Bab 366: HPF381-390
Chapter 381
As dinner approached, the ladies had
returned; so, Harry quickly ducked in to
the master bedroom to get changed into
something more casual.
Then the entire family headed back to the
Great Hall. Along the way, the family
pointed out things to the Grangers; like
the talking portraits, the moving stairs,
'secret' passageways, the Charms and
Transfiguration classrooms, how some
doors pretended to be walls at various
times, and other unique features.
"Are you sure they won't have a problem
with us joining you for the meal?" asked
Cele.
"After what happened today, no one's
going to complain," grinned Sirius.
"You can sit with us at the Ravenclaw
table," said Hermione. "We sit with Luna.
You remember Luna, don't you?"
"The young lass who was always so ready
to speak her mind, and your bridesmaid?"
asked Cele. "Of course, we remember
her."
"Well, we'll sit with Luna," said Hermione.
"Tracey, Blaise and Draco will be at the
Slytherin table; Neville will be at the
Gryffindor table, as will the twins; and
Hannah and Susan will be at the
Hufflepuff table. We'll have to sit at House
tables for the meal. Sirius, as a Professor,
will be sitting at the head table."
As the family walked into the Great Hall,
the noised dimmed right down for a few
moments, before returning to it's previous
level.
"That was a little odd," muttered Ant.
"That's not unusual for us," said Hermione.
"Harry's had to put up with that
happening since the second day of first
year. Daphne and I have only had to put
up with it since the beginning of fourth."
Sirius broke off from the group and
headed for the staff table, while the family
group made their way over to the
Ravenclaw table. Thankfully, they were
there early enough that they only had to
ask a couple of students to budge over to
allow the family to sit together across the
table with Luna.
"Hello everyone," said Luna, as they all sat
down. "Today was very interesting, wasn't
it?"
"That it was," smiled Cele. "It isn't every
day you see your daughter,
daughter-in-law and son-in-law presented
the highest awards in the land."
Looking at Harry, Daphne and Hermione
Luna asked, "Why aren't you wearing your
medallions?"
"As soon as I could I took it off,
Luna-dear," said Harry. Hermione and
Daphne nodded in agreement. "It's only
for wearing at special occasions, and a
regular night's dinner in the Great Hall
isn't one."
"Then, what is the point of it?" she asked.
"The point, is to make the people of
Magical Britain happy the Minister
awarded us for getting rid of Riddle for
them," replied Hermione. "The people of
Magical Britain want to feel good that
their heroes have been properly rewarded
for their efforts, and the Minister is happy
to comply."
"So, the Orders are for them, rather
than you?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Harry. "But, that's
because we care less about the awards
than the people feel they ought to."
"That's actually quite profound," mused
Matthias, from where he'd been listening.
"And accurate, too, I'd say."
As the meal was about to be served, the
Headmistress stood and approached the
lectern.
"Good evening," she said. "For those very
few who are unaware, Hogwarts played
host, this afternoon, right here in the
Great Hall, the presentation to certain of
our staff and students for their roles in the
vanquishing of the dark wizard, Tom
Riddle.
"Professors Flitwick and Snape, please
stand," she said.
When both men, the first with alacrity and
the second clearly reluctantly, rose to
their feet - Professor Flitwick stood on his
chair - the Headmistress continued.
"Professors Filius Flitwick and Severus
Snape were, this afternoon, awarded
Medals of Meritorious Service to
Wizarding Britain; for training, in secret,
the Potters for their eventual
confrontation with Tom Riddle. As we
know, that confrontation occurred last
night.
"For most of this year, both Professors had
freely given of their own time, twice a
week, to train the Potters in magical
combat. Their training included the use of
curses, charms, transfiguration and
conjuration. They trained in offensive,
defensive and healing magics. Both
professors worked hard to accelerate the
normal education for all three, to such a
point all three, according to the Professors,
could easily pass the practical portion of
the NEWT exams for Dah-dah, Charms and
Transfiguration.
"There can be no doubt their efforts went
a great way towards the Potters being
successful in their defeat of Riddle. While
the Minister showed his gratitude to both
on behalf of Magical Britain, please join
me in a round of applause on behalf of
Hogwarts for both for their incredible
efforts."
Turning, the Headmistress put deed to
word and lead the applause for both.
Giving it a few long couple dozen seconds,
she then lowered her hands and turned
back to the Hall.
"Of course," she said, once the applause
died down and the two Professors
returned to their seats. "You are aware of
the efforts of the Potters, themselves.
Please stand, Mister, Missus and Missus
Potter."
When the three rose to their feet, she
continued. "During the same awards
ceremony, the Minister awarded Missus
Hermione Jean Granger-Potter and Missus
Daphne Anna Greengrass-Potter with the
Order of Merlin, Second Class, each; and
Mister Harry James Potter with
a second Order of Merlin, First Class, to go
with the one he earned for slaying the
giant basilisk that was terrorising the
school two years ago. He is the first to be
so awarded in over three centuries; and
the youngest ever.
