"The Harmony Bond"
Chapter Eighty-Five
By Brian Grove
Brian at thesiteofbrian dot com
*REMEMBER* Below the author's notes on the most recent chapter, is a short resume, "The story so far".
Help with "Britishisms"? "thesiteofbrian DOT com SLASH cultural" or see link in my profile.
IMPORTANT – ON 11th JAN 2014, I REPLACED THE LETTER THAT HAD BEEN UPLOADED IN 2012 AS CHAPTER 84 WITH THE REAL CHAPTER 84. IF YOU WEREN'T ALERTED MAKE SURE YOU READ THAT CHAPTER BEFORE THIS ONE.
In the previous chapter...
Death-Eaters attack... twice. Harry decides to return to the Dursleys, and Hermione gets a shock awakening to reality!
APOLOGY TO DARREN – It was Darren who was beta for the previous chapter with the_scribbler, not omega13a
(N) = See explanatory note below.
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Hermione's plan had been quite simple, get Sirius to surprise Petunia, side-along her to Vernon's office while he had his poor secretary doing "overtime". The aforementioned "poor secretary" would probably end up out of a job whatever happened to Vernon, but Sirius was not exactly poor and she knew that he wouldn't let the innocent woman down.
Sirius and Remus had other ideas though. "If you're going to live at Privet Drive, even for a while, it's best that they don't suspect that wizards have anything to do with this," Remus had pointed out. So between him and Sirius, a far more elaborate plan was put into action.
Hermione was more than a little annoyed that neither man would tell either her or Harry what was planned, the only clue being, "Have you met my only decent cousin, Andromeda? And her daughter?" The grin on his face told the truth, he was simply enjoying himself too much.
The daughter, 'Don't call me Nymphadora' Tonks had temporarily disconnected the phone line to Vernon's office, then she had made an "urgent" call to Petunia, pretending to be his secretary. She told Petunia that something had happened at work and Vernon needed her at the office urgently. A car was being sent for her. Andromeda drove the car, pretending to be a hire car (N) sent by Vernon's firm. Inconveniently, she had "car trouble", just a short distance from the offices. While Andromeda was driving Petunia to the office, Nymphadora had snuck into the outer office, having disillusioned herself, seen what the secretary looked like, and once the secretary was in the inner office with Vernon, changed her own features to resemble the secretary's. When the time seemed right, she called her mother, and the "car trouble" suddenly solved itself. Andromeda led Petunia up to Vernon's office.
Hearing the noises coming from the inner office, Petunia pushed open the door and saw her husband, with a very naked secretary. As she yelled at Vernon, the younger Tonks disillusioned herself again and dragged a bewildered secretary out of the office. Andromeda quickly gave the poor girl a coat and led her to the lift, while her daughter stood in the outer office, visible and appearing like the secretary again, just in case Vernon or Petunia tried to follow the secretary.
Vernon burst angrily out of the inner office and went to punch Tonks, who simply grabbed his arm, kneed him where it hurt the most and twisted his arm around until he fell to the floor. She then ran down the hall and down the emergency staircase.
By this time a distraught young secretary was being comforted by Andromeda. She had run to her car, but Andromeda insisted that she was too upset to risk driving. Sirius assured her that he would arrange for her car to be taken home, so she reluctantly got into Andromeda's car, not even noticing that Sirius had got in the back.
When she had gone inside, showered and got dressed, she went back out to go and collect the children. To her surprise her car was already parked outside her house, yet she still had her car keys. Had they got the car towed that quickly?
While she was wondering about that, a meeting had started in the house shared by Ted and Andromeda Tonks, a meeting that would see Hermione having to calm Harry down a number of times.
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The following morning, the secretary was stopped by the receptionist on her arrival at work and handed a letter from the company's personnel office informing her that her services were no longer required.
She returned home to find that a car was waiting outside her house. As she pulled up, the man and the woman who had taken her home the evening before got out of the waiting car. They were followed by a girl she recognized and a boy about the same age.
"You!" she shouted at Hermione. "What do you want?"
Andromeda answered, "We want to help you. May we come in?"
"I think you've done quite enough already, thank you."
"I take it you've lost your job?" said another man who had just got out of the car.
