Chương 265: HPWW251-260
Chapter 251
Harry was just finishing writing the letter, drying it by blowing on it and folding it ready for Dobby to deliver it when he noticed Hermione was reading a book.
"I haven't seen you with a school text in your hand for a while, Hermione. What gives?" he asked.
She turned an almost evil smile on him and over- nonchalantly replied, "I found this inside the stack of documents for the House of Potter." And indicated the stack with one hand while closing the book and holding it closed with her other hand.
As Harry started to develop a sense of dread, he asked, "Ummm... What's the name of it?"
"'What a Young Wizard of Good Standing needs to Know'," she grinned.
"Oh... crap," he moaned, turning away and blushing.
"Something you want to tell me, Harry?" she sugary sweetly asked him.
"No," he quietly replied.
"Why do you have it?" she asked.
Mumbling, he replied, "Sirius gave it to me last night and said I had to read it. He said..."
"He said, what, Harry?" she pressed.
With a sigh, he muttered, "He said he thinks my education in... stuff... was lacking."
"Stuff?" she asked. "Harry. I want an honest answer, please. I'm your friend and... Hell... I'm your betrothed. Do you know where little witches and wizards come from?"
Shocked at the question, he snapped his head back around to look at her and stammered. "Y-yes! Of course!" Then blushed and turned away again.
"Alright," she slowly said. "Do you know how they're made?"
"I... think so," he mumbled.
"Ah," she said. "That explains the book, then."
He just shrugged.
"Is Sirius going to quiz you on what's in it?" she asked.
"Yes," he quietly muttered.
She thought for a long moment, nibbling her bottom lip, and said, "Then you really should read it, anyway. And, if you're uncomfortable talking to Sirius about what's in it... then you should come and talk to me...
as your betrothed."
He gave a short nod and mumbled, "Alright."
Satisfied, she said, "In that case, I'll set this aside for now. You should start reading it tonight before you go to sleep. And even when we take a break from all this." And gestured to the documents.
Then she deliberately picked the book up and placed it on the other side of the table. "There! We won't talk about it for now."
With a sigh of relief, it was a long moment before Harry gave his throat a bit of clear and called Dobby to deliver the letter to the Weasley twins.
"Same as before, Dobs," he stated. "Charm it so only the twins can read it."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry had forgotten that, because he was now 'homed' in Wimbledon rather than Scotland, Hedwig took nowhere near the time to fly between locations. This meant his letter to Ted actually arrived the previous evening. Which then gave Hedwig plenty of time to get back and deliver the Daily Prophet that morning.
Even so, Ted could only manage to start on Harry's requests that morning. And he got right to it.
First, he pulled out the laws regarding the connection of floo's in muggle homes. Then looked up what precisely was meant by a 'muggle home'.
With those pieces of law fresh in his mind he then sat back and tried to figure out a way to legally get the Granger residence connected to the floo network.
The main issue was that there was no way for an 'arriving' floo traveller to know whether or not an
'unauthorised muggle' was in the same room as the floo. Which would then be a breach of the Statute for Wizarding Secrecy, though an accidental one. So, the way to ensure that breach would not occur would be for the floo point to be somewhere an 'unauthorised muggle' could not be.
Secondly, there would need to be authorisation from a person in the Ministry with authority to grant it, followed by the application to the Floo Network Authority within the Department of Magical Transportation.
The big problem was the definition of 'muggle home'. If he could―
That's when he had it. He quickly pulled out the official Ministerial definition of why a home was determined to be a muggle home, even if a witch or wizard lived there.
Then pulled out the exemptions that applied to the
Noble Houses and the Most Ancient Seven.
Reading them all, his frown of concentration slowly changed into a smile.
'Sirius,' he thought. 'You're going to love this.'
Writing down what he needed in his notes he then sent an 'Express' letter to Sirius, 'Harry-style'. He summoned his house elf to take it and leave it in Sirius's spot at the dining table. He knew the man had a late night, the previous night, and would be late to rise, this morning.
That done he turned his attention to finding a way to have the young Lovegood and Weasley lasses receive mental health assistance without it pointing back to Harry.
He thought Harry's idea of a donation from an anonymous wealthy pureblood witch to be both simple in approach and brilliant, so decided to run
with it.
But, how to implement it would be his problem to solve.
"Alright," he muttered. "Paying in cash from a vault won't work. Harry wants to make sure both families can only spend the gold on the treatment. That means I have to pay for the treatment in advance.
"So, I need a qualified mind-healer, preferably with experience dealing with young female witches. I'll need to put them under contract. And such a contract needs to be written in such a way the anonymity will be maintained and with a Healer's Oath considered.
"Time to find out if a Mind-Healer's Oath differs from a normal Healer's Oath. If it does, I'll need the wording of it. Actually, I'll need it anyway, as I don't know if it will be the same as Andi's, even then."
Taking down his book on Healer's Oaths he flicked
through it looking for the ones that might be specific for Mind-Healer's. He, of course, had it 'on hand' because of what those Oaths meant when a Healer was a witness on the stand.
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Chapter 252
The twins were again in their room and working on prank potions - what else could they do with their time in the middle of winter when it was too cold to play or practice Quidditch? - when Dobby popped in with a letter for them.
First casting a detection charm of the twins' own design on the letter, Fred then accepted it.
"Letter from Harry, Fred," he declared, opening it as
Dobby popped away again.
"I thought that was obvious, my less intelligent brother," replied George. He was already coming around to read the letter side-by-side with his brother.
After reading the first couple of paragraphs both, together, said, "Oops!"
Getting roughly to the fifth, Fred said, "Well, my even less intelligent brother, Lord Harrikins is now 'hands off'. Agreed?"
"Agreed," his brother immediately replied.
After reading about the betrothal and that Hermione was now a magical ward of Lord Sirius Black, George gave a low, quiet whistle and said, "And so's Hermione."
"Agreed," said an equally surprised Fred. "This is going to shock the rest of the family."
"Ginny, for a start, is going to be gutted," said George
As they read down George suddenly exclaimed, "Sweet Merlin!"
"Harry woke the Longbottoms!" exclaimed Fred.
