Chapter 9: Business

A/N: Until 'bolko7' pointed out certain facts, I did not think of how Harry was portrayed in the previous chapter. I had written both this chapter and the previous chapter at one go and I had not thought of the impression I was presenting when I posted only one chapter. Harry came off as irresponsible in the previous chapter while he was extremely careful and realistic in the other chapters. This chapter will explain the discrepancy.

The future was one thing that had eluded Harry's thoughts for a long time. He did not know what his life was geared towards really. Given the corruption in the ministry and the manipulations of people like Dumbledore, he needed a solid plan about his future.

Harry realized that as it was, his entire life was planned towards defeating Voldemort. No one had ever talked to him about his goals or his dreams. Everyone just assumed that his life was for the purpose of defeating Voldemort. They assumed that he would be an auror and fight Voldemort. But what about life other than that was focused on Voldemort?

The ministry was not an option for any occupation. He hated being under someone's control even if it was the auror captain. He wanted to be independent and be in control of his life. He could never follow orders from anyone, be it Dumbledore or the ministry. So he thought long and hard about what he wanted to do in life other than having fun.

Harry knew he would be the most effective fighter given his little Battle Magic knowledge and his strong affinity for it. His Grim animagus benefits would help immensely. He was not oriented towards research. He never had the patience for anything like Potions or teaching full time. He could learn about Runes and Wards and become either a freelance curse breaker or a ward specialist. But then, he would still have to work for someone, be it only for money.

So, Harry decided to be a businessman. He knew that Blacks were the true businessmen and had a lot of worth 300 years ago. There had not been a really good businessman from any family since then. Since he was the heir of Black, he could take a look at the remaining assets of the Black family and start from there.

He also had a few ideas to develop the wizarding world, for his own purposes of course. He knew that muggleborns were not respected or utilized to their full potential. He could use that source of wizards to achieve many things in the future. The untapped potential of all the muggleborns was enormous. There were also werewolves and squibs without employment. They were ridiculed and treated shabbily by everyone. He could offer them sanctuary and work. They would work for cheaper wages than bigoted purebloods who exceeded their worth.

But first he had to get the details of what he had available. That information was available only at Gringotts. He had never inquired about his inheritance or his vault balance.

On that particular Sunday, three weeks after the Quidditch game against Slytherin, Harry sneaked out of Hogwarts. He used the underground passage to get to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Then, he apparated directly to Dagon Alley silently. Harry used a charm to change the color of his hair to brown and an illusion to make his eyes seem blue. He had worn muggle clothes so that people would look at him in disgust rather than really look deeply at him.

The palatial marble building of Gringotts loomed before him. Goblins guards were surly as usual and very alert. He resisted the urge to squirm when they used the Probity Probe on him. That long stick kind of thing made sounds near his wand and his bracelet that he continuously wore. Satisfied, they let him pass through. Thankfully being a Sunday, there weren't many people inside the bank.

Harry made his way to the row that had the shortest queue. Soon, he was in front of the ugly Goblin. The Goblin sneered and asked "Yes?"

Harry did not like the attitude of the goblin. Sure they were surly all the time but they should at least treat the customers well. He replied sharply "I wish to inquire how to close all my vaults." It was just a scare but the Goblin didn't have to know that.

"What number? Like a muggleborn like you would have a worthy enough vault." The goblin sneered at him. Clearly given his muggle clothing, the Goblin thought him to be a muggleborn.

Instead of giving a number, he said "Harry Potter" and showed him his scar that he had covered up in his bangs. Thankfully he was the only customer in the line and no one heard him.

The Goblin's eyes widened and he called sharply "Ristask". A smaller Goblin appeared. The first Goblin addressed Harry sounding contrite "Very nasty business, this war. Sorry Mr. Potter, Ristask will take you to a manager and you can conduct your business with him." Harry noted that the Goblin didn't really address the Harry's claim of closing the vaults. Anyway, it was better to get information from a manager rather than a clerk.