"Who are you people? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
To her surprise, the adults all looked to the young boy to answer. "I'm afraid to say that I'm Vernon Dursley's nephew. Please believe me that we really are here to help you, and to try to right the wrong done to you by my family."
"I don't really want to see any of you ever again. You've done enough."
This time Hermione answered her. "Miss Wilson, give us five minutes. Then, if you don't want us to come again, I give you my word that we won't."
"Why should I even listen to you after what you've done?"
Ted Tonks replied, "Miss Callie Wilson, you've just lost your job, without which you won't be able to pay for half the things you need. Apart from five minutes of your time, what have you got to lose?"
"Five minutes, then," she agreed as she unlocked the door.
Harry, Hermione, Ted and Andromeda, Sirius and lastly, Nymphadora, all followed her into her lounge. "It's not very big, I'm afraid."
Ted and Andromeda sat down, followed by Harry. Hermione sat on his lap.
"Take a seat," said Sirius, "you might need it. Tonks and I will stand."
Once again, everyone looked at Harry to begin. But it was Hermione who started. "This is Harry, as he said, Vernon's nephew. When Vernon Dursley married Petunia Evans, Harry's aunt, although the two sisters were barely speaking to each other, Harry's mother wanted to make sure that Petunia would be secure financially. Given the relationship between the two sisters, she knew that Petunia would never accept a gift from her. James found out that the firm Vernon worked for wasn't doing very well, and Vernon was facing a formal warning for bullying staff under him. James invested a substantial sum of money in the company, on the condition that there would always be a job, at least at the level he was at, in the company, for Vernon Dursley."
"So it's my father's fault that Vernon was there to..." Harry faltered.
"Take advantage?" Hermione suggested.
"Yes, take advantage of you, "Harry agreed. "As my parents are both dead, it's my responsibility to help you."
"I don't see how getting me fired is supposed to help," Callie Wilson replied bitterly.
Now Ted Tonks sat forward. "My wife and I are solicitors. We've recently been asked to take over the legal affairs for the Potter estate."
"Yesterday, as it happens," said Sirius with a smirk.
"In that capacity, early yesterday afternoon, I visited your personnel office and read a number of records, including yours. While, for obvious reasons, I didn't put much weight on what Dursley wrote about you as he had his own motives for wanting to keep you, when he was off on one of his far-too-many holidays, you worked for other departments. All of those managers were impressed by you, especially your attention to detail. The only negative comments were about the time off you had to take to care for your nephews."
"I can't help that," she protested angrily.
"My husband meant nothing against you by that," Andromeda assured her. "Your loyalty to your late sister's children speaks highly of your character."
"I wish all aunts were as loyal and caring," said Hermione, bitterly.
Ted Tonks coughed. "Perhaps I can continue?" He waited a moment, then did so. "The extra work involved with taking on the Potter estate, and the larger estate of Mr. Black, here," he nodded his head towards Sirius, "means that we are in a position to take on another secretary. I'm sure you know that a qualified legal secretary would make considerably more than you do now."
"I'm not a legal secretary," Callie said.
"I'm sure that can be rectified with enough day-release courses," Andromeda answered.
Callie seemed to be trying to decide. Finally she looked sad. "I'm grateful for your offer, but it wouldn't be right. One of my nephews has osteosarcoma in his jaw and I'm likely to have to take more and more time off to care for him. We'll manage somehow."
Most of the others looked blankly at that. Finally, Hermione asked, "What's...?"
"A type of bone cancer," Callie replied.
"Can we get a magical healer who knows Muggle medicine to look at him?" Harry asked Andromeda.
"Harry," protested Tonks, who already had her wand out, "Remember the Statute of Secrecy."
"She's been hurt by something my family did. That makes her family," Harry insisted.
"The law doesn't work that way," Tonks replied.
"They're solicitors," Harry pointed out. "Getting round the law is what they're paid for."(N2)
Ted Tonks let out a loud barking laugh to everyone's surprise. "For the sake of the magical world, please tell me you haven't let Sirius see that programme?"
"Sirius?" laughed Hermione. "Just imagine the reaction the Weasley twins would have!"
"GET OUT! All of you out!" Callie almost screamed.
