Reading Time: 90 Minutes

Title: Magical Intent
Author: Meri
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Drama, Pre-Relationship, Time Travel
Relationship(s): Harry Potter/Bill Weasley, background Ron Weasley/Daphne Greengrass
Content Rating: PG
Warnings: Discussion of child abuse
Beta: Many thanks to SerpentsGarden for their stellar beta of this story. I also used Grammarly and TextAloud.
Word Count: 74,293
Summary: One night, right after the end of third year, Harry has a very vivid dream. Or at least, he thinks it’s a dream. Whatever it is, it changes the trajectory of his life as well as the lives of several other people in his world. He finds out it’s all about getting the correct information at the right time and then finding out who your friends are. Even more importantly, figuring out who your enemies are.
Artist: NotSally

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Chapter 8

Severus relaxed into the comfortable chair by the fire. It was rare that he got an afternoon free. He’d saved up his potions journals from the year and would now spend a couple of afternoons a week during his break reviewing them. He was looking forward to writing scathing letters to the editors when he found less than stellar work. There would be plenty of that, he was sure.

Just as he’d started the first article. He felt the outer wards for his house ping. It was Potter, Granger, and Weasley. Oh, joy. Some of his least favorite people. What were they doing here? More importantly, how did they find out where he lived?

He supposed he’d find out. Really, why wasn’t he more annoyed at the interruption? No matter, they would be gone quite soon, and he would return to his reading.

As they approached the door, he opened it.

Mistake! That was his only thought as he was hit by three stunners. And an Incarcerous. Good Lord, how could he have been so stupid to think that those three were not a threat?

“Sorry, Professor,” Granger said as she arranged him on the sofa with her wand. “We’ll explain in a moment.”

“Basement,” Potter said, looking around and then going into the kitchen. “In here.”

Weasley stood over him as Granger followed Potter out.

Well, they weren’t going to kill him, or they would have done it already.

In less than five minutes, Potter was back with his fingers bleeding.

“All done?” Weasley asked.

Potter shook his head. “It didn’t seem to work. Hermione is trying it.”

She came up and shook her head. “I don’t understand. This should have worked.”

Severus cleared his throat. “What are you attempting to do to my house?” He was far calmer than he should be given the circumstances.

“Blood runes to mitigate the wards that Dumbledore put on your house,” Granger said. “But they didn’t seem to work.”

“That is because Albus Dumbledore has never been here. I’m not sure that he knows this place exists. The deed is still in my Muggle father’s name.”

All three of them looked at him with their mouths open. Under other circumstances, he might have found it amusing.

“Don’t kill us, okay. We can explain,” Potter begged.

Severus sat up. “It had better be good. Or I will make next year a living hell for you three.”

“As if you didn’t already,” muttered Weasley under his breath.

“You have no idea how bad I can make your life,” Severus promised.

“Well, given everything, I guess not.” Potter took a deep breath. “Your quarters at Hogwarts are warded by Dumbledore to favor Slytherins and to hate Gryffindors and me specifically because I look like James.”

How many times had he resolved in the summer not to be as angry and not to pass students just because they were Slytherin? And how many times had that fallen by the wayside during the school year?

That fucker! He wanted to flatten Albus for this. “Oh, bloody fucking hell!”

Well, all three of them looked shocked by his reaction. Severus snorted out a laugh. But it faded quickly. “How did you know about this? And what are you doing about it?”

“I found out a few weeks ago. I’ll need a wizarding oath that you won’t tell anyone, but especially not Dumbledore.”

That surprised Severus. It was possibly the smartest thing Potter had ever said to him. “I, Severus Snape, heir to the House of Prince, do swear on my life and my magic to keep the secrets that Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley tell me. So, I have sworn, so it must be.” There was a flash of magic as the oath settled. “Now, this had better be good.”

Potter gulped. “I had this dream –”

It was so outrageous and awful that Severus had no doubt it was true. He never thought to check his quarters for anything other than listening devices. And to make sure his own wards were in place. Well, that was certainly short-sighted of him. “What are your plans? I know you have Minerva on board as your regent. What else.”

“I’d like to have Dumbledore thrown in Azkaban, but that, apparently, isn’t likely unless he committed a crime. Or at least does something that’s illegal, which apparently doesn’t include most of the things he’d done.”

Severus waved a hand at him. “Beyond that.”

“We’re going to unward your quarters and Aunt Min’s as well.”

“Aunt Min?” Severus asked, carefully keeping his tone neutral. Oh, this would be good.

“She told me to call her that when we aren’t in school. Apparently, my father did as well. She was best friends with my grandmother.”

Of course. He’d heard that she was close to Doria Potter. But somehow, he’d forgotten that Doria was Potter’s grandmother. “All right. Anything else?”

“Maybe look at some of the common rooms. Especially like Gryffindor. To see if they are warded too.”

Severus sucked in a breath. That was all too likely. It would have such far reaching effects. People would take that attitude into adulthood with them. “Just because I might stop being hostile does not mean you will be able to get away with anything in my class.”

“Of course not,” Potter said with a nod.

Maybe he and his friends would actually learn something. Which would be novel.

*****

Chapter 9

Harry had wanted to go to the trial, but Sirius had asked him not to. As if his being there or not would make a difference. But Harry had said that he wouldn’t allow Sirius to face this alone. So, he sat in the visitor gallery and watched.

The court case seemed very complicated, even though, in the end, it was simple, too. Sirius had a new attorney. Apparently, he’d fired the old ones for letting him rot in prison.

The verdict was not guilty. Harry had expected that, though he was still worried about it. He breathed out a sigh of relief that it was over.

The minute the Wizengamot was adjourned, Harry raced over to Sirius and hugged him. Fudge was coming towards them, and Harry quickly said, “We need to take a picture with the minister.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s what Madam Bones promised him to set up your trial. It will be fine,” Harry said, patting Sirius’ hand.

“It’s fine. He actually wasn’t around when this happened,” Sirius pointed out.

“Lord Black,” Fudge said. “I’m glad that we were able to right this dreadful wrong. The ministry will be paying you restitution, of course.”

“Nothing can make up for what he’s gone through,” Aunt Min said as she joined them.

“Very good,” Fudge said and nodded to the photographer.

“Smile,” the photographer said.

Both he and Sirius dutifully smiled for the man. It wasn’t that hard. Harry knew he was going to need to put up with this kind of thing. Especially if he wanted to use his fame rather than be used by it.

“Let’s go have some lunch,” Sirius suggested. “Minister, do you want to join us?”

Fudge looked tempted, but he shook his head. “Unfortunately not. There’s too much still to do. You go, enjoy your freedom.”

“Where would you like to go, Sirius,” Aunt Min asked.

Sirius was silent for a minute. “Let’s go somewhere nice on the Alley?”

“I know just the place,” she said. “Come along. We’ll use the floo.”

Great. Harry hated to floo. He didn’t always get lost, but he always ended up on his arse. This time was no different. He was spit out at the Leaky Cauldron and ended up in the dust. Sirius held out a hand to him to help him to his feet.

After a brief walk down the alley, the three of them were seated quickly at a dim and quiet restaurant. McGonagall cast a silencing charm. And then fixed Sirius a firm look.

“What do you know about Harry’s circumstances?” she asked.

“He told me about the dreams. Is there something else?” Sirius said with a sigh.

“I just told him what old Hermione and Ron had said about him. Not so much about some of the other stuff,” Harry said. “Like the Horcruxes. Or that one of them might be at Grimmauld Place.”

“Horcruxes,” Sirius choked. “I should not be surprised that he made one, but I am.”

McGonagall sighed. “He made more than one. We believe he’s made six so far.”

Sirius paled. “What are we doing about it?”

“You need to retrieve the one from Grimmauld Place. We believe it is in the possession of the House Elf Kreature.”

“Who is totally insane at this point,” Sirius said. “The Black residence in London is unlivable. I doubt it’s been cleaned since before my mother died. In 1985. Maybe before that.”

“I’ve never heard of a house elf who allowed a home to become that bad,” McGonagall said. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Sirius said. “He probably needs healing. I don’t even know where to go to get that for him.”

“You should ask the Goblins,” Harry suggested. “They have a lot of contacts and know a lot.”

Sirius looked at him. “How did you know that?”

“How do you think I got anything done? I asked them to help me. And they did.” Harry smiled. “For a fee. But that was more than worth it because they are very competent.”

Aunt Min nodded. “That makes sense. Sirius, send your account manager an owl.”

“I don’t know who the Black account manager is.”

Harry told him who the Potter account manager was, and Sirius agreed to write to him.

“We should probably wait until Kreature is healed or gone before we try and retrieve anything from Grimmauld Place,” Sirius said.

“I agree,” Aunt Min said. “We should eat something, too.”

*****

“Bill,” his father called as he came into the hall in front of the mind healer’s office. He wasn’t sure why he was there, but his parents had wanted him to go to this meeting. Ginny had just had her first session with the mind healer. They were going to get an analysis of what was going on.

“Thanks for coming,” his Mum said. “We want your opinion of what we’re going to be told by the healer.”

“Why?” Bill asked.

“Both of us have been living under the wards for so long that we’re not sure we’ll do the best things for Ginny. The compulsions show up in different ways for both of us. We can get past them, but they are insidious.” Arthur sighed. “We don’t trust ourselves right now. You’ll know if we don’t do or say what’s best for Ginny.”

Bill took a deep breath. That made way too much sense. And his anger and overall dislike of Dumbledore ratcheted up another notch. That Dumbledore wouldn’t pay for what he’d done infuriated Bill even more. Someday, there would be retribution. “Of course,” Bill said.

“We should go in,” Molly said. And Arthur opened the door and held it for Molly and Bill to go through.

The secretary looked up. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“We’re here to see Healer Johnson,” Arthur said.

She nodded. “Healer Johnson said to send you in. Ginny is still with him.”

Bill was first to the door, and he knocked. Someone inside said, “Come in.”

He pushed open the door and waited for his parents to go in before him. They took the last two chairs, and he stood behind Ginny.

If the healer thought having him there was odd, he didn’t look surprised.

“So, Ginny and I have discussed a few things and have decided what to tell you. I’m going to go over the problems and some possible solutions.”

Ginny nodded.

“To begin with, Ginny needed to be doing this last year, but better late than never,” he said without censure.

“We understand that,” Arthur said. “Can you tell us the problems and solutions?”

“I can. One problem is the lack of sleep for the last year. Ginny has nightmares every night,” Healer Johnson said. “I can prescribe some potions that will not be addictive and will help her sleep through the night. That will help with her overall health.”

“All right,” Molly said. “I’m sure that’s not all there is.”

“No, Mum,” Ginny said. “There’s lots more. I can’t get Harry out of my mind. And I realized that I don’t want him there. I don’t know him. I’m not even sure I want to know him. He was always the prince to my princess. Except…” she trailed off. “I know you paid for Hogwarts for me this year, but I want to go somewhere else.”

That surprised Bill. “Where would you want to go?”

“I was thinking about Salem Institute. It’s less expensive than Hogwarts and has a much better educational reputation,” Ginny said. “I could catch up with my class.”

“I’m not sure we can get this semester’s tuition back. But we could talk about it after Christmas,” Arthur said.

Bill thought that Ginny going to Salem was a good idea. He could afford the tuition, and if they moved quickly enough, she could start this coming fall. He also thought that having Ginny away from here would be good for her and everyone else involved.

He’d mention it to his parents when they were alone.

“There is every chance that Ginny will flourish in the new environment. Going back to Hogwarts will do her no good at this point,” the healer said. “I know she wants to move on from what happened.”

“I do. I know it’s going to be hard to afford it. I’d have to live there. But I would make new friends, and I wouldn’t have to see Harry every day in Gryffindor. I don’t want him, and yet there’s something in my mind that pushes me towards him.”

That sounded like a compulsion. Bill wondered if she’d been cursed by the diary or by Dumbledore. He looked at his father and saw he was thinking the same thing.

“Can you check her for a compulsion, healer?” Molly asked. “Or is that from the diary?”

“Who would do that to a child?” the healer asked, and he drew his wand. “Ginny, can I check you?”

Her eyes were wide and scared. But she nodded. “Yes. Please.”

Healer Johnson waved his wand and muttered something Bill couldn’t quite catch. The air above Ginny’s head turned a foul, putrid yellow color. After that, he waved his wand again and did something else. In a rush of mist, the air turned white and then clear, dissipating completely.

“Could you read the magical signature of the person who planted the compulsion?” Bill asked. But he could probably guess.

“There aren’t that many people powerful enough to put this kind of compulsion on a child and not destroy their mind in the process. However, the signature was corrupted, probably by the possession last year.” The healer looked at all of them. “It was planted on Ginny when she was very young. No more than five or six.”

Ginny gasped, and her eyes filled with tears. “I remember the headmaster saying something to me. To hold still, he was going to get something out of my hair. He used his wand.”

Molly sighed. “One more thing to lay at his door. He is no longer allowed on any Weasley property ever again.”

Arthur nodded his agreement to that.

“How could he do that to me?” Ginny asked. “Why?”

“We don’t know, sweetheart. I suspect that it was so that he’d ensure Harry found a light pureblood wife,” Molly said. “But we’ll find a way to send you to Salem Institute. I promise you that.”

“Thanks, Mum,” she said, taking Molly’s hand. “But I can feel the constant thoughts of Harry already starting to fade.” She looked at the healer. “Thank you.”

