Chapter 247: HPWW161-170
Chapter 161
After Sirius left the Grangers' he headed directly back
to his temporary home at the Tonkses'.
He was still trying to do his best not to go out too
often as he knew Andi would get upset with him.
However, as he'd previously explained to her,
sometimes there was no help for it. This was one of
the times he had to go in person.
However, after reading Dumbledore's letter and
Harry's response for it, he didn't want Harry risking
his magic. Not when he could probably do something
about it.
He walked into the Tonkses' lounge and used their
floo to floo-call Ted.
"What can I do for you, Sirius?" the law-wizard asked.
"Nothing the matter, is there?"
"I found out, today, that there's supposed to be a Yule
Ball at Hogwarts this year," he replied. "I need to know
a couple of things. As they're all legal issues, I need
you to chase them up for me."
"Let me guess," said Ted. "You want me to get hold of
a copy of the contract that concerns the Tri-Wizard
Tournament, see if Harry is actually bound by it, see if
he actually has to attend this Yule Ball and see if I can
get the boy out of it; both the Ball and the contract."
"Got it all in one," replied Sirius. "I'd suggest targeting
Ludo Bagman and getting it off him. The man is both a
wuss and supposedly co-wrote it."
"How much do you want me to lean on him?"
"Go four-chaser press," replied Sirius. "Even use
Harry is now One of the Seven, his godfather is One of
the Seven and, if Harry even gets a nosebleed from
any event related in any way with the Tournament,
Lord Black will be declaring full-on blood feud with
him, his family, his friends and the families of his
friends."
Ted gave a low whistle. "The man's going to wet
himself!"
"I don't care," replied Sirius. "So long as he gives you
a full copy of any and all contracts related to the
Tournament, I don't care if he then runs naked down
the middle of Diagon Alley in terror. It'll only
demonstrate it's not a good idea to upset the House of
Black."
"I'll get it done today," nodded Ted.
"Next job," said Sirius. "Though, this one can take you
a few days."
"Go on," nodded Ted.
"I... or, rather, Harry... needs someone to go to take a
look at three different wizarding items to check on and
write down something."
"And what would those be?"
Sirius listed the items off, what information he needed
off them, where it should be able to be found on two
of the items and where it should be able to be found
regarding the third.
Ted looked at what he had written in confusion for a
moment before he gave a bark of laughter. Chortling,
he said, "I now know what Lord Potter's defence
strategy is going to be in your possible case of
Violating the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts laws."
"You mean―"
"Yep!"
Shocked, Sirius said, "That's―"
"Brilliant!" cut in Ted. "Yep!"
"He's going to make them all look like idiots!"
"Try... 'daft morons'," suggested Ted. "After all, he
seems to have made a habit of that, of late.
"Plus, I'm going to add another such item to the list.
But, that's because he clearly doesn't know of it."
Sirius laughed. "What is it?"
Ted told him.
"You're kidd... no; wait! It is, isn't it?"
"Yep!" replied the law-wizard; and laughed.
"Thanks, Ted," Sirius chuckled, before pulling his
head out of the flames.
'My godson is a genius!' he thought, still chuckling.
'Prongs would be so proud! So would his mother, too,
I suspect.'
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When Andi arrived home from her early shift, she took
one look at Sirius madly working through documents
while still chuckling about the 'prank' his godson was
going to pull on those 'stuffed robes' on the
Wizengamot and barked, "Sirius Black!"
Being focussed on what he was doing and thinking,
Sirius hadn't heard the floo or her arrival. Besides, as
this was also her home, she didn't announce herself.
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Chapter 162
He almost leapt out of the chair at the table he was
working at and gave a high-pitched yelp of surprise.
Trying to stay seated, while also spinning about
immediately after getting the whoopies scared out of
him, had Sirius fall off the chair and land in a heap on
the floor. Parchment was scattered.
Quickly climbing back to his feet while his heartbeat
raced, he glared at her. "Damn it, Andi!"
"You, Lord Black, are supposed to be taking it easy!"
she snapped.
"I'm just doing parchmentwork!" he grumbled back.
His heartbeat starting to drop back.
"Oh?" she asked. "So you didn't go rant at Bones
before you yet again visited your godson, this
morning?"
"Oh, that," he quietly said.
"Yes, that!" she replied.
"Dumbledore tried to kidnap him, Andi!" he nearwhined. "I had to go and make sure he was okay and
not stressed-out about it."
"Your mirror's broken, is it?" she asked.
"I needed to see him for myself," he muttered.
"If you don't stop gallivanting about the country while
you're supposed to be relaxing as those potions
you're on are working, I'll have you Incarceroused to
your bed!"
When Sirius decided silence was the better choice
than wielding his lordly power, he just pulled a face
instead.
However, Andi wasn't buying it. She barked, "Stop
trying to look like a 'whipped puppy'!"
Shaking it off he said, "If it makes you feel better, I've
now got Ted 'gallivanting about the country', as you
put it, in my place."
"Good!" she returned, a lot quieter. "It's why you hired
him. Maybe I won't have to tie you to your bed, after
all."
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"Healer's network," she replied. "We Healers keep
each other informed of certain interesting happenings.
Lord Black getting upset at the Director of the DMLE
in the DMLE is an interesting happening."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Just before heading for lunch, Ted made a couple of
floo calls to certain individuals who would be able to
collect the information he needed about those
particular items he and Sirius had discussed, together
with Lord Potter's suggestions on where on the items
they would be likely to find the specific information he
was after.
A third call went to a contact in the Ministry, who
would be searching Ministry records for the
correlating information held there.
The gold it would cost him for the information to be
collected and sent to him would be less than the cost
it would be to his client for him to collect the
information himself. And was, therefore, a valid
expense.
He was still occasionally chuckling to himself about
the audaciousness of the young Lord Potter's plan as
he headed out for lunch.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
With a comfortably full tummy after a fine lunch at yet
another client's expense, Ted then made his own way
to the Ministry. It was time to talk to Bagman.
In the lift he even rode it with the contact he was
currently working with and, as per usual, they never
said a word to each other.
Ted only needed to travel one floor to the Department
of Magical Sports and Games, so was first off.
Unlike the DMLE, the DMSG Director's office was
connected direct to the publicly-accessible hallway
outside the lift foyer; a hallway hung with posters of
Quidditch matches and teams. It certainly made it
easier for Ted to just walk in. Which is exactly what he
did.
Being only a small department, one of the smallest in
the Ministry, Bagman did not rate a private secretary -
an undersecretary. Instead, he usually handed his
secretarial work to one of the staffers in the Official
Gobstones Club or Ludicrous Patents Office offices.
One of them was, more often than not, sufficiently
bored enough to do the work without quibble.
As such, there was no undersecretary blocking Ted's
way direct into Bagman's office.
"Bagman," he said with a bit of feral smile.
Bagman, the wuss he was, saw the expression on the
face of Wizarding Britain's top defence lawyer and
blanched.
