Harry Potter and the Endless Adventure

by R.A. McCaffrey

During the summer of Harry's second year things change. Marge comes earlier in the summer and between that and changes in Gringotts Harry will end up spending his summer on a Curse Breaking Adventure in the Mountains of North East China. Multiple POVs Not Harry centric (Does it count as a Lord Potter story if Harry never actually become a Lord and is only the Heir?)

4. Letters and Learning

I hope everyone is enjoying my story. I know it's rather dull now, but I will be getting to the adventure side of the story soon, I do promise you that.

Second I am still 'shopping' for a Beta Reader if anyone is interested.

Third lets see if anyone can guess Harry's Betrothed correctly.

Now before I begin, take it away boys.

George: Now everyone,

Fred: this fine young man

George: is but a

Fred: poor man

George: and as such

Fred: does not own

Together: any part of Harry Potter.

Chapter 3: Letters and Learning

Ron rolled out of bed, feeling quite groggy. The Weasley family had been up late last night in a makeshift celebration of the upcoming vacation to Malta for the family.

Ron had been initially disappointed that he wouldn't get to see everything that Bill had talked about in his letters. Everything Bill did seemed so cool, especially all those tombs and curses in Egypt. He was, however, rather relieved for Ginny's sake. He had had no idea how to bring up the subject, but he had been really worried that some of the tombs might remind her of the Chamber of Secrets. He had been terrified of the thought of losing Ginny and Ron had not even entered the Chamber itself only heard the story from Harry. Talking to Bill about it yesterday had reminded him of the details that he had tried to forget.

He couldn't lie though, at least not to himself. Most of his acceptance of going to Malta had to do with the brochure his father had managed to get from a friend in the Department of Magic Cooperation, or some such rot. The picture on the cover had been of an amazing beach with clear water, blue sky, people jumping off heights into the water, and some amazing babes in two piece bathing suits! He could only think that spending a summer there would be like Heaven if the girls were really like that.

Ron stood and stretched, before reaching into the pile of laundry he brought up yesterday to get some clothes. He noted with a satisfied smile that his clock read nine forty-one, a good time to awaken while on holiday. After he pulled on some clean clothes clothes, he made his way toward the door intent on heading down to breakfast. He had only managed to pull open the door before he could smell mum's cooking. Wafting up from the kitchen he could smell chocolate, and the only time he could smell chocolate this early would be if his mum put some in pancakes. Taking the stairs two at a time, he swiftly made his way down to the ground floor of the Burrow, only to come to a screeching halt as soon as he entered the living room.

His mum's cry of, "Ronald!" always managed to stop him dead in his tracks. Thinking quickly of what he had done over the last few days, he blanched. The only thing he could think of was if she had found out what he had told Bill yesterday. Looking slightly uneasily at his mum, he noted that she looked more frustrated than angry, and quickly dismissed that as the reason for her yelling.

Glancing around to see if he could figure out the cause of the frustration, he noted Fred and George hunched over a few books, alternating between writing and looking at him with matching smirks. Suddenly it hit him. Ron had been told yesterday before the twins, Ginny, and he were sent to bed that they had to finish all their summer assignments before they left. Scowling at how teachers had to ruin everything with their foul assignments, he muttered, "I'll get them done, Mum."

She eyed his critically before making a sweeping motion into the kitchen, "There are pancakes left over for you, along with some bacon. You also have a letter at your plate from Harry. It arrived late last night."

He perked up at the mention of his best mate and almost ran into the kitchen to get the letter. He only mumbled a "Morning, Gin," reflexively when he saw her, and upon seeing who was sitting with her, added a "Morning, Bill."

Grabbing the letter from where it stuck out from under his plate, he started ripping it open. The twins appeared behind him, apparently intent on reading the contents as well.

Opening the letter, he heard Ginny ask, "Who's the letter from Ron?"

As Ron was too focused on the letter, George replied, "It would seem that Harry has sent another letter to our dear Ronald."

"Would you like to read it too, sister dear?" Fred continued, and Ron saw Ginny was already out of her seat and moving around to look. Thinking quickly, he sat down so that everyone that wanted to could read over his shoulder, rather than take it from him while complaining that he was too slow.

Ron,

Well, I am glad that I waited till late to write this letter. It had been

rather difficult to think of what I would write earlier. You see,

I got into some trouble when I blew up my aunt the other day. I had

to leave when everyone got mad at me. I'm staying at the Leaky

Cauldron for the next couple days, so tell your mum not to worry.

After that, I am might be going on a bit of a trip, so I will be fine. I

met your brother Bill the other day at Gringotts. You never told me he was so cool.

He also helped me with some questions I had, so tell him thanks for me. I hope you

are having a great summer so far and say hi to Ginny and the Twins for me.

Your friend, Harry

P.S. Tell Bill I might end up running into him again today if he is at Gringotts.

Turning towards Bill, Ron almost whined, "You saw Harry at the bank yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?"

Bill seemed rather chagrined as he replied, "I can't talk about things that I learn at the bank while I'm working. You know that Ron."

Annoyed that he hadn't been told, Ron retorted, "I didn't say I needed to know everything. I just said you should have told me you saw him."

That was drowned out by his mum yelling, "Harry is at the Leaky Cauldron? I'll get him then. There is no need for him to be staying at that pub because his vile relatives threw him out. He could come with us. I'm sure it wouldn't cost much more."

