Chapter Eight
Three days after the Dementor attacks, Harry was still holed up in his room. The only one who could get in was Ginny, he wouldn't even let the elves in. The rest of the Order continued with damage control. The teens poured all their efforts into a new line of research. What Harry had said cut a lot of people to the quick. He was right, in a way, everyone was not putting the effort into finding out if the released souls, because that is indeed what happened when the Dementors where destroyed, could be reunited with their still living bodies, not because the bulk of them were Muggles, but rather, because no one saw any way of doing it. For so long a Kiss from a Dementor was considered so close to an execution that the difference didn't matter. The consensus was that it couldn't be done, so it wasn't worth making an effort to try to do anything, so sorry to those innocents that suffered.
"Come on Harry, at least take a shower. You are a little beyond ripe. I'm giving you ten minutes to get out of that bed and then I start on the cleaning charms!" said a very frustrated Ginny.
The first smile in three days crossed Harry's face, "I was wondering what that smell was. I thought Witherwings moved in with me because I've been such charming company. I've been a real berk, haven't I? I'm sorry for that."
She stood, unmoved by his words and pointed to the bathroom.
Harry started to remove the blankets covering himself, but stopped, "Umm...Gin...can you..."
Still pointing to the bathroom, she looked him straight in the eye,"Look, I've got six brothers, I think I've seen enough drawers to last a lifetime."
"Umm...just turn around. Please?"asked a red faced Harry.
"Fine!" she spat.
Ginny gave up waiting for him after hearing the water running for half an hour. Three days of putting up with this mood of Harry's was enough. She stormed to the door and began banging on it. "Potter! Get your bony arse out of there. NOW!"
She turned and stormed out the door of the bedroom, then crumpled against the wall in laughter.
Harry, his shower interupted by the stormy red-head did the only thing he could think of, obey. When he entered his room she was nowhere to be found. He shrugged and dressed. He found the others in the library.
"Well, well, look who has decided to rejoin the land of the living," said Ron. "What finally made you come out of that sty you call a room, mate?"
Harry smiled at Ron,"Not what, who. And that who was your sister."
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly when he saw the look in Ginny's eyes.
"Harry, we need to talk," said Remus.
"Umm...sure, the office?"
When they got into the office Remus motioned for Harry to sit, "About the other night. Now everyone is expecting some sort of explanation, before then not everyone that you were indeed 'The Chosen One'. Moody and I have been putting it off because we think it would be better coming from you. I know you hate this kind of attention, but you've brought it on yourself this time. Plus I think you owe Arthur an apology, he knows you were not at your best and doesn't really blame you for saying what you did, but a formal apology would be nice."
Harry scratched his head, "Yeah, I did say a few things..."
"You could say that, you ran roughshod over a lot of people the other night. I think I know what you are going through right now, but understand we are here to help you. I know you haven't always had someone you could rely on."
"Yeah, that is a bit of an understatement. I see now that even if I did trust Snape to do the right thing before we ran off to the Ministry it may not have made a difference. I've always ended up doing it myself. It is hard to rely on people after fifteen years of being on your own. I don't even rely on Ron and Hermione as much as I should. I never had anyone before, I'm not sure I really know how to do it."
"I understand that. Until your father and Sirius, I was the same way. I also want to talk to you about the Dementor issue, not really to change the subject."
Harry stiffened, then nodded.
"It isn't because the victims are mostly Muggles, at least for us...the Order, it is because it was always looked upon as a hopeless cause. Nobody wanted to devote resources to doing something that they all knew was doomed to failure, before they even began. Look, it has been over five hundred years since a single Dementor has been destroyed and in one night you take out a couple of hundred of them. It was a bit of a shock all around."
Giving Remus half of a smile, Harry said, "I kind of figured that, about yesterday afternoon."
"You are right, though, the Ministry doesn't monitor everyone as closely as they had monitored you. Most of that was inadvertent. The extra close monitoring was supposed to be for your protection, but I guess there were those who thought watching you was what was going to keep them in power."
"Fudge and his cronies?"
Remus nodded.