This was not a man to annoy, even if he was a
muggleborn. Besides, scuttlebutt had it the new Lord
Black had brought him, through his wife, into the
House of Black when he brought the wife back into
the family of her birth.
"M-Mister Tonks," he nearly got out without
stammering. "W-what can I do for you?"
Ted saw and heard the fear and his grin widened. 'Too
easy,' he thought.
"Bagman," he said again as he walked forward to
stand before the desk. "You have something you're
going to give me a copy of."
He'd even neatly sidestepped the chair that was for a
'guest' on his side of the desk. He wouldn't be sitting
it, of course. He wanted the man to have to continue
to look up to him. Dominance: Lesson One.
"A-and what would that be?"
"You're giving me a copy of the contract for the TriWizard Tournament, plus all associated documents
relating to the rules and requirements for competitors,
judges, the schools and the Ministries involved," he
replied.
"I can't do that!" Bagman blurted.
Ted frowned deeper. "I'm disappointed to hear that,
Mister Bagman. Have you and your wife made out a
legal Will and Testament, yet?"
"W-why do you ask?" Bagman squeaked.
"Well, perhaps I shouldn't tell you," he mused. "But,
Lord Black did not tell me it was confidential―"
"W-w-what?"
"Well... it seems Lord Black of the Noble and Most
Ancient House of Black is most upset that his godson,
Lord Harrison James Potter, Lord of the Noble and
Most Ancient House of Potter, is... embroiled... in this
farce of a Tournament. He is, you might even say,
furious!
"Lord Black was so furious in his ranting to me about
this... he has told me in no uncertain terms that, if any
injury above so much as a nosebleed were to occur to
his godson, Lord Potter, he would be declaring blood
feud on those involved, their families, their friends
and even the families of their friends.
"I would... dislike... having to return to Lord Black and
tell him that Mister Ludo Bagman of the DMSG was
not forthcoming in providing me with the documents
I'd asked for that may save his godson from that...
nosebleed."
"Oh, Merlin!" Bagman whimpered.
"Also, Mister Bagman, you're the Director of a
Department. Has not the Ministry's own law-wizards
already informed you that anyone involved in a
contract must be given a copy of the contract and
related documents? Did they not also inform you that
failure to hand over those documents could see the
Ministry in all sorts of strife with the law? I could
easily argue before the Wizengamot that due to your...
blatant negligence... the contract regarding the TriWizard Tournament is to be immediately voided. The
upper tier of the Ministry... especially whoever will
soon be the new Minister... would not be happy with
you, if that came to pass."
Bagman was now so scared he couldn't even utter a
sound.
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Chapter 163
"Now, Ludo good chap; those documents, please...
Now."
Scrambling and almost toppling his chair and himself
to the floor, Bagman shot to his feet, spun to a filing
cabinet behind his desk and worked feverishly to pull
out all relevant documents.
As he stood there, staring back, Ted thought, 'Oh, it's
so good to be me.'
It took him almost a full minute, of which
approximately three quarters of that time was lost due
to his shaking and clumsiness, before Bagman had a
haphazard stack on his desk.
Once he was done he stood as far back from his own
desk as could while still having the desk between him
and the law-wizard.
"Is this all?" asked Ted in a lazy drawl.
"Y-yes! That's all of it!"
"Do you mind if I make a legally-sanctioned copy of
it?" same lazy drawl.
"N-no! Please!
Ted smiled back and, with a twist, swish and
crossward flick of his wand, had an identical pile
sitting alongside the originals.
Slipping his wand back into his wrist holster, he
casually reached forward and picked up the copies.
Standing back up straight he tucked it under his offarm, smiled at Bagman and said, "Thank you, Ludo. I'll
let Lord Black know you were as helpful as you could
be."
Then he gave a very slight head nod at the man and
saw himself out.
As he closed the door behind himself he heard
through the door the sound of Bagman crashing to
the floor. It made him smile.
'Sounds like he clipped his chair on the way down,' he
thought. 'Fainting at his age...' "Tsk!"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Sirius returned to the Grangers' for his second
business meeting with Wendell at just before six.
Even though Andi was upset about it, she knew this
was yet another meeting Sirius couldn't skip. But, she
at least lost some of her anger when he took Ted with
him.
The Grangers were running a little late and had called
ahead to let Hermione and Harry know they would be.
"With Wendell and Monica running a little late I'd like
to run something past you, Sirius."
"Then, lead the way," said his godfather.
So, Harry grabbed their two guests and Hermione to
take them into the office.
Once inside and sitting around the desk, Harry told
them what he and Hermione were thinking of doing
regarding their schooling.
"Attending a school overseas or hiring private
tutors―" mused Sirius.
"Is there any legal reason, or any legal reason that can
be employed against us, that would force us to attend
Hogwarts?" asked Harry.
"The contract of the Tri-Wizard Tournament is the only
thing there could be," replied Ted. "I picked up a copy
of it just after lunch, today. And I'm currently going
through it and the associated rules."
"I thought there might be some dusty old law that said
something like, as the Heir of one of the Seven I would
have to attend there," explained Harry. "If there is
such a law, Dumbledore will know it and will use it.
Guaranteed."
"If that's the case, then if you decide you want to
switch to a different school or go with private tutoring
and Dumbledore then sticks his beak into it, we'll
handle it and counter it," replied Ted. "Me trying to
counter any move Dumbledore might make in advance
regarding that is pretty much impossible; because we
don't know what he might try to use. It would be akin
to trying to 'argue the negative'."
"Well, the reason I ask is because you're currently
going through the Tri-Wiz contract," explained Harry.
"If I am actually bound by the Goblet, then I'm bound
by the contract. But, the contract would not just bind
me, it would bind all the 'other' signatories - including
Dumbledore."
"Oh, I see where you're coming from now," nodded
Ted.
"For example," said Harry. "The contract might say
there can be only one champion from each school.
Diggory's name came out of the Goblet first;
therefore, he's the recognised Hogwarts Champion.
Where would that then leave me?
"Actually, thinking of that, can I even be a Hogwarts
student, if that's the case?"
"That's a valid legal argument," said Ted, a little
surprised. "I'll have to look."
"Getting out of Hogwarts semi-permanently, if not
permanently, is a good idea, Pup," said Sirius. "With
Dumbledore back there..."
"That's our concern, too," said Hermione. "And Harry
says he could easily afford tutors."
Sirius laughed and said, "He could build his own
school, if he wanted to. And it still wouldn't put much
of a dent in the Potter fortune."
"Oh, something else that's been playing on my mind,"
said Harry. "Do I own any property and can I live
there? Can I make it my permanent address? As I'm
no longer living at the Dursleys, I currently don't have
a permanent fixed address.
"For instance, I'm led to believe the Potter cottage in
Godric's Hollow has been... claimed... by the Ministry
as a monument. Did they have a legal right to do that?
Were I, or have they, paid me for it? Do I have a manor
and it's yet another thing everyone has forgotten to
tell me about?"