At their stunned looks she added, "You cost me my job, then get my hopes up, then start talking about crap like magic."
"But..." Harry began.
"No buts. You said five minutes," Callie pointed out. She looked towards Hermione. "She said if I gave you five minutes you'd all go and not come back."
As Andromeda drove off, Harry said, "I made a mess of that, didn't I?"
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The next afternoon, Sirius took Harry and Hermione to Privet Drive. Petunia answered the door, her eyes red, obviously from crying. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Dursley. I'm afraid that Harry and Hermione will be requiring a room again. They won't require food and here is enough money to rent the room until September."
Petunia looked as though she hadn't even heard him, but walked back to her lounge, leaving the front door open for them. As Harry and Hermione closed his bedroom door, they heard Dudley's loud voice yelling, "What's the freak doing back here?"
"It's all right, Duddykins, they won't hurt you. They're just renting the room until they go back to their freakish school."
"I don't want them here," Dudley yelled.
Petunia yelled back at him, possibly the first time she'd ever yelled at her "Duddykins", "With your cheating father gone, we need the money."
"Sounds like she threw him out," said Hermione.
"I almost feel sorry for her," Harry admitted.
"I don't," replied Hermione harshly. "She deserves everything she gets, and more for the way they treated you."
"I wonder where Vernon went," Harry mused, "Aunt Marge's maybe."
"I don't give a... I don't care about any of them," Hermione snapped forcefully, then added, more softly, "I wish we'd been able to help his secretary though,"
Unbeknown to Hermione and Harry, Sirius had another plan for that.
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The following Monday, Callie Wilson went to the Jobcentre to look for work, though she didn't have much hope of finding anything decent, especially without a reference from Vernon. She left two hours later, downhearted. She'd filled in a number of application forms, but didn't have much hope for any of them. Even if she managed to get one of the jobs, none paid as well as Vernon had been paying her.
She spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon registering with various employment agencies. They were all very polite, but told her they had nothing for her at the moment, but they'd keep her details on file, just in case.
As she arrived home, the phone was ringing. "Hello?"
"Am I speaking to Miss Wilson, Miss Callie Wilson?"
"Yes, that's me. Who's speaking, please?"
"I'm the manager of the Jobcentre. Are you available for an interview tomorrow morning?"
"Really? I mean, Yes, I'm available. What sort of job is it?"
"I can't really say," the man answered. "Something to do with the government. Apparently I'm not senior enough to know." He sounded displeased. "Report to the Jobcentre tomorrow at nine thirty am and you will be taken to the interview."
"Where?" she asked.
"All I know is central London somewhere." He sounded cross that he didn't know more. "We'll see you tomorrow morning." He put the phone down without waiting for a reply.
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Callie Wilson couldn't help feeling nervous as she walked to the Jobcentre. She was told to take one of the seats near the door. There were a few other people waiting to be seen and she wondered if any of them were her competition for this job, whatever it was.
After a while the entrance door opened again and a man entered. He looked tired and rather pale. He looked down at the clipboard he was holding. "Judith Collier."
One of the women who had also been waiting, stood up and said, "That's me."
The man gave a brief nod and spoke again, "and Callie Wilson."
"I'm Callie Wilson."
"I'm here to drive you to your interviews. In the taxi please."
Parked outside was one of London's famous black taxis. As the two women got into the taxi, Callie asked their driver, "Do you know anything about this job?"
Without turning round, their driver answered, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He laughed a little, then added, "I've always wanted to use that line."
"Are you allowed to tell us where we're going?" Callie asked.
"Westminster," their driver answered as he began to accelerate.
Callie gasped as they almost hit a bus. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but she could have sworn that the bus jumped out of their way. "Look Out!" she cried as their driver sped towards an impossible gap between a bus and a lorry, but, amazingly, the taxi made it through the gap without any problem.
Outside the taxi, the world became a blur until they stopped outside a street she recognised. "How can we have got here already?" she asked, but their driver was showing some sort of ID card to a uniformed policeman. The gates opened, and a minute later a very shaken Callie Wilson was being helped out of the taxi by another policeman. She looked up and saw that she was outside one of the most famous addresses in Britain, 10 Downing Street.
