Reading Time: 116 Minutes
Title: The Ending of the End
Series: If Only
Series Order: 2
Author: Aussiefan70
Fandom: Harry Potter
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort
Relationship(s): Gen. Main character pairings in epilogue only.
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence-Against Children
Author Note:
Beta: Geminiangel
Word Count: 106,361
Summary: Harry and his friends start second year, and mostly have decent professors who make learning fun (with the odd exception). Meanwhile, Harry’s family roots grow stronger and deeper, there’s a creature on the loose at Hogwarts (never fear, Harry has people for that), and Dumbledore has a bad day…all year. Then again, so does a certain dark lord, so at least the Old Goat isn’t alone in that.
Artist: Spuddoc
Chapter 9
The light-hearted moment didn’t last all that long sadly. One of the house-elves popped into the Great Hall a short time later and whispered urgently into Professor McGonagall’s ear. Hearing the reason for the rare appearance of a house-elf in front of the entire school, she grabbed Madam Pomfrey by the sleeve and hissed at the other Heads of House to follow her to the small antechamber behind the High Table. The Headmaster was absent, as he’d often been of late, though for no discernible reason, and an almighty mess was being dumped in the Deputy Headmistress’ lap.
“A student has been petrified. The house-elves located first-year Colin Creevey in the old Defence classroom on the fourth floor. He’s been using it as a dark room with my permission, given his fascination with photography. Albus is out of the castle, and a student has been harmed. I’m taking the situation in hand and calling the Aurors. Any objections?”
There were none; the staff were largely very frustrated with the Headmaster’s laissez-faire attitude.
Minerva pulled her mirror-box out of her pocket and unshrunk it, then called Amelia Bones to notify her of the petrification, and request assistance. She then turned to her colleagues and directed them to action.
“Poppy, please check that it is safe to leave Mr Creevey there until the Aurors arrive. If there’s an immediate medical need, transfer him to the infirmary, otherwise I think it would be helpful if they see him in situ before moving the boy. Severus, would you please go with Poppy and provide any assistance needed? I gather you’ll want to be there when the Mandrake potion is administered. As the boy is Muggleborn, I know you prefer to closely watch for potentially unknown allergies.”
Professor Snape and Poppy Pomfrey almost snapped to attention and then left the room at speed, intent on following orders. Filius just smiled; he’d always secretly thought Minerva would have made a good general. She had quite the gift of command.
“Pomona, would you please supervise breakfast, then have the students return to their common rooms. Filius, if you will alert our group and then assist Pomona, I would be grateful. Let’s not announce anything yet, I’ll just say that there’s an emergency situation, and classes are cancelled for the day. I’ll task some of the house-elves to fetch books on request from the library and provide lunch and refreshments, so the students can work on assignments, and not be tempted to wander. But I’ll have to remain available to the Aurors all day. Hopefully they’ll be done so that we can have dinner back in the Great Hall, but I think we’ll have to play that one by ear.”
McGonagall’s plans went exactly as she’d laid out. Thinking on the fly as the students finished breakfast, her next to last instructions were to task Filius and Pomona to spend the day in their House common rooms, to nip any tendencies to abscond in the bud. Aurora Sinistra, a former Slytherin, was designated to stand in for Severus in the Snakes’ common room, while Rolanda Hooch scored the dubious task of trying to keep Gryffindor (and a set of Weasley twins) in line. The prefects did a head count and reassured Minerva that no-one else was missing, before the students were directed back to their Houses, their assigned babysitters bringing up the rear.
Students taken care of, McGonagall contemplated sending a Patronus message to Dumbledore, then decided that if he couldn’t be bothered to tell his Deputy where he’d taken off to, then she’d return the favour and leave him out of the loop with Hogwarts updates.
Sighing deeply in frustration, she headed for the Grand Stairs. Amelia and the Aurors would likely come through the infirmary Floo shortly (it was the closest location to where Mr Creevey had been found), and she’d have her hands full once that happened.
~0~0~
Dumbledore reappeared just before dinner that night, in high dudgeon that his deputy had called in the Aurors but hadn’t called him. He’d found out about the situation at the school thanks to one of his hold-out allies on the Board of Governors, who’d been alerted to the Aurors presence after Augusta Longbottom had sent out a quick memo by owl.
It had been a calculated thing, to notify the entire Board, but the group of parents, guardians and professors had talked late morning, and decided that having Dumbledore put on notice that he’d now have much closer oversight was worth the risk. And if Augusta had somehow put Dumbledore’s ally as the last person to receive an owl, well that was surely just happenstance.
The Headmaster was also rather upset that Colin’s parents had been brought to the castle via Floo. Dumbledore tended to avoid notifying parents if students were injured, and particularly made little effort to bring the parents of Muggleborns to the school. But his Deputy knew the school guidelines incredibly well, and had ensured that the Creeveys were escorted to Hogwarts through the Floo connection at the Ministry. Fortunately they lived in London and it wasn’t arduous for them to make the trip.
Colin took nearly thirty hours to fully wake up. The response to the Mandrake-based potion varied from twenty-four to forty-eight hours to regain full consciousness. He was able to report that he’d been looking through the viewfinder of his camera, aiming to catch the play of light on the stone walls and floor of his darkroom as the sun rose that morning. He’d actually been in the darkroom because he’d wanted to print a photo of Harry catching the Snitch, despite the Bludger attack. Colin had lucked onto snagging the exact right moment. But he’d been diverted by the play of light, and grabbed his camera instead.
The Aurors had hoped that he’d managed to catch a glimpse of what had petrified him with his camera. But when they’d opened the back to retrieve the film, they’d only found a melted sludgy mess. All Colin could recall, when he’d woken, was big yellow eyes coming around the corner, before he knew no more. But at least he’d survived a Basilisk encounter, which was the most critical thing.
Of course, the attack was almost instantly ascribed to the Heir of Slytherin, and fingers were pointed in all directions amongst a wizarding population looking to lay blame. Harry caught early scrutiny, because his ‘altercation’ with Colin before the Quidditch match had many eager to think they’d found the culprit.
Colin though, for all that he was a Muggleborn first year and likely out of his depth, was a fierce defender of the boy he now considered a friend. He knew he tended to get a bit over the top once he had a camera in hand, and was certain he’d probably driven Harry nearly nuts. But the Hufflepuff had actually taken the time to make suggestions that could improve his skills, and had not just hexed him out of frustration, as some of the older Gryffindors did, when overwhelmed by his enthusiasm.
Harry, realising Colin’s parents were far from wealthy, had also arranged for his parents to replace the ruined camera, knowing just how much his photography meant to the younger boy. The camera was donated anonymously, but Colin has his suspicions, and there was no way he’d allow anyone to cast aspersions on his hero after that.
And so the rumour mill subsided when there was nothing new to feed it, and almost before anyone realised, they were on the Hogwarts Express, heading home for Christmas.
~0~0~
The members of Harry and Co plus add-ons had decided to switch things up a little this Christmas, which resulted in nearly twenty young witches and wizards stuffed into one train compartment and spilling out into the corridor, peering through doors and windows. Harry just wished his Mam’s friend Ches was on board, to expand the compartment using wizarding space.
Hannah had heard from an older cousin who worked in the Ministry, that they were running a Secret Santa project in their department. It was mostly an American concept, but for some reason, it had taken off in parts of the Ministry.
So they’d all drawn two names apiece. As a variation on the traditional method of gift giving, Harry thought it quite amusing, though a bit (okay a lot) scary when he got Parvati and Lavender, the two most girly-girls of the entire group.
The conflicting advice of his parents didn’t help either, when it came to selecting presents. Plus Harry was a little disappointed that the arrangement meant he wasn’t technically supposed to give gifts to any of the other Harry and Co group members. The fact they had a two Galleon limit on the cost of each of the gifts didn’t make things in the slightest bit easier either.
Harry finally figured it out though, with a touch of adult supervision. He’d sent his Mam to the nearest Boots, and bought a selection of Muggle glitter nail polishes, in four or five different shades apiece. By the excited squeals that emanated from the corridor on opening their gifts, Harry figured he’d done alright by the two Gryffindor girls.
Harry had received a small photo album from Susan, who’d drawn his name, with the hint she’d enjoy seeing some of the pictures from his travels. And Graham had gotten him a gift certificate for Fortescue’s, which would be nice to share with Soraya sometime during the holidays (they were both suckers for ice cream sundaes, no matter the time of year, even midwinter).
It was a very jovial group of friends that parted ways on Platform 9 ¾ a few hours later. Harry planned on doing some surreptitious Christmas shopping over the next day or two and sending individual gifts to Luna, Susan and Neville, if he didn’t get to meet up with them before Christmas Day. He figured Hedwig would enjoy the chance to stretch her wings, because she didn’t always get loads of letters to deliver during term time, thanks to the use of the mirror-boxes.
Though Ringstar had mentioned, when he’d been in the infirmary after the Bludger incident, that the devious (and possibly way too smart for her own good) avian had been sneaking away from Hogwarts when she needed a change of scenery or season. The snowy owl had been spotted at least once a week in the Enklabe, visiting whichever quadrant took her fancy (Udaberria mostly), and had taken to joining the Elder meetings, where somehow crispy bacon appeared with the cakes and pastries every time now.
After she’d been spotted zooming along above the cart tracks, they figured out that she was entering Gringotts through the bank owlery, and was then taking off and doing her own thing. Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or have a long talk with Hedwig when he found out. But then he received messages from both Ragnok and Fellgar, that Hedwig was welcome any time, so he just threw his hands up in the air and went with it.
~0~0~
Harry’s Christmas shopping plans didn’t go entirely as anticipated. The next morning, Soraya woke him up, instead of going with the lazy Sunday morning sleep-in that characterised the school holidays. When he heard the reason, the twelve year old was all smiles though, and raced through getting ready and having breakfast.
They Floo’ed to his Ama and Aita’s home, and were soon on their way to Amsterdam once again, with a glamoured Ringstar and Firelock. The plan was to see the city lit up for the holidays, but more importantly, to visit some of the Christmas markets. And if there was time left over, perhaps visit one of the many museums in the city.
They began the day wandering Dam Square, where a giant Christmas tree adorned the area in front of the Palace. There were quite a few stalls for shopping, and Harry found a quirky Sinter Klaas marionette puppet that he knew Luna would love, before moving on to the next market. They’d opted to use cabs to get around for the day, rather than try to Portkey or Apparate. Trying to find quiet locations to magically travel during the holiday season tended to result in the need to call in the Obliviators.
Their next stop was the market on Leidensplein. Harry was on a roll with his shopping, finding a small leather shoulder bag that would suit Susan for their Muggle trips, and a couple of surreptitiously hidden gifts for his Mam and his Aita. Stopping for hot chocolate and oliebollen (little round fried doughnut balls), Harry wasn’t all shopped out yet, to Soraya’s surprise. Ringstar just smiled. She knew Harry was a long way from growing tired of being able to give and receive gifts, after a decade of the Dursley’s neglect. She somewhat suspected he never would.
The final market in their sights was the one on Museumplein, close to the Rijksmuseum and the Magical district that held Gringotts and the Enklabe. They strolled the stalls for a while, and Harry found Neville a thick hoodie in a deep forest green, that would be perfect for cold days getting to and from the greenhouses for Herbology Club, or when he helped out Professor Sprout. He was also pleased to find one in blue for Ches, and a pretty brooch for Ringstar.
They stopped then to enjoy lunch at the bistro in the market, which happened to overlook a skating rink. The family of four lingered over their late lunch, talking about whether to visit a museum, or rent some skates. Naturally the men of the group, Firelock and Harry, were voting for skating, while Ringstar and Soraya were fans of getting out of the cold and seeing some artwork. Which is exactly how the group split up and spent several entertaining hours. Harry’s mothers enjoyed the Van Gogh museum (and it seemed the museum shop if the number of bags they carried were any indicator), while Harry and Firelock skated to their hearts’ content.
Neither Soraya or Ringstar mentioned anything about the cinnamon and powdered sugar traces on the boys’ jumpers when they met back up. They’d known, when leaving the pair to their own devices, that more oliebollen would be on the cards. Harry smirked at Firelock, as if to say, ‘I told you we’d get away with it’. Which had his Aita smiling back. It was good to see some more mischievous qualities appear in the boy who was sometimes still too solemn.
They had a light dinner in a café close by, before grabbing another taxi. Dusk had closed in an hour before, just as Harry’s parents had planned. Soraya had arranged another canal boat tour, but this one was focused on seeing the best of the Christmas lights around the city, now that it was fully dark. It was a magical hour, and Harry took loads of pictures, all the while feeling a little like Colin Creevey. They were all completely impressed by the effort that had been made to further beautify the already gorgeous city.
~0~0~
It was late when they arrived back at the house in Loraldia. After saying goodnight to Ringstar and Firelock, Soraya and Harry Floo’ed back to the flat. They’d have an easy day on Monday, and Harry planned on getting some of his homework done, because the following few days would be very busy.
Harry and Soraya would return to the Enklabe on Tuesday morning, to enjoy the Celebration of the Returning Sun festival, as they had the year before. Though this time, they’d be staying until Christmas night, on Friday, so they could enjoy the entire holiday period as a family. Neville and Augusta would join them for Christmas Day, and between Soraya, Augusta and Ringstar, they’d planned quite a multicultural feast for that day.
Harry was hoping to be able to get in on some of the cooking as well, because he’d found he enjoyed it more when it was something he volunteered for, particularly when he was allowed to enjoy the end results. It was night and day different from how it had been at the Dursleys, where he’d been compelled to work in the kitchen. He’d come across a recipe for pavlova, and was anxious to try his hand at the often fussy meringue.
As it turned out, Tuesday to Friday evolved into an extended feast of holiday foods, interspersed with ice skating, cross-country skiing, and swimming at the beach. All that activity was practically a requirement, so that they didn’t come away twice the size from everything they’d eaten over the four days. Grinlast visited as much as he could get away with, particularly around meal times, teenage males being rather insatiable whether Guduriak or wizards. Ragnok and Wildspur came to dinner on Christmas Eve, and even Fellgar stopped by for afternoon tea. In all, it was a master-class for Harry, on how to really celebrate being a family.
Harry said as much when Neville and Augusta arrived for Christmas lunch.
“I didn’t know this is what family really meant. I mean, the Dursleys are all about keeping up appearances, and buying Dudley more presents every year, that he usually broke before New Year came around. But my parents, they’re about spending time with us all being together, and making wonderful memories with food, and good company. I…I just never knew that this is what being a family would feel like.”
And then Harry recalled that Neville had spent the morning visiting his own Mum and Dad at St Mungo’s.
“Oh goodness, I’m a terrible friend. How can I say something like that, knowing where you’ve just been.”
“Harry,” Neville replied softly, “You’re my family too you know. You’re my godbrother, and you’ve all treated my gran and me as a part of this crazy blended family. Life for me was never like you had at the Dursleys, but it was usually just Gran and me on our own. Sometimes Great Uncle Algy was there, but you know the less said about that the better. Now we both have much more than we grew up with, and it’s alright that we both think that’s pretty special.”
The two boys hugged, somewhat awkwardly as boys will when they get sentimental, and don’t quite know what to do with all those feelings. But both Harry and Neville were reassured that gratitude for their new-found family wasn’t just appropriate, but acceptable. And to top the day off? Harry’s pavlova didn’t flop, and was declared a great hit, topped as it was with freshly whipped cream and a melange of the tastiest berries available in the Enklabe markets.
~0~0~
On Boxing Day, Amelia Bones had sent out invitations for a New Year’s Eve celebration. Harry and Soraya had spent the day with Ches, and the trio had braved a trip to the Welsh Green Dragon Reserve, despite the chilly weather. Harry was permitted to bring his broom, as was Ches, and they spent half the day airborne with some frisky adolescents at play. Fortunately, thanks to Harry’s Dragon Speak abilities, the dragons were willing to turn off the flaming portion of ‘tag, you’re it’ in their chasing games through the sky over the Reserve.
Garreth Lloyd, who’d struck up quite a friendship with Soraya, commented confidingly, “You’re doing a brilliant job with the boyo. He’s blossoming, fy merch (my girl), and that’s on you and his Guduriak Mam and Da.”
Soraya gave him rather a sideways look, “And you’d know about them and the Guduriak how?” She was wondering if there was a security breach around Harry and their family.
He replied in Welsh, knowing she’d maintained her fluency, “Don’t worry, he’s safe. Who do you think helps the Guduriak find the dragons to guard the high security vaults? We cycle in mature males every fortnight. And no, I’m not telling you how,” he finished with a smirk.
Harry and Soraya spent the rest of the week, before the Bones party, finishing projects and homework, and then getting some Muggle shopping out of the way. It was mostly restocking the ever expanding stationery collection for their friends without access to Muggle stores. They also ate out quite a bit in Gastronomic Alley, and generally just enjoyed each other’s company. Every other day it seemed they were visiting or being visited by Ringstar and Firelock, and one day, he and his Aita had lunch in Ragnok’s office as they caught up on all the happenings of the last few months. It was decidedly reminiscent of the first day Harry had spent with the Buruzagi and his deputy, and brought back happy memories of his earliest days in the magical world.