"That kind of backfired on him, but then again the man couldn't find his arse by sitting on his hands."
"Here is where we stand. Several of us are looking into the issue of reuniting the souls and bodies. Bill thinks that maybe the answer is in the Horcrux ritual. But, the problem is that using it would run afoul of about two dozen different laws. Right now we have collected fifty disembodied spirits from the Dementors you destroyed. Thirty five of them are passangers from the bus. Ten of them are other Muggles from other attacks over the past year. Four of them are Wizards who have been attacked. The final one is..."
"Crouch?"
Remus nodded, stiffly.
Harry swallowed hard and rubbed his face. "Yeah, I kind of expected something like this would crop up."
"Right now we have them all contained. But we have to do something soon. Several of the Muggles are not doing too well and we think that they wouldn't survive being reunited."
"I don't know what to do. It just seems right to make the effort to undo the damage. We have all this power but what do we do with it? Dammit! I am seventeen years old, I shouldn't have to make these kinds of decisions. I should be worried about my next date and whether or not I really need to shave, this morning. Not people who are less than half of what they should be, not werewolves out to make a snack of me and my friends or some nutter, who on the strength of the word of a confirmed flake, decided that I am his friggin' nemesis and he needs to see me pushing up daisies."
"I know."
"We need to go to Washington. I need that damn cup. This has to end."
"Hermione is still working on that. We, meaning Tonks, Moody and myself, have set up for you to take your tests in three weeks. Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, Potions and Runes. If you want we can add Herbology and Creatures. We will spend most of the time between now and then getting ready for that. After that, the time will be spent getting ready for the trip to the States. Everything is set to happen over a holiday weekend at the end of November. The museum will still be open, but the increased number of visitors should make our job a bit easier."
"This is supposed to make sense?" asked a very confused Harry.
"With more tour groups, four students from an exclusive British school won't be too out of place. The one thing we won't have to worry about is doing magic. The Americans don't track it the way we do. In fact, after the first year of formal education you are allowed to use it any time."
"And that matters, how?"
"We don't need to worry about you getting in trouble with the American Department of Magic."
"Oh. I still don't like this, but it is the best idea we've come up with, so far."
"That's true. Go on, get out of here, Hermione will be going spare by now."
Harry sighed, "Yeah, I bet she will. Oh, Remus, I still need new glasses before we go."
"I think we can arrange that before the exams."
The next couple of days were spent finalizing the preparations for the exams. Harry decided, after looking over Hermione's texts, that he should be able to at least pull an A on the Arithmancy exam So the list of exams now included Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He knew that, given the excitement his Patronus caused on the O.W.L.s, he should be able to get similar results for some of the N.E.W.T. exams. Hermione was also confident that she would be able to do the same. Ron, on the other hand was the one fretting over the exams and demanding extra study time. So, study they did.
All four of them spent almost every waking moment following Hermione's study guides to the letter. The Saturday before the exams, Remus told Harry that he had an eye appointment that afternoon. When they arrived in Diagon Alley, Harry was surprised to find most of the shops closed, their signs proclaiming verified owl orders only. Pullling their cloaks tight, they hustled through the street, to one of the few open shops. Remus entered first.
"Alex, long time, no see."
"If a week is long then I'm James."
"Damn, I miss the next line."
"James would say, be serious, you can't be James. Then Sirius would start on that whole Sirius/serious bit. So, where is my patient?"
Harry removed his cloak.
"Harry, Alex, here was the Ravenclaw Prefect the year behind us. He has the record of most points ever taken by a prefect."
"Darn right, at least twenty a week for nearly three years. But then again, I also have the record for most point decisions being overturned."
Harry broke into a grin. "I don't really want to know. You wouldn't happen to be related to Cho Chang?"
"She is my niece. But I don't think you came here to discuss old girlfriends."
"Not really. I need to do something about my eyes. Glasses just aren't right anymore. I can't afford to have them come off at the wrong time."
"With everything you seem to get into, I can understand that. Though you don't have many options. If you were a couple of years older, well, it would be a different story."
"I'm guessing another pair of glasses or some kind of contact lense." said Harry.
