章 299: HPWW591-600
Chapter 591
"How will the loss of these fine and upstanding
citizens impact the Wizengamot?"
"Yet to be seen," she said. "Plus, it has nothing to do
with the investigation of an accident that led to
multiple deaths and is, therefore, not relevant to our
investigation."
"Surely someone was responsible," pressed one.
"Who was that?"
"Unknown at this time," she replied.
She, however, already knew it was Weasley who
mainly caused it, but the internal central heating
system made it that much worse. However, she would
not have the House of Weasley pilloried for this if she
could at all help it.
"But, we're talking forty seven deaths, here!" said
another. "Surely a potions accident couldn't cause
that many deaths."
"Hard to believe, I know," she sighed. "However, that
is what our forensics have discovered."
It was fifty one deaths if you included the four house
elves.
"Why were they all there in that one place?" another
asked.
"From the set up of the room, they were in the middle
of a meeting," she replied. "The purpose of which, we
currently have no idea."
The doorstop ended a minute later with frustrated
journalists not getting the 'juicy' information they
wanted. They would, later that night.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
About half an hour after classes wound up for the day,
the four Heads of Houses all walked out of
Marchbanks's office and headed for those they
needed to see. As she didn't have any, Professor
Babbling 'helped' Professor Vector with whom she
needed to see. Only one of hers had already been sent
home; Cormac McLaggen, whose mother told
Marchbanks his father, Olaf McLaggen's, life stone
had been discovered to have gone out the previous
day.
Quite a few more students were sent home over the
next hour, well before dinner.
Each had been escorted to Marchbanks's office and
escorted home. Her office was simply not large
enough to allow all their close family members to
come to the school to collect them. So, the Heads of
Houses took them home.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Of course, the remaining students now already knew a
great deal more than some of what had happened.
Someone in Ravenclaw had remembered they had a
wizarding wireless and had taken it to their common
room for all those who weren't otherwise in class to
listen to it. The wireless reported Bones's doorstop
'live' on air.
It was clear that, whatever truly befell those who had
died, the aurors had found them all in the one place.
At dinner, Marchbanks again stood and gave pretty
much the same information as Bones had covered in
her doorstop. However, some of that information
many students thought they already knew from the
doorstop had been 'corrupted' during the many
retellings of it by those who had heard from someone
who had heard from someone who had listened to the
wireless at that time. Chinese Whispers at its finest.
She set them straight on all that.
"What it means is that, from this incident, all those
students who had lost a direct family member have
now already been all informed," she explained. "So,
you can settle down worrying that one of your family
members was among those who died."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Back in her office and now co-ordinating the
informing of the deceased's immediate family what
had befallen their loved ones, Bones sat at her desk
going over the list of forty seven names:
Finn Aldermaston, Dylan Ancrum, Cecile Ancrum
(wife, found upstairs in the ladies' sitting room), Philip
Bancroft, Jasper Belby, Conrad Bexley, Emmett
Bletchley, Byron Carmichael, Saxon Cowley, Alecto
Carrow, Amycus Carrow, Vindicus Crabbe, Elizabeth
Crabbe (wife, found upstairs in the ladies' sitting
room), Eugene Dallyhatch, Stewart Evercreech,
Francis Gibbon, Gregory Goyle Sr., Felix Harper,
Marjhorie Harper (wife), Miles Haworth, Hugh
Huntingdon, Belvedere Jugson, Grant Ledbury,
Violette Lebury (wife), Reuben Lofthouse, Timothy
McGruder, Thomas McGruder (son), Olaf McLaggen,
Cyril MacMillan, George Montague, Warren Morcott,
Tobias Mulciber, Cecily Mulciber (wife, found upstairs
in the ladies' sitting room), Caracticus Nott, Clarissa
Nott (wife, found upstairs in the ladies' sitting room),
Cassius Parkinson, Jonas Queensbury, Evan Rosier
Jr, Thorfinn Rowle, Jasper Selwyn, Tobin Travers,
Isaac Urquhart, Belladonna Urquhart (wife), Gabriel
Vaisey, Bennett Warrington, Ronald Weasley (found in
the basement) and Spencer Wilkes.
Looking through it she was unsurprised to see just
how many of them were known to have been
'Imperiused' Death Eaters. With the exception of those
either dead before this or in Azkaban, these included
the last of what she knew or seriously suspected to be
the Inner Circle. Another dozen were Ministry
employees. Two were her two, until then, recently
missing aurors.
On top of all that, almost twenty of them were either
sitting Members of the Wizengamot or their Heirs
Apparent. That was going to cause a major shift of the
paradigm in those seats. It was also why she
immediately informed the Chief Warlock after
informing the Minister.
The only clue she had as to why they were all meeting
on that Tuesday evening came from the parchment
sheets of a document that were found to have been
scattered about the body of Caracticus Nott, apart
from the rest and placed as if he was standing and
giving a speech. It was a copy of Sirius's Bill that had
been tabled for the first reading in the Wizengamot
that very day.
The Chief Warlock, with the full backing of the
Minister, had already called an emergency sitting of
the Wizengamot for the next Tuesday morning.
But worse, she believed, for her House was that three
of them were members of the Grand Alliance; one as
Head and two as Heirs Apparent. She'd already sent
notes off to Sirius and Frank with that news.
She knew Sirius would inform Harry via that
communications mirror of his, so did not bother to
send him one. Besides, she was still a little miffed
with the young man with how much work he'd recently
caused her.
Sitting back up straight from where she hadn't even
realised she'd sat back, she gave herself a scolding
and thought, 'Time to get back into it if I want to get
home before midnight.'
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Chapter 592
On Friday morning, Harry was surprised when Hedwig
flew in through the owl window in their apartment just
as he was serving Fleur her breakfast. She bore a
copy of the Daily Prophet.
That was something she only did when what she was
carrying she thought important enough Harry had to
have it right away. And those previous two times were
not a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Releasing her of her load with gentle pets and words
of endearment, he was quick to open the paper and
scan the headlines.
The leading story was certainly attention-grabbing.
~ # ~
DARK TUESDAY
We are all now aware that many of our fine and
upstanding citizens left to attend a meeting or other
business on Tuesday night and never returned to their
homes. We now have the details of what happened
and provide you that exclusive news, writes Samuel
Wordsworth.
The news is not pleasant, dear readers. Forty seven
witches and wizards left for a meeting on Tuesday
night and shall never return to the arms of their loved
ones. Many of them Heirs to important families. One of
them, the Heir Apparent of One of the Seven; Thorfinn
Rowle.