~0~0~
New Year’s Eve arrived frustratingly quickly. It would be only another three days before the boys would be back on the Hogwarts Express, along with their friends, as Augusta, Amelia, Ringstar and Soraya bemoaned. They were joined in their sentiments by Xenophilius Lovegood, who’d been invited to the small party, along with Luna.
“You know there’s already a betting pool on Harry and Luna, right?” Amelia asked Soraya.
Harry’s Mam just rolled her eyes, then responded in kind, “But that’s alright. I’ve already got five Galleons in the Susan and Neville pool. Minerva was more than happy to take my money.”
Unconsciously both witches shuddered; neither of them were ready for adolescence. Xeno and Augusta, who’d already seen the writing on the wall, just snickered as they clinked their glasses. They knew that the pair of boys were perfect gentlemen, and it would probably take the girls to wake them up to the fact they were supposed to be dating in a few years time. Xeno wasn’t worried. For all that Luna presented a vague and sometimes clueless facade, in point of fact she was very shrewd and never missed a trick.
Ringstar and Firelock just cringed at the conversations. They’d been parents less than six months and now they had to deal with dating?
“I don’t think Ragnok will let you lock Harry into one of the high security vaults and pretend he’s never going to grow up. Sorry, laztana (sweetie).” It was a reflection of how comfortable Ringstar and Firelock had become with this ragtag extended family, that she let the term of endearment be spoken out loud.
~0~0~
All too soon, the four children, and their myriad friends were back on the Hogwarts Express, to begin second term. Each time they had to farewell the students, as they headed back to school, was an increasingly bittersweet moment for the parents and guardians of the Harry and Co group. The children were growing up, no matter how much they wanted to deny it. It would be a few years before the real divide between parent and child would emerge they all hoped. But it was inevitable that moment would come to all.
Being typical adolescents, none of the kids were aware of the fact that their families were having these moments of angst, as they began to show hints of growing up and gaining more independence. Then again, they had Monopoly and Cluedo to kill time on the journey, friends to catch up with, and an even wider range of sweets and chocolates to try from the trolley lady. Despite the threat of the Basilisk in the school and Dobby’s warnings, they’d spend the day totally in the moment of having fun with their friends.
It was a good thing in a way, Ringstar thought, as she waved the train off. Adulthood came all too soon, particularly for these children born out of a war.
‘Let them enjoy it while they can’, she thought, then tucked her arm into Firelock’s and said, “Let’s go home. Harry will be back at Easter, and you can talk to him through the mirror-box whenever you like.”
It was a little odd to realise that her husband fretted the most when Harry was gone. She’d always thought it would be her, if they’d ever been able to have children. ‘Men,’ she thought with a sigh; ‘All the emotional depth of a teaspoon sometimes.’
~0~0~
There had been several other things going on, behind the scenes, over the Christmas period. The Horcrux team was making some significant progress. They’d finally been able to get far enough through bank vault records to find a match to the magical signature of the Horcrux creator. It turned out that a half-blood wizard, by the name of Tom Riddle, had reimagined himself into Fold-a-dork around fifty years before.
The team was now doing a deep dive into researching the wizard’s life and family background, in the hope of pinning down more exact locations and objects that might have been used for the remaining Horcruxes. The scrying Doohickeys were becoming more useful too, as the locator spells for the soul shards were achieving greater specificity as well. It wouldn’t let them lay hands on the last four Horcruxes in the next few days, but they finally had leads.
It was a hopeful sign that they were glad to share with the rest of the group of parents and guardians the night the Hogwarts Express returned the students back to Hogsmeade. And the irony was, they actually did manage to locate one Horcrux the following day. Giles Huntley and Darksteel, the top team of curse breakers at Gringotts, had been putting their heads together with the magical signature team. After connecting the dots between Tom Riddle and Fold-a-dork, they’d decided to check the vaults of his known Death Eaters, using the Doohickey.
They’d had success with the third vault they’d checked, having begun with the Lestranges. The device went crazy outside the doors of Bellatrix Lestranges’ vault. Storing soul magic items in a Gringotts vault was a direct contravention of the contracted use of such vaults, and thus a crime in the eyes of the Guduriak bankers. Such items were subject to confiscation, and the owners would suffer fines or worse for their actions.
The item found in the Lestrange vault was a small golden cup, lightly bejewelled and engraved with the image of a badger. History buff Giles Huntley exclaimed, “Sweet Merlin, that’s Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup!” And indeed it was, sadly tainted by the soul shard left by an insane dark lord. The Cup was placed in safekeeping with the Diadem they’d retrieved from Hogwarts.
There was still a great deal of discussion as to whether it was possible to remove the soul fragment from inanimate objects, and the curse breaking teams were working overtime on that issue. As an intellectual exercise, the teams were fascinated, though deeply horrified at the same time.
But finding a Horcrux in the vault of one of Riddle’s followers, and the fact it was a second item from the Hogwarts Founders, offered some tantalising leads. Giles Huntley and Darksteel were meeting with Ragnok the following day, the Buruzagi having both a personal interest in the case because of his connections with Harry, and professionally because of the defilement of one of the bank’s vaults in storing such a foul item without adequate protections.
“We’re down to three known Horcruxes at large now. One is in the vicinity of London, the others are in northern England or Scotland. There’s still a chance we’re missing one, we think there might be seven fragments in total, though the arithmancy is still a bit undecided on six or seven. Minerva McGonagall had confirmed that Riddle was a student at Hogwarts the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and I wouldn’t put it past the most northernmost signature being in or around Hogwarts,” Huntley reported.
Ragnok sighed, “We searched that castle high and low last year, and yet we missed one?”
“Or it’s a Horcrux that has been brought into the school since our last search. Isn’t there a question of someone being possessed at Hogwarts right now?” Darksteel had asked a critical question.
The Buruzagi nodded; somehow he’d become the liaison between the Horcrux hunters and the group he’d nicknamed the Protectors, the parents and guardians looking out for Harry and his friends, not to mention the rest of the Hogwarts students. He’d not yet found a way to work ‘and get rid of Dumbledore’ into the Protectors’ title.
“I’d say that’s the most likely solution. And if that’s the case, the Horcrux item had to come from somewhere. I’d put money on one of the Death Eater brigade being the source of that one. Though why they’d send it to Hogwarts has me baffled, unless they’re unaware of its true purpose, beyond the ability to possess someone, and they’re just after causing mischief and mayhem,” replied Ragnok.
“Should we look at the former Death Eaters with children at Hogwarts?” Huntley asked.
Ragnok considered for a moment, “If it’s no longer in the hands of the Death Eater, it becomes a moot point, except to ascribe blame later. Put a small research team onto this, and keep an eye out for a family with a house-elf named Dobby. That’ll be our culprit. But the focus needs to be on finding the remainder of the Horcruxes.”
Darksteel chimed in, “I suggest we look into any Death Eaters known to have ties to the London area. I suspect it’ll be hidden in a family home or otherwise secure location. The Doohickey says it’s likely not in another vault here at the bank, though we have a Junior Curse-Breaker running it over every vault that’s been accessed in Riddle’s lifetime, just to be certain. But I think it’s outside of the bank myself.”
Ragnok snorted, “So what did they do to piss you off, the Junior Curse-Breaker?”
“Put bloody sugar in my coffee…three mornings in a row! It’s just desserts for abusing the drink of the gods.” Darksteel took his coffee very seriously.
All Ragnok could do was chuckle; he’d have found a similar punishment for whichever miscreant who ruined his own coffee in such a way.
“Beats shovelling dragon dung, I suppose.”
Darksteel gave an evil grin, “Oh that’s what he’s doing next.”
The two Guduriak dissolved into helpless laughter at that, while Giles Huntley made a mental note to change his plans for his April Fool’s joke on his fellow Curse-Breaker. His profession was dangerous enough already.
~0~0~
The other major piece of news was that Amelia Bones had finally managed to shoehorn a trial for Sirius Black onto the Wizengamot calendar. The former Azkaban inmate had spent the better part of three months recuperating at St Mungo’s, undergoing physical and Mind Healing. The biggest challenge had been due to the extended use of his Animagus form while in the Dementor riddled prison.
Black’s default reactions to stress and the upheaval of his change in circumstances, went back and forth between two extremes. He’d either lose control of his emotions, and be subject to rages, uncontrolled depression and moments of almost mania. Or he’d use his Grim Animagus form to shut down and mentally escape. Sometimes the former (often accompanied by extreme accidental magic for an adult) would be closely followed by the latter.
He’d also had difficulty staying in the present moment, often calling out for James and his other Marauder friends when he was most troubled. In those times, he forgot Harry entirely. At others, he was obsessed with being the one who should raise the boy, so he’d know his parents.
But slowly, surely, Black’s more rational moments lasted longer, and the emotional outbursts diminished, though the Mind Healers then had to deal with a reactive depression, related to the fact that the former Marauder had to take ownership of how his impulsive behaviour had played a role in many undesired consequences. Not the least of which was Harry being raised by Lily’s sister, and his own incarceration.
Yes, he’d been terribly ill-used by the Ministry and Dumbledore in both situations, but he’d also let his emotions get the better of him that October night, and raced off intent on revenge. His culpability was tiny in the scheme of things, compared to the actions of Bagnold, Crouch and Dumbledore. But he’d had to learn to accept that he’d made some poor choices in the aftermath of the attack at Godric’s Hollow, and both he and Harry had suffered the consequences.
By late October though, Sirius Black was doing much better. He’d regained most of his physical health, and emotionally he was on a much more even keel. Amelia had tried to get the trial onto the monthly Wizengamot meeting schedule, set for early November, but had been blocked by cronies of Dumbledore, who’d argued the agenda was already too overcrowded to be able to give enough attention to conduct a thorough trial.
The Hogwarts Headmaster might have been blocked from regaining his Chief Warlock position, thanks to Augusta’s machinations back in July, but he still had quite an influence amongst the voting body. Amelia had had to be content with placing the trial on the calendar for the early December meeting. Sadly, pure bad luck intervened on that occasion.
A bout of wizarding flu had gone through the Ministry and Wizengamot like a dose of salts, and they’d lacked a quorum to hold the meeting before the recess for the holidays. But the DMLE Head was determined that the trial would go forward in mid-January, even if she had to drag some of the old codgers out of their sickbeds and into the Wizengamot chamber personally. Augusta just smirked when she heard the threat, and vowed she’d ask for Pensieve memories if it ever came to pass.
~0~0~
Harry enjoyed being back at school, particularly DADA classes with Professor Brissette. They were challenging the students to study hard, but rewarding the hard work with more entertaining lessons interspersed here and there. On one occasion, the Professor taught the class basic glamour and Transfiguration charms so the students could disguise themselves in the event of needing an escape option. Even simple strategies like changing hair colour and length, turning a handkerchief into a different bag or other accessory, and changing the colour of clothing items were fascinating to the second years.
In another class, the professor, had had taught them the Immobulus spell, then set up a defensive area at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with large rocks, logs and earth mounds to hide behind. The goal was to be the last person still free to move at the end of the game. The students gained greatly in evasive skills when duelling, including dodging and weaving, and finding defensible positions.
Harry wasn’t the last person left moving, but it was a close run thing. He still remembered his Harry Hunting days all too well. However, sneaky Susan had shinned up a tree early in the battle, then picked off only the easy targets that wouldn’t draw attention to her location, and had finally immobilised her friend when he decided to come out from his own defensive position to find his last opponent.
She had great delight in reminding Harry that ‘patience is a virtue’, to which the chagrined boy answered, “My warming charms wore off and it was freezing out here.”
~0~0~
With the exception of Professor Binns, who never varied his teaching, and Professor Snape, who’d already adapted his curriculum through the use of his new textbook, the other professors seemed to take Professor Brissette’s innovative strategies as a challenge. Flitwick instituted a learn a fun charm a week programme, that he tacked on to his double classes for each year level. Harry loved the one that let him warm his socks for twelve hours at a time, as he suffered from terribly cold feet in the chilly castle.
Professor McGonagall had taken to awarding Honeydukes chocolate bars to the student that found the most spectacular or obscure Transfiguration spells, related to the topic of classes each week. Luna won when she somehow found a variation to the Avifors spell (changing small objects to birds) that let her determine what colour her budgerigar would turn into.
Professor Sinistra had a create your own constellation competition, where she invited students to draw their own fantastical creatures or designs, by ‘borrowing’ stars from other constellations. It created a lot of interest amongst the students in the history of astronomy, and how the constellations came to be identified as they were.
Professor Sprout had set up an experimental area in one of the greenhouses, thanks to an expansion charm. She had each year take a different plant to grow from seed, and let them explore various environmental charms and other factors that might influence growth of the plants. It was no surprise Neville won for second year, when he determined that fluxweed grew better when exposed to music for thirty minutes a day. He’d also learned a handy couple of privacy and music making spells to ensure only his plants received the benefits of the music therapy.
So the early part of the second term at Hogwarts was quite enjoyable and challenging for many of the students. The study room was abuzz with discussion of ways to meet the various new challenges set by the professors, and in general, the engagement in classes was at an all time high.
At the back of everyone’s mind was Colin and Mrs Norris’ petrifications, but with no new attacks in January, most settled into a comfortable level of complacency. The pick-up Quidditch games continued on the weekends, despite the cold. And participation in school clubs was also up, as the students became more interested in learning ways to make their magical lessons pay off in creative or practical ways.
Chapter 10
So while the students were having fun at Hogwarts, Sirius Black and Amelia Bones were preparing for a trial, and Soraya, Ringstar and Firelock were anticipating some interference with their parenting of Harry.
They met together over dinner in the Enklabe on the eve of the trial. Amelia joined in for part of the discussion, via mirror-box, given she was still at the Ministry putting the last pieces together on the case for the morrow.
“How’s Black doing emotionally and mentally, Amelia?” Mind Healer Ringstar asked.
“The St Mungo’s Healers say he’s staying relatively steady. The depression is responding to potions and Mind Healing sessions. He’s not losing time like he was.”
“How obsessed is he now about wanting to take over Harry’s care or be part of his life?” Soraya got down to the nitty-gritty of their worries.
Amelia sighed deeply as she worked out how to word things. “It’s still a day by day issue. I’ve shared some Pensieve memories with him, of things like the New Year’s Eve party, where he could see how happy Harry is with you all. And he’s read the school reports you sent over, as well as the social service reports of his progress in your care. He’s mostly accepting that being with the three of you is a good thing. And then…he switches, and insists he’s the only one that can teach Harry about James’ legacy, especially when he gets fixated on their escapades as the Marauders at Hogwarts.”
Firelock responded, “Does he have grounds to fight Soraya’s custody? Firelock and I are protected as Guduriak. He had no legal grounds to interfere with our adoption. If he became difficult, we could ensure Harry remains within Enklabe and Gringotts sovereign ground outside of the times he’s at school, to keep our son safe. But that wouldn’t be fair to Harry, and would be detrimental to his social interactions and well-being also.”
“The Elders have given Soraya permission to reside here in the Enklabe long term if it comes to that, but it would essentially make her a refugee from the wizarding world,” Ringstar continued.
“I’d do it in a heartbeat,” Soraya assured her fellow parents and Amelia. “I don’t want to deny Harry his history, or James and Lily’s legacy, but if it would harm Harry in any way to be exposed to Sirius Black, then I’ll move the moment the trial is over.”
Amelia realised she had three very anxious parents on her hands, and sought to reassure them.
“Sirius Black has no means of overturning two of the three adoptions actually. Soraya, the Muggle one is cast in stone. Black can in no way to force that to be re-opened, given he has no means of establishing credentials in the non-magical world. That would be a source of escape also, not that I’m recommending you abscond with a child subject to a custody battle of course.”
Soraya chuckled a little, both reassured by Amelia’s words and highly amused by the legally iffy suggestions coming from the head of the DMLE.
Amelia continued, “But…and this is the big but…in a good way. The only way to get a new custody hearing before the Wizengamot is if there were to be complaints of abuse or neglect against you. They would have to go through the WCWS, and would be subject to a full investigation, that I have no doubt you’d pass with flying colours. You have the exact same rights as any parent in the wizarding world, thanks to the adoption. We were able to work the hearing in a little quicker last summer, because of the abuse complaints against the Dursleys, and the fact they signed away their rights to custody of Harry. But even so, we still followed all the WCWS procedures.”
“I just hope we don’t have to fight false accusation after false accusation,” Firelock complained. Even though his and Ringstar’s position was secure, they’d fight on Soraya’s behalf with every (not inconsiderable) asset they had.
“We can get a cease and desist order if it comes to that,” Amelia reassured her friends. “But my suggestion is, offer Black something. Supervised visits with Harry, on a limited basis, perhaps over Easter break. Only if Harry consents of course. And don’t hesitate to pull the plug on those visits if they cause Harry undue distress. We have Chief Warlock Ogden on our side, and a little bird told me they have the Wizengamot votes to confirm him into that position permanently now.”