“It’s my job and my pleasure to make you better. I think your parents should still send you to Salem so that you can put all of this behind you.” He looked at Molly and Arthur. “I can write a letter to the headmaster saying I think it would be beneficial for Ginny to go somewhere else.”

“Maybe to the deputy headmaster would be a better option,” Bill suggested. He didn’t want to tip their hand to Dumbledore if they didn’t have to.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Molly said. “If we can get a refund on your tuition, we’ll be able to send you for September 1.”

“Mum,” Bill said, and she looked at him. “She’ll have the tuition for this fall.”

Both Arthur and Molly blinked at him. But before either of them could say anything, Ginny stood up and jumped into his arms. “Thank you, Bill. You are the best. Thank you.”

“We’ll talk more about this later,” Arthur said, but it was clear that he was not going to deny Ginny something she needed. None of them would. Bill had the galleons, and he would see this done.

“Will she need to have continued therapy?” Molly asked. “To deal with the problems from the diary. And possibly from the curse she was laboring under.”

“I think she needs a few more sessions until she leaves for school. I have colleagues in Magical America who would see her if she needed it. And if they can’t, I’m sure they could recommend someone who could.

Everyone stood. “Thank you again, Healer Johnson. We appreciate everything you have done for us,” Arthur said.

Arthur waited until they were on the street, and he looked right at Bill. “You are not going to –”

“Stop,” Bill said, holding up a hand. “Not only am I going to pay for this semester at Salem Institute for Ginny, but Charlie and I will outfit her right for it. And probably Ron for Hogwarts as well.”

“We can’t ask you to do that,” Molly said.

“You’re not asking for anything, I’m offering, and I have the galleons. I just had a huge project end successfully and got a large bonus. I have no problem using it to pay for my brother and sister to start school on an even playing field with the rest of the students.”

Molly huffed but said nothing for a minute as she and his Dad communicated silently.

“Fine,” Arthur said. “I’m going to consider this a loan.”

Bill started to shake his head, but his mum gave him that look that said not to argue with them. He sighed. “Fine, whatever you want.”

Ginny smiled at him, and he knew he’d done the right thing.

*****

As Harry suggested, Sirius used a meeting room at Gringotts to meet with Narcissa because Grimmauld Place was just uninhabitable, and he had nothing else set up yet. Using Potter Manor for this meeting was out of the question.

He was tackling a long list of items that needed to be addressed. The first thing he’d done was to send Kreature to the Goblins for treatment. They were unsure if the corruption he experienced could be reversed.

“Narcissa,” Sirius said as she was shown into the conference room. He’d taken a seat at the head of the table and waved her to a chair beside him. “Please sit down.”

“Thank you for seeing me, my lord,” she said with a slight curtsy before she sat down.

“I was intrigued by the fact you didn’t wait until I called a family meeting,” Sirius said. “It would only be a few weeks.”

“I’m deeply concerned about several things,” she said. “I recently discovered that the Dark Lord is a half-blood.”

“I have been informed. But if you are going to preach pureblood politics to me, then you’ve come to the wrong person.”

“I understand your views on this, and I realize that my point of view is not as relevant as it was a few years ago. However, I will never support the Dark Lord again,” Narcissa declared vehemently.

And even though he knew it was probably coming, it still surprised the hell out of him that she’d said it out loud like that.

“As glad as I am to hear you say you won’t support him, I’m sure your husband will. And possibly your son.”

“My son is the reason I’m here. I do not wish to go through the nightmare of the Dark Lord a second time. I do not believe it will go well for anyone. And I especially do not want my son having to deal with that at all. He’s barely fourteen.”

“What do you suggest I do?” Sirius asked. She was Slytherin, and he knew that she had a plan.

As if she knew what he was thinking, she smiled. “I could point out that my marriage contract has not been fulfilled. I was to have two children and a stipend. Neither the second child nor the stipend were forthcoming after Lucius took the dark mark. Mostly, we live off the Black stipend I get,” Narcissa said, sounding like she was annoyed. Which she was letting him see.

“Why now?”

“Before Lucius took the dark mark, he was tolerable. After, he was corrupted by it, and at this point, I do not believe he is sane. I would not let him touch me. Also, now that Lucius has been marked, any child I had with him would be tainted. He has already said that he would serve my son up to the Dark Lord as a tribute. To have him marked as soon as the Dark Lord would do it,” she paused and took a breath, meeting his eyes. Hers were icy. “I will not have that done to Draco.”

Although he shouldn’t be, Sirius was just shocked at the determination in her eyes. “I understand. Spell out for me what you want.”

“As my patriarch and the head of the much higher-ranking family in the contract, you can annul my marriage and take Draco into the Black Family magic. Both Abraxas and Lucius destroyed what was left of the Malfoy magic. I’d see Draco wed to a mud — Muggle-born before I would let him be tied to that corruption.”

“Very nicely said. What do I get out of it,” Sirius said. He knew she wouldn’t agree to anything, even in her own best interests, unless she knew all sides of the equation.

“What do you want? Because I will give you anything in my power,” she promised. And it sounded like she meant it. The words resonated with truth in his magic.

“I understand that Draco has, shall we say, your views on blood supremacy. That would need to change for him to be accepted in the new family I plan to create.” He met her eyes. “Harry is my heir. You and he would have to accept that.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment. “I accept that, and once I explain the situation to Draco, he will accept it as well. I will also take it upon myself to clean up Grimmauld Place. I know there was something wrong with Kreature.”

“If you’re willing to do that. And you might need a team from Gringotts, I would let you live there.”

“Where are you going to live?” Narcissa asked, clearly surprised by the offer.

“With Harry, in Potter Manor.” Sirius was looking forward to that.

“There are three Black house elves’ currently at Malfoy Manor.”

“They should come with you when you move out. When are you planning to do this? And have you spoken to Draco about it? Because he will need to, if not make friends with Harry, at least accept him as my heir. And stop tormenting Harry and his friends.”

“I will speak to him about all of this. But it might not go well at first. I plan to be away from Malfoy Manor as soon as I can arrange it. But definitely before the Dark Lord is ever resurrected.”

“All right,” Sirius said. “We can talk more about this later in the month. I am staying at Potter Manor now, but you can contact me through Gringotts, if you need to. And anything you can do for Grimmauld Place would be much appreciated.”

He handed her a piece of paper that gave her access to Grimmauld Place. “I recast the Fidelis after I took over as head of the family.

She took the paper and looked at it, then nodded. She stood. “Thank you. I appreciate your hearing me out. I will talk to Draco. I might have need of Grimmauld Place, sooner rather than later. Especially if things don’t go well with Lucius.”

Something in the way she said that made him look at her. “Has he hurt you or Draco?”

Her shrug was nonchalant, but her eyes were filled with fury. “That is not for me to discuss now.”

He understood. “Grimmauld Place is ready when you are. There’s a household account that you can use for any household-related expenses.

*****

As it happened, that conversation with Draco turned out to be easier and more complicated than Narcissa thought. While she was meeting with Sirius, Lucius had taken it upon himself to continue to train Draco. What that meant was that he found an excuse to beat him because she was gone.

She found Draco upstairs, face down in his bed. His back had been laid open with a whip spell and then only partially healed. The house elves could only do so much while under Lucius’ command.

“Draco,” she said softly, sitting on the bed.

“I was punished for not being fast enough,” he whispered. His face was wet.

“You were beaten because your father is corrupted by the dark mark and has lost all touch with reality,” she said. Keeping her tone soft when she was this enraged was difficult, but she managed it only by force of will. She would enjoy making Lucius pay for this outrage.

“He said –”

“You should not listen to what he said. He has done this to you before. Nothing you have ever done deserves this treatment.” She waved her wand, and the cuts started to heal.

“He will punish you for healing me. Just like he did with Jordi,” Draco said, his tone was distressed. What it should have been was angry.

“He had no right to punish Jordi. He is a Black elf. And belongs to you,” she said. “As for your father, I will take care of him. He has punished you and me for the last time.”

“He is stronger than both of us,” Draco said, sounding better.

“Accio healing cream,” she said, and it came to her hand. She opened it and smoothed some on Draco’s back. Fortunately, Lucius had not used dark magic, so the wounds continued to heal and, with the healing cream, would not scar.

“Thanks,” Draco said. “If you attack him, where will we go.”

“I have spoken to Sirius, and we will go to Grimmauld Place. It is barely habitable right now, but it is under Fidelis,” Narcissa said. “Pack up everything you want to take with you. I will be back in about an hour,” she told him. “Put it all into your trunk, and then make sure it’s shrunk down and in your pocket when I return.

“Jordi,” Narcissa called. And the elf appeared.

“How can I be serving you,” he said, not looking at her. He was dressed in a dirty, ragged pillowcase. She could feel his fear.

“Can you help Draco pack? You are a Black elf. No one may punish you or force you to punish yourself unless they are a Black. No matter what they say. Please remember that in the future. And make sure you and the other elves are dressed appropriately for a Black elf. No more pillowcases.” She waved her wand, and he was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt with a black robe over it. There was the Black Crest on his robe.

Jordi looked down and then nodded.

*****

“What have you done to my son,” Narcissa said, furious. She would make him pay for that. She cast a paralysis curse on him before he could draw his wand. Foolish man, thinking she would allow him any recourse once she had secured a way out of this hellish situation.

“You will release me,” Lucius ordered. “You have no power. I will not forgive either one of you. He’s a weak crybaby, and you coddle him. I will show you both. Release me, now.”

“Oh, no. I think not,” Narcissa spat. “You have raised your wand to Draco and me for the last time. That curse can only be lifted when I do it. I could leave you there to starve to death in your own filth if I wanted, and you could not do a damned thing.”

He opened his mouth, probably to call a house elf, but she waved her wand again, and he was silenced. “Now, isn’t that so much better,” she said. “This is how things will be going forward. I will be leaving you today, and I’m taking Draco with me. There is nothing you can do about either of those things. By the time you get free, I will be divorced and away from here.”

Lucius’ eyes bulged, and he looked both terrified and infuriated at the same time. Narcissa decided that was not a good look for him. But she would not have to look at it again.

“Black elves to me,” she said.

The three Black elves, including Jordi, appeared. They were dressed appropriately for Black Elves. She watched as Lucius took in their appearance and looked even more furious. “We will be leaving here today.” She handed Essie and Bessie the sheet of paper that Sirius had given her. “Please pack up the last of my things and go there,” she said, “Get as much cleaned as you can before we get there.”

“We be doing that,” Bessie said and took Essie’s hand and popped away.

“Is Draco ready to go?” Narcissa asked.

“He be ready,” Jordi said, nodding his head.

She handed him the piece of paper. “Take him there and see if you can clean up the sitting room.”

He handed it back to her and popped out.

She looked at Lucius and smiled using all her teeth. “There is only one Malfoy elf here. She is weak and old. But she should be able to work you free once the silencing charm wears off. Do not bother trying to find us. We are gone.”

Lucius’ eyes were still bulging, and his face was red.

She smiled at him and raised her wand again, cutting him down the front of his body. “You won’t die from this either, but it will hurt.”

She turned around, making sure her cloak fanned out, then apparated out of the room. She’d moved anything of value she owned into her private vault at Gringotts.

******

Narcissa landed in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place. And was not surprised to find it mostly habitable. She was surprised to find Sirius there.

“Sirius?” She asked. Draco was sitting on the sofa and raced over to embrace her.

“Are you all right,” he asked. “He didn’t hurt you?”

She shook her head. “He’ll get free of what I did to him soon enough. It won’t kill him. But I wanted him to understand the magnitude of his mistake.”

“What did you do?” Sirius asked.

She told him, not sure what she could expect from him.

“Very good. The spell isn’t traceable, so you don’t need to worry about it, even if you had killed him.”

“I am surprised to hear you say that. Dumbledore would be horrified –”

“Yeah, so Dumbledore left me to rot in prison for ten years. I have nothing to say to that bastard,” Sirius said, sounding just as bitter as he had every right to sound.

“Wow,” Draco said. “Why?”

Narcissa looked at him with her eyebrow raised. “That is a good question.”

“And you’ll get an answer later on,” Sirius said. “I need to get something I think is in Kreature’s closet. Then I will leave you to get this place into shape.”

“Can I help you?” She asked. Whatever he was doing made him a little nervous.

Jordi popped into the room, bowed to Sirius, and turned to Narcissa. “Lord Black. Master Draco’s room is ready. I be taking him there and helping him unpack.”

“Very good,” Narcissa said. “Thank you.” She turned back to Sirius and raised an eyebrow.

“Come along,” he said. And led her down to the ground floor and into the kitchen.

“I think it was behind the cupboard,” Sirius knelt down and pulled a cabinet open. There was a small bed and some blankets.

Even in a house filled with dark items, she could feel something else, too. Something very dark. “My lord, wait. There is something here.”

“I can feel it. We’ll need something to put it in. Thoughts?”

She took a breadbox and transfigured it into a secure lead vault. “This will last about twenty-four hours. Enough time to get it somewhere secure.”

Sirius nodded, starting to move things around in the little cabinet, searching. He found it under the bed. A necklace with an S on it.

“That looks like Slytherin’s Necklace,” Narcissa commented, and Sirius used his wand to move it to the box she created. She studied it for a second and then realized what it must be. “No. Is that how he stayed alive?”