By the time she had begun to feel less shaky, the famous door had opened. Their driver spoke to the person who had opened the door, "Remus Lupin. I've brought Judith Collier and Callie Wilson for their interviews. We are expected."
They were shown into a waiting room. Callie noticed that the clock showed a time of just before nine forty-five. "You'd think they'd keep the clocks right here, wouldn't you?" she commented to Miss Collier.
Before Miss Collier could answer, there was a popping sound and a man appeared in front of them. Holding his left hand was a boy, holding his right hand was a girl. She recognised them at once. "How?" she asked.
The man answered, "Would you believe, Magic?" He was grinning like it was the funniest joke he'd ever told.
"Magic is real?" She suddenly turned to Judith Collier, "You weren't surprised. You knew about this? Are you... one of them?"
Judith Collier laughed. "No. I'm a Muggle, just like you. That's their name for someone without magic. I was Hermione's primary school teacher, but I've known about magic for a few years now."
"I know Hermione said we wouldn't come to you again, but she didn't say you wouldn't come to us," said Sirius, but Callie wasn't listening.
"Magic is real," she repeated.
"I wondered if I was going mad at first. Don't worry. You'll get used to it."
"Magic is real," Callie muttered once more, then her eyes brightened as she asked the boy, "Can you really help my nephew?"
To her surprise, it was Judith Collier who answered her. "Most magical healers won't take Muggles as patients, but I asked one who I'm friendly with. She got hold of his medical records and thinks she can help."
Sirius assured her, "I'll take you back after all this, and we'll get you all to a healer this evening."
"And that doesn't depend on you taking this job," said Hermione. "My Harry insisted."
"I'll be right back," said Sirius, then disappeared. He reappeared a few moments later with another man she recognised.
He held out his hand. "I'm Ted Tonks. We met the other day."
Callie just looked stunned at people disappearing and reappearing out of thin air.
Ted grinned. "You look just like my parents looked when they were told I was a wizard. They were Muggles too, so I'm what's called a Muggleborn."
"Like me," Hermione said.
"What exactly will I be doing?" Callie asked.
Ted answered her, "Most of the time, working in our firm of solicitors. We work in both the magical and non-magical worlds, one of the only firms that do. You will have time to study, as my wife promised you."
"So why are we here? I mean, Ten Downing Street!" Callie asked.
Ted nodded to Harry, who just said, "Hermione can explain it better."
As Hermione opened her mouth to speak, Harry added, "Remember, our appointment is for ten o'clock, so give her the few inches version, not the five rolls of parchment version."
Hermione proved how mature she was by sticking her tongue out at him. "The magical world is very bigoted. Some rich and politically powerful families, who have been magical for hundreds of years, basically rule the magical world. Many of them think Muggleborns like Ted or me, or Muggles, are no better than animals, and there is a lot of discrimination. We think that eventually it will lead into a civil war, which will involve Muggles as well as us. The Prime Minister asked Harry to keep him in touch with what was going on in the magical world."
"It sounds dangerous," Callie objected. "I have two children to think of."
Sirius answered that one. "If the Purebloods get their way, just being a Muggle will put you all in danger. This will help us stop that from happening, but if there is a real danger to you or the children, we will get you out of the country if we have to. Trust Harry. He is very good at protecting those he cares about. That's why he insisted on you being given this job, so we can help you and your family."
A door opened. "Harry Potter and party? He will see you now."
Harry led the way, while Hermione followed after saying, "Miss Collier, Miss Wilson, Mr. Tonks, please come with us. Let Harry do the talking."
Unusually, the Prime Minister was alone in his office. Ted Tonks pulled out his wand and waved it around the room. They felt a sensation rather like the pressure increasing when a plane descends. Ted nodded to Harry. "It's secure now."
If he was startled, the Prime Minister was determined not to show it. He held out his hand and Harry shook it.
Harry began, "You already know me and Hermione..." He caught Hermione's look, "er... Hermione and I. Before I explain why we're here, can I introduce Ted Tonks, Judith Collier and Callie Wilson."
The Prime Minister politely shook their hands.
"Last time we spoke, you asked me to let you know what was going on in the magical world. After discussing it with my godfather and a few others I trust, we decided that it would be better to have a properly organised... er..."
