This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
Chapter II: Family Magic(*****)
Part 7: A Series of Misfortunes SCENE: Charlie Weasley / Imperial Dragon PreserveReading any letter from his mother was a challenge, but the latest one was especially challenging because the lines were filled with extra exclamation marks and double underlines. Charlie Weasley was able to decipher her scrambled message that Ginny was engaged to a terrible young wizard named 'Something Putter'. Worse, Molly wanted Charlie to come home and help her 'convince' the young wizard to give Ginny (and her) more galleons for their wedding in February.
'Why is Ginny getting married so quickly?' he wondered. He wondered if a baby was already on the way, but decided that if that was the case, the couple would marry before September and not be headed back to Hogwarts.
Then Charlie opened and read the second letter, this one from his older brother Bill. He explained that Mother and Father had entered a strict betrothal agreement for some unfathomable reason that meant Ginny would marry at Valentines.
The two eldest brothers had always been close and understood why the other fled England immediately after graduation. Bill's return to work at Gringotts London hadn't meant he'd returned to their mother's rule. In fact, from the letter's contents, Charlie learned that Bill had chosen to become a Prewitt to keep that family name alive, and his brother wanted Charlie to become one as well. Thinking about it for only a moment, Charlie signed the return letter with his new name, Charles Fabian Prewitt. Then he sealed the letter and sent it off by owl for Bill to file with Gringotts and the Ministry for Magic.
As the letter with the new family name made its way back toward Britain, the supervisor at the Imperial Romanian Dragon Preserve changed the work roster for the day to send Charlie Prewitt to work with the Norwegian Iron Tail queen who was due to breed in the next month. She was lethargic but very hungry; Charlie sent her three large cows that afternoon.
The other work assignment, dealing with an old Aegyptian Sand Dragon almost ended in tragedy when the dragon dropped down to sleep and almost suffocated the skinny handler trapped at the rear of the lair. Luckily the man was able to slip around the dragon's nether regions only moments before it passed the usual fiery explosion of gas that marked the beginning of a deep sleep that could last weeks. If the bulkier Weasley had been there, he would have been trapped behind the beast and roasted.
(*****)
Amos and Sophia Diggory welcomed the orphaned brother and sister into their family with blood adoptions at Gringotts. Molly Weasley, a nearby and nosey neighbour, dared to question how quickly they were replacing Cedric for just a moment before Sophia's stream of toe hexes sent the woman scurrying from their home.
Within a week, the little boy called Amos 'Daddy' and the little girl grinned and raised her arms to be lifted to his chest every time he walked into the room. Grace smiled; her hand would gently brush across Cedric's photo, but then she would turn her attention to their children.
(*****)
SCENE: Arthur Weasley at the BurrowMolly's temper was short and fiery on a good day. Now Sophia Diggory had been rude and hexed his wife so she limped home on sore feet, and Molly's wand had already sent Ron flying up the stairs to hide in his room.
Catching a glimpse of her husband stealing out the back of their house, she yelled through the kitchen window, "If you make a lot of racket with the muggle contraption tonight, I will turn it into scrap tomorrow! I don't want to hear it tonight!"
"Merlin," Arthur swore. He'd lifted a plastic container with more 'petrol' for his bright red automobile and could listen to it run for at least two hours tonight.
Hurrying to his magically expanded shed, Arthur closed the door behind him and poured the petrol into the magical opening he'd made into the 'tank' of the car. Then it began to rain and several leaks in the roof threatened to ruin his evening.
To keep out the rain and keep in the noise, Arthur sealed the roof, the walls, the windows and door of his shop. Next, he cast the spell that the muggleborn wizard had taught him to 'turn over' the engine. His glorious muggle automobile roared to life and Arthur climbed behind the wheel, placed his foot on the 'gas pedal' and listened to the engine race. The wonderful smell of the burning petrol was exhilarating.
"I'll get Harry to give me ten thousand galleons. I'll build a bigger shed – no – a garage just like the muggles have. And Harry can give me fifty automobiles in every colour imaginable!' Arthur decided. 'It's not like the boy will have much time for anything but following Molly and Ginny's orders…'
Arthur's dreams made him smile as he fell asleep while the engine continued to roar.
(*****)
"Ron! Get up!"
"Go away, Gin. It's not school…"
"Mom says you have to get up and look for Dad," Ginny said, using her wand to cast a spell that blasted her brother with cold water under the covers.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled Ron as he slid from the bed, with the bedclothes and floor now drenched with water.
"Mom wants you downstairs." Ginny said with her sneer.
Threatening his sister with his fists for only a second before she waved her wand his way, Ron spit out, "Okay, go away and I'll get dressed!"
Slamming the door behind her, Ginny ran down the stairs to the kitchen where Molly was waiting at the table with scant breakfast items scattered about.
"I don't know what to think. Your father's never not come back to the house from his shed," Molly confided to her daughter.
Ron finally made it down the stairs and motioning toward the almost bare table, asked, "Is this breakfast?"
"You need to find your father before we get breakfast!" Molly informed her son. "I'm worried sick…"
His face displaying his aggravation immediately, Ron whined, "Call Bill… or Percy… or the twins…"
"They're not here!" Molly thundered. "They're working or deserting us for another family!"
Ron and Ginny looked confused for only a moment before Ron left the kitchen to search for his father. The first thing he did was head for the shed, imagining his father had fallen asleep with his muggle toys. When the door wouldn't budge, Ron climbed around and peered through the window. His father appeared to be asleep sitting in his automobile.
"Dad! Dad, wake up!" Ron shouted as he banged on the window. But despite his shouts and noise, Arthur slept without moving. Quickly tired of the effort required, Ron ambled back into the house.
When he entered the kitchen, he told his mother, "Dad's asleep in his automobile."
"Did you speak to him?" Molly asked.
"No, but I saw him through the window. He's sound asleep."
"Poor dear, he must have been exhausted after working at the ministry so hard this week," Molly said as she began fixing breakfast for Ginny, Ron and her husband. She left the kitchen after preparing the food and returned to find all three breakfasts consumed. Smiling with satisfaction, Molly assumed Arthur had eaten and rushed off to the ministry.
Later in the afternoon, Molly gathered the eggs from the henhouse and decided to peek through the window of the shed.
'What does Arthur like about that auto…' she wondered as she leaned close. It took her a moment to understand what she saw – her husband was still asleep in the automobile.
"Arthur! Arthur Weasley! Wake up and answer me!" she yelled, loud enough to bring Ginny from the house.
"Mom? What are you doing?"
"Your father is still in the shed, still asleep!"
Ginny tried the door and found it still sealed. Her mother tried the door as well without success so the witch went to the floo and called for an Auror to come help.
(****)
"He's trapped in his shed with his muggle things… I can't get him to come to the door!" she explained to Auror Tonks.
Nymphadora Tonks had been demoted to probationary status after the battle in the Leaky Cauldron which meant she got to handle all the weird home problems like children stuck in trees and elderly wizards locking themselves out of their houses. Worse still, her mother was furious with her, Sirius wouldn't speak to her, and Remus Lupin returned her letters unopened.
It took Dora just ten seconds to have the seal off the door and she barely made it inside before Molly Weasley pushed passed and began yelling at her husband. Five seconds later, Molly's screams replaced the yelling.
(****)
An Auror team lead was required to attend the scene of every accidental death, and after viewing the scene and the hearing the circumstances, the wizard just shook his head.
"Muggle items... Wizards and witches die every year because they mishandle muggle things."
"What killed him, sir?" Dora asked.
The lead Auror shrugged and said, "Not a clue… but the shed is full of muggle knick-knacks. It could have been any one of them. Here's what you do… Shrink everything down and give it to the Department of Mysteries. We'll classify this as an accidental death caused by misuse of muggle devices."
(****)
SCENE: Fred Weasley and George WeasleyAt Hogwarts, Severus Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office. The castle was deserted but for house elves, Dumbledore and Snape. Even Minerva was vacationing with her extended family and Sprout was gathering cuttings from plants in the Congo River basin in Africa until mid-August. The request to visit the headmaster's office came as a surprise this afternoon; Severus was certain the headmaster would have been trapped at the wake for Arthur Weasley for hours after the funeral.