[...]
~ # ~
The article went into the details of what the DMLE now
knew, including the names of the bodies found at Nott
Manor the previous morning. There were, as reported,
forty seven of them. Of course, one was Ronald
Weasley; and three others were of wizards who knew
the inner secrets of the Alliance.
Looking to Fleur he said, "This is why we have an
emergency meeting of the Alliance tomorrow. Eugene
Dallyhatch, Philip Bancroft and Cyril MacMillan have
been yet again confirmed as among the dead."
"Alliance secrets," said Fleur, as they were joined by
Hermione.
"What's up?" she immediately asked.
Harry handed her the paper, knowing she'd read and
absorb the information a great deal faster than he
could tell her.
"Yeah," he replied to Fleur, as he did so. "We're going
to need to figure out what secrets the Alliance knew
that have now become knowledge outside the
Alliance.
"Assume it all 'as," said Fleur. "It is not as if you keep
anything from the junior members, non?"
Hermione had only just finished when Daphne walked
out of her room. She handed her the paper before she
could even say anything.
"Did you notice how Amelia said it was an accident
and yet the reporter said 'It is believed by some that
Dark forces were at work'?" she asked.
"Yep," he replied. "And I just bet those 'some' would
be the other reporters in his office."
After a quick Tempus and as she finished putting her
earrings in, Fleur said, "While this is all interesting, I
'ave to 'ead into work."
After a quick kiss and cuddle from Harry, a hug from
the other two ladies and the usual entreaties to stay
safe Fleur left via the floo.
"Hopefully, now that this mystery has been solved,"
said Hermione, "Things will settle back down here."
The others all knew that not even the assassination of
the Minister and the entire senior management of the
Ministry could or would sway Hermione from her
focus on her OWL year.
After reading the article and a few others, Daphne set
the paper aside on the coffee table and said, "Well,
shall we gather the others and move to the Great
Hall?"
Neither of the other two objected to that.
As they were about to walk out, Harry quickly scooped
the Prophet back up and carried it under his arm. He'd
hand it off to Neville as soon as they sat at table.
Besides, as a Friday he had no classes until fourth
period Ancient Runes.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once the Heirs had walked into the Great Hall and sat
at the Slytherin table, this time, Harry handed the
paper over to Neville. His girls, sitting either side as
usual, leaned into his shoulders to read the main
article with him.
Just as with the other Heirs, Justin was well-informed
on what had happened and what it meant for the
Alliance. "Anything in there on what this means for
the Wizengamot?" he asked.
Having already read it, Harry replied, "Nothing other
than the reporter writing he was wondering the same
thing; and that no one had a decent answer for him."
With a snort, Justin said, "By 'decent' he meant
'politically explosive', right?"
Harry grinned and replied, "I think you may be right.
"But," he continued, "I think it means most, if not all,
of the dark alliance are, for now, kaput. We'll be able
to get some important and much needed legislation
passed before they can rally and block it."
"Harry," scolded Hermione. "That's callous."
"And politically expedient," he added.
"He's right," said Daphne, coming to his defence. "It
would be foolishness in the extreme to not make use
of this opportunity while it's there for the taking."
"Exactly my thoughts," he nodded.
"I think we need to hear from Amelia what it is she
needs to see passed, legislative-wise, and see if we
can get it done," he explained. "And I also think this is
the opportunity we've been looking for to see the
Ancient House of Davis finally get that Noble
appellation affixed to the front of the title of the
House; the Noble and Ancient House of Davis. Plus,
we should add the House of Abbott to that, too."
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Chapter 593
Tracey and Hannah both beamed back in happiness.
"I've not properly checked," he explained. "But, I think
there might be a couple of Noble Houses that went
extinct on Tuesday night. I've not seen any reporter
identify that issue yet, either."
Neville quickly went through the triple list of names
with Susan and Hannah helping. He was muttering
names out loud.
"...Bexley? No... Carmichael? No... Gibbon! The Noble
and Ancient House of Gibbon is one... Huntingdon!
That's another... Mulciber! Definitely; the Noble and
Elder House of Mulciber is yet another... Sweet Merlin!
The Rowle Heir Apparent was one!"
Well, there's at least three," said Daphne, smoothly
cutting in. "We'll take some time, this afternoon after
class, to write the others down.
"Harry's right. It's definitely something we can use to
see both Davis and Abbott elevated to Noble status.
We should do that before anyone else figures it out
and tries the same thing with other Houses."
"I still think it's a little callous," muttered Hermione.
"No different to what happened after the previous war,
Hermione," said Tracey. "Where do you think many of
these Noble and Elder Houses came from? Most of
them are names of Houses put forward by so-called
'reformed' Death Eaters to be elevated. Merlin; all of
them are known Death Eater Houses.
"Harry's just recommending the Alliance get in first
and put forward Houses before the dark can rally and
get their own names put forward, just as they did the
last time there was a swag of Houses that went
extinct."
"We'll need to start writing down arguments for those
two to be elevated," said Daphne.
"Why?" asked Hannah. "You think the Alliance will be
against it?" It was clear she was a little hurt the
Alliance might not be for it.
"Peace, Hannah; and no," replied Daphne. "For the
Wizengamot."
"She's right," said Neville.
"And we'll need to see if we can come up with what
might be the arguments against it," said Harry. "The
Devil's Advocate stance."
"The what?" asked Hannah, confused.
"The Devil's Advocate stance," he repeated. "It's the
arguments that are believed might be used against the
arguments we put forward. If we can reasonably
assume what they will be in advance, we can then put
forth further opposing arguments to counter them."
"Oh," she said. "I get it."
Soon after the mail-bomb, Marchbanks again stood
and asked that if any student felt impacted by what
had befallen the forty seven who had lost their lives
on Tuesday night, they should speak with their Heads
of Houses in the first instance. They would be given
fair hearing.
"If necessary," she went on, "We shall contact your
families and see what can be done to aid you. At the
very least, you may wish to attend a funeral or two.
With the permission of and accompanied by your
guardians, this will be allowed."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After the others headed off to class - electives for the
Fifth years and Charms for CeeCee, which Harry
escorted her to - he returned to the apartment with the
mail he'd received in the mail-bomb and some of the
other material he'd received from Ted a few days ago.
One he was looking forward to was information
already coming in from 'eager' real estate agents
overseas.