"Intelligence network," Hermione explained.
"Ted Tonks is a solicitor, who works in both the magical and non-magical worlds. He is a Muggleborn."
"That's a wizard or a witch with normal parents, yes?" the Prime Minister asked.
"Non-magical parents, yes. Callie Wilson is a Muggle, non-magical. She will be working in the Tonks' office and be able to pass on anything she thinks is important. Judith Collier is a teacher, also non-magical, but she teaches in what is effectively the only magical primary school. She is also active with parents, especially parents of Muggleborns. Of course you already know one of them, Mr. Finch-Fletchley, who you have no doubt asked to contact you directly, but all information we can get will be collected together by Miss Wilson, who will, what's the word?"
"Collate it into a report to come directly to you, Prime Minister," Hermione finished.
The Prime Minister nodded.
"We will install a direct fax and telephone line from our main office to your office. Needless to say," Ted Tonks added, "All this is secret. They will not tell anyone other than the few of us they are working with, what they are doing, and, Mr. Prime Minister, you must also keep their identities and activities secret or the supply of information will soon dry up. In return we ask that if you ever decide to take any actions based on that intelligence, you consult us first. This is for their safety and yours."
The Prime Minister nodded again. He looked at Callie Wilson and said, "I look forward to working with you, Miss Wilson." Then he looked at Harry. "Is there anything else?"
"Not for now, sir. Thank you for seeing us at such short notice."
In the outer office, Sirius said, "Miss Wilson. This afternoon, what time is best to meet you after you've picked up your children?"
"Four-thirty okay?" she replied.
"See you then," Sirius replied, then took Harry and Hermione's hands and the three of them disappeared with a pop.
As Remus drove her home, she asked Judith Collier, "Is the magical world always this... crazy?"
Judith smiled. "Only when it involves Harry and Hermione. Or perhaps Sirius... or the Weasley twins, now they ARE crazy."
"I keep waiting for a giant white rabbit to appear and look at his pocket watch and complain about being late."
Judith laughed. "Haven't seen any giant white rabbits, but I know a crazy black dog."
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Without the overbearing presence of Vernon, even Dudley didn't seem to have the heart in him to do any more than completely ignore Harry and Hermione. Hermione was determined to make the rest of their summer a pleasant one, so they spent much of their time walking together or having picnics on the beautiful South Downs, just spending time alone together.
Harry had woken several nights with nightmares about Voldemort returning and being determined to kill him. After they'd let Sirius know, who had passed on the messages to Dumbledore, Hermione had tried flirting with Harry shamelessly, trying to take his mind off things.
Finally, in frustration, she'd arranged for Sirius to take Harry out for a "boys' day", while she spent her "girls' day" with her mother.
"What's bothering you?" Hermione's mother asked.
"Why does there have to be something bothering me?" Hermione replied, defensively.
"Because you got Sirius to arrange this time so you could see me without Harry being around? Hermione, while I love spending time with you, and we can sit in this coffee shop all day if you like, I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
Hermione thought hard for a full minute before blurting out, "I don't think he likes me." At her mother's puzzled look, she added "Harry, I mean."
"Okay," her mother replied. "Whatever I was expecting, that wasn't it. Do you mean you think he doesn't like you, or he doesn't LIKE you?"
"Did Sirius tell you about the dreams he's been having?"
Her mother nodded.
"Well, I've been trying to take his mind off them. I've been flirting like mad and he hasn't even seemed to notice."
"Yes, I noticed the lack of a bra," her mother smiled.
"When we've been out walking, he won't even hold my hand. He lets me cuddle him in bed, but even then it feels like he doesn't really want to. Am I that unattractive? Or does he just think I'm being slutty? Am I?"
"I think if you weren't bonded, I'd be worried that you're trying to go too far, too fast," her mother replied honestly. "But I really don't think it has anything to do with you."
"What do you mean? How can it have nothing to do with me?"
"Not long after your father and I were married, we were in our last year of dental school. We'd just bought our first home and were mortgaged up to the hilt. He had to retake one of his exams. All he seemed to do was study. There we were, still fairly newly-weds, and he had apparently lost all interest in me, physically at least. I felt like I was losing him."