Both looked to the other and said together, "Harry Potter is a god!"
When they turned back to the letter, it took them a little while to read through about the stripping of the Statute and why.
"So that's why," said George.
"Yep," said his brother. "Shall we take this down to the kitchen to read?"
"Of course!" said Fred. "I'm sure the family will love to hear Harry's good news!"
"Except Ginny," added George.
"And possibly Ron," added Fred right back.
"Ah, yes!" sighed George. "His infatuation with the lovely Miss Hermione."
"But we still read it?" asked Fred.
"Of course!" said George.
Again knocking on doors - though, due to it being a weekday they only needed to knock on Ron and Ginny's - the twins first charged up the stairs before charging down again. This time, all the way to the base of them.
Walking into the kitchen, the twins plonked themselves down at the table and, with Fred holding up the letter, both said, "Letter from Harry!"
Spinning from doing whatever she was doing at the kitchen counter, Molly asked, "Really?"
As soon as she saw the letter in her son's hands, she immediately began wiping her hands.
"I wouldn't bother, Mum," said Fred.
"Harry'll have just put privacy charms on it again," said George.
Molly immediately stopped and sighed. "Read it to me," she demanded.
The twins glanced at one another before Fred said, "Are you asking us to read it to you?"
"It's a letter to me and George," said George.
"Maybe we don't want to read you our private correspondence," said Fred.
"Don't be disobedient!" she snapped, starting to get angry.
"Don't be rude!" both twins snapped back.
That shocked their mother into silence.
By then, both Ginny and Ron had joined them.
"What's going on?" asked Ginny, before Ron had a chance.
"Fred and I have received another letter from Harry," replied George.
"And Mum tried to demand we read it to her," added Fred. "Now, we will."
"Because we planned to, anyway," said George. "And not because Mum tried to demand we do."
"And now that everyone's who's at home is here..."
"We shall begin." they both said.
Same as last time, the twins took turns reading the letter, a paragraph each.
After the first paragraph, before George passed to Fred, Ginny exclaimed, "Dumbledore tried to kidnap Harry?"
As Ron blurted in anger, "Harry's at Hermione's??" Dong!
"RON!" his mother screeched.
Ron immediately winced and, a moment later... Ding!
Everyone relaxed again. And Fred took up.
Back to George and he and Fred exchanged a glance. They skipped the next three paragraphs.
As soon as the first two lines of where they next took up in the letter were read, Ginny exclaimed "Noooo!" And immediately burst into tears as Ron exploded with rage and exclaimed, "NO!―"
Dong!
"I won't have it!" he ranted, surging to his feet. "Hermione's mine! I planned to ask her to go out with me as soon as we got back to Hogwarts! Bloody Potter! BASTARD! I'm gonna kill him!―"
DONG!
"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!" screeched his mother. She quickly ran around the table and laid a huge smack across his face.
"STOP IT!" she screamed, red in the face.
"Look at the clock!" exclaimed Ginny, who had now stopped, frozen in place. With tears prickling her eyes she looked horrified, staring at the clock face.
That had everyone, including Ron, looking at it. Seeing it, Ron near wet himself, right there.
His hand was pointing to 'Mortal Peril'.
Getting herself back under control, Molly hissed, "Ronald Weasley! Go to the shed... right now... and stay there until your father comes for you."
As she said that, his hand moved back to 'In Danger'. Dong!
He stared at his mother in shock until she yelled, "NOW!"
He quickly ran out the back door.
With him gone, the room settled again. Ginny, still sniffling with tears, suddenly ran back upstairs to her room.
George and Fred glanced to one another and sat again.
Fred said, "I think we better finish reading this when everyone else gets home."
"No," his mother sighed. "I want to know what else he has to say."
"Mother," said George, all serious. "If you want us to keep reading our private letter from Harry to us to you..."
"You're going to need to politely ask," added Fred.
Almost instantly getting angry again, Molly managed to control it and release it again with a sigh.
"Please read it to me," she said in a more normal voice. "I'd like to know what else he has to say."
Both twins nodded and George took up again where he'd left off when their two siblings jumped up.
When George read the paragraph about coming after anyone applying potions, Molly winced. The threat of what would happen if anyone tried was also not lost on the woman.
When it got down to what happened at the Wizengamot, she again winced.
When Fred started with listing the four enchanted muggle artefacts Harry had mentioned, Molly was shocked. 'The Hogwarts Express? The Knight Bus? The others? Why did Arthur not think of those? Shouldn't he have acted?' she thought. 'I'll have to ask him when he gets home.'
She could see exactly why Harry had chosen those artefacts and now understood better why the Statute had been revoked.
When George, this time, started listing the items on the persons of Bones, Dumbledore and Marchbanks, she sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. 'Oh, Arthur,' she thought.
But, when Fred read about how Harry knew Arthur's job might have been in trouble and had immediately acted to ensure it wasn't, she was very relieved.
Fred finished with, "Oh, and my betrothed, Hermione, says, 'Hi!'"
Both then said, "Harry"
Fred folded the letter back up and slipped it into an inside pocket of his robes.
"Sorry, Mum," said Fred. "We knew Ron and Ginny
might get a little upset..."
"But, we didn't think Ron would act like that!" said George.
"Better he act like that here," said Molly. "Than he act like that in front of Lord Potter or his Lady Presumptive, Hermione.
"At least, here, we have some hope of him getting it under control before they meet again."
She seemed to remember where she was and who she said that to before she seemed to shake it off and glare at the twins.
"Not a word of that to anyone!" she snapped. "And how is young Harry getting mail through to you, anyway? All mail is supposed to come to me!"
"All owl mail, Mum," said Fred.
"Harry doesn't use an owl to send mail to us," said George.
With that, the twins rose and headed back upstairs.
Back in their room, Fred asked, "Do you think we should write to Harry and let him know about Ron and Ginny?"
George shook his head and replied, "That part about potions? I think it was directed to both of them."
"And Mum," added Fred. "You didn't see her wince when that was mentioned."
"Quite."
"So, we write to Harry... and Hermione?" asked Fred.