"Of course the Potter family has property, Harry,"
Sirius immediately replied. "What made you think you
don't?"
"The goblins never raised it with me when I last had a
chance to go there and see them about my finances,"
he replied. "Then again, I'm still waiting for them to
get back to me with the response to a letter I wrote
them asking them to collate all the parchmentwork I
needed to do to bring the finances out of stasis, or
whatever state it's currently in, ready to be picked up."
"Lord Potter," said Ted. "Write me an authorisation...
actually, I'll write up the authorisation... for me to go
into Gringotts to go into the Potter documents' vault
to see what's there.
"Besides looking for the documents on what property
you own, while there I'll see if there are other
documents you need to know about now. After that, I'll
visit with your account manager and see if he's
already had some of the documents collected and
collect those from him, too.
"Depending on what records I find regarding the
Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow, I'll have an answer
for you regarding the transference of Title Deed of the
cottage from you to the Ministry. If they just took it
without paying for it... well, the Ministry's going to
receive a rude shock.
"Then I'll get the lot to you and you can go through
them. Oh, and since I've forgotten to tell you until
now, I'll be happy to act as Law-wizard of Record for
the House of Potter."
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Chapter 164
As Ted spoke Harry's smile grew wider and wider. By
the time he finished, Harry was grinning. "Thank you,
Mister Tonks. I'd appreciate that. Please work out with
Sirius your retainer and another of your first jobs for
me will be seeing you get automatically paid that
direct from Gringotts right from the start."
As the others talked, Ted pulled out blank parchment
and an ever-full quill and began writing up the
authorisation form for Harry to sign.
"I'm glad you're considering private tutors, Pup,"
Sirius quietly said as Ted worked. "You being in the
same place as Dumbledore..."
"Yeah," he returned.
"Oh!" Sirius suddenly but softly exclaimed. "Ted
figured out what your strategy is, regarding me
possibly being charged for having my enchanted
motorcycle. I think it's brilliant! Ted does, too!"
"Well, if you've figured that much out," grinned Harry.
"Then I need you to track down the purchase
documents and ownership papers for it, if you know
where you can lay your hands on them. I trust you
actually bought it?"
"Of course!" Sirius huffed, slightly offended. "It cost
me a great deal of the entire year's worth of my then
allowance to buy it, too!"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Late in the day, an Unspeakable walked into Scimitar's
team 'bullpen' and handed him a short report before
walking out.
Reading it, he frowned and said to the others, "White
Beard tried to kidnap the young knight with an autoportkey, this morning. His house elf caught it in time
and avoided the young knight from being abducted.
Monocle's been informed and acted. The watchers
didn't need to intervene."
"Stupid old git," muttered one. "Is he trying to get
himself tossed through the Veil?"
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When Wendell and Monica arrived home, Hermione
once again had to leave the office. When her daughter
looked annoyed, Monica said, "Come on, Hermione.
Let the menfolk have their super-secret men's
business while we ladies talk."
When she saw the looks that passed between her
mother and father, she misunderstood the reason and
assumed it was because of her accidental somewhat
'semi' nudity of that morning in front of her boyfriend.
With a quiet sigh she rose from the chair she'd been
sitting on and followed her mother out.
They went to the dinette, where Dobby seemed to
have anticipated their needs and had a serving of tea
waiting for them.
Though somewhat reluctant to sit, Hermione did so.
She knew she'd not be escaping this conversation.
"How was your day?" Monica immediately asked,
picking up the small jug of milk for her tea - no sugar,
of course.
Knowing her mother's usual 'circle the problem before
addressing it' style, Hermione was having none of it,
this time.
"Once Harry and I talked about the fact he'd seen my
tits through my top, this morning... pretty good," she
replied.
Monica gave her that 'mother' look and said, "There's
no need to be crude, dear."
"Sorry," Hermione blushed and looked down, as she
added her own milk to her tea.
Picking up her own teaspoon she began to stir it, "I
just didn't want us avoiding the elephant in the room
until you felt we were both comfortable talking about
it."
Monica sighed while slowly stirring her own tea. She
then used the time of lifting the cup to her lips and
talking a sip to think about how to go from here.
"You deeply embarrassed him," she simply said.
"And, angered your father when he figured out what
happened."
"I... reacted without thinking it through," said
Hermione. "I heard the shouting downstairs, thought
we might have been under attack or something,
grabbed my wand and ran down.
"I didn't stop to think about what I was wearing
because, this time of year at Hogwarts, I'm usually
wearing something less... transparent."
"I figured as much," her mother nodded. "And I've
been thinking about how to stop it from happening, in
future."
"I'm not going to be hot in bed just―"
"I'm not saying you should start wearing something
else to bed," Monica quickly cut in.
When it looked like her daughter was going to hear
her out, she said, "I want you to start getting into the
habit of hanging your dressing gown on the hook on
the back of your bedroom door.
"Seeing it there as you think of leaving your room
should be enough to have you reminded you need to
don it before leaving your room."
Surprised at the simple idea, Hermione could only say,
"That's actually a good idea. I'd not considered that."
"I am capable of them," her mother wryly returned.
Lightly blushing again, her daughter said, "Sorry.
Being surrounded by 'daft morons', as Harry would
say, in Gryffindor Tower day in and day out has left me
rather jaded about the intelligence of those I'm
normally associating with."
Monica nodded and then immediately flipped straight
to the next point. "What did Harry say to you when
you spoke to him about it? I take it you apologised to
him?"
Hermione gave a snort of remembered amusement
and said, "He thought he'd done the wrong thing."
"I know."
"It took me ages to convince him he'd done nothing
wrong."
"I'm not surprised."
"He was embarrassed, yes; but, not for himself," she
explained. "He was embarrassed for me."
"I figured as much."
"While I've come to understand he's a great deal more
intelligent than I'd been thinking he was for the past
three years, when it comes to a woman's body he's
utterly clueless!" she continued.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, in order to get him past his embarrassment of
what happened," explained Hermione, "I talked to him
about the make up of a woman's breasts. You know,
the biology behind them. I had him start thinking of
them and how they relate to their function, rather than
as sex objects."
Monica was surprised by the concept and sat back in
contemplation of what her daughter had said. 'Clever
girl,' she thought.
"What made you think of going that route?" she
asked, curious.
"When I finally got him talking to me... instead of
being so tongue-tied he couldn't get a word out... he
said, 'But, I saw your darker bits'."
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Chapter 165
Her mother cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "'Darker
bits'?"
Hermione blushed, nodded and took her own sip of
tea to try and cover it. "When I asked, 'Do you mean
my areolae?' He was clearly completely confused by
the term."
"Ah!" said her mother, understanding. "And,
Hermione being Hermione, you launched into
somewhat of a lecture about the breast, its various
parts and its function in the cycle of reproduction."
"Yeah," she replied. "It took a bit, but he finally started
asking questions back."
"Like?"