"You guessed correctly. Though we don't call them contacts, but you have the general idea. Let me examine your eyes and then we will discuss what you need and what you may want."
"You said there are other options if I were older, why not now?"
"It is a matter of physical maturity. The spells and potions and even surgery that I have available have to wait until you are completely done growing. If I were to use them before then and you were to continue to grow, we will have, most likely, traded one eye problem for another."
Harry nodded, "I think I understand, now."
A few diagnostic spells later, "Done. I see you have myopia with moderate astigmatism. Pretty common and easily correctable. Those glasses you are wearing are not quite the right correction you need. I would imagine you get headaches often."
"Yeah, but I never thought some of them could be from my glasses."
"They are. Like I said before, you have a choice of new glasses or lenses. I would choose the lenses with everything you seem to get into."
"Would I be able to leave them in for an extended period?"
"Actually you will never have to take them out, until it is time to replace them, and by then you should be old enough to consider one of the other options."
"That sounds great. But the one thing I don't want to do is make it look like I got my eyes fixed."
"I can take care of that too. It would be a simple matter to put blank lenses into a pair of frames and charm them to darken in sunlight or other bright light."
"I know a couple of kids I went to school with, when I was little, who wore glasses like that. I was also wondering if there were any special enchantments you could put on them, like seeing through walls."
Alex sighed, "Yes, but that isn't one of them. That can only be done on a full replacement eye." Then he mumbled something to himself that sounded like 'that damn eye'.
"What can be done?"
"I can add charms that will protect your eyes from things like dust and very bright light. I can also set them up to see better in very low light or to see a person's body heat. Not quite as good as seeing through an invisibility cloak, but better than most people can do. There are a host of vanity charms that can be added, but I don't really think you would be interested in them."
"I think the low light and the heat ones."
"Very good. There is one drawback to those two charms. At night everthing has a sort of greenish tinge to it. Kind of like looking through a pale green glass."
"I don't think that will be a problem."
"Good, try these on." Ales said, handing Harry a pair of lenses. He helped Harry to insert them.
"They seem to be fine. I can see much better."
"Good. Now go into the back, it is dark in there and let me know how well you can see."
Harry walked through the door, into a dimly lit corridor and then walked into a darkened room. After looking around, Harry found a piece of parchment. Picking it up, he noticed a faint greenish glow against the stark whiteness of the parchment. He laked back to the front part of the shop, chuckling.
"I guess you could read that?" Alex asked as Harry handed him seventy five galleons. "I have the frames ready."
Harry picked up what looked like a pair of ordinary glasses, very similar to his last pair. He put them on, and walked to the window. They started to darken as the light got brighter.
"Thank you."
"That was brutal." said Ron collapsing into a chair.
"Yeah, it was." agreed Harry.
Ginny and Hermione, walking in together fell onto the sofa. The leaned against each other not mustering enough energy to speak.
"At least we'll have the results tonight." muttered Ron, throwing back his head to rest it on the back of the chair, his long legs thrust out in front of him. It didn't take long before he started to snore.
Harry stood and made his was to the sofa and sat next to Ginny. She shifted and leaned into him, Hermione following Ginny's movement, leaning on her. Remus found them, two hours later, asleep. Ron and Hermione huddled on one end of the sofa, Ginny and Harry on the other end.
"Get up!" said a voice that rattled the windows. Instantly four wands pointed at the hapless Marauder. One body bind, one tripping and two silencing spells later, Remus was staring at the ceiling, with four wands pointing at him.
After removing the spells and giving him a hand, Harry asked, "What were you thinking?"
"I did the same thing to your dad and Sirius after our DADA N.E.W.T., about the same results...maybe I should give it up?"
Harry just nodded, an almost held back grin escaping, "Yeah, you're lucky we were too tired to really do much of anything else. I don't suppose wolf bogies would be any less painful than the regular kind. Huh, Gin?"
"If he tries THAT again, he'll find out and then he can tell you."
"Fine, fine, see if what happens when I try to be nice. Moody would have hexed all while you slept and then awakened you." They glared at him. "But, the real reason I woke you up is that your results are here. Minerva is waiting for you in the library."