"Not yet," said George. "We may be seeing only what we think we're seeing."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
When Sirius flooed Ted's office and said he'd read the note, Ted invited him straight through.
"So?" asked Ted. "What do you think?"
"It's one way to get around the legislation," grinned Sirius.
Ted nodded and said, "Will the Grangers agree, though?"
Sirius shrugged and replied, "We can only put it to them."
"It also depends on where a floo can be put in their house," said Ted. "Do you know if they have any fireplaces? I thought their home was central-heated."
"One can easily be created," said Sirius.
Ted nodded and said, "Then we'd best go over there to see if there are any suitable locations before I take this to the Ministry."
"You want to do this right under the noses of the aurors?" asked a surprised Sirius.
Ted shook his head and said, "I just want to see if there's a suitable location, first."
"Fair enough," said Sirius.
"Then you're going to do it right under the noses of the aurors. I'm just putting the parchmentwork through."
He laughed at Sirius's shocked expression. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------- Chapter 253
It was the sudden quick movement of the aurors that alerted the two teens to them having magical visitors.
Less than thirty seconds later, Ted and Sirius came into the dinette.
As soon as Ted saw the two of them working through the finance documents of the House of Potter, he smiled. "I see why you think I'm trying to bury you under parchmentwork, Lord Potter. You don't have to go through all this right now, you know."
"I just want to get it out of the way," replied Harry. "The more I get done now, the less I have to worry about needing time to get it all done later."
"Not that we mind," said Hermione, rising to give both
men a hug. "But, what brings you here, today?"
"We're looking for a suitable location to install a fireplace," smiled Ted.
Confused, Hermione asked, "A fireplace?"
"A fireplace for a floo point, Hermione," said Sirius. "If we go ahead with getting you two private tutors instead of returning to Hogwarts, we thought it would be a good idea. If you have private tutors off-site, I expect you'd want to regularly come home."
"Are my parents allowed?" she asked.
"No, but Lord Black is," replied Ted. "And, as you are his ward and he may need you to visit him so he can keep an eye on you, the only form of travel available to you is via floo, portkey or Knight Bus. You are not permitted to apparate until you are of age, have met the testing requirements and have a licence; the Knight Bus is a security risk; portkeys can only be
made by certain people under licence from the Portkey Office; leaving only the floo, which is both secure and relatively risk-free."
"But, this is still a muggle home," said Hermione. "It was one of the first things I looked up when I found out about floo travel―"
When she saw the twin smiles from the two adults she stopped.
"And while this is a muggle home, you can't have the floo installed," smiled Ted. "So, what's the answer?"
Harry gave a snort and looked to his betrothed. "Hermione," he said, getting her attention. "If what's stopping this home getting a floo connection is that it's a muggle home, thennnn...?"
"Make it a wizarding home?" she asked. "But, how?" "Simple, dear," said a now grinning Sirius. "I, or
another qualified wizard or witch, simply has to own part of it."
"With Sirius owning part of it, that part becomes a wizarding home," added Ted.
Hermione looked shocked and started to nibble her bottom lip as she went through all the permutations she could think of. "I... don't know if Daddy will like that. Which part are you thinking of?"
"A part that's not been built yet," replied Sirius. "We can either build an extension to the side of the house, or a separate construction in the backyard. Actually, that second one is probably the better option. More secure, that way."
"How big would it have to be?" she asked.
"Not very," replied Ted. "A telephone box would be big enough with space expansion charms employed. Does your dad have an outside tool shed, garage,
workshop, whatever?"
"Yeah, a brick shed; but, he never uses it," she replied. Suddenly her eyes widened, "You can use that!"
"No one else goes in there?" asked Ted.
"No," she replied. "Actually, I don't think anyone's gone in there for... well... years."
"Then we won't even need to build anything new," said Sirius. "As long as it's big enough to put in a large enough fireplace, it'll do 'as is'."
"Is it locked?" asked Harry.
"Ummm..." she muttered as she thought. She then gave a firm nod and said, "If I remember correctly, it is and the key is hanging on a hook next to the back door."
Enthusiastic for the idea, Sirius said, "Then, let's go check it out."
It turned out the key was hanging where Hermione thought it would be, but the lock had rusted to the point the key would no longer fit.
Sirius was about to blast it off when Harry blocked him. He then cast a Reparo at the lock; and the key then fit.
Once inside and, aside from the evidence of the rusty lock showing disuse, it was clear the building wasn't in use because there was nothing of any real value within. Only lots of spiderwebs and a real musty scent filled and permeated the room.
"This will be perfect!" said an excited Sirius. "I think your father will be happy to sell me this building when I offer him a suitable price for it."
_ ̳_
―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Back up in the dinette, the four of them sat around the table as Ted began to explain what he had to do.
Ted explained, "Once Wendell signs over ownership of the 'shed' to Lord Black, Lord Black will need to come here and install a permanent fireplace. Then, once the fireplace is installed, I can submit the parchmentwork to have it connected to the floo network under Lord Black's name."
Hermione asked, "If it's that easy to get around the law, why haven't more people done this?"
Harry grinned and replied, "Because, they're... what?"
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Chapter 254
Hermione sighed and muttered, "Daft morons."
Harry grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Now you're getting it."
Ted then cut in and said, "On to other matters you have me researching, while I'm here."
That had everyone, especially Harry, focus on him.
"I believe I have an idea to carry out what you requested of me regarding aid for the young Misses, Luna Lovegood and Ginevra Weasley," he began. "I'll be contracting a Mind-Healer and placing them on retainer under a pseudonym account. That Mind- Healer will be charged with contacting both Xenophilius Lovegood, your Miss Lovegood's father, and Arthur Weasley, Miss Weasley's father.
"From there, he or she will work directly with both
young ladies. And, because it is improper to receive information of just what they talk about, I will only be requesting information that will not breach Healer- client confidentiality; such as if both fathers accept the offer, the young ladies co-operate and treatment is progressing. And then to let me know when treatments end and why.
"That will be information proper to determining payment, not matters breaching privacy."
Harry nodded back, knowing Ted still had more.
