Reading Time: 105 Minutes

Title: The Beginning of the End
Series: If Only
Series Order: 1
Author: Aussiefan70
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence-Against Children
Author Note:
Beta: Geminiangel
Word Count: 111,718
Summary: In which Harry learns he’s a wizard, wizards really know nothing about goblins, it’s okay to grow a new family if your relatives are terrible, having friends (and Snowy Owls) is amazing, and Headmasters aren’t always to be trusted. Also that Hogwarts, flying and learning magic are wonderful, but dark lords? Not so much.
Artist: Spuddoc

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Chapter 9

Soraya and Harry had barely a day to finish up their shopping before the round of celebrations in the magical world began. Harry had owl-ordered a few things, mostly for his friends, and he’d given those gifts at their party at school, but he still had Soraya, Ches, his Guduriak friends, and a special gift for his godbrother to arrange. He also sort of felt it would be nice to get something for Susan and her aunt for all their help with the Weasleys, and maybe Neville’s gran as well.

It was a mad day of shopping in both Diagon Alley and Muggle London as well. Harry found a pretty silver pendant for Soraya, with tiny crystals embedded to represent the Pleiades star cluster in honour of her name. Neville would be fairly easy, Harry thought, as they decided on a visit to a Muggle garden centre to round out their day of shopping.

Neville’s gran would eventually be signed up for a flower bouquet of the month club at the florist on Diagon, after hearing a random comment made by Augusta, when they ran into the pair outside Ollivanders.

“Oh Neville, remind me to stop at Green’s Leaves and Blossoms, to look at their Yule arrangements. They do such wonderful seasonal displays.”

Harry, who’d just walked up on the pair, chuckled at the name. That had to be a Muggleborn florist, likely with a love of traditional folk songs. He wondered how many magically raised customers ever got the joke. Soraya just shared a look and a wide grin with the boy; she’d gotten the pun the first time she’d seen it as well.

“Hey Harry, look I got my new wand,” Neville called out excitedly, releasing it from a brand-new holster. “Cedar with a phoenix feather core. Cedar is supposed to be excellent for herbology, and phoenix feathers are quite rare but very powerful.”

Harry could tell his best friend had fallen in love with his new wand already. “I’m so glad you found a wand that suits you. So how did it test out?”

“Well, this may sound silly, but when I picked it up, it felt just like the handle of my favourite trowel in my greenhouse at home.” Harry chuckled at this comment but honestly wasn’t surprised. “And my Lumos was so bright!”

“Okay then, anytime we go out in the dark, you’re now our official group torch,” Harry pronounced quite regally.

Neville, having been introduced to the Muggle concept, just laughed and agreed good-naturedly. The boys then turned to Soraya and Augusta, who’d been chatting quietly.

“So Neville, what would you say if I told you that you and your gran have been invited to join the holiday celebrations in the Enclave below Gringotts? It’s the day after tomorrow and is a full day of food and fun, I’ve heard. Harry’s become pretty much an adopted member of Firelock’s family, so he and Ringstar petitioned the Elders for the two of you to join us. It’s a very rare honour. ” Soraya had been surprised when Firelock had mentioned the invitation, but pleased at the same time they’d cared enough to include Harry’s godbrother.

Neville’s “Please, may we, Gran?” and his grandmother’s “Oh my, that is indeed an honour,” rang out simultaneously.

Augusta was shocked they’d been invited. In all her years, she’d only heard of a handful of witches and wizards who’d been granted the privilege. There were more than a few signs now of how favoured Harry was amongst the goblins, and this invitation was yet another indication of their respect for the boy.

Accepting for the both of them, Augusta then questioned Soraya about all the details, such as whether to bring gifts. It seemed the order of the day was to offer simple gifts reflecting the change towards light, growth and bounty, so plants, flowers and food were recommended, unless you knew the recipient well.

Neville and his gran agreed to meet at Soraya’s apartment at 9:45 on the 23rd, where she’d be able to go over the details of the Guduriak (rather than goblin) identity and traditions to honour their hosts, before meeting Firelock at 10:30 for their ride down to spend the rest of the day in the Enklabe. Harry and Neville listened along with interest, before starting to plot what and how many gifts would be needed.

“You and your gran will be fine with a shared gift to Firelock and Ringstar, maybe something from your greenhouse? I’ll also have to get Grinlast, Swifthorn, Ragnok and Wildspur gifts; I have most of those figured out. But we’re going to have to get shopping. There’s so much to do.” All of a sudden, Harry was feeling a bit overwhelmed; the transition from being neglected at Christmas to celebrating Yule, Guduriak and Christmas holidays, all within four days, had him a little freaked out.

Neville attempted to settle him down. “Don’t panic too much. I’m thinking you feel like you have to get Yule and Christmas gifts both?” Harry nodded.

“Most people now just combine them and swap gifts on whatever day they choose to celebrate. Gran and I picked Christmas Day this year because it gave us a little more time to get things organised after coming back from school. We’ll probably do something for a Yule meal tomorrow, but we’ll do our proper feast and gifts on the 25th. Then we go visit Mum and Dad at St Mungo’s.”

Harry gave his friend a quick one-armed hug in commiseration before saying, “Soraya and I were going to figure out our plans this evening. We decided we’d better get shopping done first!”

By now, the women had made their arrangements, and, unbeknownst to the boys, Harry and Soraya had been invited for Christmas lunch with the Longbottoms. Augusta had suggested it might be good for the lads to visit St Mungo’s together, so Harry could ‘meet’ his godmother, while both boys would have their best friend’s support. Soraya agreed, the ladies set a time and then turned to the pair of friends.

“Ready to become a full-on shopaholic, Harry?” Soraya asked jokingly, while Augusta posed a slightly less rambunctious version of the question to Neville.

The boys agreed, said their farewells and parted ways. Harry and Soraya kicked it into high gear, popping into the florist ahead of the Longbottoms to order a Christmas arrangement and set up Augusta’s monthly plan. They dropped back into Gastronomic Alley for a gift voucher for the Bones family, to La Sirène, the newly opened French restaurant. Then they dived out into Muggle London, to make most of the rest of their purchases.

Harry had already talked over his plans somewhat with Soraya, for the gifts to his Guduriak friends. Ragnok was a rather natty dresser, with a fondness for rather flamboyant waistcoats and ties. Thanks to a quiet word with Wildspur, Soraya had obtained his measurements and found a tailor who’d supplied sample fabrics for Harry and his guardian’s approval. Using the mirror-box to share the samples, they’d selected a cobalt blue brocaded fabric, chased in silver designs, for the waistcoat, with a complementary silver tie with a subtle blue starburst pattern. Harry was delighted when they picked it up and effusive in his comments.

They’d decided on pashmina scarves for Wildspur and Ringstar, Soraya having determined Harrods sold ones of various sizes that would suit the more diminutive women. Ringstar’s was an ombre fabric of rich purple fading to the pink gold of early dawn. Wildspur was slated to receive a paisley scarf that ranged through all the colours of the rainbow.

That left Swifthorn’s gift and Harry had wanted to gently prank the sometimes gruff Healer by getting her a Muggle stethoscope. Soraya prayed she’d get the joke, given the Healer was known for her formidable temper, but also suggested indulging her known sweet tooth with a selection of gourmet chocolates. Fortunately, the Harrods Food Hall took care of that part of the gift.

That left Grinlast and Firelock, and Harry knew exactly what he wanted for those two. Ice-skating was quite popular in the Winter region of the Enklabe, but roller-skating was completely unknown. Harry bought the uncle and his nephew a pair of Rollerblades each, and knowing Firelock’s accident-prone tendencies with icefall climbing, added a safety kit of helmet, wrist and knee guards for his much-valued friend. Knowing Grinlast was significantly less likely to come a cropper, Harry just topped up the other boy’s gift with Muggle chocolate bars. They also took time for a brief stop to pick up a soccer jersey for Ches, selecting one in his favourite Arsenal colours.

The last stop, completing the shopping list, was a trip to a garden centre. After a brief Side-along Apparation, they found a rare newly-hybridised orchid that Soraya thought might have some magical traits in the cross-breeding. A book on Muggle plants, along with some interesting looking seed packets, completed Neville’s gift.

Completely done with shopping by now, and absolutely starving, they found a nice pub and, being after the lunch rush, sat back to people-watch a bit, while enjoying an enormous hamburger and chips apiece, followed by apple crumble with a huge dollop of cream. They Apparated back to Diagon Alley to spend a quiet evening together, snacking on soup and sandwiches for dinner after their late lunch. Harry was thrilled at the news that they’d be spending Christmas at the Longbottoms.

~0~0~

The following day, being the Winter Solstice, was fairly quiet in the Alleys. Harry and Soraya got to try La Sirène themselves for lunch, with a lovely menu representing French traditions for the holiday. Harry knocked out most of his homework assigned for the break, while Soraya finished up a report for work, simply enjoying the time spent in each other’s company.

After dinner, deliberately light again, given the coming two days of celebration, they swapped Yule gifts. Harry had worked with Professors Sprout and Flitwick on Soraya’s gift. Professor Sprout had helped him to select a beautiful magical rose, in a decorative planter, with blooms that changed colour based on the lunar cycles. The Charms professor had worked with him to create a microclimate that would ensure it could be grown safely outdoors or indoors year-round. Soraya was thrilled to say the least.

Soraya’s gift to Harry dissolved him into tears of both joy and sadness. With the help of the Hogwarts professors and former students, she’d created a photo album of his parents through their school years, as well as some beyond. There were also wedding pictures from Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, who’d been on the invitation list, as well as baby pictures of Harry with his parents from the same source, and surprisingly, Augusta Longbottom also, who’d raided Frank and Alice’s picture collection and owled over copies that morning.

It took about half an hour of hugs and cuddles before Harry calmed down enough to work his way through the album, but it had instantly become his favourite gift. Soraya had originally planned to give it to Harry on Christmas Day but thought he’d prefer to open it in privacy, anticipating the emotional response.

~0~0~

December 23rd woke up partly cloudy, but a comfortable 11°C for the time of year. It was slated to clear a little through the day, which would mean for an eventually chillier evening, but that would mean little to the guests of the Guduriak, given they’d have a ready pick of all four seasons in the Enklabe.

The Longbottoms arrived bang on time, with gifts of some of their rare floral, herbal and spice offerings from the family greenhouses in hand. Over a cup of tea for each of the ladies, and cocoa for the boys, Harry and Soraya jumped into a more condensed explanation of the Guduriak and the Enklabe than either of them had previously received themselves.

Augusta and Neville were rather horrified to find how rude and xenophobic wizardkind had been in the persistent use of goblin and Gobbledygook for the race who held the literal wealth of the wizarding world in their hands. Self-preservation alone would suggest getting the basics right when it came to the only bankers in town.

After learning Ragnok’s title of Buruzagi, as well as a traditional greeting when entering an Enklabe home for the first time. After practising “Bedeinkazioak zure familiari” (Blessings to your family) enough times to pass muster, Harry covered who they’d likely be meeting today.

Wanting to give Neville and his gran the full visual experience of seeing the Guduriak underground world for the first time, he was remarkably coy about what they might expect to find there. Given Firelock hadn’t disclosed which home they’d be visiting in which quadrant that day, Soraya had assured Harry that she’d happily transfigure their clothing to suit the environment, thus maintaining Firelock’s surprise plans.

Thirty minutes after arriving, the Longbottoms accompanied Soraya and Harry down the stairs into Gastronomic Alley and then around the corner to Gringotts. As was expected of Gringotts employees, this ensured they arrived ten minutes before their scheduled time; the punctuality rules never relaxed, even for social occasions.

Meeting Firelock in the lobby, Harry waved at Blacktor as they passed the Teller, who’d drawn the short straw of working on the holiday. However, Blacktor smiled broadly when Harry bade him, “Agurra egun alai honetan!” (Greetings on this joyous day!) Soraya also smiled; she’d suspected Professor Flitwick had been doing some Gudurian language lessons on the sly, and it seems she had been right. Neville was simply blown away by this previously unknown facet of his best friend and paid careful attention when his godbrother repeated the greeting to Firelock, before making the group’s introductions.

Firelock grinned happily at the greeting also. He’d been exchanging some correspondence with Flitwick, via Swifthorn, the professor’s cousin. He greatly valued the Charms Master acting as an extra set of eyes and ears on his young friend, and Filius had enjoyed being more in touch with his family as well. And come the new school term, Filius would be the proud owner of a mirror-box as well.

They made their way deeper into the bank than most customers were ever permitted, to the set of carts dedicated to accessing the Enklabe. Neville, whilst being a better flyer than he used to be, still wasn’t a huge fan of the Gringotts carts, and spent the trip deep below the bank practising the two greetings he’d learned that morning as a bit of a distraction. However their arrival at the station, followed by the short walk through the tunnel that opened up to the vast vista before them drove both phrases from his mind. Even his gran looked gobsmacked, though he was sure she’d deny that to her last breath.

Firelock, as he’d done on Harry’s first visit, explained the four seasonal quadrants, the purposes of the intersecting roads as access points to other communities, and their destination for the day’s festivities. They were headed to the town of Loraldia in the Udaberria (or Spring) quadrant, the site of the family’s primary home. Though he did mention a trip to the beach or the snow was a possibility later in the day as well. The explanation of intent-travel blew Augusta’s mind, and she was pleasantly surprised that, when they linked into a chain of hands, with Firelock at the centre, they found themselves outside a home in the distant town, with no sense of discomfort or displacement. They simply just translocated to a different place.

Ringstar welcomed the group immediately, having been waiting in front of the large stucco and half-timbered home, topped with a red tiled roof. Harry was pleased to realise he understood her greeting of “Ongi etorri bueltan

eguzkiaren.” (Welcome to the celebration of the returning sun).

Augusta asked about the origin of the festival, given the largely subterranean lifestyle of the Guduriak. As the group gathered in a long arched entry, they all seemed interested in Ringstar’s response.

“We were not always a people who lived exclusively below the earth. For more than a thousand years, we lived alongside the Basques of northern Spain. It was mostly our miners who spent time underground. But the Roman invasion, and subsequent incursions by other races, pushed us into hiding mostly for our own safety, and our magic evolved to create linked Enclaves such as you see here. While wizardkind celebrates the shortest day of the year, we celebrate the day in which the sun begins to spend more time with its peoples. It is mostly to honour the times past when we lived freely under the sun above.”

Ending her lecture with a smile, Ringstar ushered them from the main entry into a large courtyard filled with bright flowers representing both the Basque and English springs, with flowering fig and cherry trees, along with irises, orchids, poppies, daffodils, primroses and bellflowers. A raised bed sported a hefty array of cooking and medicinal herbs. Neville simply gazed in awe. Ringstar, recognising a fellow plant lover, promised a detailed tour after lunch.

This prompted Neville to recover his manners, and he offered the traditional greeting for being welcomed into a home, with minimal stumbling over the pronunciation. Harry and Augusta both smiled proudly at his achievement, particularly when Ringstar offered her compliments for his first attempt at Gudurian.

What followed was an absolute dream of a day. Ragnok and Wildspur joined them for lunch, along with young Grinlast, who’d begged his mother to allow him to visit Uncle Firelock’s home, to hang out with Harry and his friend. Ringstar had worked with Wildspur on the food selection and cooking, creating a tasting menu of traditional Basque and Guduriak specialities, heavily focused on lamb and seafood dishes, along with spring vegetables. The dishes were paired with local wines produced in the Enklabe for the adults, with fruit-flavoured sparkling water for the three boys.