Pushing open the door, Severus walked into the office where Albus often held 'court'. Without greetings or other preamble, the potions master asked, "You wanted to speak to me?"
The headmaster nodded and motioned toward a chair though the younger wizard remained standing.
"Yes, Severus. I wanted to discuss the value of a love potion for young Harry to make the transition to married life easier for the boy. The trauma of losing Arthur is hitting Molly, Ginevra and Harry very hard, I'm certain. He's so young, I fear he'll not resign himself to this requirement…"
"They are betrothed using a formal agreement, are they not?"
Dumbledore nodded and motioned toward a rolled-up document. Snape made no motion to touch the parchment but did say, "Then you'd kill the boy if you gave him a love potion. That would be seen as an attempt to invalidate the betrothal. He might force himself upon the girl before the wedding with disastrous results for them and their magic."
The headmaster paused and sighed, attempting to elicit sympathy from his potions master. "I must find a way to make it easier for Harry to accept this marriage. It must be successful."
"You mean the girl must be pregnant before you sacrifice Harry Potter to kill the Dark Lord?"
Grimacing, Dumbledore's twinkle vanished from his eyes for a moment, "There are times when I believe you have no soul Severus."
"You are correct, headmaster. I don't a soul," stated Severus. "It died many years ago."
Shaking his head, Dumbledore continued, "No, your love for Lily Evans keeps your soul alive, even now."
Snape remained silent and still as Dumbledore appeared lost in thought before he continued, "I want you to prepare a calming potion, something that will last for several months."
"A calming potion?"
"Something beyond the regular potion… it must last for six months," Dumbledore mandated. "Once you have brewed it, I will take it to No.12 Grimmauld Place and administer it to both Harry and Sirius before the beginning of school."
"And then when it is time for the wedding, I want you to provide a strong fertility potion that I will administer to both Harry and Ginevra – she'll be pregnant before the end of March with a baby born at the end of the year."
(*****)
Dismissed, Snape walked back to his chambers very slowly and his thoughts turned darker with each step. When he reached the first staircase, he was cataloguing and dismissing each standard calming potion. When he reached the second staircase, he began cursing Dumbledore – he had less than two weeks to brew this 'magical' potion.
By the time he'd returned to his private chamber, he'd determined that he would find some potion to kill everyone – Potter, Black, and Dumbledore! He would brew a potion that would explode with such force that the house would collapse and if the werewolf was caught in the explosion as well, that would just be additional misfortune.
The potion master turned to his books and began searching for explosive potions that could be coloured to resemble a calming potion.
(****)
Snape found what he wanted and a day later lied to the headmaster, telling the wizard that he would brew a long-lasting calming potion that was created and stored in two flasks until ready to be consumed. Just before they were to be consumed, the two 'potions' were mixed together and immediately drunk.
Dumbledore would carry the flasks to No.12, and with Potter and Black present, mix the two potions together with an instant, powerful explosion that would level the house if not the entire block of London.
Snape actually smiled after the second meeting with the headmaster – before 1 September, he would be free of Dumbledore, and have revenge on James Potter, Sirius Black, and perhaps Remus Lupin as they all blew apart in that awful house.
Now he just had to gather the ingredients – the dragon's blood was the most volatile ingredient and would have to be handled very carefully or there'd be a premature explosion.
(****)
In a small shop along Diagon Alley with a crooked sign that read 'Weasleys Wizard Wheezes', the twin proprietors held a business meeting while consuming a bottle of Firewhiskey.
"How much money do we have left?
"About forty-six galleons."
"That's not enough to pay the rent due next month, pay the taxes we owe…"
"…or restock our shelves."
"We should never have let Mother take our money…"
"…to pay for Dad's funeral. Why did he need a waterproof casket anyway?"
"And Ron told me Mom and Ginny already spent all the money they got for the Potter diamond."
"That's not good. They had over five hundred galleons…"
"What are we to do?"
"We go to our financial backer!"
"He's not pleased with any Weasley from what I hear."
"No, they've made a mess of it for certain…"
The twins glanced around at their shop – their jokes sold fairly well and they expected to sell out their inventory with a special for Hogwarts students the last week of August. But they had to have additional cash to meet business bills.
"Charms?"
"He's got his family ring. Simple charms will bounce off."
"Kisses?"
"He's betrothed to Ginny. He wouldn't appreciate it and Ginny would cut off our bits if she thought we'd attempted to corrupt her Harry Potter."
"Then it has to be a potion… something to make his susceptible to suggestion…"
"Yes! Give us another thousand galleons, Harrikins!"
The twins turned to their significant experience with brewing unstable potions and decided they would try 'McGonagall Sweet Dreams', a potion they invented to make Professor McGonagall give them an extra week to prepare a term paper. They were not certain if the potion worked because McGonagall gave them extra week without thinking about it to get them out of her office that night.
"We have to rub the potion into our hands, let it dry and then shake his hands – we each have to shake one hand."
"And while we're at it, let's ask for two thousand galleons and hide the second thousand. Mom, Ron, and Ginny will show up wanting part of our loot… uh… gift."
"You're a genius!"
"Of course, I am, my less handsome brother."
While one twin gathered their cauldron and ingredients the other read the instructions once again.
"Merlin's sticky fingers! We need some unicorn slug slime."
"That'll cost us twenty galleons over at Pewter Cauldron."
"But only fifteen galleons at the Backdoor Shoppe in Knockturn Alley."
"Here, finish this bottle and we'll hop over to Backdoor! We can be back in twenty minutes, brew McGonagall Sweet Dreams tonight."
"We'll visit Harry tomorrow morning…"
"… and have a cheque by noon."
The twins passed the bottle back and forth before storming out of their shop, the door locking behind them as they ran through the crowds in Diagon Ally for the seedier alley. They charged into the shop, full of Firewhiskey fumes and ready to belch just as the shop proprietor and Severus Snape were bargaining over an open flask of Dragon's Blood.
"Good evening all!"
"The Weasley Twins are here!"
The young wizards managed to simultaneously call up outstanding Firewhiskey burps just as the fumes of the Dragon's Blood fumes filled the shop.
(****)
A pedestrian in Diagon Alley reported to the Aurors who investigated, "It was amazing! One second a normal night and the next, the brightest fireworks display I've ever seen!"
Aurors Tonks and Vance were responsible for searching the roofs of the shops and buildings around Knockturn Alley that evening. There was very little of anyone left inside the shop. The head of one of the Weasley twins was found on top of a seedy bar and Severus Snape's corpse was found atop Gringotts bank. There wasn't enough left of Fred and George to fill a grocery bag.
(****)
Sirius was conflicted when he read the story about the fireworks-like explosion in Knockturn Alley that killed Severus Snape as well as the Weasley twins. Harry sat quietly and stared into space for a time. There was a special morning edition of the Daily Prophet with the headline 'Boy-Who-Lived Mourns Again'.
"I have to go to another funeral now," he announced. "Molly will be all to pieces and weep on me again."
"If she faints this time, let her hit the ground a couple times," Sirius called from behind the paper. "At Arthur's funeral, I think she and Ginny were trying to outdo each other with wails and fainting all over you."
"It'll be a memorial service," Remus said quietly. "More of an opportunity to remember good things about the departed."
Sirius barked with laughter, "Yeah, nothing to bury but we can spread tales about Nymphadora finding a piece of Fred over here and a piece of George over there, while Severus tried to break into Gringotts through the roof during the excitement. I heard he landed in the roosts for the Gringotts owls. Certainly, improved how he smelled."
Harry and Remus both stared at the dogfather for a long moment and the wizard grinned before going back to the paper.
"Are you sure Kreature isn't giving him some kind of poison to drive him crazy?" Remus asked Harry without trying to hide his question from Sirius hearing it.