"How he thought the nipple would be bigger," she
blushed. "I think he was thinking in comparison to a
baby's mouth; or a pacifier."
"And?"
"I explained breast development and compared mine
with the breast development of other girls," she
replied. "He's genuinely curious without being... crude
about it."
"I remember when you asked me about your own,"
smiled Monica.
"And his questions were along the same lines, without
the worry I had," she added.
"Oh, yes," said Monica, remembering. "Your nipples.
How are they, by the way?"
"Growing," she replied. "They're at least double the
size they were a year ago. I'm just thankful the areolae
aren't growing, as well. I'm comfortable with them the
size they are."
Monica nodded, pleased for her daughter. "Now, once
you got past that hurdle, what did you talk about?"
"First, we wrote a letter back to Dumbledore," she
smirked. "Sirius dropped by to check on Harry just as
we finished it. When he read it, he was laughing so
hard Harry had to get Dobby to get a Calming draught
for him."
As she continued, the two ladies sat back and talked
about the day they each had. Of course, she never
admitted to her mother she'd bared her chest to Harry
while explaining those parts. It wasn't yet time to do
that.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
In the office the proposed Betrothal Agreement had
been pulled out and the three men and one boy-adult
read through it and discussed what changes, if any,
needed to be made.
Sirius said, "This is good work, Ted. Everything I think
should be in there is there."
"Same," said Harry. "Are you sure how all either of us
have to say to the other is, 'I now declare the Betrothal
Agreement between us, void' is sufficient for the
agreement to still be a valid document?"
"Lord Potter," Ted mock-sternly said. "I've been at this
sort of thing for well over a decade. I know what I'm
doing."
"Sorry," he blushed. "I just want to make sure
someone... cough Dumbledore cough... can't come
along later and declare the agreement is invalid
because some legal 'T' was failed to be crossed, or 'I'
dotted.
"This is to protect Hermione and, if someone does
manage to harm her in any way, I want to be able to
bring the full weight of the House of Potter down upon
them as if the very Gods themselves decided to smite
the idiot."
"It protects you, too, Harry," Sirius was quick to add.
"But I'm not agreeing with this to protect me," he
firmly said back.
Wendell was carefully reading, yet again, the full text
of the document. Employing all his reasoning as a JP,
he could find no subterfuge or other trickery going on.
There was no over-the-top 'legalese' in use. If
anything, as a legal contract, the document was quite
plainly written. There were no spaces of gaps where
other words could be inserted later, or unhidden if
they were there already - as the 'drafter' and
'otherwise uninvolved party' Ted had already given a
magical oath to that effect. It was all above board.
Ted had also brought along similar Betrothal
Agreements he had drafted, without names or families
included to protect confidentiality, and this one
reflected well against them. The agreement was both
ironclad, to stop interference from outside parties,
and had easy escape clauses for all parties involved.
He especially liked the clause for each of the kids
where it said, 'In the case of incapacitation of Miss
Hermione Jean Granger to the point where she is
unable to speak the words to dissolve the agreement
if that is her desire on her own behalf, that
responsibility then falls upon Wendell Marcade
Granger.' An almost duplicate was also written for
Harry with Sirius as the devolved.
He was, however, uncomfortable with the line, 'If the
aforementioned betrothed enter into a consenting
sexual relationship before the union, where both
willingly enter the relationship to the point where
consenting penile penetration of the vagina occurs
and results in pregnancy, then the agreement is
considered binding and becomes the contract. Both
parties must then proceed with all due haste to the
union. Such union must occur before the birth of the
child or children resulting from the pregnancy.' But,
he could also reluctantly see the wisdom of that and
knew it was there to protect his daughter.
Indicating it to Ted he sighed and said, "That section
makes me feel as if I'm giving my daughter permission
to have sex."
"I doubt it would surprise you how many fathers of
witches feel the same," replied Ted. "However, as the
father of a daughter, I can tell you that's a line I'm
making damned sure is in her Betrothal Agreement,
when it comes.
"I'm not saying Harry is the sort of young man who
would otherwise take advantage of your daughter, or
who would not do the right thing if Hermione falls
pregnant before they marry... if they marry... but that
condition has needed to be enforced in the past
against both reluctant grooms and reluctant families.
"Similar situations without Betrothal Agreements
occur in the muggle world, do they not?"
"Yes," Wendell firmly nodded back. "I've all too often
had to sit cases where a father has not done the right
thing by the mother of his new child and had to put in
place enforced pecuniary measures on the father, just
to get him to help pay for the raising of the child, or
children."
"Then your problem is one of a father having difficulty
considering his daughter as... someone capable of
sexual acts," said Ted.
"Yes," Wendell almost whined.
"How you internalise your acceptance of that is up to
you, Sir," said Ted. "My legal advice is to include the
condition, as stated. And my advice as a father is to
do your best to forget you ever saw it." And wryly
smirked back.
Wendell thought about it for a long while but realised
he was only putting off the inevitable.
With a sigh he said, "Well, I can see nothing that
needs to be removed or edited, or needs to be added."
Ted gave a firm nod back and said, "Then we have an
accord. All that's left to do is to sign it."
"No," disagreed Wendell. "We've got one more thing
to do, first. I know it's not a legal issue for your world;
however, my daughter needs to be made fully aware of
this before I'll sign. I don't want her to later blame me
for entering her into such an Agreement without her
prior acceptance."
Sirius gave a nod and said, "I'll get them. I take it you
want Monica in here, too?"
"This idea started with her," he replied. "So, yes. She
can shoulder some of my daughter's... wrath."
"I know you want to get this over with, Wendell," said
Harry. "But I think we should have dinner first.
"Once Hermione is told about this, she's going to
freak, call us all names, finally start to calm down,
then demand a long and detailed explanation."
"Yes, she would, wouldn't she?" said Wendell. "Very
well. Though I'd much prefer to get it out of the way, I
can see that's probably a very good idea."
Turning to Ted he said, "I hope you don't mind staying
for dinner first?"
"Nope," smiled Ted. "Any excuse I can find to enjoy
one of Harry's meals, I'm going to take."
All bar Wendell realised he was speaking easy to
relieve the light tension. He did figure it out later,
though.
As dinner was winding down and they were finishing
dessert, a particularly delicious crème brûlée served
in ramekins, Monica was describing the comeuppance
of a particularly up-himself patient.
When it appeared everyone was done, Sirius almost
formally said, "Doctor and Doctor Granger, Miss
Granger, would you please accompany Lord Potter,
Mister Tonks and I to Doctor Wendell Granger's
office? We have news for you."
When Hermione stared back in shock, Monica's
expression slowly turned into a smirk. "Thank you,
Lord Black," she replied, rising. "That is agreeable."
When Hermione's head whipped about hard to stare at
her mother, her shock deepened. "Whaa...?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 166
"Come, Hermione," said her mother. "You're about to
discover what these secret evening meetings have
been about. Just, please; just don't lose your temper
and take at least a moment to think about what you're
hearing."