The next surprise arrived with dessert, in the forms of Healer Swifthorn and Professor Flitwick. They all ate heartily, somehow still not yet full, of the cream-filled cake Pastel Vasco, a thick nut and milk custard called Intxaursaltsa, along with a cheese plate with traditional cheeses, apple jam and quince jelly.

Finally stuffed to the gills, they moved out into the seating area in the courtyard for the gift exchange. Harry panicked a bit at not having a gift for his Charms professor but calmed when Soraya whispered she’d brought extra Muggle sweets and chocolate bars in gift bags, just in case of additional guests. He outright giggled when she informed him that, according to rumour, Flitwick was more than willing to indulge his sweet tooth with Muggle chocolates when they were passed around the Ravenclaw common room in his presence. Neville was also relieved to hear from Augusta that they’d brought extra greenhouse offerings as well.

Harry was gratified to find his gifts were a great success. Ragnok, Wildspur and Ringstar immediately donned Harry’s presents, the ladies preening in the beautiful shawls, while Ragnok paraded around proudly. Firelock and Grinlast learned very quickly that Rollerblades and cobbled courtyards didn’t mix well (with Firelock quietly happy that Harry had added the safety equipment). They moved out to the smoothly paved road in front of the house and had a great time, along with some impressive tumbles. Swifthorn simply commented that she’d prefer not to have to work on her day off when Firelock stacked it for the fourth time.

Swifthorn, as it turns out, had more of a sense of humour than Harry had realised, and loved her stethoscope even more than the gourmet chocolates from Harrods. Though she did end up in a serious discussion over the merits of various Muggle sweets, as she traded samples with her cousin Filius.

Augusta and Neville were both thrilled with Harry’s offerings as well, and Ringstar was intrigued to help Neville work out if his orchid did indeed have any magical properties. It would turn into a great collaboration with Pomona Sprout as well, over the next few months.

Harry got a pretty good haul himself. He’d received a full set of dual-purpose flying robes, a joint gift from his Guduriak friends, along with dragon hide gloves and boots. The under armour was designed for Quidditch wear, while the outer robes offered year-round weather protection. The high-quality charms for heating and cooling as needed were an add-on gift from Filius, as they all sat in the courtyard admiring their presents.

The Longbottom offerings from their greenhouses were well received, and Harry was gifted with a juniper bonsai, in a shallow emerald green planter with lily flowers worked into the glaze around the outside. With the juniper symbolising protection and the flower in the bright green glaze, Neville and Augusta were honouring both of Harry’s parents in the best way they knew how. Harry went very quiet for several moments, then choked out his thanks, before crushing Neville, then Augusta in a thankful hug.

“Neville, you are going to have to teach me everything about looking after this, you know. But thank you both, it’s wonderful!”

At that, the gift-giving was done with, and conversation turned to how to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening. In the end, Augusta wanted to explore more of the Enklabe in general, and Wildspur and Swifthorn offered to take her on a quick tour of all four quadrants. Harry and Neville, along with Professor Flitwick, had enough winter exposure at Hogwarts, and elected to head to the beach house, along with Ringstar, Ragnok and Firelock. Grinlast headed back to the rest of his family, who were staying in their Negua chalet. Harry just hoped he didn’t try Rollerblading on ice.

Appropriate clothing was transfigured for all, and a lazy beach afternoon ensued, followed by the group reconvening for an evening seaside picnic of leftovers and finger foods brought over from the main house. By 9:00 pm, the boys were almost completely dead to the world and ended up being levitated back to the carts by Filius and Soraya, who then got them through the staff Floo to their respective homes, though Augusta made it under her own steam.

~0~0~

Christmas Eve, the next day, was very quiet for Harry and Soraya. After a long sleep-in, Harry decided he’d prioritise finishing his homework, to free up the rest of the holidays. After a light lunch, the pair discussed plans for the rest of the break, which resulted into a quick trip into the Muggle world to pick up a newspaper and some tourist flyers to see what was available for entertainment, in preparation for the Harry and Co group outing the following week.

The current offerings of first-run movies didn’t look too promising to Soraya’s more experienced eyes. The animated ‘American Tale: Fievel Goes West’ wasn’t a terrible option, but she and Harry wanted to show their mostly magically raised friends a bit more realism (well as realistic as movies go).

So they turned their attention to some of the theatres showing more retro movies, and the selections improved considerably. There was a theatre playing the entire Indiana Jones series, which would be fun, if a little long. Karate Kid was also on offer in a close by cinema, which Soraya had loved when it first came out. The other option was Top Gun, which was also playing in central London, which would likely appeal to the boys a little more but would blow some of the more traditionally raised kids’ minds.

Deciding to get the input of his friends with Muggle backgrounds, he gave Hedwig some work, mailing Jill, Kay and Justin the three choices. The consensus was that Karate Kid and Top Gun would give the others a varied look at the Muggle world, and they all wondered if they could maybe see two movies. Justin’s response was accompanied by a letter from his parents, offering to host a sleepover so the kids could see one movie each day, and have a nice night out, perhaps taking a nighttime bus tour of London.

Soraya popped out to use a phone box outside of Diagon Alley, as Justin’s father had included their telephone number, hinting he had ideas to make the sleepover even more fun. When she returned, Harry was stunned to find out that Justin’s family had offered to host the whole event, to celebrate the boy’s birthday, which was technically the second week of January.

Hedwig was put to work once more, to send out the invitations. Those with access to phones were invited to contact the Finch-Fletchleys with questions directly, while the wizarding families coordinated with Soraya. Needless to say, the owls and phones got a workout, but by the end of Boxing Day, the 2nd and 3rd of January had been set aside for Justin’s birthday event, and the Harry and Co gang was thrilled, knowing they’d be heading back to Hogwarts on Sunday the 5th.

Amidst all the frantic planning, was the celebration of Christmas Day with the Longbottoms. Having exchanged gifts in the Enklabe two days before, along with the students’ celebration at Hogwarts, the plan was to avoid gift-giving for the third time

Harry and Soraya couldn’t resist bringing several bottles of Guduriak wine, and a sticky toffee pudding Soraya had made using her mum’s recipe, presenting them to Augusta on arrival at the Longbottom’s home in the Cotswolds. It was a moderately sized country home, with rich golden stone walls that were a signature for the region, and a sturdy slate roof. The home stood on several acres, expanded and warded with wizarding space, and the beautifully landscaped grounds had the four greenhouses well integrated into the garden design.

Entering the home, Harry was happy to see Susan and Amelia Bones. Susan was his second-ever wizarding friend, after Neville, having ridden to Hogwarts together for the first term. The trio were close-knit, even as their social and study group continued to build around them.

“Your dad’s not here today?” Harry asked quietly when they lagged a little behind the group on the way to the sitting room.

“We couldn’t talk him into coming out. He almost never leaves the house, and it’s like he panics if he does. My mum and the rest of the family were killed before my first birthday, so all I’ve ever known is Dad and Auntie. If she didn’t live with us, I’m not sure Dad could cope at all.” Susan shrugged. This had been her life, and she didn’t see it changing.

Offering a quick hug, Harry couldn’t say much else. He knew some of Susan’s sadness and loneliness; knew better than almost anyone the powerlessness of being too young to change anything. All he could do was offer his support and comfort when needed.

The moment over, they raced to catch up with the rest of the group, pasting almost sincere smiles on their faces. They’d cheer up with this lively group; it’s just sometimes they had to let those other feelings out.

The rest of the day was pleasant for everyone. The Longbottom house-elves outdid themselves over the Christmas lunch, with roasted goose, along with a standing rib roast for those who preferred something different. The variety of roasted and steamed vegetables was mostly grown in their own gardens, and Harry thought he might have died and gone to heaven, eating the superb Yorkshire puddings. The dessert options were also impressive, with mince pies, a flaming Christmas pudding with warm custard, along with a Yule log, while Soraya’s sticky toffee pudding was a big hit as well.

Being a little cloudy, but otherwise pleasant, when Neville and Augusta proposed a tour of the garden and greenhouses the invitation was accepted with alacrity. There had, after all, been an abundance of food that needed to be walked off. Harry and Susan were greatly impressed by all they saw, especially in the greenhouse that Neville was primarily responsible for. Despite only being eleven, it reinforced to them that he really was a Herbology prodigy, and they encouraged him to take pictures to share with Professor Sprout. Neville had come out of his shell greatly through the course of his first term at Hogwarts, but the added confidence boost wouldn’t hurt anything either.

Returning to the house, the children decamped to the library, where Harry re-introduced his friends to the Muggle board game Cluedo. The adults were seated in comfortable chairs by the window, while the kids took over a coffee table in front of the fire. Augusta, Soraya and Amelia quietly discussed their concerns about Dumbledore’s interference in Harry’s life, including the recent Weasley debacle, while the competition over finding a murderer got increasingly loud in the middle of the room.

Soon Amelia, being Head of the DMLE and a former Auror, couldn’t resist the draw of a ‘crime to solve’. Before they knew it, all six were playing a new round and Susan had great delight in beating her aunt to the solution, much to the boys’ satisfaction. Augusta meanwhile was gratified to see her grandson coming out of his shell, with the introduction of such good friends to his life.

~0~0~

Apart from the arrival of multiple owls, arranging the sleepover for the following week, Boxing Day was laid back and quiet for Harry and Soraya. They made a quick stop by Flourish and Blotts for a few more books on wizarding history and culture at Harry’s request, then spent the rest of the day reading, chatting, and picking at the various leftovers they’d had pressed upon them, from the wonderful meals of the past few days.

The following two days, the pair spent in the Enklabe. They spent the first day with Ringstar (who snuck in a counselling session almost without Harry knowing it) and Grinlast. The morning’s activities mostly focused on lazing on the beach and swimming, before moving to the chalet in Negua for the afternoons, where they were joined by Firelock for sledding, skating, and watching him fail at icefall climbing while admiring his dedication. If Ringstar muttered it was really insanity under her breath instead, well no one dared disagree with the woman who could become utterly formidable at the drop of a hat.

All the while, his friends tutored Harry in Gudurian, translating the names of objects and places, and teaching him more simple phrases. It wasn’t quite full immersion language learning, but it was quite effective for the highly motivated young man, who also relished receiving praise after ten years of being insulted, put down and ignored.

~0~0~

To their great delight, Ragnok and Wildspur joined them for the second day, along with Firelock and Ringstar. Then the second surprise was revealed. The boys were being given the opportunity to travel to one of the other Guduriak communities, with the chance to explore the Muggle world above as well. While Harry had experienced a trip to Toronto over the summer, Neville had never been outside Britain, so he was particularly excited.

Given the choice of Bilbao, Philadelphia or Kyoto, they decided on Philadelphia. When asked why by Ragnok, Harry explained their upcoming sleepover and movie excursions, both movies being set in America. It seemed like it was fitting the theme. Ragnok chuckled at the response; it was entirely in keeping with the rational approach he’d come to see as one of Harry’s main character traits.

Leaving from the crossroads of the Enklabe, they turned to the right, strolling comfortably for around ten minutes. Slowly the summer and autumn quadrants of Udara and Udazkena, bordering the cobblestones, melted into snow-covered rolling hills, with farms and villages dotted about. They soon arrived at the Philadelphia Enklabe crossroads and found quite a different set-up. The left half of the vast area was focused on agriculture, with Ragnok explaining that this region followed along with the seasons in the world above. The district on the right was distinctly urban, with obvious manufacturing, retail, governmental and residential districts. A large river meandered through the city, while the ocean shore could be seen at a distance.

Ragnok spent a few minutes explaining that the Philadelphia Enklabe was particularly known for manufacturing and exporting to other Guduriak communities, as well as outside sales to other magical beings. They tended to import more raw materials and foodstuffs from both the world above and other Enclaves, than some other colonies, having a higher population density than many. A brief, but thorough tour via intent-travel showed the boys the highlights of the community, then they took a cart ride up into Gringotts Philadelphia.

After a brief courtesy call with Buruzagi Bastell, Harry and Neville’s Guduriak companions donned glamours that made them resemble Filius Flitwick, who was often mistaken as having dwarfism in the Muggle world. Harry whispered to Neville that this was a great honour because most Guduriak avoided the Muggle world because they couldn’t wander about as truly themselves. Neville’s eyes widened at that, and all he could respond with was an awed “Whoa!”

It turned out that Wildspur, in her younger days, had been quite the traveller to the various Enklabeak (Gudurian plural of Enclave), and had used her contacts to find out what would be the best ways to see the city. She’d decided on a walking tour of the historical centre of town, focusing on places like the Liberty Bell, and important sites related to the Declaration of Independence and the first American Congresses. That took about two hours, then they were ready for lunch.

Having been advised the iconic Philly Cheesesteaks could be a bit messy, they bought half a dozen, then put them in stasis to take home. So at the suggestion of their walking-tour guide, they picked a local taqueria to experience Mexican for the first time for any of them. Which turned out to be a wonderful choice, as everyone got something a little different, and tacos were traded back and forth across the table, so each person could try a wide variety.

The afternoon plans involved another Gringotts-created Portkey (something the Ministry of Magic hated, because they really wanted the monopoly). Ragnok told Harry and Neville it was yet another surprise, but that he thought they’d rather enjoy it. Seconds later, after the increasingly familiar feel of a hook grabbing them in the middle and dragging them off into the wild blue yonder, they found themselves outside the Kennedy Space Centre, then on a bus tour of the complex allowing them some opportunities to look at the inner workings of the space programme, including the chance to touch an actual moon rock.

For Harry, this was exciting, particularly as they got to make stops along the way and see various aspects of the programme up close. Ragnok, Wildspur, Firelock and Ringstar, like most Guduriak, were quite aware of Muggle innovations, particularly as they could lead to new markets to access.

But Neville could do little but walk around in stunned awe. All his life, he’d heard Muggles were backward as compared to magical beings, simply because they were handicapped by the lack of magic. The Longbottoms were far from being Muggle haters; they were just simply ignorant of the outside world, like most of wizardkind, because they’d missed out on the Industrial Revolution and subsequent technological explosion.

Once they got to the 3-D movies of space launches and space travel, Neville was about ready to pass out from information overload. Not only had Muggles achieved all this, but they could recreate it, in something that felt much more real than a Pensieve, and on a much larger scale. He’d taken photos where permitted, and couldn’t wait to show his gran.

The day had been a total study in contrast. When the Muggle Americans went to war for independence from Britain, they travelled by sailing ships, horses and carriages. Only two hundred years later, the Muggles had landed on the moon, and space travel was an accepted part of their modern world. Those photos weren’t just going to shock his gran; some of the kids at Hogwarts were going to pass out!

He spent the evening telling Gran all that he’d seen once they returned home, splitting the still-warm Philly cheesesteak with her. After deciding it was pretty good, the kitchen house-elf was sent a small portion for her own taste test, in the hopes it could be replicated. Neville laughed to himself. Who knew that his gran could loosen up so much?

~0~0~

The next piece of excitement, in the post-Christmas period, was the owl they received from Megan. Her aunt, Gwenog Jones, who captained the Holyhead Harpies, had arranged for seats for the Harry and Co group in one of the club boxes. The game was set for 1 pm on New Year’s Eve, at the Harpies stadium and, coincidentally, was against the Montrose Magpies, the team Graham’s dad had played for in his prime. Firelock generously arranged for Portkeys for everyone, including the Muggle families, and even a glamoured Grinlast joined in the fun for the day.