"Kreature and Dobby both swear they're doing nothing and no one else is," Harry replied. "They know he's important to me even if he drives me crazy."
"Then it must still be the damage from the Dementors."
"Or he's pretending to be an obnoxious ass to make me feel sorry for him and not let Kreature poison him."
Remus glanced at Sirius who was giggling behind his copy of the Daily Prophet and nodded, "There is that possibility."
"The elves know to not let him out of their sight," Harry said. "I'm thinking about hiring a nurse for him… Some witch with huge tits…"
"No!" shouted Sirius. "Big tits get in the way! Medium sized ones are fine."
(****)
With a pop, Dobby appeared in the kitchen and hurried to whisper in Harry's ear.
"Where?" the teenager asked.
"She's be coming to floo room if you'se allow."
"Sirius," Harry called. "Where's the floo book? We need to add someone."
"Who?" Remus asked.
"Gloria Tremble, she's a jeweller in Diagon Alley and she claims to have the Potter diamond."
The Daily Prophet forgotten on the table; the three wizards hurried to the floo room – along the way, Sirius stepped into another room that no one noticed to get the floo book.
With uncharacteristic seriousness, the wizard instructed his godson, "Remember Harry, no one but your most trusted family members should ever know where you keep the real floo book. You display a decoy in the floo room that they might sneak a peek inside but the real one is well hidden – and never left out."
"Yes, Sirius," Harry replied taking the lesson to heart.
Once Sirius added the woman's name to the book, Dobby popped out and gave her the floo address. The fireplace at No.12 Grimmauld Place flashed green and a neatly dressed, middle-aged witch stepped from the flames.
"Lord Black, Heir Potter, thank you for seeing me this morning," she said before she curtseyed. "My name is Gloria Tremble and I run Glorious Jewels in Diagon Alley with my husband."
"Welcome madam. You asked to speak with my godson," Sirius greeted the woman.
She nodded and explained, "At the end of July, Molly and Arthur Weasley came into our shop one morning to sell us a diamond. My husband took the jewel and gave them just over five hundred galleons though it was obvious the jewel was filled with family magics."
"Why?"
"We are honest tradesmen and didn't want to see the jewel sent into Knockturn where it'd be busted up to harvest the magic and the diamond chips sold for rituals. We knew we could eventually return it to Heir Potter and possibly earn future business."
Remus asked, "And why did you wait almost two weeks to contact us?"
"You are not available with regular owls. Your elf appeared outside my shop this morning and that is how I was able to contact you."
"Dobby?" Harry asked as the little elf popped into the room.
The witch shrugged. "He wore your house emblem and swore to give you the message. And here I am."
The witch withdrew a small package from her pocket and laid it on an end table. Kreature and Dobby both inspected the package for curses, traps and poisons. Finding nothing, Remus stepped forward and opened the paper wrapping to reveal a small glass box with the diamond twinkling in the lights of the floo room.
"You said your husband paid five hundred…" Sirius mentioned.
"Five hundred and thirty-seven galleons," Gloria replied.
"Give her a thousand galleons with the understanding that she never tells anyone how much I paid," Harry said as Remus placed the diamond into Harry's palm. The jewel began glittering even brighter and the teenager smiled.
"What was lost is found," he said with obvious relief.
Sirius nodded, "We must insist that you tell no one about this return or the price we paid. Don't even tell your husband."
"I must tell David. We are partners and have no secrets."
Harry nodded and said, "Very well, tell your husband but neither of you can tell anyone else. And madam, you're blessed if you have a true partnership."
"Do you hold any accounts for the Weasleys?" Remus asked.
"No, Mr Lupin," the witch replied. "They'll never learn how to manage money."
"Once I am married, never give my wife credit in your store. Only I may make purchases," Harry said without any feeling in his voice.
Very quickly, Remus brought the witch a bag with a thousand galleons and she placed it into a pocket in her robes, before once again curtseying to Heir Potter and Lord Black. Then she left through the floo. The minute she was gone, Remus quenched the fire while Sirius struck through her name in the floo book.
"Come along Harry and I will show you where we keep our floo book."
"Can you not be 'crazy Sirius' this afternoon?" Harry asked.
"I need some advice about family magics."
(****)
SCENE: Percy Weasley in the Ministry for MagicReturning to his office the evening after the memorial service for his twin brothers, Percy Weasley set to work getting through the pile of messages that were cluttered across his desk. Lately, Umbridge began shoving more of her work over onto Percy and he carefully catalogued each task he completed that she took credit for to have when it was time for his annual review.
In a moment of reflection, Percy remembered the memorial service; his mother, sister and younger brother were there. Bill escorted Aunt Muriel this time, though their mother ignored them. Charlie was unable to get time off again so soon after their father's funeral.
When Bill offered, Percy rejected the offer to become a 'Prewitt' – his star was tied to the ministry and it was possible that being brother-in-law to the Boy-Who-Lived would help his career.
He smiled, 'If it doesn't help directly, I can spy on Potter and report to the minister on vault balances, traitorous statements, or even seditious acts that would let the ministry arrest Harry Potter.'
Throughout the memorial, his mother and sister lay all over Potter with wails and tears that only grated on Percy's nerves. Even Ron had been quiet and stoic for once but Molly and Ginevra cried and clung to the boy-who-lived as though he were the only person available. There'd been no wake or even chance to meet people.
Potter left with his godfather and estate manager immediately after the service ended and then his mother and sister had stopped the tears but continued the wailing with 'Harry deserted us! He didn't order any food and drink!'
The other mourners – Fred and George's few friends from school left for a private gathering but none of the family were invited.
Molly refused Aunt Muriel's offer of a meal at her home though Ron left with his eldest brother and great-aunt while Ginny sighed. Percy went to speak to his mother but she brushed him off.
"Your father dies and you barely have time for his funeral! Now the twins get blown up by Severus Snape and you still hardly have time for your family."
Then she relented and complained about Potter's stinginess. She glanced toward Ginny before beginning to speak again. But Percy anticipated her request and nipped it in the bud.
"No, I won't pay for this memorial service," Percy replied as he turned and walked away.
(***)
A hasty conference was being held in the minister's office that evening. Lucius Malfoy knew he would never recover his full power after the Dark Lord's death drained away a great deal of his magic in early August. The healers told him he was not squibbed but he could barely cast the spell to summon light; consequently, Lucius had ordered an elf follow him around to perform minor tasks such as turning on the lights and opening doors. After losing his temper and killing one elf the week before, Narcissa hexed him painfully and made him swear on what little magic he had left not to kill or maim another elf.
"The elves are expensive and take a long time to train! Stop wasting galleons killing them!" she ranted. Before Lucius could correct his wife's temper, his son agreed with his mother's orders and the pair of them stood him down with drawn wands.
At the insistence of Draco and Narcissa, Lucius arranged this clandestine meeting with Cornelius Fudge. Malfoy remained silent during the meeting – he'd urged his wife and son to start very low with any bribes – Cornelius could be bought for only three or four hundred most days.
"I am daily forced to live with the fact that my family – the Ancient and Noble House of Black – has fallen under the control of a madman and he plans to hand it over to the son of a mudblood whore when he dies!" Narcissa explained.
She motioned to Draco and said, "My dear son reports the Potter boy is barely a wizard and if he marries that Weasel twit, the entirety of Magical Britain will fall under the sway of that family! Can you imagine what Molly Weasel will have to say in the Wizengamot chambers! She'll want to redecorate your office!"
The minister seemed to be thinking and Narcissa pressed ahead saying, "If your office sponsors an investigation into how an escaped criminal made it into Gringotts and signed this shameful betrothal, we can get the Wizengamot to overturn the lordship and my son can become Lord Black before the start of the new school year."
Lucius added, "Without doubt you'll be able to connect Potter to the escaped convict. Then the DMLE will have to arrest him. You can try Potter and send him to Azkaban and collect the Potter fortune… for the ministry."
Cornelius nodded and announced, "Allow me to send for Undersecretary Umbridge. She'll know best how to word the search warrant to set the Aurors on breaking the wards around the Black home and forcing the goblins to give us the information we want. And I have to get some other reports as well for tomorrow."