“Let me guess, Augusta has been tweet-tweeting?” Ringstar asked, her mirth clearly evident in her tone of voice.
“Very possibly,” Amelia answered with a grin. “They’re going to make the move on the back of the acquittal tomorrow, because the trial isn’t going to paint Dumbledore, Crouch or Bagnold into a good light. You’ll all be there, correct? If you want to meet with Black after the proceedings, I’ll make sure you have a private room to talk in.”
The three parents agreed that sounded like a viable plan, and let Amelia return to her final preparations, as they turned to the question of introducing Harry to Sirius Black, when the time came.
“I’d like you both there if we let them meet at Easter,” Soraya commented. “Can we use one of the Gringotts meeting rooms for the first time? Keep it short, maybe an hour or so over morning or afternoon tea?”
“That sounds perfect. And it will let me assess his Mind Healing progress a little more as well. Do we allow him to write to Harry in the meantime? We can set up a mail ward to have it redirected to the bank or flat for scrutiny first if needed,” was Ringstar’s input.
“Let’s see how tomorrow goes first. We can talk with Black, and assess if he’s likely to cause trouble or not. And I think Harry needs to be part of that discussion too. We’ll revisit this tomorrow night, and make our plans from there.” Firelock was demonstrating why he did so well handling complex Gringotts and Enklabe issues.
~0~0~
The following day went largely as Amelia had anticipated. Sirius Black was acquitted on all charges, based on the evidence of the letters from the Potters, the use of Prior Incantato on his wand which had finally been located in the DMLE archives, his own Veritaserum testimony, and the statements taken from Muggle witnesses that had been missed by the Obliviators at the time. Dumbledore and Crouch were both called to the stand to verify the lack of a previous trial, which had the handy benefit of forcing themselves to recuse themselves from voting on the verdict. In just under two hours of trial time, the case was given over to the Wizengamot for a vote, and by a hefty majority, Sirius Black was declared innocent, and offered generous compensation for his illegal imprisonment.
As Sirius Black was led out of the courtroom, mostly to face a load of paperwork, including registration of his Animagus form, Harry’s parents stayed to watch the more enjoyable spectacle of Dumbledore being subjected to a vote of no confidence by the Wizengamot body, and losing it handily. His old compatriots, who’d been willing to delay Black’s trial months before, saw the writing on the wall, and like rats, deserted the sinking ship.
Tiberius Ogden was confirmed as the permanent Chief Warlock, consigning Dumbledore to his single seat on the governing body bestowed on him on receipt of his Order of Merlin (First Class) for the defeat of Grindelwald. And Barty Crouch getting censured by the wizarding authority for his actions was icing on the cake.
~0~0~
Minutes after Dumbledore’s embarrassing demotion, Soraya, Firelock and Ringstar were shown into a small conference room two floors up. Sirius Black looked in fairly good health. It was obvious he still had some weight to regain, but his eyes were clear and his shoulder length hair looked clean and healthy.
The newly-declared innocent man stood as his godson’s parents were shown into the room, and he offered a firm handshake to all three of them.
“How’s Harry doing?” were his first words, which boded well that his focus was more on the boy’s well-being at that moment.
Soraya handed over some photos of Harry in Amsterdam, and during the holiday celebrations in the Enklabe. Black spent long moments poring over them, particularly the ones of Harry on the beach with Neville, and ice skating in Amsterdam with Firelock. The ones of Harry cooking in the kitchen with Ringstar and Soraya were especially telling, as the first picture showed Soraya leaning into Harry’s side as they read the pavlova recipe, demonstrating how comfortable they were together. The second picture showed Harry presenting the finished pavlova for Ringstar’s approval, and he gleamed as she applauded enthusiastically while admiring the final product.
“He seems happy, and he looks well. After I read about the adoption hearing in the newspaper, I was very afraid of what shape he’d be in, as well as terribly angry. But it seems that he’s thriving.” Sirius Black was amazingly calm as he made that statement.
“Look, I’m sure you’re all afraid I’ll try to take Harry away from you. I won’t say I don’t have my moments where I’m really ticked off that I’m not the one to raise him. But for a year and a half, you’ve all been there for him, even protected him from Dumbledore. And even if I wanted to fight for custody, I haven’t the means to do so. Honestly, I have no place to go, no idea how I’ll live, and my Mind Healer has been talking about this fairly new Muggle diagnosis called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and he’s pretty sure I have it.”
Ringstar nodded, “I’ve heard of it, and done some reading. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if that were the case.”
Sirius smiled, “I’ve heard you’re a top notch Mind Healer, so I can’t disagree with your assessment. I would like a place in Harry’s life, if both you and he are willing. And I promise that if you see me having a bad day, or week, I’ll abide by any limitations you might wish to place on visits with my godson. But I’m not in any shape to be a parent right now. And I can’t deny that Harry already has three good ones.”
Firelock spoke then, “Mr Black, I’m sure you’re aware of my position at Gringotts.” Black nodded. “I would like to offer you my personal assistance to sort out your legal and financial situation as far as Gringotts is concerned. I can assure you that any vaults you had before you were imprisoned have simply been frozen, but I haven’t been able to explore further without your permission. We can do that now, if you’d like to join us at Gringotts.”
“Please, call me Sirius, and I would welcome your assistance, particularly as I literally have nowhere else to be right now,” he finished with a rather cheeky grin.
“Then let us be off. I’m sure we’ll have to run the gauntlet of the press to exit the Ministry. I could charm a Portkey, but it doesn’t pay to invite that level of scrutiny into Guduriak means of travel within this building.” Firelock offered a wry smile.
It took them fifteen minutes to fight their way to the Floo exits on the main floor, and indeed there was a pack of reporters waiting for the foursome. But Amelia had loaned them Kingsley Shacklebolt for the journey, and the imposing Auror was almost as good as Hagrid at parting crowds. As they Floo’ed out, Soraya and Ringstar shared a look, things seemed better than they had expected from what Amelia had said. They just hoped it would last.
~0~0~
Sirius’ meeting back at Gringotts bore some surprising results. Not only was his personal vault intact and filled with a plentiful amount of gold (thank you Great Uncle Alphard), but it appeared that he’d not been properly disowned by his mother. He was still the heir to the Black family holdings. Which turned out to be not quite as substantial as he’d hoped, thanks to his parents’ penchant for throwing money at dark lords, but was still enough to let him never have to work, if carefully managed.
Firelock introduced Sirius to Blacktor as both an old friend of Harry’s, and a newly promoted account manager with a shrewd mind for investments. That simple introduction paved the way for the beginnings of a good relationship, and by the end of the meeting, they’d decided that Sirius would use his personal vault for day to day needs (swelled considerably by reparations from the Ministry), and turn over the Black vault to Blacktor to be invested. With any luck, they’d rebuild some of the money lost to Voldemort over the next few years, and it would leave Sirius in a very comfortable financial position. Blacktor was over the moon at being given free rein by his new (and first) client, particularly one as prominent as Sirius Black.
“So Sirius, that comes down to assets at your disposal. There is the Black family home at 12 Grimmauld Place, here in London. And then your Great Uncle left you his country home on five acres, outside of Canterbury,” Firelock informed their client.
“Ugh, in all honesty, I would never step foot again into Grimmauld Place, if given the choice. I’d like to get rid of it, truthfully. But there’s so many objects and books in there of dubious origin or magical safety, it’ll take me months to get through it all. And I’m not sure, mentally, it would be a smart thing at all, for me to even step foot in the place. My parents were not…kind people, and they adored my brother Regulus, and hated me.”
Blacktor had a suggestion, “Mr Black, Gringotts would be happy to send in a team of Curse-Breakers to clear the house of any dangerous materials. We could create an inventory for you, of all the valuable items found, and you could then decide to sell them, or put some into a vault for your future heirs. We can even arrange for contractors to come in to fix up the house, and put it up for sale for you. Our real estate division would be thrilled to offer a property in Central London, that is as strongly warded as this house is.”
“You’ve sold me on that idea, Blacktor. I know there are goblin made…sorry Guduriak made items in the house. And I’m fine with your wishes that they be sold back to your clan, rather than on the open market. If I put the house in Gringotts’ hands entirely, could the cost of readying the house for sale come out of the proceeds?” Sirius asked.
Blacktor discreetly looked at Firelock for confirmation that the bank would be willing to take on such an endeavour, receiving a smile and a nod in return.
“We’ll draw up that contract and get right to work on that, Mr Black,” Blacktor confirmed.
Firelock added, “If I recall, the Black family was known for its rather impressive warding abilities. I suspect we may need you on-site to open the house without triggering the defences the first time, but I think we can avoid having to make you come into the house. If you would be willing that is. We could probably break through the wards in time, but why destroy a perfectly good set of wards, then pay to reconstruct them?”
Sirius gulped a little; he hadn’t even wanted to get close to the place he’d grown up, but Firelock made good sense. And thank goodness Uncle Alphard had keyed him into the wards at the house in Canterbury, so he’d have no problem accessing that. He wondered if Lissy, the house-elf from his childhood, was still alive and in the house. Even though Sirius had received an inheritance from his uncle when he came of age, he’d not inherited the full estate until Alphard’s death three years ago. He’d find out later that evening, he supposed.
Sirius was determined to escape London for a bit now that his trial was over, and enjoy some fresh air and sunlight. He’d be back often enough for Mind Healing sessions at St Mungo’s.
Then a horrified thought came into his mind. What about his mother’s house-elf Kreacher? He’d dearly love to give the offensive little sod clothes, after the disrespectful manner he’d been treated with, thanks to his mother’s encouragement. That elf was more of a pureblood supremacist than most Death Eaters.
“Erm, would you happen to know if there is a house-elf named Kreacher still at the London house? He’s going to be trouble when it comes to clearing and selling the house. He adored my mother and fully adopted her bigoted beliefs. He wouldn’t be willing to come work for me, and frankly I’d rather have nothing to do with him.”
Sirius was praying Blacktor or Firelock had an idea. His mother would have simply beheaded the elf to get rid of an unwanted creature, but Sirius could never conceive of doing such a thing.
“Our records show that a house-elf was found beside your mother’s body when she died six years ago. It was thought he died of old age, and likely shock at the breaking of such a close bond,” Blacktor responded after fishing through the parchments in front of him.
“It’s terrible to say that’s a relief, but it really is. He’d never have been happy anywhere else, I think. Well, I suppose I should head out, go see what shape Uncle Alphard’s place is in.”
Firelock replied, “Would you care to join my wife and I for lunch first? Soraya had to get back to her project, they’re at a critical point. But we’d be happy to offer you non-hospital food for a change. And you’ll be able to ask us more about Harry.”
That was an offer too good to resist.
They ate in the executive dining room, and Sirius thoroughly enjoyed the chance for a civilised meal, with congenial company. He asked all sorts of questions about his godson, from his favourite colour to his favourite subjects at school, and tucked away every piece of information that he could.
Ringstar kept giving him quizzical glances though, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Finally Sirius asked, “What’s got you concerned, Ringstar. You keep giving me looks as though you’re waiting to see if I’m going to sprout two heads or something.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “It’s just that we spoke to Amelia last night and she filled us in that you’re still somewhat prone to mood swings, related to the PTSD and depression. And yet you’re the image of calm today, even with all this upheaval.”
“Ah yes, well Amelia was correct, but an old comrade in arms did me a huge favour last night as well. Kingsley Shacklebolt and I fought together with the Order of the Phoenix in the last war. He managed to locate my last remaining friend from the Marauders, Remus Lupin, in the US, where he’s been tutoring home-schooled students. I consider Moony as much my brother as I did James. Anyway, Kingsley arranged a long Floo call for us, and just talking with him helped immensely.” Sirius smiled at the memory of their two and a half hour conversation.
“I can understand that,” Ringstar replied. “There’s nothing so grounding as an old friend who knows the worst about you, and yet still likes you. I married mine,” she finished with a snicker. Firelock gave her a ‘you’ll get what’s coming to you look’ in response.
Sirius just chuckled at the couple’s antics. He hadn’t expected to like Harry’s new parents. In fact he’d been certain he’d resent them greatly. But Ringstar and Firelock (Soraya too) had treated him well, when they could have shunned him and refused any contact with Harry.
“Anyway, I was thinking I’d take from now until Easter break and basically get my house in order. Quite literally I suppose. Maybe if you’d be alright with it, exchange some letters with Harry. Assuming he’s okay with it too. I was hoping to meet him in person while he’s on Easter holidays, again with your permission. Then Remus has invited me to visit him. He has a friend who’s a Squib, who works as a psychologist and specialises in PTSD. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least meet with the man. Then maybe travel a bit and be back in Britain for the summer holidays.”
“Sounds like a reasonable plan to me,” was Ringstar’s response, both as a mother and a Mind Healer. Then it was time to change topics. “So who’s ready for dessert?” Conversation drifted into much more mundane matters from there, and as Sirius left Gringotts a little later, he felt he was well on his way to developing a true friendship with his godson’s Guduriak parents.
~0~0~
Harry took Sirius Black’s acquittal quite well. Based on everything he’d learned, it was the expected outcome. He wasn’t opposed to exchanging a few letters with his godfather, though he was careful to warn Sirius and his parents that his time was pretty much filled at school, so he wouldn’t be up for long essays every week. The pair exchanged a couple of letters as January merged into February and everyone seemed content to go on like this until the next school holidays.
Three days before the Ravenclaw-Slytherin Quidditch match in late February, Harry was startled to alertness in History class, by the sounds of an anguished voice.
“So hungry…need to eat…need to hunt…must kill…so hungry.”
The Basilisk was back it seemed, and on the hunt again. Harry immediately raced out of the classroom and into an empty storeroom next door, Neville hot on his heels. He pulled out his mirror-box and called Professor Flitwick, who fortunately had a free period at that time.
“Uncle Filius, I heard the Basilisk again. It’s hungry and on the hunt. I was sitting in Professor Binns’ class, so somewhere on the first floor. Neville and I moved to the storage room next door to call you, and we promise to stay put until we hear from you.”
“Good thinking, Harry. I’ll alert the staff to begin a search for anyone who might have been attacked. We’ll be putting the school into lockdown, so what I want you to do is use the mirror on your box to make sure the corridor is clear for you to return to Binns’ classroom. Just poke your arm out of the doorway and make a slow sweep from right to left so I can give you the all clear.”
Harry did as ordered and Filius was able to establish it was safe to return to the classroom. They made it back with seconds to spare, when a sudden clanging of a bell, and the sound of Professor Flitwick’s voice rang out throughout the castle.
“This is a safety lock down. All classes are to remain in place and not to move until the all clear is given. Students in common rooms, dorms or the library should remain in position also. If you’re walking in a corridor, seek shelter in the nearest room and lock the door. The house-elves will locate all student signatures so that we can ensure everyone is accounted for, no matter where you are. Do not leave your secure locations until the all clear is given.”
Professor Binns resumed droning along with his topic for the day, while Harry’s friends clustered around.
“Do you know what’s going on Harry? You and Neville raced out of here without warning, and now you’re back and they’ve locked the school down,” Susan asked.
“I heard IT again. They’re trying to see if anyone was hurt this time.” Harry was trying to be discreet in the classroom where half the second years were gathered, and none were paying attention to the professor droning on at the front of the classroom.
“Ohhh, think I should let Aunt Amelia know?”
“I’d leave that to Professor Flitwick, Susan,” Neville replied. “At least until they know more of what’s going on.”
The all clear came twenty minutes later, and the students were all called to lunch in the Great Hall. A stern looking Professor McGonagall stood on the dais at the front of the Hall, and called for quiet once everyone was seated.
“Unfortunately we have had another petrification incident. Penelope Clearwater and Sir Nicholas, the Gryffindor ghost, were found petrified at the top of the staircase near the History of Magic classroom. Madam Pomfrey is taking excellent care of both patients and anticipates they’ll be back to normal in the next day or two. We would ask that you all travel in pairs or small groups as much as possible for now, as we try to locate the source of these assaults. Now you have afternoon classes still ahead of you, so best be getting stuck into your food.”
Professor McGonagall returned to her seat at the high table then, conversing with her fellow Heads Flitwick and Sprout about the morning’s events. Professor Snape was in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey as had become the norm in these cases, monitoring the results of the anti-petrification draught.
Headmaster Dumbledore was conspicuously absent once again. He’d been called to Rome to stand before the ICW, to answer some pointed questions about the Sirius Black case and his professional integrity as former Chief Warlock of the British Wizengamot. The odds were he’d find himself out of the Supreme Mugwump position in the next few weeks or months, with a call for a vote in the Assembly being likely.
It was a rather surly Dumbledore who returned to Hogwarts two days later, to find there’d been another petrification, and the DMLE had been notified again, as well as the Ravenclaw prefect’s parents. He confronted McGonagall about not being consulted on what actions were being taken at the school, and found himself set upon by an irate Deputy Headmistress.
“Well Albus, if you were concentrating on your job as Headmaster, and not off around the world politicking, it might be a different matter. But you were not present, I had no idea when you would return, and in the exigent circumstances, I took the action I deemed necessary. Perhaps if you were here more than half the time, you’d be in place to offer useful counsel.” Minerva wasn’t above implying that his current input was less than helpful.