Ted had suggested that Harry contract an
international estate agent to act as his buyer. An idea
Harry was happy to adopt. He'd just received the first
allotment of that.
One of the places the agent had selected for his
'reading pleasure' was for a house in the suburb of
Lesmurdie in Perth. It sat on the edge of the
escarpment ridge that 'bordered' the river plain of
Perth. It had an uninterrupted view across the
reasonably flat expanse to the City of Perth and, with
the proper equipment, you could also probably see
the suburb of Thornlie, where CeeCee's adopted
family lived. As the crow flies it was only a few miles
between the two points. However, it was about a
twenty to thirty minute drive due to the almost
labyrinthine route you would need to take.
The house was almost a small mansion for its size
and was on the market for just over a quarter million
Australian Dollars. At the current exchange rates that
put it well under eighty thousand galleons. Property
was clearly a great deal cheaper in Australia than it
was in England.
With all the accompanying photographs, together with
the recommendation of the agent, Harry felt he didn't
even need to see it. He noted down an order for Ted to
buy it on his behalf and set up up a permanent
portkey for it for him.
'Once it's acquired,' he wrote, 'Ward the crap out of it
while remembering it'll be a muggle (no-mag) home
and let Sirius know. He or you have my permission to
organise for the Wilkinses to have emergency
portkeys to it. Furnish it in 'Australian modern' and
put two fully-fuelled and licenced mid-range
Australian family sedans in the garage, just in case.'
His next was a property recommended in The
Hamptons in New York State in MaCUSA. He didn't like
it, thinking it too 'wooden' and 'Nineteenth Century'.
But felt the agent was on the right track.
He jotted down some recommendations, such as
'Think modern and large rooms', and set it aside.
There were no other real estate recommendations, yet.
However, he was assured others would come in.
The final place was the one in France. That one could
be and probably would be entirely a magical home.
For that one a magical real estate agent had lucked
out. As part of a deceased estate of the last remaining
member of a Venerated House, a small manor house -
or large chateau, really - had only just come onto the
market. Harry thought the price was a little too steep,
so he wrote down instructions to negotiate hard to
acquire it.
If the negotiations collapsed, so be it. He'd just hold
out for another, similar, home to come onto the market
at a later time. There was no rush. After all, there was
still over two and half years before he'd be done with
his NEWTs. Until he'd completed them about the
longest time he'd be able to live in the property until
then was about a month a year - more like two weeks.
It would actually be cheaper to rent and far easier to
stay in Delacour Manoir; as he knew Apolline would
practically demand, anyway.
Next was setting a couple of sheets of parchment up
with the headings; 'Arguments For Elevation of Davis',
'Arguments Against Elevation of Davis' and two more
the same for Abbott.
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Chapter 594
Once organised he began to write down on a scrap of
parchment his thoughts about all four.
After that day's classes and work for Fleur, the other
three added their own ideas.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Fleur had to be up early and into Gringotts, that
morning, even though it was a Saturday.
"Some people who 'ave inherited vaults 'ave been in
to 'ave the contents of those vaults cleaned, 'Arry,"
she explained. "Some items in them 'ave been
determined to 'ave curses on them. Bill's second in
command wants to make a start on inventorying all
that, today. I will be back before you leave for the
meeting, I promise."
"It's alright, Fleur," he said, trying to get her to
understand he wasn't upset, though it seemed she
thought he was. "I completely understand. Just... stay
safe."
"I will," she said, leaning forward to give him a kiss to
the cheek. "I am not yet skilled enough to even 'andle
the dangerous items yet, mon cher. Do not worry."
After she left, the others worked on their assignments
put off from during the school week due to the
ructions that had occurred.
By lunch, they'd got many of those out of the way and
were packing up when the Finch-Fletchleys knocked
on their door.
After being let in by Hermione, Justin asked, "Ready
for lunch?"
"Just packing up," replied Harry.
"Tracey's gone to alert Neville and his ladies," said the
other boy as he stood not far inside the doorway,
waiting.
That's when Harry noticed only CeeCee was with him.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After lunch and dressed in upmarket casual, as they'd
been for the whole day to that point, the Heirs headed
to the Headmistress's office to floo from there. They
could have flooed direct from the Potter apartment,
but again Harry had promised not to use the floo that
way and he was determined not to break trust.
Of course, they flooed directly to where it was being
held that day; the refurbished Black Townhouse.
Stepping out into the welcoming room at 'The Kennel',
Andi was quick with the escorting duties through to
the formal dining room. As Heir(ess) Primary, it was
now her role.
Walking in, Harry noticed what he thought was
temporary additions had been made to the wizard
space with the room now larger than when he was last
there. His expression must have reflected his surprise
because Andi immediately said, "Sirius has had all the
wizard spacing redone. He recognised a few rooms
would need to be made even bigger, just for this sort
of thing."
Harry nodded and said "Thank you."
As Andi returned to the welcoming room he went over
to talk to Frank.
"Bad news. A bad situation, all round," Frank
immediately said.
"Yeah," he returned. "Any ideas, yet, on just how
many Alliance secrets any of those three blabbed
about?" He knew he did not need to mention which
three he was talking about.
"We have to assume all of them," said Frank.
As Harry looked about he was looking for specific
individuals. Not seeing them, he asked, "Where's
Newton; and did Eliza come?" He saw Augustus
talking with Amelia. Ernie was also with them.
"Newton and Hypatia begged off," replied Frank.
"They're both in shock about what their boy did and,
of course, dying. However, both were well-prepared to
give magical vows they had no idea Philip was
involved with the dark.
"And Eliza came because Priscilla turned up at her
place and insisted. She's in with the ladies in Sirius's
office. She didn't want her sitting in that house on her
lonesome."
"Eugene Dallyhatch was a surprise," he muttered. "I
would have thought, of our members, both
Puvingsons were more likely."
"Indeed, for Eugene," said Frank. "But, Phineas lost
his wife to those bastards in the war twenty years ago.
I cannot ever see him wanting anything to do with
them."
"Ah!" said Harry. "I forgot about that."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As they were one of the last to arrive, the meeting
started in short order. Sirius, as host, of course
chaired the meeting.
Harry was worried his godfather was going to make
light of the situation. He didn't, though. Andi sat
behind and took minutes.
He asked, "As this is an emergency meeting of the
Alliance and not a regularly scheduled one, do I have
your approval to allow the minutes of the previous
meeting to be rescheduled for the next general
scheduled meeting?"
When there were no dissenters he immediately turned
to Amelia and asked her to report, as the one
requesting the emergency meeting, as to why she felt
it was needed.