"What did you do?" Hermione asked.
"I just hung in and waited, dreading the day he'd come home to tell me that he'd found someone prettier, or younger, or better fun to be with."
"What happened?"
"He passed that exam and came home and kissed me like he hadn't done in months. Of course I burst into tears, then had to explain what I'd been fearing. He was terribly upset that he'd made me so unhappy. But he'd been so scared that he was going to let me down, we needed him to pass to be able to pay the mortgage, that he couldn't even think of anything else."
Hermione smiled, then said, "But I still don't see..."
"You know Harry. Thanks to those Dursleys, despite everything we've tried to do since he came to live with us, he's always believed that everything that goes wrong is his fault. He'd had that drummed into him every day for years as he was growing up. Now there were those Death-whastsits at the World Cup, and he's been having those dreams... You know he still blames himself for what happened to your father and I. I think he's just scared. Not for himself, but for anyone close to him, especially you. And the closer you try to get..."
"The more scared for me he is," Hermione finished. "So what can I do?"
"Just be there for him. But don't push."
"Sometimes I think he doesn't need me at all."
"I think that scares him too, how much he does need you.
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The rest of their summer holiday passed without incident. Hermione stopped trying to flirt with Harry, but still insisted on cuddling into him at night. Harry seemed to relax a little, though that might have been because he hadn't had any more nightmares of Voldemort.
Soon they were back at school. Dumbledore had announced that this year there was to be a special event, the Triwizard Tournament, a contest between one student from each of three schools, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts. The arrival of students from the other two schools had caused excitement, especially when Ron noticed that one of the students from Durmstrang was none other than Victor Krum, the world famous Quidditch seeker. Many of the girls were obviously taken with this famous superstar and tried to follow him around. Most of the boys were more distracted by one of the girls from Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour who had Veela blood in her. Her Veela heritage made most of the boys almost drool over her even though she was haughty in public and made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with them.
Hermione was more interested in their new Defence professor, a crazy-looking ex-auror known as Mad-Eyed moody because of the big artificial eye which spun around and seemed to be able to see through walls.
Sadly all the fuss about the tournament hadn't made Harry any happier, so the twins took him flying with them to cheer him up. Seeing how much flying made Harry relax, Hermione encouraged it as much as possible. Sirius even sent him a top-of-the-line broom, a Firebolt. Hermione laughed as Ron didn't seem to know whether to be more excited over Krum, Fleur or Harry's Firebolt. Harry insisted on taking her for a ride on his new broom on her birthday, and she was so pleased to see the change in him that she agreed. She ended up clinging to him, terrified the whole time, then stumbling to the ground when they landed.
As September rolled into October, all the excitement centred on who the champions would be. Much to the twins' disgust, there was an age line preventing anyone under seventeen years old from putting their names into the Goblet of Fire, the magical device that would select one champion for each school. They tried to get around it, but merely ended up with beards and grey hair for a day, and a detention each.
Halloween came and the day of the selection. It was no surprise that Krum was selected for Durmstrang. The part-Veela girl, Fleur was selected for Beauxbatons to cheers from many of the boys. Even bigger cheers arose from the Hufflepuff table as Cedric Diggory was selected for Hogwarts.
Then, as Dumbledore began to speak, the goblet lit up again and another piece of paper came out.
Dumbledore caught it and frowned before speaking... "Hermione Potter."
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Author's notes...
Much of this chapter was in response to requests from reviewers to deal with Vernon's treatment of his secretary. I'd also received requests to see more of Miss Collier. Hope the earlier parts of this chapter kept all of those reviewers happy.
(N) In the UK, "hire cars" are similar to taxis, but have to be pre-booked by telephoning their office, even if that booking is only minutes before they are needed. They cannot (legally) be "hailed" on the street or from taxi ranks.
(N2) I couldn't resist this line shamelessly adapted from the famous British comedy, "Yes, Minister".
Thanks again to alix33 who yet again found an error in the previous chapter which beat me and my betas, but only one error this time, I think! I've also received reports of errors in chapters 22, 34, 54 and 62, which I still have to investigate.