The game was a close run thing, and lasted for five hours, with the Harpies finally reaping the home-field advantage, when their Seeker grabbed the Snitch, pulling off a 350–280 point victory. After all the excitement, Ches (who’d joined them for the game) suggested a quiet New Year’s Eve at home to Harry and Soraya.

They stopped to pick up fish and chips in the Alley before returning home to have a relaxed evening. The balcony at the rear of the flat was a very welcome addition, allowing them to watch fireworks over the London skyline when midnight arrived. Ten minutes later, Harry was out like a light in his room, Ches was on his way home and Soraya folded up the couple of blankets they’d wrapped around themselves to watch the fireworks, before heading to bed as well.

~0~0~

New Year’s Day was spent in the Enklabe once more, with Neville joining them again, though Augusta, nursing a cold, stayed home. It was a bit of a dream day for Neville, as they were given a personal tour of Udaberria quadrant by Ringstar, including the small botanic gardens and conservatory, featuring plants from all nations with Enklabeak communities, and private tours of several homes and estates known for their spectacular gardens.

After lunch, they explored the autumnal Udazkena region, visiting the family’s working farm, then several scenic outlooks, where the changing leaves on the trees, various lakes, and several waterfalls were best viewed. Neville had brought his gran’s camera, and took loads of photos, while Harry was handed a notebook and pen, and directed to take down the botanical details of the more novel or exotic plants. It didn’t hurt either that Neville left with a good variety of seeds and cuttings, along with detailed instructions.

Even weeks into the new term back at school, he’d be raving about the experience to Harry and Professor Sprout, who was now in the know on the relationship the boys had with the Guduriak, courtesy of Professor Flitwick. It didn’t hurt any that Ringstar and Wildspur worked their magic on the Elders to permit Pomona to take the same tour the last day of the Winter break either. Harry and Neville were unwittingly improving the wizarding Guduriak relations, without even being aware they were doing so, one wizard or witch at a time.

~0~0~

The break was drawing to a close quite quickly, and Harry was glad that he’d gotten his homework out of the way early. He and Soraya ventured out for some more shopping on the 2nd. Thanks to the Healers’ efforts, Harry had shot up an inch as well as gained weight and needed some new pants and shirts that actually met the wrist and ankles. They also raised a large office supply store, stocking up on a huge variety of notebooks, pens, pencils, file folders and other handy things like pencil cases, staplers, paper clips and bulldog clips to hold everything together.

The duo also bought a storage trunk, with an expandable interior, and filled it with supplies for the Harry and Co students. It would be primarily for those who had no access to Muggle stores, or those with limited financial resources. Their friends would be encouraged to contribute only what they could afford. Professor Flitwick, when they’d met over the break, had agreed to keep it in his office, and oversee the financial side of things.

Filius was in partnership with Ragnok for this project, who was interested in investing in adding Muggle-style stationery shops to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The Charms professor had a wizard cousin on his mother’s side who was fed up with working a low-level Ministry job and interested in starting a business. Funding this trial run at Hogwarts was in everyone’s best interests. Harry and Soraya didn’t mind doing the shopping on their behalf, even if Harry did turn his nose up at the coloured glitter pens Soraya found so fascinating.

~0~0~

Harry woke early the morning of the 2nd. He’d never been to a sleepover before, although Dudley had held them and gone to them frequently.

Sleepovers at the Dursleys had been a particular form of torture for the orphaned boy, because he’d spend long hours cleaning and helping prepare party food and snacks, then would be given a last-minute bathroom break before everyone arrived, to then be locked in his cupboard. His aunt made him go out into the garden for relief if Dudley and his friends were still awake, regardless of the weather.

Usually, he’d be hauled out of bed by 6:30, to bake breakfast pastries and frittatas, cut up fruit, and generally prepare a load of food that could be held or warmed later, whenever the gang of boys would get up. If he was lucky, he’d be able to swipe the trimmed ends of the fruit and vegetables, and perhaps a handful of grated cheese if his aunt wasn’t paying close enough attention. Naturally, the clean-up was all his, when the rest of the boys finally left.

But there’d be none of that with Justin’s sleepover. This was going to be pure fun!

Soraya had arranged for everyone to meet outside Gringotts fifteen minutes before they were due at Justin’s home in Kensington at two o’clock that day, with plans to Portkey everybody to the front garden of the large manor house owned by the Finch-Fletchleys. They were warmly greeted by Justin’s parents and invited in. It turned out the basement opened out into the back garden in the rear, and there was a large multi-purpose games/entertainment room they’d installed for their three sons.

All the furniture had been rearranged, with much of the floor covered in blow-up mattresses, linens and blankets. The rest of the room held couches, and a small kitchenette well stocked with snacks and drinks, Harry observed that, along with the designated his and hers bathrooms to the rear, Justin’s older brother, twenty-year-old Nicholas (never Nick) had been volunteered as the overnight chaperone, once they returned from their activities. All eleven Hufflepuff first years were in attendance, along with the other six kids in the study group representing Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Soraya, bidding Harry and Neville farewell, thought Justin’s parents were awfully brave taking on sixteen additional pre-teens overnight, but they both seemed thoroughly at ease with the crowd, so hopefully, all would go well.

It turned out that Mrs Finch-Fletchley was the master of party organisation. She’d rented a mini-bus and driver for the trips to the movies and out for meals but was refusing to disclose the plans for the evening yet. In short order, the children were loaded up into the vehicle and taken to a small Art Deco cinema that frequently played retro kids’ movies over the school holidays.

After topping up on popcorn, soft drinks and sweets, mostly new experiences for the magically raised members of the group, they filed into the small theatre, and into a section that had been roped off for the party, to watch The Karate Kid.

Harry was entranced by the movie, as was Neville, who’d both been subjected to bullying and cruelty before coming to Hogwarts. They were all cheering for Daniel in the end and everybody adored Mr Miyagi. High on fun and sugar, they left the cinema waving arms and calling out “Wax on, wax off”. Justin’s mother handled the exuberance with aplomb and just shook her head as they climbed back aboard the mini-bus.

They headed to a local Italian restaurant that was clearly part of the community and not a tourist trap. This was readily apparent when Justin’s family was greeted by name and owner, Mama Richetti, kissed the almost birthday boy on both cheeks then asked how he was liking his new school in Scotland.

They were served family style in a secluded private room, where the enormous table soon proved to be a deliberate choice in order to hold the massive variety of dishes. Harry had never seen so much food in his life, outside of a Hogwarts feast. And this was truthfully even better. Several hours later, feeling like they could barely move, Justin’s father revealed the surprise.

He’d booked a private tour of London on an old-fashioned double-decker red London bus, with their very own tour guide. Not knowing of the Knight Bus, Mr Finch-Fletchley wondered why Anthony stared in trepidation when he first saw it, but a quick explanation, and an assurance from Justin’s father that it would obey all road laws and the laws of physics, settled the lad down. It seems he’d had a bad purple bus experience with his uncle the year before.

The next few hours were amazing for all the children, even those who’d visited London before, because seeing any city by night is memorable. They passed by Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the House of Commons, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly. Sated on sightseeing, the bus driver delivered them back to Kensington and the party continued in Justin’s basement, with a couple of hours of board games and one very brief popcorn fight, before Nicholas shepherded them off to bed.

After a hearty breakfast the next morning, the mini-bus returned and headed them back in the direction of Buckingham Palace, where they enjoyed watching the pomp and ceremony of the Changing of the Guards. Lunch was at a favourite gastro-pub near Justin’s home before they were driven to another retro cinema.

That day’s showing was Top Gun, which was a big hit with the avid flyers of the group in particular. Neville was able to pull off quite the degree of nonchalance about the concept of fighter jets flying off the decks of enormous ships, in the wake of his trip to the Kennedy Space Centre, but the magically raised members of the party were amazed by the movie. In fact, several wondered if this was truly real.

Harry and Justin had to explain that the storyline itself was based on fiction, but the actual technology truly existed. It was safe to say that some minds had been opened up greatly during the course of the film. By 4:30, they were back at Justin’s home, saying their thanks and farewells, as Soraya arrived with the Portkey back to Gringotts. In little time at all, the students had been handed over to their assorted adults, chattering madly at what they’d been up to. Cries of “See you the day after tomorrow” and “Make sure to get side-by-side compartments on the train if you get there first,” rang out, as everyone headed home.

Done in, Harry enjoyed a simple supper with Soraya, sharing the fun of the last two days, before collapsing on the couch by 8 pm and having to be levitated to bed by his guardian.

~0~0~

The next day was a mix of busy and calm. Harry got his trunk packed early in the day, checking that Justin’s gift was there. The birthday boy had wanted to wait until the actual date to get presents. The next step was getting Harry’s oculist check-up done, with thankfully no changes required to his vision spell.

Harry and Soraya then went to Gringotts for a while, firstly to get the additional Warding for mind magic incursions and potions added to his watch, and then to say goodbye until the next lot of school holidays. While in with Ragnok, the Buruzagi was able to give a bit of an update on the study of the Horcrux removed from Harry’s scar.

Fold-a-dork, as the dark wizard was now universally known at Gringotts (Harry just might have shared that nickname via a mirror-box conversation with Ragnok the previous term), had split his soul into six or seven pieces, according to the Curse-breakers. Some very advanced arithmancy, combined with several little-known ancient rituals, had been able to determine that number.

Harry was a bit despairing; the only fragment they knew where to find was the one removed from his head. But as Soraya reminded him, they had some of the best minds on the job, looking for other Horcruxes. After all, Gringotts was not known for hiring less than the best minds.

“The Curse-Breakers are currently in the process of mapping the magical signature of the soul fragment, because at the moment, it seems to be split into two parts. They’re hoping to distinguish between the traits and energy signatures of both because they think it will lead to two areas of investigation. If we can backtrace the wizard’s identity through the signature, it may give suggestions as to where the Horcruxes might have been hidden. And our most advanced team is working on developing a scrying device and direction finder tool, focusing on the soul fragment signature alone. It’s early days, but promising work.”

“I think I understood about a quarter of that,” a befuddled Harry responded.

Ragnok chuckled, “I’m not sure I can follow much more, with this technical stuff. It’s entirely novel work, and my Curse-Breaking Department is so excited by it that we have to force them to go home and sleep. So thanks for the increased overtime costs, Harry,” Ragnok joked with his young friend.

Still experiencing moments of all too easily accepting the blame for things that weren’t his fault, Harry began to apologise.

“Now now, you’ve done nothing wrong in this Harry. This is new magic we’re creating. It’s an honour for Gringotts to be part of. And who knows what other applications can be found from this, once we have the Horcruxes sorted out. This could be very good for business!”

Harry laughed at his friend then, knowing the Buruzagi was actually much more altruistic than the wizarding world would expect. Though he was also saddened a little, that their prejudices would keep them from ever finding out. Hugging Ragnok, he and Soraya took their leave, having one more appointment to fulfil yet at the bank.

Ringstar had squeezed Harry in for a bit of a Mind Healing tune-up, as he was having a bout of separation anxiety about leaving Soraya and his Guduriak friends once again. But it didn’t take much to get him back on track, and after one last visit with his friends, they returned to the flat for one last peaceful evening.

 

Chapter 10

Sunday morning showed her cold and rainy face to the returning Hogwarts students, dampening their enthusiasm for heading back to the frigid Scottish Highlands. Hedwig put her claw down at making the flight herself, as soon as Harry woke up, by hopping into her cage and pulling the door shut behind her.

Harry simply laughed and told the snowy owl, “I got the message, my girl. Now come on back out until we have to leave for the station. It smells like Soraya is cooking bacon out there, and maybe sausages too.”

Hedwig gave every impression of taking a sniff of her own, to Harry’s great amusement, before hopping back out onto her perch and directing a stare at her boy. Did he expect her to have to fly to breakfast on the last day of her Winter break?

His owl not being exceptionally subtle, Harry offered a shoulder and Hedwig rode like royalty into the kitchen, then perched on the chair back next to Harry.

Soraya just looked at the pair and said, “Something tells me there’s a story in that.”

Laughing softly, Harry replied, “Her ladyship isn’t a fan of the weather forecast and chooses to ride in style back to school. Right after her personally catered breakfast.”

Soraya cracked up. “I’m guessing she’d like her own plate of sausages and bacon, perhaps with fried mushrooms and some buttered toast?”

There was a hoot in response, that gave a clear impression that Hedwig was saying, “Well of course I would. And cut them up into owl-size pieces please.”

With Hedwig added to the mix, Soraya decided to take a taxi to Kings Cross Station, as owls were not great fans of Side-along Apparition. Living only two miles from the Kings Cross Station, it took barely a quarter of an hour by cab to reach the station from Charing Cross Road.

Unlike the start of first term, the Hogwarts Express left at 9:30 am after Winter and Easter break, to allow students to get settled back in properly and at a reasonable hour. This meant the children got to enjoy a relaxed dinner, and some would visit the Library for any last-minute research for their homework (especially useful for students living in Muggle communities without access to family book collections). But most of all, the goal was to get a good night’s sleep before getting stuck straight into classes Monday morning.

But before all those things could happen, there was the long ride north on the shiny red train. Harry and Soraya arrived at Kings Cross at 9:00 and were the first of the Harry and Co group to enter Platform 9 ¾. Placing his trunk on the bench seat in one compartment in the third to last carriage, he put his backpack and book bag in the neighbouring compartment, then dropped Hedwig off in the third adjoining space, to stake the group’s claim.

Harry returned to the platform to rejoin Soraya, who’d been playing look-out for the firsties in Harry’s group. A few minutes later, the Patil twins came up and were directed to the correct compartments, followed almost directly by Megan, Susan and Neville. By 9:15, all sixteen members of the company were in place, allowing Harry to pop back onto the train to shrink his trunk and put it inside his backpack, then get both bags into the upper rack.

Hedwig refused to move upwards in her cage, and Harry was glad he’d put dibs on the three adjacent compartments, so they’d have room for luggage and familiars. Harry rather thought it was a bit of a shame the Express didn’t have some larger compartments or small carriages set up on the train. Surely he and his friends weren’t the only sizeable group to ever ride together back to school.

Having definitively established their territory, the first years piled back off the train now for final goodbyes to friends and family. Harry and Soraya hugged tightly, knowing that mirror-box calls didn’t quite make up for time spent in each other’s company, no matter how necessary the separation. The ten-minute warning whistle blew and the pair reluctantly separated, only to be startled by the cacophony being created by a horde of redheads racing through the barrier.

Soraya whispered, “Best pop right onto the train now, Harry. I’ll run interference with Molly Weasley if she tries to get to you again.”

Exchanging one last squeezing hug, Harry dived for the nearby carriage door, hearing distantly, “Harry dear, come meet the rest of the family. Perhaps you can visit at Easter”.

Rolling his eyes at the Weasley matriarch’s cluelessness, despite having been warned off, he raced into the middle compartment they’d saved and plopped down beside Hedwig’s cage.

“Okay there, Harry?” Susan asked, concerned at his high-speed entry.

“Weasleys,” was his single-word reply, at which everyone nodded in quiet understanding and commiseration.

“The twins are great,” Dean Thomas offered from the door. “But I can’t say much for their older or younger brother. Both prats, just in different ways.”

“The twins distracted their mother beautifully when she tried it on at the start of break. We’ll have to invite them to drop by for our buffet lunch later on,” suggested Susan.

“Just don’t make Harry go find them. He’s liable to get waylaid by Ronniekins or Granger,” Neville joked, well halfway joked anyway.

