Capítulo 1566: 28
Chapter 28: ChangesNotes:
Good morning everyone, here is the latest chapter for you. I'm very glad that you did like my approach for the trials, not too much lingering around and rather straight ahead.
Now we're starting to see what changes after damage control. Have fun reading!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In comparison to all the chaos with Damage Control and the trials, the following months were pretty unspectacular. Obviously, school was rather easy for Harry and Hermione, that's why they were continuously studying ahead in basically all fields, learning things that hadn't been taught at Hogwarts in decades or even centuries.
Things were rapidly changing, that was for sure. Thanks to some of Cuffe's articles, the muggleborn and halfblood wizards and witches started to publicly criticise the bigotry and systematic racism in the ministry and society. Under Minister Bones, many things started to change, it was now explicitly forbidden to hire and promote by blood status, and if a person thought that his or her rights were being violated, they could report that. Even within a few weeks, several cases came up and Amy's new "equality committee" reacted harshly, with fines and sanctions imposed on the guilty party.
With the "Potter alliance" as some called it (mainly Black, Bones, Longbottom, Greengrass, Weasley, Ogden, Marchbanks and Harry's houses) despite not yet being an official alliance, Amelia managed to order a review of all ministry workers, their performance and their qualifications. That led to the realisation that many people were in high-ranking positions despite for example no NEWTs and only three OWLs, but the right family name. People got demoted or promoted, more positions got created and within two months, the rate of muggleborn ministry workers rose from five to seventeen percent, which was even higher than their percentage in society, showing once again that overall they were better qualified.
Since the Prophet was owned by the ministry, Amelia created an independent committee with members of all factions to oversee it, so it would no longer print any propaganda.
Hogwarts was changing too. Bullying was being punished more severely, and that included some of the more extreme pranks by the Weasley twins. Minerva was working on implementing new classes with the beginning of the next year, as well as an update on the curriculum. The expectations were way too low and the muggle studies class for example was decades behind.
Once Severus was back from the hospital wing, he changed potions class too. Dumbledore was gone, he was way happier than before. First of all he changed the location of the classroom onto the ground floor, where they had natural lights and less humidity. An ideal potions lab should definitely not be cold, damp and dark. That's why the founders had put that classroom initially on the ground floor.
Why Dumbledore had changed that, he didn't know. Maybe it had even been Dippet, who knows. Way before his time.
Minerva even gave him the funds to implement standard wards and protections for potion labs, for example to protect against fumes or against things being thrown into other people's cauldrons. Potions would be a safer class as of now.
Over the summer holidays they'd try to get Binns exorcised and a Gringotts curse breaker had already assured them that the DADA post was free of the curse, so Remus would be able to stay.
Ronald, Seamus, McLaggen and co. tried some minor things a few times, but nothing successful. Not that it made Harry and Hermione's life easier, especially because there were enough Slytherins that hated them, many of their fathers got arrested following the testimonies in the Wizengamot. Puffs and Lions (at least those blind Dumbledore supporters) had their issues with them because Dumbledore was in prison, which made their days not much better.
A bit over half the students supported them though, especially Ravenclaw House. Because of that the two of them sat at their table quite often and had the most fascinating discussions. This time around, and mostly because of Padma, Luna had friends and was not being bullied for her unusual behaviour. It wasn't as if anyone would understand what she was talking about on occasion, but they at least listened.
So overall one could say that things were better than last time around, but Hermione still didn't trust that. They were heading into the unknown, maybe everything would get even worse at some point.
Luckily nothing like that happened until the end of the year. Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup, just very few points ahead of the Claws. Harry and Mione both got an Award for Special Services and the Lions held one hell of a party in the common room (even with non-lions, for example Daphne, Luna, Padma, Susan and Hannah).
Once the Mandrakes were fully grown, all the Basilisk's victims were unpetrified and the school year ended pretty calmly. Mione and Harry obviously got top scores in all exams, but Neville and Daphne (who by now were holding hands in public) were not so bad either. Ronald on the other hand nearly failed the year, but unfortunately only nearly.