Ron heard Ginny gasp as Bill grabbed Mum's arm without even getting up. Bill slowly said, "Mum, relax. I'll try to talk to him and broach the idea of him coming over for the next few days before we potentially leave. I'm sure it will be fine and it will give me a little time to get the measure of him."

Mum was just staring at Bill as though he had grown two more heads, and Ron personally had to agree. No Weasley cut off mum; it only made the yelling worse.

The first person to break the silence though was not mum and was in fact Fred. "What do you mean when 'we' leave? I thought you were going on some curse-breaking job?"

Bill reddened at that but answered, only sounding slightly annoyed. "I am going on a curse breaking expedition, Fred, or at least I hope to be. Harry, however, I found out yesterday applied to go as a helper. I just dismissed it at the time, not thinking much of it. However, I did some checking after in with a few people and I believe that the leader of the expedition might have taken more of an interest in him going then I did." Ron saw Bill make eye contact with him as Bill said that he had checked in with a few people, and realized why his brother had asked him all those questions yesterday.

There was no silence after Bill's comment this time; the Twins were clamoring to know why they couldn't have tried to go, Mum was demanding to know who would let a child on something this dangerous, and Ginny was imploring Bill to look after Harry. Ron, however, wasn't saying anything. He knew he shouldn't have been, but as Harry had never left Britain, so Ron had been overjoyed that he could go to Malta and do something his friend never had done. Now, however, Harry was going on some curse breaking expedition with Bill. It was not fair; he had done almost as much as Harry, and Bill was HIS brother. Ron should be the one going. He slowly started digging into his breakfast, not really feeling hungry anymore.

HPatEA

Minerva sat at her desk, calmly looking over the paperwork concerning the balancing of the budget for the coming year. Albus had been called into a meeting by the Minister and didn't know if he would make it to the faculty meeting he had scheduled for today. So, as usual, it was left to her to explain to the other heads of house where Albus was, and then explain his budget.

Seeing as she had only been handed it this morning, she had managed to read through the entire thing. Minerva figured she could explain about half of it to Pomona and Filius when they had questions like the three of them did every year. Not that their questions were ever really answered or anything. That, however, was neither here nor there. This year's budget did seem far more fairly divided, though Defence Against the Dark Arts was a little higher than past years. This was fairly reasonable, as they needed it to get someone to actually apply.

A faint pop alerted her to the arrival of a house elf. Hoping that the elf was sent by Albus, she looked over the top of her desk. She sighed, though, upon seeing who was there. She liked the house elf that Albus had assigned to assist her, but the fact that the elf's name was Minnie had caused many an argument between her and Albus over the years.

Slowly the elf spoke, "I is having your mail here, Professor. We be finding one of them down in the Great Hall this morning, next to your plate."

"Thank you, Minnie." In an instant, the elf dropped the letters on her desk and disappeared.

Glaring contemptuously at the letters that were interrupting her busy morning, she slowly picked them up. One was from the Board of Governors and, though she despised them, she opened the letter and quickly read it. She then threw it into the fire in her office. There was no way that Filius, Pomona, and she would allow Severus to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, even if Dumbledore eventually agreed to it. It didn't matter how much that man and Lucius Malfoy pushed for it. What really bothered her, though, was that even after being booted from the Board of Governors for death threats the governors still let him push them around.

Swallowing her disgust, she reached for the other letter and was shocked to be met with a familiar near-illegible scrawl. Wondering what Mr Potter could possibly be writing about to her over the summer, she opened the letter carefully.

Professor McGonagall,

I don't really know where this will reach you, or if there is really anything

you can do about my request till September 1st, but I thought I should ask

anyway. Recently I meet Bill Weasley and we were talking. Eventually we got to

the discussion of electives, sort of , and I found out a lot about them. I

guess I was wondering if I could be switched from Divination to Ancient Runes?

I have started reading about the class and think that it's really cool. I'm going to

learn about what you can do with them this summer, I think. I also, depending

on this summer, was wondering if, when I arrive back, I could possibly add

Arithmancy to my classes? I have not learned anything about the class yet but it

goes with Runes I think so I might be interested. I really hope I can at least take

Ancient Runes, I don't know if I will really like Arithmancy yet.

Thank you,

Harry Potter

For a few moments, Minerva could only stare at the letter. She was glad that the boy she had a soft spot for had started to show an interest in his education. His requests would be rather simple to incorporate into his schedule, and she was sure that the young Miss Granger would be glad to have him in at least one more of her classes.

She was, however, very curious about this conversation he had with young William. Looking at the clock, she noted that she had a little less than two hours till the heads of houses meeting at noon. Looking back at the letter in her hand, she got up and determinedly walked over to the fireplace. She knew the Weasley's floo address extremely well due to the Twins' antics, but she couldn't help thinking that this was the first time she had ever had to contact the Weasleys during the summer. She really was too curious to let something like that letter go without investigation. It was no wonder that her Animagus form was a cat, she thought as she reached for her floo powder.

HPatEA

Geoffre sat with his long-time friend, Faltimur across from Ofriōr, the head of the curse breaking division of Gringotts. He had to admit this was the first time he was here being reprimanded before something happened. He had been in this office a lot over the course of his career; having to report deaths, drunken debauchery, hostilities with the locals, and once he even had to explain the disappearance of an entire dig site, to this day no one could actually explain what happened with that one. During most of those, Faltimur had been with him. Now here they were again, being told off before they 'made some inevitable mistake all curse breakers make' according to the administrative personnel.