Hermione rose and followed after her mother, with the
menfolk quickly and already rising. With Sirius leading
the way the womenfolk followed the menfolk to the
office. She was now both completely confused and
not a little worried.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
"A bloody Betrothal Agreement?!" she screeched,
leaping to her feet from the chair she had only
moments ago sat upon. "Have you lot lost your
bloody senses!? Is that what all this has been about?"
"In order; yes, no and yes," replied Harry.
Standing there gaping like a fish, incredulous at what
she'd just heard, it dawned on her that her mother
must have also known of this. She spun on her and
screeched, "You're in on it!"
Her mother frowned back and firmly said, "Hermione!
That's enough."
As she stood there still shocked to her socks, Harry
walked over to her and firmly said, "Hermione, I trust
you. Do you trust me, as you previously stated?"
Clamping her mouth shut as she visibly reined her
temper in she venomously asked, "Why?"
"To put it simply; to keep you safe," he replied.
"Safe for you, you mean," she snapped.
"No, safe for you!" he firmly rebutted. He gave a sigh
and said, "Think it through, Hermione! Stop reacting
in outrage and think!
"Do you honestly believe your parents would be
involved in something like this, concerning you, if
they don't think it benefits you? Do you think that
poorly of them you would think otherwise?"
Now confused again because she could see the logic
of his argument, she replied, "At the moment... I don't
know what to think. But... a Betrothal Agreement?"
"Then, in such a situation, shouldn't you be trying to
gather more information so that you can then figure
out the answer?" he asked. "We're trying to give you
that information, but we can't if you're not willing to
listen!"
Confused and wanting to be angry, wanting to rage at
them all, but also wanting the information as to why
they would consider this, she stood there for a few
moments trying to figure out what to do.
Monica, seeing the problem, took charge. "Hermione;
sit down. You will listen. You will not 'back-chat'. You
will gather information, as Lord Potter suggested.
Then you may rant and rave at your father and I, if it's
still your desire to do so. BUT... you will not be rude to
our guests."
Hermione glanced down at her mother, back to Harry,
to Ted and Wendell, back to her mother and snapped,
"Fine!" And dropped herself back into her chair before
folding her arms across her chest in a huff and glaring
at anyone she noticed looking at her.
Her mother gave a nod and a smile clouded by tension
at Harry. Harry gave a satisfied nod, before returning
and sitting back in his own chair on the other side of
Ted.
"Excellent," said Ted. "That went as I have come to
expect."
Hermione just glared even more at him, but didn't say
a word.
Monica gave Ted a wry smile before turning to
Hermione. "Alright, dear; I'm going to start to tell you
what's going on because, believe it or not, this all
started as a result of something you've told me."
When Hermione looked back in surprise, Monica
smiled and said, "Don't seem so surprised. As I
reminded you earlier I do pay attention, you know."
When her daughter gave her a very brief but silent
head nod, she continued, "It was you, who first told
me about Betrothal Agreements. And it was you, who
first told me about the Houses and the treatment of
muggleborns..."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After a good hour, Hermione began to calm down to
the point she could see exactly why her parents had
reached the decision to do this, why Sirius also
thought it was good idea and why Harry was willing to
'subject' himself to one to protect her.
Knowing she was going to lose this argument over
half an hour ago, she was still digging her heels in
anyway. "It's my choice!" she declared.
"Legally, no," replied Ted. "By our laws, the laws you
willingly subjected yourself to by consenting to attend
Hogwarts, it is your magical guardian's choice."
"I don't have..." then she stopped, frowning. "Do I
have a magical guardian?"
"Yes," he replied. "Every child in Wizarding Britain
has a magical guardian. For those who have a magical
parent, or are already existing wards of at least one
magical, it is that person who remains their magical
guardian when they attend Hogwarts.
"For muggleborns, their magical guardian is their
Hogwarts Head of House, once they are sorted into
their Houses. Until that time, it is the Head of the
Office of Wizarding Children's Services at the Ministry.
"Because of Lord Potter causing staff at Hogwarts to
be fired or otherwise, there currently is no Head of
your House, Gryffindor. Therefore, by rights the
guardianship passes to the Deputy Head of the
School. You would then think that, since there is no
Deputy Head, it would pass to the current school
Head, Headmistress Lady Marchbanks.
"However, the law does not specify that. It only states
that in the instances where there is no Head of House
for guardianship purposes, the Deputy Head fulfils
that role until the position of Head of House is refilled.
"At present, your Magical Guardian is still listed as
Minerva McGonagall. However, both that she is no
longer Head of your Hogwarts' House and the
Wizengamot have ordered she is not to be in authority
over a child ever again, that then means you do not
have a magical guardian. And yet, the law states you
must have one.
"So, that puts you currently in a 'grey area' within the
law. A grey area, Lord Black here is asking you if he
can fill."
Sirius gave a nod to Ted and said, "Hermione, Harry
has discovered something regarding the law that has
everyone who now knows of it, worried.
"Basically, by the Hogwarts Charter, Minerva
McGonagall should never have held the position of a
Head of House and as Deputy Head at the same time.
It was a breach of the Charter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 167
"If someone like... say... Lucius Malfoy had figured
that out for himself, he could have gone to 'his good
friend' the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, and made a...
shall we also say... contribution to the man's reelection campaign fund; then more gold changes
hands with members of the School Board and, before
you know it, he's appointed Head of Gryffindor and,
therefore, your magical guardian.
"With that authority he could then have all the
muggleborns of that House signed off into
unbreakable Concubine Bond Contracts and sell them
off to the highest bidders. He'd have made a small
fortune; and you, my dear, would now be forced
through a magical binding to... provide pleasure to
someone like Olaf Goyle."
When Hermione paled and started to shake a little, she
quietly whispered, "Nooo."
Harry quietly said, "It would be a completely legal way
for the Death Eaters to own you and all the other
Gryffindor muggleborns as sex slaves, Hermione. It
would then take time for the light family Seats on the
Wizengamot to gather enough votes to get the law
rewritten to put a stop to it. However, by then it would
have been too late for you and the others, who would
have also been caught in the trap.
"Part of the reasons that started your parents looking
into this was to keep you safe," he firmly stated. "But,
even we were worried when I told Sirius and Ted I
suspected the existence of that particular loophole.
Ted confirmed it, today.
"I've just never verbalised, or even written down, that
suspicion because I didn't want to go giving people
'ideas'. And, because I couldn't go and do the
research myself into the laws regarding magical
guardianship, I had to hold off doing anything about it.
"The laws regarding this have been on the books for
centuries. I was trusting in the fact that no one
seemed to have even considered the possibility
before now, to keep everyone safe until I could act;
and have others I could trust act on my behalf."
Getting her shock and fear under control, Hermione
looked to the adults and asked, "What do we need to
do?"