Harry just shook his head at his friends’ antics and reassured Hedwig she’d be allowed out of her cage once the train got going.

As for the buffet, Susan had been showcasing her growing organisational skills since the start of the year. While she had everyone captive at Justin’s sleepover, she’d arranged their lunchtime meal like a general, with everyone bringing something based on their available resources. Some were assigned to plate, cup and cutlery duty, and others drinks, or dips and chips. No one was surprised when Kay Formby, with a baker mother, was designated as the dessert provider, nor when Neville was assigned a vegetable platter for dips, and a tossed salad.

Between the rest, they ended up with a list that included scotch eggs, roast pork and veggies, beef stew, chicken and mushroom pie, lamb curry with naan and rice, and freshly made bread, while Justin was tasked with getting his hands on Mama Richetti’s to-die-for tiramisu.

Knowing they’d be well fed once they arrived at Hogwarts, Harry had asked the question as to why they were bringing so much food.

Susan replied, “There are quite a few Hogwarts students with families on limited incomes. I noticed a fair number who couldn’t afford anything from the trolley, and some didn’t even have anything for lunch last time. Those same kids didn’t buy anything on the trip back to London before break. I thought I’d do a stroll down the train after the trolley has been through, and invite anyone who looked hungry to come and get something to eat. I talked to Aunt Susan about it and she thought it was a great idea.”

Harry, who so very easily could have been one of those kids, just hugged his dear friend tightly for that. Susan, having heard a bit more about Harry’s background than most, courtesy of her aunt who asked her to watch out for him discreetly, wordlessly hugged him back.

~0~0~

At 9:30 exactly, the train pulled out of the station, all the firsties waving madly to those left behind on the platform. The Weasley twins raced by, looking for a place to sit, and Harry took the opportunity to call them in.

“Thanks for the intercept with your mum at the beginning of break! It was looking like it was going to get awkward!”

“It was our pleasure, young Harrykins…”

“Anything for the Boy-Who-Lived!”

“And getting to hex Ronniekins was just a bonus.”

“Nah, the best bonus was sending Mum spare!”

Harry felt a bit like he was at a tennis match, as the twins batted sentences back and forth. The twins, realising this was his first real encounter with them, bowed and introduced themselves as individuals, then confused things more by reintroducing themselves as Gred and Forge respectively.

Harry, Neville, Susan, Hannah, Dean and Justin cracked up at the performance. Even Hedwig gave an appreciative hoot.

When Harry caught his breath again, he said, “Well, it’s definitely appreciated. Hey, what are you two doing for lunch? We have loads of food with us, and we’re going to set up a bit of a buffet here around 12:30. You’re welcome to join us.”

“Well thank you, kind ladies and sirs,” they replied in unison, with flourishing bows. “May we bring along Lee Jordan, our best friend? He’s fit for polite company…well, most of the time,” asked Fred.

“The more, the merrier,” was Susan’s response, then her face shifted.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll leave that younger brother of ours at home so to speak. Sadly he’d demolish the entire buffet solo.” Dean nodded sagely at that observation; it was entirely true.

The Weasley twins’ hilarity set the tone for the rest of the train ride. The buffet was a resounding success, with so much food that they had to clear one compartment altogether to allow both bench seats to be used for serving, along with fold-out the table below the window.

That left several Harry and Co members milling in the corridor, plates in hand and chatting happily, which helped ease any discomfort the students invited by Susan might have felt. In all, the group fed around twenty extra students, along with the Weasley twins and Lee, who also helped break the ice with their conviviality. Not to mention the lively conversation between the Patil and Weasley siblings on their shared and different twin traits.

The Hufflepuffs joked about feeling a bit left out, having no twins of their own to liven up the common room, but then realised Parvati and Padma were separated by House, and that was likely the hardest of all.

By mid-afternoon, almost all of the food was gone, and only the remnants of the chips, veggies and dips were left. Ronald Weasley wandered by, along with Hopkins and Smith, likely having heard rumours of free food, but left with disgruntled looks. It seemed the story of the huge feast in carriage ten was a myth, and they’d made the walk for nothing.

Thirty minutes before reaching Hogsmeade, the last of the snacks were all gone, rubbish disposed of, and Harry and his friends pulled uniforms and robes out of trunks and smaller bags. The boys stood guard in the corridor while the girls took over two compartments to change, then returned the favour. By the time Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect, came through with the ten-minute warning, they were all in robes, trunks tidied away, and everyone’s animals were back in their cages. She just smiled, impressed at how organised the large group of first years was and continued her way to the end of the train, chivvying students to get ready.

On arriving at Hogsmeade station, the group scrambled into three of the seemingly horseless carriages for the fifteen-minute ride up to the castle. They were ushered into the Great Hall for a simple dinner, somehow hungry again in the way of all pre-teens, even after their large lunch, before separating into their respective Houses for the remainder of the evening.

The Hufflepuff first years all had their homework done, having compared notes at Justin’s party for those with any questions, so they hung out in the common room. Harry popped up to the dorm to settle his bonsai from Neville on his bedside table, while Neville did the same for his orchid. Fortunately, Professor Flitwick had taught them both the proper charms to create the perfect microclimate for their plants over the break, and they both knew Professor Sprout would help as well over the coming term, if needed. By 9:30 the dorm was quiet, as the excitement and good food all day did its trick, and the five Hufflepuff boys succumbed to the arms of Morpheus.

~0~0~

The Winter term started out well, from the perspective of the professors. The first staff meeting of the new term was held Friday afternoon, between the last of the day’s classes and dinner. Madam Hooch had brought her findings on the buddy system she and Harry had devised, presenting the marked differences between the two groups. While the Headmaster had a bit of a tendency to be put out by staff members innovating without his input, the others, particularly the Heads of Houses, were impressed with the results, even Professor Snape, loath as he was to admit it.

Professor Flitwick proposed forming a committee to explore introducing the system for first-year practical classes, while Professor Sinistra suggested it might even be useful in theoretical classes, particularly in the OWL year. Professor Sprout, being quite the egalitarian sort, upset the apple cart a little, by suggesting the pairings be made by skill level, not House affiliation.

Flitwick, now clued into the Ragnok’s concerns for Harry in regard to Dumbledore’s actions, noted that the Headmaster seemed less than enthused to cross House lines, and made a note to keep an eye on the issue. After a period of discussion, the committee included Flitwick, Sprout, Hooch, Vector and Sinistra. When Filius invited Quirrell to join them, DADA being an inherently practical class, the nervous instructor stuttered his way through a refusal, on the grounds he was still familiarising himself with the subject, this being his first year as the DADA professor.

Filius again raised an eyebrow. While it was true Quirinus was new to the position, he wasn’t new to teaching, having been the Muggle Studies Professor prior to his sabbatical the year before. This was another person worth watching, he decided.

The discussions from there devolved into routine staff meeting topics, from the review of academically struggling students, to supply needs, to disruptive students or chronic curfew breakers. Naturally, despite it being less than halfway through their third year, the Weasley twins featured prominently.

As was usual, once the staff meeting formally ended and Albus departed, the professors got down to the true order of business, the latest gossip and betting on upcoming Quidditch matches.

“Ten Galleons on the outcome of next week’s match between our Houses, Severus?” invited Flitwick.

“Of course, Filius. I’ll be delighted to take your money.” Sadly for the Ravenclaw Head, in the last few years that had been all too true.

“I’ll lay five down on Ravenclaw getting the Snitch, whether or not they get the victory. Who’ll go against me?” Charity Babbage, a former Eagle herself, put up a second bet. It would be an interesting challenge, as her House Seeker was a bit of a dark horse, in his first year playing.

“I’ll take it!” Professor Sinistra chimed in, also standing up for House pride as a former Slytherin.

Meanwhile, Minerva McGonagall was chatting with Pomona Sprout, and their topic of discussion soon garnered the attention of the rest of the teachers.

“Is the rumour I heard true, Pomona? It seems that Susan Bones, assisted by Messers Potter and Longbottom and their study group friends, arranged to provide a free lunch meal on the Express the other day, for those that couldn’t afford to buy from the trolley or bring anything substantial from home.” Minerva asked the question, all the while wondering why no one on staff had ever thought to raise the issue.

“It appears to be the case, Minerva,” Pomona replied. “While Miss Bones was the organisational force behind the efforts, it seems it was largely inspired by the few stories Mr Potter shared, of going to school hungry on many occasions, thanks to those Muggle relatives of his.”

Severus perked up his ears at that. The Boy-Who-Lived had been deprived of food? It was something he knew all too well personally. But surely not; Albus wouldn’t have allowed his Golden Boy to be deprived…would he? His musings were interrupted when the conversation continued.

“How did they manage to figure out who needed help?” asked Poppy Pomfrey, ever willing to find ways to take care of students who might not have the best home life.

Pomona replied, “It seems she paid attention at the beginning of first term, then looked to confirm her suspicions by following along behind the trolley lady on the way back to London last month. That’s how she scooped up her candidates on Sunday, by following the trolley, then looking to see who did and didn’t have food. She’d ask to speak to them in the corridor and then invited them to the compartment they’d set up as a buffet. It was done very discreetly so as not to embarrass anybody. I gather they fed somewhere around twenty-five extra students of all years and Houses.”

“Merlin, how in the world did they pull that off?” Filius was a little blown away by the grassroots effort.

“It seems they had a get-together earlier in the week, and all sixteen members of the group were assigned to bring either food, drinks or utensils. They had everything from nibbles to multiple main course options and all the sides, as well as several desserts I’m told. It seems Madam Longbottom’s house-elf was volunteered to make a tour of the students’ homes Sunday morning, collect everything and put the food items in stasis, before shrinking it all into several crates. Augusta arranged to have the elf deliver it to the children just before they departed. In the end, it took a whole compartment to lay the spread out!” Pomona’s tone of voice easily relayed how impressed she was with the group effort. In fact, she’d awarded five points to every student involved in the project.

“That girl will take over the world one of these days, I expect,” Minerva chuckled a little as she spoke. “Amelia has done wonders for her, given her father still struggles so.”

“Indeed. That thought is, perhaps, a little terrifying though,” Severus noted, then continued. “It does however beg the question as to why none of us have ever considered the issue or ensured all students would be fed on an eight-hour train ride. I usually arrived at Hogwarts hungry also, and yet did not think to find a solution.”

Minerva patted him consolingly on the back, perhaps one of less than a handful of people who would ever dare to do so.

“You are absolutely right, Severus, and we need to do better. I will look at the budget and determine if our food allowances would cover the cost of meals for all students on the train. The house-elves could easily cater for such an undertaking. If not, we may have to go to the Board of Governors for additional funding, and I can’t see Albus being happy we’re interfering. But it appears Augusta Longbottom would be agreeable, and she holds considerable sway with the other Governors, so we may get lucky there.”

Pomona spoke up again. “I requested the list of students they’d fed from Susan. I practically had to sign a legal contract ensuring the names would be held in confidence. But I think, as Heads of Houses, we should follow up quietly, and make sure there are no other issues at home for these students.”

She handed a piece of parchment to each of the other three Heads, retaining the Hufflepuff list for herself. Pomona then offered the master list to Poppy Pomfrey, who resolved to check out each student, though the need for doing so confidentially would present no small challenge. At least she’d be able to cast her practised eye over them at mealtimes, and then work with the Heads to investigate further where warranted.

“Well, dear colleagues, it is nearly dinner time. And we have our marching orders.” Minerva gave a nod to Pomona. “It’s been a joy, as always,” she finished with an ironic tone. And with that, a steady stream of Hogwarts instructors departed for the Great Hall, looking forward to the weekend ahead.

~0~0~

The students settled back into the swing of things as well, with the study group melding back into its routine easily. Several evenings a week, as well as Sunday mornings, they met in their space, which continued to accumulate more amenities courtesy of the house-elves. During meeting times, pots of tea, along with jugs of juice and water appeared, frequently accompanied by biscuits or scones as well. Additional lamps appeared on the walls and study table to improve visibility both for reading and writing, but also for practising spells and charms.

Classes fell back into their routines also. Professor Snape continued to confound the first years, and indeed some of the years above. During first term, he’d spent the first two weeks on potions theory, key ingredients used frequently, as well as instructing on preparation and brewing techniques.

To the amazement of all years, he’d even begun to explain the significance of the various techniques, in both the success and failure of potions making. The older students didn’t know what had changed, though the rumour mill (one of Hogwarts’ greatest assets) seemed to indicate the transformation had started with the first-year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class. It had everybody baffled, but no one was planning on arguing for a return to the previous years’ lesson structures.

The greatest change as the term got underway, was noted not only in Potions, but Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration. The institution of a pairing system, with stronger students working alongside their more struggling peers, had spread far more widely than just in Flying classes. The buddy system, now renamed Peer Support System, had been thoroughly reviewed by the committee, with professors also breaking down their class lists to identify who would be most appropriate to participate.

It had been presented to the students that there would be assigned partners for certain activities, to ensure practical tasks flowed more smoothly while allowing the professors to focus on the more challenging aspects of the lessons when instructing. Not to mention the benefit of increased inter-House cooperation. That it had the added benefit of helping everyone learn more evenly, and would keep the more adept students from getting bored, was supposedly just a happy accident. Harry and Co, and to a lesser degree the rest of Harry’s first year flying class, knew what was going on. But then they also knew better than to spoil things by letting the Kneazle out of the bag.

The only teacher of a practical skill-based subject not utilising the peer support method was Quirinus Quirrell. The other professors noted the lack, but had no power to force the man to change, nor did Dumbledore seem inclined to do anything about it. Still, the feedback the committee was getting was that there were so few practical sessions in the DADA classes, that there wouldn’t be a noticeable difference either way sadly.

The return to flying class thrilled Harry and, increasingly, Neville, who’d grown in confidence on a broom. Now able to bring his new Nimbus 2000 to Hogwarts after Christmas, Harry wanted everyone who enjoyed flying to have the best experiences possible. This led to the group of friends joining Harry in volunteering one Saturday afternoon to help overhaul, clean and refurbish the school brooms, under Madam Hooch’s watchful eye. They were joined by more than a few Quidditch players, who were keen to help out, despite also having brooms of their own. Cedric Diggory took half an hour, working side by side with Harry, to explain some of the finer points of the Seeker’s position, which thrilled the first-year boy deeply.

Now that the first years had shown basic broom proficiency, those without brooms of their own were given leave to borrow the school brooms on weekends, for casual flying or pick-up Quidditch games, as long as a staff member or prefect was there to supervise. With the newly refurbished brooms, Madam Hooch found herself being begged to start a Quidditch club, with mini-leagues based on the students’ age. A formal league of teams was deferred to the following year in the end, but ad hoc games, clustered into age groups, seemed to be a popular choice, and the Quidditch Referee/Flying Instructor recruited some of her colleagues to help supervise games.

First and second years had their own time slot, as did the third through fifth years. NEWT level students, most of them either already playing on a team or more engaged in studying, had dedicated times twice a month. There were no actual teams, students were assigned positions based on a first-come, first-served agreement. In no time, Madam Hooch, along with Quidditch-mad Professor McGonagall, had petitioned Dumbledore for a practice pitch and sets of hoops, to allow the regular team practices and pick-up games to go on simultaneously. Like with many innovations, the Headmaster was a reluctant participant, but the standing ovation he received in the Great Hall when announcing Hagrid had laid out a second pitch soothed his ego immensely.