(***)
In his office, Percy completed the report on tax collections that the Minister needed before the Wizengamot met to approve the final budgets for the DMLE, as well as the other departments in the ministry. Just before 9:00PM, Percy received a message in the form of a paper aeroplane, that Cornelius wanted that report as soon as 'Weatherby' arrived in the morning.
'I'll deliver it myself right now,' Percy decided. 'The minister is still in his office.'
Rising from his desk, Percy grabbed the report – leaving a copy on his desk – and stepped toward the floo in his office. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and cast it into the fire, calling out, "Minister's office."
Then he stepped into the green flames.
At that exact same moment, Undersecretary Delores Umbridge, stepped into the flames in her office, hurrying to the meeting with Cornelius and the Malfoy family. She carried the unsigned warrants for the arrest of Harry Potter, Sirius Black, and 'Ramon Lupis', a known werewolf associate of the two criminals.
(***)
Magic can ignore many natural laws regarding gravity and the passage of time but even magic can't ignore the consequences of two masses attempting to occupy the same space simultaneously. For unknown reasons, the safe guards in place to prevent such an event failed as Percy Weatherby (Weasley) and Delores Umbridge attempted to emerge from the flames in Cornelius Fudge's office at the exact same second.
(***)
The explosion rocked the lower levels of the Ministry. The Department of Mysteries went into lockdown, the DMLE summoned all off-duty Aurors into the office, and everyone with any power was sent to fight the fires in the lower levels and shore up the walls and support columns.
The remains of Cornelius Fudge, Delores Umbridge, Percy Weasley, and the minister's protection detail of four Aurors were never recovered. Their wands certainly didn't survive the explosion.
The DMLE was forced to perform a headcount in the ministry and it was decided after two days of investigation that Umbridge and Weasley must have been with Fudge in his office at the time of the explosion. The DMLE attempted to squash all rumours through the Daily Prophet ran with the headlines "Assassination" every day for a week.
(***)
After two days without an appearance at the Ministry, St Mungo's, Gringotts or any of the shops in Diagon Alley, the few wizards who associated with the Malfoys attempted to contact them. Owls would not take any letters for the family and the floo was no longer open.
The Aurors made inquiries with Gringotts and were informed that apparently all three members of the family perished at the exact same time as Cornelius Fudge – Lucius, Narcissa, and Cornelius each had wills registered at the bank and the three wills became active at the same time.
With the death of all three of the Malfoys, the strongest wards around their home fell allowing Aurors to swarm over the manor house and make several remarkable discoveries – the ballroom was still in shambles from an explosion that occurred in early August. The corpses of several withered wizards were also discovered and identified.
When one corpse was verified five different ways to have been the until-recently, very much alive Peter Pettigrew, Amelia Bones arranged for Sirius Black to receive a hearing at Gringotts where she administered vertaserum to the escapee and after lengthy questioning, she declared him innocent of all charges. He was recognized as Lord Black by the Wizengamot and as the lawful guardian of Harry Potter.
Wild speculation erupted again, with one reporter going so far as to suggest that Draco had assassinated his father to inherit the Malfoy estate. There was no one to denounce the accusations and the Daily Prophet capitalised on the headlines while Sirius Black met with the goblins and prepared to recall the dowry his cousin took into the marriage. The crafty bankers encouraged him to also recall the dowry from Bellatrix's marriage.
Then goblins arranged the income statements for the past sixteen years so that when they were totalled, the Malfoy estate consisted of a manor house without furnishings and less than enough galleons to pay the property taxes that year. The remainder of the estate was the 'Black dowry' to be returned to Narcissa's family. There was nothing left of the Lestrange estate. The Black family coffers swelled with the reclaimed fortunes from the Malfoy and the Lestrange estates.
(*****)
Percy Weasley was remembered in the memorial service at the Ministry along with Cornelius Fudge and Delores Umbridge. His mother, sister and remaining brother attended with the Prewitts but Harry Potter did not attend and the reporters noted that neither Weasley witch fainted, wailed, or even cried at this son's funeral.
)***(
Part 8: More Unfortunate EventsThere was a pause in misfortune for three days as the ministry began repairs to the extensive damages. Horace Greengrass became the new minister despite Dumbledore's recommendation of Alastor Moody, and Director Bones began a process of screening every person who entered the ministry.
She was quoted in the Daily Prophet stating, "Someone brought a powerful explosive device into the ministry. They assassinated the minister for magic! Who is to say they won't try again?"
The newly exonerated Lord Black pushed for the election of Greengrass and he supported each new directive from Bones. Sirius also began a quiet campaign to replace Dumbledore as Chief Warlock and a second whispering campaign to remove him from Hogwarts.
His godfather retreated from the affections of madness and this relieved Harry more than anything else the last week of August.
(****)
SCENE: Albus Dumbledore's Great MomentSitting alone in his office, Albus Dumbledore sighed; immediately thereafter, Phineas Black's portrait laughed and announced, "If you can replicate that sigh in front of living wizards, you might actually generate real sympathy."
"I lost two good friends this summer and the Weasley family continues to suffer," Dumbledore complained to the portraits.
"You lost one faithful minion and a tool escaped your grasp by dying!" Black's portrait countered. "Arthur Weasley believed your stories but Snape was prisoner of your blackmail. Don't pretend that they were 'friends'; you have none."
'Why can't people do what's right?' the headmaster wondered again. 'The Greater Good is more important than any single life. And the boy will come to understand that in the next life, if not this fall.'
Thumbing through some papers, Albus frowned to see his vault balance continuing to drop with expenses for the Order of the Phoenix.
'But Molly will straighten Harry out!' he decided. 'My balances will be restored before summer once the Potter vaults are open again.'
He'd been pleased when Sirius allowed the betrothal to go ahead without unnecessary strings attached to it.
He grinned thinking, 'Sirius signed his own death warrant. Once Harry is married to Ginevra, I don't need his mangy carcass any longer. Harry'll cling to his new wife after we bury his godfather.'
Then Albus thought about the deaths that struck the Weasley family in such a short time.
'There's a curse from the Dark Lord! That's what's killing the Weasleys! Tom is trying to weaken Harry with grief!' he surmised. 'Tom will certainly try to return this fall here at the school. The fools at the ministry and Daily Prophet are wrong! Tom's not dead – at least not all the way dead.'
"But how can I get the potions I need for February? Severus is gone," he muttered aloud. "Molly! She can brew the fertility potion for certain – she had seven children!"
"Why do you need a fertility potion, Dumbledore?" asked the portrait of Phineas Black. "Your schemes make me look like an amateur."
Quickly rising to his feet Dumbledore pointed his famous wand in his hand as he stared at the portrait.
"Silence! You were the most hated headmaster in Hogwarts history Phineas and I have long defended you, but no more."
The portrait sneered and replied, "Perhaps the most hated… But soon, not many years from now, there will be a new 'most hated' headmaster! Once you are dead and Magical Britain uncovers your secrets, you will become known as the most hated headmaster!"
Now a third voice was heard, the voice of Hildegard Nusbaum, headmistress from the late 1700s. "Phineas, you will long be known as the 'most hated' headmaster. Albus will have the distinction of being the 'worst headmaster' in Hogwarts history."
"Worst!" cried Dumbledore. "I shall be known as the most powerful wizard since Merlin! I am the best headmaster this school has ever had!"
None of the portraits commented further and Dumbledore noticed that Fawkes had flamed away. The headmaster frowned; he must find proof that Tom Riddle had returned! Just because something happened to the Death Eaters early in August wasn't proof that Tom had died again. With proof of the Dark Lord's return, the wizards and witches of Magical Britain would once again follow Dumbledore's lead.
Sitting back down, Dumbledore poured over his ideas and notions, the stolen memories that led to more information. After many minutes, he rose again to access the pensieve and review a series of memories from the 1920s – the Gaunt family in Little Hangleton. The father in Azkaban, the daughter disappearing, and then the son sent to Azkaban for murder of the Riddle family in early 1940's.