Of course, there was no one there who didn't already
know, but procedures were procedures.
Bones gave a quick overview of what had happened
over the previous near-week, apologised there was
further information but was unable to relay what it was
as it was information relating to a still ongoing
investigation and the short term fall out from that.
"Questions for House Bones?" asked Sirius.
There were a couple of small ones, but nothing too
onerous.
Then he asked, "So, what do you need the Alliance to
help see happen, Amelia?"
Her response surprised Harry, but he knew it
shouldn't have.
"With this many Houses of Noble lines, all considered
dark, bereft of their Heads, this gives the Alliance a
golden opportunity to capitalise on that before the
dark alliances can regain their feet," she explained.
"We would be fools not to make hay while the sun
shines."
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Chapter 595
While her words were different, she'd expressed the
same views Harry had expressed only the previous
day with the Heirs.
Sirius wasn't surprised and just nodded. "Very well.
Obviously you've thought of some things we can do.
Let's hear them."
That led Amelia to going into a overview, almost in
verbal 'dot point', each of the things she thought she
could now get past a decimated Wizengamot.
Firstly, she wanted a Wizengamot-ordered increase to
the DMLE budget; and for that budget to be tied as a
minimal percentage to the entire Ministry budget. No
one was against that but she'd need to draft the
required legislation to get it done.
Secondly, just as Harry did, she believed they'd now
have the numbers, not only to get the House of Davis
elevated to Noble status, but also House Abbott. And
argued that there were four existing Noble Houses
that all went extinct on Tuesday evening - Harry and
the others thought there were five, but they'd
obviously missed an Heir in there somewhere.
Frank asked, "If there are four, do we have
recommendations for the other two?"
Harry immediately replied, "Do we know any Ancient
Houses, even though they're not members of the
Alliance, that would be considered of the Light? Or, at
least Light Grey? The only one I know of off the top of
my head is Lovegood."
Puvingson gave a snort and almost-snarked, "There's
far more than that."
"And I confess I don't know them," said Harry, not
fazed. "And, not knowing, I'll withhold opinion."
"Moving on," said Sirius. "Please think about it as the
meeting progresses and see if you can suggest
Houses by the end of the meeting."
Thirdly, Amelia believed Sirius's Bill should be pushed
through with all haste. No one disagreed, but
Puvingson did give another quiet harrumph of
annoyance.
Fourthly, she wanted existing laws to be gone through
with the intent to strip out those Statutes, or sections
of Statutes, that protected the 'wrong sort of people'.
Harry immediately thought of the one that protected
purebloods from the use of Veritaserum in trials, but
didn't say anything.
Fifthly, a law that would require all Ministry personnel
to give oaths to always support the lawful government
of the time, to never work contrary to the law, or be
required to resign from the Ministry and not able to
return unless willing to make such an oath.
There were others, but she was happy to table only
those five for now.
That led to a discussion on, as she put it, how to make
use of the opportunity presented to them and a few
leapt at it with both hands and their thoughts.
While the meeting was an 'emergency' session, it went
on for quite some time. No one wanted to stop until
they'd hashed out everything they could do to make
use of it.
Finally, Molly Fanwater piped up and asked, "What do
we do about the Houses of the three traitors to the
Alliance?"
Frank immediately said, "I say, nothing. As I told Harry
earlier, Both Newton and Hypatia were prepared to
offer vows they had no idea their son, Philip, was even
likely to do something like this; Eliza has lost her
husband, the last of the House of Dallyhatch - now, for
all purposes, extinct - and, furthermore, also
apparently had no idea her husband would do
something like this; and I know Augustus is both
devastated at the loss of his son and Heir Apparent
and horrified he'd turn on his family, let alone the
Alliance." And gave a nod in Augustus's direction,
acknowledging the man.
"This is something that individuals have done, with
the exception of Eugene even against their Houses,"
he continued. "Augustus is even talking about
Disowning Cyril, even in death, just from the shame of
it."
"We do nothing?" asked Hugh Shakedale. "After what
those three did?"
"They're dead," said Harry, a little firmly. "It would be
flogging a dead horse, expecting it to feel pain, when
it's its harness mates who will suffer for it. The sins of
the father should not unjustifiably be borne by the son
and vice versa. As such, I feel it would be unjust to
sanction the Houses of which they were members.
Therefore, I agree with Frank. We leave it be, except to
offer our commiserations to their families."
"Well said," said Griselda. "They're both right. They're
dead. Leave the dead be."
"However," said Harry. "I would have no hesitation to
act if the... perpetrator... still lived."
That was the end of it. All three Houses would remain
member Houses of the Alliance as a mark of respect
for the still living members of those Houses.
During that whole exchange, old Augustus sat almost
perfectly still in his seat as if frozen; the somewhat
masked expression on his face, the only sign of the
pain he felt. He never said a word, either way. He
barely said a word throughout the whole meeting.
Harry caught the swift look of gratitude directed his
way from Ernie MacMillan, though. On the death of his
father Ernie was now Heir Apparent and, therefore, sat
behind his grandfather.
After the meeting he learned that Ernie was now living
with his grandparents at their manor, as his mother
had passed away while he was still a small child and
only he and his father lived in a small 'holiday'
chateau near Blackpool until then.
The meeting went past dinner, even at Hogwarts. So,
on return to the castle, Harry quickly invited the other
Heirs to dinner in the Potter apartment. He'd called for
Dobby before they even left the Black Townhouse to
let him know he'd be doing that; and to expect their
return about half an hour hence.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Dinner around the again slightly stretched dining table
in the Potter apartment was spent with those who
were in the meeting telling those who were not what
was discussed and decided upon. Because she didn't
have opportunity for dinner either, Astoria was asked
to join them. She was relieved to reply in the
affirmative.
Those who were in were Harry, Neville, Justin, Fleur
(at the table and representing her father), Susan,
Astoria and CeeCee. Those not were Hermione,
Daphne, Hannah and Tracey. Ernie had yet to return to
school, so was not in on the dinner.
As an aside and feeling empathy for the boy, Susan
had promised him she'd collect copies of class notes
and assignments for him and forward them to him via
owl. She didn't know why she didn't mention HEED,
but wasn't bothered she didn't.
As it was a Sunday and there were no classes the next
day, the Heirs sat around discussing what a
momentous week they'd just gone through.