Sirius gave a firm nod back and replied, "First, I need
to become your magical guardian. Then, as your
magical guardian, with it being co-signed by your
father in case anyone quibbles about it, I sign the
Betrothal Agreement here on your behalf―"
"I want to read it first," she cut in. "But, as long as
Mum and Daddy are okay with it, I think you should at
least become my magical guardian.
"While you're doing that, I'll read the Agreement. I
want to know what you're all getting me into."
Ted smiled and said, "That's quite wise of you."
Half an hour later, with Sirius as her magical guardian,
Harry and Hermione were betrothed.
"Now, Miss Granger," said Sirius. "As of me signing
the magical guardian documents you became a
daughter of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
Black, with all the rights and responsibilities as a
member of my House. My only order to you as your
Lord is that you are to remember that your behaviour
now reflects on me."
"Me, next," said Harry. As Hermione turned to look at
him, he said, "Hermione. As you are now my
betrothed, you have now become the Lady
Presumptive of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
Potter. As such, you are to remember at all times that
your behaviour now reflects on both the Noble and
Most Ancient House of Potter in general; and on me,
personally."
"Wow!" she quietly said in not a little awe. "I felt that.
Both times."
"Good," said Ted. "It means both the magical
guardianship and the Betrothal Agreement have been
accepted by magic. It's always nice to hear
confirmation I've properly done my job."
Shortly after, the meeting broke up, with Ted and
Sirius both heading back 'home'.
After they were gone and the remaining four were in
the foyer before the front door, Hermione whirled on
Harry and firmly said, "I saw that line about me getting
pregnant, Harry. This Agreement does not mean you
get to have sex with me."
As Wendell nearly choked on his own spit and Monica
grinned at her husband's reaction, Harry immediately
and seriously replied, "I wouldn't dream of it."
She was about to say he was allowed to do that and
possibly add that she hoped he would, but noticed her
father's reaction and wisely held her tongue.
Monica sweetly asked, "Alright there, 'Dell?"
Wendell just muttered something unintelligible and
stalked up the stairs. It was quite late.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
A/N:
Fans of mine know this is not something I normally
do. However, through my occasional perusal of
'reviews' I've come to the conclusion I need to include
a large note concerning the psychological profiles of
my characters.
I'm doing this because I believe people are getting
confused with keeping separate the identities of
canon characters and how JKR writes them, with the
'fanon'ised characters as written by other authors
(and even me in my other stories) and how the
characters are portrayed in this story.
Harry
In canon he's portrayed as an alpha personality with
forced beta tendencies. Such tendencies, I believe, are
what was caused by his being raised by the Dursleys.
An example is, he's willing to go down into the
Chamber of Secrets and rescue Ginny Weasley.
However, when he tries to tell Dumbledore of how he's
treated by the Dursleys when Dumbledore tells him he
has to go back to them, he caves. Dumbledore's alpha
personality swamps his own, forcing Harry to submit
and making Harry come across as meek. It is this part
of canon where Harry tends to frustrate the readers
and, I further believe, is a leading example of why
there is so much fanfiction written where Harry stands
up for himself.
In this story, he portrays being the above but, in
reality, almost all of the meekness is part of the
facade. Harry can stand up for himself, but faked the
beta tendencies when interacting with most of
Hogwarts. However, he still has a lot of problems;
almost all of them psychological and related to
emotion. This makes him an actual omega personality
type.
Due to his upbringing his emotions have developed in
a forced-repression state. He can look at thinks quite
clinically, but has a lot of difficulties looking at things
emotionally. That was what that talk with Wendell out
on the back patio was all about, hinting at that
difficulty. This has led, in some regards, to him
developing a more logically driven personality. (You'll
see more of it later in the story, especially relating to
sex as an act.)
His 'good' behaviour regarding the adult Grangers, for
example, is almost entirely due to respect developed
through logic. He respects them because they've
proven, through becoming surgeons and holding
other important positions in society, they should be
looked up to and admired for what they've
accomplished and continue to accomplish. This is
why he was immediately subservient to them when he
arrived at the Grangers'. They deserve his respect and
he willingly gives it.
Amelia Bones is another that fits in this category in
Harry's mind by becoming Head of the DMLE.
However she is hindered, in his eyes, by being a witch
(who, as a magical, have in general shown Harry
they're all daft morons). So have Ted and Andi. Sirius,
however, is seen is an overgrown child doing his best
to be an adult.
Hermione
I see Hermione as a beta/gamma striving hard to be an
alpha. She does this by over-achieving with her 'field
of battle' being academia; knowledge.
On her field of battle she's a dominant alpha,
challenging all-comers to attempt to knock her off her
earned pedestal. Take her away from that
environment, she tends to fold like a house of cards
against any challenge; except in rare situations where
she loses her temper (as we all do). Prove your
knowledge in an area exceeds hers, though, and she
immediately backs down. For example, Harry knowing
more about house elves and their bonding than she.
That's the beta personality coming to the fore. She
then endeavours to know even more about the subject
than you, so she again becomes the alpha in that
subject.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 168
This is why, in my opinion, she instinctively and
reactively tends to try and move any confict to one
where it's one related to academia/knowledge. For
example, when the issue surrounding Harry catching
a glimpse of her breasts through her baby-doll nightie
reared its head, she confronted the issue by making it
clinical and educational. It was just as much her
comfort zone as Harry's in that situation.
That situation, by the way, was to start leading
Hermione towards coming to an understanding of the
real mind-set of Harry; and his utter cluelessness
when it comes to understanding 'girls' and the social
and personal interactions with same.
I see Hermione as originally being an alpha but, due to
the ongoing bullying she suffered as a young child,
being forced back into a gamma personality type.
Sirius
A complex character. I see him as a sigma personality
type trying hard to be an alpha for the sake of Harry.
I've portrayed him almost as I see him in canon, but
with improvements due to him obtaining his freedom
and getting proper medical treatment.
Wendell
A true alpha with Gryffindor tendencies. The epitome
of the knight in shining armour mindset. With Wendell,
what you see is what you get. Easy to like.
Monica
An alpha with Slytherin tendencies. In many ways she
has the 'dark side' of a sigma personality. Where
Wendell is more 'confront you full on', Monica stands
back, analyses you and acts with cunning. She's a
manipulator, but not in the evil manner of
Dumbledore. Her manipulations are to shape things
for the betterment of her family while also holding to
moral and ethical standards.
She not-so-secretly espouses the belief that 'behind
every great man stands a better woman' and is
content with being Wendell's 'foil' when and as he
needs one. She is also actively trying to shape
Hermione into falling into this role.
Neville
An alpha who has been forced-repressed into
becoming a beta similar to Hermione. However, he has
lacked until now the 'confrontationalist' mindset
Hermione has developed.
Very soon a massive change in Neville's life will occur,
which will lead to the boy's alpha tendencies coming
back to where they should have been from the start.
Harry has been subtly trying to drag the 'inner Lion',
the alpha Gryffindor, out of Neville since first year;
seeing Neville for who he should truly be, based on
his own life experiences. He recognises himself in
Neville and feels a kinship with the boy for that. It
explains, in part, why he's so angry with Augusta
Longbottom for her handling of the boy.