“Yes. We think he might be getting ready to try and reincorporate himself,” Sirius suggested. “We don’t know how he will do that.”

“There are not that many rituals he could use to do that,” Narcissa said. “I know a couple of the possible rituals he might use.”

“I have got a meeting later today with Madam Bones, Minerva McGonagall, and William Weasley about this subject. Do you want to come with me?”

Did she? Those were not some of her favorite people, but she did not want the Dark Lord to rise again. “Dumbledore?”

“Never again. There’s more here than I’ve said. I’m not going to allow him any purchase in my life.”

“Good enough,” she said. “I am never going to be anything other than what I am. But I also do not want that thing to come back to life. Or whatever it is he is planning to do.”

“If you can work with us, that will be useful,” Sirius said.

“I must get a couple of books from the library upstairs.”

“Whatever you need.” Sirius waved her towards the stairs.

*****

Bill followed the rest of those gathered into the conference room at Gringotts. Madam Bones cast a charm, but it showed nothing. So, he assumed there were no listening devices attached to anyone. Which she should have known since this was the bank.

“All right,” Madam Bones said. “Let’s sit down and figure out where we are.”

“Why are we here?” McGonagall asked. “Do we know something else?”

“I found the Slytherin locket in Kreature’s cabinet, and it’s a Horcrux. I’ve asked Narcissa to explain to those of you who don’t know what this is and how to deal with it,” Sirius said. Looking a bit grim and determined. “While I’m sorry Harry and his friends know about this, I don’t want any of them anywhere near this horror.”

Bill’s first thought was: why on earth would anyone think they could trust her? But if Sirius felt she was worth listening to, he’d at least think about what she had to say. He didn’t want any of the kids around anything that was remotely related to a Horcrux.

Narcissa nodded to Sirius.

But before she could say anything, Minerva cleared her throat. “Why should we trust anything you have to say?” she asked, looking directly at Narcissa.

Narcissa inclined her head. “I can see why you think you would have no reason to trust me. However, I do know something about the dark magic used to create one of these abominations. And make no mistake, they are as horrible and dark as can be imagined.”

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care?”

“I want my son to be safe. If the Dark Lord returns, Draco will not only not be safe but also very likely to be marked. Something that will corrupt his magic for the rest of his life. I want better for my son.”

“What about your husband,” she asked.

“Soon to be ex-husband,” Sirius replied, looking smug at that.

“I see,” McGonagall said with a small smile.

Well, that was a surprise. Bill thought she must care about her son’s future. Because what she described was true.

“Go on,” Sirius said.

Narcissa cleared her throat. “The thing about a Horcrux is that it is a remarkable act of evil. You must kill an innocent in a ritual and then tear your soul.”

McGonagall closed her eyes.

“However, with the right ritual, you can find the rest of them. I assume since I know of two, there are more than that. The Dark Lord was superstitious, so there are at least three or as many as seven.”

“Thank you,” Sirius said. “Do you know the ritual that he will use to reanimate himself?”

“I can only guess at that. I retrieved a book from the Black Library about Horcruxes and how the Dark Lord might regain a body. Obviously, we do not want that happening,” Narcissa said and placed the book on the table.

“Do you know the ritual for finding the rest of the Horcruxes he made,” Bill asked. “Does it take a coven or conclave to do it?”

“I believe that it can be done by anyone with enough power and the correct knowledge. The more powerful the being, the more likely the ritual spell will work. I can attempt it, or you can,” she said.

“I would be willing to try,” Bill said. “Or possibly we could do it together.”

She nodded. “I believe that might be best. Is there anyone else who would be willing to help?”

“I would,” McGonagall said.

“As would I,” Madam Bones said.

“We’d be grateful for your help, both of you,” Sirius said. “I don’t think I would be good for this. I’m not strong enough yet. And it needs to be done sooner rather than later.”

“I agree,” Narcissa said. “And we want to keep the children out of this.”

“Absolutely,” Sirius said. “Harry has been through enough.”

*****

Chapter 10

Harry met Aunt Min in Muggle London again, at the same café where he and Hermione had met. She cast a discrete silencing spell around them after they ordered.

He was pretty sure that Petunia wouldn’t mind him having her over, but he didn’t know what the wards would report to Dumbledore. He should ask about that. But not today. There were more important things for today.

“Harry,” McGonagall said. “How are you doing? Why did you ask to meet me here?”

“I was hoping that you would tell me what is going on with the Horcruxes and everything else,” Harry said. “Has Madam Bones found something to charge him with?”

“No, she has not,” Aunt Min said tartly. “I would not expect that to come for some time. And I told you to leave the Horcruxes to me and the adults.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant. Was she suddenly going to cut him out of everything? He wasn’t going to stand for that. “I have a right to know what’s going on.”

She raised an eyebrow. “How does that work?”

“I’m the one that has had to deal with this for three years. I’m the one who gave you the information in the first place. So, I am not going to let it go,” Harry said. “I need to make sure it’s done right.”

“When I became your Regent, it meant that I would take care of things for you, in your name. You are thirteen. You shouldn’t ever have to deal with the things you’ve been dealing with in the past.”

“I know how old I am. I’ll be fourteen in two weeks,” Harry said. “And it’s all well and good to say that now, but it’s too late. I’m involved.”

She sighed and pushed a strand of her hair back. “I understand that you feel responsible. But let me do this. You should not be involved with this kind of dark magic. It’s not good for you.”

Harry conceded that the thought of dealing with dark magic of any kind gave him shivers. “If I let you take care of it for me, I want you to tell me everything that’s happened. I need to know for myself. To know that I can trust you.”

She just looked at him. It seemed to Harry that she was considering what she should tell him. And she had to know that he wouldn’t trust her unless she told him the truth.

“All right,” she said. “We did a magical ritual to find the Horcruxes, and now we know where the rest of them are. And we’re making plans to retrieve them. You will have nothing to do with this.”

At least she was telling him what was going on. So, Harry nodded. “How will you destroy them?”

“There are only a few ways to do that. Basilisk venom is one way. Fiendfire is a second, but that is considerably more dangerous,” Aunt Min said with a sigh.

“Well, there’s a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets,” Harry pointed out. Though he doubted she’d forgotten about that.

Aunt Min gave him a look that said she did remember that. “We’re going to contact the Goblins to have them harvest it.”

“It’s two years old,” Harry said. “Won’t it have decayed?”

“It’s a magical creature, so no, we don’t believe it will have. It could last as long as ten years without noticeable decay.” She sighed. “There is a fortune to be made for you from the carcass. What would you like to do with it?”

Harry had no idea. And, of course, he actually knew very little about how that would work. “I don’t need any more money. What if we gave most of the profit to the people who were hurt by it?”

“That’s very generous of you, Harry. It’s quite a lot of money.”

Harry shrugged. As far as he could tell, he had more money than he could ever spend. “Aren’t I very rich already? I think that we should include Ginny in that list. She was a victim just like everyone else.”

“We shall work on that this coming month and get it done before school starts,” Aunt Min said. “I don’t believe the headmaster will appreciate your generosity.”

At this point, Harry really didn’t care what Dumbledore thought anymore. “But he doesn’t get a say. I know it belongs to me by right of conquest.”

“You are correct,” she said. “By every law in our world, conquering a beast such as that would mean it was yours. I’m just saying I doubt he’ll agree.”

“Is there anything he can do?” Harry asked.

“Nothing. Dumbledore can, and likely will, try to intimidate you enough to relinquish your claim. But if you refuse, then there will be nothing he can do,” she said.

“Thanks. I won’t relinquish my claim,” Harry said. And he meant it. He was so done with people telling him what to do for their own gain.

“I think in the future, when the headmaster calls you to his office, I will accompany you as your Regent.”

“That would be great. Thanks.” He hadn’t expected her to volunteer to do that.

“Now, do you have anything else you wish to discuss?”

“A couple of things. The Weasleys are going to move into Potter Manor next week, before my birthday. The wards are going to take a couple of weeks to complete. I don’t want them having to stay at the Leaky Cauldron.”

“It is your house. You may allow anyone you want to stay there. I’m sure the house elves will be beside themselves with joy to have a family to care for.”

Harry agreed. Denny had already sent him plans for everything the Weasleys might need. “I think Sirius is going to live there permanently with me. He hates Grimmauld Place.”

“I understand that. I believe he’s letting Narcissa and Draco Malfoy stay in Grimmauld Place,” Aunt Min said with a shiver. “If you’d like, I’ll also move in for a few weeks in August. Just to have a few more adults around.”

That Aunt Min would do that was another surprise. Also, “I hadn’t heard he’d talked to Narcissa,” Harry said.

“She was the one who conducted the spell that found the exact locations of the Horcruxes.”

“Wow. What about Malfoy?”

“I haven’t spoken to him since last term,” Aunt Min said. “You might check with Sirius about his status. I believe that Narcissa and her husband are now separated.”

“I’ll do that.” Harry also needed to talk to Sirius about a couple of other things. “And I think it would be great if you moved in too. There’s so much room there. But now, I need to get back to the Dursleys for dinner.”

*****

Harry took the tube back and walked to the Dursley’s house. He still half expected to be told he’d have to cook dinner and there would be no dinner for him.

Dudley was at the table studying. Pretty much where Harry had left him when he’d gone to meet Aunt Min. “Have you moved,” Harry asked as he came in.

“Not a lot,” Dudley said. “I need to get this stuff into my brain if I want to continue on with my class.”

“How is it going?” Harry said.

“It’s going pretty well, but there’s so much to catch up on. Plus, we’re supposed to be going on vacation in a couple of weeks, and I want to make sure I don’t have to study when I’m there.”

“Where is there,” Harry asked, not that it mattered. He wasn’t going.

“Majorca.”

“Aunt Marge coming?”

“No. I don’t think so,” Dudley said. “I heard her and Dad arguing the last time she was here. Last week, I think.”

“Really,” Harry said. He didn’t think Marge and Vernon had any problems with each other.

“Yeah,” Dudley said. “Apparently, she said something about Ripper missing you.”

Harry shuddered. He hated that dog. “Ripper needs another meal, you mean.”

Dudley laughed. “No. Dad said that Ripper wasn’t allowed to go near you anymore.”

Wow, that was so unexpected. “What did she say?”

“She looked surprised. And then asked what was going on with him. And then Dad said that if she couldn’t figure it out, then he wasn’t going to tell her. But if the dog bit you again, he’d have it put down.”

“She got up and yelled at him. And then left. So, no, she’s not going to come with us,” Dudley said.

Aunt Petunia came in and put some cookies and milk down in front of Dudley. She put a glass in front of him as well. “Have some cookies, Harry,” she said. “Dudley does not need to eat all of them.”

“She’s right, Harry. I’m only going to eat two or three. You can have the rest.”

Every time something like that happened, Harry was so startled that it took a second or two to respond. “Thanks, Aunt Petunia. I’ll have a few.” He bit into one. Oh, they were homemade chocolate chips. “Oh, that is so good,” he said.

“Glad you are enjoying them. The more you eat, the less Dudley and Vernon will eat. I’m not a fan of sweets, so you’re doing us all a favor.”

Harry smiled at her. “Thank you.”

“Oh, and before I forget, I heard you and Dudley discussing our trip to Majorca. I know you usually go and see your school friends in August, but do you want to go with us? You can easily bunk in with Dudley.”

Harry drew in a deep breath. He had not expected that, either. “Thank you so much for asking, but as you said, I need to see my friends. A lot is happening right now in the wizarding world, and I want to keep an eye on things.”

“Of course,” Petunia said. “But you’re welcome. When do you go back?”

“Probably in another week,” Harry said. “I’m going to try to come back right before school starts to see everyone. Otherwise, I’ll be back for a few weeks next summer.”

“You know you’re always welcome here,” Petunia said. “Now, can you help Dudley set the table for dinner?”

“Of course,” Harry said, smiling at her. Every time something like that happened, he was infuriated again at what Dumbledore took from him. Why had he hurt everyone in Harry’s family? But Harry knew the answer. He wanted to control Harry and probably the Potter fortune and title. Well, that wasn’t going to happen this time.

*****

“Dad,” Ron said, sticking his head into the storage room where his father kept his various muggle things. He was sitting at the workbench, sorting through some long, wirey-looking things. “Everything all right, Dad?”

“I think it will be once we get ourselves sorted out from what happened,” he said, looking at Ron. “Are you almost packed?”

“Mostly. I’m waiting for Mum or you to get it all into a trunk and shrink it down.”

“We’ll probably do that later today. I think we’re headed to Harry’s this afternoon.”

Ron was looking forward to being at Harry’s house. “I actually came here to ask some advice, but if you’re too busy –”

“I’m never too busy for you, son. What can I do for you?” his Dad asked, turning around completely to look at him.

This wasn’t as easy as he had hoped it would be. But Ron took a deep breath. “I wanted to ask you about a pureblood courtship.”

His Dad’s eyes widened a little. “Do you have someone in mind for it?”

“I do.” Ron looked down. “Once I stopped hating Slytherins, I remembered how much I liked her.”

“And does she like you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve kind of sneered at her for the last couple of years, but I was hoping she might, I don’t know. Maybe give me a chance.”

“Well, you’ve got nothing to lose in trying. Do you feel a connection to her?” Arthur asked. “Like you’d want her to like you back, only maybe more so?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” Ron said. He liked her. She might have liked him before he sneered at her. “She’s very pretty.”