So between the study group and weekend Quidditch, along with becoming more confident in their classes, most of the first years were finally feeling properly settled in at Hogwarts. Harry, Neville and Susan, along with several of their year mates, were still eager participants in the Charms and Herbology clubs as well, to the great joy of their professors. First-year students didn’t always have the confidence to join in with older students in the various clubs, but these enthusiastic firsties were bringing a lively energy that all the participants were enjoying.

Neville, of course, was a huge success with Herbology and eager to learn more from Professor Sprout. Harry had always enjoyed gardening most, out of all the Dursley’s chores, if only for its relative peacefulness (Dudley not being a fan of relaxing in nature), and the satisfaction of creating an abundant and well-designed garden. Susan felt neither here nor there with Herbology but wanted to spend time with two of her best friends. Poor Hannah, however, had terrible hay fever and drew the line at being in the greenhouses (and taking allergy potions) twice a week more than required for classes, so had dropped out of the club early in the first term.

This term’s club project was an overhaul of one of the old greenhouses, used for supplying food to the castle in previous years. Professor Sprout hoped to provide a sort of a community garden project, that would focus on domestically used plants (both magical and Muggle), and getting early starts on crops that would be later planted outdoors. Students were allowed to work in twos or threes on their own beds and selected their own plants (with some guidance to avoid duplication), as well as design their own layouts and add decorative elements.

Neville and Harry paired up for one bed, while Jill Oswestry and Susan selected the one next to the boys. There was, of course, some gentle ribbing about whether witch or wizard magic would yield better results. In all truth, they were just enjoying the chance to spend some extra time outside of the castle and relished getting to know their amiable Head of House better.

~0~0~

The other club that the Harry and Co group thoroughly enjoyed was Charms Club. Relentlessly enthusiastic and excitable, Professor Flitwick was a perennial favourite of students across all Houses (even if the Slytherins were disinclined to admit it). Harry, in particular, had developed a greater appreciation for the part Guduriak instructor, as had Neville also, thanks to several encounters in the Enklabe over the Christmas break.

What really thrilled Harry was to be greeted by “Egun On” or “Arratsalde On” (good morning/afternoon) when they passed in the hallways, or the occasional “Gau on, ondo lo egin” (good night, sleep well) at the end of Charms Club in the evenings. Filius had been deeply honoured in the trust he’d been shown by Ragnok, to look out for the boy who had the rare distinction of being Clan Protected.

He wished with all his might that he could tell the Buruzagi about Flamel’s stone that was held in the castle, and the frankly juvenile efforts they’d been restricted to by Dumbledore to protect it. But the Headmaster had enacted a rare clause in the Head of House employment contract, to prevent him from speaking to anyone except a Hogwarts employee under the same restrictions, about the stone.

Filius was looking for a way around this limitation, suspecting Harry was the target for the whole set-up, after some of the discussions he’d participated in over the break. However, he’d been unsuccessful in that undertaking to date.

Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Filius from welcoming most of Harry’s cohort into his club, where he took great delight in making Charms fun and practical, particularly for those raised outside of the magical world.

The first session after the Christmas break involved teaching the younger students how to charm an item of clothing to reflect their mood, while instructing the older ones on how to make their bedroom walls and furniture do the same. The response was gratifying. Harry clapped in delight, while Padma and Parvati Patil practised projecting different emotions so their friends could tell them apart, even if dressed identically.

Harry’s whispered, “This is brilliant!” to Neville made the Charms Master’s day.

The next session, thanks to several new members from second year, was a recap of practical household charms, such as dusting a room with a single sweep of a wand and polishing your boots. While not as thrilling as some of the more creative spells, even the repetition of such charms was engaging to Harry who’d only ever done such tasks manually, while Neville had always had a house-elf to do it for him.

Harry spoke up towards the end of the session. “Professor, when I was trying out wands at Ollivanders, he gave me what he called the brother wand to Fold-a-dork’s. It felt quite uncomfortable in my hand. Still, I managed to quite effectively dust his entire shop with it by giving it a wave as he says. I didn’t speak the correct command or use the exact wand movement, though it was similar. Would that be accidental magic or non-verbal magic, or a mix of both?”

After getting over his chuckles at the nickname, which was running rife through the bank and Enklabe, Flitwick replied, “In this case, not having been a witness, I would guess that it would have primarily been accidental magic. Though it would indicate to me that as you get older, you may very well become quite proficient with non-verbal casting. I will be interested to see how you progress.”

Harry blushed at the idea someone considered him talented at something (another point to talk over with Ringstar next time), then found his thoughts interrupted by a fourth or fifth-year magically-raised Ravenclaw student, who voiced the question most wanted to be answered.

“What’s a dork and why would you fold them?”

Flitwick pointed at Harry and responded, “How about you take this one?”

Harry reddened again, having been put on the spot. “Okay, a dork is a Muggle term for someone who does stupid things, usually for stupid reasons. And when someone folds, they lose a competition because they are outplayed and just throw in the towel. I hate those stupid names like You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And you lot don’t want to say his name. But anyway, because he was able to be defeated by a little kid and was killing people just because of their background, which is stupid, it fits. So my friends and I decided to call him Fold-a-dork.”

There were a few shocked faces, at such audacity, amongst the older, magically raised students. The Muggleborn and Muggle-raised club members just mostly found it pretty funny. Needless to say, by breakfast the next morning, Voldemort’s new title had made the rounds of the entire school and was now the official nickname.

It would not shock those paying close attention to one Albus Dumbledore that he was smiling like a proud grandparent at young Mr Potter. The old wizard was thoroughly convinced the boy could be swayed to his side, and would stand up to Voldemort when the time came. ‘Now if only he’d go looking for the stone. Not a curious bone in that child’s body,’ he contemplated, as he dribbled honey onto his toast and dug into his sunny-side-up eggs with bacon.

 

Chapter 11

It was a funny old term, Harry was thinking, as he and Neville left the Great Hall after Sunday lunch in late February. The weather was always almost unrelentingly cold and grey, alternating snow and rain more often than not. Harry didn’t think he’d seen actual sunshine for over a week, even during Herbology class. He thought, not for the first time, that he’d have had to refuse a Sorting into Slytherin for the lack of sunlight exposure alone.

But Harry was a boy who’d spent much of his childhood locked in a closet, and the rest strictly regulated by his aunt as to when he’d be able to get outside to do the gardening. Being able to just see the sun, and get outside whenever he wasn’t in class, contributed significantly to the allure of being at Hogwarts. That being said, today wasn’t one of those days. The wind was gale force rated, which meant no Quidditch games, and the temperature was well below freezing, which put a stop to even wandering outside.

“What do you want to do this afternoon, Harry? We’re all caught up with our assignments, and it’s a bit too early to start exam review,” Neville asked.

“The girls are all doing something weird and girlie in our study room, so that’s out of the question. Why in the world would an eleven or twelve-year-old need a makeover? Much as I like our friends, sometimes I just don’t get girls at all,” Harry griped.

“What’s everyone else up to, do you know?”

Harry thought for a moment. “Sean and Dean are apparently signed up for an Exploding Snap round-robin with the Gryffs. Umm, let me think. Oh, Justin said he needed to talk with his dad about some family business on his mirror-box. And Ernie and Graham are hanging out with Cedric. He’s got a wireless radio and they were going to be listening to the Montrose Magpies slaughter the Chudley Cannons. Weren’t you paying any attention at breakfast, Nev?”

“Err, not really. I was thinking about what the Herbology Club could do as a group project next term. You know Professor Sprout wants suggestions by the next meeting.”

Harry smiled and ruffled his godbrother’s hair. He knew too much to ask Neville to keep track of their friends when he had the Herbology bit between his teeth.

“So I reckon that has us on our own then. What sounds like fun to you?” Harry was out of ideas and hoping his friend would come up with something.

“Oooh, you know there’s something we haven’t done, and we talked a bit about it at the start of the year. We promised we’d try to create a basic map for next year’s firsties. You know, the main classrooms, the couple of secret passages we’ve found, which moving staircases will get you lost or have trick steps. There’s loads of information we could collect.” Neville was becoming quite enthusiastic about the idea.

“That sounds like fun. But we’ll need pens and pencils, and a large notebook to pull this off, because we might have to map each level. I’ve got that stuff in my trunk. Let’s go get it.” The two raced off for the dorm room. They were no longer bored, they were on a mission.

The duo had an absolute blast over the next few hours. Nearly two hours in, they were tracked down by Susan, who’d reached her girly-girl limit well ahead of the others. By this time, the boys had plotted out the way to the Potions classroom and labs in the basement, and the Entry Hall and its maze of reception rooms sprouting off the space.

They’d ridden the staircases between the first and second floors and found a new disappearing step that only triggered if you stepped with your left foot, while flush against the wall on the left side, six steps up from the bottom. Harry and Neville had even tried timing the motion pattern of the staircases with Harry’s digital watch. After half an hour, they concluded that it was either truly random movement, or an intricate pattern of shifts and holds, undetectable by two first-year boys.

When Susan joined them, they were finishing plotting the second-floor classrooms and were contemplating exploring the staircases between the second and third floors, looking for any traps or trick stairs. Or they could call it a day, and head back to the Badger common room, and tidy up their maps, so they could explore more another time. Of course, it went without saying that making a dent in the wonderful selection of biscuits and cupcakes the Longbottom house-elf had delivered that morning from Neville’s gran, was on the cards.

“Let’s give it another twenty or thirty minutes, boys. I want to see what you did with figuring out the stair movements, and checking for booby traps,” asked Susan. Nodding agreeably, they set out for the closest stairway, there being four that moved between this floor and the one above, as far as they could tell. They picked the stairs on the eastern side of the castle and proceeded to climb up and down them carefully, testing each step across its width, and trying both feet for good measure.

Almost to the top, the staircase began a sudden, almost violent, swing to the left. Harry grabbed the banister and hooked an arm around Susan’s waist. Neville, who’d been on the opposite end of the step, slid down to park his backside on the stair and wrapped both arms about a couple of the stone balusters below the railing. When the stairs immediately reversed course, just before they would have connected to the third floor, they whipped back at high speed again, then reversed back to the left, and seemingly went quiet now they were re-attached to the third floor.

By this time, Susan and Harry were also both sitting on their step. Susan had attached herself like a limpet to Harry, who’d followed Neville’s lead and wrapped his arms around several balusters. Slow to trust there’d be no more movement for a time, they hitched their way up the stairs on their bottoms, one cautious step at a time.

Finally reaching the point they could see onto the third floor, the trio inched up a little more, until they were only a couple of steps below floor level. By this time, Neville had braved the width of the step to huddle with his friends, preferring to trust in their strong grasp if the stairs moved again, rather than an inanimate part of the railing.

It was at that moment that Susan realised where they were.

“Umm, isn’t this the third-floor corridor on the right that the Headmaster warned us about at the start of the year? Maybe we should go back down. Aunt Amelia would kill me if I died because we ended up here out of sheer bad luck.”

That had the boys chuckling along with her, until a sudden movement and sound caught their attention. It sounded like a pack of dogs was housed somewhere along the corridor, and then they saw Professor Quirrell fly out of the only door on the western side of the hallway. He seemed in a panic, and it only took a few steps to realise he was limping. Not sure what all this meant, the three friends scooted back down the stairs, as silently and quickly as possible.

They were aided in their escape by the sounds of Quirrell pausing to moan in pain, and curse the “thrice-headed and thrice-damned dog”. By the time Quirrell had put his first foot onto the staircase, Harry, Neville and Susan were beating a hasty retreat towards one of the empty classrooms on the second floor. None of them could quite understand why they panicked on landing up at the banned third-floor corridor. Nor could they explain why it seemed so imperative that they not be found out by the DADA professor. All they could say was the feeling of dread that had engulfed them receded the further they got from the man with the turban. It was after dinner, as they walked back to the common room, when Susan brought up another observation to add to the mystery.

“You know, when Professor Quirell was cursing the dog thing, he didn’t stutter once. Can you two think of any occasion he’s ever said an entire sentence clearly since we’ve been here?”

Harry and Neville shook their heads.

“Time to talk to some adults I think.” Harry was suddenly convinced this whole situation needed to be reported to a responsible adult or two. Grab your mirror-boxes and we’ll meet back in our dorm. No one else should be there right now, and they won’t mind hanging out in the common room for a bit anyway, if we want privacy.”

“Sounds like a plan, Harry,” replied Susan, as they passed through the barrel entrance to the common room. She dashed off in the direction of the girls’ dorm, while the boys made their way to a thankfully empty dorm of their own.

~0~0~

Within minutes, Neville and Harry were joined by Susan, and they arranged three chairs in a semicircle facing the mirror-boxes, which were set side by side on the study table in the centre of the dorm. The mirror-box calls were connected, and in moments, Soraya and Ragnok were on a split screen for Harry, while Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom were on Susan and Neville’s mirrors respectively.

Susan led off the report with a brief overview of where they were and why. She then said, “We found ourselves stuck on a moving staircase between the second and third floors. It went crazy on us, almost whipping back and forth. If Harry and Neville hadn’t held on to me, I’d have been at the bottom of the stairs in no time.”

There were cries of alarm from the watching women, while Ragnok looked more like he was heading towards furious.

Harry took over the narrative. “We’re all okay, might be feeling a bit sore in the morning, but really…we’re fine. Anyway, when the stairs finally stopped, we basically crawled to the top, not trusting them to stay still. We’d just gotten high enough to peek over the top step, when we realised we were at the third-floor corridor that the Headmaster warned us about at the start of the school year.”

Neville went on from there, knowing his gran would be happier if she heard his voice. “All of a sudden, a door opened down the corridor, and it sounded like a pack of angry dogs behind the door. Then Professor Quirrell came out, limping and very unhappy about there being a three-headed dog behind the door. Gran, the only three-headed dog I know of is a Cerberus, and aren’t they banned here in Britain?”

“What in Merlin’s name is going on in that blasted school? I’ll have Dumbledore’s guts for garters!” That announcement by his gran had Neville a bit worried. After all, his grandmother had the vulture she’d killed mounted on a hat as a souvenir. A piece of him was wondering how much of that was a turn of phrase versus something likely to become a reality.

Augusta, being very good at reading her grandson’s face, answered his silent question. “Don’t worry about me, Neville. I’d never actually carry out a threat I issued in front of the head of the DMLE.”

Amelia replied, “No, you’d be much more likely to rope me into helping decide on a suitable punishment, and then executing it with me.”

Augusta shrugged nonchalantly; why argue with someone who was only speaking the truth?”

Ragnok spoke up then, “Please someone remind me to keep my wife away from you both when you start plotting. She needs no encouragement in that quarter.”

The adults shared a laugh then, while the three friends just shook their heads. Wasn’t being a troublemaker and getting into mischief supposed to be a kid’s job?

Soraya decided to play responsible adult then. “Alright, back to the matter at hand. What’s to be done about a Class XXXX rated dangerous creature being kept confined within Hogwarts castle, and obviously under minimal protections?”

That was quite the difficulty facing the group. Harry had an idea but wasn’t sure it got their problem solved at all.

“I bet Hagrid would know how to handle the Cerberus. He’s really into creatures of all kinds. There was a rumour a few weeks ago that he had a baby dragon that he hatched. But wouldn’t that be crazy in a wooden hut? Anyway, someone said the Weasleys arranged for their brother who works with dragons to come fetch it. Don’t know how true that was. All I know is that Ronald Weasley and his mates were caught out after curfew, coming back from the Astronomy tower one night around then.” Harry shrugged. He wasn’t much of one for listening to gossip and rumours, even though most of the school thrived on it.