He was led towards one of the doors and then through a corridor. He saw a few wizards and Goblins moving around conducting business. There were one or two meetings going on. Then he reached the corridor where there were offices of Goblins. There were many unique and amusing names on the office doors.

Finally, Ristask directed him to the office of Malspear. He vanished as soon as the door opened.

Harry noted the Spartan nature of the office. There was nothing but a desk, a few chairs and a shelf. As usual, there was a Goblin sitting on a high chair behind the desk. This Goblin was more wrinkly than others but his eyes and teeth were still sharp.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?" asked Malspear in a squeaky, scratchy voice.

Knowing it was no use to bicker over Goblin behavior, he asked "How is it possible that Bill Weasley was able to draw money from my vault when I never authorized it?" This was one thing that was bugging him since summer.

The goblin's expression did not waver in the slightest "We were overburdened with customers in the summer. Your appearance in the bank would have caused even more chaos. Rest assured Mr. Potter, we did not allow William Weasley to withdraw the money without reason. He assured us that he would get the money to you and we have ways of ensuring honesty among our employees. We would have known if he had not done as we had asked. Then we would have taken… measures appropriately."

Harry was not completely mollified by the answer but at least it put his concerns of easy access to rest. "Well, from now on I would prefer if only I were able to withdraw my funds."

The goblin acknowledged it with a grunt and asked "Anything else Mr. Potter?"

Harry asked "Yes. I wish to know the details of my all my assets and a statement of my vaults."

The goblin said crisply "Very well." Then the goblin wrote something on a piece of parchment and ran his finger over what he had written. The parchment then transfigured itself to a scroll which was handed to Harry.

When Harry attempted to unroll the scroll, the goblin spoke "Is there anything else you wish Mr. Potter? You may pursue the scroll at your leisure."

Harry shot down his irritation and asked instead "Do you offer interest for the wealth stored in the vaults?"

The goblin sneered contemptuously "We are not a muggle bank Mr. Potter. We do not offer interest on anything stored with us. We only offer storage of wealth and other business dealings."

Harry was not impressed. He decided to take all the information and think about it later. "Is there anything like a muggle share trading done here then?"

The goblin's sneer became more pronounced. Harry thought that the goblins were not capable of any other expression. "No Mr. Potter. There is no market trading of shares in the magical world. There are only true ownership shares for all magical businesses if the starter needs funds. You can own a part of the business and earn a share of the profits made. Any selling or buying of a part of ownership or share of ownership is solely between the buyer and the seller. We do offer our services to list available business opportunities for funding and also provide paperwork and service for selling or buying."

The wizarding world or magical world as the goblin called it was more diverse than the muggle world. In a way, Harry liked this system of ownership. There were no public offering of ownership share and no open trading of the said shares. This would ensure that the owners would reap the full benefits of the business and the business would never be affected by trading. Performance of business would directly correspond to the profits.

It looked like a good idea to know where he could invest and thus he asked "Are there any businesses that are in dire need of investment and new?" Harry asked for new businesses because the old businesses usually offered a very small share of ownership and were too firmly controlled by pureblood bigots. He had specifically asked for new business which was in dire need of funds because he could then control in part where the business was headed.

The goblin seemed to be bored with his enquires. He answered in a monotone "Yes there is one such business. The Weasley Wizarding Wheezes require a major funding. There have been no offers made to them for the three months they have offered the ownership shares."

Harry perked up when Weasley was mentioned. He was really surprised that no one had offered investment. Why the pureblood idiots had not invested so far, Harry would never understand. The twins were set to make a killing in the business. They could already rival Zonko's in their range of products. Also they had the Defense line that no other business offered. It was stupidity to not invest. He asked eagerly "Can I have more details about their offer?"