The excited teens ran from the room, Hermione leading the way.
Harry was pleased with his results, O's in Transfiguration, Charms and Defense; E's in Creatures, Potions and Runes; and an A in Arithmancy. Hermione had all O's, to her surprise, but no one elses. Ron received nearly the same grades as Harry, except he did not take the Arithmancy exam and only received an E in Transfiguration. Ginny, who had taken them more on a whim than anything else pulled E's in everything except Runes and Defense, where she earned O's.
"Now, there are just a few more items that I must take care of before I let you slip off. The first, you are all now fully qualified witches and wizards. For what it is worth, I thought you were more than that four months ago, but now it is official. You are subject to the full penalty of law and the full responsibility of your actions. I shall not go into the rest of my speech that I give all my students, not because I am having pity on you but, rather, because I don't think you need it. I think you understand what I would have to tell you much better than I can ever express it. It does my heart proud to see what the four of you have accomplished in such sort a time. I know that we can expect great things from the lot of you."
She paused and took a drink from a goblet sitting next to her.
"The next item that I must discuss is about your status, Ginevra. While being a fully qualified witch, you are still subject to the age restrictions, unfortunately. There are two ways around this. The first is marrage, which I don't think you are quite ready for, correct Mr. Potter."
"Not even betrothal." muttered Harry, suddenly wondering where that thought came from, not that it was an unpleasant thought to have, he decided.
"I thought not. The second is to become employed in a position that would require your being able to fully utilize magic. Under the circumstances, there are not many who are hiring, let alone a slightly underage witch. As Headmistress and a member of the Order, who knows what you must do, I am, hereby, offering you a position at Hogwarts."
"There is a third way..."
"Yes, Miss Granger, but as only a Master can take on an Apprentice and there is a decided lack of them who are capable of doing so in this room, I thought it best not to bring up the subject."
"What kind of job is it?" asked Ginny.
"Why, Miss Weasley, Muggleborn Enrollment Co-ordinator. Your job is to contact and visit all new Muggleborn enrolled, since I no longer have time to devote to that duty, myself. Also, since letters and visits are not being sent out again until next May, you have several months to learn the intricacies of your new job."
"What exactly would I have to do?"
"In a normal year, you would in addition to making the initial contact with the Muggleborn students and their parents you would also help any Muggleborn student keep in touch with his family."
"I am also offering positions to Mr. Potter and Miss Granger. These offers will be for the next year that the school is completely open."
"Do we have time to think about this?"
"Until the close of May."
"Now, officially you have completed your formal education, so here are your diplomas." She said, handing out four scrolls, one to each teen. She also handed out a stack of certificates, one for each N.E.W.T earned.
"Mr. Potter, there is one other item that Albus had set aside for you, but I did not find it until yesterday." McGonagall handed Harry a large brass key. "It has been many years since someone other than the Headmaster or the Keeper of Keys has carried one of these. This is the key to the castle. As you probably notice, it doesn't look like it would actually fit into any lock. That is true, it won't. Just tap the lock with the key and it will open. It will also work on those door protected by a password."
"Thank you."
"There is one more item." She passed Harry a Muggle newpaper.
Harry read the circled article and swore loudly.
"What?" three voices asked, in unison.
"It seems someone tried to steal the cup," Harry paused, checking the date, "three days ago."
"I don't know if we have time to finish our preparations. We need to go now. The one that is in Washington may not even be the real cup any longer." said Hermione.
"I know. It will take us at least a few days to get ready. I guess we need to get started."
Fleur rushed into the room. "You are needed at Headquarters."
"Let's go."
The four of them arrived at the Tower to see all the members of the Order waiting for them.
McGonagall spoke first. "After leaving that article with you, Harry, I came here and found this waiting for me."
Harry grabbed the piece of parchment. He passed it to the others.
"Damn him!" shouted Remus. "I have never regretted not biting someone, until now." He threw the parchment to the floor and strode from the room, cursing under his breath.
"But it doesn't say if he was successful." said Ginny as she scooped up the parchment.