"Please join me in congratulating our
three Order of Merlin recipients," she
finished, before stepping back and
beginning another round of applause.
After the applause died down, the
Headmistress stepped back to the lectern
and said, "Thank you. That is the totality
of my announcements, tonight."
When she, again, stepped back, the tables
filled with the evening meal.
After the evening meal wound up, the
families departed for their homes from
Sirius's Floo. The Greengrasses then
shuttled the Grangers home by side-along
apparation from the Farm.
The Potters, utterly tired, retired to their
apartment. Dobby had already
reconfigured it back to the norm.
As they walked in, Hermione asked, "So,
assignments and revision study?"
While Harry gave her a filthy look, making
Hermione cringe just a little, Daphne
sighed and said, "If we must."
"Sorry," said Hermione. "I don't think I can
sleep until we get some revision done.
We've not done any assignments or
revision in over two days."
Harry sighed and said, "Thinking on it, I
think it might be a smart idea."
"Oh?" asked Daphne.
Nodding, he replied, "Doing something
so... mind numbing and menial as
assignments and study... might just help
me get to sleep, too."
"Wonderful!" said Hermione, clearly
happy with the decision.
The three Potters pulled out their school
books and settled down on the couches.
With a sigh, Harry pulled out his History of
Magic text and the assignment due for
that class.
And, in doing so, the Potters at that point
effectively returned to their normal school
lives and being students.
Chapter 382
With Riddle done and dusted, the three
Potters no longer needed to train for their
eventual confrontation with him. So, the
time they had dedicated towards the
training, was now theirs to do with as they
pleased.
Hermione, of course, wanted to
immediately set the time aside as revision
study. And, with the exams only a couple
of weeks off, it was difficult to argue with
her. However, Harry decided to give it his
best try.
"Hermione-love," he gently asked. "Why is
it you want to dedicate so much time to
revision study when the three of us are,
for all intents and purposes, NEWT level
students?"
Hermione had clearly expected the
question, or attempt, and had her
arguments all ready to respond. "One;
while you did alright on your OWLs our
first go around, even you must admit
there was a lot of room for improvement.
You received a Troll for History of Magic,
for Merlin's sake."
"Hey," he complained. "I was mentally
attacked by a false vision of Sirius being
tortured at the Ministry of Magic that
afternoon, remember? Of course I was
going to fail it."
Ignoring the argument back, Hermione
continued. "And that doesn't account for
how... average... you performed on other
subjects. Two; you didn't study Ancient
Runes last go around, as you have been
doing, this time."
Harry just sighed and let her continue.
"Of the subjects you did last time, there
was plenty of improvement available to
you. The only subject you excelled in was
Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"I practically taught the bloody class!" he
retorted. "Of course I was going to do well
in it."
"Well, as Professor Snape said, we've been
practicing so much on the practical and
employed uses of DADA, Charms and
Transfiguration, we're been slipping
behind in the theory of those subjects.
That's what we need to catch up on," she
reasoned.
"Then, of course, there's also Potions,
Herbology, Astronomy, Care of Magical
Creatures, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy.
You and I will both have no problem with
Muggle Studies but Daphne might need
help. And Daphne and I also have to focus
on Arithmancy."
As each of his arguments was torn down,
before he could even mention them for
the most part, Harry sank lower and lower
into his seat. "Fine," he eventually
grumbled. "Let's get on with it, then."
As Hermione laid out her arguments,
Daphne just sat there listening with one
eyebrow cocked and a smirk on her lips.
She never said a word. Then again, she
knew Hermione had more than enough
argued the reasons and didn't need to say
anything in support.
As the OWLs finally arrived, with the first
test being Transfiguration, Hermione was
turning into a nervous wreck. One night,
with a couple of days to go, she was madly
muttering to herself and reading through
reams of notes late at night until early
morning.
Harry, who'd attempted to already order
her to bed twice, silenced her, levitated
her, threw her over his shoulder and
carried her into the master bedroom.
There, he banished her clothes off her to
the hamper, released her from the
silencing charm and, before she could
start yelling at him, put his own mouth to
work on her body, effectively shutting her
up. Daphne had been watching and, when
Harry made his dive, decided to add her
own lips to her sister-wife's body.
Hermione fell asleep about twenty
minutes later with a smile on her face.
The next morning, Harry and Daphne sat
their wife down and forced her to promise
not to study beyond a certain time of
night, or before a certain time in the
morning. If she exceeded the time, she'd
be punished by being made to pleasure
them both.
BY the time OWLs began, all three Potters
were very physically relaxed due to the
amount of sex they'd recently been
indulging in.
This time, without the threat of Riddle
hanging over his head, nor the headaches
and visions he was receiving through the
mind link, Harry was far better prepared
for the exams. He almost literally just
breezed through them. Daphne made the
same claim, but Hermione felt she
must've failed because she didn't answer
a particular question here and there as
thoroughly as she could.