Andromeda
A straight-up alpha Slytherin, who really should have
been in Gryffindor. She's displayed no guile, but does
display cunning. However, her cunning is more to do
with doing what is right, rather than what is easy;
making it a Gryffindor trait. I believe, if she hadn't
been raise a 'Black', she'd have never gone anywhere
near Slytherin House.
I think she was more of a 'legacy' Sort into Slytherin,
rather than that she displayed more Slytherin traits
over Gryffindor.
Ted
How much more of a beta Hufflepuff with alpha
tendencies do you need than Ted Tonks? Hard
working, loyal, confident in himself and his abilities. Is
it no wonder someone like Andromeda fell for him?
A rock-solid character it would be hard not to like.
Ron
A flat-out gamma personality with sigma tendencies
who wants to be an alpha, but won't get off his arse
and work hard to achieve it. Instead, he employs the
bad side of the sigma personality type to attempt to
manipulate things his way.
He believes an argument can be won by s/he who can
shout the loudest, or is simply more determined to be
right even in the face of all evidence to the contrary.
This comes from his mother. When that doesn't work
he then works to cut his opposer down with his words
or not-so-subtle actions.
He has self-entitlement issues and, instead of
bettering himself by lifting himself up by his own
bootstraps, employs tall poppy syndrome tactics in
cutting others down to his height. He's bigotted, lazy,
slovenly and host of other unpleasant traits.
He sees people as tools to help or work for him to
make him better, or as enemies that stand in his way
on his path to achieving that. That makes him
somewhat like Voldemort, but without the intelligence,
guile and power to back it up.
Until recently, he saw Harry as a tool to better his
position in society without having to put in much
effort. When Harry's star waned with his name coming
out of the Goblet, he saw Harry as becoming a liability
to his desires, so tried to separate himself from the
boy by getting him out of the way.
He's a Gryffindor because he lacks sufficient cunning,
let alone guile, to be a Slytherin and lacks sufficient
loyalty and willingness to put in the effort to be
Hufflepuff; and he's the complete opposite of a
Ravenclaw. However, he also lacks the 'nobility' of
righteousness needed to be a true Gryffindor.
Ron is the epitome of someone who has none of the
traits of any of the four Houses; but the Hat had to
stick him somewhere due to its limitations, so into
Gryffindor he went.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 169
When he woke from yet another good night's sleep,
Harry was hoping that the day would have nowhere
near the drama of the previous day.
Today though, when he finally made it down to the
dinette, the Granger adults were already up, dressed
and eating breakfast.
Harry checked to ensure the dinette window was open
for the Daily Prophet owl and Hedwig before checking
to see what was for breakfast. A 'Full English' cooked
'lite', as he referred to it - there was no fried food as
what would have been fried was poached or grilled,
instead. Poached egg; grilled tomato, bacon and
breakfast sausage; mashed potato 'cakes' and some
tinned spaghetti. Harry had taken quite some time to
explain the how and why for the food to be cooked
that way to Dobby. But, Dobby immediately
understood and didn't have a problem with it, anyway.
Harry went for two slices of toast with a poached egg
on each slice, two tomato halves and two sausages.
And that would only be his first helping.
While it made him feel somewhat like he was
channelling Ron Weasley, he knew it was the potions
that were causing this. He was now also eating a small
meal between breakfast and lunch, another between
lunch and dinner and would come down and 'mooch'
food at about 9.00pm before he went to bed to sleep.
He'd just taken his first bite when the owls came in.
He knew it was a matter of pride for Hedwig to deliver
the paper to her master first; and living at the Granger
residence was no exception. She ducked in through
the open window about half a yard ahead of the other
bird.
Harry was only surprised to see her because it meant
she'd been able to 'bull' her way through the mail
redirection charm that was back on him again. Or,
maybe it had something to do with how she was his
familiar as well as mail owl. It didn't matter.
Harry was not as quick as usual to free his familiar of
her load before handing her a couple strips of bacon.
He first cast a short string of detection charms on her
load - even if it was her delivering it, even if it was the
Daily Prophet. She gave a pleased 'Prek' sound,
anyway, took her 'due' in bacon strips and flew out to
go land in her tree in the backyard. Mayhap his
familiar was also concerned with how he needed to
reduce chances when mail arrived for him.
Getting the conversation back to where they were
before the owls arrived, Monica asked, "You were
saying about your plans for today?"
"Ah, yes," said Harry. "I was hoping for some mail
from certain people so I could go through it with
Hermione to show her the various differences
between common and informal, but..." And shrugged.
"It's all going to the aurors now, right?" asked Monica.
Now he felt like an idiot. He'd just gotten through
thinking how Hedwig had managed to get past the
charm, while also forgetting the charm would redirect
all his other mail.
"Oh-kay," he sighed. "I just had my own 'daft moron'
moment."
"Pardon?" she asked.
He explained. He didn't try to make any excuses about
his thinking, either.
"Ah!" she grinned. "Yes; I see what you mean."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As the Grangers left for work in separate cars again,
the senior auror on shift at that time, a male, handed
Harry his owl mail.
There were two letters, this time; one from Neville and
one from Marchbanks.
For no other reason than it was the one on top, he
opened Neville's letter first.
~ # ~
Harrison J Potter
Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter
c/- Hermione Granger
Granger Residence
Wimbledon
Harry,
Thank you for owling me and letting me know you
safely arrived at Hermione's home. With four aurors
escorting you I wasn't worried, but confirmation is
always nice to receive.
Though I was not sure whether I wanted to come
home or not, Gran told me to. So, home I came.
I wish I had thought of offering my help to Professor
Sprout, as you suggested, before then. I might have
been able to use that as an excuse to remain at the
school. I don't know if it might have worked, but it was
worth the try.
At least at home now I can work on my own
greenhouses. I dislike having to rely on our house
elves to do it for me. I know they can do it, but I prefer
to be the one who works them so I can pick up any
problems that look like coming up and deal with them
before they become a problem.
Gran is still very upset with you being, as she put it,
'disrespectful of his seniors'. I know you weren't and I
appreciate you weren't. I finally got my own wand out
of it. Now with my own wand I'm able to do a lot more
magic with a lot less power. And I'm having fun out
the back of the Hall going back over all the charms
and transfiguration spells we learned and practicing
them.
Gran tried to stop me doing that. But, I firmly
reminded her I wouldn't have to if I'd had my own
wand from the start. She didn't bother me about it
after that.
She also 'ordered' me to inform you she has found a
Proxy to sit the Longbottom Seat on the Wizengamot.
But, she's not told me who that will be. I'm worried
about it, because I think it might be my Uncle Algie.
He's the one I told you about who first shoved me off
that jetty in Blackpool, where I nearly drowned, and
then dropped me out of one of the upper windows at
the Hall.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 170
I really don't want him in the job, but it seems I have
no choice in the matter. Gran does not want to let go
of control of the House and she knows Uncle Algie
will do as she tells him. At least that's what I suspect.