“It would be beyond that,” he said. “I mean, does it feel like she will be important to you. When I was finally introduced to your mother, I knew she would be important to me. Even though she thought she was interested in someone else, she liked me, too.”

Ron thought about it. “Yes. If she accepts, I’ll do a full pureblood courtship for her. She would expect that. I think she’d be important enough to me for me to do that.”

“Do you know what’s expected at every step? I know your mother, and I never told you children all the details beyond the basics.”

“Do you know them?”

“My memory right now is a lot like Swiss cheese. So, no. And I suspect your mother’s memory is worse. She’d forgotten that she wanted to be a potions mistress. She was going to go back and finish it up after she’d had all of you. But by the time she got Ginny to Hogwarts, she didn’t think about it anymore.”

Merlin, Ron could not believe the hash Dumbledore had made of their lives. “Where can I find out?”

“The overall rituals are common knowledge. You were taught those when you were young. It is fine the details that are passed down from generation to generation that are the problem,” Arthur said.

“I guess you don’t remember if we have any specific Weasley traditions?” Ron asked.

Arthur shook his head. “You might talk to Bill about it. He might remember me telling him something. I’m sorry.”

“No problem. I’ll figure something out,” Ron said. He’d talk to Bill and maybe to Hermione. She probably only knew what Ron himself did. Which were the basic steps. “Thanks, Dad.”

*****

“Harry,” Ron called as he came through the main floo into Potter Manor. It was in an entrance hall, where a huge staircase curved up the wall towards the second floor.

Ron wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but this was someplace he thought that Malfoy would live. Not his best friend. He peered around. “Wow.”

“Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it?” Harry said, smiling. “Welcome to Potter Manor. Where is everyone else?”

“We’re here,” Fred said, stepping out of the floo and brushing off his clothes, then stepping away. “George is behind me.”

George came through next. He also looked around a little wide-eyed. “Wow. I’m sure I can get used to this.”

“Yeah, I know.” Harry shrugged. “I am not used to it yet. Where are your Mum and Dad? And Percy?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you that Percy got his own place a few weeks ago,” Ginny said as she stepped through.

“Oh, I think Bill told me that when I said you should all stay with me,” Harry said. “And your parents?”

Ginny shrugged. “Mum is still packing, and Dad is trying to help her. They should be here soon.”

“Which could mean anything from now until next week,” Fred said, laughing. And then looked around. “So, is there a map of this place?”

“Actually, I’ve been relying on the house elves to rescue me when I get lost,” Harry said. “Denny.”

He popped in. “How can I serve?” Denny asked.

Harry smiled at him. “Can you please take everyone upstairs and show them to their rooms.”

“I being happy to do that,” Denny said.

“Where is your luggage?” Harry asked.

“Shrunk down,” Ron said, pulling a cube out of his pocket. “Packed my whole room in seconds. All my Cannon’s posters, too.”

Harry laughed. “Feel free to decorate as you’d like.”

“Really?” Fred asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why not. Don’t permanently change anything. But other than that, make yourselves at home.”

“I’m actually not going to be staying that long,” Ginny said, and she looked down.

“Are you going to stay with another friend?” Harry asked.

“No. I’m changing schools,” she said. “I’m going to Salem Institute this term.”

“Wow.” Harry’s eyes got wide. And he looked at Ron. “You didn’t tell me?”

“I only found out yesterday. And it’s Ginny’s news,” Ron pointed out. “So, tell him the rest, Gin.”

“Ron, really. Some of that might be private,” Ginny said with a sigh.

“She’s right, Ron,” Harry said. “It might be none of my business.”

“Sorry,” Ron said. He did need to think before he spoke. It had been getting easier since they figured out the wards.

“But I guess I can tell you. I was cursed by Dumbledore to, well, to obsess over you. And I just need to get away from him and that. You need to be careful, Harry. He’s got plans for you that probably aren’t going to be in your best interest,” she said.

“Thanks, Ginny. I did know that. I’m going to make sure they don’t happen that way. Is there anything I can do to help?” Harry asked.

That was so Harry, Ron thought. He was always trying to help out.

She shook her head. “I think I’m good. I’m glad to be going to a new school with a new start.”

“All the rooms be ready, Master Harry,” Denny said.

“Just Harry,” Harry corrected. As if a house elf was going to listen to him on that. Ron suppressed a chuckle. “What time is dinner?”

“It be at 6:30 tonight. In the dining room.”

“Denny, please show everyone the dining room and then take them upstairs and unshrink their boxes. Also, can someone listen for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come through. We’ll all meet back in a few hours for dinner,” Harry said. “Ron, why don’t I show you your room myself? You’re right next to me.”

Ron nodded and followed Harry up the big staircase.

*****

Sirius was at the head of the table when Harry came down with Ron.

“Do you want to sit here, Harry? You are the Lord of this household.”

“You’re my guardian and a Lord in your own right. I’m not even fourteen. So, no. I’ll sit beside you, and Ron can sit beside me.”

“I’ll ask that again every year on your birthday,” Sirius said. “How does that sound?”

“It won’t change until after I’m seventeen,” Harry said. “I’m just glad you want to live here.”

Sirius smiled. “I’ve always loved this place.”

“So do I,” Harry said. “I told the Dursleys I’d be back before I went to school, but they are going on vacation and won’t be home for a few weeks.”

“Without you?” Ron asked knowingly.

“They asked if I wanted to come with them this year, but I need to do so much between now and the beginning of the term.”

“You could have gone,” Sirius said. “We’d get by without you.”

Harry heard the floo sound, and then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rushed in.

“I’m sorry we’re late. We were packing things up right until the last minute,” Mrs. Weasley said.

“That’s fine,” Harry said. “I’m glad you made it in time for dinner.”

“Everything done, Molly?” Sirius asked.

“Yes, thanks.” She sighed. “I found a lot of my old potions work. I’d mostly forgotten that I’d gotten most of the way through my apprenticeship for my mastery.”

Everyone looked a little startled by that. Except Arthur. “Could you finish it, Mum?” Ginny asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’d need to find a potions master who would be willing to continue with me. I’d probably need a lot of review.” She sounded a little disappointed.

“But you could,” Ron said. “You should try. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but maybe Professor Snape might be willing to work with you. I bet if you volunteered to teach some of his first-year classes, he might.”

Everyone at the table blinked at Ron.

Harry laughed. “Wow, Ron. That’s a great idea.”

“Yes, son, that is,” Arthur agreed.

Molly looked a little shocked by it, but she was smiling at her son, too. “I’ll send him an owl and see what he thinks about it. Especially teaching his first years. Of course, I’ll need to study up for it. It might have to wait until after the new year.”

She sounded excited by the thought.

“We should have dinner,” Harry said, and the first course appeared on the table. Everyone started to eat.

*****

A few days later

Aunt Min moved in after his birthday and made sure Harry had done his homework, even though it wasn’t due for a month. When Ron produced his, she was astounded, especially since it was well done. And Harry pointed out what Dumbledore had done to the wards, and how it affected Ron, as well as the rest of the Weasleys.

She sighed. “We’ll need to move quickly to fix Hogwarts before the headmaster returns. I have spoken with the Goblins, and they have provided distinct runes for each of the common rooms and each of the teacher’s quarters. This will help mitigate a lot of the problems.”

“Do you know when?” Harry asked. “And were those the only places that were warded?”

“No. The whole castle is warded in one way or another. And the wards on the school itself are in ruins. But we can’t fix everything at one time. He’d notice,” she said, sounding disgusted. “And we have about a week. In that time, we also need to harvest the Basilisk carcass.”

“I can help with the carcass, you know, since I can open the chamber. Maybe have the Goblins come with me,” Harry said and looked at her expression. “Maybe have an adult come with me as well. But you can do the runes to mitigate whatever wards he’d put into the teacher’s quarters. And maybe Ron, Hermione, and I can do Gryffindor. I would say the rest of the common rooms, but I’m not sure you’d let us.”

“You are correct,” Aunt Min said. “I believe that Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout can do that. I will let you do the Gryffindor common room.”

“Thanks. We can do it this coming week,” Harry said. “I want as much settled as possible.”

“I’ll contact the Goblins for you and let you know when. I don’t believe it will take long.”

*****

Chapter 11

August 1

Harry walked beside McGonagall as they made their way up the lawn from the gate where she’d apparated him.

It was a lovely birthday party yesterday, for a change. He’d gotten a card from the Dursleys. That was a first. And Petunia had made a box of chocolate cookies for him, which warmed his heart and made him hate Dumbledore even more. No matter what happened in the future, he would never get past that betrayal.

The Weasleys had settled into the manor nicely. Molly had tried to take over the kitchen, but Denny and the elves refused to yield. And really, it was their home. Harry wasn’t going to get between them. But in the end, Molly had been surprisingly good-natured about it, and then, Denny agreed that she could help with the cooking, if she left all the cleaning to them.

He was meeting the Goblins to help them get into the chamber. Aunt Min said that Bill Weasley and Professor Snape would be overseeing the rendering of the snake.

“When will the Goblin’s be here?” Harry asked as he held the door open for Aunt Min.

“They will all floo in soon,” she looked at the clock, and the floo chimed. After unlocking it, three goblins and Bill Weasley arrived. A moment later, so did Professor Snape.

He didn’t say anything but nodded to everyone. Even Harry.

“This is Tinderhook, Rockkiller, and Dragonslance,” Bill said, pointing out which Goblin went with which name.

Harry made note of who was who. He’d already learned better than to get a Goblin’s name wrong. “Thank you for coming,” Harry said, bowing slightly. “The entrance to the Chamber is in the second-floor girls’ toilet,” Harry said. “There’s a sink with a snake-engraved sink tap. I need to tell it to open in Parseltongue.”

Everyone turned to look at him. Bill had his eyebrow raised. “Really? That’s it?” he asked.

Harry nodded.

“We should go,” Aunt Min said. “We don’t have a lot of time before the headmaster gets back into town. I’m not sure how long it will take to process the carcass.”

“We’ll take it with us today, whole,” Tinderhook said.

“It’s kind of big,” Harry said.

“How big?” Bill asked. “I mean, you killed it when you were twelve.”

“It was sixty meters, maybe,” Harry said, trying to remember. He’d been terrified, so he might not have estimated that well.

Bill looked at him like he was crazy. Aunt Min had seen his memory. The three goblins just nodded. And Snape didn’t say anything or have much of an expression on his face.

Harry wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Let’s go,” Aunt Min said, holding out her hand.

Harry led them to the toilet and was surprised when Moaning Myrtle wasn’t there. He wondered where she was. He pointed to the tap and said, “Open,” in Parseltongue.

The sink retracted, and there was a hole leading down to the Chamber of Secrets’ tunnel.

Aunt Min looked dubious. “How do we get down there?”

“Lockhart, Ron, and I slid down the pipe,” Harry said. He’d assumed that was the only way.

“Try asking for stairs or at least a ladder,” Bill suggested.

“Stairs,” Harry said in Parseltongue. And they shimmered into being. “Wow. I never thought of that.”

Bill smiled. “You were a little distracted trying to rescue Ginny the last time.”

“True. We should go,” Harry said, going first down the stairs. Everyone followed him down.

Debris was everywhere, and they had to pick their way around it. Finally, they were in the chamber, and the basilisk was still there, just where he’d left it just over a year ago. It was huge, too. Much bigger than Harry remembered it being.

The three goblins moved towards it and started to measure it.

“Sweet Merlin,” Snape said, looking at Harry. “You killed that thing at twelve?”

It didn’t sound like he didn’t believe that Harry had done it, but he sounded, well, surprised, maybe.

“You fought and killed that beast at twelve,” Bill asked, his tone shocked. “To save my sister? Our family will forever be in your debt.”

“No. No. You’re not. I don’t want you or your family to be indebted to me,” Harry said plaintively. “All the bad things that happened to your family with Dumbledore were my fault.”

“No,” Bill said harshly. “It’s not your fault. If fault needs to be assigned, it is on Dumbledore. Never you.”

“Bill is correct, Harry,” McGonagall said. “It’s not your fault. The fault rests squarely with the headmaster. He should not have allowed any of the things that happened to you to take place.”

Tinderhook took out a saw, and he and Rockkiller started to cut the basilisk in half and then into quarters. They pulled out a shrunken trunk and expanded it, put the pieces of the snake into the trunk, and then it shrunk again. Dragonslayer put it into his pocket and turned to Harry. “We will give you a detailed voucher for the carcass when we have completely rendered it.”

“I need to keep some of the venom,” Harry said. “I’m not sure how much.” He looked at McGonagall.

“Surely only a few drops would be needed.” McGonagall looked at Bill. “What do you think?”

Bill shrugged. “That would make sense with how corrosive the venom is. We should probably get a small container, just to make sure.”

“We can give you as much as you wish. The rest will sell for a lot of galleons,” Dragonslayer said. “We’ll take our eight percent cut, and the rest will be paid out to you.”

Harry nodded. “We’re done here?”

“Yes.”

They moved back towards the stairs. McGonagall went up the stairs first, followed by Dragonslayer, who had the trunk in his pocket. Then, the other Goblins followed him.

Harry went up next. As he was going up, he stepped wrong, and his foot started to slip off the step. Bill tried to catch him, but they both tumbled back down the stairs, with Harry landing hard on top of Bill. The wind was knocked out of them both. Harry struggled to move off Bill and sit up.