"Second, the important one," said Ted, as expected. "The Tri-Wizard Tournament."
He then sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Lord Potter, I have no way to determine whether or not you're actually bound by the Goblet. I have no way to determine if anyone is bound by the Goblet. The magics involved are beyond the knowledge of anyone, anywhere, that I can call upon.
"I can, however, tell you that you're not legally bound by the actual contract. From what I can tell, none of the competitors are. And that's because none of the competitors, including you, were given copies of the contract within twenty four hours of 'signing' it, as required by magical law."
"Damn!" said Sirius. "But, how does that work?"
"They're bound to the contract by the Goblet," explained Ted. "However, that binding is not legal. As such, any... for instance... disclaimers included in the contract that protects the Ministry from being sued if the competitors or spectators are injured is void. That, for a start, I can easily successfully argue."
Harry was thinking hard about it and asked, "Does the contract state what the Tasks will be?"
"Yes," replied Ted. "The First, you already know about. It was to be held on the twenty fourth of
November and was to be collecting a false egg out of the nest of a nesting mother dragon.
"The second is to be held on the twenty fourth of February and requires the champions to rescue a hostage out of the Black Lake―"
Harry wasn't the only one to react to that information, just the fastest. He surged to his feet and barked, "Like, Hell!"
As everyone got upset, Ted just held his hands in a placating gesture. "Take it easy," he softly said. "No hexing the messenger."
As everyone else settled Harry almost snarled, "What has it said regarding who are to be the hostages?"
"It doesn't say, specifically," replied Ted. "It says it is to be something the competitor would miss the most."
Both Harry and Sirius growled as Hermione gasped in
shock.
"If anyone comes anywhere near Hermione―" started Harry.
"It will be Alliance-wide blood feuds." finished Sirius.
Ted nodded and said, "I suspected as much. That's why I'll be going in to see our good friend, Ludo Bagman, and informing him that if anyone is taken as a hostage without written and signed consent of their guardians I'll be standing ready to aid them in pressing charges of kidnapping, at minimum, against all those involved. And also stand ready in aiding them in seeking financial restitution against each individual organiser in any way involved."
Sirius declared, "And tell him my threat still stands and goes double for any hostage. Especially, if they plan on attempting to use Miss Hermione Granger, my magical ward and Lord Potter's betrothed. The organisers do not have my permission to use her as a
hostage."
"That I can do," nodded Ted.
Moving on, he said, "The Third Task is a maze that will be filled with puzzles, traps and dangerous creatures. The Tri-Wizard Cup will be left somewhere within the maze and the first to grab it will be declared the winner."
"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," said Sirius. "But, it's going to be creatures dangerous to seventh years, so it's still going to be bad enough."
"Then I'm just going to have to do like I did in the first task," said Harry. "Prove the organisers to be daft morons."
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Chapter 255
During her time within the castle Marchbanks had not been idle. Yes, she'd had to find and elevate replacements to the places of three Heads of House and continually have to deal with an old man who simply could not accept he was now a non-entity in matters of importance, but that was not all she was dealing with.
Of course, she needed to get a wand grip on the sheer amount of parchmentwork that Dumbledore had simply ignored or, against the school rules, passed on to his Deputy. However, she also spent a great deal of time getting the word out to qualified people she was looking for professors.
In the past almost three weeks since she became Headmistress she had sent her letters to the International Guilds of Transfiguration, Potions, Magizoology (magical creatures), Magical Defence and
Divination; and the International Magical Historical Society.
However, one of the reasons the School Board were so willing and eager to have her as Headmistress to replace Dumbledore was because, as both a past Professor of many years and Head of the WEA since, she knew a very great many professional educators and those seeking a start in that field. She was both delighted and determined to put that knowledge to use. So, she put out feelers towards those she already knew had shown an interest in the past to become Professors.
She also planned on moving Burbage from Muggle Studies and into two classes. One on An Introduction to the Magical World and the other being An Introduction to the Muggle World. The first would be for the first two years and the second would be for first year only. And she would fill the Professorship for Muggle Studies with a muggleborn and raised.
She had already interviewed a few people who were quick to respond to her enquiries and felt she might be able to fill at least one or two of those positions still vacant. Driving her on was Bart Creston and the rest of the School Board, who wanted to put out word the school would be back up and operational as of the first day of second term, the fourth of January.
When she informed him she doubted she'd have the full staff available, he said, "Then, so long as you have at least six of the core seven and four of the elective five I want you to open. Parents and guardians have paid for their children to receive an education provided by Hogwarts. If we do not provide it we're going to have to start paying refunds and we just don't have the gold in the accounts to do that."
She now had two days short of two weeks to track down, interview and employ suitable candidates. And one of them was a Professor of Transfiguration. If necessary, she'd simply make Dumbledore a Professor without a 'school' and have him fill in if any
other Professor was unable to take a class. She just might even have him take the Introduction classes. That was, of course, if she hadn't collected enough support from the Board to fire him beforehand.
Across that two weeks, there was also Christmas to contend with.
The next morning's announcement in the Daily Prophet of the cancellation of the Yule Ball was planned to be in advance by exactly one week of Christmas Day, the date the Yule Ball was scheduled to be held.
She knew there was likely to be quite a few students who were looking forward to it; however, with the significant reduction in student numbers well in advance of it, coupled with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons being happy for it to be cancelled, there was no reason for it to be held.
The Highmaster of Durmstrang and Headmistress of
Beauxbatons had not wanted the Ball in the first place, so Marchbanks's excuse she lacked enough Professors to properly organise and host the event was welcomed without a hint of rancour.
She also knew it was going to frustrate Dumbledore.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
After leaving the Granger residence, Sirius had to head directly to Grimmauld to meet with the representatives for the contracted curse breaking, magical cleaning and interior decorating company.
Apparating from just inside the front gate of the Grangers' he appeared with a light crack outside Grimmauld. The reps were already waiting for him on the footpath outside the gate.
"Good," he said. "You're here. Shall we?" And
gestured to the building.
After affirmative responses from both, leading the way he walked up the path to the front door, removed the lock-down and led them inside.