Amelia commented dryly, “Knowing Hagrid, I suspect that rumour is entirely correct. Does Dumbledore have any clue what is going on in this school?”

She huffed in frustration, then continued, “I can bring in a squad of Aurors, along with a team from the Department of Magical Creatures, to remove the Cerberus and whatever other games Dumbledore has set up on the third floor. But it’s not something I’d like to do in a school full of students, or when Albus is in the castle and likely to interfere with the operation.”

Adults and kids alike agreed on that one.

“And the thing is, beyond the Cerberus, what other deadly creatures might we have to remove? There’s a Wizengamot meeting at the end of the week; it usually takes the whole day. And Albus will have to be there to preside as Chief Warlock. But we simply don’t know if that will be enough time to eliminate all the hazards.” Amelia removed her monocle and rubbed both eyes tiredly. Her job gave her enough stress without Dumbledore’s plots to add more.

“We also have to consider what Quirrell was up to. As suspicious as this all sounds, he could just claim curiosity, like any student. I don’t have enough to open a case file on him yet. He doesn’t seem to be a risk to the students at the moment if you discount the harm he’s causing by being a thoroughly inadequate teacher. But if I bring in a large group of Aurors, with us having no idea what he is up to or why, then there is the possibility of him attacking students.” Amelia was presenting a rather bleak picture.

Ragnok spoke then, “I think the ideal timing for the operation to clear Hogwarts of these dangers would be over Easter break. Would you all agree?”

There were murmurs of approval from the entire group at that conclusion. Ragnok continued, “That means we have roughly six weeks ahead of us to make our plans. This would also give us time to look more into the Quirrell situation, and explore what Dumbledore may be hiding in that set of rooms. It’s very obvious that he’s set something as bait, I suspect to draw Voldemort or his supporters out.”

“Or try to lure Harry into playing the hero. He definitely has some sort of agenda where Harry is concerned,” Soraya sagely noted.

“So between now and Easter, we just need to keep the students away from the doorway to the Cerberus, without alerting Dumbledore that we are doing it, and hopefully figure out what Quirrell is up to as well. Easy-peasy, as one of my Muggleborn Aurors likes to say.” Amelia’s tone was more than a bit sarcastic.

Harry had been sitting quietly pondering. Surely there was a way to block students only from that area? It wouldn’t hurt to ask the question.

“What if there was a way to only allow certain people to get off those stairs on the third floor or open that door? Maybe an under-age student block of some kind? That wouldn’t keep the students over the age of seventeen out, but the greatest percentage would be protected. Or…wait…is there a way to identify individuals magically? Muggle police use fingerprints to solve crimes because no two people have the exact same arrangement of lines and swirls. Is there a ‘magical fingerprint’ so to speak, and could you create some sort of line that only people who are registered can cross?”

“Harry, that’s brilliant. It’s a complex bit of magic because it combines wizarding Warding skills with the magic we Guduriak use at Gringotts to ensure only authorised account holders can access the vaults. What do you think, Soraya? A rune array, combining both Elder Futhark and Antzinako Euskalduna (Ancient Basque)? We have the magical signature of all Hogwarts staff members to use as ‘fingerprints’. I think it would be possible, don’t you?”

Ragnok was very excited by the concept, not the least of which it could be a means of offering increased safety in a variety of home and business security arenas. If so, he’d have to provide Harry with a percentage of the profits, for coming up with yet another excellent idea.

Soraya considered the concept for several long moments, even grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill to start sketching out a possible array configuration.

She nodded, satisfied with her rough workings. “I think it will work. I can carve the array onto a tablet or something similar and place it under a chameleon charm, so it’ll disappear whenever it’s mounted. It’ll probably take me a week to sort it out properly, but once I’m done, how can we get it put in place?”

Augusta had a suggestion. “My house-elf, Jancy, is the cousin to Hogwarts Head House-elf, Jonty. They visit back and forth quite often. I suspect it would be simple to have her place the tablet and pop right back out.”

“Oh, that’s a splendid suggestion, Gran. I bet that will work perfectly.”

“It’s a clever idea. I like it,” Amelia agreed. “Leave the rest to us oldies, okay? We’re very proud of how you handled the situation today. It must have been very frightening, but you kept your heads and did the smart thing in coming to us, rather than thinking you could sort it out yourself. Well done!”

The other adults echoed Amelia’s sentiments before Augusta noticed the time. “Better head off to the Great Hall now; it’s time for the dinner bell. We’ll take care of the details.” Dismissed, Harry, Neville and Susan went for dinner as ordered.

`~0~0~

Content to let the adults sort everything out, Harry and Co passed the word that it was a really bad move to think about exploring the third-floor corridor. And they were hugely relieved, a week later, to get word that the house-elves had taken care of getting the runic Warding in place.

The rest of the term proceeded quite smoothly, with one rather enjoyable exception. The community garden was growing well for the Herbology Club, and Professor Flitwick was teaching them how to adapt charms they might use for daily chores, as a means of defence. Harry’s favourite was the one where they used a broadly cast Aguamenti to cover the floor with water, then followed it with Glacius to freeze it. It was hilarious watching his friends slide around.

Neville had proposed doing the charm combination in layers, to create a thicker layer of ice, which could be used as an indoor skating rink. The idea worked fantastically, to the professor’s delight. Flitwick greatly enjoyed skating and mourned each year when the Black Lake warmed back up and the ice melted.

To fully test out the experiment, one Friday he gathered his 6th and 7th-year NEWT Charms students, had the house-elves remove the tables and benches from the Great Hall, and created a huge skating rink. A variation of a housecleaning polishing charm smoothed the surface and the NEWT students had a lovely hour of skating before having to reverse the spell and drain the water.

The other Heads of Houses stopped by to explore the spectacle, and even the Headmaster was impressed. He proposed an ice-skating party for the entire school the following Sunday, after lunch. The professors were recruited to help the NEWT students with the casting of the charms, to ensure a nice thick ice surface, and a great time was had by all.

The house-elves supplied a buffet of foods that could be eaten by hand for dinner that night, with tables laid out around the edge of the rink, along with some of the normal benches used for seating, lining the Great Hall walls. Those who did not wish to skate were provided with a non-slip charm to their shoes before entering the Great Hall. That number was few, mostly students who’d never wished to learn to skate. But they largely enjoyed being spectators.

A second, smaller buffet was also set up in the Entrance Hall for those who wished to avoid the cold altogether, as Filius had added climate control charms to the entire Great Hall, to lower the temperature enough to prevent the ice from melting.

The students enjoyed seeing their professors join in on the fun. Professor Flitwick was a very skilled skater and demonstrated some amazing jumps and turns.

The most interesting spectacle was Professor Snape, who in his very contained manner, skated evenly paced looping laps, never varying his upright aspect, or seeming to expend any effort to create the movement along his path. All the students made an effort to move out of his way, as if he was an inexorable force that would sweep them aside, if they happened to cross his path.

As might be imagined, the skating party was the talk of the school, and Harry had great delight in giving Soraya all the details in their mirror-box conversation later that evening. She told Ragnok about it the next day, who then fire-called Filius to jokingly harass him about using free student labour to extend his ice skating season.

Filius just smiled benignly and suggested there might be some profit to be made by setting up year-round ice rinks in the wizarding communities, and if they did, Mr Longbottom deserved credit for coming up with the original idea. Ragnok laughed; Filius certainly had his number, when it came to his interest in investment opportunities for Gringotts.

~0~0~

The rest of the term was very peaceful, considering what was to come over Easter break at the school. Augusta had worked with Ragnok on a ruse to get the greatest percentage of the students to go home for the holidays. As one of the school Governors, she’d pushed through a motion to have the wards assessed by the goblins (by this time, she hated using that slur of a term), given the fact a troll had been able to enter the school during the first term.

The excuse used was the need to assess the school’s protections with a minimal number of magical beings and their signatures present to blur the wards evaluation. Thus they’d have a good sense of how to do a full upgrade over the summer break. Sneakily, Augusta and Amelia had suggested a sponsored trip to the Welsh Green Dragon Reserve on the first day of the ‘ward evaluation’ and a visit to Stonehenge via Portkey the next day, for all students remaining behind during the holidays. Augusta, Amelia, Ragnok and several of the other Governors had donated money towards the trips, and the Hogwarts elves were providing packed lunches for all.

When the OWL and NEWT students protested the interruption to their exam revision to Professor McGonagall, she reminded them that they would study all the better for getting some sunshine and some recreation, and refused to hear further arguments.

Headmaster Dumbledore was less than pleased to have such disruptions to the school, at least ones that weren’t of his own creation. But he bowed to the pressure from the Board of Governors, knowing that if just one of them leaked his opposition to the Daily Prophet, he’d be receiving some very nasty Howlers.

The last weeks of term went very smoothly. The students headed back to London on the Hogwarts Express, with packed lunches for every student aboard, courtesy of the house-elves. Minerva had found that the budget had always allowed for student meals on the train. But a previous Headmaster had stopped the programme and diverted the funds to other projects. Fortunately, a simple vote at the Board of Governors meeting restored access to those funds.

Harry and Co snagged their now-expected three adjoining compartments and spent the journey planning their two-week break, playing magical and Muggle games, and enjoying the variety of food on hand. The students going home for the break had also been invited to join in with the Dragon Reserve and Stonehenge excursions, and everyone chatted excitedly about those opportunities as well.

The trolley lady, who’d been notified of the plan to supply food to the students, has taken a very enterprising turn. She’d had a Squib cousin send her a great variety of muggle chocolates, lollies and crisps, and sold those alongside her usual wizarding treats.

The expanded inventory was a great hit, as many of the magically raised students were trying some of the snack items for the first time. Marge (the trolley lady) planned her own Muggle shopping trip with her cousin over the holidays, wanting to bring an even greater variety of goods along when the students returned to Hogwarts in two weeks.

The arrival at Kings Cross Station was almost hassle-free. Mrs Weasley, spotting Harry within the protective circle of close to a third of the entire first-year class, called out to try to get his attention and approach closer. But the twins rode to the rescue again, this time transfiguring Ronald’s robes into a pink ballet tutu, complete with pearly white tights and ballet slippers. They gave Harry and his friends a wink as the group passed, then returned to tuning their mother out as she berated them for picking on ‘poor Ronnie’.

Harry and Co shared quick hugs all around and they dispersed with their respective parents and guardians. Unbeknownst to Harry, Molly Weasley had spotted Soraya escorting him from the platform. Several parents heard her ask, “Who’s that woman taking Harry from the station? She looks nothing like the description of Petunia Dursley that Albus gave me. I’ll have to talk with him about that.” Sadly no one that heard was close to Harry or anyone in his group of friends, so Mrs Weasley’s comments were not passed on.

But that issue was for another day. The children had two weeks of freedom ahead of them and that was the most important thing as far as they were concerned. Like typical children and teens, the chance to sleep in, do whatever they wanted, and see and do new things, was where their focus was at. It was the holidays!

 

Chapter 12

The events of the Easter holidays in Harry and Neville’s first year at Hogwarts would be talked about for years to come.

The day after the students left for London on the Hogwarts Express, the Headmaster departed by international Portkey for Rome. As Supreme Mugwump, he was required to chair the planning meetings for the annual ICW conference, held each summer. These planning meetings took the full week and Dumbledore wouldn’t be free to return to Hogwarts until the following Sunday unless recalled by the Wizengamot for an emergency session.

Now that the Headmaster was out of the country, Amelia took a couple of days to get properly prepared for what would be a virtual assault on the Hogwarts third floor, right-hand corridor. The operation was slated to be carried out on the Wednesday and Thursday of that week, and there was plenty to do to ensure that it went off safely. Fortunately, Amelia had been able to pass off the job of arranging a considerable number of Portkeys for the students’ outings to her harried assistant.

Most magically raised students were able to Floo or be Apparated into the vicinity of the Leaky Cauldron, to then be Portkeyed onward to their destination in large groups. However, those living in the Muggle world would all require separate Portkeys to the Reserve and Stonehenge. And it was not just the students that needed transportation.

A group that large required quite a few adults to act as chaperones and many parents had been dragooned by their children to help out. The non-magical parents had to be included in the Portkeys as well. The logistics of the whole undertaking, both within the school and without, were rather daunting.

But in the meantime, the students were settling back in at home, getting homework out of the way, and having as much fun as they could fit into two weeks.

~0~0~

With Madam Bones neck deep in planning, Soraya had suggested that Susan stay in the flat with her and Harry for a few days. Amelia thought it a good idea, and brought Susan to Gastronomic Alley Monday morning, on her way to the Ministry. Susan had spent the previous day with her father, catching him up on the events of the second term and their plans for the holiday break, but that was about as much socialisation as he could manage at one time.

Susan’s father, Edgar Bones, was a quiet and deeply withdrawn man, who’d only recovered at a physical level from his injuries in the attack where he’d lost his wife and most of his family in the first Voldemort war. Mentally and emotionally, he lacked the ability to engage almost as much as Neville’s parents. He managed the Bones estates primarily through the use of his bailiff, who acted on his behalf when dealing with his tenants and employees.

Edgar managed to show polite interest in all Susan had to say over lunch and early into the afternoon (he’d had breakfast and worked in his office all morning as was his usual routine). But by three o’clock, he begged her indulgence to return to urgent business in his office and did not re-emerge later to join Amelia and Susan for dinner.

“He’s not getting any better, Auntie. It’s like he’s just going through the motions to keep the estate running, and there’s nothing left for anything else outside of that, even for me.”

“I know Susan, I know. It breaks my heart for you, but nothing any of us do seems to be able to break through his grief. I don’t know that anything ever will.” Amelia sighed deeply; she had compassion for her brother, but she could see that her niece, who she loved as if Susan were her own child, was hurting from his neglect also.

“You do your very best, Auntie, and it’s enough for me. Truly it is. I’d be lost without you. And once you’re done with clearing up the Headmaster’s mess, we’ll have loads of time to hang out together before I have to go back to school. I think we definitely need a girls’ day out.”

“Ooh that does sound good,” Amelia replied with a smile. “Now you’re sure you’re okay staying with Soraya and Harry for the next few days? They’ve had the flat expanded to give you your own room, which was lovely of them to do. But I thought you might prefer to stay with Hannah. You’ve been best friends almost from the time you could walk.”

“We’re…not as close as we were before starting school. Hannah hangs out with us in class, and with our study group, but she’s more like the girls from Gryffindor in her interests. She didn’t want to join the Charms or Herbology clubs, and she’s not really into flying, so we’re just naturally spending less time together. I’m more interested in the things Neville and Harry enjoy, so we hang out together much more. I think it’s just part of growing up.”

“It’s probably the case, my dear. Just don’t get so caught up in the day-to-day minutiae of life that you lose track of the people you care about. Alright enough serious talk, what are we going to do on our girls’ day out?”

~0~0~

Susan was dropped off at Soraya and Harry’s place shortly before eight, the next morning. The pair were just finishing breakfast, having had a bit of a lie-in.

Soraya showed her to the new guest room that had somehow been sandwiched into the hallway between Soraya’s room and the living room, thanks to Ches’ ingenuity. Susan loved the room greatly because Ches had included runes to change the paint and soft furnishings colours with the touch of a wand. He’d also included a magical window that could show scenes from around the world. The current view was the Bergen, Norway waterfront with the Hanseatic houses and a view up the fjord. Susan thought it was all totally delightful.