He repeated the earliest memory to make certain he had the location of the shack the Gaunt family called 'home'. Without telling anyone where he was going, Dumbledore left his office and made his way to the front door of the castle and then out to the gates.
Wanting to reserve his magical power this afternoon, Albus walked until he was beyond the castle's wards before he disappeared in blink of apparition.
(*****)
Poppy Pomphrey had returned to Hogwarts three days earlier to begin preparations for the new school year. She'd kept her opinions to herself about Snape's end – an explosion in a seedy potion shop in Knockturn Alley sounded just like the type of accident that would kill the horrible man. She regretted that the Weasley twins were caught in the explosion; they could have been talented wizards if someone had taken them in hand when they were young children. Now it was all wasted.
There was a momentary flicker in the wards when suddenly, Albus Dumbledore appeared and collapsed on the floor in the middle of the infirmary. Without hesitation, the mediwitch set to work, scanning him for injuries. He was incoherent after using a great deal of magic to apparate from some location back into the castle through the wards.
Moments later, Poppy's owl Patronus flew from her wand to summon Minerva, another recent arrival at the castle.
(*****)
When he appeared along a deserted road in Little Hangleton, Albus Dumbledore noted the deserted mansion on the hilltop. He ignored it for the nearby thicket where he used magic freely to cut away saplings, vines, and even trees.
The department for misuse of Magic in London had alarm bells ringing with the free use of so much magic in a muggle area and two Aurors were sent to ensure that the statue of secrecy wasn't in danger. Dora Tonks and Emmeline Vance were still low on the totem pole in the DMLE and they were dispatched to the north of England.
'I'll never do anything to help Dumbledore again,' swore Nymphadora as she vanished from the ministry and reappeared in a clearing. Just ahead, a clear path had been cut through the undergrowth, leading to a dilapidated shack that collapsed as the two Aurors arrived.
Quickly casting spells to check for muggles and for magical people, they only found one magical signature – one they easily recognized as Albus Dumbledore's unique signature.
"Merlin's beard," cursed Vance. "I'm not taking the fall for him again!"
"Me either!" Tonks agreed. "Whatever he wanted; he's gone now. Let's fix the scene so it looks like damage from a storm and then get out of here."
Vance suddenly stepped back, "Yikes! There're a dozen vipers here! Big ones!"
Tonks used her wand to check the serpents. "They're native snakes from Britain. Leave 'em alone and they'll go away. They won't stay together."
Once the underbrush and trees resembled storm damage rather than debris left by magical cutting charms, the two Aurors apparated away to report that an unknown wizard or creature had chewed up a small portion of some woods but there was nothing to draw any muggle's attention.
(*****)
When he awoke – naturally and not by spells – Albus Dumbledore immediately called for a pain potion. His hand felt as if it was on fire. He attempted to lift the hand but found he didn't have the strength. Poppy appeared with a potion bottle and she lifted the headmaster's head and held the bottle to his mouth as he drank the mixture that promised some relief.
"Albus, your hand is cursed and I can't find anything to counteract the spell."
"The ring?" he asked, his voice raspy from a dry throat.
"I carefully removed the finger and stored it, and the ring in a stasis jar."
"My finger?" he asked horrified. Losing a digit on your hand changed all wandless spell casting!
"If I thought it would help, I would have removed your entire hand. But this is beyond my knowledge – if you want to live, you must allow me to bring St. Mungo's into the infirmary, now! This afternoon!"
"No," Dumbledore replied. "They would bring the Department of Mysteries and then the Ministry into the situation."
The headmaster thought for a moment, the pain interfering with his memories but finally he remembered a conversation with Snape before his death.
"In Severus's workroom, there's a new potion to retard curses…"
"And it would just be experimental. No, I won't chance my license giving you any experimental potions!"
"Where's my wand?"
Poppy sniffed and turned away to keep from smacking her patient's face.
"It is in a drawer in my office," she lied. "Minerva and I thought you would do better to rest without attempting to cast any spells for the rest of the day. And you must let me call…"
"No, summon McGonagall!"
(*****)
Minerva McGonagall swept into the Hogwarts infirmary as though a Cerberus was chasing her. She went immediately the bed where Albus lay, with her wand out and casting spells.
"What in the world were you thinking putting an unknown ring on your finger, Albus? At the very least you should have taken it to Gringotts for their curse-breakers to examine…"
"The Dark Lord lay strong compulsions on the ring and it promised to let me see my sister again."
Poppy remained silent for the moment as Minerva and Dumbledore spoke quietly.
"Poppy, what's your diagnosis?" asked Minerva after she glared at the wizard for almost a full minute.
"The curse will advance up the arm and then move to the organs. Albus Dumbledore will rot from within as his brain, lungs, heart, liver and intestines all putrefy…"
"Really! Such language!" Dumbledore complained.
Poppy fussed back saying, "Without some treatment by St. Mungo's, you are dooming yourself to a painful end! You must let the healers from St. Mungo's examine you. They may be able to stave off the curse's advance by many months."
"Only months?" Minerva asked and Poppy nodded.
"At best, I believe you will pass away before the end of the next school year, headmaster," she told her patient.
(*****)
"I want my wand," Albus said. Reluctantly, Minerva nodded and Poppy stepped to the other side of the bed and pulled it from a hidden drawer.
As soon as the wand was in Albus's hand, he attempted to cast a compulsion spell on Minerva – the blue light formed but only moved a few centimetres from the tip of the wand before it faded away.
"I told you not to try…" Poppy began before Albus turned the wand on the mediwitch and attempted to cast the obliviate spell.
This time the wand appeared to object and flew from the headmaster's hand to the cold stone floor of the infirmary where the witches left it.
"Are ye daft?" Minerva yelled. "Ye can't cast! And ye can't cast on ye healers while a dark curse…"
Her wand out again, Minerva cast many spells attempting to determine if Albus was possessed by the Dark Lord. While Albus fussed with Minerva, Poppy proceeded to restrain the headmaster with muggle ties, something St. Mungo had recently adopted from the muggle world.
"Send for the healers from St. Mungo's," ordered Minerva. "We have to know he's safe to be here around children!"
Poppy again held her tongue and headed for the floo.
(*****)
SCENE: Ron Weasley in Diagon AlleyWith an invitation from Hermione to share lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before shopping for school supplies, Ron deserted his mother and sister for the afternoon. He used the floo to arrive at the tavern and walked around the alley for a time, staring at the newest brooms for almost a quarter of an hour.
'Stupid Potter won't buy me a new broom before school,' he complained silently. 'I should be on the Quidditch team – I'd be captain if I had a new broom. Then everyone would want to know and Potter would be Ron's brother-in-law. Ginny'll straighten him out and get me money.'
"Ron, there you are!" called Hermione as she smiled and greeted one of her few friends. "Come along, let's get lunch and then we can go buy our books for school."
"Uh, yeah, lunch would be great. Can you spot me a galleon to pay for it? We're hard up for money with Dad, the twins and Percy dying and all."
"It's my treat today, Ron," Hermione said, attempting to sympathise with the teenage boy. Ron did miss his Dad but had yet to feel any loss for the absence of his brothers.
"How are your mother and Ginny doing?"
"Mom cries some everyday but it always ends up being about Harry not giving her more money," Ron admitted. "And Ginny just wants to escape and go back to Hogwarts. She thinks everyone will be wanting to help with her wedding in February."
"And Harry?"
Ron frowned, "The stupid muggle-lover won't visit, won't give us any galleons, and won't even come flying."
Hermione nodded; since the visit to Grimmauld Place, she'd used the owl service in Diagon Alley to send Harry one long letter that listed her demands to continue their friendship – so far there'd been no reply.
"How about your books?"
"We got new robes earlier in the month. Mom says Harry'll buy our books just before we go back to school," Ron explained. "She's still after him to pay for the funerals and give Ginny some spending cash."
