Return to Wizarding Britain
"Dinner will begin in ten minutes master!" Kreacher hurried away from the table and back to the range to oversee the cooking. Harry nodded, and continued reading Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland. In the seconds he stopped reading when turning the pages his thoughts would stray to the gleaming scarlet steam engine that would take him to school the next day, and when this happened his mouth would involuntarily break into a wide grin. He looked up from his book to the little house elf bounding around the kitchen of number twelve Grimmauld Place. He took in the rest of the kitchen, which, like all other parts of the house, was now completely spotless.
Kreacher too, was like a new elf these days. Harry had given him his own room to replace the old cupboard he had once called home. There, he was free to hoard all the black family heirlooms he pleased including, to his endless delight, a large portrait of Walburga Black, mother of Sirius and Kreacher's former mistress. Harry and others had tried, with no avail, to counter the permanent sticking charm that had bound the portrait to it's former place near the hall but finally admitted defeat, opting instead to physically remove the section of the wall it was stuck to. Thus Kreacher, with the option to retire to his room of treasures at will, was more deliriously happy than Harry had ever seen a house elf.
Harry heard the sound of a herd of elephants tumbling down the stairs and assumed, correctly, that Ron was about to join him. He burst through the kitchen door and thrust himself into a chair accross the table from Harry, grinning. He had been like this for the entire week that Harry and the Weasleys had been staying in London. "Taking their time, aren't they?" said Ron, half smiling, half impatient. "I mean she's cutting it close, coming back the day before we school". "Have you ever had to travel to Australia to reverse a memory charm you put your parents?". "S'pose not" replied Ron, "What do you reckon her and McGonagall talked about on their way there?"
"Knitting patterns probably"
Their laughs stopped suddenly at the sound of the front door slamming. Seconds later the door to the kitchen opened and in walked Mrs. Weasley, followed by Ginny and then by a tanned, smiling Hermione. She and Ron threw themselves into each other's arms at once as the other two unfastened their travelling cloaks. Harry looked on from a short distance away, almost laughing at the sight of their zealous embrace. The pair quickly remembered that there were four sets of eyes in the room, and drew apart, looking suddenly like scolded children, but Harry could see the tolerant smile Mrs.Weasley wore as she turned to help Kreacher serve dinner. "Welcome back Hermione" said Harry, moving forward to hug her, "Parents all fixed up?". "Oh Harry, you wouldn't believe it, it was simply marvelous, I've got so much to tell..." "Come on everyone, dinner's ready" came the voice of Mrs. Weasley from the other side of the room "and leave those two seats free, Bill and Fleur said they'd be over".
Hermione's parents, it turned out, had arrived back in Britain weeks ago by plane, but she and Professor Mcgonagall had opted to take a tour of the wider wizarding world, stopping at various points in Asia and Europe. "Siam was fantastic" she gushed as Harry and Ron guzzled, "but it's much more of a spiritual thing over there, lots of meditation and claming spells. Syria was by far the best. We were in Damascus and then Hama, some of the experiments they do they're just...well, a bit scary really, but they're terribly interesting, and in Germany...". "Joo get us anyfing" interrupted Ron, battling with a mouthful of steak and kidney pie. Hermione's eyes narrowed. "You'll have to wait and see Ronald."
Dinner was interupted by a knock on the door and Kreacher scuttled out and then back in a minute later, followed by a flustered looking Bill and Fleur. They greeted everyone and sat down to their plates. Fleur spoke. "Sorry we are late. There is a huge 'ullaballoo at ze bank and we 'ad to work late." "Group of Aurors coming in from the north" said Bill by way of further explanation. "Massive fund transfer, very high security. Everyone had to be there to make sure it went off without a hitch. Don't think I've ever seen anything like it since I started at Gringotts". Harry thought Hermione looked slightly dumbstruck by Bill's news, but she recovered quickly enough to begin firing questions at him. "Where in the North?". "Germany mostly, but there were some Norwegians in the party, and I think the head officer was Finnish. There were a lot of them either way". This seemed of great interest to Hermione, who looked ready to ask a thousand more questions but for another knock on the door, followed by the appearance of Mr.Weasely. "Hello Weasleys, Harry. Hermione! How are you?"
Hermione looked preoccupied throughout the rest of dinner and as soon as possible after it was finished she rushed upstairs, beckoning Harry, Ron and Ginny. She finally stopped in the landing outside Harry and Ron's room, the rest of the group panting as they caught up with her. "What's the big idea with legging it off like that" said Ron, crouching to regain his breath. "What's wrong Hermione" said Ginny "you looked a bit put out by what Bill was saying". "Yeah" added Harry, opening the door to the bedroom and strolling inside "whats wrong with big money transfers?".
"I was about to tell you before Bill and Fleur came in" replied Hermione, stepping into the bedroom, "about what was happening while we were in Germany. There was a huge scandal there involving the warden of Nurmengard. He ended up getting fired over it. The papers weren't saying what this scandal was, but there were rumours everywhere of a breakout". "I'm still not getting it" said Harry, completely unaware of any significance this event might have. "Don't you see? If all those northern Aurors are over here, then it sort of confirms the rumour, doesn't it? There was a breakout, and they clearly beieve that the escapee is over here, if they're willing to transfer so much money and manpower". She began pacing, a worried expression on her face. Ron sat down on his bed and began to speak. "Fair enough, that sounds right and all, but why should we worry about it? I can't have anything to do with us can it?". Harry nodded in agreement and looked towards Hermione for her reply. "Well, that could be true, only..." she sat down on the bed beside Ron and started to bite her nails. "Look, I don't want to alarm you Harry, or cause a fuss". This sentence had the opposite effect on Harry, who now looked quite alarmed. "What is it?".
"It's just, well the story came out around the time I was there, but there was a delay from the time it occurred until the time the story broke. Presuming there was an escape from Nurmengard, it happened at the exact time that you saw you know who there, when he went after Grindelwald. What if this person is after you Harry?". The bedroom went silent, Hermione looked tense. Then...
Harry was falling backwards onto his bed, laughing with relief. Ron and and Ginny joined in too. Hermione looked puzzled. "What's the matter? Don't you think this could be serious?" "To be honest...not really" said Harry, sitting up. "I mean, who do I know that was in prison in Nurmengard? Nowone". "Harry please, take this at least a little bit seriously. It's too much of a coincidence that this happened while you know who was there. I just think we should all be vigilant". "Maybe this person is just a fan of Harry, wants an autograph" said Ron. ignoring Hermione's pleading look. The other three tried desperately to hold back their laighter as Hermione stood up and stormed towards the door. "Fine. Believe what you want. I'm going to bed". The laughter stopped. Ron jumped to his feet and followed her muttering something along the lines of "I'll say sorry to her...say goodnight".
Ginny also stood up from Ron's bed, but moved over to Harry instead, sitting down beside him. "Goodnight Harry" she said, leaning towards him.