"Tuesday's Wizengamot meeting is also going to be a
big one," said Daphne. "Many will still be confused
and in shock or dealing with lost Heirs and other
loved ones, while others are going to be like sharks at
a feeding frenzy.
"That's what my father told me happened immediately
after Riddle was... vanquished. At least, this time, the
light are going to be better prepared than the dark."
When it ended up after curfew and both Astoria and
CeeCee were beginning to 'flag' from tiredness,
Daphne had Betsy elf-apparate Astoria direct to her
dorm room in Slytherin and Tracey took CeeCee back
to the Finch-Fletchley apartment.
When Tracey returned she said, "CeeCee was asleep
before I even closed her bedroom door."
Daphne immediately called Betsy and asked, "Did you
make sure Astoria was in bed before you left?"
"Oh, yes, Mistress," she replied. "Betsy had to change
her into her sleepwear, though."
Daphne smiled and said, "Thank you, Betsy. You've
done well."
When the little ladies' maid elf popped away she
turned to Harry, who'd been watching, and explained,
"Stori tends to go to sleep in her day clothes if she's
tired. She won't even take the time to change before
going to sleep."
He just nodded.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Thankfully, the Sunday was a lot less stressful. And
almost all the Heirs spent the entire day working on
assignments. It wasn't until then Harry learned
Neville's two had learned sometime in the past that
Harry had Dobby populate the bookshelves in the
Potter apartment with books relating to what they
were studying and demanded the same of Neville for
the office in their apartment. Tracey finally did the
same with books from Davis Estate in the FinchFletchley apartment.
Therefore, none of the Heirs had to go to the school
library to get books to complete their assignments.
They had what they needed on hand; and, if they
didn't, one of the other two apartments was likely to
have it.
Well before the day was over, all the Heirs had caught
up with their assignments ready to start a new school
week the next day. They'd even spent part of the
afternoon in the Room of Requirements in its 'gym'
configuration and engaged in a light workout.
OWL year was a very busy year. However, that was no
excuse to allow their hard earned fitness to lapse, the
previous half-week aside. The Heirs had continued
with their training upon their return to the castle. They
were, however, down to training almost entirely only
one day a week and on weekends.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 596
On the Monday afternoon, as the adults of the Alliance
couldn't communicate with any of the Heirs during
'class time', Harry had barely begun walking back to
the apartment with Hermione, Neville and his two
when his mirror vibrated.
Justin had bypassed to the Charms corridor to meet
up with Tracey and Daphne to escort them back to the
apartment. He and Harry would switch-about on who
would go and get them.
Answering it as he walked, Harry saw as Sirius
popped in on the 'screen' before he could say a word
and said, "You're walking; therefore, you're not back
at the apartment yet. Mirror me when you're back
there. Mirror off!"
Blinking in surprise as the mirror surface returned to
an ordinary mirror, Harry muttered, "Ohhh-kaaaay!"
"That was uncommonly abrupt," said Neville.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After the Potters entered their apartment Harry
immediately contacted Sirius and said, "Okay. We're
in the Potter apartment. What's going on?"
"We were right to strike while the wand-tip was lit,
Pup," said Sirius. "We're not the only ones to think
that.
"Ogden's been given notice by some of the dark
Houses to elevate some of theirs in place of the four
Noble Houses lost on Tuesday night. They're putting
up Flint, Stebbins, Higgs and Bole. With the exception
of Flint, an Ancient House, they're all Elders."
"I'm unsurprised," said Harry. "As Daphne said, that's
what they did in November 1981. But, Flint's a
surprise."
"As a Member, Fawley's the one actually pushing it
and Rowle's backing him," said Sirius "But, it's Flint's
gold that'll be paying for it."
Fawley and Thaddeus Rowle were two of the few
remaining dark Members of the Wizengamot who
weren't at that meeting. Bones suspected it was
because Fawley was over on the continent, having
gone straight there from the Wizengamot session due
to an unbreakable business meeting, not that he didn't
want to be there. However, while Fawley was an
Ancient House, it was also a somewhat poor one. And
Rowle just wouldn't have been bothered. The man,
though Lord of a dark House, was a complete mystery
and enigma. His son and Heir, Thorfinn Rowle, was a
'known' Death Eater and had been at the meeting.
It took Harry only a moment to figure out Flint's game
plan.
"Flint will be bribing as many of the Members as
possible to get at least his House elevated," said
Harry. "Fight fire with fire and counter it, gold for gold.
You have my permission to open the Potter vaults to
counter-bribe those same Members to have our
recommendations take precedence."
Sirius frowned a moment, looking ready to disagree,
before Harry could see acceptance in his eyes. "I don't
like it," he admitted, "But I think it's the right way to
go. However, I'll share the costs."
"Actually, let's be up front about this. I don't want you
to bribe Members for their votes; I want you to buy
their votes. Bribing is illegal, buying is not. Be upfront
about it and we come out with clean hands."
While Sirius gave a short barking laugh, Harry said, "I
think it'll only be temporary, anyway. I cannot see
those four we help not showing their... gratitude... for
us taking that financial hit on their behalf. They may
not be able to pay the financial debt, but that's neither
here nor there for me; and I don't care much about it,
even so."
Still chuckling, Sirius nodded and said, "I'll see if I can
find out who Flint's already bribed and'll bribe... sorry,
buy them back the other way. Plus, see what I can do
to br- buy others. Besides, I don't really think most of
them would want those four Houses on the 'Mot,
anyway."
Wondering, Harry asked, "Who were the other two
Houses that were decided upon by the Alliance,
anyway?"
"Diggory and Spinnet," his godfather immediately
replied. "A fifth was Hilliard, just in case. All
Ancients."
Surprised, Harry said, "I know of the first two. I've not
heard of Hilliard before."
"A somewhat Light House," said Sirius. "Light enough
for us, at any rate. How do you know the first two?"
"Diggory was last year's Head Boy and Hogwarts'
champion, remember? And there's an Alicia Spinnet in
Seventh Year, who currently plays chaser for the
Gryffindor Lions."
Sirius only nodded back and said, "Anyways; must be
off. I've got some bri- purchases to make."
"Wait a tic," Harry quickly cut in.
"Yes?"
"If we're going the vote-buying route; 'Go big or go
home', as I once heard someone say," he said. "If
we're going to counter-bribe Members to get our four
nominations for Noble status elevated ahead of the
dark, you may as well pay out gold to see the rest of
the recommendations we came up with passed."
Sirius looked a little surprised but replied, "Yeah; I can
see that. I'll see what I can do."