"I know, but that damn greasy bastard. We still have to go, at least to check it out. We also have to think that it may now be cursed or tracking spells placed on it or just about any number of other things I can think of."
"Bill," Harry called out, spotting him across the room, "we need to concentrate on detection and breaking." He handed him the parchment.
"I think I can swing about two hours a day, in the evenings. I'm supposed to be working now, you know."
"Yeah, I know. Is there anything else you can help us with...books and stuff?"
"You've already done most of that. I can list a few devices to get but now what you mostly need is practice. And you're right, even if the one still there is the real cup, who knows what Snape did to it."
"Is there anything else you can help us with? Some of your stories you've told us seem to have things left out, to keep Mum quiet, I suppose."
"I can't pull one on you, can I Gin? You're right. I've had to 'retrieve' an artifact or two from Muggle Museums. I think I can help you with that, but I've never had to try against something like the Smithsonian. Those Yanks are pretty damn scary when it comes to stuff like this."
Smiling, Ginny said, "Don't worry, I won't tell Mum, unless we end up in a Yank prison."
"Great." Ron and Hermione joined them. Bill continued, "I just thought of something...if you lot were a couple of years older we could try a ploy I once used in Egypt. I posed as an appraiser hired by the British Museum to inventory and appraise a find before transporting it."
Ron looked at Harry, grinning "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you are thinking of Gred and Forge in long white beards, then yeah."
Bill looked confused, but Hermione and Ginny were now grinning. "Bill are you a wizard?" asked Hermione.
"Umm...yeah."
"You ever hear about aging potions?" asked Ron. "Remember that for the Triwizard Tournament the names had to be entered before Fred and George."
"Did we hear our names taken in vain?"
"No, we were just telling our dear older brother, who solemnly swears he is up to no good, about your botched attempt to fool the Goblet."
"Ah...just what we want to hear. More family mischief. It does our hearts good to see the mirth and cheer spread so."
Hermione entered the conversation, "I have an uncle who works for Lloyd's. It is possible they are involved in this exhibit. It may be possible that we can investigate this attempt. We would have to leave soon, like tomorrow or the next day."
"That might work. Go check it out."
Hermione nodded and left quickly.
"Okay, Bill. We need a crash course on this."
Hermione returned a few minutes later, beaming, "I was right. And as luck would have Uncle Jonathon is the investigator assigned to the case. We leave the day after tomorrow, on the Concorde."
"The Concorde?" asked Ron "What's that, a ship?"
"No, it is a very fast Muggle airplane. He thinks we are flying out of Gatwick tonight and are going to meet him there in two days. I got us the flight on the Concorde so we have an extra day to prepare. He also thinks that I and a a few school friends are just going because he is there and we've always wanted to see Washington. He said he is going to arrange for us to spend a coupled of days sight seeing. We have four days in Washington, total."
"So how are we going to do this?" asked Harry.
"We stun my Uncle and take his place as the investigators. Honestly, Harry, even you should be able to figure that much out." she teased.
Ron nudged Harry in the ribs, saying in a whisper loud enough to be heard, "Scary, that one is. Scary, but brilliant."
Harry, Ron and Hermione burst into laughter. Harry saying, "I should have expected that after all, you did pull the same thing on Neville, once."
"Ron, Ginny. Hermione and I will do all the talking. You two are trainees, that way your normal thunderstruck looks won't be so out of place. We will each be taking a bit of the aging potion. I'm not sure I really trust it, but Remus said Fred did a perfect job with it."
"You're right there, mate, I wouldn't trust those three, either if this weren't so bloody serious."
"I guess so, those two do kind of fancy themselves as suppliers for secret agents or something."
"Yes, regular Q branch employees." said Hermione.
"Muggle movie reference." said Harry, answering Ron's lost look.
"Right, Fred, George and Remus are Q. You must be Moneypenny."
"No, Ginny is Moneypenny."
"Right. If your not Moneypenny then who are you?"
"M, of course. You're James and Ron is that Yank that is always helping James out."
"A little too feminine for that roll. You don't look like an old man."