After a nice lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and then ice cream at the nearby Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, the pair were headed to the bookstore. Ron paused for a moment while Hermione walked ahead, talking about their fifth-year classes. He'd spotted a bright red hard candy on the street and bent over to pick it up. There was a little dirt on the candy but he recognized the raspberry flavoured treat from the nearby candy shop.
'Potter should give me money so I don't have to pick up treats from the street,' Moron swore as he brushed it off and then popped the hard candy into his mouth.
"Honestly, Ron!" shrieked Hermione as she saw what the boy had picked up from the street and then put it in his mouth. "What are you doing?"
The muggleborn witch's yell surprized the boy and he swallowed the hard candy, lodging it in his wind pipe. He choked, banged on his chest, and staggered about but then succumbed to suffocation. A pair of wizards restrained Hermione and prevented her from preforming the Heimlich manoeuvre that might have saved Ron's life.
Devastated to watch a friend die, Hermione was escorted home by Auror Dora Tonks who was polite but distant – the Auror decided since Percy's death that anyone who was around a Weasley was subject to being swept up in the curse on the family.
Shacklebolt was drafted to deliver the bad news to Molly and Ginny – he took a case of calming draughts with him and the offer for a pauper's burial in a common grave for the boy.
(*****)
SCENE: Hermione's New SchoolWhen Hermione's parents returned home from work and found their distraught daughter in tears and hysterics, they got the story out of her – she witnessed a friend choke to death. They called their physician who prescribed a strong tranquilizer and a change of scenery.
"If Hermione's current educational environment is as full of death as you hint, I can only ask why you would consider allowing her to return," the woman said. "Get her into a different school, a different country, something."
The next morning, Richard Granger went to Gringotts Bank where for fifty pounds, he was put into contact with Beauxbaton, the magical school in the south of France. The paper work to transfer his daughter was completed and forwarded to the school immediately. With the medical prescription – even from a muggle physician – Hermione's transfer was immediately approved and the family left for France the next morning. Hermione would rest, purchase her supplies in France, and being her orientation for the new school on 27 August.
(*****)
SCENE: Ginny Weasley Flying Above the Orchard"Ginny, where are you going?" Molly hissed as her daughter attempted to slip out the back door.
"I was going to gather the eggs," Ginny lied. "The hens have been cackling all morning so I know there are some in the chicken coop."
Molly noticed her daughter was in regular robes so she wasn't attempting to sneak away again. With only one child left at home, Molly's full attention was focused on her daughter.
"Very well… but be quick. We'll have a lesson on manners this afternoon if I can find that book from Aunt Muriel."
"I think it's in the lounge somewhere," Ginny lied again. She'd hidden the book in the twin's deserted bedroom under the mattress. No one was going to tell her who she had to curtsey to at parties.
"I'll go look," Molly said heading toward the lounge as Ginny sped in the opposite direction, around the other side of the Burrow where her broom lay on the ground. She'd dropped it from her bedroom window and was determined to spend the rest of the day in the air.
'I wonder how many Quidditch teams would want to hire the husband and wife team of Ginny and Harry Potter?' she mused. 'Harry would let me play seeker in every game and he'd be the reserve.'
She frowned for a moment; last night her mother spoke at length about the need for two sons as soon as possible.
'Babies…' Ginny shivered. 'I really don't want babies… I wonder if Harry can blood adopt like the Diggory family? Then I don't have to get fat.'
(*****)
Enjoying her time in the bright sunshine, Ginny was caught off guard by the shout from Zacharias Smith, rising on his broomstick from the ground.
"Smith, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, hovering for just a moment. He swept past and then turned back around. Zach could barely hover on his broom so they flew to the ground to talk.
"Hi Ginny! Uh… sorry to hear about your Dad… and your brothers…"
"Thanks Zach, I miss my Dad… and my brothers," Ginny replied with some hesitancy as if she were repeating something she'd been coached to say. "What are you doing here?"
He motioned back along the path where he appeared and explained, "My mom wanted to come and see the new kids at Diggory's. She's excited about blood adopting another baby. She misses me and now my sister when we're away at school."
"So, why'd you come to The Burrow?"
"Thought I'd drop over and see if you wanted to fly? I used to come fly with Ron," Zach said though Ginny couldn't remember her brother ever mentioning a visit by Smith.
"Okay," Ginny said as she jumped on her broom and took off with the boy in pursuit. They flew for a long time, hiding in the sunlight when Ginny spotted her mother in the field looking for her.
"I'm knackered," Zach said. "Think I better head back to Diggory's so Mom can floo home."
"Wait," Ginny said. "Come to the Burrow. Your mom will floo home and you can use our floo later."
"I don't think so… Mom would get all over me to interrupt your mourning for your brothers and your Dad."
Ginny smiled and said, "But I need comfort, Zach… No one comforts me in my grief. We can go to my room and you can help me deal with my sorrow."
Smith grinned. He'd heard from Seamus how Ginny liked to be 'comforted' in the broom closets around Hogwarts. They flew toward The Burrow and landed just outside the backdoor. Carrying the brooms up the stairs, Ginny ushered Zach into her bedroom before she shut and locked the door. She cast silencing spells as well and turned toward the Hufflepuff boy with a smile on her face.
'If Harry only knew what he was missing this afternoon,' she thought with a grin as Smith couldn't take his eyes off her cleavage.
He stepped close for a kiss and Ginny tilted her head and slid her arms around his neck as the boy's lips touched hers, his hands sliding underneath her blouse.
(****)
Molly sighed wearily as she made her way back toward The Burrow; Arthur and her sons were dead, Ginny was acting so peevishly, and now she was without any funds or income. She sighed again and thought, 'If only Harry Potter would act properly toward his betrothed's family, my problems would be solved.'
Just before she reached the backdoor, Molly heard a scream of terror originating from her house. Frozen in place for a moment, she stared as the backdoor flew open and a teenage boy came running out of the house, tearing across the yard and screaming the entire time. He disappeared into the orchard while Molly ran into the house. She hurried up the stairs and once she found Ginny's room, she opened the door, breaking the silencing spell and heard her daughter's final screams.
Ginny was… she was withering with pain. Her eyes were already sunken and her flesh dried up. Before Molly could reach her daughter, she lay still on the floor with flakes of skin falling away and her skin shrinking back from her lips to leave a horrible smile of death burnt into Molly's mind.
Molly collapsed to the floor, staring at the desiccated corpse of her daughter. The passage of time meant nothing to her, even after the Aurors arrived and someone led Molly to her bedroom where she was given a potion and placed in her bed.
(*****)
"I don't know what happened," the teenage boy told the Auror who interviewed him at home with both of his parents present. "We were just starting to kiss and suddenly, Ginny screamed. She began getting old or wrinkling like, and she screamed and screamed…"
The female Auror asked, "What were you doing at the Weasleys?"
"I wanted to go flying… I used to sneak away and meet Ron there to fly in their orchard. Mum went to visit Mrs Diggory so I went along."
"Where's your broom?" she asked the boy.
His face turned white when he remembered where he'd left his broom. He stuttered saying, "It's there… There in Ginny's room…"
Mrs Smith spoke up, "It's true Auror Vance. Zach brought his broom and walked over from the Diggory house to fly above the Weasley's orchard."
The Auror sent her Patronus with a message and they waited until another Patronus returned confirming that there was an extra broom present in the bedroom.
"And you ran from the house?"
"I was scared!" Zach admitted. "All I wanted was to get as far away as possible. I kissed a girl and she died… in my arms, she screamed and began to dry up."
"Did you see anyone else?" Vance asked. "Anyone when you went to the house, or when you ran back to the Diggory home?"
Zach shook his head. "Mrs Weasley was out. I didn't see anyone but… I ran so fast that I couldn't see… don't remember."
Outside the lounge, Vance spoke to Mr Smith while Mrs Smith comforted their son. "I'll get the broom back to you in a day or two, sir. I don't think there'll be any charges."
(*****)
SCENE: Molly WeasleyIt was late in the day, the sun finally setting, when Muriel Prewitt apparated into the backyard of The Burrow. She saw Bill standing just inside the door and could hear Molly's shrill voice yelling at her eldest son.