Dumbledore blustered a little then subsided at the Scotswoman’s dour glare.
“If there’s nothing else Albus? I am keeping my fourth years waiting, and that leaves the Weasley twins unsupervised in my classroom.” She paused minutely. “Good. Then I will see you at dinner.”
Minerva swept out of the Headmaster’s office, with an almost regal bearing, and barely hidden signs of contempt on her face.
~0~0~
Dumbledore was adamant he would be taking back control of his school; goodness knows everything else was out of control in his life. He wasn’t able to get at Harry Potter and effect the sort of grooming the boy needed to defeat Voldemort when he eventually returned. He’d lost much of his power and influence with both the ICW and the Wizengamot. And his Heads of Houses seemed to be almost in open revolt.
It didn’t help that graffiti was popping up periodically around the school, in red paint that looked too much like blood, with the words ‘Beware the Heir of Slytherin.’ The gossip was rife amongst the students as to who the Heir might be.
He called Professor Brissette into his office and tried to pull off the greetings with his usual bonhomie, only to fail rather spectacularly.
“Come in, come in, my dear boy, er…” he subsided into a confused mumble. The professor was currently in the form of a twenty-something witch of distinctly Asian appearance. They’d been a wizard of Flitwick’s age at dinner the night before, when Dumbledore had issued the invitation for a meeting.
Professor Brisette gave a resigned sigh; the Headmaster had never shown much sign of his ability to understand the concepts of fluid and neutral genders.
“What did you wish to see me for, Professor Dumbledore?” Brissette was keeping things on a strictly professional basis with the Headmaster, having easily caught wind of the diminishing trust their fellow staff members had with the ageing wizard.
“I was thinking, in light of these attacks on two students, Mrs Norris, and Nearly Headless Nick, that we should institute a Duelling Club once again. It’s been many years since we’ve had one, but it might be good to teach the students practical defensive magic, in case they encounter the creature responsible.”
“As opposed to the practical defensive magic taught in my classes, Headmaster? I’m given to believe that’s why you hired me after the travesties that were Quirrell and Lockhart, as defence teachers go.” Brissette’s tone was desert dry, and barely concealing their reaction to the unthinking insult given to their teaching methods.”
“Oh I’m sure you’re doing a wonderful job, my dear. But surely it doesn’t do any harm to provide additional training, in times like these.” Dumbledore’s patronising tone, in perceiving Hayden Brissette as a woman that day, did not go unnoticed by the Defence professor.
“So we’ll proceed with the plan then. I’m thinking Sunday night, after dinner. I’ll have notices posted in each common room about the new club. Well thank you for meeting with me. I’m sure this will be a wonderful experience for all the students. And I’ll be looking forward to being there myself, to see if we have any budding duellists amongst us.”
Hayden could see there was no dissuading the Headmaster, and exited his office with a mission at hand. If this farce of a club was going ahead, then they’d need the support of any professor with academic or practical fighting and duelling experience. Otherwise a Great Hall filled with students duelling with each other was a recipe for disaster.
By the end of the day, Hayden had enlisted the assistance of Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape, along with Madam Hooch, who’d all fought in the Voldemort war (it didn’t hurt that Filius was also a duelling champion). Madam Pomfrey would be on hand, just in case of injuries, and Professor Sprout, though not much one for combat magic as she termed it, promised to attend for moral support and crowd control, so all the Heads of House would be in attendance.
~0~0~
Once the excitement of the rousing Ravenclaw-Slytherin game was over (Ravenclaw pulling off a very narrow victory) on Saturday, all the students could talk about was the Duelling Club meeting the following night. Each of the Harry and Co members were planning to attend, partly for the chance to learn new Defence skills, but also because novel things were quite the attraction when one lived in a closed community for months at a time.
The students cleared the Great Hall after dinner Sunday night, allowing the house-elves to remove the tables and just leave some benches around the edge of the room, while replacing the High Table and dais with a duelling platform. When they returned to the Hall, they found Professor Brissette centre stage, with the other teachers lined up behind. Dumbledore had ensured his ornate chair was placed off to the side of the platform, where he’d have a good view of the duels in the room.
Casting Sonorous, Brissette began with some opening remarks, welcoming the students to what would be instruction in formal duelling techniques, but also practical defensive strategies, at a level suitable for students.
The DADA professor then proceeded to call on Flitwick to demonstrate classic duelling practices, with the correct stance and formal bows. They didn’t hold back, using competition grade spells and strategies against one another. Professors Snape and McGonagall cast shield spells to prevent any ricochets and protect the students, and everyone was treated to a master-class of no holds barred duelling. As the two professors had agreed, it was declared a draw at the ten minute mark, so as to not go on forever. The Ravenclaws loudly cheered for the Head of House, who’d acquitted himself magnificently.
Barely giving themselves time to catch their breath, Professor Brissette then vanished the dais and cleared a larger space down the centre of the Great Hall. Minerva and Filius shielded one side of the Hall each, and then Severus joined Hayden in the centre of the Hall.
“This time, Professor Snape and I will use more of the practical strategies that would be used in direct combat. We will be limiting ourselves to OWL level spells only, so you can get a sense of how you can apply spells that you’ve learned through your schooling. Again, there will be a ten minute limit, so you don’t get bored.”
This last comment was greeted with a laugh. No-one was expecting this fight to be boring. And indeed it wasn’t.
Neither professor held back, rapidly casting both shielding and offensive spells, though they avoided wordless casting so the students could tell what spells had been used. They conjured physical barriers to spells, in addition to shielding charms, and it was yet another masterful performance for the entire ten minutes. Though this time, Professor Brissette had to cast a counterspell on the boil curse that had winged their arm, and Professor Snape had to repair his trousers from a cutting curse that had come a touch closer than he’d liked.
There was raucous applause and cheers for the performance, and a fifteen minute break was called to divide the students by year level, so they could partner with their peers, and also be assigned a teacher to supervise their actions.
For the lower years, Professor Brissette had them working on Expelliarmus and Protego spells, explaining that not getting hit with a curse was the best defence. Neville worked with Dean, and they had quite a good back and forth going. Harry had grabbed Seamus as his partner, and had managed to use the disarming spell effectively on his second try.
Professor Dumbledore had shifted his throne-like chair to be opposite the second year group, though maintaining the distance required from Harry through Chief Warlock Ogden’s order.
“Professor Brissette, the second years seem quite proficient with these spells, perhaps they’re ready to try a little one on one basic duelling.” Brissette fumed at the interference.
“Ahh perhaps, Mr Weasley, and hmm, someone you’ve not worked with. Perhaps Mr Longbottom or Mr Potter. Your choice, my boy.”
Ronald Weasley had a better attitude than he’d held in first year, where he’d felt entitled to become Harry’s best friend for some reason, and had then become rather obnoxious when that hadn’t eventuated. He’d formed a couple of friendships with other Gryffindor boys and largely left Harry in peace. But he was unable to resist the challenge, and had learned some interesting spells from the twins over the years, and so called out, “Potter it is then.”
Harry rolled his eyes. It was an obvious manipulative move on Dumbledore’s part. Hearing that two students would properly be duelling, the other groups fell silent and turned their attention to the second years.
At Dumbledore’s prompting, the two boys faced off, bowed and were given leave to begin. Harry tried with Expelliarmus seeing as he’d done well with it minutes before. But Weasley, anxious to show himself to be at least as good as the Boy-Who-Lived, decided to use a trick learned from the twins.
He meant to cast Serperesolia (literally meaning crawl on the floor), a spell that essentially made the victim’s body feel super heavy, and forced them to the ground, often barely able to move at a crawling pace. Fred and George had humiliated him with it more than once. Unfortunately in his rush to cast and his excitement, he mispronounced the hex, and the slightly garbled enchantment came out as Serpentsortia. A large snake emerged from the tip of his wand and headed in Harry’s direction.
Harry meanwhile had put up as strong a Protego as he could, and it stopped the snake in its tracks. Weasley was madly casting, trying to call the snake back, but only succeeded in flinging it towards the students, and agitating the already enraged snake further.
As the snake bore down on the crowd of frightened second years, Harry acted reflexively and called out in rusty Parseltongue, “Stop. Don’t hurt anyone. I will take you to safety.”
Harry’s words did the trick, and the two metre long black snake turned and headed in the Speaker’s direction. But it didn’t stop the frightened squeals from students who’d thought they were going to be bitten by the snake. In the back of the room, those who’d only heard the Parseltongue but hadn’t been able to see Harry calling the snake back, began to mutter about the Heir of Slytherin once again.
In the meantime, Professor Brissette had contained the snake in a transfigured warming box and Harry had promised to talk with the snake about where it had been conjured from and where it wanted to go to next.
Dumbledore had just sat on this throne through the whole incident, but was inwardly smiling. That whole duel had worked out better than he planned. Surely Potter would lose some of his standing for being a well known Parselmouth, and perhaps in the following isolation, would be more open to seeking out his Headmaster for support. It was rather delusional thinking on the Headmaster’s part, because Harry had many layers of help and protection available to him, both within the school and without, but the aged wizard had a bad tendency to think he and his plans were infallible.
~0~0~
Sadly Dumbledore’s plans didn’t go quite as well as he’d expected. Harry had put up with the whispers and innuendo quite well. It was helped by the fact that he had the deep and abiding loyalty of his group of friends, and the Quidditch team were also watching his back.
He’d had some airtime during the March Hufflepuff/Gryffindor game, and had been a strong contender against the Lion’s Seeker. Sadly the game had been lost an hour later, when Cedric had been pipped at the post in his chase for the Snitch, but none of that negated the support the team gave to their youngest member.
The Heads of House were also quick to ridicule the notion of Harry speaking Parseltongue being linked to the Heir of Slytherin or the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Flitwick was quick to remind students that Parseltongue was an offshoot of Dragon Speak, and most students thought that was a pretty cool language to be able to have.
Professor Snape was an ally as well, in his own rather brusque manner. It turns out that the snake Weasley had conjured was a rare form of magical viper that could be milked for venom only with the assistance of a Parselmouth. It seemed that the snake had a wicked temper unless someone could explain the manner and purpose of the milking process each time. And given this breed’s venom was a key ingredient in an experimental potion Snape was working on, it made for a much more supportive professor when it came to quashing rumours.
By Easter break, Ophion (a serpent from Greek mythology) had been selected by the Slytherin first years as the viper’s name. Their Head of House had instituted a competition with Honeydukes chocolate as the prize, with the only rule being that the name must not be ‘cute’.
It turned put the snake had been sitting in a magical animal shop in Ireland when summoned, and it had cost the Potions master sixty Galleons to keep Ophion. But he wasn’t too worried by the cost, because buying the venom on the open market easily cost him that every six months. Thanks to Harry’s assistance in settling the viper down, participating in the duelling club had been quite a lucrative experience for Severus Snape.
But to quell the rumours entirely, the last day of term was turned into rather a treat for the Hogwarts students. Soraya had been monitoring the situation closely, both with Harry and his professors. She knew that the visit to the Welsh Green Dragon Reserve the previous year had helped cement the idea that Harry was primarily a Dragon Speaker, with the side benefit of speaking a dialect close to Parseltongue for a lot of the students.
But not everyone had attended the outing the previous Spring, and the first years had only heard of the visit with dragons second hand. So with Minerva’s blessing, she’d contacted Garreth Lloyd to see if he’d be willing to give a talk at the school, via a whole school assembly, on the links between the two languages.
Garreth went one better than that. He offered to teach a day of classes, one year level at a time and bring a juvenile Welsh Green to meet with the students. This particular dragon was a particularly mellow member of the species, and adored chatting with Speakers. In fact, Dethen had been an enthusiastic participant in the flying chase game Harry and Ches had participated in on their last visit to the Reserve.
Dumbledore wanted to veto the visit, citing safety and disruption to the classes, but the rather ruthless Minerva managed to slip word to Hagrid of the potential day with a dragon, and the Headmaster crumbled in the face of a begging half-giant, who was in tears at the thought of missing out on the experience.
So the last day of term saw Harry excused from classes to act as backup translator to Garreth, with the added benefit of making the Dragon Speak abilities more prominent in the minds of the other students. For many of the Muggleborn and raised students, Dethen was the first dragon they’d ever seen, and most were enraptured. At one point, Ophion was brought up from his home in the dungeons, and Garreth played translator for the students as the snake and dragon compared notes on their experiences at Hogwarts. Ophion complained about students tapping on the glass wall of his enclosure and Dethen offered his commiserations, sharing stories of gawking tourists at the Reserve, much to the audience’s amusement.
When the Head Keeper and dragon departed Hogwarts later that evening, by whatever mystery method that allowed them also to switch out guard dragons at Gringotts, not a single student thought Harry had anything to do with the Heir of Slytherin. Though many were decidedly envious at the thought of being able to speak and fly with dragons.
Hagrid, in particular, was beside himself with excitement all day and sobbed as they left, though he’d secured permission to visit the Reserve at any time. Garreth Lloyd had come to greatly appreciate the enormous man who’d gone out of his way to make the entire day run smoothly. He also secretly wondered what it would take to lure Hagrid to work at the Reserve. He had quite the innate talent it seemed.
Needless to say, Dumbledore was fuming at both the success of the day and Harry’s interaction with all the students. Not to mention, he had a sneaking suspicion he might need a new Keeper of the Keys in the next year or two. He was definitely not a happy wizard.
Chapter 11
Harry and Co were riding the Hogwarts Express back towards London, still high on their dragon experience from the day before. It was a lively bunch, spilling in and out of three adjoining compartments as usual. Madam Hooch was on the train as the assigned member of staff that day, and smiled to see such a diverse group of students enjoying themselves together.
In addition to a good portion of the second year students, the Weasley twins and Cedric Diggory hung out for part of the trip, and she got drawn into a deep discussion about Quidditch tactics between the House team players and reserves, along with several of the pick-up team members. When the trolley lady came by, Madam Hooch was startled into remembering she was supposed to patrol the whole train. It was a pity really, she’d rather been enjoying the conversation.
As she wandered down the corridor, Rolanda mused that it was a shame the Harry and Co group of students hadn’t really managed to make inroads with their Slytherin and Ravenclaw year mates. Then again, those two Houses had quite the tendency to be rather insular, though for different reasons. Still, the cross-House study group seemed to have calmed down the rivalry between all four Houses. And that certainly made her job easier when it came to refereeing the Quidditch games. Maybe she’d talk to Minerva and some of the other professors about ways to encourage more inter-House interactions and cooperation. It couldn’t hurt, she shrugged.
~0~0~
Firelock had been getting increasingly antsy, waiting for his adoptive son to return from Hogwarts for the holidays. Knowing his deputy would welcome the distraction, Ragnok had scheduled an update meeting with the Horcrux hunting team as the Hogwarts Express steamed southwards back to London.
There had been a proposal to have the scrying Doohickeys at Kings Cross Station when the students disembarked, in the hope they might pick up a sign of the Horcrux that had been introduced to the school that year. But the devices weren’t exactly discreet, thanks to being about the size of a large shoebox, and they didn’t have sufficient units to cover the entirety of Platform 9 ¾ thoroughly enough to ensure they wouldn’t miss anything.
Instead, Minerva had authorised another scan of the school over the Easter break. Dumbledore was back in Rome, politicking to try to keep his Supreme Mugwump position, so he would be well out of the way. Over the past term, the team had further revised the accuracy of the Doohickeys, and it was clear that the Horcrux signal had come from the vicinity of Hogwarts, and not Hogsmeade or the surrounding mountain caves, which had been some of the alternative locations.
If the Horcrux signature wasn’t located at the school over the holidays, then it was almost certainly in the hands of one of the students who went home for Easter. That fortunately cut the number of potentially possessed students in about half, as quite a lot of pupils stayed over to study during the break, particularly OWL and NEWT candidates.
But the team had definitive success on one of the other Horcruxes. It had happened purely by accident, thanks to Sirius Black hiring Gringotts to clean out and prepare the old Black family home on Grimmauld Place for sale. It was now becoming standard practice to include a Doohickey with every Curse and Ward-Breaking team that was sent out.
An enterprising Junior Ward-Breaker had located an ancient Horcrux in a tomb they were excavating in Egypt, and had safely transferred the artefact back to London. He’d requested a scan with the Doohickey, wondering if it picked up all soul-splitting magic, or just that of Voldemort’s. It turned out the device worked on other soul shards as well, which was an invaluable addition to the safety equipment for the various teams. It wasn’t common to be exposed to soul magic such as this, but it was almost invariably a bad experience for those who did.
The use of the Doohickey was now an invaluable tool for all teams entering a new work area. Ragnok had added a commendation to the Ward-Breaker’s file for the idea, even as he lamented the now epidemic levels of referring to the scrying device as a Doohickey. Ah well, there were worse things in life he supposed. And if it stopped him from having to write condolence letters to the families of cursed employees, it was a small price to pay.