Harry immediately said, "Bon chance, Padfoot."
"Luck isn't necessary if you're prepared to throw gold
about." his godfather grinned before he signed off.
As soon as the connection closed and Harry carefully
lobbed the mirror onto the coffee table, Hermione
quietly said, "I don't think I'm comfortable with bribing
Members of the Wizengamot, Harry."
When he looked to her she was frowning. He was
about to explain why when Daphne beat him to it.
"There's that perfect world of yours again, Hermione,"
she said. "No, Harry's right. The meeting is tomorrow
and there's no time to counter the bribes already paid
without making counter-bribes. There's insufficient
time to convince those bribed to do the right thing and
not accept the offered gold.
"You might not like it, but it's the way things get done;
especially when you're out of time. Plus it's not as if
Harry, let alone Sirius, can't afford it. To Harry, it
barely puts a dent in the interest payments he
receives from his investments, let alone going
anywhere near the capital."
"It's still dishonest," Hermione mulishly muttered.
Neither Harry nor Daphne felt like getting into an
argument about it, so let it go. For one, though, Harry
didn't think it was dishonest; not if you were prepared
to be public about it. But he agreed it wasn't to the
intent of why the Wizengamot existed, either.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 597
With yet another 9.00am start for the Wizengamot
session, with only Harry of the Heirs attending this
time, it was prearranged the previous night he met
Headmistress Lady Marchbanks in her office at
8.15am. They were going early to meet the other
voting Members of the Alliance in Ogden's Chief
Warlock office before joining the other Members in the
Members' Antechamber to 'politick' votes - and hand
over 'payments', where necessary.
Walking into the Headmistress's office right on time,
she was clearly only waiting on him.
"Good morning, Lady Marchbanks," he merrily
chirped.
She chuckled a little and said, "And, good morning to
you, Lord Potter. Well met."
She indicated the floo and said, "Shall we?"
Harry gave a nod and walked over to the floo, reached
up and took a large pinch of floo powder.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Again escorting Marchbanks on his arm, Harry 'led'
the two straight through to Ogden's office.
Inside, he was just in time to see Frank hand
something over to Sirius. It was a set of small
mokeskin money pouches.
Ogden was sitting in his office chair with his hand
deliberately covering his eyes and loudly humming
some tune.
Harry couldn't help it; he snickered in amusement.
Marchbanks more openly softly cackled.
Snatching his hand away as Sirius dropped the
pouches into the left 'hip' pocket of his robes, Ogden
looked to his two latest guests and said, "Harry,
Griselda, nice of you to make it."
"And fair morning to you; oh great, wise and
wonderful Lord Chief Warlock most just," said Harry,
acting all poncy and dropping into a courtly bow.
Ogden grinned and said, "Stuff it, Potter. I'm not
falling for it, this time."
That had Sirius and Frank, at least, snickering while
Marchbanks again softly cackled.
The last time Harry made a similar production of his
greeting, Ogden retaliated with words that had
Marchbanks tag him with the Filthy Mouth charm.
"You'll not be using Griselda to pull a prank on me,"
Ogden sternly waggled a finger at him. However, his
eyes belied the mirth he was feeling.
Harry returned a look of pure innocence. It fooled no
one, as it earned him more snickering.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once all eight voting Members of the Alliance arrived
in the office, including MacMillan, they moved en
masse to the Members' Antechamber.
As soon as they did, the politicking started.
Harry only had a fair idea of just who Sirius had
managed to get to the previous night - and didn't learn
until after the meeting that Frank was 'assisting' with
contacting them - but it seemed to have been quite a
few.
Some of those Members, with clear greed in their
eyes, approached him with words along the lines of
'wondering if they might be able to assist with getting
certain motions passed'. In those cases, Harry
immediately redirected them to Sirius; or Frank, if
Sirius was busy.
One witch Member who Harry knew to be 'of the
Light', but independent, cast a filthy look at him. As
Harry passed by, he quietly said to her, "Needs must,
I'm sorry to say. Just... keep an eye on Lord Fawley
and you'll soon see why."
What he was watching for, though, was if Fawley was
able to determine what was going on. It took him a
while, but he did about twenty minutes before they
had to enter the Chamber. Then it was clear to see he
began to panic and was rapidly trying to speak to
many of those Frank and Sirius had already spoken
to, with small money pouches having already
surreptitiously changed hands.
With a few minutes to go, Fawley was fast
approaching the point it looked like he was going to
draw wand and start hexing. Harry was quick to warn
Bones of that, though it was unnecessary as she was
also watching and was just as quick to alert her
aurors to carefully watch the man. However, he either
figured out he was being watched, or had managed to
get his anger under control before he did something
he'd regret.
Pity. It likely would have made things just that little bit
more easier, if he hadn't.
Harry was surprised that Rowle hadn't turned up for it.
As One of the Seven, he really should have been there
even if his son was one of the dead.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
While the emergency meeting was called for the
purpose of 'officially' informing the Members of the
loss of fourteen of their own and the other thirty three
who lost their lives, it was to also announce that four
of those they lost were the last of Noble lines.
That had Fawley immediately stand and give a clearly
well-rehearsed speech that it 'behooved them to
immediately seek worthy Houses to replace their
numbers so that the leadership of our fair land is not
further compromised'. He then added to it with what
wasn't as well-rehearsed with entreaties, 'They simply
must be replaced with Houses of a similar political
bent', 'It would dishonour their sacrifice to chose
others who were not so' and 'I can easily see it would
utterly destabilise this Chamber to choose others',
etcetera.
Those last three were already foreseen and arguments
against them prepared. Sirius stood to make his
arguments, speaking about how many Houses were
replaced after the 'previous' war with other lesser
Houses and how those Houses were, as history
showed, 'not of the same political bent, as Lord
Fawley put it' and wondered 'how Lord Fawley could
use the word sacrifice, when they were struck down
by what evidence showed was a potions accident
while attending a meeting of "suspicious" intent',
among other points.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 598
Frank then stood to speak about how there were quite
a number of Ancient Houses that must have felt quite
slighted over Elder Houses being elevated before
them and how he'd 'recently confirmed he was right
concerning many of them' as 'he'd had discussions
with many of them and they voiced just that ire'. And
immediately named the Houses of Abbott, Davis,
Diggory and Spinnet for elevation, 'All four are
Ancient Houses and not those of lesser rank', before
anyone else could nominate Houses.