The goblin again wrote something on a parchment and scratched it with his finger. A moment later, he was given the parchment. The summary of the future plans of the Weasley twins was given. The twins wanted to lease the shop they had rented and were conducting business out of. They had no real plans of expansion in terms of another shop. But they had major plans to expand their line of Defense products which they mentioned took a lot of money to develop. They had also mentioned plans for further development in the prank section. They would own 33 percent of the business and the rest was offered to others. All in all, they required about 20,000 galleons more. Harry was really shocked at the amount. But he had wondered how the twins were able to open a shop with only 1,000 galleons. He knew that generally 1,000 galleons was a large amount to the Weasleys but it was no where near enough to run a business. He had thought that the twins had blackmailed the owner or something like that to open a shop. If a lease cost this much, how much would buying the shop itself cost?

Harry opened a scroll containing his assets and had a quick look at the bottom number. He saw he had a little over 45,000 galleons totally. That was shocking. He had been under the impression that Potters were rich and that Blacks were even wealthier. He would have to have detailed look later.

Out of curiosity, Harry asked "How much does it take to buy a shop in Diagon Alley?"

The goblin sneered and said "Even the smallest of shops cost a minimum of 250,000 galleons or a quarter million. Old businesses do not want to sell their shops or move their businesses. In prime areas of the alley, based on the dimensions of the shop, the price may even go up to one and a half million galleons."

Harry never knew it cost so much. But it was good to know such information.

"What about lease or rent?" he asked.

"A standard one year lease amount may range from 10,000 to 100,000 galleons. Any more and they won't get any takers since no business can afford that kind of money unless it is illegal. Rent varies from measly 100 galleons a month to about 1,500 galleons a month. Is that all Mr. Potter?" The goblin said irately.

The goblin seemed irritated by his questions. So, he decided to get information from someone else. "I would like to invest the whole 20,000 galleons" he told the goblin.

The goblin immediately shot him down "It is not possible Mr. Potter. The Weasleys have made a rule that one person cannot own more than a third of their business."

Harry was well aware that he could not entice the goblin to shift the rule aside for him. They only wanted to do business and were very careful about it. They would never outright break a rule but they could bend it for a fee only if it posed no problems for the goblin nation. And then too, they only did it if the risk was worth the amount paid. He could never ask the goblin to ignore the rule that the twins had put up.

Suddenly, he had a smashing idea. He could invest 20,000 galleons half in his name and half in Luna's name. Luna had pledged herself to him and would follow any order he gave her. Even if it were not for the pledge, he would have invested in her name. He trusted her.

So he told the goblin "Ok then. Invest 10,000 in my name and 10,000 under Luna Lovegood."

The goblin's eyes went a little wide showing the barest hint of shock. To a goblin, the very idea of giving away 10,000 galleons was unthinkable. But it was the prerogative of the wizard if he wanted to be stupid. He made a few notations in another parchment for a few seconds and finally said "You would only be left with 496 galleons in your trust for your disposal Mr. Potter. Are you sure you want to invest in Ms. Lovegood's name?"

Harry asked confused "I thought I had nearly 45,000 galleons?"

The goblin sneered again and answered "Totally you have 45,000 galleons but you cannot access the whole amount until you come of age. And even then, it is not likely that you would ever be able to access the Black family vault. You currently have nearly 20,000 galleons and that is the combined sum of the Potter wealth, Mr. Sirius Black's personal wealth and your trust fund. The Potter family vault does not contain any money, only a few artifacts and family heirlooms. The remaining 25,000 galleons in the Black family vault can only be accessed by Lord Black with the family ring. Only a true Black by blood can wear the ring and use it to access the family vault. The vault may have been bequeathed to you Mr. Potter but only Lord Black may access the vault. You are of course welcome to try the Black family ring to see if you are accepted as Lord Black on your 17th birthday."

Harry contemplated the new development. He had always thought that the Potters were pretty rich and that Blacks were the most well known businessmen 300 years ago. The wealth was too less to indicate any of this sort. He knew there was a vast difference in the wealth of families. The Malfoys, as much as he hated them owned a large number of businesses and were in a totally different league from other medium wealthy business families like Dumbledore, Lestrange, Longbottom, Smith, Boot and Diggory. He had thought that the Blacks were in same league as the Malfoys if not higher.