Despite being out of breath from the fall, Harry felt strange. Lightheaded. And weirdly focused on Bill for the time he was touching him. When he finally got to his feet, he didn’t feel whatever it was anymore.

Bill didn’t look too good. His face was red, and he was bent over, breathing hard.

“I’m so sorry, Bill,” Harry said, putting a hand on Bill’s arm to steady him. “I don’t know how that happened. I can’t believe I tripped like that.”

Bill choked out a laugh. “Don’t worry. Anyone could have tripped on those old stairs. You’re all right?”

“Yes. Are you? You look like you’re still out of breath.”

McGonagall came back down and looked at them both. “All right?” she asked.

“Fine,” Bill said. “I should get back to work now.”

“I would like to go home,” Snape said. “I still have two more weeks before I’m required back here.”

“Actually, if both of you have a few minutes, I’d like to ask a favor,” McGonagall said. “Severus, I need you to cut these runes into my quarters, probably at the base of the fireplace.” She handed Snape a parchment.

He looked at it and nodded. “I will take care of this before I go home.”

“And me, Minerva?” Bill asked. He looked a little better now. “I assume you want me to do the same thing?”

“Yes. To Severus’ quarters.” She handed him a separate piece of parchment. “I’ll see Harry home. The Goblins have already left with the carcass and will be in touch.”

“Did you want anything in particular from the snake, Professor Snape?” Harry asked. He could be decent about it.

“Whatever you’d like to give me would be most welcome,” Snape said politely. Or what passed for it with him. He looked surprised that Harry offered.

“If you could just make a list and give it to Professor McGonagall, I’ll see that you get it. I want the bulk of the snake to be sold because it’s going to go to the victims of it,” he turned to Bill. “That includes Ginny and Ron.”

Bill looked like he might argue but then just sighed. “I’m not saying anything.”

“Good,” McGonagall said. “I meant to tell you earlier. You can tell your parents I’ve refunded Ginny’s tuition for the fall term. It should already be back in their account.”

“Thank you,” Bill said. “That’s going to help a lot.”

McGonagall turned to Harry. “Come along, we’ll get you home, and then I’ll floo back for a bit.”

Harry wanted to argue, but he could tell she wasn’t going to let him stay. “All right,” he said and followed her back upstairs and to the floo.

*****

Just as Bill was getting ready to floo home, Minerva stepped through. She used her wand to dust off and then looked at him.

“I’ve seen that happen before,” she said. “He’s too young.”

“I’m well aware of his age. I’m going to go back to Egypt as soon as I possibly can. Nothing can come of this.”

“Well, not now, of course, but he won’t be fourteen forever,” Minerva said. She seemed amused.

“But he will always be ten years younger than I am. I’m appalled by this,” Bill said. He was not ready to deal with this possibility. He might never be ready.

“Oh, stop being dramatic, Bill. It’s not the end of the world,” she looked at him. “Unless there’s someone else, now.”

He shook his head. “No. But I’m twenty-four.”

“And if you want it, you’ll have to wait five or six years.” She cleared her throat. “If you do wait, it will be worth it.”

“You seem to know something about that. Did you have a bond with someone?” Bill asked, wondering if that was too personal a question to ask her.

But she nodded, looking a little sad. “I did. But our time together was short. I don’t regret it, though.”

“He wasn’t younger than you like this,” Bill asked.

“No. But my man passed young, and I had a small child, so I couldn’t go with him,” she said quietly. “And there were other lovers after him, but none close to that.”

“This seems insurmountable to me. I can’t ask him to wait for all the things I’ve already done,” Bill said. “I want him to have those experiences. I’m not going to ask him to wait.”

Minerva shook her head. “I believe it would be worth the wait. But it will be your choice. And his, of course. He isn’t likely to know what just happened. I’m sure he felt something but has no reference to what it might have been.”

“And you will not tell him,” Bill ordered. “I want your promise on that.”

She laughed. “I’m his regent. Do not think to be telling me what I can and cannot do, Mr. Weasley. I’m not likely to listen to that malarkey.”

“Please. I can’t even think about this now. I don’t want him to get any ideas,” Bill said. He could not deal with Harry yet.

“Unless he asks, I will not tell him what happened. He’s far too young to deal with it, and he’s going to have too many other things this term. The headmaster will not be pleased with the choices Harry has made.”

Bill nodded. “Of that, I am sure.”

*****

Severus settled into the comfortable chair in his office. With ten days until school started, he felt more energetic than he had in years. He had gotten a note from Molly Weasley asking about finishing an apprenticeship she’d begun twenty-six years ago. The offer of teaching his first years was almost enough to make him jump at the idea. But did he want to spend that much time with her? She was…well, he had no idea what she might be like now that she was free of the wards Dumbledore had her laboring under.

Maybe he should interview her. He would give a lot not to have to deal with the first years. Or would he? Would he enjoy teaching now that the wards that made him insane were mitigated? Probably not. And maybe he didn’t even care to find out. He could assume that he would enjoy the older students, who, after their OWLs, chose to be in his class.

After a minute or two more thought, he wrote a quick note to Molly saying that they should talk and could she floo over to the school sometime this week.

When he returned from the owlery, his floo pinged. He was expecting Draco, so he unlocked it. Draco stepped out and brushed the ash from his robes. There was something about him that made Severus take note. It wasn’t usual for him to be so, what, relaxed seemed the wrong word when applied to his Godson.

“Severus,” Draco said with a slight bow.

“Draco. You wished to speak to me before classes started?” Severus waved him to a seat.

“I did,” Draco said.

“Do you want some tea or pumpkin juice? I can have an elf bring you something.”

Draco just shook his head and remained silent for a moment. “Neither my mother nor I are living at Malfoy Manor anymore.”

Well, that was certainly a surprise. Not an unwelcome one, given that his dark mark had been getting darker all summer, which did not bode well for Severus’ life expectancy. “Where are you living?” Though Severus could make a guess.

“Grimmauld Place,” Draco confirmed.

And surprisingly, the thought of Sirius Black did not have much power over him anymore. He had been a thorn in Severus’ side in school and surely a part of the reason that Severus had joined the Dark Lord. But Black was not to blame for all of it. It was Severus’ own mistake, and believing the promises he’d been given was his own damned fault. He was young and stupid. And had paid a dear price for that stupidity.

The rest of his problems with his life, he could lay at Dumbledore’s feet. But that was not something he needed to worry about today.

“Black has let you and your mother live there?” Severus asked. But clearly, he knew the answer.

Draco nodded. “In theory, in exchange for cleaning it up. It’s a disaster. And that elf, Kreature. He’s literally insane. Some dark artifact or something made him totally crazy. Sirius sent him to the healers at Gringotts to see if they could help. He didn’t sound like he believed that was going to happen.

“Do you know what artifact?” Severus asked, careful to keep his tone in the normal range. He had a theory about how the Dark Lord survived.

Draco shrugged. “A Horcrux or something like that. I don’t remember exactly. Mother said it was very dark magic and that she and some other people were looking for them.”

That would have been why Harry Potter needed basilisk venom. “I could be of service to your mother, if she wished.”

“I’ll mention that to her. But she will probably need an unbreakable vow from you. Given where your supposed loyalties lie.”

“You don’t seem to agree with my…loyalties?” Severus asked. He could not believe that Draco could change his mind so thoroughly in such a short time.

“I don’t like being hurt. I have been told that, like my father, the Dark Lord prefers Cruciatus or a whip spell when someone displeases him. I have had enough of that already.” Draco shivered and looked distressed.

Severus wondered if he should even believe him. “I see.”

“My father has said more than once that you’re a spy for the light. But that you are also useful to the Dark Lord.”

That was undoubtedly true. “I am not going to comment on any of that. Why have you come here today? I do not believe that telling me you’re living in Sirius Black’s home was it, or at least not all of it.”

“He’s actually not living there. From what he’s said, he hates Grimmauld Place. He and Potter, along with several of the Weasleys, are living in Potter Manor. I think he said Professor McGonagall is there as well.”

“Old home week,” Severus said without his usual rancor. It shouldn’t surprise him that they had gathered there. It was all beyond Dumbledore’s reach. But he didn’t care. “So, there was something else?”

“My mother has asked Sirius to annul her marriage and for him to take me into the Black family Magic.”

“That will change your status in Slytherin.” And whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. The Black magic was strong. Stronger than the Malfoy magic, that was for sure. But Black wasn’t likely to come out in support of the Dark Lord, so that could make Draco’s life more difficult. Though, if they do prevent the Dark Lord from returning at all, things might change for the better. Severus could live in hope.

Draco nodded. “I don’t know how that’s going to work with Slytherin. I will need to watch my back.”

“You will indeed. I won’t be able to help you if you go against the Dark Lord. But as you know, there is a large neutral contingent, and you should cultivate them.”

“I need to extract myself from Pansy Parkinson. She’s got it into her head that I’m going to court her.” Draco grimaced.

“At least until she finds out you’re not going to support the Dark Lord.”

“I don’t want to tip my hand on that until I must,” Draco said. “But I will not be courting her no matter what.”

“Do you have an idea who you might court?”

“No. I have to stay well within the neutral lines to continue to be acceptable to Sirius.”

“I believe you are correct with that assessment,” Severus said. “Will he make you his heir?”

Draco shook his head. “He’s already made Harry Potter his heir, and I was told to accept it and him or go back to my father.”

“Which would not be conducive to your continued health.”

“I don’t want to be forced to take the Dark Mark. My mother has already told me what it did to my father.” Draco looked at him. “Why didn’t it affect you as much?”

Severus had asked himself that question many times. He’d been all in on the Death Eaters for a very short time. He regretted his decision within weeks of having made it. But there was no leaving. And those who did try, such as Regulus, became examples to the rest of the followers as to what would happen if you changed your mind.

“I do not know,” Severus said truthfully. “I have repented my actions for many years. I also tried to avoid doing anything truly heinous.”

“I don’t want to do any of that,” he looked at Severus. “That doesn’t mean I believe that Muggles or Muggle-borns are equal to us. They make a mockery of our traditions.”

“Are you so sure they just don’t know about them? Even Granger has been set up to fail. She only has access to the books she can find at bookstores in England or the library at Hogwarts. There are literally no books on Wizarding Culture in either of those places.”

“Of course not. You learn that at home,” Draco said arrogantly.

“So, how do you expect Muggle-born students to learn your culture, exactly,” Severus tried to rein in his temper.

“Well, you learned it,” Draco pointed out.

“There was a class at Hogwarts all Muggle-born and muggle-raised students were required to take. That class hasn’t existed in twenty years. And, if you remember, my mother was a pureblood, and she taught me much of what I needed to know before I started school.”

“What happened to the class?” Draco asked. But he sounded annoyed to hear it was a class, rather than osmosis or something else, that allowed Muggle-born students to learn what they needed to know to survive in the wizarding world.

“It was removed from the curriculum.”

“By Dumbledore?” Draco asked. “Why would he do that? How would that serve his purpose?”

“Indeed, why would he?” Severus prompted.

Draco was not stupid. His eyebrows went up, and his mouth dropped open. “Because he wants the Muggle-borns to fail? I can’t believe that.”

“I would believe what I see and what I know.”

“But he’s supposed to be the leader of the light,” Draco said. But there was finally some understanding on his face and in his eyes.

“Self-appointed,” Severus pointed out. Which should have been their first hint.

“You don’t serve him?”

“No. I owe nothing to Dumbledore.” He’d betrayed Severus enough so that all of his vows to Dumbledore were now void. Although there was nowhere else for him to go yet, there would come a time when he’d walk away from here. Or die trying.

Again, Draco’s eyes were wide with shock. “I thought…you did.”

“Enough of this. Was there anything else you wished to speak to me about?”

Draco shook his head. Clearly, still back on what Severus had said.

“Then, please inform your mother that I might be useful to her,” Severus said and stood.

His manners were perfect. Draco stood as well and moved back to the fireplace. He nodded once to Severus and threw the floo powder into the fireplace.

*****

Bill reached his father’s office door in the Ministry and paused before knocking. He wasn’t sure about telling his father about what happened with Harry, but as the heir, he had to. Not that he actually thought that anything could come of it. The age gap between them was just too big. And, possibly in the future, it might be okay. Now, he couldn’t think about it. So, maybe he could wait.

Except that, if he did and something did happen later, his father would be rightly furious that he hadn’t said anything. He’d always been told if this happened, it was something he had to tell his father about immediately. It just was making it official that he was worried about it. And given the disparities in their ranks in the wizarding world, it was even more of an imperative.

Though what his father could do about it, Bill didn’t know. Arthur was still having problems with his memory. So, maybe he should wait.

The door opened, and his father was standing there. “I could almost hear you thinking as you walked back and forth.”

Bill laughed. “I have something I need to tell you, and I’ve been worried about it.”

“Do you want to come into the office or maybe go for some lunch outside?” Arthur asked.

“Lunch sounds like an excellent idea,” Bill said. “I haven’t eaten anything today.”

Arthur chuckled. “Don’t let your mother hear you say that.”

“Would you mind if we went to a Muggle restaurant?” Bill asked. “I can cast a discrete muffling charm, and we could talk.”

Now, Arthur looked surprised. “Is it that important?”

Bill just nodded. He’d tried several of the Muggle restaurants around the Ministry and around Diagon Alley as well. He and his father walked a short distance to a decent diner.