THANKS TO MY BETAS:- Barry Caplin (D.J.P), ProditorMagnus, the_scribbler and omega13a. Also to Meg B, who looked through the previous chapters to help me with one of the characters for when they return to school.
PLEASE REVIEW. Reader-reviews are the life-blood of this kind of writing and I need/want them no less than the next person. Plus, it gives me a sense of what's working and what isn't.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO REVIEWERS – since this site changed the review system in 2011, if you have private messaging disabled I CANNOT reply to your review – review replies used to be on a different system but now they are treated as any other private message.
Brian
Need help understanding "Britishisms" or avoiding Americanisms? "thesiteofbrian DOT com SLASH cultural" or see link in my profile.
THE STORY SO FAR
Chapters 1-27 mid JULY 1988 - Sunday 1st September 1991
For a summary of the story BEFORE they get to Hogwarts, see the bottom of chapter 27
Chapters 27-46 19th September 1990 - Saturday 20th June 1992
For a summary of their FIRST YEAR at Hogwarts, see the bottom of chapter 46
Chapter 47-67 Saturday 20th June 1992 – early July 1993 (date unspecified)
For a summary of their SECOND YEAR at Hogwarts as well as their journey through the United States and arrival in Mexico, see the bottom of chapter 67
Chapter 68
September 1993
The Sorting Hat gives a warning. Malfoy reappears. Mrs. Granger visits Madam Longbottom.
Chapter 69
September 1993
The school Director gives them some books on soul magic. Duelling lesson. Ginny in trouble and Susan writes to Harry and Hermione. Harry's in trouble with Hermione after a drunken party.
Chapter 70
Monday 1st November 1993-Friday, 19th November 1993
Harry and Hermione aren't talking. The Director finds out what happened the night of the party and goes to see them. They learn that they will probably be expelled. Ginny is still in the Hospital Wing and the others are depressed. Then Hedwig turns up expectedly at Hogwarts.
Chapter 71
Sunday 21st November 1993-Monday 22nd November 1993
Harry and Hermione have "a talk". Hedwig arrives with a letter from Susan. The expulsion hearing.
Chapter 72
Monday 22nd November 1993-Wednesday 24th November 1993
A quick visit to Chicago and it's back to England and an even quicker, and much less welcome, encounter with Rita Skeeter.
Chapter 73
Wednesday 24th November 1993
The return to Hogwarts. Harry takes on Malfoy and Snape leading to a confrontation in Dumbledore's office.
Chapter 74
Late November 1993-Mid December 1993
The Prophet launches another attack on Harry and Hermione and the twins scare Malfoy.
Chapter 75
The day before the Christmas holidays 1993
Meeting at Grimmauld Place. A newspaper and a rebellion is planned.
Chapter 76
The first two days of the Christmas holidays 1993
Harry and Hermione have a row and Hermione sets out to seduce him, but is caught by her mother.
Chapter 77
The third day of the Christmas holidays 1993
Hermione's seduction of Harry.
Chapter 78
Fourth day of the Christmas holidays 1993
Teasing from Sirius, and a talk from Mrs Granger.
Chapter 79
Fourth day of the Christmas holidays 1993 continued
Talks from Remus and Sirius.
Chapter 80
Thursday, 23rd December 1993
A talk of a different kind. Mr. Finch-Fletchley meets the Prime Minister.
Chapter 81
Sunday, 26th December 1993
Harry and Hermione meet the Prime Minister and Harry has an "evil" plan.
Chapter 82
Friday, 31st December 1993 – Monday, 3rd January 1994
Luna interviews Harry and Hermione and Harry manages to upset her. The first issue of VERACITY is published. An encounter with Malfoy and his goons on the Hogwarts Express.
Chapter 83
Monday, 3rd January 1994 continued – July 1994
A "quiet year at Hogwarts" is followed by the Quidditch World Cup, where Luna has a nightmare.
Chapter 84
July 1994 continued
Death Eaters attack... twice. Harry decides to return to the Dursleys, and Hermione gets a shock awakening to reality!
Chapter 85
July 1994 continued
Vernon exposed, Harry and Hermione go back to Privet Drive while Sirius plots to help Vernon's ex-secretary, which ends up in the office of the Prime Minister. Back to school and Hermione is selected as one of the Triwizard champions.