The witch left her wand in her hand as she approached the door, calling out, "Hello!"
"Aunt, come inside please," Bill said as Muriel reached the doorway.
"Why did you allow them to take Ginny away?" Molly screamed.
"Ginny is dead, Mom. They have to perform…"
"Dead! No! No! I don't believe it! All my children are dead!" Molly screamed.
"Molly, stop that!" Muriel ordered. "Your grief is real but don't lose yourself in illusions!"
"This is all Harry Potter's fault!" Molly shouted. "If he'd given me the galleons I wanted, Arthur wouldn't have died. The twins would be alive! Percy would be working at the Ministry! Ron would be… Ron. And Ginny would be trying on new wedding robes! This is Harry Potter's fault!"
"Mother, Potter didn't do this," Bill began to explain but Muriel lay a hand on his arm and shook her head. And while Bill and Muriel weren't paying attention, Molly grabbed Muriel's wand and ran out into the yard.
She raised the wand in her hand and Molly Weasley disappeared in a wink of apparition.
"Where did she go?" Muriel asked as Bill cast a spell to track his mother's apparition.
(****)
Harry Potter was in the library at No.12 Grimmauld Place arguing over a passage in a book about transfiguration with Remus when Sirius suddenly ran into the room, casting shields over the three of them.
"What are you doing Pads?" asked Remus.
"Someone just tried to apparate through the wards."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry; surprized, scared and interested at the same time.
"Through these wards?" asked the werewolf with his best expression of disbelief on his face. He shook his head to reassure Harry and Sirius that they were safe.
"Dumbledore on his best day might make a dent after two or three days… A team of ward busters from the DMLE might cause some damage after a week but half of them would be dead from backfires, discharges, and draining," Remus explained. "I studied these wards carefully before I agreed to hide out here with Padfoot. No one is getting in here without an invitation."
"What happens to someone who tries to break in?" asked Harry.
"They get fried, chewed up, torn apart, and spit back out," Sirius replied.
"So, there're body parts laying around in the street?" Harry asked, the disgust easy to see on his face.
Shaking his head, Sirius explained, "Probably not but they may show up in other places… My family has a weird sense of humour."
The three wizards took the time to check outside the windows and eventually walked outside to check the nearby park and the street. Kreature found a woman's hand on the roof of the house but he only told this news to Disappointment of a Master, and not Heir Harry Black. Sirius ordered the elf to dispose of the hand and not tell Harry. If Remus recognized any scents, he kept the information to himself.
Kreature and Dobby exchanged glances after the hand was found – they made certain there was nothing else found around their now spotless home. And they prepared all of the comfort foods that were Harry Potter's favourites for a late supper.
(*****)
A large Gringotts owl appeared at No.12 Grimmauld Place just after sunset on 30 August. Remus, Sirius and Harry were all in the kitchen as Kreature and Dobby cleared away the supper leftovers and dirty dishes.
"What's this big boy got for us?" Sirius asked as Remus removed the letter and carefully performed scans on it before opening it, reading it, and then handing it to Padfoot.
As he read the letter Sirius frowned, but then he handed the letter to Harry who read it, sighed and lay his head on his arms on the table. Sirius carefully came and took the teenager in his arms and held him while he cried. Dobby wrapped his arms around one of Harry's legs and even Kreature sat on the back of the chair to pat Harry's back.
Remus gathered up the letter from the table top and folded it back up.
(****)
Heir Potter – It is the duty of Gringotts Bank to inform you that Ginevra Weasley has violated your betrothal agreement. The penalty for the type of betrayal (intimacy with another person) is a quick though painful death. Miss Weasley has passed and you are no longer betrothed.
We recommend you observe a period of no less than twelve months in mourning to allow your family magics to settle. The betrothal ring has reappeared in your vaults though the diamond is missing.
Respectfully,
Silverknife, Potter Account Manager.
(****)
Harry waited until the Christmas vacation to bring the diamond to Gringotts and the goblins reattached the gem soaked in the Potter family magics. He returned the restored ring to the simple ring box and stored it in his family vault under the careful gaze of his godfather before the last day of the year. It would be several years before he needed it again.
(****)
The next year Bill Prewitt tore down the Burrow and disposed of the artefacts from the house, including his mother's clock. He and Charlie agreed to sell the property almost fifteen years later to a successful muggleborn businessman named Dennis Creevy who built a modern home that was a blend of muggle and wizard technologies for his growing family.
(****)
Part 9: Hogwarts ExpressSCENE: 31 August 1995Harry stumbled downstairs just after ten that last morning of summer vacation. He'd spent many hours the night before listening to Sirius tell him over and over that the events of the past month had not been Harry's fault.
"You didn't push anyone to be stupid. We didn't give you a choice in the betrothal agreement and you're not the reason…"
"…that people died?"
"Exactly. If they'd not been greedy or planned to do you harm, the Potter family magic would not have removed them."
Harry snorted and said, "That's a good way to describe it… 'remove'."
"What will you do about the Smith boy?" asked Remus after brunch.
"Who?" Harry asked. He'd not read the Daily Prophet with the report of Ginny's death and Molly's disappearance.
Silverknife had made good on his promise to buy up Death Eater assets when the families were scrambling to survive – Harry and Sirius owned 83% of the Daily Prophet and similar majorities in the other major publications in Magical Britain. The primary demand from the new owners was that the papers print the truth and only the truth. Rita Skeeter was on a short leash and wouldn't make it long as an employee.
Sirius coughed before he explained, "The boy who was kissing…" He waved his hands about before continuing, "…when she died."
Harry shrugged at first and then listened to the family magics before saying, "I suppose my guardian should send the boy's father a letter stating that if Zacharias Smith will swear to keep his mouth shut about the incident and not tell anyone, I will agree to forget the insult to the Potter name. But if he tells anyone, I will swear to tell every witch in Britain that to kiss Zacharias Smith is to die a painful death."
Sirius nodded and immediately penned the letter that he and Harry both signed. Remus applied the family seals from both the Black and Potter families before Hedwig flew away with the letter.
"Now, all your shopping complete?" Sirius asked as Harry looked through the paper.
Harry nodded, "Everything I need was delivered by Hedwig this week." He half smiled and continued, "I kinda want to stay home with you and Remus today."
"Me too! I like my company very much and Remus is smelly, but tells good stories," Sirius teased as he hugged Harry again.
"Sirius!" Harry laughed along with his godfather.
"Come on, let's bake some biscuits!" Sirius pleaded.
No!" screamed Kreature as he popped into the room. "Last times Disappointments tries to bake, Kreature has to paint kitchen and buy all news pans and bowls! No! No!"
(*****)
SCENE: 1 September 1995The next morning, the Daily Prophet broke the news that Albus Dumbledore was cursed by a magic ring left by the Dark Lord. The paper contained interviews with the Minister for Magic and the Director of the DMLE, though several healers from St. Mungo's refused to comment.
Dumbledore had refused all interviews.
Gringotts issued a press release stating that if Dumbledore had brought them the ring to break the curses before he tried it on, he might have lived to be 150 years old.
The Daily Prophet quoted unnamed sources at St. Mungo's who encouraged everyone to allow the headmaster to live the last 'months' of his life in peace.
"I'll push for a new headmaster to be appointed before Christmas," Sirius said at the breakfast table.
"You'd throw Dumbledore out in the snow?" asked Remus.
"Well, yes if I could get away with it," Lord Black replied. "But I am realistic enough to understand public sentiment at this time. I'll suggest that the new headmaster serve alongside Dumbledore… a passing of the wards to the new man. Dumbledore can be Headmaster Emeritus."
"What about McGonagall?" asked Remus. "She'd make a great headmistress."
"She can apply just like anyone else for the position with the other members of the board."
Harry asked, "When did you get on the Board of Governors for Hogwarts?"