As the Potters had planned, for each of
Charms, Transfiguration and DADA, they
went for the bonus. In Charms on the first
Monday of the two weeks of exams, the
three cast their patronuses and even
included demonstrating how it could be
used as a verbal messenger. In
Transfiguration on the first Tuesday, all
three demonstrated 'self-transfiguration'
by switching to their animagus forms; just
as his father did for his NEWT in the
subject. With Neville's help - exchanged
for help on Potions from Daphne,
Transfiguration from Hermione and DADA
and Charms from Harry - the three also
breezed through Herbology on the
Wednesday. For DADA on Thursday, the
three walked in to the practical
examination room wearing their Order of
Merlin medallions. The three examiners
looked at them with stunned expressions,
and immediately sent them straight off
again, with promises they'd be receiving
'Outstanding Plusses. Hermione was
ambivalent about whether it was cheating
or due regards. For the Ancient Runes
exam on the Friday, all three wrote of
their work as a team with Luna in the
array that created the wards throughout
the castle to stop curses and hexes flying,
for bonus points.
Similar endeavours were attempted for all
the other subjects the next week - Potions
on the Monday; Care of Magical Creatures
on the Tuesday; Astronomy split over
Wednesday morning and late that night;
History of Magic first thing on Thursday
afternoon, followed by Muggle Studies in
the later afternoon; and, finally,
Arithmancy on the Friday morning.
For bonus points in Care of Magical
Creatures he explained why it was so easy
to take down a fully grown dragon; further
explaining the need nearly all non-aquatic
beasts had for breathing as being a quick
conduit to bringing them down, including
nundus and the like. For History of Magic
he covered the reason for the Statute of
Secrecy and how current methods used to
maintain it were being eroded by muggle
developments in surveillance. He quickly
conjured what a surveillance camera
looked like, together with the various
weather protection shielding they
employed. For that one, he left behind a
rather terrified panel of examiners. And
for Muggle Studies Harry simply walked
over to a typewriter that was displayed in
the classroom and explained how it
worked, before then showing a little bit of
typing. Then, when asked, picked up a
telephone and went over it's basics
concepts, operation and the latest
improvements; including the brand new
technology of cellphones.
By the second Thursday afternoon, Harry
was walking between exams and the
Great Hall for meals whistling a jaunty
tune. He'd not been happier. OWLs were a
great deal easier than he remembered, he
no longer had a dark wizard bent on
making him dead, he had two lovely and
very intelligent wives who were great fun
in more ways than one, he had an
extended family and plenty of friends, and
life was just great. And, in the previous
timeline, today was the day he'd hared off
with his friends to the Ministry of Magic to
rescue his godfather, only to see him die.
'Happy new life, Sirius,' he thought.
Chapter 383
While both wives were in taking their
Arithmancy OWLs on the Friday morning,
he went for a fly. And, was having so much
fun in the air, he was laughing and pulling
off dangerous stunts with almost wild
abandon.
Once he returned to the ground, he
quickly found himself surrounded by
Neville, Susan, Hannah, and Blaise and
quickly hustled off to the infirmary.
"There's something wrong with him,
Madam Pomfrey," huffed Neville. "No
one should be this happy immediately
after taking all those exams!"
Harry just laughed and said, "I found them
enjoyable, actually. They were far easier
than I heard they'd be."
"Alright, that's proven it," Neville almost
snarled. "Someone's potioned him again."
"Mister Longbottom, calm yourself," said
Madam Pomfrey quite sternly and coming
over. "Due to the nature of the soul bond
Mister Potter has with his two wives, any
potion that attempts to affect his mind or
ability to think will fail. The bond
considers it an attack and repels it."
"Then it must be Wizard's Flu, or
something," pushed Neville.
With a sigh, the medi-witch turned to
Harry and asked, "Do you feel unwell?
Nauseous? Unusual bowel movements?
Coughing?"
"No, no, no and no," smiled Harry. "I kid
you not, I'm actually rather happy. The
exams were not as difficult as I thought
they would be; and I think I did really,
really well in them."
He glanced at his watch and saw the time.
"Hunh!" he said. "Hermione and Daphne
should be about to come out of their
Arithmancy exam. If history is a guide,
Hermione's going to be really, really
stressed and need some... stress relief.
And I'm just the wizard for the job!"
He grinned and hopped off the bed. "Now,
if you'll excuse me, Hermione needs me.
I'm about to make her very, very relaxed."
Quickly, he strolled out of the infirmary,
again whistling a jaunty tune and walking
with a spring in his step.
"He didn't mean what I think he meant...
did he?" asked a deeply blushing Susan.
All four teens found themselves blushing.
"Yeah, actually," said Hannah, a little softly.
"I think he did."
Madam Pomfrey, who was thinking the
same thing, gave her throat a deep clear
and said, "Alright, you four. I think
we all know what's making Mister Potter
so happy; and, it isn't potions. Out!"
As they walked out, Blaise muttered,
"Tracey was in that same exam. I wonder
if she'd be willing to let me provide her
the same kind of stress relief." Looking to
the other three, he said a little louder, "If
you'll excuse me, I need to make sure
Tracey's not gotten herself stressed." And
he hurried away.