But courtesy of this innovation, they’d deployed the device in the Black home and found a locket that appeared to once have belonged to Salazar Slytherin, that had been tainted by a soul fragment. When they spoke with Sirius Black, he had come up with a plausible explanation. His brother, Regulus, had joined the Death Eaters on leaving Hogwarts. Barely six months later, a date of death had appeared for the eighteen year old on the family tapestry.
Sirius had received a rather cryptic note from his brother shortly before his death, that had him suspecting that Reggie was considering defecting from the Dark Lord. When he’d died, the older Black brother had always wondered if he’d been killed for his betrayal. The locket had been found amongst the house-elf’s belongings, and Sirius knew the two had been friends, for all that he’d despised Kreacher himself. How it ended up in Kreacher’s hands would forever be an unsolved mystery. Sirius was simply happy to know one more piece of Fold-a-dork’s soul had been captured (the former Marauder had taken to that nickname with relish), and that each one they found made Harry safer.
The penultimate item on the Horcrux team’s report was that they were still tracking down relatives of Tom Riddle, as the current thinking was that he might use some sort of family heirloom to anchor a soul shard. It was thought that this was the source of the signal they’d received in the northern part of England. That signal had been tracked to the Yorkshire Dales, but that was a considerable area to search, and they were hoping the researchers would narrow down the search parameters to a more practical size.
The final matter to be discussed at the meeting was whether the arithmancers had been able to determine whether there was a missing soul fragment still at large, perhaps at an unplottable location. While Riddle was known to be acutely interested in the significance of magical numbers from his time at Hogwarts, and they were now looking down the barrel of seven soul fragments, the question was whether he counted the one still in his possession when he disappeared at Godric’s Hollow eleven years ago. Because it was just as likely he’d decided to make seven Horcruxes and not include his own (considerably smaller) remaining soul piece.
Unfortunately the jury was still out on that question. Though if they got the two remaining known fragments in hand, they’d likely be able to determine that definitively. Even one more Horcrux would give them a solid clue. As the time for the Hogwarts Express’ arrival neared, Ragnok wrapped up the meeting and sent his anxious deputy off to fetch his wife and head to Kings Cross Station.
~0~0~
Soraya, Firelock and Ringstar were restlessly awaiting the arrival of the Hogwarts Express. The three parents were glad that they’d arrived a little early, as it let the Guduriak couple drop their glamours that they’d used to get onto the platform. Wandering through a Muggle train station as a Gudiriak would raise a few eyebrows for sure. Fortunately, after the news of Harry’s three way adoption had made it into the Daily Prophet, there weren’t too many raised eyebrows amongst the rest of the waiting families, at the sight of them outside of Gringotts.
As they waited, the trio discussed Sirius Black and how to get the man together with Harry over the break. Harry and his godfather had exchanged several letters, mostly of the get to know you variety, and things seemed amicable so far. They’d also had several meals with the freed wizard, and he’d seemed to be coping well. From what Sirius had told them, he’d stayed in close contact with his old friend Remus Lupin in America, and had even had a couple of counselling sessions with the man’s Squib friend, Elijah Stanley via Floo. His own Mind Healer at St Mungo’s was very impressed with Black’s progress, and Ringstar, as a Mind Healer also, had been moved by his dedication to his own healing.
“Sirius was wondering if it would be good to do some sort of outing to get to know Harry better, perhaps go somewhere Harry enjoys. It would put them in territory where Harry would likely be more comfortable. Might also avoid those awkward pauses you get when you’re sitting in a room and meeting a relative stranger. I think it would overwhelm Harry less to do so.” Soraya had met Sirius for lunch the day before, and thus had been elected to relay the message to her fellow parents.
“Think Harry would be up for another trip to the dragon reserve, after all his fun yesterday?” Firelock asked. He’d been the recipient of an excited mirror-box call the evening before, as Harry was packing his trunk for the holidays.
Ringstar chuckled, “When has Harry ever turned down the chance to go play with the dragons? I don’t think he’d mind in the slightest.” Soraya and Firelock nodded. There was definite truth in that statement. But the discussion paused as they heard the whistle of the approaching train and the steam engine came into sight. Harry was soon off the train, waving to his friends as they scattered towards their own families. Spotting his parents, he made a beeline for them, Neville following close behind,
After a round of hugs, Harry had a question. “Can we make a trip to the dragon reserve while we’re off. I’ve finally got Neville talked into flying with the teenagers. It’ll be brilliant!”
Neville had initially been a nervous flyer, but with Harry’s coaxing and Madam Hooch’s excellent instruction, he’d become much less timid, and had even signed up for the elective second year Flying class.
“It’s funny you should bring up the idea, Harry. We were talking about a good place for you to meet Sirius and get to know him a little better. We thought a trip to the reserve would be an easy place to do that. What do you think?” Ringstar was chortling inside, hadn’t she called that one just right.
Harry, who’d found it pretty easy to talk to his godfather via letter, thought for a moment, then replied, “I’m okay with that, as long as Neville can come too. Hey Neville, I bet Sirius knew your mum and dad too, if my parents did. It might be nice for you to talk to him as well.” Harry was well aware that nearly all his godbrother had ever learned about his parents, had come from his grandmother. It might be good for him to have another source, one closer to his own parents’ ages.
“Well if I wouldn’t be in the way, that would be wonderful,” Neville responded.
At that moment, Augusta Longbottom strode up to the group, having seen her grandson get diverted as he got off the train. “And just what are you and your godbrother plotting here, Neville?” she asked, in a mock strict tone.
Neville, who’d developed much greater rapport with his grandmother as he’d gained more confidence, replied, “Just man stuff Gran, just man stuff.” He knew that would set her off; he’d started to see she had rather a wicked sense of humour behind the reserved manner she’d used with him all his life.
Augusta, who’d been clued in a little by Soraya mouthing ‘dragon reserve’ behind Neville’s back, continued teasingly, “Since when are dragons only man’s business, young MAN?” emphasising the last word. “I’m sure Miss Gwynes Morgan at the reserve might have words with you about that issue.” The older woman had struck up quite a friendship with the younger dragon handler on a previous visit.
“Oops, sorry Gran, I guess that joke went a little flat,” Neville cringed.
Patting him affectionately on the back, Augusta replied, “Well I don’t think you should consider a career as a…what is the term…stand up comedian. Good thing you love your plants then, isn’t it?” She patted him on the back affectionately, then continued, “So I’m guessing you’re up for a trip to the reserve with Harry, and if I had to guess, you’re going to fly with the dragons as well this time?”
“Yeah, Harry’s got me convinced it’ll be brill. And I think I’m good enough on a broom to give it a try now. Though don’t worry Gran, I have no plans for taking up Quidditch, which is a much more dangerous form of flying.” Now Neville was pulling his godbrother’s leg.
“We were thinking it would be a good place for Harry to meet Sirius Black,” Soraya interjected. “Less awkward when there’s so many fun things to do. You’d be welcome to join us.”
“Sounds like a pleasant day. And if the weather keeps holding like this, it would be delightful to get out into the Welsh countryside.” Augusta was right, they’d had wonderful Spring weather, for so early in April.
“We’re having dinner in the Enklabe tonight. You’d both be welcome to join us for the meal, and we can discuss this and a couple of other ideas we had for the break,” invited Ringstar.
“Sounds delightful, lead the way,” Augusta replied.
~0~0~
The group had a lovely dinner and held off on further discussions of holiday plans until they were lingering over dessert, and a cheese and fruit platter. A brief Firecall to Sirius established he was eager to visit the reserve with the group, and he even suggested that Harry might like to invite a couple more friends, to make the day even more enjoyable. Harry and Neville instantly agreed that Susan and Luna were the ones they wanted to join them, and plans were made to visit the reserve together, leaving from Gringotts via Portkey on Monday morning.
The conversation moved onto other holiday plans. Most of the professors had set homework, but it wasn’t excessive, given the tensions that had been running through the school thanks to the petrifications, and the mystery over the Heir of Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets. Harry and Neville arranged to meet at Hawthorn House the next morning, as the Longbottom home had a more extensive library, and churn out as much as they were able to get done in one day. They could make plans for later in the break to complete anything that didn’t get finished, but the boys were hopeful that one solid day would do it.
Neville teased his best friend, “You know that this means I won’t get any significant greenhouse time until Tuesday, with homework tomorrow and dragons on Monday. The things I do for you, Harry Potter.” He offered the last comment with a broad grin; in truth, while he still loved his plants and planned to make a career in Herbology, he knew that his life had been much enriched since striking up a friendship with his godbrother on their first train ride to Hogwarts nearly two years before.
“Aww, I’ll offer you a deal then. How about I come over Tuesday and help with any chores you need to get done in your beloved greenhouses?” Harry turned to his parents, “That is, if it’s alright with you, and we don’t have other plans?’
Ringstar was impressed with Harry’s growing confidence. When they’d first met, the orphaned boy had never been given choices or opportunities of his own. He’d also been so beaten down mentally by the Dursleys that he’d shown very strong people pleasing traits, often to the detriment of his own desires.
“I think that would be fine Harry, don’t you Soraya?” Ringstar knew her husband would be busy with a meeting with Ringstar and the Buruzagi from Tokyo who was visiting in the coming week. Soraya nodded, so Harry’s Ama continued, “We do have one other thing to plan while we’re talking, and it involves Neville and Augusta as well, so perhaps now would be the time to get to it.”
Harry was now looking intrigued, and the Longbottoms held similar countenances.
“We were hoping to do another trip to a different Enklabe these holidays, and perhaps you’d like to join us this time, Augusta?” Ringstar was hoping Neville’s gran would come along, it would be good for her to stay involved in his activities as he headed towards adolescence and the inevitable clashes for increased independence.
“Ooh, another trip? The one to San Francisco last year was amazing Gran. You have to come too.” Neville was clearly enthused, and Harry was waiting with bated breath to find out where they’d be going. Augusta just inclined her head, wondering where Ringstar and Firelock were suggesting for the mini-holiday.
“We have several choices, but this time, we were thinking of taking three or four days, and visiting a more distant Enklabe. We have a couple of choices, and thought we’d leave it up to Augusta and the boys to pick this time.” Firelock had taken over the trip planning discussion. “So our options are Australia, New Zealand or Japan, because all three should still have nice weather at this time of year.”
The two boys and Neville’s gran moved to the patio outside to hold such an important conversation. Meanwhile Harry’s parents were laughing over how seriously the boys were taking this decision making process. They were growing up, and even if it might be nice to keep them as children longer, the passage of time simply wouldn’t allow it.
It was easily fifteen minutes before they returned, having popped in to clarify where in each country the Enklabe was located. While it was possible to travel around a country via Portkey, they’d gotten used to spending time mostly in one location, and really exploring what each city was like. So they’d had to choose between Adelaide in Australia, Christchurch in New Zealand, and Tokyo for Japan.
“We’ve decided on…..” Neville paused for effect, “…Australia! We didn’t know a lot about the different cities, but Australia has lots of different Muggle animals you can’t find anywhere else in the world from what Harry says, and I’d bet I could find loads of plants to bring back too. And Gran just wants to come along for the fun.” Augusta snorted quietly at that. It wasn’t exactly how she’d phrased it, she was more refined than that. But still, it would be fun, so perhaps Neville wasn’t so far off.
“Adelaide, Australia it is then!” Firelock was almost as excited as the boys, he had only ever briefly visited that Gringotts bank branch, and had never had the chance to explore the city. Good thing that they’d requested Muggle tourist information from there, along with a list of sights related to the wizarding community as well. He’d argued for years that hiring Muggleborn employees in various areas of the business was good practice. He and Ragnok had made great strides in investing for their clients by picking the brains of their employees who had feet in both worlds. It let Gringotts keep up with the trends and they were already reaping great profits from their forays into emerging technical industries.
“So we were thinking of leaving on Friday evening. The plan was we’d all take a long nap Friday afternoon to early evening, then make our way to Adelaide, and arrive in time for breakfast. That would be Saturday morning there. We’d stay until late Tuesday evening, arriving back here around lunchtime Tuesday. I think we’d avoid too much time lag with this plan. How does this sound to everyone?”
Nobody was objecting to that, so Firelock started passing out the tourist information he’d received and asked everyone to make a list of the sights they’d like to see. The rest of the evening was spent companionably squabbling over how to fit everything into four days, but they reached a good level of compromise by the time they all headed home for the night.
~0~0~
Harry and Neville worked like beavers (instead of their Hufflepuff badgers) the following day, as they managed to complete all their homework with the exception of their DADA assignment. Professor Brissette had set them the challenge of finding an offensive and defensive spell, not commonly used in Britain, and they had a short essay on each, to explain the spell and if any adaptions would be needed to use with current British spell casting practices.
The boys had decided that it would be interesting to see if they could come up with something on their trip to Australia, knowing they’d be interacting with both the wizarding and Muggle worlds there. They’d even managed to sneak into the greenhouses for an hour or so, before being called into supper. Harry was staying over at Hawthorn House that night, and would Floo to Gringotts with Neville and Augusta, then go on to the dragon reserve the following morning.
Harry woke the next morning filled with excitement. He was spending a day with his beloved dragons, as well as his three best friends, and his parents. Having Neville’s gran along was icing on the cake, as he’d grown rather fond of the normally austere witch, who tended to hide her love of Neville and most of her other good qualities, behind a more formal facade. He was even excited to meet Sirius Black, mostly.
He’d become more comfortable with his godfather through their letters, and he was looking forward to hearing stories about his parents, but there was still a frisson of nervousness that wouldn’t quite dissolve completely away. He’d been reassured multiple times that there was no way Harry could be taken away from his parents, but the element of fear was still there. He’d spent ten years being loved by nobody; little wonder he jealously guarded his relationships with his Mam, Ama and Aita.
Neville stirred about ten minutes after Harry had woken up. When he’d first gone to Hogwarts, he’d never had a friend stay over at his house before, and now he had an extra bed in his room that was just Harry’s. When his gran had offered to set aside a guest room for his godbrother’s exclusive use, to decorate as he wished, Neville could only think how he liked sharing with Harry in the dorms, and had begged to have his room re-done to accommodate the both of them. Augusta, pleased by the strong bond between the boys, had been happy to comply.
After a hearty breakfast, Harry and Neville grabbed a heavy jumper each, in case the weather turned, along with their brooms. Neville had declined a Nimbus 2000, as it was more a racing broom, but was very content with the Cleansweep he’d received from Harry’s three parents for Christmas.
All three grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, then called out “Gringotts Bank Staff Entrance”, and stepped through in turn. Harry was glad he’d finally mastered Flooing, as his first twenty or thirty attempts had been less than graceful. He was a much better athlete in the air than on the ground, he thought to himself. Arriving at Gringotts, they were met by Ringstar, Firelock and Soraya. Luna and Susan arrived several minutes later, one right after the other.
Moments behind the girls, a slightly winded Sirius Black was shown into the Floo reception area by one of the Guduriak junior tellers. He’d realised at the last minute that his old school broom had been lost after the attack at Godric’s Hollow, where he’d been in the habit of flying with James, because the Ministry had placed secure wards on the property. So he’d had to dash into Quality Quidditch Supplies on the way to the bank to pick up a broom. He’d selected a Nimbus 2000, like Harry’s, not willing to brave the even faster 2001 after ten years of not flying.
Sirius greeted Harry in a slightly reserved manner, not wanting to overwhelm the boy with massive hugs or emotional displays. Harry shook hands with his godfather and awkwardly responded, “It’s nice to meet you in person, at last.”
In turn, like so many who’d known the Potters, Sirius was unable to resist the comment, “You look so much like James, but you have your mother’s eyes. It’s good to see you too, Harry. You’ll take pity on an old fellow like me when we’re in the air today, won’t you? My flying is a touch rusty, even if I did play Chaser for Gryffindor while I was at Hogwarts.”
Harry laughed, it was hard to deny that Sirius was approaching their new relationship with good humour. “Yes, I promise not to dump you off your broom or let the dragons flame you.”
Sirius responded, with a touch of a gulp, “Yeah, can’t believe we’ll be flying with the dragons. It’s a bit mental, but I’m game. Your dad would be so green with envy if he could see this”
Harry brightened a little more. It looked like there would definitely be the chance to hear some good stories about his Mum and Dad today.
It turned out to be a magnificent day. The weather was cooperative, brightly sunny and with only a light breeze, and there was no rain in sight. The dragons were in good spirits, with those that had chosen to hibernate part of the winter being back to their normal activities. Dethen was still bragging about his trip to Hogwarts and all his adoring fans, which definitely included Luna and Susan, the latter having never been so close to a dragon before. Luna, being Luna, had met several on her forays around the world with her father, seeking animals no-one had ever heard of before.
Garreth Lloyd had welcomed them enthusiastically, as he thoroughly enjoyed any time he got to spend with another Dragon Speaker, though he had an extra soft spot for Harry. He’d taken on a mentoring role with the lad over the past year or two, and thought of him fondly.