"Not that M, you idiot, the new one...Judy Dench's M."
"What new one? There is a new movie?"
"It's two years old now, Harry. Oh, right...sorry."
"That's all right. If it wasn't on the television I wouldn't have had a chance to see it anyway."
"Merlin's balls, mate, what ARE you two going on about?"
"Just some Muggle movies about a British secret agent. We will have to watch them sometime. They're kind of fun." said Harry.
"Secret agent...you mean spy?" aked Ginny.
"Yeah."
"But if he is a spy, why are they letting everyone know about him?" asked Ron, confused again.
"It's not real. It is just fiction." said Ginny, rolling her eyes at Ron. "You know what fiction is?"
"Yeah." came Ron's grumpy reply. "I get it now, OK. It is just sometimes when you two go on about this stuff I get all confused. Things sound kind of the same, but after years of Dad's stories it is a bit hard to tell.""Plus you didn't take Muggle Studies, so you have even less of a clue than I do."
"Anyway," Ron said, "back to what we are going to do once we get to Washington."
"Yeah, where were we?"
"Ginny and I are trainees."
"Right. Hermione and I will be interacting with the American investigator. What was that you are going to disguise the curse detector Bill got for us as?"
"An ultraviolet fingerprint machine."
"Whatever that is. As long as the Muggles won't think it strange." said Ron.
"Not at all. I can even disguise our wands to look like investigative tools. Bill gave me a list of items that he has used as disguises. The only thing I won't have to disguise is the camera. It looks enough like an old Muggle camera to work. Besides, it is really the film and developing technique that make the pictures different. Colin's camera is just an old fashioned purely mechanical Muggle one, like the one we'll be using. Ron, you will take the pictures."
"The one thing that I like about this, is that we won't have to break in." said Ginny. "Bill said that when he used this caper, the museum was extremely helpful. They provided him a room to work and everything."
"Good. We can just transfigure the cup and get the hell out of there." said Harry.
"We could, but that would leave Uncle Jonathon in a bind, and I couldn't do that to him. I am his favorite niece. We will have to conduct a real investigation, of sorts."
"How do you know what to do?"
"We'll just use Uncle Jonathon's notes and I'll write the answers in his book. He always writes his questions down before, he can be a little absent minded when he gets involved in these things."
They spent the remainder of the day before their flight shopping. Hermione insisted that hey all get Muggle business suits. She said that even trainees would dress well. None of them were going to be senior investigators, so off the rack clothing was fine. They also bought enough casual clothing to look the part of teens doing tourist activities. Hermione, who travelled enough with her parents to know how to look did all the selecting of the clothing. Tonks, who also had some experience in shopping in the Muggle world agreed to shop with them. She also supplied Ron, Ginny and Harry with the needed travel documents.
"Just remember. The photos on here, while not moving are still magical. They will reflect your current appearance. So when you take the aging potion the picture will still look fine." she said, handing them their various ID cards.
Harry had one other task. He was going to be using Polyjuice potion to pass for Hermione's uncle.
"Good thing we brewed up a batch. " said Ron.
"Yeah, but how are we going to get this stuff through customs?" aked Harry.
"Simple." said Tonks, who was helping them pack. She cast a charm on Harry's luggage. "Open it up."
Harry opened is suitcase. He stared at it for a minute. "Looks just like a bunch of Muggle stuff in here. But I can still see what it really looks like under that."
"Right, that is because it is yours. If anyone or anything else looks at it, then they just see the glamour. Aurors have to do a bit of travel, sometimes, and we often end up in Muggle areas, so we learn some pretty handy disguise spells. Remember, I was tops in my class in this, and that wasn't just for my 'special' ability, either. I could always go full Muggle better than anyone else."
She then did the luggage for the other three.
They were taking the last flight of the day, so they had plenty of time to make it to Heathrow.
They arrived in New York on schedule and made their connecting flight to Washington. Ron, who had been excited about this means of travel, quickly became a jaded flier. The novelty had worn off about an hour into the flight, with the first bout of mild turbulence. Ron had spent the next couple of hours paying homage to chrome and plastic deity or his paper avatar.