That led to a few others nominating a House or two
before Fawley demanded the opportunity to speak for
a second time. The other nominated Houses were all
Elder Houses, so the Alliance Members did not speak
about them, choosing instead to ignore them. But
Harry was surprised that one of them nominated was
the Elder House of Weasley.
Ogden, amused, allowed it. The arguments Fawley
had already put up had been neatly and completely
cast down as if Fiendfyre'd. And he clearly wanted to
see the man get utterly verbally beaten down even
more.
Fawley immediately nominated the four they already
knew he would: Flint, Stebbins, Higgs and Bole. Then
spoke to the work they'd done 'on behalf of our
wonderful and richly diverse society' and that
'Members should see them rightfully rewarded with
elevation to the Nobility'.
Harry thought he was stupid to nominate all four, as it
was already clear he'd not be getting the last three
through. If it was he, he'd have only nominated Flint;
hoping to at least get his backer's House through.
That was Harry's opening and Ogden was quick to
give him the floor. He spoke to his support of the
Ancient House of Abbott and its contributions to their,
'as Lord Fawley eloquently put it, wonderful and richly
diverse society'. Then moved on to the Ancient
Houses of Davis, Diggory and Spinnet. Each time he
made sure to name them with their full title, 'The
Ancient House of' with emphasis on the word
'Ancient'.
And finally asked if any Member, who had not already
given their views, could name just what contribution
the House of Flint, he didn't append 'Ancient' to the
name, had contributed to their society within the last
fifty years or so; let alone what the three lesser
Houses Fawley put forward had done.
He wound up with quickly and more succinctly
reiterating what Sirius had said about how many of
the Ancient Houses must have felt slandered or even
defamed, when lesser Houses were elevated ahead of
them. "A vote for the Ancient Houses of Abbott, Davis,
Diggory and Spinnet to be elevated would go a long
way towards rectifying what I see as a grave error
made in the early days of November of 1981." And
begged the current Members 'not to repeat that same
mistake'.
During his whole speech, Harry could see Fawley
staring back at him in loathing hate, but that he was
also terrified of something and concealing it quite
poorly. Harry thought he'd probably made certain
promises to Flint and could see that Flint wasn't going
to get what he clearly desperately wanted.
'Fawley's a Dead Man Walking, perhaps?' he thought.
When another tried to say how it was 'too soon' to 'go
choosing replacements when the previous Seat
holders were not yet even in the ground' that was shot
down by Amelia. She simply reminded Members that
they had precedence to do this, based on what
occurred only fourteen years ago. And asked why that
same Member who'd asked for them to delay did not
speak up so back then.
That Member, from a Dark House, kept their mouth
firmly shut and refused to answer.
Then she 'suggested' the matter had been spoken
upon long enough and voting should immediately be
held before they moved on to the next item of
business of the session; the 'properly recorded'
reason for the session.
Surprising Harry, they managed to get all four
through. As of that moment the Houses of Abbott,
Davis, Diggory and Spinnet were elevated with a title
change to 'The Noble and Ancient House of'.
The list Amelia made clear she had on her 'needs' list
for legislation was not made known at that meeting as
she could not raise it at an emergency meeting not for
that purpose. However, Harry knew she'd be making a
start on it at the December meeting in four weeks.
The Minister was then asked to give a report on the
state of the Ministry, since many of those 'lost' were
Ministry employees. Brunt spoke about what he'd
done in the short time he'd had and what he'd planned
to do going forward to ensure the Ministry remained
both operational and effective.
That brought the meeting to an end.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Back once again in Ogden's Chief Warlock office, the
Alliance 'Mot members again gathered.
Before even sitting down, Ogden - chuckling away as
he did so - had gone to his liquor cabinet, pulled out a
bottle of fire-whiskey and eight shot glasses and
brought them to his desk.
He was still trying to stifle his laughter so much he
was a poor hand at pouring those shots, but didn't
care.
As the glasses were being handed out - even Harry
got one - he asked, "Anyone know if Fawley has an
Heir?"
"He doesn't," said Sirius. "Why'd―" Then it dawned
on him. "You think Flint's going to kill him, don't you."
That had the others look back in surprise.
He shrugged and smirked. "Fawley did a pretty poor
job of masking the terror I think he was feeling as he
watched his promise to Flint shrivel up and die. As
one of the last remaining members of the Inner Circle
of Voldemort's little gang of thugs, who isn't already
dead or incarcerated, I think he knows what his short
term future is likely to be."
Bones gave a snort and said, "Well, lets not let Madam
Bones, Director of the DMLE, know that, shall we? As
he's a Member of the Wizengamot, she might then feel
obligated to offer the man protection." And smirked as
she sipped from her shot glass.
"Perish the thought," said Frank. And laughed.
Augustus quietly sighed and put down his empty shot
glass onto Ogden's desk. Then he muttered, "I need to
get home to Esther. She's worried, of late, when we're
apart for more than a few minutes."
As he rose the others all wished him the best. And he
let himself out.
"There goes a broken man," said Samuel.
No one disagreed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 599
As the session was a relatively short one, Harry was
back in plenty of time to get to the first half of his
double Transfiguration class.
Before he left the Headmistress's office, though, he
mentioned, "You might want to let Alicia Spinnet, a
Seventh year Gryffindor, know in private the sudden
surprise her House just got ennobled. "I'd hate to see
her pass out tomorrow morning at breakfast when it's
on the front page of the Daily Prophet."
Marchbanks cackled and said, "Then perhaps you
would be so kind as to ask her to come see me? With
what it has meant, of late, for students to be brought
to see me..." And left it hanging.
Harry nodded and said, "Say no more, I understand.
I'll see her at the start of lunch and let her know."
Marchbanks nodded and said, "That sounds a less
threatening method, thank you."
"As she is often joined at the hip by the Misses
Johnson and Bell, would it be alright for me to let her
know they can join her?"
Surprised at the idea, she replied, "That's a very
clever idea, too, Lord Potter. Do that, would you?"
"Yes, Ma'am," he replied with a smile back.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As he usually did after a Wizengamot session that had
him back at the school with time to attend class, Harry
hurried up to the apartment, changed, grabbed his
satchel and quickly headed down to the
Transfiguration classroom before quietly letting
himself in. Professor Biffingwater never had a
problem with him being late, as he knew why.
However, he had to sit in the back row so as not to
disturb the other students individually, or the class in
general. And, after trying it on a couple of occasions,
Hermione couldn't bring herself to sitting in the back
waiting for him so apologised and returned to sitting
in the from as usual. Neville sat with her.