His father gamely went in and looked around, looking surprised that it looked like a regular wizarding restaurant.

They were seated, and Arthur looked at the menu. “How does the money work?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Bill said and shook his head when Arthur would have argued. “Do you want me to order for you?”

“No. I’ll have the Irish stew. I’m going to assume it’s close to what your mum makes?”

“Probably not as good, but yes. There are many crossovers.” Bill ordered for both of them when the waitress came by. As well as coffee for his Dad and a Coke for himself.

“I’m surprised you’re so well-versed in Muggle London,” Arthur said, sipping his coffee.

“I like to know what’s around me,” Bill said, taking a bite of his stew before he said anything else. “So, apparently, I’ve felt a pull for someone.”

Arthur dropped his spoon. “Seriously. That usually doesn’t happen at your age.”

He cleared his throat. “It’s probably not going to happen at all. I’m much older than he is.”

“How much?” Arthur asked tentatively.

And Bill could see his father was already figuring it out. “Ten years.”

“Well, that’s a surprise. You both must be very compatible for it to happen that way,” Arthur said, and there was some amount of amusement in his tone, almost like Minerva.

“You don’t have anything to say about that age gap? Because from where I’m sitting, it’s insurmountable.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bill. It’s only a five or six year wait. Maybe not even that since he’s fairly mature for his age.”

Bill wanted to bury his face in his hands. Only five or six years. To him, this wasn’t even that much. “But what about all the things that kids do at that age, and that if he finds out, he won’t do.”

“Most of us find this at an early age. We meet a compatible partner, and that’s it.”

“That didn’t happen with you and Mom,” because Bill knew the truth about what happened there.

“It didn’t exactly. Your mum was stubborn about it. But in the end, she saw the truth of it. She and I are very compatible. And we understand each other well.”

Well, he wasn’t going to argue about what was true. “That isn’t going to work with him and me. I’m too old for him.”

“Now. Certainly. But don’t throw away a chance for something good because you have to wait for it,” Arthur said.

“It isn’t me waiting for him that’s the problem. It’s him. He shouldn’t have to wait.” Bill would not ask that of anyone.

“Did you ask him how he felt about it?” Arthur asked.

“I’m not even sure he recognized what happened.”

“So, you’re going to make a unilateral decision for both of you?” Arthur sounded disapproving.

“I’m the adult here,” Bill said. Even to himself, that sounded unfair.

“Then you should not be making a decision without at least talking to him.” Clearly, his father thought it sounded unfair, too.

“No. I am not talking to a fourteen-year-old about this. I’ll wait a while before I do anything. Maybe next summer.” Bill sighed. “If I could go back to Egypt, I would.”

“If it were possible, that would be a good idea.” Arthur shook his head. “I don’t know what the situation is with all of that. I know Sirius is working on something.”

“Yes. I’m helping with that. I think it should all be resolved in the next few months.” Or at least Bill hoped it would be. The sooner he could remove himself from this situation, the better. “You know what, Dad, I think I’ll wait until he comes to me.”

“He will figure it out eventually,” Arthur said with a laugh. “Are you going to tell me who it is explicitly?”

“Do I need to?” Bill asked. He wondered if his father already knew.

“Yes. But for you, not for me,” Arthur said. “I’m pretty sure I can guess, given the number of fourteen-year-olds that you’ve had access to is pretty limited right now.”

Bill sighed. “Harry Potter.”

Arthur nodded, unsurprised. “You’ll definitely need to wait for him.”

And Bill would wait. Maybe he could date while he was waiting, but even as he thought about it, it didn’t seem likely.

*****

Chapter 12

Harry came down to breakfast, and Sirius was sitting at the table, holding a letter. “Good morning,” he said without looking up.

“Everything all right?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” Sirius said. “He wants to see you.”

“Who? Someone who was friends with my parents?” Harry asked.

“Remus Lupin,” Sirius said that kind of blankly.

“He was a good teacher. But he’s supposed to be very loyal to Dumbledore,” Harry said. “I’m not sure I want to see him, especially if he wants to make me do something Dumbledore wants me to do.”

“The situation with him is complex. He has reason to be loyal to Dumbledore. He allowed Remus to come to Hogwarts to be educated, even though he was a werewolf,” Sirius said with a sigh.

“What about all the other children who were werewolves?”

“They weren’t allowed to attend a wizarding school. For obvious reasons.” Sirius said that by rote as if he’d been told it repeatedly.

Harry wasn’t going to address that issue.

“You were the ones who ran with him as his pack,” Harry said. “I would think he owed you more loyalty than he does to Dumbledore.”

“One would have thought that. But he didn’t.” Sirius sighed. “He wasn’t that good a friend, after all.”

“Or very responsible,” Harry pointed out. “Lupin forgot his potion and almost killed us. Actually, it was Snape who protected us.”

Sirius just nodded. “And he never came to see me in Azkaban. Just like every other wizard or witch, he just believed what he was told. Unfortunately, the wizarding world is like that. They believe what they are told to believe.”

That wasn’t the first time Harry had heard that. Why did everyone just accept that? “In that case, we should buy the Daily Prophet and be the ones influencing what they believe.”

Sirius just looked at him. And then smiled widely. “That’s a good idea. I’m sure between us we could probably afford it. Do you have any interest in journalism?”

Harry shook his head. “I have no idea what I want to do. Aside from surviving long enough to decide.”

“You should not be worrying about that.” Sirius held up a hand. “I know. This is your life. And it shouldn’t be this way at all.”

“I agree. But there are now people who are helping me. I would have had to do this all on my own. Well, with Ron and Hermione.” But both of them were laboring under wards and curses that hampered them.

“You’ve got good friends there,” Sirius said. “Arthur said that you and his kids are all going shopping next week. Bill and Charlie will be taking you.”

The thought of seeing Bill again was a good one. “No one told me that, but that’s good. I haven’t met Charlie yet. I also need new clothes. Everything is getting short again.”

“Growing boys,” Sirius said with a laugh.

*****

“Harry,” Ron called. “Come meet my brother!”

Harry hurried into the room. “Which one?”

“Which one haven’t you met yet?” Someone with a deep voice asked. He was shorter than Bill and powerfully built with thick, muscled arms and legs. He looked like he could definitely handle dragons. His red hair wasn’t as bright as Ron’s was but redder than Bill’s auburn. It was so strange that all the Weasleys had different shades of red.

“You?” Harry said and held out his hand. “It’s good to meet you, Charlie.”

Charlie’s grip was firm, too. But he didn’t try to over squeeze Harry’s hand. “Good to meet you, too. I’ve certainly heard a lot about you from my family.”

Harry liked that. “I hope it was all good.”

“Very good,” Charlie agreed. “Are we almost ready to go?” He directed the question to Ron.

“Just waiting for Ginny,” he said. “Where’s Bill?”

“He’s going to meet us there since we have to go to Gringotts first anyway,” Charlie said. “And Hermione is meeting us there, too.”

“Charlie!” Ginny said, coming into the room and hugging her brother. “So, good to see you.”

“I hear you’re going to a new school. Are you excited about it? We’ll be outfitting you right for it.”

“Thanks! I am so excited. It’s going to be great. I leave next week so that I can be there in enough time to settle in. Mum and Dad are coming with me.” She was smiling widely. “Let’s get going.”

Before they could leave, Molly came in and hugged Charlie tightly. “You’ll be here for dinner, I hope?”

“Sure Mom. But we need to get going,” Charlie said.

“Behave all of you,” Molly said. “Where are Fred and George?”

“They left an hour ago to meet Angelina and Lee in the Alley,” Ron said.

Molly just nodded. “I need to get back to my potion.” And she bustled back out.

“She’s really into that, isn’t she?” Harry said to Ron.

He just nodded. “I think it’s good. Mum’s less focused on us.”

“Bill said she’s thinking about finishing her mastery in potions,” Charlie said. “I think that’s great, too. We should get going.”

Harry picked up the floo powder and called out, Leaky Cauldron.”

*****

Hermione and Bill were waiting for them at Gringotts, and they headed for Madam Malkin’s after that. They all needed basic school robes and then dress robes as well as school clothes. Then, there was a surprise visit to Gladrags.

“Why are we stopping here,” Ron asked. “We can’t afford this.”

“You can today,” Bill said, smiling. “We’re going to outfit both of you in style.”

Ron’s eyes got wide. “Really? Why?”

“Because we can,” Charlie said. “Unless you want to get something secondhand.”

“No. No. Thanks,” Ron said quickly, opening the door. “Come on, Harry, let’s see what they have here.”

Both Ginny and Ron got several new outfits, and Harry was encouraged to get some new wizarding casual clothes, too.

He couldn’t care less. But he did get Sirius a T-shirt with a black dog on it. Harry got himself some jeans and trainers.

It was weird, but he kept wanting to turn around and look at Bill. He couldn’t understand why. But he found Bill very, well, good-looking, he guessed. But he knew there was nothing he could do about it. Truthfully, there was nothing he wanted to do about it. Bill was friendly, but he was too much older than Harry for it to matter. He guessed he could have a crush on Bill if he wanted. Not that he’d ever tell anyone, ever, about it.

They were totaling up their purchases, and having them bagged and then shrunk, when Draco Malfoy came into the shop with his mother.

Bill nodded to her. “Narcissa. Good to see you.”

“And you, Bill. I don’t think you’ve met my son, Draco.”

Bill held out his hand, and Draco hesitated a split second before taking it. “Good to meet you, Bill. You’re the curse breaker, correct.”

“Yes,” Bill said, smiling. “This is my brother Charlie.” He held out a hand to indicate him. “Charlie, this is Narcissa Malfoy and her son, Draco.”

“It’s going to be Black again very soon. It’s good to meet you, Charlie,” she said, shaking hands with him as well.

Draco nodded to him.

Bill turned back to Narcissa. “Do you know the rest of my family? And Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.”

She nodded to them. “I’m pleased to meet all of you.”

“Potter, Granger, Weasley,” Draco said. But he didn’t make any disparaging remarks. In fact, Harry could not remember him this quiet or withdrawn. It was surprising. But given that his parents were divorcing, that might not be so surprising.

“Malfoy,” Ron said. Not exactly pleasantly, but not in the way he might have not that long ago.

The remainder of their packages were shrunk and pocketed. And they were ready to go.

“Flourish and Blotts next,” Hermione said hopefully as they finally exited the shop.

“Sure thing, Hermione,” Bill said, sounding indulgent.

*****

They returned home about the same time Arthur got back to the manor from work. Ginny was eager to show her mum and dad all the clothes they had bought. Molly looked like she might object, but Bill held up his hand. “I told you I’d do this. And Charlie also wanted to.”

Arthur huffed. “Thank you. I could not have afforded this much for them this year. Not after World Cup Tickets.”

“Why did you spend all that money on World Cup tickets?” Ginny asked. “It didn’t seem that important.”

Arthur looked down. There was a red spot on both of his cheeks. He took a breath and faced his children. “Albus suggested it as a good experience for Harry. When I told him we couldn’t afford it, he just laughed and said, yes, we could. And that was all he needed to do. That was months ago.”

Harry started to say something. But Arthur put up his hand. “It’s just one more thing, Harry. In a long list of things that man has done to our family.” The anger in Arthur’s voice was tangible. “This is partly our own fault. We trusted him when we knew better than to let anyone who was not family touch our wards.”

Harry sighed. “I think a lot of people did.”

“Not as many as you’d think. Not with their wards. Many heads of house swear to only allow the family to add to the wards as part of their oath to the house. That is the new Weasley policy, too. I’ve sworn to it.”

“Someday, I’d like to help with your wards.” Harry was powerful enough to add to them. But it wasn’t likely at this point.

“Despite your power, you’re a little too young now, son. And it won’t happen at all unless I adopt you or you marry one of my children.” Arthur laughed.

“Probably not adoption,” Harry said. He felt compelled to look at Bill, but he looked away before he could be caught. “I’m not going to marry anyone right now, either.”

“And if you were getting married now, it wouldn’t be one of mine.” Arthur glanced across the room and smiled.

Harry looked down and then across the room. He wasn’t even sure what it was, but Bill felt nice to be around. He needed to figure it out before he said anything else.

Arthur chuckled, and he seemed more pleased than some people were. “That’s for another time.”

Harry couldn’t argue with that. So, he didn’t say anything else. Ginny was still showing her mum everything she got. She reached out and hugged Bill again. Thanking him.

*****

“I saw Draco Malfoy in Diagon Alley yesterday,” Harry said as he sat down next to Sirius in the drawing room.

Sirius looked up. “And?”

“He was pretty subdued and didn’t say anything nasty to anyone. It was strange,” Harry said.

“It’s been a hard couple of weeks for him. As my heir, you should know that he will be a Black before he goes back to school.”

“I can’t believe he’s going to give up his Malfoy heritage,” Harry said. He’d learned enough about family magic to realize that was a significant thing.

“The Black magic will sustain him,” Sirius said. “One of the conditions for that is that he has to accept you as the Black heir.”

“I’m surprised he’d do that. Given how he always bragged about his father and his influence.”

“He now knows that it was bought with Black galleons. And his father did not treat him well.”

Harry had never considered that. “How not well?”

“His father treated him worse than the Dursleys treated you. He was regularly beaten,” Sirius said quietly.

Harry sucked in a deep breath. That was horrible. “But why did he always defend his father.”