Sirius grinned. "When 'Lucy' died… The Blacks held the seat for generations. While I was indisposed, Lucy Malfoy took it up and now it is mine again. I can't wait to show up in muggle blue jeans and throw out the whole curriculum!"
"Wait on the blue jeans until I graduate. Please?" Harry begged.
"It's the duty of every godfather to embarrass his godson at some point or other!"
(*****)
Buried deep inside the paper were the announcements of the death of Ginevra Weasley and the disappearance of Molly Weasley. The only comment was the request from Bill Prewitt for anyone finding his mother, to report it to the DMLE. The paper ignored the previous betrothal between Harry Potter and the dead girl. The editors all had orders that there wasn't to be any mention of Harry, his status as eligible, single, or heir to any name, again until after the first of the year.
Rita Skeeter burst a blood vessel when the editor refused to print her fictional piece that Harry stalked the poor Weasley girl down and cast the spell that killed her.
"Do you know what Lord Black would do to you? What he would do to me if the paper printed that dragon crap?" the wizard asked.
"But it would sell papers!" argued Skeeter before the editor refused.
"Then… then I…" Skeeter began to say before she grabbed at her head and dropped over on the floor. She was dead less than a minute later.
(****)
SCENE: The Train RideLater that morning, the dogfather hugged his godson before the teenager climbed on board the Hogwarts Express. The crowd gave them a wide berth when they entered the station, but Harry was relieved when Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood stopped and invited him to share a compartment.
"We'll have to protect the firsties," Neville said. "I was made prefect."
"Congratulations, Neville! That's great!" Harry said sincerely.
"Write every week Harry and I'll see you at Christmas," Sirius said as the boy started to walk away.
Harry hurried back for one last hug and said, "I love you dogfather."
"I love you too pup."
(****)
After the first hour, while Neville was away at the prefects' meeting, Harry and Luna had a revolving door of visitors including Susan Bones (Hannah was a Hufflepuff prefect), Lavender Brown, and a sprinkling of Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Without Draco, none of the Slytherins attempted to cause trouble, though Theo Nott sneered and began to make a comment about mud… until he saw the pair of Heir Rings on Harry's fingers. Then he turned pale and ran off.
"Hope he's not going to channel Draco this year," Harry remarked. Luna laughed, a clear and happy sound that cheered Harry's heart.
"The Notts are vassals of the Black family," she explained. "Ask your dogfather to write a letter to Theo's grandfather suggesting the Theo take his place at your heel."
"My heel?"
Luna laughed and said, "I believe the 'dog' would appreciate the play-on-words making Nott 'heel'."
Later Seamus, Dean, Parvati appeared with Lavender again.
"Harry, what happened to Ron and Hermione?" Parvati asked. Harry glanced over the other Gryffindors and decided they'd voted to get her to ask – she was always polite to everyone.
"Ron died. He choked to death on something in Diagon Alley," Harry said. "It was in the paper."
"And all his family died! Including your fiancé! Are you heartbroken?" Lavender asked in a rush of questions.
Harry's eyebrows rose as he coldly asked, "Why Rita Skeeter, I believe you're using Polyjuice to pretend to be a 'friend' and ask impossible questions."
Lavender blushed but pressed ahead, "But what happened?"
"Miss Brown, I can solemnly swear that all I know is what is printed in the Daily Prophet. Now if you'll excuse me…"
"Wait, Harry, what happened to Hermione? She's not here too! Did she die too?" asked Parvati.
"Hermione left for another school," Harry explained. "I've not had any letters from her since Ron died but I think there were just too many unhappy memories for her to come back to Hogwarts."
"Where'd she go?" asked Lavender but Harry ignored the girl.
(****)
SCENE: HalloweenThe first two months of Harry's fifth year were slow and seemed to vary between excitement (DADA with an excellent instructor) and boredom (History with Binns). Potions, runes, charms and transfiguration were good classes this fifth year. Zacharias Smith gave Harry a wide berth though neither boy said anything to each other. There were never any whispers (that Harry heard) about Ginny or the other Weasley deaths.
Lavender continued to ask Harry about the Weasleys and Hermione until she received a visit from her father and mother on a Saturday morning. That evening at dinner, Miss Brown offered Heir Potter an apology for her rude behaviour and never mention the subject again.
In the middle of September, Parvati and Padma put their heads together and used a letter delivery service in Hogsmeade to send a letter to Hermione Granger with the address 'anywhere in the magical world'. At the end of the month they received a short reply Hermione stating that she attended school in another country but she declined any further communication with her former school mates.
During the two months of school, the students noticed that Dumbledore didn't receive any students in his office – none. Neville shared with Harry that McGonagall and Pomphrey had met with the prefects and told them that if they saw the headmaster walking in the hallways, they were stop everything and summon a professor.
Harry wrote to Sirius with the news, and there was a contentious Board of Governors meeting wherein McGonagall threatened to resign if they forced Dumbledore to leave Hogwarts.
"He's sick and dying. How is he able to run a school?" asked Harold Greengrass, Minister for Magic as well as Chairman of the Board.
"I am running…"
Augusta Longbottom chimed in, "So now you're doing four jobs! What's the quality of your teaching this year? Have you had a single house meeting yet?"
McGonagall was furious and demanded to know what the board planned to do.
"We have hired an additional transfiguration professor to take over all of the lower four years. We have hired a new deputy headmaster, and we're promoting you to headmistress," Sirius announced. "If you wish to teach the fifth to seven years in transfiguration, we'll allow that."
"No, ye can't do that to him…"
Greengrass interrupted the new headmistress by adding, "And we are promoting Dumbledore to Headmaster Emeritus. He'll have his office and title but no responsibilities. A healer from St. Mungo's has been assigned to the school to care for the headmaster's everyday needs for potions."
"But…"
(*****)
"Did you notice Dumbledore never walks anywhere anymore," Neville remarked at lunch one day. "He sits like he's charmed to be upright in his chair at the staff table."
"And he's only here for one meal each day though they rotate which meal," Harry added.
Luna joined them and leaned closer to them and sang, "A pocket full of posies, there's a ring around the rosies… Ashes, ashes, the last nargle falls down."
"What?" asked Neville confused but Harry nodded his head once in understanding.
"Harry's nargels have all gone away… all but one and he'll soon be gone," Luna explained and Neville nodded a moment after he thought about the pretty seer's words.
(****)
It was during the Halloween Feast that Dumbledore breathed his last. The students were laughing and preparing for desserts to be served when suddenly, the Headmaster Emeritus began coughing and begging for the pain to stop. He jerked first one way and then other before he gasped one last time and died.
(****)
There was an elaborate funeral for Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic with many speakers and dignitaries remembering his accomplishments during a long life. Lord Black attended and listened attentively to each speaker without comment.
A second memorial service was held at Hogwarts and the new Headmistress made attendance compulsory. Harry spoke with Sirius about skipping the service but Remus intervened and cautioned them not to make enemies of current allies.
"You can mediate or even practice your occlumency lessons but attend the memorial service," Remus told Harry.
Sirius shook his head though, "Damn you for making sense again, Mooney."
"That's what you pay me for!" Remus reminded the wizard who nodded.
"Harry, I'll tell you a little secret about surviving a terrible funeral or any meetings…"
"What?"
"Imagine the speaker being naked. Usually it'll shock you so badly you'll be quiet without any problems. Now, if you get a looker at the podium you might have a problem but wizard robes have a lot of room in them…"
"You… Poison! I swear!" Harry sputtered and ended the call. After the service Harry wrote a long letter to his dogfather and insisted the man imagine a long list of speakers as naked… all old professors, old students and old dogs!
(*****)
EpilogueHarry Potter completed his education at Hogwarts and then took a year to travel around the world with his godfather and their trusted wolf. When the trio returned to Britain, Lord Black returned to his seat in the Wizengamot, and Remus continued to manage both estates very successfully.
The new Lord Potter attended university at Cambridge and studied History and Politics. He remained active in the Magical World and grew passionate about protecting the Statue of Secrecy by educating magical children properly.
He married once, raised a large family, and lived a long happy, life.