They spent much of Monday knocking out the homework they’d been given for the holidays, interrupted by several forays into Gastronomic and Diagon Alleys for fish and chips for lunch, and later, ice cream at Fortescue’s.

Harry and Susan were both excited at the news that Susan had been given permission to visit the Enklabe tomorrow and that Neville would be joining them. Soraya and Harry spent an hour or so after dinner giving Susan a crash course in Guduriak history and traditions. She was fascinated by everything she learned and could barely sleep that night for excitement.

Ringstar met them at the employee entrance the next morning. Firelock and Ragnok were deep in planning the evaluation of the Hogwarts wards with the Warding department. If they managed to slip one or two of their Curse-Breakers into the team to go on a little Horcrux or DADA curse hunt, then no one really needed to know that.

Originally they had thought to use the warding evaluation just as a ruse, but Professor Flitwick had approached the Board of Governors and urged them to not delay until the summer anything that could be done for the students’ safety now. He was deeply disturbed by the events of the year so far and wanted some of those holes in the wards patched if possible.

As a result, the Gringotts team would be assessing the boundary wards for the castle, as well as those places where the grounds met the Forbidden Forest. They would also be looking over the safety protocols in the wards for the more dangerous areas like the Black Lake and the Quidditch pitches, and shoring up any weak spots as much as possible.

The hope was Amelia’s team would be able to remove the Cerberus, as well as any other dangers, from the third-floor corridor during the first day. This would allow the second day to be devoted to the Aurors’ investigations, while the Gringotts team would conduct the survey of the internal wards. It was, out of necessity, going to be a quick and dirty job. But it would give the Warding and Curse-Breaking teams a good leg up on tackling the whole system much more thoroughly over the summer holidays.

~0~0~

Ringstar led the three pre-teens through the bank to the cart they would take down to the Enklabe. In between whoops of excitement from all three children during the ride down, she was subjected to a near interrogation by Susan, who was fascinated by everything she’d heard about the Guduriak so far, and how it was different from everything she’d ever been taught about goblins. But even Susan fell silent as they emerged from the tunnel and surveyed the vista before them.

Ringstar explained intent-travelling to Susan and asked which quadrant she’d be most interested in visiting first.

She thought for a moment then said, “You know, I’ve never tried skiing. Is that something Guduriak people enjoy? Would we be able to learn?”

“It is indeed a very pleasurable pastime for many. My husband, who seems to have somewhat of a death wish when it comes to winter sports, enjoys it greatly. I am not a fan of downhill skiing, being less fond of life-threatening injuries. But I do enjoy cross-country skiing, and it’s quite a bit easier to learn, I think. Would you like to give that a try?”

There was enthusiastic approval from all three children to that, so Ringstar had the three link hands with her, and milliseconds later, she’d intent-travelled them all to the chalet she and Firelock owned in Negua. Warm clothes were transfigured for each child, as were cross-country skis, poles and boots fitted to size. Ringstar then led them out to the fairly smooth and open clearing in front of the chalet and began their first lesson.

Harry got the hang of the basic technique fairly quickly. He didn’t know if all those years of being the target of ‘Harry Hunting’ had increased his physical agility or if he had a degree of natural athleticism. It had certainly given him a higher level of fitness than many magical kids, but then physical activity or working out was next to unheard of in the wizarding world.

Neville had more general strength and stamina than many his age, thanks to having worked a great deal in the gardens and greenhouses at home. But coordination wasn’t his strong suit, which hampered his progress a little.

Susan, with no real background at all that could have helped her learn to ski, took to cross-country like a duck to water. When Ringstar announced they needed to return to the chalet for lunch, Sudan skied circles around the boys and received a couple of good-natured raspberries for her efforts.

Over a hearty stew, the group discussed what to do for the afternoon. Ringstar suggested no more skiing, promising they would be feeling those muscles later in the day or in the morning. Harry grinned and said, “Forget later in the day. I’m feeling it now,” to some gently teasing laughter from his friends.

Ringstar made an executive decision at that point and ordered everyone to grab a hot shower, handing them each a bottle of herbal shower gel that Swifthorn swore by, to relax overexerted muscles. Emerging from the showers, dressed once again in their regular clothes, the trio were in agreement that Swifthorn knew what she was talking about.

“Where to now?” Ringstar asked. “Somewhere relaxing I’d suggest.”

“Shall we go for extremes and head to the beach for the rest of the afternoon? Or there’s the wonderful botanical gardens in Udaberria, Susan. It’s your first time in the Enklabe, you should get to choose. Don’t you think Harry?”

“Definitely. We could also go to the farm in Udazkena and play with the animals. There’s loads to do here. Anything sound good?”

“The beach sounds wonderful. I think it would be great if we all went back to school with a bit of a tan. They’ll all be jealous and wonder where we’ve been,” Susan giggled.

So the beach house in Udara it was. The boys had swimming trunks and sandals they kept at Ringstar and Firelock’s place now. But Ringstar was happy to resize one of her one-piece bathing suits for Susan, and the trio spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun and the sea.

Before they knew it, it was quarter to six and Neville was supposed to meet his gran in the bank lobby at six o’clock. It was a bit of a scramble, but they made it in time and said their farewells. They’d be together again for the trip to the Dragon Reserve the following morning.

~0~0~

Wednesday morning brought clear skies, and for April, warm temperatures, all of which boded well for the trip to see the Welsh Green dragons. About fifty students were travelling directly from Hogwarts, but that left over a hundred students from all Houses and years, along with the chaperones, to assemble outside the Leaky Cauldron to be transported to Wales.

Madam Longbottom was in her element, ably assisted by Professors Flitwick and Sprout, with Professor Snape escorting the students still at the Castle. Professor McGonagall was a little jealous, being left stuck at Hogwarts, but as Deputy Head she was holding the wards while Dumbledore was in Rome.

Chivvying the students (after signing them off a master list of names) into groups of twenty, they were handed a long coil of rope, lined up so all could get a hand on it, and Portkeyed off at five-minute intervals. This had the added bonus of letting the staff at the Reserve take each group off in different directions, to ensure they didn’t overwhelm the dragons with one massive group.

Neville, Harry and Susan stayed back to go in the last group with Augusta and Professor Flitwick. The professor had deliberately stayed behind, to be able to Side-along Apparate any stray latecomers who missed the last group Portkey, but all the names were marked as present and accounted for by then, so he rode along with the final transport.

Garreth Lloyd, the Head Keeper at the Reserve, had stayed back to take this last group around. He’d been looking forward to seeing Harry again and spending some time with the younger Speaker. It was a rare occasion to have the opportunity to do so.

“How are you doing, fy machgen? I told the dragons you were coming back today. They’re all anxious to see you again.”

Harry had learned on his last visit that fy machgen was sort of the Welsh equivalent to my boy or laddie, and enjoyed the fact that Garreth saw him as a friend.

“I’m enjoying Hogwarts, Garreth, and making lots of friends.” Harry then introduced his friends from the study group that had been able to attend.

Having had the chance to say a brief hello to Harry, Garreth now gathered the rest of the group around him and began the tour. They started with the feisty adolescents first, and the dragons proceeded to tease Harry about his inability to fly, for all that he could speak like a dragon.

Harry gave as good as he got, a sign of how much more confident he was in himself than on his first visit the previous summer. He promised to bring his broom the next time he came and fly with the youngsters, but only if they promised not to flame his broom. There was much chuckling amongst the dragon equivalent of teenagers, but the promise was made.

Word got out very quickly that Harry Potter was a Dragon Speaker, of course. Quite a few students tried to break away from their assigned groups to see what was going on, but Garreth was having none of that. If they couldn’t behave, they’d be sent to sit by the gate, with one of the chaperones to supervise, until the group was ready to leave.

In turn, all the groups visited each section of the Reserve, seeing dragons of all ages. They stopped for picnic lunches along the way and finished back by the large habitat where the calmer adults without offspring tended to hang out.

Harry and Garreth agreed to play interpreters for about half an hour, for a question-and-answer session with the dragons. The students were very well-behaved and orderly in their asking of questions, knowing this was an incredibly rare privilege to have been given.

At 3:30, Augusta and Filius both received Patronus messages from Amelia, giving the all-clear to return to Hogwarts, which worked well, because the rest of the families were due to pick up their children in Diagon Alley, between 4:00 and 4:30.

Garreth approached Harry, who was standing with Soraya, Neville and Susan, watching the controlled chaos of getting nearly two hundred people home by Portkey. But Augusta and the Professors seemed to have it well in hand.

“Would you like to have a chat with Ildryth again, Harry? She said she’d like to see you and meet a couple of your best friends.”

The dragon Elder had elected to avoid the hustle and bustle of the large group of students, staying comfortably in her cave, and being spoiled with an extra treat of a side of lamb.

When Harry turned to Soraya for permission, a look of deep longing on his face, it was easy to give her consent and Augusta readily gave her permission for Neville to stay back as well. Augusta handed over one of the backup Portkeys, for the small group to return to London when they were done, then went back to see the last groups off to their parents.

The half-hour with Ildryth was, for want of a better term, magical. She wanted to know how everything was going at Hogwarts and was thrilled to see that Harry had found such good friends. In a way, she saw Harry as rather like a two-legged, non-fire breathing grandson, and thoroughly enjoyed their time together.

She updated Harry on the antics of the youngest members of the family, which had the entire group in giggles. The story of young Cadoc trying to court one of the females of a distantly related thunder, had them all nearly in tears of laughter by the time Ildryth was done. But eventually, it was time to return home, for there was another busy day ahead at Stonehenge the next day.

Each of the children (including Soraya, as she was declared to be barely of an age to learn to fly in dragon years) was given the dragon version of a kiss on the cheek in farewell, as Ildryth pressed her forehead to theirs. Harry promised to be back in the summer and said his goodbyes.

They were all contemplative as they walked back to the main gate to return home, realising just how great a gift it was to have an opportunity to connect with the thunder’s Elder in such a profound manner as they had done that day.

~0~0~

It was a smaller group that went to Stonehenge the next day. The fifty students staying at Hogwarts over the break made up about half of the kids signed up for the excursion. Of the Harry and Co group, Susan, Neville and Harry had decided to come, along with Muggle-raised Hufflepuffs Jill and Kay. Justin, the final Muggleborn member, had wanted to come but was stuck visiting his grandparents with the rest of the family, to his dismay.

Professor Flitwick was instrumental in the party arriving unseen by the Muggles and not drawing their attention whilst exploring the site, with some advanced charms work. He’d created the illusion of two tour buses, parked side by side, as their means of arrival, but in fact the space between the buses was the Portkey zone.

It only took about fifteen minutes to get the students and chaperones in place. Professor McGonagall had arranged for a couple of old friends, both historians, to act as tour guides and explain the magical history of the standing stones.

Dr Pippa Shaw was an Australian historian, with both Muggle and magical degrees, and was a highly respected expert on stone circles. Minerva had met her at a Transfiguration conference (Pippa’s second love) and they’d kept in contact since. Given Dr Shaw was teaching in the Magical College at Edinburgh University that year, she was free over the Easter break.

The second historian was an old colleague from the Ministry, a researcher for the Department of Mysteries; they’d met in the Ministry cafeteria bemoaning the sad state of what they called Scottish shortbread. Fergus McBeatty had spent much of his career trying to unravel the purpose of the standing stones and their relationship to ley lines.

After checking that everyone was wearing appropriate Muggle clothing (and doing some emergency transfiguration for those that weren’t), Professor Flitwick and their historian guides split the students into two groups to manage them more easily.

Filius cast a charm he’d newly created, which allowed the guides and students to openly discuss magic in relation to the day’s outing. However the spell was an auditory variation of a chameleon charm. It ensured that Muggles listening in heard them speaking an unknown foreign language that they didn’t know, even ween surrounded by tourists from many different countries. It was a masterful piece of Charms work and Pippa was encouraging Flitwick to publish his innovation.

They stuck initially to the restricted areas the Muggles had set aside for tourists at Stonehenge, which prevented visitors from walking amongst or touching the stones. Their guides, however, spent more than an hour telling fascinating stories of the stone circle, its history magically speaking, and some of the rituals it was thought that the ancients performed.

After a break for morning tea (popped in by the Hogwarts house-elves into the secure area between the buses), the historians switched groups and repeated their lectures, in order to share multiple perspectives on the ancient circle.

A house-elf-supplied lunch followed and the students burned off some steam with some chasing games and kicking a football around for some Muggleborns who were familiar with the game. Hermione Granger cornered both historians after lunch, pelting them with questions quite relentlessly. In the end, Professor Flitwick, as the only Head of House present, had to take her aside and discuss treating visiting guests courteously, even if she had loads of questions. Much chastened, the girl stayed mostly quiet for the rest of the day.

Following the lunch break, the students were given an immense treat. They each received an amulet on a leather thong, which was hung around their neck. Of Guduriak design and creation, it made the wearer invisible to the Muggle eye. Filius altered his tour bus illusion charm to make it appear that the buses had driven away, now that the students were hidden from view.

The purpose of this was to allow the group to get across the fenced barrier (Portkeys were exceedingly handy for many things) and walk within the circle, even feel the magic of the stones. The students were threatened with detention through the end of their Hogwarts careers if they disturbed or damaged the site or the stones. But everyone was inclined to treat the ancient treasure with immense respect, especially once the more adept could feel the energy thrumming within each of the stones.

Another Portkey took them to nearby Avebury afterwards, to experience a much simpler circle and quite a different feel to the magic. Afternoon tea appeared courtesy of the house-elves again. Then Dr Pippa, as she was now known to all at her insistence, provided a fascinating lecture on the much older stone circle.

It was a tired and windblown group that returned home at 4 o’clock that afternoon, but it had been a fascinating day, and enjoyed by all. Most particularly by Professor Flitwick, who had a date with Dr Pippa in Edinburgh the following evening.

~0~0~

While the students were enjoying their days with dragons and stone circles, Amelia Bones was having a much less enjoyable time. Arriving at the Hogwarts gates with a full complement of Aurors, and a large team from the Department of Magical Creatures (High-Risk Creature branch), minutes after the students had Portkeyed to Wales, she had to wait for a further ten minutes for Hagrid to come and permit them entry to the grounds. The team from Gringotts followed behind and immediately went to their tasks of surveying the boundary wards and border with the Forbidden Forest.

Professor McGonagall, having received a Floo call from Augusta Longbottom the night before, had been alerted to the DMLE Head’s plans. However, she put up a token resistance to the semi-invasion at the steps to the castle’s main doors. Mostly because she knew the portraits in the Entrance Hall acted as Albus’ spies and would report to him if she didn’t fight the DMLE’s entry.

Hagrid, who’d hung around after escorting the group to the castle, began sobbing when he realised they knew about the Cerberus in the school.

“No’ Fluffy, yeh can’ take Fluffy. He’s a good boy. Sweet an’ gentle as a lamb, he is!” The half-giant was nearly inconsolable.

“Hagrid, I assure you Fluffy will be well taken care of. We’ve contacted a magical creature reserve in Greece, which is where he must have come from initially. It’ll be a much better climate, and he’ll have the chance to live with other Cerberus, perhaps have pups of his own someday.” Amelia tried to reassure the sobbing mountain of a man.

“And the team from the reserve will be here after lunch. You’ll be able to meet them and tell them all they need to know to care for him; they’d probably let you come visit too. Now, all we need to know is how to get Fluffy safely contained for us to get by.”

Hagrid sniffed and tried to contain his sobs. “He likes music, any kind really. It calms ‘im righ’ down if yeh play summat fer ‘im. Goes straight off ter sleep he does.”