"Alright," said the woman. "Let's go find out just how bad things are."
Following along but not saying much, the two reps, a witch and wizard, worked their way from the basement up to the top floor and attic. Both were casting detection charms and the like before they'd even walked in the front door; and didn't stop once inside.
He only had to warn them twice about certain pitfalls as they were able to spot all the others.
As they were coming down, the witch asked, "Outside, too?"
"Yes, please," he immediately replied.
Then, after trooping about out the back, they headed back out the front.
Once they felt they were done, the representatives turned to Sirius and the witch said, "We'll have a report and appraisement quote sent to you no later than this evening, which means you should receiv3e it tomorrow morning."
"How soon could you start?" asked Sirius.
"At the moment?" asked the witch. "If another appraisement quote is not accepted, even though it's a Friday, we can start as early as tomorrow afternoon."
"Cast it for me with your best guesstimate. How much and how long will it take?" he urged.
After the two reps looked to one another for a moment, the witch turned back and said, "Give us a
few moments, please."
When Sirius nodded he saw the wizard make a very small gesture and felt a privacy ward go up between he and them. Then saw them talking but couldn't hear them.
Less than a minute later the ward was dropped and she said, "Cost-wise, somewhere between eighteen and twenty thousand galleons for the clean out and another two to three thousand for the refurbishing and decorating. It'll likely take us one and a half to two months, in total."
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Chapter 256
Sirius gave a firm nod and said, "Tighten those
figures up, as I'll guess you'll be doing this afternoon, and it's very likely I'll accept the appraisement and order you to go ahead as soon as possible."
"Will do, Lord Black," said the witch.
As the two apparated away, Sirius went back and put the place back under lock-down, before then apparating away himself.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Almost four weeks had passed since the events of Harry Potter's first task had generated one hell of a 'storm' in wizarding Britain. And Tom Marvolo Riddle was left with only the information he could gather from stolen copies of the Daily Prophet and the pitiful information gathering efforts of his now single minion, Peter Pettigrew.
Since a few days after the end of the trials, the information gathered from the Daily Prophet had dwindled to almost nothing. There was that day where Dumbledore had tried to besmirch the reputation of young Potter in the newspaper, followed the next day by the Prophet having to print a major retraction for that besmirching, but little since. It was clear that Potter had now employed a law-wizard or -witch of some skill and was making positive use of that man or woman. And little of any news of substance was now appearing. Even the wizarding wireless was bereft of any useful information.
Tossing aside yet another edition of the paper that utterly lacked any information of substance, Riddle had realised he now had little choice but to take a risk; a calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless. He would need to call to his side one of his marked Death Eaters who had managed to escape incarceration. But, which one?
He thought long and hard about who needed to be
approached. Eventually, he dwindled the list down to a single name. Someone who could move through the Ministry at will and could still report back with gathered intelligence.
"Wormtail!" he yelled. The sound was a high-pitched, breezy voice.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
After Sirius had left, soon followed by Ted, Harry and Hermione returned to working on the finances of the House of Potter.
They worked through the rest of the day and past lunch, with Harry only stopping when he needed to refill his stomach.
However, soon after lunch Hermione pushed the latest they were working on away and said, "That's it for me,
I'm afraid. My head's now full of numbers I'm getting confused over which number applies to which stocks or which account or which property, or even if they have anything to do with a value at all.
"Isn't there something else we can deal with?" she asked in a pleading voice.
Harry smirked back and said, "Of course. How about some more information on the Houses? Specifically, on how they're created?"
With almost a sigh of relief, Hermione replied, "Yes, please."
Harry chuckled and said, "Alright."
As the two then began to pack away the documents, Harry started to explain. "You know the different ranks of the Houses; Noble and Most Ancient, Noble and Ancient, Ancient, Elder, Minor and Magical. Leaving out the Nobility there are five.
"Most Ancient are those Houses that date all the way back to the Founding of the Wizards' Council. The remaining seven Houses were part of what was known as The Thirteen. Six of those Houses have been deemed extinct, leaving only seven. And, over time, they've come to be known as the Seven. They are; Black, Clearwater, Flack, Longbottom, Muldoon, Potter and Rowle."
"Clearwater?" she asked, perking up. "As in, Penny Clearwater in Ravenclaw?"
"Yes," he nodded. "She is Penelope Clearwater of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Clearwater. Now that I've got a better handle on just how ambitious Percy Weasley is, I think that may well be one of the reasons... if not the main reason... why he pursued her, is pursuing her, as much as he did or is.
"For the others, however, it's not how many years they've existed that's important, it's for how many
generations.
"For the Ancient Houses, it's twenty one generations; which works out at about four hundred to four hundred and fifty years. For the Elder Houses, it's thirteen. For the Minor, it's seven. And for the Magical Houses, it's normally three. They claim it takes three generations before your bloodline has proven it will 'hold' and your House is recognised. However, it also generally means it has to be three males, as the surname rarely holds across three generations without it being males who carry the name through."
Hermione frowned in annoyance.
"Male-dominated society, remember?" he gently teased her.
Suddenly she looked back and said, "Wait... You said 'rarely'. Why 'rarely'?"
"Because you could have a male child and, between
you and your husband, decide to give that child the surname of 'Granger'. This is done for a multitude of reasons, but one of the main ones is to start or reawaken another House.
"Starting a new House is a big deal in wizarding Britain. It means you are thinking strategically along generational lines. In other words, on average, periods of decades; the better part of a century if you accept the current average of one generation every twenty to twenty five years."
Frowning and nibbling on her bottom lip while thinking, she suddenly asked, "Is that why most magicals seem to marry young in the wizarding world?"
He smiled and replied, "Yes. But, not the only reason.
"The other is because, for those who are the Heirs of important Houses like me and mine, we can have it drilled into them... us... from a young age that one of
their main responsibilities is the continuation of the House. And that means babies.
"Have you ever heard the term 'An heir, a spare and a daughter'?"
Again thinking hard, she replied, "I... think so. But I've no idea where I might have heard it."