Of course, with exams out of the way, the
Express left for London the next morning.
And, with no Dumbledore to try and send
him back to the Dursleys, and no dark
wizard trying to find Harry to kill him, the
three were more open about their
summer plans.
This time they weren't even being picked
up from Platform 9¾. Hermione was
carrying a portkey to take all three directly
to the Grangers' garage. The only reason
they didn't just decide to use it from the
compartment was because the train ride
was supposed to be taken, and they
wanted to spend a last few hours with
their friends unwinding from their exams.
Now they no longer needed to hide just
how advanced they were in the practical
components of their wand-based subjects,
the three were early to the train. Once
there, they took a compartment and
quickly set about making it one big one
with the use of expansion charms.
The spell took power to make the
expansion last long enough without the
use of runes, but Harry alone had power
to spare. So he set about making the
compartment much larger in both lateral
directions. Of course, he didn't need to go
up, so he didn't need to expand it that way.
The window was enlarged both vertically
and horizontally and now ran almost floor
to ceiling and was twice 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 a table was
created between the seats nearer the
window to allow those who wanted to
play games, such as exploding snap, a
surface to play on without having to sit on
the floor.
From a compartment able to seat six, or
eight at a squeeze, they now had a
compartment able to seat fourteen in
comfort, with plenty of leg room to allow
those sitting to stretch their legs out
without getting in the way of those
opposite; or block passage to those
moving between the window and the
door or back again.
"Anything else we can do?" asked Harry,
using his wand to scratch behind his ear.
Daphne frowned for a moment before she
began gesturing with her wand. The plush
upholstery developed a pattern of mixed
House crests dominated by the Houses of
Potter, Greengrass and Granger; but also
adding in Black, Davies, Zabini,
Longbottom, Abbott and Bones. Then she
turned her wand to the walls and changed
the cheap light English oak finish to a
much darker and richer European yew in a
deep lacquer finish.
"Nice!" said Harry.
Hermione then raised her own wand and
changed the gas lighting from the tacky
bare steel frames with green glass around
the flame heads, to incredible polished
filigreed brass, clear glass surrounds and
multiple gas heads with larger gas bags to
provide far more light.
Harry wasn't being idle at this point, either.
He quickly transfigured the cheap
linoleum flooring into a fine weave soft
patternless carpet in a light brown with a
deep underlay.
As all three finished, Daphne softly said,
"Yes. I think this will do for us for the next
seven hours. This is more our style."
The three, grinning to themselves, walked
back into the compartment and settled
down.
As Blaise, Tracey and Draco walked in,
they stopped in awe.
"Bloody Hell," muttered Draco, before he
looked at the three. "Who did this?"
"We did, of course," said Daphne. "Now
that we don't have to downplay our
abilities, we're freer to cast magic like
this."
"This is incredible," said Tracey, moving in
and taking a seat. "No wonder you three
found the OWLs quite easy."
"Let's get the others in here," said Harry.
"He quickly conjured up a messenger
patronus to Neville, telling them which
carriage and compartment, and sent it on
it's way."
"Neville?" asked Hermione.
Chapter 384
When Harry nodded, she cast her own
messenger patronus and sent it to Susan.
"And that's to Susan," she said.
"Who else?" asked Harry. "The twins?"
"No, they're not on the train," said
Hermione.
"Oh?" asked Draco.
"As soon as they finished their last NEWT
exam, they simply walked out the front
door of the castle, walked out the gate,
and apparated away," she replied. "I think
they were heading directly to their new
store in Diagon Alley."
"New store?" asked Blaise.
"They're setting up a joke shop in a store
in Diagon," she replied. "Harry and Sirius
argued over who was going to fund them.
Sirius won."
"He played on him being an original
Marauder, the cad," huffed Harry. "The
twins like the idea of having one of the
original Marauders as their silent partner.
"The son of an original Marauder wasn't
good enough," pouted Harry.
"Awww... poor baby," smirked Daphne.
"Wait," said a confused Draco. "You
argued over who would be able to give
the Weasley twins money. The same two
Weasley twins who scored, like, six OWLs
between them. What am I missing?"
Hermione smirked and replied, "Firstly,
the twins fudged their OWLs, as they do
most all the exams, to stop their
overbearing mother demanding they
apply for jobs in the Ministry. Without the
right scores, at least, they couldn't get in."
"Okay, I understand Molly Prewett can be
overbearing, and a real screech owl when
she gets angry, but why would they want
to do that?" asked Draco.
"Think about it, the two older boys, as
soon as they graduated, shot through to
other countries; Bill, as a curse breaker for
Gringotts in Egypt, and Charlie, as a
dragon wrangler in Romania," explained
Harry. "Percy, even though he went into
the Ministry, as soon as he had the chance
to cut ties with his mother, took it. As
soon as Molly 'Potions Queen' Prewett
was out of the Burrow, he moved back in.