She claimed sitting in the back made her too
uncomfortable. Besides, more than half the time he
wouldn't be back in time to sit in the class, anyway.
And Harry didn't have a problem with it, especially as
he also knew the girl would find it difficult not to
immediately hammer him with questions about the
session. She was doing better, but she still had her
moments. The results of an emergency session of the
Wizengamot, especially with so much riding on the
line, would have snapped her self-control; he knew.
She could wait the remaining hour out and ask then.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once the class was done, after gesturing for the two
to wait back Harry waited for Hermione and Neville to
join him as the rest of the class emptied out.
When the last few stragglers left, he told them what
had happened.
Even Neville was almost vibrating in excitement. Harry
could see he wanted to dash off, right then and there,
to see Hannah. However, he had the self-discipline to
remain polite.
"Excuse me, Harry, Hermione," he carefully said. "But,
I simply must go speak with Hannah. If you'll excuse
me?"
Harry grinned and said, "That's fine. Just stay―"
That was as far as he got before Neville was already
out the door and gone.
"Safe." And grinned at Hermione. "Do you think he'll
remember to tell Tracey?"
She giggled back and said, "Maybe we should go
make sure of that."
As he rose, chuckling in amusement while he slung
his satchel over his shoulder, he said, "Why not.
However, I need to see Alicia Spinnet on the way in
the door of the Great Hall. I have to let her know she
needs to go speak with Gr- I mean, the Headmistress. I
think 'Lady Marchbanks' would like the honour of
telling her."
Hermione nodded and said, "We can do that."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As he said he needed to, as they walked in the doors
of the Great Hall, Harry immediately turned his eyes
towards where he knew the 'Three Flying Foxes' usual
sat, seeing them straight away.
He turned to Hermione and said, "Please go join the
others. I'll let Alicia know before I come over."
Hermione gave a happy and amused smirk back
before she kissed him on the cheek and said, "Off you
go, then." And walked over to where the Heirs were
sitting at the Hufflepuff table.
Harry approached the three and caught Spinnet's
gaze. Once he did, he quietly leaned in and, with a
relaxed smile, said, "It's nothing bad, I assure you;
but, the Headmistress asked me to ask you to stop by
and see her before the end of lunch. She won't have a
problem with Angie or Katie or both joining you."
At first wary and then confused, she asked, "It's
nothing bad, is it?"
"No," he grinned. "It's shocking, but in a good way. It's
not for me to tell. She wanted the honour to tell you,
herself."
"Alright," she carefully said. "Thank you, Harry."
He gave a nod back and made his way over to the
'Puff table.
He knew he had a very excited 'interrogation' in his
very near future.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Chapter 600
Between mouthfuls of lunch, Harry gave the highlights
of the Wizengamot emergency session. He did not
need to tell either Hannah or Tracey the news, as
Neville had already covered it before he got there.
That was clear by how both looked so effably pleased
and relaxed.
However, they all wanted to know how difficult it was
to get through.
"It wasn't," he replied. "Because we were prepared
and knew what Fawley was going to try, Sirius, Frank
and I got in first. As Three of the Seven what we had
to say on the matter carried a lot of weight. All four of
our first choices were accepted and Flint, let alone the
others, barely warranted a mention from anyone, but
Fawley and someone else who was obviously
'prepped' to speak in favour of Flint and the others."
"Weight, indeed," muttered a smirking Daphne. To
Harry, she was obviously referring to the weight of the
little mokeskin bags of galleons.
"A couple of others put a few Houses forward... one
was Weasley... but our four got the vast majority of the
votes.
"It was easy to see that Fawley was terrified, though. I
think he believes Flint's probably going to kill him,
because he failed to get at least the Ancient House of
Flint ennobled."
Daphne, who'd been thinking, said, "Yeah... He might
be right. Flint the younger was a vindictive... pardon
me... bastard. And I heard his father is even worse.
Fawley doesn't have an Heir, I think, so there may be
yet another ennobled House about to go extinct."
Harry nodded and said, "That was our thoughts, too."
Harry had finally managed to eat enough for lunch
when he heard Spinnet let out a cry from near the
head table. "They did WHAT?!"
When he turned to look, he was just in time to see the
girl, standing with her two friends one either side of
her and before the head table in from of Marchbanks,
suddenly faint. Bell was quick enough to catch her
before she completely collapsed.
Harry, for one, snickered. Within the Hall, he wasn't
the only one.
After the shock of seeing Spinnet faint, Hermione
turned to him and frowned. "Harry," she firmly, but
softly, said. "That's not nice."
"Bloody funny, though," said Neville, also snickering.
Susan lightly whacked him on his upper arm, but was
also smiling at the time.
He said, "Sirius and Frank are going to approach the
now Lords Diggory and Spinnet to inform them both
of what happened and see if they're interested in
joining the Alliance. First in, first dressed; and all
that."
Daphne gave a firm nod and said, "Good. Though they
don't know it yet, both owe you big."
Hannah asked, "Did Auntie Amelia have any more
news about what actually happened on Tuesday
night?"
Harry was glad no one seemed to have read anything
more into Daphne's remark, other than he was part of
the Alliance that led to their nominations. He didn't
want anyone bar 'his' and those involved to know he
put gold into bribing the 'Mot to get their four
nominations accepted and successfully voted upon to
be elevated.
"She and her people have some theories," he replied.
"However, she was quick to add that that's all they
were... theories. However, she did not feel ready to
share them with anyone yet."
After hearing where people were found within the
manor, especially Weasley, Harry had his own theory
and thought he was right. He'd share it with his - and
only his - that night. He'd say nothing else to anyone
else about it until then, though.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
After classes ended for the day, Hermione subtly tried
to press for more information. However, Harry was
firm in his conviction not to expand or expound on
anything more related to the session until Fleur was
'home'. It was the same stance he gave from the
session only a week ago and the session last month.
When Fleur did arrive back, though, Harry delayed
even further. "Fleur needs to be brought up-to-date
with what you two already know, Hermione," he firmly
stated. "I'll add to that after dinner."
Though frustrated, she still apologised for what she
knew were her still-trying-to-be-corralled desires to
'know absolutely everything'.
After he passed on the information and checking the
time, he said, "Now. Tell us about your day. Anything
interesting happen you can share?"
She gave a firm nod and said, "The goblins knew of
the elevation of the four 'Ouses almost immediately. I
also took the time to write my papa about them and
'ad that sent off at lunch, so you do not need to worry
about it.
------------------------
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