Amelia looked over her gathered troops. “Any singers or musicians amongst us? Maybe you know a spell to produce music?”

One of the more senior Aurors piped up. “I have an old family spell, but I hope Fluffy likes reggae because it’s designed to play the caster’s favourite music,” Kingsley Shacklebolt volunteered laughingly.

“I’m sure that will be more than adequate. Though it’s interesting to note none of our High-Risk Creatures ‘experts’ had a solution at hand, despite knowing what we’d be facing.” Madam Bones’ sarcasm made quite a few Ministry employees present start wincing. It meant she’d be going through the department with a fine tooth comb after this, never a pleasant experience.

“Professor McGonagall, can you confirm the castle has been cleared of students and staff? And the house-elves, what has been done to ensure their safety?” Amelia got straight down to business.

“The castle has been cleared entirely. The house-elves are having a day to themselves, with a picnic on the other side of the Black Lake.”

“And do you know what we will find beyond the Cerberus?”

Madam Bones watched as the Head of Gryffindor attempted to speak. It was obvious she wished to share her knowledge but had been bound by an oath of secrecy. ‘Damn that old goat’ she thought fiercely. ‘Always with the bloody secrets and intrigues!’

Amelia laid a comforting hand on McGonagall’s forearm. “Never mind Minerva, we shall take each challenge as it comes. Now go find somewhere safe for the day. I’ll send a Patronus if we need you.”

Minerva just nodded tersely, frustrated beyond belief she couldn’t help more, then swept off in the direction of Hogsmeade.

Turning back to her team, Amelia Bones just waved an arm towards the castle and called out, “Let’s get this done.”

In minutes, they were reassembled in front of the door on the third-floor corridor, having been shown the exact location by Hagrid, before sending him back outside the castle. The large wooden box with a sturdy door that had been requested by the Greek reserve’s head keeper, had been unshrunk and was standing at the ready in the hallway. The warding that the house-elves had put in place weeks before had been taken down as well.

Shacklebolt was put in the lead position and went to open the door, finding it locked. As part of the evidence-gathering process, he began with the most simple unlocking charm, as it would help detect just how much negligence was happening at Hogwarts. There was a rush of shock and indrawn breaths amongst the Aurors when the lock released to a simple Alohomora, something practically any student in the castle could perform with little effort.

Easing the door open very slowly, not wanting to alarm the three-headed dog too greatly, Shacklebolt slid his wand into the gap and incanted, “Musicus Ventus“. (Favourite musician)

The sounds of one of Bob Marley’s songs ‘No Woman, No Cry’ were heard emerging from the wand tip, while Kingsley shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. It was a little-known fact that Bob Marley was a wizard who’d had immense success with a crossover career in the Muggle world.

Slowly pushing the door more widely open, the Auror was deeply relieved to see the Cerberus, which was chained over a trapdoor, start to sink towards the flagstone floor, its three heads nodding in time to the music. In a matter of minutes, Fluffy was dead to the world, with the middle head emitting soft snores.

The High-Risk Creatures team moved in and, using a gentle levitation charm, floated the animal into the large crate, then securely locked the door. A featherweight charm allowed two team members to lift the crate and carry the Cerberus down the stairs to the staging area in front of the Main Entrance. The keepers from the Greek reserve were due to arrive in an hour or so, and they’d keep watch until the handover could be managed. Shacklebolt had also taught them the music spell so the animal would remain peacefully asleep during the wait.

Peering down into the dark well under the trapdoor, the space below was resistant to revealing anything despite strong lighting from above. While the Aurors were discussing the options for safely exploring the lower level, an impulsive junior member of the High-Risk Creatures team transfigured a rope, magically anchored it to the floor, and scooted down the rope in a matter of seconds.

He called up, “It’s a soft landing down here, I’m sure you could just jump down,” before letting out a frightened squawk. “Something grabbed me, it’s wrapping itself around me. I bet it’s a snake!” At that, the foolhardy wizard started screaming.

Shacklebolt volunteered to be cautiously lowered down on a second rope, which allowed the group on the surface to pull him up quickly if needed. He’d also conjured a massive lantern, to properly assess the situation. He descended steadily, about halfway to the bottom, where the lighting revealed what was happening below. Seeing Eddie Greer trapped in ever-tightening vines, he tugged on the rope as a signal to stop and dangled above the reach of the plant to call up through the trapdoor.

“It’s some kind of plant. It’s got itself wrapped around Greer pretty good.”

He paused a moment, fragments of memory of a Herbology class poking at his brain, and spoke to the trapped man. “Eddie, stop struggling, would you. Just stay still. And tell me if it stops getting tighter.”

Greer did as ordered, before agreeing that the plant did seem to be backing off if he didn’t fight as much.

Kingsley called up again. “I think it’s Devil’s Snare. It calms down if Greer does. But that’s all I remember from Herbology Class. Any suggestions, anyone?”

Amelia was the first to recall the solution. “It shies away from light or fire. Can you make your lantern brighter, Kingsley? Then we can lower you further. It would help if Greer could get his wand and cast Lumos as well?”

Greer shook his head. “My wand is in a pocket on the side of my pants. And my arms are trapped. I can’t help.” Fortunately, he was much less panicked now, so they had time to work out the best solution.

“It’s going to just be me, Madam Bones, and the lantern is at maximal brightness. I don’t dare use Lumos Solem. I’ll half blind myself with how bright that is, then I’ll be useless for a rescue.”

“Alright, we’re lowering down a second lantern to you, and that should do the trick. We’ll take you down slowly, so you can make sure the plant is receding. Once you free Greer, the rest of the team will follow down with lanterns each, which should ensure safe passage.”

Amelia’s plan worked perfectly, which pleased her greatly. She hadn’t wanted to have to battle the Devil’s Snare back with fire, knowing Professor Sprout would not be forgiving if she used such a damaging approach.

Within minutes, the group had climbed down into the plant room, as it had quickly been labelled, then moved quickly through to a corridor beyond.

An odd sound drew the attention of the Auror Squad, now taking point after Greer’s impulsive failure, and there was soon light emanating from the next room and signs of something moving.

The passageway ended and a large room opened up beyond. It was brightly lit and filled with an enormous flock of brilliantly coloured birds, with a solid wooden door visible at the other end of the room. Shacklebolt and Robards (also a senior Auror) agreed to try to get across the room together, anticipating the birds would attack, but moved easily to the other side and attempted to get the door open.

It didn’t matter what spell they tried, including a well-contained Bombarda, the door was impervious to being opened by magic in any form. The pair of Aurors returned to the group, looking for suggestions.

Having been paying very close attention to the birds as her Aurors returned, Amelia realised, “They’re not birds, they’re keys. We just have to capture the correct one and look, there’s a couple of brooms left for us to use. So who’s our best flyers?”

It turned out that Robards and Erika Livingstone from the Creatures team were the most experienced flyers, and were soon mounted up to chase keys. Eagle-eyed Shacklebolt noticed the one flying anomaly, a winged key large enough to fit the lock on the door he’d failed to open. Calling out to the flyers, he brought the key to their attention and, with a handy pincer strategy, they had it in hand less than a minute later.

The party crossed the room and Gawain Robards did the honours opening the sturdy door. The sight of a massive chess set in the room beyond had jaws dropping. Their target was obviously the door beyond the chessboard, but it surely wasn’t so simple that they’d just walk across. Robards made the attempt, just to be certain, and found the black pieces herding him back, with rather menacing gestures.

Amelia, being a decent player, though not spectacular in her mind, called out “White pawn to E4.” The chess pieces were unresponsive. She tried the same command with the black pawn, and still no response.

“We know they’re reactive to someone getting on the board, Gawain proved that. Any ideas people?” Amelia asked.

“I’m thinking we have to play the white pieces, against the black pieces until we win or get enough of us across,” suggested Zadok Farr from the Creatures team. “But my question is…what happens when a piece is taken or sacrificed.”

“Bloody hell, I suspect that it’s just like regular wizard chess. That piece gets clobbered, and so does our team-mate,” Eddie Greer suggested. “I don’t fancy that at all!”

“Then we need a different solution. Look around, check the equipment you brought with you. It’s time to think outside the box,” was Amelia’s rallying cry.

“What about the brooms?” Kingsley suggested. “We could fly over and try the door. Maybe once it’s opened, it’ll deactivate the chess set. Otherwise, we might have to ferry everyone over, which will be slow, but we’ll get there.”

“Good idea. Can you and Livingstone give it a try, Gawain?” asked Amelia.

The two flyers shared a look and then reached a quick agreement. “Sure, we’ll give it a go,” Robards replied.

The duo flew easily over the top of the chessboard and found themselves at the door standing opposite. The heavily braced door was locked, but Robards could detect no warding, which suggested basic unlocking spells would be effective. Unfortunately, despite two people stepping foot on the other side of the chessboard, the chess pieces still blocked anyone setting foot on the board.

“Ferry service it is then!” cried Robards genially, as the pair flew back to the Ministry crew. They each proceeded to deliver one person at a time, over the top of the chess pieces. When every team member had safely crossed, both black and white pieces fell to the side, as if conceding the game.

Shacklebolt took the lead in unlocking the door once everyone was assembled. Alohomora worked again, to several muttered derisory comments about the lousy security. Easing the door open a little, he slammed it quickly shut again when the unmistakable odour of troll emanated strongly from the room. A heavy thud on the door moments later indicated the troll was awake and likely not in a good mood.

Amelia called Cadmus Nickleby, head of the High-Risk team forward, indicating it was his turn to shine. They strategized for a moment then formed into an assault squad, closely packed, with three team members in front firing first, and another taller row of wizards jammed close behind, to fire over the first row’s shoulders.

Kingsley opened the door again, swinging it quickly back out of the way of the High-Risk Creatures squad. Easily spotting their target, the first row of wizards fired Petrificus Totalus repeatedly, while the second row shot heavy-duty stunning spells at the troll. It took nearly thirty seconds of steady spell fire, but the troll finally toppled, immobile and insensate. Wrapped in thick ropes, thanks to an Immobulus or two, the troll was removed to the front entrance of the castle by two High-Risk Creatures team members jointly levitating it out of harm’s way.

At this point, Amelia was starting to think they should have brought provisions for her teams. Just how many obstacles had Dumbledore laid in her path? They still didn’t know what they’d find at the end, though it likely had to be an item of value, to go to such extremes.

Though on reflection, while the protections had been quite elaborate, they’d been relatively easy to conquer. Had the old goat been trying to tempt the students to having a shot at getting through the challenges? She had a sneaking suspicion that was Albus’ plan, and she was fairly sure which student he most wanted to try. What exactly did he want from young Harry?

The next room was much smaller than the previous chambers. Amelia called for Shacklebolt, Robards, Nickleby and Livingstone to join her, as the most experienced representatives of both squads.

The moment they crossed the threshold, a fire flared, blocking their retreat through the doorway and also in the one ahead. They’d need to solve the challenge to exit the room in either direction. A row of potions stood before them, accompanied by a roll of parchment. It was a logic puzzle to determine which potion allowed the person to go either forward or back, with the lovely little kicker that poisoning was likely if they guessed incorrectly.

“This has to be Severus Snape’s handiwork,” Kingsley commented. “And I hardly think he’d have put real poison in those vials.” Having solved the puzzle, he indicated the ‘poisons’.

“There has to be a fail-safe hidden in this room somewhere, so the Headmaster can get in and out if needed. Anyone find anything in here apart from these potions?” Amelia asked. The responses were all negative.

“Then I’m with you Kingsley, those so-called poisons must be the easy in and out. Try splashing some on the doorway.”

It turned out they were correct. The first poison vial in the row dropped the flames and let them move forward, the second freed their escape to the rear. Moments after the potion was used, the vial refilled itself. It was a useful contrivance, allowing someone easy access to the chamber ahead, on multiple occasions if needed.

Proceeding cautiously into the next room, Amelia found herself facing an artefact she’d seen before. The ornate Mirror of Erised normally resided in the Department of Mysteries, and she was eager to know who Dumbledore had corrupted to allow it to be relocated to Hogwarts. It was also the final room of the challenge.

She stared in the mirror and saw only herself and her team. Knowing this meant that she only desired to finish the job and find out what Dumbledore was up to, Amelia was a little surprised to feel the drop of a heavy weight into the pocket of her robes.

Reaching in, she found a large ruby-red stone, the magical signature of which she also recognised. It was the Philosopher’s Stone, capable of creating the Elixir of Life, and last known to be in the hands of its creators Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel. Its existence was a highly classified secret, as the Stone’s potential to be used for evil was immense.

At this moment, Amelia was very grateful that only a small and highly trusted group had made it this far with her, because she knew what Dumbledore was up to. He suspected Voldemort (or Fold-a-dork as Susan had mentioned) was still alive in some form, and eager to return to a body and an almost eternal life.

“I hate to do this, but finding this stone means I can only give you two choices. You’ll either need to take an oath of secrecy on your magic, or I will have to Obliviate your knowledge of the stone’s existence.”

The rest of the team was shocked by the two rather dire options but could see the DMLE Head was deadly serious. In next to no time, all four had taken oaths on their magic to reveal nothing about the stone to anyone. There was a quick strategy meeting, and it was decided to claim the Mirror of Erised was the purpose of all of the traps and challenges. It could very well have been a means of capturing someone of ill intent, given how easy it was to fall to its thrall.

They reversed course and rejoined the larger team in the troll room, where they were eager to retreat from the smell. Removing the troll and using some cleaning charms had helped, but not enough in their minds. The larger group made its way back to the area by the main entrance of the castle, where the others waited with Fluffy and the troll.

The Greek creature keepers had sent a Patronus that they’d arrived at the international Portkey Arrivals in London, and would be at Hogwarts by 1:00 pm, as they were facing a delay due to a Keeper not reacting well to the international travel.

Amelia explained they’d located an artefact, which she felt was the reason for all the challenges being set. Unfortunately, it could only be safely handled by the Unspeakables, and she hoped to get them to the castle that afternoon to take care of the issue. She then sent the High-Risk Creatures team to return the troll to the sanctuary in the Outer Hebrides, on an island masked from Muggles.

She dismissed the rest of the Aurors, keeping Robards and Shacklebolt with her to assist the Unspeakables if needed and to keep an eye on the Cerberus until the Greeks arrived. One of the High-Risk Creatures team members had charmed a music box to play continuously, and had placed it in the crate with the animal, keeping the creature slumbering peacefully, with the occasional muffled sound of snoring still rising from the large box.

Thoroughly exhausted and furious beyond belief, Amelia sent a Patronus message to Croaker, the head Unspeakable, and demanded his presence at Hogwarts immediately. The tone of voice conveyed a definite ‘Don’t mess with me’ attitude, which must have come through clearly when Croaker quickly Apparated just outside the gates and strode swiftly up to the castle, fully cognisant of the fact he was there to face the music.

Face to face with the Head Unspeakable, Amelia cast some of the strongest privacy spells known to wizardkind. Though no sound emerged, to Kingsley and Gawain, it was obvious Croaker was receiving the worst dressing down of his life.

The privacy spells finally dropped, and Amelia led the man into the castle, returning twenty-five minutes later with the Mirror of Erised, masked by a large drape. Croaker took out a piece of rope, charmed it to become a Portkey, then attached it to the mirror frame with a sticking charm, and disappeared back to the Department of Mysteries without another word. Short of handing over the Cerberus, their work for the day at Hogwarts was done.

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