Gwynes Morgan had spotted Augusta the moment they arrived, and had raced over to see the older witch. Before five minutes had passed, she’d taken off with Augusta, RIngstar and Soraya for a ladies only tour of the reserve, followed by a lavish morning tea and a long chat. As the only female dragon handler on staff at the present time, she could sometimes find herself starved for the companionship of other witches.
After Garreth and Harry had done the rounds of the entire reserve with his schoolmates, godfather and Aita in tow, the young Speaker felt properly caught up with all the goings on amongst the dragons, though he’d be seeing the Elder, Ildryth, later in the day, as she preferred afternoon visits. By the time lunch arrived, in the form of a barbecue put on by the reserve staff, Harry was chatting easily with Sirius, sharing stories of their time at Hogwarts mostly.
Neville, Susan and Luna joined in readily with the discussions, and Sirius didn’t even look askance at Luna’s comment that his wrackspurts looked very peaceful. It turns out that he’d been acquainted with Xenophilius Lovegood through some distant family connection to the Potters, and had decided father and daughter were much alike and well suited.
But the moment for excitement had arrived, and it was time to go flying with the teenage dragons. There were several of the smaller dragons that had now joined the thunder since Christmas, and between Garreth and Harry, they made it clear that all flying games for the afternoon were to be flame free.
After extracting the teen dragons’ promises to behave, Neville, Harry, Sirius and Luna joined the creatures in the air, with Susan retreating to join the rest of the witches watching the games. She didn’t mind basic flying but wasn’t one for indulging in a lot of aerial acrobatics. Even Firelock got in on the act, though the Guduriak weren’t normally ones for broom flight, but it satisfied his adventurous spirit, and was something different from icefall climbing.
They flew for over two hours, playing chasing games, racing each other around the reserve, and flying a makeshift obstacle course amongst the trees and rock formations that were scattered around the reserve. It was exhilarating for all, and Harry enjoyed seeing his friends and family having such fun together. But all good things must end, and the non-dragons eventually tired of extended broom flight.
While Harry and Garreth prepared to go see Ildryth in her cave, the rest of the group descended back to earth, to indulge in an extensive afternoon tea with their earthbound friends. However Luna stayed in the air with the pair of Dragon Speakers, and offered a plaintive request to meet Ildryth as well. Garreth went ahead to relay the request, and the ancient dragon assented to the extra visitor.
Luna’s delight at meeting the reserved Elder paved the way for a wonderful half hour. Ildryth was happy to share some of her family history and dragon lore with such an enthusiastic and respectful young witch. And if Ildryth teased Harry a little about bringing his girl to meet her, well Harry might also have left that bit out of the translation.
Garreth just sat back and smirked a little at the matchmaking dragon, then reminded himself to put a bet on through Augusta. He’d heard about the pool going amongst Harry’s family, friends and teachers. He wouldn’t mind winning a few Galleons, on what was obviously a dead certainty. He’d picked up signs of the close friendship between Harry and Luna at Hogwarts the other day, and it was increasingly clear the longer they spent together with him.
Eventually though the day had to draw to a close. Harry, Luna and Garreth had returned to the rest of the group in time to grab a cold drink, and some sandwiches and pastries, before they all Portkeyed back to London, tired but extremely happy. Sirius and Harry hugged before they parted, which everyone was glad to see, and they promised to meet up again before Harry had to return to Hogwarts, and Sirius left for his visit to America. Harry’s parents felt happy they’d allowed the relationship to develop a little more, and had no objections to staying in contact with Sirius. Perhaps they could do more outings such as this over the summer.
~0~0~
The Gringotts Horcrux hunting team had gone through Hogwarts with a fine tooth comb. In actual fact, the comb had been half a dozen scrying Doohickeys, but the end result was the same. No sign of the soul fragment signature could be found. Whatever artefact was encasing the shard, it had left the school for the break. And as all the staff, with the exception of Dumbledore, had remained in situ for the holiday, that meant it had to be a student who possessed (and was likely possessed in return) by the Horcrux.
Minerva McGonagall had wanted to provide the team with a list of names of the students who’d returned home, and their addresses, but the Hogwarts Charter prevented her from doing so. And there were simply too many students and too few staff to apparate to each home with a borrowed Doohickey.
Members of the team were Apparating to various parts of the country, endeavouring to triangulate an approximate location, but it was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. At best, all they could tell was that it was in the southern half of England.
There was a follow-up meeting at Hogwarts later in the first week of the break. Firelock was in attendance, representing Ragnok, who was still tied up with the Tokyo Buruzagi. The Warding teams were also back in the castle, assessing the strength of the upgrades begun the year before, and fine tuning extra safety alarms, in the hopes of tracking the Basilisk.
As they went through the various reports, Firelock had a moment of inspiration. He put a hand up to halt the current summary being given, then shared his idea, to wide acclaim. It wouldn’t solve their problems but it would at least remove a little uncertainty.
With that decided, he went into action, and called, “House-elf Dobby, would you join us if you can.”
There was a pause of several minutes, and the team was starting to think Firelock’s idea wouldn’t work. Then a pop was heard, and the small creature with the large eyes and floppy ears appeared.
“The great Harry Potter’s father has called Dobby? Dobby is pleased to be of service if Dobby can. But Harry Potter sir isn’t here…” Dobby’s voice trailed off in clear disappointment. However Harry had managed to make a fan out of the elf, he’d made a fanatically devoted one indeed.
“Thank you for joining us, Dobby. We hope we didn’t pull you away from your duties so you’ll be punished?” Firelock asked, concerned.
“Oh Harry Potter sir’s father cares that Dobby is not punished? Dobby has never had anyone worry that Dobby will be in trouble before.” The house-elf’s eyes welled up with unshed tears.
“We don’t want to see you hurt, Dobby. Would you be alright if we ask you a couple more questions? We know that you can’t answer everything, and you must not do anything that would make you punish yourself, or get found out by your family. We just want the children here to be safe.”
Firelock was being carefully gentle with Dobby, knowing the house-elf was walking a fine line. Dobby nodded a cautious yes, and waited to hear what he might be asked.
“Can you tell if the dangerous item is still in the castle, Dobby?” Filius asked, as anxious as any of the team to find the Horcruxes.
“Dobby is not able to sense the item is here at this time. Unless there are unplottable places in Hogwarts which are hidden from Dobby’s sight. Evil items might be hidden there, where Dobby is unable to go check.”
That was quite a hint they’d been given, various team and staff members thought.
Still thinking quickly on his feet, Flitwick followed up with his next question. “Dobby, we will not ask you the name of the student who has this item. We know you cannot say, and you must tell us no if my next request goes too far. But you do know who was given the item in question, yes?” Dobby nodded enthusiastically.
“Good. Do you know where this student lives, and could you pop over there to see if that child still has the item in their possession. You need not reveal anything that may identify them. Perhaps think of it as what you’d need to do if your master ever asked you to retrieve it.”
“Dobby can do that. Dobby will return in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.” And with that the house-elf popped out of sight, while the others congratulated Filius on his swift thinking.
Several minutes later, Dobby returned, and excitedly announced, “Dobby has seen the item and it is still in the hands of the person Dobby’s master gave it to. Would Harry Potter sir’s father like me to check each day, that the item stays with this person? Dobby could pop to Gringotts with a report.”
Firelock patted Dobby on the shoulder and responded, “Harry and I greatly appreciate the offer. But please do not risk your safety to do so. If you could at least check the morning that the students return on the Hogwarts Express, that would be sufficient. A message to Gringotts that day would be very welcome. But thank you for everything you are doing.”
Dobby came as close to blushing as it was possible for a house-elf to do. “Dobby would do anything he could for the great Harry Potter. Dobby only wishes that Harry Potter will stay safe.” And with that, he popped out of the castle, and returned to parts unknown.
“Well it’s helpful to know that the artefact isn’t here right now and our scrying hasn’t gone awry,” Darksteel commented.
“If only we could scan each student and their trunks as they return at the end of the holidays,” McGonagall mused.
“We could perhaps walk the length of the train with one of the Doohickeys,” opined the Junior Curse-Breaker who’d been punished for ruining Darksteel’s coffee months before. “We probably could only identify which carriage it’s in. It’s really not any more sensitive than that, but it would at least let you pare down the numbers of students to keep an eye on, wouldn’t it?”
“Well done, Leadlink. Consider yourself redeemed and off dung shovelling duty.”
Darksteel had really been ticked off by three days of ruined coffee. He’d likely have been less cruel with a wizarding employee; after all, most of them were tea drinkers and not aware of the Gudiriak coffee addiction. But given that it was a fellow Guduriak, the extreme punishment had indeed been justified. Leadlink simply sighed in relief.
“Could one of the professors be trained to use this…Doohickey?” Minerva asked, with as much reluctance to use the name as Ragnok. “We now have a staff member patrolling the Express as a safety measure. If we could disguise it as a plain box, we run less risk of alarming the student in possession of the artefact and risking it being disposed of where another student might find it.”
“A sound strategy, Professor,” Darksteel replied. “And yes, we could train someone to use the ‘Doohickey, and disguise it as well. I’d suggest yourself or Filius here, seeing as you’re the ones in the know.”
“I’ll take train monitoring duty then, Minerva, when the students return on the eighteenth. Albus would likely get suspicious of you being gone; as Deputy Headmistress, he’ll wonder why you didn’t delegate the task.”
Minerva murmured her thanks; Filius was right. As close as they were to finding the Horcrux, it wouldn’t pay to make Dumbledore suspect anything. Goodness knows what he’d do if he got his hands on a Horcrux. Probably find a way to use it for his Greater Good, she supposed.
Then a thought struck her, and she turned to Filius again, a rather sneaky grin on her face, as she teased, “I don’t suppose you’ll have time to visit the trolley lady this time, Filius, with all your scrying and patrolling duties. Shame really, I hear she’s gone all out with raiding Muggle sweet shops this time.”
Filius just smiled and denied the thought had ever crossed his mind, offering a smirk in return.
Firelock wrapped up the meeting. “We’ll need to meet again, once we have the student numbers winnowed down some more, as they return to school. We’ll set up a time and place with the mirror-boxes once we have more information. Needless to say, we best not meet here once Dumbledore is back in residence. Perhaps we might get a meeting room at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, and plan our ongoing strategy then. Thank you all, for your hard work and insights.”
Exchanging farewells, the Hogwarts staff and the Horcrux team parted ways until the next meeting.
~0~0~
Harry had stayed over at Neville’s a second night, after the boys’ trip to the dragon reserve. It had been a calculated move on the part of the two best friends, allowing an early breakfast and more time in the greenhouses, and outdoor in the gardens as well. For all Harry liked to pull Neville’s leg about his plant obsession, he didn’t mind gardening duty at all. At the Dursleys, it was one of the few times he got outdoors into the sun, and his Aunt and Uncle tended to just yell what they wanted done from the door, leaving him pretty much to his own devices.
Anything that had limited their interactions had been good, in Harry’s mind. And Dudley tended to get bored easily, if he tried to bully Harry in the back garden. He wasn’t one for the great outdoors, unless that meant chasing Harry around the streets or the school playground with his thuggish friends.
So Harry and Neville had a delightful day pruning and repotting plants in the greenhouses, cutting back shrubs in the cottage-style gardens and getting new plantings into the flower beds, to ensure bright spring colour. It was a tired pair of boys who hit their beds that night, Neville at Hawthorn House and Harry at the flat in Gastronomic Alley.
The rest of the week, before their Friday night trip to Australia, was spent with Soraya mostly. Harry planned to spend more time in the Enklabe the following week, when Ringstar had been able to free up her schedule a little to spend more time with her son. Firelock would be done with his meetings with Ragnok and the visiting Buruzagi, as well as his visit to Hogwarts then too.
Harry and his Mam spent time exploring more of the small alleys and byways leading off of Diagon Alley on Wednesday, eating from small food carts and picking up fruit at the greengrocer. They surprised themselves when they located a seemingly new street called Dramatic Alley.
There was a theatre for plays and musical performances, though nothing was scheduled before they left for Australia. More intriguing to the pair was the museum that was part art and part living history. Full of portraits, some of individuals, others with groups of people either posing or engaged in activity, the designer had been very clever. The paintings were grouped together by eras, and most were clustered geographically as well. You could talk to as many paintings as you wished, and ask questions about themselves and the times they lived in.
Fixed to the wall, in the gaps between the paintings, were descriptions of what has been happening in the magical and Muggle worlds during that time period. The discussion points helped guide the conversations with the people in the paintings, and it wasn’t unusual for other paintings within each gallery to chime in with additional information or opposing views.
Harry wished desperately that they could come to the museum for History of Magic classes, instead of being put to sleep by Binns droning. Not being able to engineer that, he sent Hedwig off with a letter to his Uncle Filius, knowing the Charms Master enjoyed history, and dropping none too subtle hints about getting rid of Binns. He’d have called his honorary uncle through the mirror-boxes, but he was trying to be a little more cunning, knowing a letter describing the museum could be passed to others at Hogwarts to read, a convenience lacking in the mirror-boxes, for all their other benefits.
Thursday, Soraya and Harry did their normal holiday task of stocking up on stationery stores for himself and his study group friends. Harry made a mental note to talk with Firelock about the idea of setting up a small business with owl ordering, to supply students at Hogwarts, and even other magical schools.
He knew his Gryffindor and Ravenclaw friends would be happy to pass out order forms to those who were interested. Hufflepuff would likely challenge the ability of whoever ran the business to keep up with their orders. The Badgers had fervently embraced the ease of the Muggle items for their school work, and Professor Sprout had worked hard to institute a policy that the professors could only limit the students to parchment and quills for essays and exams.
They ate pizza for lunch and enjoyed a movie that afternoon, then did some clothes shopping for the trip. Harry had grown another inch and was showing wrist and ankle bones where sleeves and pant legs weren’t quite long enough anymore, so his wardrobe needed some serious updating.
Friday was a pretty lazy day for the pair. Harry slept in, while Soraya checked in with her team. They were making good progress on their safer broom project and had a prototype in testing. There were some glitches in the rune work for the warding system for the ground below the flyers, and she wanted to make sure she was on top of everything before leaving for their trip. Harry and his Mam went out to eat a substantial lunch at their favourite pub, then returned to the flat to pack. Harry made sure to include some snack foods in his duffle, knowing that he’d be hungry when they got up later, and figuring he could share with his family and friends once they got moving. They finally settled in for about five hours of sleep courtesy of a mild sleeping potion, so as to be ready to leave at 8 pm. With the various Enklabeak transfers, they would arrive in Adelaide at around 7 am Saturday morning, just in time for breakfast.
Chapter 12
Harry, Soraya, Neville and Augusta Floo’ed to the Enklabe, eagerly anticipating the trip ahead. Feeling a little peckish, Harry and Neville were nibbling on the ham and cheese sandwiches Harry had packed (after Soraya applied a stasis charm so they wouldn’t spoil). Firelock and Ringstar met them as they appeared out of the Floo, and they set out for the road to Bilbao. Given they all had luggage of a sort, not all of which they wanted to shrink down for travel, Ringstar had arranged for a horseless carriage, spelled to operate on voice commands in Gudurian. Harry was permitted to ‘drive’ so to speak, as it would give him the chance to practise his fluency.
Ten minutes after setting out, the family arrived in Bilbao. After a brief pause for Augusta to admire the views in the Basque area Enklabe, they continued on. The next leg was a slightly longer journey of twenty minutes, but brought them to Cape Town, South Africa. After seeing how beautiful the vast underground chamber was, everyone agreed that they were putting South Africa on the wish list for future travels. They stopped for about half an hour in the Enklabe there, having been greeted by the Buruzagi, Ironbark, who offered them refreshments in the form of a local Rooibos tea, and some light sandwiches, even though it was nearly 11 pm there. And then they moved on to the last leg of the journey, a ride of about twenty minutes also, taking them to the Enklabe in Australia.
Augusta was intrigued by what seemed to be an odd choice of locations for Gringotts and the Enklabe. Adelaide, while a good size city, certainly wasn’t as large or prominent as Sydney or Melbourne. Firelock explained that there were few magicals when the country was first founded, at least of the white European variety. There was a long tradition of honouring witches and wizards in the Aboriginal tribes, though they were known by other names. As a result, there was no need for Gringotts to provide commercial services at that time.
But within forty to fifty years, that situation changed, as more immigrants chose to willingly go to Australia. The wizarding community grew, and the need for a Gringotts bank grew with it. The new city of Adelaide was being planned at that time, and it turned out that the designer was a wizard called Colonel William Light. He’d arranged to create a magically expanded space, thus carving out a wizarding zone for the community side by side with the non-magical commercial part of the city. In fact, the main street of the wizarding district was called Light Lane.
By the time Firelock was done explaining, they’d arrived at the Adelaide Enklabe. Like the one in London, the clan here had gone with a four seasons design. The winter section was equal in size to the other quadrants, but featured a large odd looking structure taking up quite a bit of space. It was similar in appearance to a Quidditch pitch, but designed for playing on the ground, rather than in the air. They later found that the local clan had gotten hooked on the Muggle game, Australian Rules football, and had half a dozen teams competing against each other.