“He did what he was told to do. And it was never enough. Many pureblood traditional families consider the patriarch the last word on what is said and done.”

That was terrible. And so old-fashioned. At this point, Harry knew that was what the wizarding world was all about. “So, he was actually happy to get away from his father.”

“I’m not sure happy would be the word I’d use for it, but he was relieved. Even if it meant giving up the Malfoy family magic. Which has to have some of Lucius’ corruption interwoven in it at this point.”

“Why doesn’t the Black magic have that. Many of your family took the dark mark,” Harry pointed out.

“My grandfather never took it. Which is what saved the family magic from taint. And I’ll never take it. And neither will you. So, it will be pure.”

“Pure?” Harry asked.

“Toujours Pur. It means purity of our magic, not blood, as some want to believe,” Sirius said. “I’d like for you and Draco to get along. But I understand that too much has already happened for that to be a likelihood.”

“I can try, if he is willing,” Harry said. “I think it’s going to be harder for him since he’s got prejudicial views on people’s blood status. I am not going to let him insult my friends. Especially Hermione.”

Sirius nodded. “Good enough.”

*****

Chapter 13

They had taken a portkey to the Quidditch World Cup games. Harry hadn’t liked the landing at all. He’d slammed into the ground. So did Ron and Hermione. Though Cedric Diggory, who’d gone with them with his father, Amos, seemed to know how to deal with the landing.

The game itself was exhilarating, and Harry enjoyed himself. It was too bad that Bulgaria lost 170-140 to Ireland, even though Viktor Krum had caught the snitch.

Sirius had suggested that they return home by portkey rather than spend the night, and Harry was just as happy to do that. It had been an exhausting day already.

The following morning, at breakfast, they saw that there had been a riot after they had left the stadium grounds.

Sirius sat down at the table. “I heard about the riot last night. I’m glad we came back when we did.”

Harry agreed and looked at Fred and George. “You didn’t come back with us. Were you all right?”

“We were looking for Ludo Bagman. We made a bet with him that Ireland would win, but Viktor would catch the snitch. So, he owes us big time. But when we couldn’t find him, we went home with Lee and his family. They had a portkey. Then we just came back here last night,” Fred said.

“I hope you get your money,” Sirius said. “Bagman is notorious for skipping out on losing bets.”

“We would not appreciate that at all,” George said. “We bet most of our savings on the game.”

“Why would you do that,” Ron asked. “Especially with someone you might not be able to collect from.”

“We want to open a joke shop,” Fred said as if this were a secret.

“You might do better trying to get legitimate funding,” Sirius said.

“From whom?” Fred asked. “It doesn’t seem like we know anyone who would be interested in lending us money.”

“Don’t you?” Sirius said, smiling. “Do you have a business plan? Or something that you could show people who might be interested in lending you the money.”

Both Fred and George turned together to look at Sirius. “You’re serious?”

“Why yes, I’m always Sirius,” he said and laughed. “But a business plan would go a long way. As will getting your NEWTs.”

“We have the beginnings of one, and we could finalize it this term and talk again at the Yule break,” George suggested. “We hadn’t thought that NEWTs would be necessary.”

“They will be,” Sirius said. “Especially in Potions and Charms. How do you think you’ll manage without thoroughly knowing those subjects?”

Clearly, neither of them had thought about that. “We’ll see what we can do about that,” Fred said. “We hadn’t thought we’d be taking advanced Potions. But I guess we will be.”

“I do think that will be a good idea.” Sirius turned to Harry. “I’m going to see Draco and Narcissa today. I would like you to come with me this morning.”

“Sure.” Harry nodded. He hadn’t really had plans for today other than to relax.

“Don’t forget to say goodbye to Ginny,” George said.

Harry looked surprised by that. “Why?”

“Mom, Dad, and Ginny are going to floo to Salem today to get Ginny settled,” Fred said.

“They should be back before we leave for Hogwarts,” Fred said.

Yeah, Harry had forgotten about that. “I hope she enjoys the new school.”

“She’s excited about it,” George said.

*****

Bill stepped out of the main fireplace at Hogwarts, and Minerva was waiting for him.

“Thank you for coming back out today,” Minerva said. “I appreciate it.”

“I think we’re cutting this a little close today. I heard that Dumbledore is coming back tomorrow,” Bill said.

“There has been so much to fix in the castle that I just didn’t think of this particular curse until two days ago. It’s been a plague on the school for so many years already.”

“I can take a look at it. Do you need help with any of the other curses or wards around?”

Minerva shook her head. “No. Each of the teachers had the wards in their quarters fixed. It will hopefully make them more aware of what is going on and make Hogwarts safer than it has been. Part of what he warded against was any teacher noticing a problem.”

“What kinds of problems,” Bill asked, not really surprised. The teachers all seemed not to give a damn about what was going on.

“All of them,” Minerva said. “Oh, if a teacher came across something like a student trying to hex another student, they could act in that moment, but they would not remember. And if something was reported to them, it was brushed off as if the student were making it up.”

Bill wanted to say he couldn’t believe it, but he could. It had started when he was in school. “Have all of the common rooms been fixed as well?”

Minerva nodded. “Harry, Hermione, and Ron did the Gryffindor common room.”

“Why them?” Bill would have thought it a better idea to have an adult do it.

“Harry wanted to do something, and I don’t want him doing anything dangerous if we can avoid it.”

“And Ron and Hermione go where Harry goes.”

“Exactly,” she said. “We should get going.” She held out her hand, and he followed her upstairs to the defense classroom.

Bill could feel the curse now that there wasn’t any other ambient magic from other students around him. “It feels malevolent, doesn’t it.”

“Very much so,” Minerva agreed. “Can you mitigate it?”

“Probably not on my own. I’m powerful, but this is an order of magnitude beyond me. I doubt one person could do this. Let me contact a couple of other curse breakers and see if they can help.”

“How could anyone be this powerful?” Minerva asked.

“I suspect that it was more than one person who put this curse on the room,” Bill said. That meant that instead of trying to mitigate the curse, Dumbledore had likely tried to enhance it.

Thirty minutes later, three more people were in the defense room, trying to counteract the curse. It took two hours, but they were finally able to break it.

Bill was still sweating heavily when he reported back to Minerva.

“Thank you so much,” Minerva said.

“You’ll get my bill for this. I tried to read the magical signatures, but they were degraded. I suspect it was on purpose. But I did manage to get both Voldemort and Dumbledore.”

“Can we use this somehow?”

“I don’t think so. Because of how degraded it was, I think he could say that he’d tried to break it himself and couldn’t. As with all things with him, there’s enough wiggle-room that he could get away with it.” Bill sighed. He’d hoped to find something they could use. But Dumbledore seemed to know where the line was between legal and not, and he mostly managed to stay on the right side of it.

*****

Harry hadn’t been to Grimmauld Place before. It seemed a little creepy as he exited the floo. Sirius used his wand to dust off himself and then Harry.

“Welcome. Sirius,” Narcissa said.

“Thank you, Cissa.” Sirius looked around. “You’ve done an amazing job here.”

She shrugged. “Once the elf and the artifact were gone, it was not much of a task. My elves had it done in a few days.”

“Have we heard about Kreature yet,” Sirius asked her.

“Nothing. I suspect it will take months for him to be rehabilitated. If it can be done at all,” Narcissa said, and Sirius nodded.

Harry knew that Sirius didn’t like that elf.

“We should get started,” Sirius said. “Where is Draco?”

“Here,” he said, coming into the room.

Harry wondered if he were lurking outside the door, waiting for an entrance. But he said nothing, just nodding to Draco, who nodded back. That was probably as good as it was going to get between them. But it was better than trying to hex each other in the corridors.

“Let’s all sit,” Sirius said, waving them to the sofa, and he sat in one of the chairs. “Harry?”

Harry sat beside him.

“Do you know the ritual and what will happen to you and Draco when I cast the divorce spells?”

“For myself, it won’t be a big deal. I’ll be removed from the Malfoy magic, which should be a relief.”

“Correct. However, we need to cast family magic on Draco before he is removed from the Malfoy magic. And that could make him feel a little light-headed.”

Draco nodded. “I’m ready to leave the Malfoy magic.”

“It’s still going to be traumatic,” Sirius said. “You might need a pain relief potion.”

“I have some,” Narcissa said. “Perhaps we can start with Draco?”

Harry watched, fascinated, as Sirius cut his hand and bade Draco to do the same thing. They repeated the oath, swearing to uphold the Black family magic. It took a couple of minutes, where it felt like Draco was being tested, but then his face cleared, and he looked surprised.

“Wow,” Draco whispered. “Can you remove the Malfoy magic?”

“Not until after your mother’s marriage to Lucius has been annulled,” Sirius said. “Are you ready, Cissa?”

She nodded. And when he was done casting the spells, she looked…relieved was all Harry could think of.

“Thank you,” she breathed out. Sounding like she had a huge burden lifted from her.

“Now, you, Draco,” Sirius said, waving his wand.

For a second, Draco looked like he might pass out. But then he smiled and also let out a sigh of relief. “That feels so much better. I hadn’t realized how awful the taint in the Malfoy magic was or how it made me feel so tense all the time.”

“You should start working with the Black magic immediately, so you get used to it by the time you get to school.”

“Of course,” Draco said. “It is so much more powerful than what I’ve been used to.”

Sirius nodded, and before he could say anything else, Draco looked at Harry.

“I’d like to speak to you privately if you don’t mind,” Draco said and stood.

Harry looked at Sirius, and he nodded. “Sure. Where?”

“Shall we go into the kitchen? We can have some tea.” Draco led him out.

*****

Harry had a cup in front of him and waited for Draco to sit. “What did you want to talk about.”

“While a lot has changed at Hogwarts. A lot hasn’t. I wanted to give you a heads-up that there will still be many Death Eater progeny looking to make your life, and your friend’s lives, miserable.”

“I’m going to assume you’re not going to be one of them?” Harry asked.

“Go against the family heir? I do not think so,” Draco said haughtily. “That isn’t done. Not by traditional people anyway.”

“Thanks for the warning. It’s not like I didn’t know that. I’m hopeful that the active animosity will be less this year?”

“I heard about the wards in the common rooms. I can’t say I’m surprised. Or that it made everyone a little crazy.”

“Maybe we can let some of it go. If there are enough of us that are neutral, then maybe it will fan outward.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Draco said. “But it is certainly worth a try.”

“Thanks. If we can stop the fighting between the houses, it would go a long way towards bringing down the general stress levels. This is going to be a difficult enough year.”

“Do you know something about it?” Draco asked. “Any information I can get ahead of time will work in our favor.”

He could not believe he was going to trust Draco Malfoy…Black. “I know there’s going to be a Triwizard tournament this year. And it’s going to disrupt everything. Also, a Yule Ball for fourth years and above.”

“Thanks. I assumed there would be something like a ball because of the requirement for dress robes.” Draco looked thoughtful.

“I can’t dance,” Harry said, sighing. “I’m thinking about not going at all.”

“You should go, even if you go by yourself. Though finding a date might be better for you as head of your own house and heir to another.”

“Maybe,” Harry said. He didn’t really want to date anyone. Not yet. Not until the whole thing with Voldemort had been resolved.

Draco stood. “We should get back.”

*****

August 31.

Harry had gotten a note from Dudley that they had returned from Majorca, and Harry decided that he could go and visit them one more time. This summer had shown him what could have been without Dumbledore’s interference.

“Harry, you’re back,” Dudley said as he came through the door. Dudley sounded genuinely happy to see him.

“I hoped we’d see you before you left for school,” Petunia said, smiling. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“Yes, thanks,” Harry said, still surprised to be invited. “I have something I want to discuss with you and Uncle Vernon, if you have some time.”

A shadow passed over Petunia’s face.

“It’s nothing bad, really,” Harry promised. “It’s something that should have been done a long time ago.”

“Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you help Dudley set the table?” Petunia asked.

“Sure. I’d be happy to.” He and Dudley moved towards the dining room. Harry noticed a picture of himself and Dudley playing a video game from this summer on the mantel. That was the first picture of him he’d seen them display. His eyes stung for a second. Dumbledore had so much to answer for.

“How did your exams go? I know you must have passed them,” Harry said quickly, over a lump in his throat.

Dudley was all smiles. “I did really well. I’m so surprised that I did. Not only did I pass everything, but I got high marks on all my exams. It’s going to be enough to get me into some advanced classes.”

“Really?” Harry asked. “What do you want to study?”

“Smeltings has an advanced pre-med course. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t think I would ever have the grades. After this summer, when I did so well with the retake, I thought I might have a chance. I also explained to all my teachers about being able to concentrate.”

“What did your teachers say?” Harry asked.

“They said they expect me to continue to do well, or I won’t be able to take the courses I want. But I feel like I can think now. Like whatever was clogging my brain has finally gone away.”

“I notice you’ve lost some weight, too.”

“I have! I’ve been working out. Dad put together a gym for both of us in the garage. He’s been working out with me. It’s great. I’m going to miss it when I go back to school.”

“I’m sure they have a gym there.”

“Yeah, but it was fun to work out with Dad.”

“Oh, of course.” Harry wouldn’t have thought of that.

“Dinner’s ready,” Petunia said. “Call your Dad, Dudley.”

Dudley walked to the stairs and called up, “Dad! Dinner!”

Some things didn’t change.

They sat, and Petunia brought out a roast chicken, potatoes, and all the trimmings.