"It comes from a number of different areas, muggle and magical. However, in the magical world it implies that when a couple marry... especially when one of them is the heir of an important House, it is impressed upon them they should have at least three children. That is, a male heir, a second male heir in case of something happening to the primary heir and a daughter who can be married off to the primary or secondary heir of another House."
"If nothing happens to the primary heir and he goes on to have children of his own, then the secondary... spare... heir is expected to begin a cadet line of the
House. My grandfather, Fleamont Potter, was a secondary heir who became Lord when his older brother, Charlus, died due to an assassination attack by Grindelwald's forces with his wife and only child before that son could have heirs of his own."
"I see," she nodded, still thinking. "But, what happens in the case of someone like... say... Sue Bones?"
"An interesting and, unsurprisingly, common situation these days," he nodded. "The Noble and Ancient House of Bones has only two members of the House remaining. Believe it or not, Susan is Heiress Apparent and her aunt, Amelia, is Heiress Secondary even though she's older. That's because Susan is of the direct main line and Amelia is of a new cadet line.
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Chapter 257
"Because there will be a lot of pressure to keep the Noble and Ancient House of Bones from being extinguished, Susan will marry via a Betrothal Agreement/Contract. In it there will need to be what is known as a Line Continuation clause. That is, as I mentioned earlier, a clause which will stipulate either the first or second born son will carry the name Bones.
"Now, here's where I get a little insensitive and misogynistic. Sorry, but it's necessary to explain the 'whys' and 'wherefores'.
"Because Susan is a pureblood from a family that traces her heritage back twenty plus generations, she would be a valuable commodity; her family could demand a very high bride price for her. She is healthy, well-educated, attractive, of incredibly good stock, and... shall we say... of suitable shape to bear and rear children. As such she would normally demand such a
high bride price."
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "I don't know whether to be either horrified or disgusted with you for that."
"I warned you I was going to be insensitive and or misogynistic," he said.
Once he saw her accept what he'd said, he continued, "Now comes the counter argument to that. Because Susan is of a Noble and Ancient House the likelihood of her House having precedence is quite high. That means the Line Continuation clause will very likely have it that the first male child born of the union of her and her husband will carry the name Bones. That then means that the husband's family name will be put off until another child is born.
"As such there is a risk, though it is small, that the husband's family name will not be carried on through their children. Therefore, for the family of the husband, her value as a bearer of children to carry on
the family name of the husband drops; which has a commensurate drop in her bride price."
"Th-that's horrible!" she exclaimed. "You make her sound like a... a... brood mare!"
"I know," he sadly replied. "However, I've no doubt Sue has been raised knowing that is a high likelihood for her. But, it's also not the worst of it."
"What can be worse than that?" she asked.
He sighed and replied, "Remember when Sirius talked to you about the risk of you being sold off as a sex slave?"
She shuddered and warily nodded.
"Sirius also explained to you about concubine bonds," he explained. "If Sue cannot attract a husband willing to forgo their family name for their children, she may willingly choose to enter into one.
"And, no; I don't mean as a sex slave. I mean, she becomes a concubine to the husband of another union. In return, none of her children are recognised as heirs of the husband's House, but will be recognised as heirs of the House of Bones. And that way Susan has met her familial obligations to her House to continue the line."
"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "That's horrible!"
"Not necessarily," he disagreed. "I have a feeling that's exactly what's going to happen and I think I know with whom."
"Who?" she asked.
"Neville," he immediately replied. "Though, I'm not so sure now."
"Why and why not?" she asked.
"Augusta Longbottom was raised as a pureblood of reasonably high standing in a House of traditionalists. To her, things like Betrothal Contracts, Concubine Bond Contracts and Line Continuation clauses are not unusual. However, I don't know how Frank and Alice feel about such things.
"Now... this is strictly between you and me... I know Hannah Abbott is determined to snag herself one Neville Longbottom. She has an older brother who is the Heir of the House of Abbott, so she doesn't have to concern herself with Line Continuation clauses.
"Though Neville probably doesn't see it yet, it's easy for me to see he's very welcoming of Hannah's moves towards him. Unless someone or something steps in to disrupt things, I'm pretty certain those two are going to marry soon after they graduate.
"I also know that she and Susan are very good friends. And, if what I've been picking up from the pair of them from their body language is anywhere near
close to being one hundred percent accurate, Hannah or her family... with Susan's complete blessing... are going to suggest to the Longbottoms Neville also take on Susan as a concubine."
"Really?" she asked, surprised.
"Yup," he replied with a firm nod. "I do not think Neville will be against that concept. As a pureblood and wizarding-raised by his grandmother, the concept will not seem odd to him. Plus, I cannot see him in any way mistreating her. He's just not the sort and knows it will be to enable Susan to see her House continue.
"I know Frank won't have a problem with it. If anything, he will see it as providing aid to an allied House. But, Alice might."
"You think, because she's a woman, she'd be against it?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "I think, because she's a halfblood
who spent a good deal of her childhood in the muggle world, she'll be against it. However, I also believe she can be convinced it's a good idea. She'll just need to be stepped through it, as I've done with you."
Again, Hermione was nibbling her lower lip and clearly thinking hard about whatever it was she was thinking about. Eventually, she asked exactly what Harry was leading her to ask. "And, what about you?"
"What about me?" he asked, though he had a pretty good idea what she meant.
"Would you... consider accepting someone in a Concubine Bond?" she asked.
"With a number of conditions, yes," he replied.
Frowning she asked, "What sort of conditions?"
It was obvious to him she was a little angry with that response. However, he wasn't going to let it faze him.
This was too important a topic.
"First, is the obvious one," he replied. "You and I are in a Betrothal Agreement. Though it's not legally required, your opinion would strongly influence that. If you and I marry then, without your consent, I'd never do it. And I doubt I'd ever do it before we were married or otherwise decided we would not."
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Chapter 258
She gave a nod and asked, "The second?"
"It would have to be to provide aid to the House of the witch and with her prior consent."
She thought about that, seemed to accept it when she
nodded and asked, "Any others?"
"Of those witches I know there is currently only two I would consider doing that for. There may be others, but I couldn't name them."
"And, who are the two?" she pressed.