And the three older boys bought their
father a house elf, so he'd not find himself
wanting to take Molly back due to her
being able to keep house and cook.
"When the twins entered Hogwarts, they
already knew their mother was already
demanding they get good grades so they
could get a decent job in the Ministry, like
their father. To fight against that, they
worked hard on their prank products but
fudged their school results, so Molly could
no longer force them into a career neither
wanted for themselves."
As he was talking, Luna simply walked in,
took a few seconds to look round at the
changes, and walked to sit at one of the
chairs at the table. There, she pulled out a
copy of the Quibbler and began to read it.
"Think about all the pranks they
developed that involved things like
potions, runes, timed charms, and the like.
Almost every one of
them they developed," said Daphne. "That
means, from about second year on, they
were developing potions, charms, rune
schemes, et cetera. As second years.
"Now, knowing that, do you really think
their exam results were accurate, and
showed a true measure of their abilities?"
"Bloody Hell!" said Draco softly. "Why did
we never think of that ourselves?"
"Hello, Luna," said Harry to the slender
girl.
"Hello Harry," she said, without looking up
from her magazine. "I like what you've
done with the compartment."
"Thank you," he said. "Daphne and
Hermione did most of it."
"With a strategy like that, why weren't
either of them sorted into Slytherin?"
asked Tracey.
"The Hat was going to sort them there,
but they threatened to burn it, if it did,"
explained Harry. "I think they also
explained exactly how they were going to
get it, and with what type of fire they'd
burn it. The Hat believed them."
As Harry was talking, Neville turned up
with Hannah and Susan in tow. They took
one look at the compartment from the
door, stopped and gawked.
"Well? Come in," said Hermione.
That got the three entering and looking
for seats. They found a comfortable couch
to sit on in about the middle.
"Like it?" Hermione asked them, gesturing
about.
"How were you able to accomplish this?"
asked Susan.
"By having access to one-on-one tutoring
by a Charms Master who loves to teach,"
said Daphne.
"And a huge library where you can study
anything you want," added Hermione.
"By having to learn as much as you could,
as fast as you could, the practical
applications of wanded magic," replied
Harry. "We're still very light on the theory.
But, we'll have that sorted to rights next
year."
By agreement, none of the three were
willing to give up the secret of the Room
of Requirements, and how much it aided
them in being able to learn as fast as they
could as much as they could.
They actually found most of the best
books on the subject of Transfiguration
could be found in the Room of
Requirement. But, that was also the case
for all the subjects they focussed upon,
including Charms and DADA.
Throughout the trip they had a few other
people drop by. In most cases those
people took one look at the compartment,
and never left.
For most they were asked the same
questions: How did they change the
compartment? What spells were used?
And similar. After the first almost half
dozen times, Harry would just grunt,
"Transfiguration and charms. Study them
and you, too, will be able to accomplish
such feats. It's not that hard once you
know what you're doing."
"I wonder why no one else thinks of doing
something like this?" asked one Ravenclaw.
"After all, if it's just transfiguration and
charms, we're all capable of it. I'd've
thought the seventh years would be all
over something like this."
"It takes a fair bit of power to overcome
the magic of the Express to allow for the
room expansion charm," explained
Hermione. "However, the rest of it is really
just simple transfiguration. The secret, if
there is one, is you must have a very good
and detailed picture in your mind of what
you want, and a good understanding of
the properties of the material used."
Chapter 385
"But, that's the same as what we're
already told for transfiguration of far more
simple things," said the 'Claw. "Is it really
that simple?"
"It is," she smiled back. "The difficulty isn't
the spell, it's the concentration and
creativity of your mind, and it's ability to
hold the images, that forms the difficulty
of transfiguration.
"Then there's just the inherent problems
of transfiguring living tissue. There, you
have to be pretty exacting in your
concentration and knowledge. We start
with inanimate to inanimate, then move
on to animate to inanimate, then
inanimate to animate. And, finally, the
most difficult of all, animate to animate.
"The peak of that is self-transfiguration of
animate to animate. Like this..."
She then stood in the middle of the floor
and muttered, "Ummm... timber wolf, I
think; given the room." She then smoothly
switched to Pouncer, before switching
back again.
After hearing all the gasps from those who
listened and watched, she calmly sat
down again.
"Bloody Hell!" said one of the various
students who'd joined them in the
compartment. "Can... all three of you do
that?"
Harry gave a shrug, stood, appeared to
concentrate for a moment, and said "Grey
wolf." He then shifted to Hunter, before
shifting back again.
As they all heard the gasps again, Daphne
snorted and said, "Nice try."
"What?" asked Harry. "What did I do
wrong?"
Daphne seemed to think for a few
moments before she replied, "Your fur
was a little dark for a grey wolf. And you
carried across the colour of your eyes.
Wolves have amber-coloured eyes;
possibly dark brown. They definitely don't
have green."
"Okay, Miss clever-witch," he huffed.
"Show me." And gestured to the floor.