Ofriōr growled, "Geoffre, as I was saying, the Chinese have insisted that they supply one curse breaker and one assistant. So, you will have to trim your list."

Pursing his lips, Geoffre looked at Faltimur. Seeing his friend nod, he grabbed the list and scratched out two names before almost throwing it back at Ofriōr. Watching the goblin look at the names he scratched out, he could see a frown forming. The arrogant goblin demanded, "You would choose Mr Weasley over the likes of Mr Bagley?"

Geoffre let Faltimur field this one, as he was the one that had insisted that Mr Weasley join them. In all honesty, though, it had not taken much convincing. Geoffre could see a lot of himself when he was younger in the red-haired man. "Well, Head Ofriōr, looking carefully at his record, Mr Weasley had worked with everyone we know on the team except Geoffre and the new helper Potter. All members gave him good reviews. The fact that Axebreaker had nothing bad to say about a human for once, other than that he was human, was astonishing. Mr Bagley, on the other hand, has more experience but no people skill. He had almost gotten into a fight with entire expeditions in the past."

Ofriōr listened, paying partial attention at best, and proceeded to mark something down on the paper in front of him, then write a small paragraph after. Finally raising his head, Ofriōr spoke in a disdainful voice, "I can see how you think that is more important. Very well, your decision will stand. Now for your last choice and only other problem, I need you to argue Mr Potter's case. Yes I have read his file and find him more useful than most three times his age, but he is a school child and it must be discussed."

Knowing that this one was his, Geoffre glared at Ofriōr's stupid paperwork, the bane of most of his problems in his long career. "As you have read, Mr Potter has more experience handling dangerous situations than most helpers, making him invaluable in the prospect of having someone write down readings that either I or Mr Weasley takes while there is potential for trouble. He also is doing well in Herbology, meaning he can help Brandt collect his specimens when we are doing things he can't help with. Most importantly, my gut tells me he will be just like his grandfather was, and you should know how much use Charlus was to us."

Ofriōr stilled and looked at Geoffre with beady eyes. "The pile of paperwork you two caused me in the few years you both worked together had better not make a return, I am tempted to remove the name solely for that reason. Control the boy or you won't get another chance at what you're trying here. Is that understood?"

Thinking of his dream, he slowly nodded his head. He didn't want to have to browbeat Charlus' grandkid, but there was no way that he was going to give up his carte blanche chance of trying to find Shangri-la.

HPatEA

Harry was feeling rather sluggish as he marched up the stairs to Gringotts. He couldn't help but wish that he had not eaten so much for breakfast today, but he figured that his business at the bank would take up all of the time that he would have normally used for lunch. He had arrived, as planned, Early in the morning hoping to get some answers to questions he had before the afternoon at the latest.

Making his way past the guards, Harry bowed his head to them as he passed through the giant bronze doors. Once he was inside, he swiftly made his way to the first open teller he could see.

"Sir. I… I was wondering if I could see my account manager, please." He asked the teller with as much courage as he could muster.

The teller looked at him as if he were the most peculiar insect the goblin had ever seen. The teller was clearly interested, but appeared as though he was looking at something intrinsically inferior. "And why are you asking me, wizard? Just run along to his office."

Feeling rather sheepish, Harry muttered, "I just thought I should ask first."

Looking around the bank, he saw the side passageway he had gone down the other day. Harry continued down the hall to where he knew Ognak's office was, clutching his little box and letter tightly in his arm, not wanting to lose either of them. Finally arriving at the correct office, and checking his pocket to make sure the paperwork was still there, he cautiously knocked on the door. Almost a full minute later he heard Ognak's gravelly voice say, "You may come in."

Ognak seemed momentarily surprised at the sight of him, before smiling rather unpleasantly. "Mr Potter, I did not expect to see you again so soon. What can I assist you with?"

Harry felt rather foolish as he walked into the office and sat down in the same seat he had been in yesterday. He said, "Um… You said yesterday that you could not tell me who is betrothed to House Potter, right?" When Ognak slowly nodded his head, Harry continued, "But you do know who they are, right?"

Ognak spoke in a rather affronted tone, "I assure you, Mr Potter, that I know all financial and legal documentation for both of your Houses, as I have handled most of those dealings myself."

Harry couldn't help but smile at that when he pressed, putting the package and accompanying letter on the desk as he did, "So, would you be able to have this delivered to her for me then?"

At that, Ognak looked completely astonished, before smiling. "I applaud you, Mr Potter, that was rather well thought out. Yes, I can have this delivered to her before you even finish this meeting."

Smiling happily Harry chirped, "Thank you. And thank you also for telling me about the job as well."

Ognak nodded his head, and then continued in a rather bored tone, "Did you manage to look over the paperwork for the Black accounts that I gave you?"

Blushing scarlet, Harry nodded his head before answering. "I didn't get to look at them yesterday; I was reading a book about being Head of House. I looked over them this morning but I really didn't understand much. I kind of came in early, hoping you could go over it all with me…"

Ognak stared at him before moving his hand forward and saying, "Give me the papers, Lordling, and we will see how things need to be explained for you to understand."

He sat and listened as Ognak started with the finances of the Black Family. They had a few trinkets in their vault, and that was about all in monetary worth. There were, however, two pieces of property still in the Black Family possession. The first was a small, four-story building in the middle of London that, while warded, had not been inhabited in almost seven years. The second was a small villa in some place called Honduras in the Americas that, to their knowledge, had not been visited in almost twenty years.

They had gone over the Black Family betrothal contracts that had not activated. Harry was pleased to note that there was only one contract and that it was a simple contract between the Heir of the Blacks and a daughter of House Longbottom. This made him wonder if his son would be marrying Neville's daughter eventually. He promised himself to ask Neville about it when they were on the train.

They had then gone over existing family left of the Blacks, and Harry had felt horrible as he listened. First was the one that had passed the Lordship of House Black to him, Sirius Black. The man was in Azkaban for reasons that even the Ognak wouldn't disclose. Next was Sirius's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange nèe Black, who was also in Azkaban. Her sentence was for driving Neville's parents into insanity with some curse that tortured people. Hearing that had made him almost sick by itself, but it also awakened a feeling of sympathy for the boy he had known, but never really known for two years. Harry's earlier promise to talk to Neville just became much more personal.

The last two presently of the Black line were no better, even if they were not in Azkaban; Narcissa Malfoy nèe Black and her son, Draco Malfoy. Harry really didn't know how to feel about being the Head of Draco's mother's birth House.

The next piece of news, however, made him put his foot down. The fact that Lucius Malfoy was in charge of any of his votes in the Wizengamot was an atrocity. Harry had demanded it be changed, though he also asked how he could do that without revealing it was by his hand. Lucius Malfoy had already tried to kill him once, and Harry had no reason to risk causing a second attempt.

Ognak had been extremely accommodating. Harry eventually found out why, after filling out the removal form, he was now legally allowed to fill out as the official heir of House Black. They had moved on to the form for appointing a new proxy for the House Black vote, and he had had no idea who he could put in the position. It was then that Ognak suggested that he be appointed. Harry, having only been able to think of Mr Weasley or Dumbledore as other choices, considered it. Ognak had said that he would always be informed of anything that was on the docket to be voted on, so his vote would be cast the way he wanted. Slowly he had put down Ognak's name, making sure the end date of the appointment was his seventeenth birthday. Harry noted Ognak grudgingly nod at that. All in all, he had finished with everything just shy of two in the afternoon. As he said goodbye to Ognak, the goblin seemed almost as jovial as Faltimur had been.

HPatEA

Bill heard the telltale whoosh of someone firecalling the floo over the clamoring of questions that had just gone off all around him. Mum stopped mid demand and turned to go see who was calling but not before calling over her shoulder, "You are not done answering questions William."

He suppressed the response of that he had not gotten a chance to start answering her questions. Putting his hands up to signal quiet he started to answer his siblings.

"Fred, George, first the goblins might not require parental consent but you would have had to come back to live with mum afterwards you do understand that right? So if that knowledge does not kill your thoughts of having been able to go stone dead, they would have looked at your records from school, now the reasons for my guess is a few of your detentions would actually be counted as a good thing just do to the complexity and thought that would have had to go into what you had done. However, the sheer magnitude of them would have counted against you."

Noting that his brothers seemed confused about if they should be proud or offended he turned to Ginny, "It has not be confirmed that he will be going yet, but if he does then by all means I will definitely be looking out for him. Well as long as he lets me use that second room in that tent he has in his vault."

"Billllllllll!"

He smiled, putting a contemplative look on his face after shooting a look at one of the twins who was about to say something. He knew one of the first steps to getting over a life changing ordeal was trying to regain a sense of normalcy with what you were used too, "Well if you insist Princess I guess I can try."

A voice behind him spoke up, "That you will Mr. Weasley."

He saw the faces of the twins across from him light up a little, "Whatever it was, it was not us Professor."

Turning about in his seat he could see Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway to the living room next to his mother. It seems that the question as to who flooed was answered. Professor McGonagall however addressed the twins, "I assure you I would have reacted much differently if you had started annoying staff while on break Mr.'s Weasleys. No I am here to speak to your brother."

While he found himself curious at how she even knew he was home let alone wanted to talk to him, he couldn't help but smile at Ron's panicked look.

Finally deciding to face whatever it was that he was needed for he smiled winningly as he faced the professor, "Minerva how are you this fine morning?'

Giggling behind him made it known that he was not the only person to notice the Professor's eye twitch at his greeting.

"You were never this impertinent when you were a student William. Alas I can see the times have changed." Her eyes seemed to linger on his hair and his earring for a just a moment longer.

"I find myself needing to ask you a few questions about your recent interactions with a student." Her eyes swept the room for a second, "In private if you will."

Looking to Mum as to where she would want him to go to have this private conversation with the Professor, he was not disappointed when she caught on quick and nodded her head at the door, "I think this might be best taken out to the orchard. I want these four getting their assignments done today, and if you are inside I fear they would not be paying any attention to their work Minerva."

Getting up he led the way outside, holding the door open for the Professor so that she didn't think that all of his manners had disappeared after Hogwarts he waited for her to speak first.

"I received the most interesting letter from young Mr. Potter this morning. Do you have any idea what it was about?"

Racking his brain as to what happened when he meet Harry in the Black Family Vault that Harry would have told McGonagall about he couldn't come up with anything. With his oaths to Gringotts he couldn't just guess either as he was not allowed to share much about Harry or his vaults.

At his shrug her lips thinned, and like a wave he could feel her disappointment, "You have to understand Professor, there are parts of my job I am not allowed to talk about and as I meet Harry while at Gringotts…"

McGonagall's attention seemed to be focused on him now, "That is what I was afraid of. Mr. Potter sent me a letter asking if he could change his classes so that he could take ancient Runes. Now I was rather pleased about the fact Mr. Potter was starting to care more about his education, and thank you as he mentioned that you influenced that decision. However, he had mentioned he could be using Runes this summer and with what I overheard…"

Groaning he realized that this was going to be a very long day.

HPatEA

He could only stare across his desk at his daughter, whose silky black hair was loosely falling around her face. He knew that she had been mad yesterday, especially when his wife came and told him that she had punched and shattered her mirror. Looking at her hand, he could still see the bandage that his wife had applied. His wife had been frustrated when their daughter would not tell her why she had punched the mirror, so later that evening he had called his wife into his office and explained. His wife had known the contract existed and applied to their daughter, but she had been livid that he had told their daughter without letting their daughter talk to her about it. When he had explained his reason, she had been shocked. "And how would it have gone if her sister heard? They would have hated each other. They almost did anyway, so there was no reason to cause more tension."

She had acknowledged his reason before telling him that he was still an idiot, and went to find their daughter. He had no idea what they had talked about, and would honestly rather not know.

Now, however, he had his daughter in his office for the second day in a row, and it was all because of that boy. He had hoped that the boy managed to make up for his refusal to take up his lordship and seemingly unintentional pain the boy had caused his daughter, with his letter and whatever was in that box.

He had explained where it came from and his daughter just sat there and stared at it for five minutes. "Darling, just open it. Remember, you will eventually marry him. You might want to try to at least meet him halfway."

Looking at him sharply, she muttered, "It's not like I can forget that, now can I?"

Slowly pulling the letter to her, she started to read. Her face never changed from the scowl that was initially there as she read. Finally putting it down, she reached for the box. It was an odd thing, clearly made of oak and wrapped in a layer of cheap cloth. He had no idea where the boy got that idea, but his daughter ripped the cloth right in half and then opened the lid. Her face went blank as she stared at its contents, before she softly whispered, "Do you think you can get in contact with him, Papa?"

Internally sighing in relief, he smiled as he answered, "Of course, darling. What would you like me to tell the young man?"

The smile slid from his face rather rapidly when his little girl's brown eyes seemed to flash as she spoke, "Then tell Potter that I might be forced to be his wife, but that does not mean that I am just going to be some delicate little stay at home trophy which he can just buy the affection of with pretty trinkets."

He sat stunned, watching as his daughter stormed out of the room. He picked up the box to look inside, and then almost dropped it. It contained an elaborate goblin-made bracelet that had to be worth a small fortune in and of itself sitting on nice satin inlays. Swallowing slightly at what the boy had offered and his daughter had refused, he carefully placed the oak box on his desk. He then proceeded to summon the letter to him.

Dear Betrothed,

I am sorry that I don't know your name. I was told that I can't find out till I become

Lord Potter. A friend of my Grandfather's that I just met said that he might be able

to help me if he can find it in one of his journals. Ognak my account manager, however,

implied that you already know who I am. So I was wondering if you could tell me who you

are, and maybe a little bit about what you like and such. It would be nice to know who

it is I am required to marry. * I don't really know anything about being betrothed,

or even about girls really. I do know that girls like jewellery so I thought that maybe

you would like this. From what I understand, it is enchanted to glow if it comes

close to any form of poison. This way, not only do you get a beautiful piece

of jewellery, but it will help keep you safe in the case that anything drastically

bad could happen to you from being associated with me.

Your Betrothed,

Harry Potter

He had to stop himself from getting up and running after his daughter. Settling into his chair with a sigh, he set the letter and the box to the side for his wife to see. He could only assume that she would privately agree with him that there was nothing in that letter to be mad about. It, unfortunately, seemed that his daughter had hit the point where she just wanted to hate the young Potter Heir, no matter what he did. The blob of ink, though, was probably the most telling thing on the letter. The boy clearly had no idea how to talk to a girl or how one thought, and now he was betrothed. He actually felt sympathetic for the boy, but his daughter was his first priority.

He truly wished the contract had been different, but his father had worded the contract as he had wanted. With his pen, he had betrothed the second born daughter of his line to marry the Potter Heir. His older sister had been born, and then he had, but no second daughter followed. So it had fallen to his daughters, and how he wished that they could trade places for this. He had never cared which was born first, or at least he had never thought he would care. Now, however, he could only wish that they were switched.

His eldest was so personable and talkative. Even if she was a little flighty, she was intelligent. She would be able to handle this so much better. Personableness was just not in his youngest daughter's personality. She had always been more withdrawn, and had more books then friends.

He just faintly waved his hands at the letter and box when his wife slammed the door open. Tiredly, and without letting her say anything first, he said, "Just read the letter first."

He couldn't even muster a chuckle when his wife finally looked in the box and let out a large gasp.

HPatEA

Head still swimming at the list of vile acts that the Black Family had committed, Harry was not really focused as he walked down the steps of Gringotts towards the Leaky Cauldron.

So engrossed in thought was he that he missed the owl that swooped down and struggled to stay level with his head. That was until the owl pecked at his ear.

Gingerly touching his ear he could feel blood as he glared at the dust colored owl.

The owl however unrepentantly just held out the letter on his leg as he flapped in place.

Reluctantly taking the letter from the pushy owl Harry was rather surprised that the owl took off before flying into an open window near the top of Gringotts.

His annoyance and pain vanished as he ripped open the letter and started reading right in the middle of the steps to Gringotts.

Mr. Potter,

You have been selected to serve as an assistant to Expedition Leader Geoffre. You are

required to attend a meeting tomorrow at noon to both familiarize yourself with the

others that will be accompanying you, and finalize your individual payment process.

You are to report to sitting room H at the specified time above.

Ofriōr

Slowly nodding to clear his head he stuffed the letter in with the papers Ognak had given him and made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. He had a lot of reading to do.

HPatEA

Dumbledore pushed the door to the Minister's office open and was not too shocked to see everyone that had gathered there. Minister Fudge sat in his high-backed plush chair, decked out in his normal lime-green bowler hat. As he usually was, Mr Malfoy was also present. The blonde man was looking much less ruffled then the last time Dumbledore had seen him, running away from that most interesting elf he had ever meet. The last was another person he was quite accustomed to dealing with, but not often in this office. Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE, with her grey hair and monocle, stood just off to the side. It was a pity how her job had aged her so prematurely.

Before anyone else could speak, Lucius sneered, "Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Smile cordially at the odious man, he greeted his welcoming party, wondering what Mr Malfoy had cooked up this time. "Well, good morning my lady, gentlemen. What can I do for you this fine day?"

Dumbledore waited for, hopefully, Madam Bones to explain what was going on. Alas, Cornelius blustered as he slammed a pile of papers on his desk. "What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore?"

Raising one brow at the man, the old wizard reached for the pile of papers. "Until you enlighten me of the matter upon which we speak, Cornelius, you must forgive me for having no ideas as to what the meaning behind it is."

Looking at the front page made Dumbledore's heart sink a little. "DMLE Investigation into the Home Life of Harry Potter", was a title that screamed out guilt at the old man. Slowly, he placed the papers back on the desk. He had avoided acknowledging what went on there for so long. He knew it should never have been a good place for Harry to live, but the wards were all-important. He could never risk himself interfering before because, if it was truly as bad as he believed, he would have had Harry out of there in a heartbeat. This course of action would leave Harry without the protections he needed. Dumbledore sighed as he looked at those in front of him, wondering how he could make it so that they did not intervene without revealing the Horucruxes. He could never reveal that, especially as it would involve telling one of Tom's old enforcers that their master was still alive.

Like a shark sensing blood, Malfoy jumped on his conflicted expression. "So is this what the Great Albus Dumbledore does for the saviour of the Wizarding World? Sending him to be tortured by a family of dangerous Muggles."

Deciding that now was a time to ignore the man, and that he could only sway Fudge that changing anything would tank the Minister's popularity rating, Dumbledore turned towards Madam Bones. Politely, he said, "If I may ask, why are we all gathered here?"

Madam Bones shot him an annoyed look before primly stating, "As we were investigating the burst of magic from Mr Potter, we uncovered many very disturbing truths. The Minister found out and is demanding immediate action, despite the fact that I am not finished with my investigation." She shot Mr Malfoy a contemptuous glance, a glance that was returned with a superior smirk that the Headmaster had seen on the younger Malfoy many times before.

"Yet I know that all of you are aware of the wards that are in place because he lives there? As Mr Potter's life is in no direct danger from his family we must look at the bigger picture. The level of safety the wards provide are essential to Mr Potter's well-being," Dumbledore said, trying to steer the conversation into a direction he could control it.

Unfortunately, as vile and backhanded the man was, Mr Malfoy was a political animal at heart and easily caught the redirection. The man nodded at Fudge, who floundered for a moment before dictating, "Now see here, Dumbledore. I will not let Mr Potter be treated as such. You shall turn the boy over, and he will be moved in with a respectable family where he would be cared for. They will then take care of him and his assets, not you."

'Ah, so the truth comes out,' Dumbledore thought, looking intently at the minister. "Well, Minister, seeing as I am not in charge of Mr Potter and have no access to his assets, how exactly should I turn them over?"

Cornelius blinked in surprise, Madam Bones smiled tightly, but Mr Malfoy growled, "Now see here, Dumbledore. No one will believe that tripe that you have no access to any of Mr Potter's assets. The obvious reason you keep the boy is for his seats in the Wizengamot."

With a twinkle in his eyes, Dumbledore dismissed that comment out of hand, "Then, Mr Malfoy, why exactly would the seat be empty of a proxy? No, I would never try for those seats myself. They await Mr Potter when he comes of age."

Madam Bones then stepped up and demanded, "If you have no access to Mr Potter's person, then who does, Dumbledore?"

The aged wizard's smile was rather tight as he explained, not for the first time in this office, what happened to the Potter estate. "When James and Lily died, their will was activated. As there is no way to verify what happened exactly, we can only speculate. Presumably, as the goblins went through the will in order, attempting contact as they went; Mr Black, Mr Lupin, Mr and Mrs Longbottom, Mr Pettigrew, and Mr and Mrs Bones. As we all know, Mr Black was put in prison for his crimes. Mr Lupin was ubfirtunateky stopped from coming in contact with Mr Potter due to the wards that protect the boy. Mr and Mrs Longbottom were in hiding, and by the time the letter made it to them, they were already incapacitated. Mr Pettigrew was not found till he confronted Mr Black. And sadly, Mr and Mrs Bones had already passed away."