"Daphne Greengrass and Luna Lovegood," he immediately replied.
She thought about those two and said, "I can see why you'd do it for Greengrass; she's of an allied House, just like Susan. But, why Luna?"
"For her protection," he immediately replied. "Her father is... Let's just say he's a couple of ingredients short of a Wit-sharpening Potion and leave it at that. He's the only family she has left."
"And Lovegood could make a good House added to the alliance," she added.
"Yes, but it wouldn't be the reason I'd do it."
Hermione was about to say something when there was a pop and a house elf appeared standing next to the table next to Hermione.
"Miss Grangy?" it asked.
After getting over being startled by the sudden appearance of the elf, she asked, "Before I answer that, who are you and why are you here?"
"I be Fluxy," replied the elf. "I be honoured to serve House Longbottom." Then it held out a letter and said, "This be note from good Master Neville for Miss Grangy."
She immediately said, "Put it on the table. And thank you for your service."
With a finger snap of its off hand, the elf caused the
letter to disappear from its other hand and appear on the table. Then it popped away again.
Harry was already casting detection charms over it.
Hermione, looking at the letter, said, "That's Neville's handwriting."
As soon as Harry stopped casting she picked it up and opened it. If he'd found anything she knew he would have immediately mentioned it.
As she read she said, "Neville's inviting us over to Longbottom Hall for tomorrow. He wants us both to get to know his parents better and is returning the offer to visit."
"Christmas shopping," Harry immediately returned. "How about... Sunday? I'd like to go Christmas shopping in the muggle world on Saturday."
"What about inviting him on Saturday and he can go
Christmas shopping in the muggle world with us?" she suggested.
Harry thought for a moment before he snorted in amusement. "Do you really want to subject pureblood and wizarding-raised Neville Longbottom on a trip to a muggle shopping centre on the Saturday before Christmas?"
"Errr... no," she sheepishly replied. "I see your point."
With a grin, he nodded and said, "However, taking him on a shopping trip to the muggle world after Christmas? That sounds like a great idea."
Pulling a small sheet of parchment towards herself, she said, "I'll ask if we can postpone until next Sunday."
As she reached for the ink and a quill, she said, "After that, you and I are going to talk some more about concubines and other matters."
He nodded back and said, "I've got no problem with that."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Neville was in one of his greenhouses, working on clearing out weeds that had sprung up in pots of his recently re-potted frost mint - also known as American Dittany - when Dobby popped in alongside him.
"Mister Neville, Sir," said Dobby.
Neville looked at him and asked, "Dobby, right?"
"Yes, Mister Neville, Sir," replied Dobby, clearly happy to have been recognised.
"What can I do for you... or, Harry?" he asked.
Dobby produced the letter Hermione had only just finished writing and offered it. "From Miss-tress Herm'nee, Mister Neville, Sir."
Neville gave a nod to the bench alongside him and said, "Put it on the bench for me, please. I need to clean my hands." And reached for one of his ever- present rags.
As soon as Dobby placed the letter on the bench he popped away again.
Once he felt his hands were clean enough, Neville picked up the letter.
"Christmas shopping tomorrow and Saturday..." he muttered. "Sunday week?"
He thought for a few moments and called for Fluxy to bring him some parchment, ink and a quill.
Sunday, it would be.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Arriving earlier than expected, Sirius received the appraisement quote by way of being floo-called at the Tonkses' place. When he entered the room the person on the other end, the wizard he spoke to when he visited the offices of the company, greeted him.
"I have your quote, Lord Black," the man immediately said. Then it was simply tossed through.
Sirius quickly asked, "Could you hold a moment?" "Certainly."
As soon as he perused the quote, he said, "I accept. How soon can you get started?"
"Sign it and send it back," the wizard replied. "As
soon as I have it I can send my team lead to your property and you can hand over the wards to her."
"Excellent," he replied. "Excuse me while I get a quill." And left the room.
After returning and tossing the quote back through the flames, he said, "I'll apparate to Grimmauld right now."
Less than ten minutes later, Sirius had handed over control of the wards on Grimmauld Place to who would be the company on-site fore-witch.
Returning to the Tonkses' he was pleased to get that lethifold off his shoulders. The place would be cleaned within two months and he only had to pay to get it done. He really didn't want to have to do it himself.
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
When the Grangers arrived home, Harry was quick to get on his mirror to let Sirius know. He apparated in to the arrival point just inside the front fence less than a minute later.
When he came in, he quickly corralled Wendell and the two men went into the office.
When they came out fifteen minutes later, Sirius was almost dancing a jig while Wendell appeared quite bemused.
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Chapter 259
Seeing Harry in the kitchen and cooking dinner, Sirius
declared, "It's done. Your future father-in-bond is a hard man to negotiate with, but I'm now the owner of the little building out back I shall now and forevermore call the 'Doghouse'."
Wendell, shaking his head, said, "It appears Lord Black does not truly know the concept behind 'negotiating'."
"Why's that?" asked Harry.
Wendell snickered and replied, "He kept trying to talk the price... up."
Sirius struck a pose and declared, "Never let it be said that Sirius Black does not pay fair value."
Before anyone could say anything else, he said, "Now, give me a few minutes to duck out to my new property and set things in motion."
With that he strode from the room.
"What did he mean by setting things in motion?" asked Monica.
Harry replied, "He's gone out to permanently transfigure the inside of the shed into a welcoming room with a floo."
Before he could go on, Hermione quickly said, "I want to watch this." And hurriedly left the room.
"A... floo?" asked Monica.
"Yep," replied Harry. "It's a magical form of travel that requires the use of a large fireplace and what's called 'floo powder'. However, such floos are not permitted in non-wizarding dwellings; so, Sirius bought the shed out back to use that.
"By him buying it, it's now wizarding owned. Which means, he can have it connected to the floo network.
"Can this way be used by muggles?" she asked.
Harry thought about it and replied, "I've no idea. Though they cannot apparate, I know they can be side-along apparated; they can use the Knight Bus, but cannot call it; and I'm pretty sure they can use a portkey, but again cannot activate it.