With a smirk, Daphne stood frowned a
moment and shifted. Tracker stood there a
few moments before Daphne shifted back
to human form.
"Ha!" said Harry. "You accused me of
having too dark fur; and yours was too
light along your ruff."
"At least she was closer with the eyes,
Harry," smirked Hermione. "Green was
just too startling on a wolf."
"Well, we've still got work to do to get
them exact," said Harry. "I still say it's
pretty good for fifth years."
As they neared London, most of those
who'd just stopped by and never left,
rushed back to their own compartments
to be with their trunks and stuff as the
train pulled into the station.
Once it'd pulled in, and the others left, the
three cancelled their changes to the
compartment to set it back to 'Express
standard'. Then portkeyed out of the
compartment to the Granger garage,
without even stepping foot on the
platform.
When Ant, innocently enough, asked how
the exams went, Hermione launched into
a half hour long complaint session about
how she thought she might have failed
various subjects and hoped her parents
wouldn't be too disappointed when she
had to repeat the year.
Both Ant and Cele looked as if they
listened attentively, but the amused
glances to Harry and Daphne told them
the Grangers were used to this sort of
behaviour.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, honey."
"Oh, I don't think it'll be as bad as you
think."
"Well, as long as you did your best."
"We'll just have to wait for the results to
arrive to see for ourselves."
"When will you find out how well you did?
You don't know? I'm sure it'll be in plenty
of time for you to pick your NEWT
subjects. Don't worry."
After half an hour, with her parents
amusedly paying her some attention, it
didn't look like Hermione was about to
slow down any time soon. Harry sighed,
walked up to her, and simply gathered her
in his arms as he kissed her as
passionately as he could.
When he stepped back it looked as if he'd
managed to short circuit her brain, as she
stood frozen on the spot.
A firm nod and grin, knowing he'd done a
good job, he turned to the Grangers and
asked, "So, how's little Wags? I didn't see
him when we came in."
Cele was about to answer when Hermione
gave a start, blinked and said, "Oh,
my God! I don't believe I forgot about
Wags! I mean... William! Where is he? Oh,
dear! He must think me a horrible big
sister for not thinking about him and
coming to say hello, straight away. I've
gotta find him!"
After a frantic look about, she suddenly
ran from the room, looking for her brother.
"William?" she called, from somewhere
along the hallway. "Where are you?"
"She knows he's, like, only eight months
old, right?" asked Daphne.
"Not at the moment, she doesn't," replied
Cele. "I think Harry's kiss derailed her
ability to think properly."
Harry, now well past the stage where he'd
blush after a comment like that, just
grinned back and said, "It tends to work.
We had to do things like that, before and
during the exams, to get her to settle
down."
They only managed to get Hermione
settled down when they practically forced
her into an armchair in the lounge and
Cele placed baby William in her arms.
Once ensconced, she began babbling at
the baby telling him all about Hogwarts
and what he had to look forward to.
Meanwhile, Harry and Daphne organised
the bedroom and had Dobby bring the
trunks in.
Harry was becoming well and truly relaxed
after a very stressful year, while staying
with the Grangers. Before they left after
the first week and a bit, heading for the
Farm, the three made the time to sit down
and plan out what subjects they wanted
to take for NEWTs.
"But, we don't even know if we've passed
any yet," said a slightly worried Hermione.
"Take it that we got at least Exceeds
Expectations on all of them, and we'll
figure it from there," suggested Daphne.
Over the next couple of days, the three
thought a lot about their subjects.
Daphne had borrowed a book off her
parents about the various careers in the
Wizarding world, and what subjects were
considered important for each of them.
"And what do you plan on doing, Harry?"
asked Hermione.
Chapter 386
He gave a little shrug and said, "We
haven't thought to ask our angels what
they think we should do, yet. Maybe
there's certain subjects we should focus
on for that."
"I know you don't like the profession all
that much," said Daphne. "But, I think you
should focus on politics."
After Harry gave a little scowl, she
continued, "If we're going to make
significant changes to improve society, as
the angels expect us to do, then the
answer lies in the Wizengamot and
creating, amending and cancelling
legislation.
"I think the three of us are going to have
to focus at least part of our efforts in
learning everything we can about drafting
legislation. As long as we're well
knowledgeable in that area, we can't be
browbeat by the old hands into backing
off."
"She's right," agreed Hermione. "I hadn't
thought of that. That means study in
wizarding law, muggle law, history and
similar."
"I also need to take proper control of the
Potter finances," said Harry. "That means
I'll need to take the NEWT 'Estate
Planning' elective, law elective, and the
Introduction to the Ministry elective. Plus,
I think I'll continue in my studies of
Ancient Runes, Charms, Transfiguration
and DADA."
"That's seven," said Hermione, writing
them down. "I don't think you should do
any more than that. You've still got your
current responsibilities to the Wizengamot
to attend. And that's likely to increase in
the very near future, now that many who
sat on the Wizengamot are either dead or
in Azkaban."