The next Wizengamot meeting is next Tuesday and
Uncle Algie will be taking the Seat then.
Anyway, I hope you're having fun at Hermione's and
you're keeping out of mischief. Please also be aware
Headmaster Dumbledore is back at the castle. But,
he's not Headmaster any more, just a normal
professor. Watch your back, Harry. But I'm sure you
already are.
Your friend,
Neville
Neville F Longbottom
Heir Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
Longbottom
~ # ~
By the time he'd finished reading the letter, Harry was
furious. He'd specifically told that blasted woman he
didn't want to see that infanticidal git anywhere near
the Longbottom Seat; and that's who she goes ahead
and puts there in her place?
'Right!' he thought. 'She's had her warning. Time to
get serious!'
"Sirius," he quietly muttered. "I know it's going to
upset Andi but he's... No, she wants Sirius to stop
gadding about so, now she's back in the Black family,
she can go and do the search in his place."
"What are you muttering about?" he heard in
Hermione's voice from behind.
Snap-spinning about, he saw it actually was
Hermione.
"Woah!" she said, taking a quick step back. "I hope
that anger's not directed at me!"
Squashing his emotions back under control with his
eyes closed, he took a deep breath, released it and
opened his eyes again. "No." he flatly replied.
As she came forward, she asked, "Do you mind telling
me what's got you all hot and bothered, then?"
Instead of answering as he knew he'd lose his temper
again, he snapped out his hand with the letter in it and
offered it to her.
Taking the now crumpled and unfolded sheet of
parchment, she read it through.
"Augusta Longbottom wants to put a man who
'accidentally'..." he sneered, "... almost killed her
grandson and ward, Heir Apparent Neville Francis
Longbottom of the Noble and Most Ancient House of
Longbottom, onto the bloody Wizengamot!" he
snarled.
"It says here, Neville only suspects it," she said.
"There's no reason for Augusta not to tell her
grandson who it is unless it's to keep me from finding
out about it," he snarled. "Plus, Neville is a day older
than me and due to take the damned Seat for himself
on the seventeenth anniversary of his birth. That's
less than three years!
"And that stupid, bloody Rosier-born woman is
playing games with the Seat of the family she married
into that will soon belong to my friend and peer.
"More and more, I suspect she's effectively committed
Line Theft by a legal channel that sits in the grey area.
At the least, she's committed temporary Line Theft,
even if that's not an actual crime!
"Well! The bitch is going to rue the day she decided I
was not worth her effort and decided I'm now nothing
more than jumped-up boy, who should let the
experienced adults run things in his place!"
"Harry," she quietly said. "You need to calm down and
tell me what the prob... no, I can see that. But, I can't
see why it's such a big deal to you."
Harry whirled on her again and stared at her for a few
moments before he gave a huff and said, "The next
lesson from me to you is on the big two alliances - the
Potter-Longbottom Alliance and the Black Alliance.
You need to know both because, besides now being a
representative of families in leading roles of both, it'll
give you the context of why I'm incensed."
"Alright," she quietly replied. "That sounds like it will
be enjoyable―"
He gave a snort of amusement and turned a wry grin
on her. "Only you, Hermione, would think studying
political and social alliances could be enjoyable."
"I enjoy learning something new," she returned. "And
this is something new."
As Harry stood there, deep in thought of what he was
going to do, she said, "How about you talk to me
about something else for a minute or two. That should
help."
"Hunh?" he asked, having been distracted. "Oh! I
received two letters today." And whirled back to the
table.
Picking up and holding up the letter he received from
Marchbanks, he said, "I also received a letter from
Lady... I mean, Headmistress Lady Marchbanks."
Looking at it in his hand she could see it didn't appear
to have been opened. It had been, though - by the
aurors.
"Have you even read it, yet?" she asked.
"Errr... no," he replied.
"Then, how about we do," she suggested. "It should
be in answer to the letter you sent her yesterday about
the house elves, ghosts and portraits spying on the
students."
Surprised, he said, "Actually, you're probably right."
Then pulled out a chair again and sat before opening
the already-broken Hogwarts seal and opening the
letter up.
Reading through it, he found Marchbanks confirmed
that 'someone' had been using the house elves,
ghosts and portraits to spy. But also said it was only
three students; he, Hermione and Ron. And the last
two only when they were with him, Harry.
She'd now ordered them to stop doing that and report
to her if anyone tried to give any of them a similar
order. The letter made it clear there would be no
spying on students while she was Headmistress.
"I'm not surprised on either main point," shrugged
Harry.
Hermione thought, 'That's disturbing. But, at least the
change of subject has calmed my Harry down again...
My? Where'd that come from?'
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry wasn't the only one receiving a letter that day
that angered them.
At Hogwarts, Dumbledore had been to breakfast
before returning to his office. As he expected, his mail
was waiting for him. One of the perks of being a
professor was having your correspondence delivered
direct to your office, rather than to the high table at
breakfast. Only his copy of the Daily Prophet was
delivered there; not even his copy of the Quibbler.
A quick shift through it all and he found one
addressed to him in Harry Potter's handwriting.
Excited for news on the boy, he brushed all the rest
aside and quickly opened it.
Eagerly beginning to read, his first reaction was a
spike of anger at the address block on the top of the
letter. However, his anger continued to rise as he read.
Not even having considered clamping down on his
Occlumency shields before reading and with his focus
on the letter, he wasn't consciously aware of what was
happening.
The more he read, the angrier he got. Then, as he
reached the bottom of the letter and read the final line,
his anger released in a great burst.
Jumping to his feet and flinging the offending
parchment away across and over the desk halfcrumpled, he screamed his anger to the room. As he
did so, he snatched his wand out of his belt and
began firing curses of all sorts at the parchment, only
to miss each time.
He'd cast his fourth or fifth curse, pretty much all of
them borderline dark, when Fawkes finally decided
he'd had enough.
With a mighty scream of his own at Dumbledore's
back, he severed the bond between them and
disappeared in a flash of white-hot flame, almost
plasma. The quick flash, lasting only a split second,
was still hot enough to reduce the perch to slag, sear
the back of Dumbledore's robes and frizzle the back of
his long hair almost to a buzz-cut. The light of it was
so bright it was as if many camera flash bulbs had
gone off at the same time.
It was also hot enough that, if it had lasted any more
than the tiny fraction of a second it did, would have
instantly set everything in the room afire. Instead, just
about everything was at least slightly scorched with
the parchment on the desk either side of Dumbledore
that had felt the direct blast was crisped without
catching fire. His desk chair, having been closer to
Fawkes at the time, had all the polish on the back,
side closest and top edges burnt. It left the chair
smelling of burnt polish with faint wisps of smoke
rising off it.
The letter Dumbledore had just received from Harry
was now on the floor about five feet in front of the
desk and had been protected from the flash by the
desk, itself.
Weekly Power Status
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