives work to prank me whenever I leave the house. It's not worth it."
Pomona smiled for a short moment before shaking her head, "But you started a feud not just with Malfoy, but also with houses Avery, Crabbe, Nott, Parkinson... you even made an enemy out of Head Auror Scrimgeour, and that toad of a witch Dolores Umbridge. I hear the Carrows are also not on good standing with you despite you picking up two new apprentices!"
"Hear, hear! Congratulations are in order for gaining two apprentices, Ash! Flora and Hestia are both capable and diligent young witches," Filius cheerfully interjected, completely ignoring the long list of houses that had a feud with Ash now.
"Thank you. They've truly exceeded all my expectations, especially Hestia. She didn't have quite the same head-start as me, but I think she has good chances of gaining her potion mastery right out of Hogwarts. Flora won't be far behind, but I think her true calling might be something else," Ash boasted with a wide smile.
"Yes, congratulations, Ash. But don't be too conceited. All these people scheming against you can't be a good thing," Pomona worried out loud.
"Hmph, I'm not worried about myself. And if they so much as touch a hair on my apprentices or Luna, I will wipe out their houses in a real magical blood feud. And, after that, my grandmothers are perfectly capable of doing the same. Victoria might not be for this world for more than a decade, or two if we're lucky, but my great-grandmother could easily school these pompous clowns who boast of nothing but their exalted blood. She gained her standing in society not just by marrying into House Starkey, after all."
"Oho, yes. I remember the scandal. The first ever female dueling champion in the British Circuit marrying a potion master and scholar. I seem to have heard your ancestor and my good friend Hesper Starkey only allowed the marriage to her brilliant son after Victoria successfully brewed a bottle of Felix Felicis for her. Your great-grandmother was too much of a tomboy for her at first," Dumbledore explained while stroking his long, wizened beard in fond rememberance. "But is a blood feud truly necessary? They would be actions of a single individual. Needless bloodshed only leads to more violence."
Ash took a deep breath and turned around to answer his headmaster, "Naturally, the actions of impressionable students can be dismissed if the severity is in line. But Draco Malfoy is on thin ice. After his and that Flint's words in Draco's second year where they discouraged bullying my little cousin for the sole reason that others shouldn't sully a perfect blood mare, I have little hope for young Draco. My letter to his mother barely had an impact on his overly proud and stubborn actions and weak attempts at bullying. His father is too big an influence on him."
"I'll have Severus impress the gravity of the situation on his godson once more when the feast is over. Please don't lash out any more than you already do. Draco is not the only one on thin ice," Dumbledore advised with a sigh. "You ridiculing Lord Malfoy in front of the Wizengamot the day after the trial has led me to receive countless queries for your termination this past week. As much as you might dislike him, Lucius Malfoy is still one of the governors of Hogwarts. His word has weight, even if it is as you say for the wrong reasons."
The professors in this gathering turned thoughtful. With Albus having as much clout as he did, politics were kept out of Hogwarts as much as possible. That was only true for the politics of the ministry, however. The Board of Governors was still very much in the hands of old purebloods doing everything they legally could to stay in power.
"I don't quite follow. What did Ashbert do or say?"
Suddenly, all heads in the hall snapped toward Sybill Trelawney, the divination's professor of Hogwarts. The blonde woman in her forties with extra thick glasses hadn't spoken to a single person yet. Most didn't even notice her being there.
Minerva McGonagall cleared her throat awkwardly and explained to the air-headed professor, "Young Ash over here was cleared of a false charge at a full hearing of the Wizengamot after the attacks at the Quidditch World Cup festivities. A day later, he once more stood before a regular session of the Wizengamot where the 'exalted' Lords and Ladies of a certain faction wanted to... negotiate for a potion recipe to clear away another potion Ash used in combat. In a clever, yet cunning use of words, Ash made it so Lucius would demand the potion for little to no pay - resulting in Lord Malfoy facing charges for attempted theft of a family grimoire."
"Oooh, I have one of those. Here, you can have it, Ashbert," Trelawney replied as if remembering something important. She hurried toward Ash and handed him a majestic golden tome she conjured mid-sprint with the Trelawney name engraved on it.
Then, before anyone could say anything or stop her, Trelawney hurried away as if she remembered something even more important.
Ash looked at the tome in his hand and mumbled, "Uh, what just happened?"
Pomona gained a smirk, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Sybill just proposed to you."
"Yeah, you must know better than me, but I'm pretty sure reading the grimoire will result in a magical contract of sorts," Filius gloated in a cheerful voice. "Though, Sybill isn't the last of line Trelawney. You do know her cousin after all."
Before they could make more jokes at Ash's expense, students started arriving in the Thestral-drawn carriages.
Ash kept looking at the grimoire and thinking about this certain cousin Filius mentioned. Valerie Perdot, Slytherin student three years ahead of him. Bullied out of Hogwarts on account of her being a half-blood and blood traitor in House Slytherin because everyone turned a blind eye and didn't take her or Ash seriously. Finished her education in Beauxbaton. And Ash's first real crush.
"Professor!"
As the other professors slowly made their way to the dining table, Ash and Filius stayed behind to keep the order. At the very end of the procession of students, Harry and Hermione came running toward them holding hands.
Ash gained a grin when he saw that, and both teenagers started blushing, but Hermione doubled down and strengthened her grip on Harry's hand. The young potion's professor smiled even more when he saw that.
"Anything you need from me, Hermione?"
"Yes! I want to become your apprentice like the twins!"
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