"And, don't forget, you two will be
inducted as full members of the
Wizengamot at the next sitting," said
Harry. "So, you have to make allowances
for your service there when figuring out
your own class load. So, what about you
two?"
"Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient
Runes, and... Arithmancy for core
subjects," listed Daphne. "Law, and
Healing for electives, I think. That makes
seven for me."
As Hermione finished writing those down,
she asked, "What about Estate Planning
and subjects like that?"
"We'll have access to Harry's texts on the
subject," she replied. "Plus, we've got
access to my father's knowledge, if we
need to ask anything."
"Alright, Hermione," said Harry. "It's time
to bite the bullet and choose. I don't think
either of us would believe you've not
given significant thought to what you
want to do as a career. So, spill."
With a sigh of frustration, she replied, "I
know, for a fact, I want to continue with
Charms, Transfiguration and Arithmancy...
probably Ancient Runes. But, what I really
want to do, is research."
"What sort of research?" asked Daphne.
"Spell research, I think," she replied. "I
want to develop new spells and research
improvements in other areas of magical
theory, and the like."
"Then, on top of your first four choices,
you'll probably need to continue with
History of Magic," said Daphne. "And add
the electives Enchanting and... something
else of your choosing. Healing, perhaps?
There's a whole range of specialist spells
attached only to healing."
As she nodded along with the
recommendations, Hermione was writing
them down. "If Binns's NEWT class is
anything like his OWLs class it's actually
going to be pretty useless to me."
"Maybe," said Daphne. "However, you'll
need a NEWT in the subject to be able to
study further. For research, History of
Magic is a must, I'm afraid. I take it you're
hoping for an invitation to join the
research unit of the Department of
Mysteries?"
"Down the track, yes," she replied.
"However, I don't think there's a great
need for me to join the Unspeakables
right out of school. I'd like to work
independently for a while, if that's
alright?"
"Of course, it is," said both spouses.
Laughing a little, Harry said, "I don't think
it'll drive the Potters into bankruptcy, if
you must know."
"Then, yes," she firmly said, looking down
at the list. "These are the subjects I want
to take through to NEWTs, if I score high
enough on my OWLs."
"Then," said Harry. "Unless we hear
differently, these are the course loads
we'll be taking at Hogwarts for the next
two years."
Hermione sighed and said, "I guess. But,
I'd like to hear more about the subject of
spellcrafting and research before I
definitely choose."
"We can do that once we're at the Farm or
the Black House," said Daphne.
"We may even be able to use those Orders
of Merlin to get in to talk to the
researchers in the Department of
Mysteries. They'll have excellent
suggestions for you."
"Actually, that sounds like
a wonderful idea," replied Hermione,
brightening up.
After their pleasant time at the Granger
Residence, the three moved without much
fanfare to the Farm.
Now that they had access to the Floo
system again, Harry made a quick dash
across to Potter Retreat to make sure
everything was alright, there. Before
returning, almost immediately, to the
Farm.
"How's Jeeves and the rest of the staff?"
asked Hermione.
"They're all fine," replied Harry. "But,
Jeeves again asked me when we're likely
to move permanently to the Manor."
"Did you tell him we'll be living there for
the rest of the summer about two weeks
from now?" asked Daphne.
"I did," he replied with a nod. "That
seemed to perk him up a bit."
"Well, he's just going to have to be happy
with that for yet another two years," she
said, as if the subject was closed.
"He knows," he sighed.
Because it was the break between the
OWL year and the first NEWT year, the
three didn't have any assignments they
needed to complete. This left Hermione a
bit stressed until Daphne convinced
Astoria to let Hermione help her with hers,
and Astoria immediately asked.
Then, for the next few days for a couple
hours each, Hermione could be found
happily talking to Astoria about her
assignments, and providing added
instruction when the younger girl seemed
to be a bit confused about a particular
subject. This then led to Astoria inviting
her friends over for 'study sessions', and
Hermione helping them all out with their
assignments.
It was just before their last day at
Greengrass Farm when Harry received
notice from the Wizengamot
Administration Service of an upcoming
Wizengamot meeting, and the girls
received their first summons to the
meeting to be inducted.
Chapter 387
Proud as punch, Matthias then
immediately declared a trip to Twillfit and
Tattings to be fitted for Wizengamot robes
was in order, and the three were off to the
Alley.
Though he felt he didn't really need them,
Harry was refitted for new robes, as he'd
grown some since his first sitting. And,
with all three now fitted and provided
new Wizengamot robes shrunk and in
their pockets, with Matthias the three
returned to the Farm.
The next day was the move to the Black
House, and the day after that was the
Wizengamot meeting.
Other than just moving from one location
to another, Harry spent part of his time
writing up his speech as the applicant to
induct both his wives. Unlike the one he
gave on receiving his second Order of
Merlin, this one was quite tame. It only
spoke about the bravery of both, and how
they fearlessly stood by his side when
facing Riddle, casting their own spells and
providing point defence.