As the carriage halted, the group were greeted by yet another Buruzagi, this one named Willfleet. He escorted them to a small café in the Spring district, where they were able to enjoy a full English breakfast, and ply Willfleet with questions. Firelock had relied on local resources in the past, and they’d struck gold with the Buruzagi. He’d booked them into an inn on Light Lane for the next two nights, and had created several dozen Portkeys for use in their travels. He’d also seen their wish list of places to visit, then set up a tour around Adelaide, and had arranged for a private tour for the last two days of their stay, over on Kangaroo Island.
Passing around brochures as he talked, everyone was oohing and aahing over what the island had to offer for sightseeing. Even better, he’d arranged for a driver for their group, so they wouldn’t have to keep finding unobtrusive Portkey locations as they visited multiple sites, and would benefit from a local’s perspective when sightseeing. Firelock and Ringstar were thoroughly impressed and grateful, and offered hospitality in return, should Willfleet ever visit London. Harry and Neville (who was becoming more fluent in Gudurian) offered their thanks as well.
Done with breakfast, Willfleet led them up into the bank, and made sure they had plenty of Galleons exchanged into Australian dollars, so they’d be able to sightsee and shop to their hearts’ content. He then escorted them down Light Lane to the Redgum Inn, where they’d be staying the next two nights. Willfleet then said his farewells and wished them happy travels. They checked in at the inn, where there was indeed much redgum wood evident in the design and furnishings. Neville and Harry were sharing a room, as were Soraya and Augusta. Fortunately all three rooms had connecting doors that apparently only appeared on request, and Firelock and Ringstar’s room in the middle had an expanded living room area, and small kitchenette, where they could all easily congregate. Once more, Harry marvelled at the ability for magic to expand and create spaces as needed.
After settling into their rooms, they returned to the ground floor main lobby. The receptionist at the desk had arranged for one of the porters to show them the entrance to and from the wizarding area, and how to access it after hours as well. As it turned out, there was a hidden access point halfway down the beautiful Adelaide Arcade, between the pedestrian shopping street known as Rundle Mall, and the adjacent Grenfell Street. The Arcade had been built in the mid 1880s, and featured Carrara marble floors and tall glass covered ceilings, in the Victorian style of architecture. A hidden doorway between two stores, only visible to those with magic, like the Leaky Cauldron, could be found halfway down the Arcade, though there was also a doorway at either end that could be accessed from the street after hours.
Exiting onto Grenfell Street, the porter led them to three pedal cabs, which would be their means of touring the city of Adelaide. Over the course of the next three hours, they were shown around all four terraces, bounded by a ring of parkland, which made up the square mile that was the city centre. They stopped by the Adelaide Central Market, where Ringstar and Soraya stocked up on unusual fruit and veg, along with other gourmet treats, conveniently preserved with stasis charms in a quiet nook they found. Around the corner, they stopped in the centrally located Victoria Square and saw the fountains, along with the old trams that ran to the beach suburb of Glenelg.
Along North Terrace, the guides showed them many imposing buildings including Government House, Parliament House, various museums, art galleries and libraries, as well as two universities. They rode back down to, and then along the River Torrens, and ended their tour at Festival Plaza, home of the Adelaide Festival Centre. The large theatre was an odd angular building with a crisp white roof, and views of the Cathedral designed by Colonel Light and Adelaide Oval a short distance away.
Neville loved all the green space within and around the city, and wondered if he could expand the height of one of his greenhouses to include a smaller variety of eucalyptus tree. Or maybe one of those bottlebrush trees that their guide had talked about. He already knew he wanted to create a temperate climate zone area in the barely half-filled greenhouse that had been recently built at Hawthorn House, so he was getting lots of ideas for different plantings.
The pedal cab drivers dropped them back to the entrance to Rundle Mall and went on their way, very happy with the tips that Firelock had passed out to the three guides. By this time, everyone was hungry again, so they considered their options. Wandering up the mall, they had to stop to admire the enormous steel spheres, one stacked on top of the other, in the middle of the pedestrian thoroughfare. Known locally as the Malls’ Balls, for obvious reasons, their tour guides had explained that they were the quintessential meeting place for everyone in the Mall.
On seeing the huge sculpture, Ringstar could see why they were an easy place to find. Though she wondered about the mental state of the creator, balls indeed. Being typical preteens, Harry and Neville just sniggered at the innuendo, then proceeded to see what funny reflections the lowest ball created for them. But now they were hungrier still and, seeing as they were close to the entrance to Light Lane, they decided to find somewhere to eat there. In no time, they were at a Greek restaurant, and enjoying generous portions of food, as they planned their afternoon.
Harry and Neville had really wanted to try the paddle boats they’d seen on the RIver Torrens, while the adults were interested in the museum they’d passed. In the end they did both, walking one block over to North Terrace to visit the South Australian Museum, with an interesting array of historical artefacts from the Aboriginal peoples onward, including a fascinating collection from several Antarctic expeditions.
They then Portkeyed to the paddleboats, avoiding the fairly steep stroll down on to river, and spent a fun half hour exploring the river banks and the adjacent Elder Park, not to mention playing spot the pelicans. And if Ringstar and Firelock had to tweak their glamours to ensure their legs could reach the pedals, well no-one was the wiser thanks to some well placed privacy charms. The day finished with dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Rundle Street, not far from the Adelaide Arcade, and everyone fell into bed exhausted and still adapting to a different time zone.
After breakfast the next morning, they decided to start their day at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, which had a magical plant area hidden in an expanded space that Neville and Augusta were really looking forward to. At well over a hundred acres, the regular gardens covered a considerable space, being located in the parklands on North Terrace, and surprisingly, were free to enter. They spent hours walking along pathways amongst the various native and international plant collections, water gardens, and under avenues of trees in parkland reminiscent of that found in Britain.
The Bicentennial Conservatory was especially fascinating to Neville, with it’s vast arching span of steel and glass, and the lowland rain forest plants within. There was even a pathway that allowed him to walk among the canopy. He was in Herbologist’s heaven, and it could be easily read on his face just how delighted he was. They rounded out their visit with a tour of the magical portion of the gardens, which demonstrated which native plants were useful in potions and such like, as well as displays of the small number of purely magical plants found in Australia.
Neville left with seeds and cuttings for his own greenhouses, carefully put into stasis and shrunk for travel. Fortunately the Herbologist on site was familiar with what plants could be safely taken back to Britain, and guided him in his selections. He also taught Neville the spells needed to ensure no bugs or diseases travelled back with them.
The garden visit ended with a late lunch at the restaurant, and a discussion on how to spend the rest of their afternoon. No-one was in the mood for shopping and almost all of the shops were closed for Easter Sunday anyway. Harry came up with a solution though, having recalled the trams in Victoria Square.
“How about we ride that tram down to the beach. I don’t know if its warm enough to swim, but we could paddle in the water and play on the sand for a bit. Maybe there’s something else to do there as well. It’ll be a fun surprise.”
A quick go-round of the table resulted in no objections, and they exited the gardens to find a minibus cab available at the cab stand. Glad they could all travel together, they were at Victoria Square a short time later and on the tram soon after. It was a fun ride in the vintage tram, as it left the city centre and ran through suburbs, mostly in its own corridor away from traffic, unlike in San Francisco. On exiting the tram in Glenelg thirty minutes later, they were fascinated to see the conductor walk through, and flip all the seat backs to the opposite direction, so everyone would face forward on the return trip. It was an interesting solution that avoided a turntable like the cable cars had in San Francisco.
The first thing they saw as they departed the tram was a huge man-made mountain-like building as they faced the beach. It was a tourist attraction called Magic Mountain, and featured arcade games, dodgem cars and multiple long water slides, though those were closed now that summer was over. Soraya promised Harry and Neville they could explore a little on their return from the beach.
As they’d expected from the tourist brochures, the beach was white sand, unlike many of the pebble beaches in Britain. The water was a little too cold for swimming, but the boys rolled their trousers up to their knees and splashed around in the water, joined by Soraya who enjoyed a good splash fight. After a wander up and down the beach, and along the jetty, they stopped in at Magic Mountain, where everyone but Augusta rode the dodgem cars, and played a few arcade games. Harry won a stuffed koala, while Neville scored a dolphin, and Firelock was rather pleased with his stuffed platypus. It ended up on display in his office once they returned home, much to the amusement of Ragnok and Harry.
With the weather holding out, they stopped in at a souvenir shop on Jetty Street for t-shirts for the boys and knick-knacks for their friends. After considering their dinner options, they went low key and picked up fish and chips for dinner, eating them straight out of the paper bundles in the park along the waterfront. They even stayed long enough to watch the sunset, though warming charms were needed at that point. The return tram ride was just as enjoyable as their trip down to Glenelg and they enjoyed the wander along King William Street to return to their inn. Remembering their DADA assignment, to find offensive and defensive spells from another culture, the boys stopped by All That’s Fit to Read Bookstore and picked up a book by an Australian author that had loads of good spells to try.
~0~0~
Monday morning was still a holiday in Australia, part of the four day Easter weekend, but that wouldn’t delay their trip to Kangaroo Island. After checking out of the inn, they took a Portkey to Cape Jervis, where the ferry took just under an hour to travel to the island. They’d Portkey all the way back to Adelaide on the return trip, but the boys (including Firelock of course) had wanted the experience of riding the ferry at least once. Arriving in Penneshaw, they were met by their driver and guide, just as Willfleet had arranged. Matt Kelly was a forty-something man, who spent his days bussing tourists around the island he’d been born on, and rarely left if given the chance. He welcomed them heartily and loaded their bags into the back of the minibus. Neville, Harry and Firelock took the back row of seats, with Ringstar and Augusta in front of them, while Soraya sat up front with Matt.
Matt began by blowing their minds with the news that Kangaroo Island was Australia’s third largest island, being 150 km wide and with 500 km of coast line. He then went on to tell them a little of the history of the island as he did a slow drive through Penneshaw, before setting out onto the open road, headed to the far end of the island and the Flinders Chase National Park.
They spotted quite a variety of wildlife on the way to and through the park, including kangaroos, wallabies, and eagles. Harry was sure he spotted a dingo, but no-one else did, so he couldn’t officially count it in their native animal tally. Matt took them to the Visitor’s Centre, and to the group’s amazement, they saw a koala in the trees surrounding the car park. Apparently koalas could be quite difficult to spot, so that made the sighting even more special. They ate their picnic lunch there, before exploring the Centre, and learning much more about the unique aspects of Kangaroo Island.
The next stop was Cape Borda Lighthouse, which was still within the park boundaries. The views were magnificent, perched as it was on the cliffs overlooking Investigator Strait, and they were able to wander through the Lightstation and get a real sense of what it would have been like to be a lightkeeper. They walked a short trail to the clifftop and were pleased to spot dolphins in the strait below, though sadly no whales.
Accommodations were pretty limited on the western end of the island, and nobody had felt like spending their one night on Kangaroo Island camping in the national park. So before the day got too late, they headed back towards Vivonne Bay and the rental house that was included in the cost of the two day tour. They overshot a little to visit Seal Bay, where they saw masses of seals and sea lions, then they returned to Vivonne Bay and their accommodations.
After dropping off their luggage, the group strolled down to the beach to look at the wild waters of the Southern Ocean, as it looked like a storm might roll in overnight, and they returned to the house as dusk fell to find several wallabies in the front yard and pellets to feed them with. It was a novel experience for everyone, to say the least. Back inside the house, Matt’s wife, Pippa, had set them up a gourmet feast of a charcuterie board, several hot quiches, and a tossed salad, along with a steaming pot of pumpkin soup for their dinner. There wasn’t much left over once everyone ate their fill.
The next morning, after a simple continental breakfast that Pippa had left set up in the fridge and pantry, Matt took them back towards the national park, but this time more to the south. Ahead of them was a trio of delights including the Cape du Couedic lighthouse, Remarkable Rocks and Admiral’s Arch. They stopped first at the lighthouse, which wasn’t open to the public but was interesting enough to warrant a short wander around and a quick search for whales in the ocean below. Unfortunately they were a few weeks early for the normal migration season, but the boys were ever hopeful.
Close by was Admiral’s Arch, a natural arch formed by the ocean, creating a huge cave, and was home to hundreds of New Zealand fur seals, and some playing dolphins also, as they discovered. There was a handy boardwalk to get to the viewing point, saving a trek over uneven ground, and they stood there for a long while, watching the seals and dolphins, and the tide coming into the cave.
A short drive away were the Remarkable Rocks. The rocks were enormous granite boulders that had been eroded into almost abstract carvings by the wind, the ocean and the rain. The bizarre formations were highlighted by the orange colour, that was caused by a lichen, and being on the clifftop, they were a striking sight.
The rocks were open to the public, and crawling or climbing them was permitted. Even Augusta scrambled over a couple of the easier rocks, while Harry, Neville, Soraya and Firelock went to town, clambering hither and yon. Ringstar stood back, admired the scenery, and laughed heartily at the antics of her family. Harry and Neville traded off with the camera, both for candid shots of their family having fun, but also to capture the best of the scenery.
It was late morning when they were done with their sightseeing, and Matt handed out homemade biscuits, and cool soft drinks and water for those feeling the pinch, when they got back into the minibus. They sat in the carpark for a short while, discussing the rest of the day. One option was to visit a cave system, another was to visit a bee farm (Kangaroo Island honey having a very good reputation), and the third was to explore Kingscote.
By now, Augusta was feeling her age a little, and wasn’t a big fan of climbing down into a cave. The rest of the group struck that idea off the list, not wanting to leave the older witch out. Exploring a town wasn’t too exciting either, so the decision was made to visit a honey farm. Given how much Ringstar liked to cook, taking home special ingredients was always going to tempt the Guduriak Mind Healer.
Matt decided to take them through the centre of the island, thinking the boys might enjoy seeing more of the bushland, and have the opportunity to spot a few more animals. When they did see an echidna, it was to ecstatic whoops from Harry and Neville, and a rushed grab for the camera. They soon came across the farming areas of the island and watched sheep from there on instead.
Lunch was in Parndana, and they got to explore an Aussie version of a pub meal. Matt introduced them to the schnitty (a pounded out, breadcrumb coated, fried chicken breast properly known as a schnitzel), Australian hamburgers (which had everything they’d expected, perhaps with a bit more salad, plus a fried egg, beetroot, and optional slice of pineapple), along with steak and chips, local seafood options and lamb shanks. Nobody left hungry, which was an added benefit.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the honey farm. They were interested to learn that Kangaroo Island bees were the only pure Ligurian strain in the world, and were free from diseases that affect other bee populations. They got to taste some of the honey flavours, and spent time exploring the store for other tasty treats. Harry bought a variety of treats, not just for the Harry and Co group to try on the train back to Hogwarts, but to also keep his Uncle Filius and his notorious sweet tooth happy.
It was soon time to head back to Penneshaw, to supposedly catch the 4:30 ferry back to the mainland. After a brief stop at the Penneshaw lookout for some last minute photos, Matt deposited them back close by the ferry terminal, and said his goodbyes. This had been a good group, and he’d enjoyed their company for the last two days.
Finding a secure spot to activate the Portkey, the family was soon on their way back to Adelaide, arriving at the Portkey site in Light Lane. They snuck back up into Rundle Mall to do some last minute souvenir and gift shopping, then spent an hour or so wandering up and down Light Lane, doing the same.
After a Malaysian dinner in a restaurant located in a side alley from the Lane, Firelock led them all back to Gringotts, and they said their farewells to Willfleet, then took the carriage back to the London Enklabe, reversing the journey they’d made four days before. Tired, but happy, they all returned home, contemplating a nap. They’d left late evening only to arrive at lunch time. But with an anti-timelag potion at bedtime that night, they’d all be comfortably accustomed to the British time zone by the following morning.
~0~0~
While the others had the chance to sleep in, Firelock woke to an owled request from his boss and best friend, suspiciously delivered by Hedwig.
“Doing a little moonlighting there, girl? Does Harry know you’ve deserted him to wander around the bank and the Enklabe?”
He got a low hoot in return that clearly said, “Ragnok needed me to stay and help out while you all took off to Australia without me. Now are you going to read that letter or not?” The pointed stare at the parchment in his hand emphasised her last point.
Breaking the seal and unrolling the parchment, he found a summons to an urgent meeting in Ragnok’s office at 8 am. He looked at the clock on the wall and swore heatedly. It was already 7:40, and he needed a shower. Breakfast would have to be sacrificed to the gods of timeliness. He could only hope that Ragnok had arranged for refreshments.
“Alright then Hedwig, I’ll be there,” Firelock assured the owl. Hedwig took the hint and hopped out through the window, before taking off in soaring flight. Firelock watched for a moment then raced into the bathroom to get ready. Fifteen minutes later, and looking his usual dapper self, he headed for Floo, thankful he was one of the very few trusted to have direct access to Ragnok’s office. He simply hated to be late.
At 8 am, the Horcrux team was fully assembled around the conference table in Ragnok’s office, with the Buruzagi seated at its head, and Firelock at his right hand.