“I’m glad you decided to come visit one last time before you went off to school,” Petunia said. “You said you had something you wanted to discuss.

“I had my parents will read this summer –”

“You mean it wasn’t done before this? How is that even legal?” Vernon asked.

“It was sealed by someone powerful for a lot of reasons I can’t really get into now. But one of the things that was in there was that you were supposed to get a stipend for taking care of me.”

Petunia and Vernon both looked shocked.

“How much?” Dudley asked.

“Around a thousand pounds a month.”

“We never got anything,” Vernon said. “It would certainly have helped in the early years.”

“I know. And I’m sorry that you had to stretch your budget for me, when it was politics that sealed the will.” Harry took a breath and handed them a card and muggle-looking documents he’d gotten from the Goblins. “I can’t change the past, but this is what you should have gotten up to and including this year. Plus interest.”

Vernon’s mouth was open, but Petunia said, “Thank you. It’s so nice of you to do this. I mean, you didn’t have to.”

“It’s the right thing to do. You should have had this from the beginning.”

“Harry, why don’t you stay tonight if you don’t have anything else to do. We can play some video games,” Dudley asked.

Harry glanced at Petunia, and she nodded. “I have a dessert, too. You’ll have to help me eat it since these two will only have one portion each.”

Both Dudley and Vernon nodded. “We want to live long enough to enjoy some of that money.”

****

“Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon,” Harry said as he came down the stairs. He had his trunk in his backpack. So, he was traveling light.

“Come along, Harry. I’m going to London today, and I’ll drop you at the train station on the way in?” Vernon said, straightening his tie.

“Why are you going to London?” Dudley asked.

Aunt Petunia had a big smile on her face. “We were supposed to say last night, but we didn’t get a chance,” she said and looked at Vernon.

“You’re looking at the new Assistant VP at Gunnings.”

“Wow, Dad,” Dudley hugged him hard.

“That’s great,” Harry said, holding out his hand. “You deserve it.”

“I knew I was up for a promotion this summer. I didn’t think it would happen, but my project went very well. Much better than I’d ever hoped. So, there you have it. All the hard work paid off. Now, you need to get a move on. I don’t want to be late.”

“I’m ready when you are, sir.” Harry smiled when he said it.

Petunia kissed Vernon. “Good luck!”

“Yeah, Dad, knock ’em dead.” Dudley lightly punched his father in the shoulder.

*****

Chapter 14

September 1

Vernon dropped Harry at Kings Cross in plenty of time to get on. It felt like any other time he’d done that, except that it wasn’t.

“Have a good year,” Vernon said. “Do you have your trunk with you?”

“Thanks. And yes, it’s shrunk up, and I put it into my backpack.”

“Now, that’s very convenient, isn’t it,” Vernon said with a shake of his head. “You’ll let us know if you want to stay for a few days at your holiday break. We’d like to see you.”

“I’ll write to you and Aunt Petunia about it when I know something more. I think there’s going to be a ball for Yule this year.”

“Very good,” Vernon got back into his car. “I have to get going now.”

“Thanks again for the ride,” Harry said, shouldering his pack and heading for the station.

“Harry,” Hermione said, waving. She’d also gone home to see her parents for a few days. “How did it go?”

“I’m constantly surprised at how well they treat me and how much they seem to like me.”

“You’re a likable guy,” Hermione said with a smile. “We should get going. I’m sure the Weasleys will be late.”

Harry laughed. “No doubt.”

*****

And the Weasleys, even flooing from Potter Manor, were late. Because some things didn’t change no matter what else did. They all made it on the train just in time, though. Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled in on the train.

“Before anyone else gets here, I wanted to let you know that there’s going to be a Triwizard Tournament this term,” Harry said. “Professor McGonagall told me right before she left Potter Manor.”

“I’ve read about that. It’s really dangerous. But surely they won’t allow underaged wizards and witches to enter,” Hermione said.

“You would think that, wouldn’t you,” Harry said. “But I’m going to be entered.”

“What?” Ron said. “How? Are you going to have to compete?”

“The old Ron and Hermione said it was about intent,” Harry said. “And if I don’t agree to the contract, it can’t be enforced.”

Hermione looked thoughtful and then said, “You could lose your magic if you break a magical contract. But if you didn’t make the contract, there’s no way you can be forced to participate in it.”

“It’s going to be really hard to say no, if everyone is saying you have to compete,” Ron said. “But if we stand with you, you’ll have some support at least.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that. I hope that things have changed enough that I won’t be entered. I don’t want to compete. I just want a quiet year.”

Ron snickered. “Yeah, like that’s going to ever happen.”

Before he could say anything else, the door opened, and Neville came in. “How was your summer?” he asked.

“Very good,” Hermione said. “I spent some time with my parents and some time with Ron and Harry at Potter Manor.”

A surprised look was on Neville’s face. “Potter Manor? You claimed your ring?”

Harry nodded and held up his hand. “Yes. I was surprised that I could, but my family magic accepted me.”

“Congratulations, Lord Potter,” Neville said with a slight bow and a smile.

“Why don’t you sit down,” Harry said. And Neville did. “Did you know that we were godbrothers? And probably would have been raised together if things were different.”

“I did know. But every time I thought about saying something, I got distracted. I’m surprised that you even know about that.” Neville looked a little perplexed.

Harry wasn’t quite ready to completely trust Neville yet, which didn’t have that much to do with him, but his grandmother was very close to Dumbledore. “I found out a few things over the summer about my lordship and family.”

“Your scar looks a lot lighter,” Neville said.

“I had a magical infection cleaned out this summer as well. It will always be there, but it won’t bother me like it did.” Which was true. He just wasn’t going to tell anyone about what kind of infection it was.

They rode in silence for a while, and eventually, Neville went back to his seat in the other compartment.

*****

The train made it to the station without anything major happening, for which Harry was grateful. He’d spoken to Professor McGonagall earlier that week and told her that the galleons for the harvested basilisk had been distributed to the recipients. That included Ginny and Ron.

After the sorting, McGonagall cleared her throat, and the hall fell silent. “Mr. Potter would like to address the school. Please give him your attention.”

Dumbledore looked up, surprised. But he didn’t say anything to stop him.

Harry walked up to the front and faced the school. “I wanted to let those of you who were petrified by the basilisk two years ago know that you’re going to be compensated by the money that came from rendering the beast.”

Now, Dumbledore looked like he was going to have heart failure. But it was far too late for him to do anything about it.

“I know this isn’t enough for those of you who missed so much time, but I felt that this was the least I could do. Thank you.”

There was some cheering. And some people patted Harry on his back as he went by them.

“Thanks, Mate,” Ron said. “I didn’t really do anything.”

“You came with me to rescue your sister and got injured by that idiot, Lockheart. So, you did plenty.” And he turned to Hermione. “You figured the whole thing out. So, don’t even think about saying anything.”

Hermione huffed at him. But didn’t say anything else.

Food appeared on the table. And Ron muttered, “Finally.”

After a few minutes, Fawkes showed up and dropped a note on Harry’s plate. He didn’t have to guess who it was from or why. He opened it and confirmed that Dumbledore wanted to see him right after the feast ended.

As he looked over at the teacher’s table, McGonagall caught his eye and nodded. She knew what was up. Dumbledore left the feast early, probably getting his arguments ready. But Harry stopped caring about what he thought months ago.

*****

Harry met Professor McGonagall at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Dumbledore’s office. She sighed. “I knew he’d have something to say about this. But remember, the carcass belonged to you. You won it by right of conquest. Nothing he says can change that.”

“I know,” Harry said. “And thank you. It’s good to know I have you on my side.” And Harry meant that. It made a huge difference to him that she was willing to stand with him, not only on this but everything else as well.

“Of course. Let’s go up,” McGonagall said and whispered the password to the Gargoyle. It stepped aside, and they rode the stairs up to the headmaster’s office.

McGonagall knocked. “Albus, Harry, and I are here to see you.”

Dumbledore looked startled that she was here. “Why are you here as well. I asked to speak to Harry privately.”

“I’m his Regent, for one. And for a second, his guardian asked that he not meet with you alone,” McGonagall said.

“His muggle guardians have no say in the wizarding world,” Dumbledore said as if she should know that.

Which was true.

“However, his magical guardian, you know, Sirius Black, was the one who requested that of me. And I agreed to it, so there’s no arguing with him on that.”

Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something else, but McGonagall shook her head. And he didn’t say anything for a minute or two.

Then, he waved them to the seats in front of his desk. “The Basilisk remains belong to Hogwarts.” Dumbledore didn’t even wait until they had taken their seats before he spoke. “You should have asked me about it before you took them.”

“I didn’t think I had to. The Goblins all agreed –”

“And so did I, Albus,” McGonagall said, folding her arms across her chest. “By all of our laws, the remains belonged to Mr. Potter.”

“That money will go to Hogwarts. It wasn’t yours to take.” Dumbledore glared at him. “You will give at least eighty percent of the proceeds to the school. And then you may split the rest between the victims.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but that won’t happen.” Harry needed to keep his temper from erupting when dealing with Dumbledore. That was going to be harder than he’d thought. “The Goblins already rendered the snake and sent out the checks. I can’t do anything about it. It’s too late.”

Dumbledore stood up and stared angrily at him over his desk. “That’s too bad. You should have thought of that before you gave away something that didn’t belong to you.”

“As I was saying, it did belong to me. By right of conquest. So, there’s no problem.” Harry stood up, too. He was done with this conversation.

“Harry, we are not done talking yet. Sit back down,” Dumbledore ordered.

Harry sighed. And sat down again. “What else is there, sir? I am not giving you the money from the remains. It’s all been given away.”

Dumbledore sat as well and looked to be trying to control his temper. “There’s the other matter of your lordship to discuss. I’m afraid that you must put it aside until after you finish school. It’s too much responsibility. That’s why I didn’t tell you about it in the first place.”

McGonagall started to say something, but Harry shook his head slightly. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been expecting this. The goblins had warned him. “No, sir. I will not be doing that, either. It’s my responsibility, and I take it seriously.”

With his face turning red, Dumbledore continued to glare at him. “You don’t have time now, and you won’t have time this year to work on it. I think –”

“No. Don’t ask me again.” This conversation was getting old. And Harry was trying hard to keep a lid on his temper. And any second now, he was going to fail spectacularly.

“Now, Harry, I don’t want to force you —”

Harry looked right at him but remembered to not meet his eyes. “You can’t force me, sir. I know my rights. I know that there is nothing you can do to make me give up my lordship.”

“I am the Chief Warlock. I can bring this before the Wizengamot,” Dumbledore’s tone had lost all semblance of friendly or reasonable. He clearly didn’t like being disobeyed.

McGonagall made a choking sound but said nothing.

Harry folded his arms across his chest. “You can try, sir. But you and I both know that it wouldn’t do you any good. You have no standing, even as Chief Warlock, to take away a lordship once it’s been granted by family magic. I would have to be willing to give it up. Which I’m not going to do.”

“I’m very disappointed in the changes in you, Harry,” Dumbledore said, his tone turning solemn.

At this point, Harry could not have cared any less about what Dumbledore thought. “You know, sir,” Harry said politely. “I’m disappointed by a lot of the things I’ve learned as well.”

There was nothing Dumbledore could say to that. There was no sparkle in his eyes now. “You may go.”

McGonagall started to move as well.

“Minerva, a moment of your time.”

Harry looked back at her, and she nodded. They’d already fixed her quarters. Since she wore the Ross ring, he couldn’t try anything else on her.

*****

“Just what do you think you’re about, Albus?” She turned to face him, not bothering to keep the anger out of her voice. “Why did you lie to him? You have to know that if he had his ring, he’d know he couldn’t give it up without losing the Lordship as well as his family magic.”

“And you told him that he shouldn’t,” Albus accused.

Minerva was about done with this. “I didn’t need to. He already knew that.”

“Would that be so bad?”

She sucked in a deep breath. And then counted to ten. “Are you bloody stupid? How can you even ask that? He should give up his whole inheritance because you say so?”

“He needs to obey me. He’s just fourteen. He shouldn’t have taken up the Lordship. Now, he’ll have to give it all up.” Albus said that like he could make it happen. But they both knew he couldn’t.

And Minerva was starting to see what exactly was going on here. “It gives him too much independence from you, you mean.”

Of course, Albus wasn’t done. “He needs to follow the path I have set for him. All of our lives depend on it. Do you want to see Voldemort win?”

“Of course not. But that doesn’t mean Mr. Potter has to do what you say concerning his lordship. He needs to do what’s right for himself and his family. Which you have no part in.” She shivered as a tingle ran up her spine.

“You will encourage him to give up the lordship,” Albus ordered in a very finite tone.

Minerva faced him full on, her arms crossed over her chest. Using her very best, the teacher was displeased tone, and she said, “I will not. Not now, and not ever. I’m his regent, and I will always act in his best interest. I have sworn to this, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Albus blinked, then scowled. Clearly, he could not believe she would defy him.

After a moment more, he sighed. “You’re wearing your ring, aren’t you?”

She tried hard not to smirk at him. “I always wear my ring. I’ve also sworn an oath as the Potter Regent. You’ll not get me with whatever you just tried, you old man. You need to accept that you don’t control everything.”

“We’ll see about that,” Albus snapped, annoyed.

She turned to leave, then turned back, finally sneering at Albus. “We will, won’t we.”

*****

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