On the morning of the meeting, just
before they needed to take the Floo to the
atrium of the Ministry, they were joined
by Matthias and Deece, who had earlier
side-along apparated the Grangers to the
Farm, and who were also joining them.
Their presence was yet another surprise
for Hermione.
"All here?" asked Sirius, as he looked
about. Answering his own question he
firmly said, "Yep." And rubbed his hands in
glee.
With Matthias and Deece leading the way,
the party Floo'ed through with Sirius
bringing up the rear. "All here," the old
dog immediately declared.
Then they headed for the Wizengamot
chambers.
Sirius, Matthias, Deece, Ant and Cele all
climbed the stairs into the visitors' gallery,
while Daphne and Hermione were led off
to the new inductees' waiting area. Harry
ducked through the back door and met up
with the other members of the
Wizengamot, who were all waiting in the
members' assembling area.
The members were almost immediately
called out to assemble, climbing into the
members' tiers, with the last being the
Chief Warlock. And, at exactly the time
called for the meeting, the Chief Warlock
banged his gavel to signal the start of the
meeting.
Of course, after the calling of the reason
for assembling, Hermione and Daphne
were brought forth to be inducted. Harry
immediately stood as the applicant and
was allowed his speech.
"Brightest witches of their ages.
Consistently challenging one another for
the highest honours in each of their
classes..."
"Showed great courage in standing by my
side while we faced evil personified in the
form of the dark wizard, Tom Riddle..."
"Assisted in my training and, themselves,
trained for more than a year to ensure
Riddle's defeat..."
All the usual tosh.
Then came a speaker against. It was quite
unusual, and the other members catcalled
her for it. But, as she claimed, she had the
right.
She spoke about how sitting both Daphne
and Hermione gave the Potter family
three seats on the Wizengamot. Then
spoke about their combined youth.
Segued into how all three were still
students and, she assumed, all three
would remain so until after completing
their NEWTs. Made vague references to
possible apprenticeship contracts and how,
as apprentices, they were completely
beholden to their masters for even so
much as permission to attend. And
finished with how it meant an
unprecedented number of sitting Order of
Merlin holders.
That led to one of the wizened old
members to stand. He began by rebutting
her points with logical arguments, and
even included points of law. First, as
holders of the Order of Merlin, all three
Potters were entitled to sit. That was
enshrined in law and, to speak against it,
meant to speak against ancient laws. He
then spoke of the history of the
Wizengamot where, centuries past, they'd
had even younger members sit, and in
greater numbers. He then stated that any
apprenticeship contracts, if such were in
their future, would require the master to
allow them to attend their Wizengamot
duties; as such instances had also
occurred in the past. And finished by
stating if the three were old enough to
earn an Order of Merlin then, by Merlin,
they were old enough to sit in their tiers.
As there had been a speaker against, there
had to be a vote, however it was just a
formality, as the rebutter reminded them.
Because the vote became moot, it was by
acclamation. Both girls were given their
standing ovations as they ascended into
the tiers and simultaneously sat, one to
each side, of Harry, as pre-arranged;
before the applause ended and the rest of
the members retook their seats.
Once the real business of the chamber
began, the main order of business was
what to do with all the Death Eaters they
captured on the night Riddle fell. Some
were just for tossing them in Azkaban...
for which Harry vehemently disagreed...
while others demanded a speedy, yet fair,
trial for all of them.
The result was speedy trials and Madam
Bones's department were ordered to
expedite matters to ensure all faced
justice as soon as possible.
The current make up of the judiciary was
mentioned as a risk, but a vote to change
the membership was quashed.
Again, other members approached the
three Potters about forming alliances and
getting their feel on certain issues. This
time, with strong support from his wives,
Harry hinted at the needs to rid their
nation of laws outlandishly in favour of
purebloods over those considered of
lesser blood. And a few other matters. He
also spoke about how, reducing the
number of tax breaks for purebloods, just
because they were considered pureblood,
would allow greater funds to boost their
auror and hit wizard corps, and provide
funding for others who had pet projects
they were unable to gain funding for.
While he didn't receive firm support or
outright objection, he felt he'd
accomplished something from the political
manoeuvring.
In New Business after lunch, someone
wanted to move a motion to censure
Harry for his remarks on the evening of his
second award. However, the same
rebutter as earlier, reminded members
that the new recipient was given the right
to speak their mind, no matter how some
might be offended. It was felt that,
because they'd accomplished a feat
worthy of such an award, they'd earned
the right to speak their mind. Harry
remembered the man from earlier
sessions and knew him to be extremely
knowledgeable on both the history of the
Wizengamot and its operation. He bore
being courted as a possible ally in
changing the laws to be fairer
for all magicals.
The mover of the motion then claimed he
was unaware of that important point, and
immediately withdrew his motion with
the consent of the seconder.
Shortly, thereafter, the meeting was
closed. This time the three held back to
make a few more contacts, based on
Daphne's urging. And left a little later to
rejoin their families.
Chapter 388
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."
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.
Chapter 389
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!"
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."
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."
Chapter 390
"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."
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.
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.
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.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone