Part 4 : Research Begins
Hermione's list had included the directory of attorneys that Sirius had suggested. He felt mildly guilty for playing his friends like he had, but all he said would be perfectly true, if Dumbledore wasn't in question. He was 15, all but one of his DADA teachers had intentionally tried to do him harm, if not kill him, and he had a feeling he was playing many galleons for the privilege. One of many things he should have asked or found out about before now. And how was there an Evans account at Gringotts? Wouldn't his mother's account be a Potter account?
He gathered the mail order catalogs, along with spare order slips next to them. He then went to the Quidditch books and grabbed Professional Quidditch and the Firebolt: Speed vs. Skill for Ron, and Conditioning on the Ground for himself. Then begged Madam Pince's help with Hermione's list. He knew that her stay in the hospital wing was the only reason Madam Pince would make an exception and allow the books out of the library this late in the term. The court ruling books were something he wouldn't have known how to find, and judging from the dust on them hadn't left the shelves since Hermione had worked on Buckbeak's case.
Any questions Harry asked, looking for information, would be passed on. Hermione asking would be expected, the overkill in information that she required to reach a decision something he knew he could use for his benefit. Also, since Madam Pince was on Hermione's Christmas list, a little over and above help would be given. Harry wished he had thought to be seen more as a bookworm, but shooting for average marks to avoid punishment for surpassing Dudley was engrained in him. Hopefully his push since McGonagall's career advice session was seen as the sole source of his improvement.
He thanked Madam Pince profusely for her help, and understanding how much he wanted to help his best friends. The carrier bag she lent him, had a nice built in feather-light charm, so he decided to take the long way back to the infirmary.
If Sirius was right, and he was not well warded at Privet Drive, the question became how to ward himself without letting Dumbledore know, and without using magic during the summer. He also needed ways to keep himself and his belongings safe. Which meant he also needed a way to sound-proof his room, unlock and lock locks, and get food and water. Apparently, Sirius thought Dumbledore was watching his mail much like Umbridge had, and frankly it was logical. Otherwise shouldn't he have received owls his whole life? Little girls like Ginny raised reading romanticized stories with him as the Hero, would surely have written. And why had he never received a single letter from any of his parents' friends? Or Christmas Gift? Was there a room in Hogwarts filled with hate and fan mail for him? He laughed.
As Harry entered the infirmary, he saw Ginny and Neville had come in to visit. The curtains were drawn from the windows, and it looked as if they had opened all the lower portions of the windows. It smelled of late spring, and not potions for the first time in days. He smiled as he pulled a chair over to the foot of Hermione's bed. Neville and Ron were playing chess with Ginny and the pieces competing to help out Neville.
"Hey guys." Harry handed Hermione the legal directory, placed the Ron's book on his nightstand, and then put the catalogs on Ron's bed. Hermione smiled above the bickering of the pieces and started reading the directory immediately.
Ginny turned to him. "So Sirius has ordered you to waste all the money he had."
Harry tried to smile. "Yes. Probably the best revenge he could get, having it spent on fun rather than snakes and dark artifacts. Though I don't know how much there is, but I thought we could make Christmas lists of sorts."
Ginny smiled. "Catalogs are no fun if you try to shop realistically. When I was little, Dad would bring home all these Muggle catalogs, that have pictures of most everything, and I'd cut out everything and make mansion collages. It was more fun to pretend my dolls lived there, and I could change it any old time." She picked up Gladrags catalog, and opened it. "Wizarding catalogs aren't half as much fun. Pulling out her wand and she began tapping on the menus. Choosing gender, height, season, and color before any pictures began to appear on the side page. "To even get a picture you have to get pretty specific and then the picture only stays for 5 minutes max. And you can't copy it, or tear it out, only add it to your wish list."
Ginny looked at Harry, "Not to mention all the spells that make these work make them somewhat expensive, not free like most of the muggle ones. I got in such trouble when I cut up our Madame Malkins catalog. I don't even know why we had it since we always shopped there in person, but I knew it cost a galleon to replace."
Harry said, "If Hermione here wasn't Madam Pince's favorite I don't think she would have let me remove them from the library."
Hermione looked up and smiled, "Dad's favorite advice from university, be nice to secretaries and librarians, because they are the ones who run the school. It's true. Though here the secretary part doesn't really apply."
Ginny snorted, "Maybe it's prefects here." She nudged Harry. "After all we common folk need to be able to get to the kitchens."
Harry chuckled. "I don't think so. Except for Percy most prefects seem to only notice if someone was bleeding, or a teacher was about to catch them. Then again with my cloak…"
Hermione shook her head, "Not even Percy stopped our adventures when he was a Prefect. Only Neville tried to stop us from leaving."
"Yeah, but then again we usually left when there was no one in the common room," Harry pointed out. "Secretaries are important because they are there even when their boss is out. Hmm, maybe it's the portraits."
Hermione beamed at Harry's insight, "Exactly. I wonder if we could have made things go more easily if we asked the Fat Lady her name? Though in her day, being plump was a sign of wealth and beauty, so it's not exactly that we are insulting her..."
"Well, we don't call her that to her face, do we? Most she hears is usually hello, hurry up, or whatever the password is with the occasional is so-and-so here? Makes you wonder how much portraits are actually there, you know, to keep from getting snippy like Mrs. Black's."
Ginny looked surprised, and Hermione pensive. "Something to look up. But I'd imagine portraits here might be more magical. Not only is there more ambient magic, but more to do, with the range of paintings…"
Ginny said, "And they haven't been trapped in the dark for a decade. Though Sir Cadogen was still a bit off."
Harry leant forward in his chair, resting his chin on his fist. "Wonder if the Fat Lady and the other guarding portraits rotate off?"
"Not while my brothers were here at least. They all seemed shocked when Ron & I mentioned having a different portrait."
Hermione interrupted. "Time to get to work. Harry, you take the court index from 1975 to 1985, and Ginny if you would take 1985 to 1995? They are indexed by year, then case type, then by defendant or claimant. Since you'll not want an attorney he's ever used, we can compile a list, though we probably should cross-check to see if other Death Eaters used any of the winning attorneys." Harry grabbed his book as she continued, "We'll need to cross check with the trial transcripts, so write down all you can. There should be a reference volume given, but last time I found they weren't that accurate, so you need the court, judge, and date, too."
Harry glanced over and noticed Ron's trying to shush his players as he moved into checkmate. "And don't think I forgot you, Ron or Neville. There's supplements to go through too."
Harry quickly jumped in, "Neville, if you'd like to help, or if you just know a couple good attorney names, that'd be great. I don't know if this lot explained.."
Neville interrupted, "They gave me enough, I think. And if you'd like to talk later, or some help tomorrow I'd be willing. But I'm already running late to meet Professor Sprout. She's promised to let me take some cuttings home in exchange for help setting up for the summer." He shrugged, "Thought I would have lost by now."
"You're definitely better than Harry here, mate. Haven't had such a good game in ages."
Neville finished putting away the set, "Gran makes me play her a lot. And even when I was learning to call the knight, a knight, instead of the horsey, she rarely let me win." He smiled, "You should play her, Ron. It would be great for everyone else."
They all laughed.