Once they were on the train, Harry and Hermione began getting nervous, because they had no idea how the summer might be. Sirius and the Grangers hadn't met yet and even though Sirius had reassured them that they could stay together, switching between Potter Manor, Grimmauld Place and the Grangers, they were fearing that things wouldn't go as planned.
That fear though was completely unfounded.
Leaving the train, Harry and Hermione started looking for Sirius, since the Grangers couldn't enter the platform. After minutes of searching, they left nine-and-three-quarters, only to find Sirius, Remus, Dan and Emma standing around together and laughing. Apparently the werewolf had introduced them to each other and especially Dan and Sirius seemed to get along well, at least on first glance.
Carefully they sneaked up to the four adults, and once they were close enough, Harry addressed Remus.
"Moony? Hope the old mutt didn't cause any problems, I know his manners are occasionally lacking. Dan, Emma, good seeing you. Is it okay if I bring my new dog home?"
All but Sirius burst out laughing, they all knew about Padfoot, Harry's godfather though acted (overly dramatic, to be precise) as if that hurt him and said something along the lines of "my own godson, how can he be so cruel to me?" before hugging Harry. Afterwards it was Emma's turn, who reassured Harry, while hugging him, that if he could take good care, then it wouldn't be an issue.
On their way to a secluded spot for apparition, Sirius was still "pouting," they heard someone calling for them.
It was Amelia Bones, accompanied by Susan.
Sirius started grinning and walked towards the Head of the DMLE. Once he was standing opposite of her, they…started kissing. Harry, Hermione and Susan all turned away at once and Harry just groaned.
"So much for my hope of teaching him some manners over the summer. Amelia, I do hope you know how to handle old dogs."
Then he turned around to Hermione and acted as if he'd be whispering to her, but everyone could clearly hear it.
"Worst case scenario I'll just lock them up at Grimmauld Place. Kreacher prefers me over Sirius, shouldn't be an issue."
After Sirius and Amelia, who had apparently decided to resume dating about two months ago but hadn't told anyone, finally managed to stop kissing, they discussed their holiday plans for a while. At some point Susan would probably join them so Amelia and Sirius could either go on vacation at a Black property abroad or just spend some time at Grimmauld Place. Remus would assist Sirius in unlocking the floo for the Grangers so they too could drop by.
Once they were back at Potter Manor, both Harry and Hermione started settling in. On their way up to their rooms, which were next to each other, they talked about their plans for the holidays and about Sirius and Amy. Despite their stupid comments earlier they were happy for them, especially after Azkaban. Sirius deserved to have a good life.
And that thought did bring up another topic. Not in their conversation, but once Harry was emptying his trunk and putting on some comfy robes. He and Hermione. Didn't they now deserve some happiness too? They had briefly discussed the topic of dating and a relationship a few times, but it always ended with things like "we have too much on our plates now" or "that'd upset the timeline by a lot" or even "we should wait until everything is less stressful." Yes, it had always been a mutual decision, but now things were different.
He loved her, that was a certainty. And she loved him.
So…should he just ask her out during the summer? That might just be a good idea.
And rationally speaking Harry knew that nothing could go wrong, they were literally made for each other, soulmates in every sense of the word. But love was never rational. Just because he knew it, it didn't mean he KNEW it. He was still afraid.
But he would do it. He'd ask her out. Not today, but soon. Definitely before the end of the holidays, that much he promised himself.
Maybe he should write a letter to Neville about it, who was obviously better at the whole relationship thing than Harry. And that despite the fact that Harry had seven years more experience. Kind of funny if you think about it. Especially because last time around Nev was hardly more than a timid boy at this point in time, and now he was a proud lion and dating the "Ice Queen of Slytherin." Things were really changing.
With the thought of asking Mione out soon, he went downstairs. Dan and Sirius were chatting in one of the sitting rooms while Emma was preparing a big "welcome home" dinner with the elves.
For the Grangers things had changed too. Firstly on the day where Minerva McGonagall knocked on their door for the first time, but even more once they ran into Harry Potter at Diagon Alley. When Minerva said the boy was being abused they didn't hesitate for one second and offered to take him in until school started. They didn't care about the fact that he was emancipated and wealthy at some point then, he needed a family. And the fact that their little Hermione liked him, became his friend, made the decision pretty easy. They'd take care of Harry.
And because they could floo to his Manor at any time, or even stay there if they wanted to, they became - to a degree at least - part of the wizarding world. With Remus or Severus or Minerva being there quite regularly, things were never boring, and they never missed anything that happened in wizarding Britain.
Now, with Sirius Black being free, that part of the world they had access to just got bigger, and so did Harry's family. One of the first things Sirius said to them after being introduced by Remus was:
"Believe me, I won't take him from you. He'd hate me for it. From what Remus has told me, you became his family, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to change that, simply because I'm free and could care for him. I just want to become part of his family. So I hope we'll get along just fine."
And that they did. Sirius and Dan both had a bit of a joking nature (turns out Harry and Dan hadn't been the first to have sword fights in the corridors of Potter Manor, James and Sirius had done that in their youth too) and the two men cared about Harry, both trying to fill a role Harry had been deprived of all his life. Emma on the other hand was able to listen. Sirius had been through a lot and she was simply a person one could talk to, she had been ever since school.
Dinner was pretty nice, and even Minnie and Remus had joined them. They laughed a lot and shared stories, both from the past school year and their pasts. When the Marauders were explaining some of their best pranks, Minerva just shook her head. She hoped that neither Harry nor Hermione would end up doing such pranks, simply because they were even more brilliant and magically advanced. Chaos would be ensured.
Then one of the house elves informed Harry (and the others, as they were sitting together with him) that Severus had arrived via floo. Harry smiled. Then he got up and turned to Sirius.
"Padfoot! You come with me! Nope, Mione, Remus, don't even think about it, you stay here. Sirius, you've avoided him long enough, settle this. You're both my friends and I don't want to argue about past things."
Sirius nodded. He knew that he couldn't avoid Severus forever. And Harry liked the man, even Remus settled his disputes with him. Sirius was well aware of all the horrible things they had done to him, and if Severus was willing to forgive him and ask for forgiveness for his own sins, then they could peacefully coexist.
Severus' saw Black walking towards him, accompanied by Potter. He should have known it. He'd have to apologise. And so would Black.
"Good evening Severus. I take it you know what's on the agenda now? I'll be waiting for you two in the dining room, and please, I don't want the elves to clean up the scene of a murder."
With that he just left.
"Severus."
"Lord Black."
"Oh, come on, drop the act and call me by my first name. You've earned that right by being there for Harry when I couldn't."
"Which in turn was my fault, I take it you know everything?"
"The prophecy? Yes, I know. We drove you into the Dark Lord's arms, and I know it. I feel just as guilty. Besides, we both know that old Dumbles is the real guilty party."
Both men had known that this encounter would be unavoidable. Both were aware of their sins, and both asked for forgiveness. Because of that, the other forgave them. They were by all accounts no friends, but they agreed on at least maintaining a civil relationship - for Harry's sake.
Once the two of them entered the dining room together, Harry exclaimed something along the lines of "thank god you're both still alive" and some money was exchanged between him and Remus. The werewolf had apparently won a bet. Both Severus and Sirius just shook their heads and took a seat, Sirius between Harry and Remus, Severus next to Dan Granger.
The only other interesting thing was something only the adults saw, every single one of them. Dozens of times Harry chatted quietly with the bushy-haired girl sitting on his right side, blushing on occasions and more than once initiating small physical contact (a hand on her shoulder or something like that) with her.
And every single person save Harry and Hermione thought "finally."
The first week of the summer hols, Harry and Hermione spent quite some time looking through Grimmauld Place. Dan occasionally joined them when work wasn't too much and then they would sweep every room for interesting stuff with Sirius together - unless he was busy snogging Amy Bones.
In comparison to the previous timeline, the house was so much lighter and cleaner. Kreacher was doing his best to follow Harry's wishes, and in the end the whole building was a mixture between traditional pureblood and warm and modern. With a bit of runes they even managed to set up a home cinema, free of magical influences and with working muggle tech. That led to a bit of a culture shock (a quite enormous one to be precise), when Amy came to visit Sirius and brough Susan with her. And while they were close with Susan, she wasn't part of Harry and Hermione's inner circle, so it took them half a day to get completely comfortable with each other.
The Bones heiress was apparently quite adept when it came to cursed and jinxed objects (Amelia's specialty in her early auror days) and so they had quite a good time looking (definitely not touching) at some of those things Kreacher, Sirius and Remus put aside for further inspection. It was fun, without a doubt.
But what was even more fun was their little surprise for the evening. They led Susan, Amy and Sirius (the latter too having no idea what Harry and Hermione had done here) into their home cinema.
"Oh nice, that look's way more comfy than mom's sitting room. Good job you two. So, what is that all about now?"
"Just wait a bit, Padfoot, we're still waiting for some guests."
Those guests were, who would have guessed, Severus, Minerva, Filius and Remus, as well as the Granger parents. They had invited Neville and Daphne too, but apparently Nev was taking his girlfriend out for dinner.
Susan was pretty surprised that four of her teachers were just casually hanging out with Harry and Hermione, even addressing them by their first name. Soon Minerva saw the young girl's discomfort and confusion, exchanged brief words with her colleagues and walked up to her.
"Miss Bones, good to see you. I hope you're enjoying your holidays so far?"
"Oh, uhm…yes, Professor, I am."
Minerva all but laughed.
"Oh come on, we're away from school. We allow you to call us by our first names, if you give us the same privilege. Everyone here is doing it, if you'd keep being formal, that would be strange."
Susan hesitated, but then nodded. Minerva smiled at her, before being called away by Harry with a loud "Aunt Minnie?" The elderly lady just shook her head.
"That boy. If I wouldn't love him like family and if I wouldn't have been his grandmother's best friend, he'd end up with a heavy scolding, detentions and a stinging jinx. I do hope that Sirius, now that he's dating Amelia, won't be a bad influence on you. I don't need more mischievous students at Hogwarts."
Susan laughed out loud, and reassured Minerva that this wouldn't happen, before deciding that she could show her cheekier side.
"I have every intention at becoming prefect and Head Girl, Prof….Minerva, I don't think that being mischievous would help me with that. On the other hand, James Potter was Head Boy too."
She grinned at Minnie and without commenting that any further, walked up to Sirius to loudly discuss some of his better pranks. Susan was such a bold girl, the hat had nearly put her into Gryffindor.
After a while Harry asked everyone to take a seat and pay attention, before he then started to explain the concept of movies to the wizards and witches. This led to some confusion and anticipation, while Severus just grinned. He was familiar with movies, even had a tv at home. He was looking forward to whatever Harry had picked, because the sound system he had installed with them (advanced with some runes to sound even better) and the big screen were of a great quality and it certainly would be a nice exper…
He burst out laughing at the sight of the wizards and witches nearly jumping out of their seats once a very familiar tune started blasting out of the speakers and the big yellow writing appeared on the screen.
"A new hope! Seriously, Harry?"
To say that afterwards they were confused and stunned would be an understatement, and Harry, Mione and Severus tried their best at satisfying the others' curiosity. Filius even asked if they could do something like that at Hogwarts.
Movie night was obviously a full success then.
While life at Grimmauld Place was pretty fantastic, it wasn't at the Burrow. Arthur Weasley was a changed man, and without Molly things were a bit different. First of all, money was less a problem than before, without the potions Arthur was more efficient, working more hours and getting more done. Amelia actually considered him for a promotion. And now that he wore his Head of House ring, he wouldn't fall for potions again.
Without Molly secretly buying potion ingredients, they had way less expenses. Things were looking better for the Weasleys.
Bill was still in Britain, the goblins had offered him another post, this time in London instead of Egypt. Something along the lines of being a liaison for the Ministry of Magic. Less curse breaking, more politics, but now that he was wearing the heir ring, that was actually more appropriate.
Percy was spending a lot of time learning, the next year was his final year and he needed to finish with at least five NEWTs to be accepted for the prosecutor apprenticeship. Thanks to Amelia Bones he had even gotten an internship during the summer and was having a lot of fun. He could certainly see himself working there after school.
For the twins, not much changed, the only big difference was that now their mother wasn't constantly discouraging them when it came to their inventions.
Charlie had come home for the trial, but left again afterwards. His apprenticeship was still ongoing and so he hadn't been able to come back to Britain for a longer period of time.
Ginny was mostly at St. Mungo's these days, but her recovery was very slow-going and up until now not really anything had changed. It hurt the Weasley men to see her that way, angry and upset, confused and obsessed. They just had to wait and hope for the best.
For Ronald though things got worse. He had nearly failed the year and his hatred towards Harry and Hermione was not something Arthur could or would tolerate. Ron was grounded for the duration of the holidays, wasn't allowed to fly and had to study.
Ronald Weasley was angry. Thanks to damn Potter his mother was in prison - just because of those potions. His sister was the only one to deserve Potter, so they could get to his fortune. Dumbledore said Potter would die, so then they could spend all the money without worrying about the idiot. And now even worse, his father was different, stricter on him. He wasn't even allowed to play quidditch, he had to study.
But then Ronald grinned. He was by all means no stupid, just lazy. School had never mattered to him, because all he had planned for his life was get some of Potter's fame and fortune and then go play quidditch. Now though he would have to change. If he'd study and get better at magic, then one day he could get his revenge. For him it was a certainty that Dumbledore would get out of Azkaban and then he'd side with the true Leader of the Light. Main thing was that he didn't raise any suspicions. In secret he'd learn and get stronger.
Nathaniel Parkinson screamed as his Lord's Cruciatus curse hit him. Once again he had failed.
About two months ago he had finally found the spirit of the Dark Lord in Albania, but in a very weak state. He had expected something like that, his father had been one of those that had assisted Tom Riddle with his horcrux research at and after school, before he became Lord Voldemort. That's why he created some sort of an artificial body to possess, but that one was rotting away quickly and he had to renew it every three weeks. And since it needed a sacrifice of an adult wizard, they risked gaining attention. The Cruciatus was a punishment for failing to obtain a new wizard.
It would probably be the last one they needed, since he had made a plan for a more permanent body. His master wanted to use a potion with his father's bones, a servant's flesh and an enemy's blood, but on the basis of snake ingredients. And while that would probably work, it would create a body which looked not really human. With the current changes in politics and society in Britain, he thought that this wouldn't be a good idea. A normal, human face would scare off less potential followers. Besides, few people remember that face, since the Dark Lord had already used partial transfiguration to look scarier and snake-like during the first war.
They already had a plan to get all the ingredients, but first of all they needed the new body, this time strengthened by runes to last until they were back in Britain. And if they'd catch a wizard with his own wand, then his master could use the full potential of his victim's magical core, which would be useful for what they have planned.
Still shaking from his master's curse he made his way back towards the next magical settlement. Since two people (the others they had gotten somewhere else, before changing locations) had already gone missing here, they were extra careful, and his latest attempt surely wouldn't stay unnoticed.
Nathaniel waited for over an hour, but then he seemed to get lucky.
The magical village here was known for high-quality potion ingredients, and while people mostly ordered via mail, the occasional foreign traveller came by. Once the man came closer, Nathaniel nearly started laughing. He knew the man, having met him a few times at big political events in France. Maybe he could just walk up to him, they were far enough from the village to stay unseen. Just a small moment of surprise and recognition would be enough.
"Gabriel?"
The French wizard looked up, then he recognised the man. What he didn't remember fast enough was that he was a wanted fugitive.
"Nathaniel? Nathaniel Parkinson? What are you doing here in…?"
Hit by a stunning spell from Parkinson's disillusioned wand he collapsed. The Death Eater grinned. Gabriel Delacour was a strong wizard, and he'd be an ideal vessel for the Dark Lord until they could rebuild a proper body.
Notes:
So, that's it for this week. As always, I'm looking forward to reading your comments. See ya all next week
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