Darksteel took the lead, announcing, “We found another Horcrux, sir. We pinned down the correct Riddle family at last. Thomas Riddle Sr was Foldy’s father, which we finally were able to confirm through the orphanage records where Riddle grew up. The Marvolo comes from the Gaunt line, and was Merope’s father’s name.”
Giles Huntley picked up the narrative. “We located the Riddle family home, Riddle Manor in the northern part of the Yorkshire Dales, outside a village called Little Hangleton. From the stories we heard in the area, we suspect Foldy killed his own father, and the rest of his family as well. Someone else went to prison for it, but it stands to reason that it was that overly-hyphenated maniac. Anyway, a search of the Manor and grounds revealed no sign of a Horcrux, but the research we’d done bore fruit when we located the Gaunt shack, where Merope lived after she’d been abandoned by her husband and family. The Doohickey lit up like a Christmas tree, and the amount of dark magic centred on that shack had everyone’s hackles raised.”
Ragnok turned to Firelock, “Remind me to add a bonus to the researchers’ pay cheques. They’ve exceeded all expectations in this hunt.” The Deputy made a note, as Ragnok encouraged the team leaders to give the rest of their report.
“Getting into that shack took two solid days of around the clock of Ward and Curse-Breaking,” Darksteel stated. “But the whole thing screamed boobytrap, and so we did it in relays with at least three team members on duty at all times. Once we finally broke in, we had to spend another day disabling the internal wards and curses. So needless to say, we managed to avoid the compulsions to put on the ring that we found. Nasty wasting curse on that piece. If anyone had found it on their own, it would have possessed the wearer and killed them within months. But it’s here, secured with the other Horcruxes, and the arithmancers are still trying to determine how much of the soul we now have in hand. Still leaning towards two outstanding, I’m afraid.”
Ragnok spoke then, pride evident in his voice, “Well done all of you. There’ll be bonuses for everyone next pay cheque. You’ve definitely earned them on this one.”
Firelock made a note to check in with Payroll later, and ensure everyone involved got their bonuses.
“Is Filius trained now on the Doohickey?” Firelock asked, playing catch up a little after his holiday down under.
“Aye, and Minerva McGonagall as well. We have also put alerts on the devices, to remotely signal the two of them if it goes off while they’re not there. It’ll record an approximate direction of the signal, and will perhaps allow us to eliminate some from students from the list, simply for the lack of proximity and opportunity.” Darksteel had been quite the fan of Minerva McGonagall when he’d done the training. He’d always liked a good no-nonsense woman, whether she be a witch or Guduriak.
Winding the meeting up, Ragnok noted, “Well there’s little more we can do right now. But in less than a week the students go back to Hogwarts, and hopefully we’ll have more news then. And even more hopefully, we’ll soon be destroying that jumped up idiot once and for all.”
The team members filed out of the office, leaving Firelock to grab another breakfast sandwich and finally (thankfully) a second cup of coffee.
“So did you have a good time in Australia? I keep meaning to take Wildspur there, but there’s never enough time it seems, to go on holiday,” asked Ragnok.
“We had a fantastic time. Willfleet was immensely helpful, practically planned the whole trip for us. And you two definitely need to visit Adelaide. Make sure you go to Kangaroo Island when you do, it’s a hidden gem of a place.”
Ragnok smiled, it seems they’d had a good time. “I’ll have to set some time aside this week to see Harry’s photographs. I’m sure he took hundreds.”
Firelock laughed, “Between him and Neville, possibly thousands. But he’s spending a couple of days with us before he goes back to school so Ringstar will help him pare them down. Come to dinner Friday night. The whole family will be there. And bring your good wife too.”
While Ragnok was agreeing to dinner, a separate thought struck Firelock, and he couldn’t resist asking, “So do we need to put Hedwig on the payroll? She delivered your summons this morning.”
“That little sneak. She did that the whole time Harry was gone. Every letter I sent back to the Enklabe went via Snowy Owl. I think she was bored, or lonely, or mother-henning me, or something. Yeah, go ahead and put her on the payroll. Come up with a reasonable salary for her. I know Harry will get a real kick out of his owl’s entrepreneurial leanings.”
Firelock chuckled. “His owl isn’t the only one. You know he’s been steadily corrupting the Hogwarts students with Muggle stationery items. He wondered if we’d be interested in developing an owl-order catalogue and delivery business. Or if we knew of someone who’d be interested in a side business. As usual, he’s got no interest in making money off his ideas, so we’ll have to put the usual innovator’s fee in that vault you set up for him, but I think he’s on to something. It could be a good little earner.”
Ragnok nodded contemplatively, “He’s right of course. We wouldn’t be monopolising that market. After all, those students coming from or comfortable with shopping in the Muggle world for themselves would still do so. But think about what other items the business could expand to. Muggle sweets and crisps, even some school appropriate clothing items, like hoodies in House colours and trainers. It’s awkward for Muggle parents to send things larger than letters to the school because most don’t have access to the owl post office. We’d probably do well offering to play middleman for the parents to send things to their children. I like it.”
“Dumbledore will probably fight it, but I haven’t a sneaking suspicion this will be his last year at Hogwarts. He’s already lost Chief Warlock, and he’ll be out of the ICW as Supreme Mugwump by the end of the week. Willfleet has several friends at the meeting in Rome and assured me it’s a done deal when we spoke last night. Hmm, wonder if we can talk Amelia Bones into referring her evidence to the International Wizarding Court when he gets sacked by the Hogwarts Board of Governors. I always thought he’d look good in prison stripes.”
Firelock had no patience at all for the Headmaster, after all he’d put Harry through.
“Well let’s put our heads together and see who we can pull to do the research and crunch the numbers on the school supply store. It would be nice to include at least one person comfortable getting around in the Muggle world, preferably with a commercial background. Any suggestions?”
And with that, Ragnok was back to business, the pair soon batting the names of potential candidates back and forth as they’d done hundreds of times in the past few decades.
~0~0~
The rest of the holidays flew by for Harry. He spent Wednesday to Saturday morning in the Enklabe, hanging out with Ringstar by day and all three of his parents by night. Neville was there often, and they found two spells each to finish off their DADA homework, using the book they’d bought in Australia. Luna visited twice, and Susan once, and the girls were becoming more familiar with the various quadrants.
The boys spent their time flying, swimming and ice skating, and Ringstar happily stuffed the boys and the girls full of good food. Harry had one Mind Healing session with his Ama, mostly to do a professional check-up, but it was hardly needed, now that he had three parents to talk with at will.
Fellgar came for morning tea on Friday and praised Harry for conducting the entire conversation in Gudurian. He puffed up with pride at her words and decided to redouble his efforts to match his written fluency to his verbal skill level. He’d have to ask Uncle Filius for ideas to speed up his progress, though he knew it would mostly take hard work. But he also enjoyed the evenings he spent with his adoptive uncle, and was loath to give them up.
Dinner with the whole family, including Ragnok, Wildspur, and the perennial pop-up add-on Grinlast, was loads of fun, but bittersweet as always. Harry always hated to part from his family to go back to school, and while the mirror-boxes helped greatly, you couldn’t exactly get a hug through them. So needless to say, he hugged the stuffing out of everyone as the dinner party broke up that night.
Harry and Soraya had a quiet afternoon and evening in the flat the night before the Express would take him back to school. They’d picked up takeaway kebabs for dinner and spent the evening cuddled up companionably on the sofa. Harry reluctantly went to bed, not wanting to miss a minute of his time with his Mam, finally relenting when she offered to tuck him in. He drifted off to sleep with the feel of the goodnight kiss on his forehead still lingering in his mind.
~0~0~
The Hogwarts Express, as it did for second and third terms, was scheduled to leave at 9:30 am. Filius Flitwick Floo’ed to Soraya’s flat, having ascertained there’d be room in the cars, for him to ride with Harry and his parents to Kings Cross Station. He’d be on the backwards facing jump seat, as would Harry, but he wanted to make sure that Firelock could pass on any last minute Doohickey information without fear of being overheard. As it turns out, there wasn’t any, but it wasn’t a wasted trip, as he got a head start on the Haigh’s and Menz chocolates that Harry had brought back from Australia for him, along with the promise that wasn’t all of the sugary souvenirs, to his great delights.
Wanting to be there early to make a scan of the train to ensure there would beno false positives from the Doohickey, they arrived at 8:50, and immediately made their way onto Platform 9 ¾. They were the first ones to arrive, as Filius and Firelock had hoped, and it only took about ten minutes or so for the two friends to thoroughly check the train, including all compartments and even the loos.
Firelock had been thinking ahead and brought a Doohickey of his own, to be able to help out. Train cleared, they both descended onto the platform, which meant Harry could race onto the train and stake out the three compartments in the second to last carriage, which had become ‘their space’, it seemed.
By five past nine, as Harry rejoined his parents, the first of the Hogwarts students started to trickle in. Neville and Augusta were early as always and had made a stop at the coffee shop, picking up coffee for the adults, though the boys got bottles of orangeade. Augusta handed Filius a carrier with four cups of his own, under a warming charm, along with little containers of milk and sugar, knowing the trolley lady only provided tea service during the journey.
Augusta smiled when Filius’ face lit up and she was thanked profusely. But she could understand; with over eight hours ahead of him as the only responsible adult for an entire school’s worth of children, frankly she’d need several shots in those coffees. In fact, she’d thought about sneaking the Charms professor a hip flask of a very nice single malt they both enjoyed, but thought that might get the poor man in trouble.
By 9:15, all the members of the Harry and Co group had arrived, plus Cedric Diggory. The fourth year wouldn’t spend the whole journey with the study group, but he often ate lunch with them and visited for a couple of hours. The only ones missing were Fred and George Weasley, but the Weasley family was notorious for running late for the train.
Often the twins were ready first, apart from the occasional detour to retrieve some item for their pranks, but according to Fred, Ron and Ginny were terrible procrastinators on Hogwarts Express days. But miracle of miracles, they were there by 9:20, and Molly Weasley had finally got the message it seemed, that Harry and Ronald weren’t the best of friends, as she ignored their entire group and focused on last-minute nagging.
Harry began saying his goodbyes to his Mam, Ama and Aita, knowing the warning whistle would be sounded any minute. He found each time he left his parents, it became more difficult, not less. There was no dispute, he loved being with his friends at Hogwarts, but when all was said and done, he was away from his parents for nearly forty weeks a year. He was very grateful for the mirror-boxes, but some days they were a poor substitute for Mam or Ama’s hugs, not that Firelock didn’t give good hugs too.
Ringstar narrowed her eyes, she’d noticed hints of Harry’s reluctance to part before, and resolved to contact Poppy to set up an in-person Mind Healing session with her son in the next week or two. She didn’t want the situation to turn into full-blown separation anxiety, and while she knew that some of this would naturally resolve as Harry got older, for now, he was still a young boy who’d had too little time with his mothers, including Lily.
But Harry didn’t let himself get too down for too long, and after a last round of hugs, he raced onto the train, Neville following on his heels, Susan and Luna having gone ahead a few minutes before. But it didn’t stop him hanging out of the door as the train slowly pulled out of the station and waving madly. This was why they always waited until he was out of sight before leaving, because frankly none of them were happy to be parted, as necessary as it might be.
Harry was soon in his saved seat in the middle compartment of the three he’d laid claim to, with his three best friends, and Filius, who was marking time while waiting for all the students to settle into their compartments. He wanted to make his run with the Doohickey early into the ride before the children started to move about and visit other friends, so ten minutes in, seeing the hallway was clear, he strolled out, disguised Doohickey tucked under his arm, looking like a large box of biscuits. Harry and his friends smiled at the subterfuge.
Filius headed towards the back of the train first, as there was only one carriage behind them. In a way, this would be an easier search than at other times of the year, because a considerable number of students stayed over during Easter Break, to be able to study for upcoming exams.
He moved at a steady pace, attuned to the feel of the vibration the Doohickey would set off if it picked up the signature of the soul fragment. He was also visually scanning each compartment as he went, knowing that he could help identify the students in each with the use of Pensieve memories, Minerva having liberated Albus’ from his office over the break.
Carriage six was clear, so he turned back to the one where Harry and his friends were located. It seemed, as he walked past, that Luna had noticed Hedwig wasn’t riding with them, and asked where she’d got to.
“She’s working her part-time job,” Harry replied laughingly. Seeing confused looks on his friends’ faces, he explained more fully. “Hedwig has decided that some days Ragnok can only send owl mail with her assistance. She sets her own hours and comes and goes as she pleases, but it seems she’s been doing it since towards the end of last term. And when there’s nothing to do, she hangs out in the Enklabe and visits with the Elders.”
Everyone laughed at the story, including Filius, who’d paused long enough in his search to hear what the Snowy Owl had been up to. Harry handed him a Cherry Ripe bar from his Australian stash and sent him on his way, chuckling at how the gregarious Charms professor couldn’t resist a good story.
Filius resumed his duties and worked his way up through carriages five and four, and then hit an alert in carriage three. Of course, this one had every compartment stuffed full, and all seats taken, and there was a mix of all years and Houses, so it wouldn’t make identification of the possessed student easy. But he gave a long glance to each compartment, making sure to scan across all the students, even as he greeted them cheerfully so as not to give the game away.
It looked like they’d need that Pensieve, for sure. He carefully made his way through the remaining carriages, even the Prefects’ carriage up at the front of the train. There were no further alerts, and he made sure to get a second good look into the compartments in carriage five again as he went back down the train. The more memories the better was his how he looked at things.
Ducking into the bathroom at the head of carriage five (no point sitting anywhere there didn’t have access to the good sweets, and of course his adoptive nephew), he mirror-box called Minerva McGonagall. The house-elves would take all trunks up to the castle, after the students had left the train and he realised it would be worth running a Doohickey over each of the trunks, just to check if the artefact was re-entering the school that way. Though he suspected that it would likely be on the student’s person, as Dobby had managed to indicate that he’d tried to retrieve it before without success.
Severus ended up being volunteered to undertake the luggage check, which he’d half suspected he would, and he’d have to hold up the house-elves to scan each trunk as it came off of carriage five. It would be a little time-consuming, given there were potentially fifty or more trunks to examine, but as Minerva had said, it would pay to be thorough.
Ending the call, he used the facilities, seeing as he was there already, dropped the privacy charms he’d placed to consult with Minerva, and headed back to Harry’s compartment. All four of the students were interested in learning Gudurian, though Harry and Luna were by far the most fluent, and it would be fun to work with Neville and Susan, to improve their skills as well. And there would be chocolate, and perhaps other sweets if Harry’s hints were anything to go by.
By the end of the train journey more than a few hours later, Filius had two more Gudurian language students, in the persons of Fred and George Weasley. They’d shared their ambitions for opening a joke shop once they left Hogwarts, and had decided good relations with the Guduriak bankers wouldn’t harm their business plans in the slightest. Filius admired their dedication to their life goals and he figured that the twins had a good future ahead of them, with attitudes like that.
Finally, they arrived in Hogsmeade and the students departed the train. Filius, as planned, returned to carriage three and thoroughly checked each trunk as it was taken off the train. The house-elves had realised that there was something of importance going on with whatever the Ravenclaw Head was doing, and spaced out the pacing of the trunk removal from that carriage alone, so Filius was able to get a clean scan of the individual trunks. But unfortunately, no signs of the Horcrux were found. The artefact must have been taken up to the castle by the student in question. At least now, they had the list of ‘suspects’ down to less than fifty students in total.
He passed word to Minerva, as he sat down beside her at the high table in the Great Hall. She pursed her lips in frustration, knowing it had been a long shot that the Horcrux would be locked in a trunk for the journey. But as Filius reminded her, they now had leads, and he’d be by her quarters later that evening, to view the Pensieve memories. At least they’d be able to make a watch list from there.
Thanks for sharing some of the highlights of Adelaide and environs with Harry and us — I had fun Googling alongside — and also for giving Sirius’s recovery and [re]connection the treatment and consideration it/he deserved. You’ve made a variety of other great twists to canon, too, such as the duelling demos and Dragon Speaking, and maintained a good mix in tone and plot.
Wow, that’s dedication to Google all the locations! Glad you had fun with your virtual tour. If you ever get to do it in real life, I’ll meet you at the Mall’s Balls! 😉
Seriously, you’ve been added to my favourite reviewer list. I love your comments.
Thank you, and I’m happy to have given you some smiles in return here, though I must confess that, as a commenter, I tend to be pretty unpredictable. Sometimes a babbling screenful of words spill out, but I’m just as likely to only post a few emojis, or give someone “Comment kudos”, saying, “Seconded!” — depending almost entirely on my mood and/or energy-level atm. 🤷 I have great admiration for creators who consistently manage to put words together coherently and movingly on a grand scale! 😘
I really enjoyed the trips to see the Dragons again, who doesn’t love dragons? Sounded like a fun trip to Austraila-I’ve always wanted to go there.
Love the bits of the betting on the future love lives of the boys and girls. Sounds like they will discover the issue with Ginny very soon.
I’d love to get in that betting pool myself…except I wrote the epilogue, so I bet I’d be banned from the whole thing. Lol
And yes, I wanted to go visit the dragons too!