"It'll actually be interesting to see if you can use a floo, or not, without someone using the floo powder for you first. We can test it once it's activated by flooing from here to the Tonkses' place and back again."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
Out in the 'Doghouse', Hermione watched as Sirius first completely stripped the single room bare. And then used an overpowered cleaning charm to rid it of everything that wasn't 'building'. He even explained as
he was working why he was doing things the way he was.
Next in went the fireplace, together with a small chimney. It was of black marble.
"The chimney is not needed for the floo," he explained. "However, for the floo to work properly you actually need a bit of a fire. And the fire needs the chimney."
Then he started putting up a proper interior.
The walls were simple plain one-course brick, barely scraped of mortar on the inside surface as the bricks were laid. To cover that he put up battens and attached plaster board to line the entirety of all four walls. Then went repairs to the roof, repairing any cracked tiles or the like; a ceiling, with properly affixed light (even if it was magical); and cornicing. Finally, he put up better window and door treatments, blending them in with the current wood, so that the
plasterboard was properly 'edged'.
Satisfied with constructional changes to the building, he asked Hermione, "What colours, do you think? Or, would your parents prefer it if the inside here matched the inside of the house?"
Hermione didn't just blurt out anything. She took her time and thought it through, as Harry had been teaching her.
Finally, she replied, "How about... Burgundy carpet, a light plain pastel gold for paint on the walls, white for the ceiling and cornices, and burgundy window and door treatments?"
Smirking, he asked, "Curtains?"
Shrugging, she replied, "A pastel red?"
Sirius thought about all that and waved his wand about. He started with the white ceiling and cornicing,
then the gold walls, the burgundy trim to the window and door and finished with a deep burgundy for the carpet.
Looking around, he then changed the façade of the fireplace to a pink tinted white marble. It fit the décor a lot better than the black tinted marble he'd first chosen.
With a satisfied nod, he turned to her and asked, "What do you think?"
She was quite surprised. "It looks great!"
He gave a light chuckle and said, "Now comes the hard part; making it permanent."
He pulled a set of rune-stones out of his pocket and went around the corners of the small room, planting them into the corners as he worked. The last one he put on the mantelpiece before then pumping his magic into it.
He stepped back about thirty seconds later, when the five stones gave a strong glow, and staggered a little. "Whoa!" he sighed. "That takes a lot out of you."
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Chapter 260
Hermione held onto him so he wouldn't fall over and, confused, said, "That looked like a lot of power needed to activate such a small ward."
"It wasn't just one ward, my dear," he returned, getting steadier on his feet. "There were actually a few wards that all went active at the same time."
"What wards?" she quickly asked.
"The permanency ward, as I said I would do," he
replied. "Plus, a Muggle Notice-Me-Not that excludes your parents; an alert charm that's now linked to us two and Harry; impervious charms to the walls, the ceiling, the window and the door; and two currently inactive secrecy charms that I'll activate once the floo is connected and has been tested."
"What're the secrecy charms for?" she was quick to ask.
"So that anyone who arrives through the floo that isn't keyed in to the wards will have no idea where they are. But, it won't stop them leaving again via the floo. And the second will hide the ward stones once the full wards are up and active.
"The impervious charms on the inner surfaces of this room will now shrug off almost all forms of magical attack. If anything, if you cast a curse or anything at the walls, it will reflect back at you. That is, of course, if you don't get stunned by the wards Harry set up over the entire property regarding ill-intent, first."
When the pair returned to the house, Sirius said he'd let Ted know to arrange to connect the floo in the morning.
He'd said, "It's pointless sending an owl or house elf as I currently share a house with the man."
_ ̳_ ―==(oIo)==― ˇ
The next morning at breakfast Harry thought he was still eating enough to feed his entire dorm - as long as Ron wasn't in it at the time. However, over the past two days he felt the amount he was eating had diminished a little.
Frowning, he stood just as Hermione walked in. "Got a sec?" he asked her.
"Errr... yes?" she replied, unsure.
Harry walked over to the door with the inch measurement marks and asked, "Mind measuring me again? It is Friday, after all."
Understanding, her eyes lit up and she replied, "Oh, of course!" And moved over to join him as he kicked his shoes off, leaving him in socks.
Standing with his back and head against the door and up straight, Harry waited for Hermione to mark the spot on the door edge. As she did, she gave a small gasp of shock.
Ducking down and stepping away, he spun about to see for himself. Her finger was just a small smidge below six foot. If her mark was accurate, he stood about five foot eleven and three quarters.
"Not six foot?" he asked no one. "Well, that's annoying."
"Not six foot!?!" she asked right back, lowering her hand. "Harry... just under three weeks ago you stood five foot five. You've shot up about seven inches!"
"Hermione," her father gently called her attention. "Six foot is one of those 'manly' things we men aspire to. Standing over six feet tall is one of those things men pride themselves on."
Turning to Harry, she asked, "Is that what you think?"
"Of course," he replied, as if it was as simple as asking if the sky was blue or water was wet.
With an exasperated sigh, she said, "I wouldn't think any less of you if you only stood five foot three, Harry. Standing over six foot tall does not impress me. It just makes you slightly taller than the norm. Which, by the way, is five foot nine for a male in England. And that's for an adult.
"Don't forget, you're only fifteen. Which means you should still grow approximately one to two inches before you reach your true adult height."
"But it's the six foot mark, 'Mione," he almost whined. That had Monica snort and Wendell smile.
"Really, Harry," Hermione exasperatedly retorted. "If the potions continue to work―"
"But, that's just it!" he grumbled. "I've noticed my hunger and intake is starting to reduce. I think the building of my body is pretty much done with."
"For a fifteen year old, maybe," she said. "But, as I said, you'll probably break through the six foot mark within the next six months. It is, after all, only another quarter inch.
"Besides, weren't you complaining that the potions were still driving you to fill your stomach?"
"That was before I knew the six foot mark was in sight!"
Almost sulking, he returned to his breakfast as Hermione moved to begin her own after she first rolled her eyes at him. That's when Hedwig and the Daily Prophet owl swooped in through the open dinette window. Again, Hedwig beat the other owl only by about a yard.
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