Sweeping his gaze across the room, Dumbledore noted that no one had intentions to interrupt, so he continued speaking. "From there, it would have been goblin policy to place everything with the closest family available until the boy was of age. As Mr Potter did not have any siblings, and his parents had both already passed, they would have then looked at Mrs Potter's family. Everything would have been placed in the trust of Mrs Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley. Now, as she is a Muggle and they cannot own a vault or sit in the Wizengamot, we have no way to check till Mr Potter takes his lordship."

Madam Bones was busy jotting things down on a notepad with one of the DMLE's special quills. It was Cornelius that made the next comment with, surprisingly, no prompting from Mr Malfoy. "Well then, sit the boy down and have him take his position as heir. Then we can have someone of his standing placed as steward and take the young lad in and raise him like he should be raised."

Nodding his head in consideration for a moment, Dumbledore responded, "What process would be used to decide where Mr Potter would be staying?"

Cornelius smiled brightly. "Well of course it would have to be an elite and prominent member of society. Lucky for us, Mr Malfoy has volunteered for just that role. He even has his own son that is Mr Potter's age."

Dumbledore could almost laugh at the absurdity of what Cornelius said. Leaving a logical gap that big left him no other choice but to destroy their argument. "Minister, I believe that I heard you incorrectly. You wish for Mr Malfoy to raise Harry as he should be raised?"

Lucius grinned wickedly. "Is your old age affecting you hearing, Dumbledore? I believe that's exactly what he said."

The Headmaster was shocked; usually Lucius was cannier than this. Cautious that this was a political trap of some kind, he decided to step in it anyway. "Minister, I believe that you have contradicted yourself. You wish for Mr Potter to be raised by those of similar stature, but also wish to send him to the Malfoys. While they are a rich family since they fled from France almost two hundred years ago due to the rebellion, how could Mr Malfoy prepare Mr Potter for his lordship when the man himself has never held one?"

A snort from Madam Bones caused him to look away from the gaping Cornelius and furious Lucius. Cornelius, however, continued in a whiny voice. "Well, see here, Dumbledore. There are other options. The Notts are a well-respected family and possess a lordship. They could raise young Mr Potter."

The old wizard's head snapped back to look at Cornelius, and he hoped that his eyes portrayed the fury that coursed through him at that suggestion. "Might I remind you, Minister, before you destroy your career, why the Notts would be a bad idea. It was your hand that penned the pardon for Lord Nott and his brother Thedius, just like Mr Malfoy here. Then, not even two weeks after the Potters died, it was Thedius that was the first to prove the blood wards that protect mister Potter worked. You intend to send Mr Potter to the house of a family that had one of their own die as the man tried to kill young mister Potter? I understand they are your financial backers, but at least use some sense."

Cornelius looked like he was going to cry. Lucius however barked, "I believe, Dumbledore, that you have forgotten yet again that those pardons absolve those they were given to of all wrongdoing. We could not be held accountable for doing the Dark Lord's bidding while under the Imperius Curse."

Turning his glare at Lucius, Dumbledore rejoined, "Absolved does not mean you were ever innocent, Mr Malfoy."

Finally, it was Madam Bones that interrupted, "Minister, before you overstep your bounds again, I should remind you that if we were to place Mr Potter with a family of his stature, it would be either the Bones or Longbottom family"

Dumbledore was dumbstruck by the woman. It was only a small consolation that both of the other men in the office seemed to be as well. She continued speaking, as if nothing had happened, "I'm sure I could contact Augusta for this discussion. She would be very interested in how her house was excluded from these discussions."

Dumbledore faintly heard Cornelius whimper behind him at the very thought.

HPatEA

Extremely excited to go to the crisp clear beach she had seen while she had explored the open air market here in Nice, Hermione rushed into her family's hotel room to get changed. She had managed to convince her parents to go out this morning to explore the city, before going to the beach. Yesterday, they had only had dinner and gone back to the hotel. Now, however, feeling the warm air and seeing the bright blue water, she couldn't help but want to go swimming.

She rushed to the dresser to get her bathing suit as the door slammed shut behind her. Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud "BARK". Pirouetting on the spot as her parents entered the door laughing, she could see Hedwig perched on the back of one of the chairs, looking at her with sharp amber eyes. There was a letter tied to her leg.

Hermione's parents froze when she yelled out "Hedwig!" before running across the room to stroke the owl and carefully remove the letter. Continuing to speak as she started opening the letter, she said, "How was your flight? Have you and Harry been doing well since he last wrote? Yes, I have some treats for you in my bag. I thought you might show up, you know."

Turning quickly, she put the letter down on the table, ran back to the dresser, and grabbed a bag of owl treats from the top of it. She almost tripped over air when her father demanded, "How did that ruddy bird get in here?"

Hedwig barked at her father and turned a reproachful glare on him, causing her to giggle. Stroking Hedwig again, Hermione explained, "This is Harry's owl. She came to deliver a letter. It was probably easy for her, since we left the window unlocked and she's really smart."

Hedwig's answering "Prek" while nuzzling into her hand made her feel kind of giddy. She always enjoyed the fact that Harry's familiar loved her so much. She did, however, see her parents share a look. Her father appeared annoyed but her mother looked pensive.

Going back to the letter, Hermione pulled it out of the envelope and gave Hedwig an owl treat. As she started unfolding the letter, she had a thought, "Hedwig, girl, could you do me a favour please?"

Hedwig seem to regard her for a moment and she heard her father mutter, "It's just a bird," behind her. Hedwig finally nodded her head and gave an affirmative "Prek."

"Oh, thank you Hedwig. I've been wondering how I would get Harry's birthday present to him. Thank you so much." She had to fight the impulse to hug Hedwig like she did Harry when he agreed to help her. She figured that they would have vastly different reactions.

Hedwig seemed to bark sadly before pecking the letter on the table. Completely confused, Hermione picked up the letter and started to read. She only got through the first two lines before she gasped. She heard her mother coming up behind her as she continued to read.

Hermione,

I hope this letter finds you well in France. You are there already, right? Well,

I have been kicked out of my aunt and uncle's house because of accidental

magic that got out of my control. I also got into some trouble with the DMLE.

I am OK now and you don't need to worry. I'm getting a job and will see

you before Hogwarts, I hope. That reminds me, I met up with a cool

curse breaker at Gringotts. He is Ron's oldest brother and, because

of a talk I had with him, I am changing my classes next year so I

will not be in Divination like we originally thought. I am

already reading about Ancient Runes and it looks really cool.

I may actually be able to help you in a class now with the experience I will

get this summer. I'm going on a curse breaking expedition. I know, brilliant,

right? I promise I will be careful, Hermione. One last thing, when we get

back, can you help me learn everything I can about Ancient and Noble Houses?

Love,

Harry

Hermione could only stare dumbly at the paper in her hand. Harry had been kicked out of his house and was now going on some dangerous adventure without her to look after him. He always did stupidly heroic things and he could get himself hurt. He had told her he was bitten by the Basilisk and only Fawkes' timely arrival had saved him.

She didn't think about how he was actually going to be applying himself and changed his classes, which would cause her to see him more. She didn't realize he had asked her for help researching something. She had not even registered that he wrote "Love, Harry" like always. All of her attention was on the fact that he was going on a curse breaking expedition. Hermione had done research into the field when she had seen it crop up in her plans for the summer. One of the castles they were visiting had originally been a wizard's castle before curse breakers had found it, cleared it, and handed it over to the proper authorities. Eager to learn more, she had looked up what happened during their expedition; two dead, one crippled, and one unable to be healed from whatever form of insanity had made him think everyone was trying to eat him.

Staring at letter from her best friend and the boy she had a crush on, where he casually said he was risking his life, terrified her, and she had to bite back a sob. Her mother might not know exactly why she was crying, but had gathered her daughter up in her arms. She sat down on the bed, pulled her daughter in until she was in her mom's lap, and rubbed Hermione's back like she always used to. Hermione watched her father lift the letter out of her fingers to silently read it himself. Her eyes met Hedwig's and the owl looked back at her sadly. Hermione whimpered, "Why is it always Harry?"

Hedwig only gave a short "Prek" in reply, before jumping onto Hermione's shoulder. The owl attempted to comfort the poor girl by making soft noises and nuzzling her face.

HPatEA

Dumbledore stumbled out of the Floo and into his office, completely exhausted. It should have been a short meeting, just long enough for him to be fashionable late for his staff meeting. Madam Bones had not made an idle threat, though. After Cornelius and Lucius started arguing with him again, Madam Bones had disappeared for maybe three minutes.

Madam Longbottom had joined them ten minutes later, demanding to know why she was not informed that they were discussing the placement of Mr Potter. The argument that ensued wore out all his patience and lasted till dinner, ending with all participants divided into two distant sides; him and Madam Longbottom wishing Harry to be allowed to choose what would happen; and Madam Bones, Cornelius, and Mr Malfoy all arguing that he needed to be placed with a respected family. It was just lucky that Madam Bones disagreed with the other two regarding what constituted a respected family. Though, it had almost been worth it to see Augusta tell Mr Malfoy, "No Frenchman worm will be raising the next Lord Potter!"

Dumbledore started walking towards his quarters, but stilled when he heard an angry cough behind him. Whipping around, wand drawn… he came face to face with Minerva. Putting his hand to his chest, he sighed. "Minerva, you should know better than to sneak up on an old man like that. How was the staff meeting?"

She stared at him intently, and he could tell she was angry, before she replied, "The staff meeting was fine, Albus. Now how about you explain everything I learned today, starting with a letter from Mr Potter, then from my visit to the Weasleys!" Her voice had started at a quiet level but menacing tone, and ended in what was almost a lion's roar. Taking one look at his deputy, he headed for his desk chair knowing that he would not be getting sleep anytime soon. Maybe he would find out more about what happened, other than what he already had learned today. Whatever the case may be, a visit to the Weasleys to see the boy was in the cards for tomorrow. When Amelia said he had run away from the Dursleys for the rest of the summer and was staying at the Leaky Cauldron, Dumbledore had panicked. But this… this might just be a good thing.

HPatEA

Bill bit back his annoyance as he headed towards the floo. He had managed to get the job with Geoffre. Plus as a way to appease his family he had found out definitively if Harry was going to be accompanying him. That Harry would be accompanying the expedition probably would not help his family's thoughts on things but well there was nothing he could do there.

Then to make matters worse for him personally he had tried to talk to Harry after he got out of work but no one in the Leaky Cauldron would tell him which room was Harry's. How could he get mad at that? They were trying to keep the kid safe that was a great thing, but man did it infuriate him at this moment.

He just hoped his mother would see the good side of what the Leaky Cauldron staff was doing and not yell to much that the earliest he would be able to talk to Harry would be the meeting tomorrow.