"But how is this possible? I was under the impression that the Black family was worth a lot more." It was not as if he really cared about the money though. He knew that the Blacks had to own some businesses and he could sell his share for more liquid money. If he couldn't access Black family vault, could ask Tonks to try out for the ring. If he could not have it, then at least she could use the Black money. Her mother was a Black after all.

The goblin seemed to sigh before answering "A true tragedy. 300 years ago, Lord Maurius Black withdrew a major portion of the Black family wealth from Gringotts and never returned it. The amount left in the vault by him was still more than what any other family had at that time. But the succeeding Lord Blacks' have squandered the wealth with no apparent aim for developing their assets. The Black family worth has gone down significantly over the last century leaving them where they are. They still own a few businesses that you can sell or keep Mr. Potter. They also own a few properties that are worth a bit. But your total worth is far below the Malfoys."

Harry decided to go through in spite of that. He could liquidate some of his assets later after pursuing the scroll containing his assets. He didn't really need the money right now. He still had a little left in his pouch back at Hogwarts. He was not really worried about the wealth left behind. He was more interested in the wealth that Maurius Black had taken. He would have had to store it somewhere. If the amount was as big as the goblin had indicated, there was no way that Maurius black would have used the amount by now.

"Alright. I would still like to invest as I said before." He told the goblin.

"As you wish. Would you like to wait? It should take a few minutes to ready the documents" the goblin asked in his usual surly voice.

"I'll wait" Harry answered.

Harry watched the goblin write something on another parchment. It seemed like every time a parchment was used, a new one would take its place. Harry got bored after watching the goblin for a few seconds. A minute later the goblin was done scribbling on the parchment. The parchment disappeared.

Harry asked curiously "Is it done?"

The goblin replied sneering "No Mr. Potter, it will take a few minutes."

"So can you answer a few questions for me?" Harry asked warily. He did not know if any goblin would ever do something that does not bring them profit.

"Very well. If I must." The goblin replied.

"Does the Potter family have a family ring?" Harry asked immediately.

"No they do not. They were not rich enough to warrant a very high protection vault and they did not see the reason to have one. Though powerful, the Potters were always trusting people and used their special wards to do the job of the family rings. I believe there is a Potter blood ward protecting their family vault. A ring is used as a controlling artifact. The wearer of a family ring can use the impression of the ring instead of his sign. The ring can also be used for many other purposes like accessing a vault or property. In such cases, there is almost always a set of conditions to be satisfied to be able to wear a family ring. For example, you may try for the Black family ring on your 17th birthday. You may be the designated heir but without using the ring, you cannot disown anyone from the Black family or open their vault" the goblin answered patiently, his face etched in a scowl.

"I heard that the goblins respected the Potter wards. Could you tell me how they made their money? Was it because of the wards?" Harry asked.

The goblin's eyes looked distant as he said "Ah, we at Gringotts have the greatest respect for the Potters. It was one of your ancestors who helped us ward our bank. Almost any major institution or building will have a Potter ward. Alas, I am sad to say that Potters were not inclined much about making money. Except for a few rumored magics, they shared their ward and shield creations with the general public never asking for money. If they had instead only sold the knowledge, they would have been a lot wealthier. Much of the Potter fortune comes from their rewards for capturing dark wizards. Potters have always been fighters. They were involved in every war of the wizarding world and they have been invaluable. During wars and other times, Potters have been aurors, hit-wizards and even a few unspeakables. They have made money from their outstanding service to the ministry. It is mostly the reason why they are the first targets to any uprising dark lords."

The subject was a bit too close for comfort for Harry. But before he could change the subject, a few documents popped up on the desk. "Here we are Mr. Potter. Please sign these documents. Since Ms. Lovegood is not here, I have constructed the documents to say that her share of the business is a gift from you. Is that acceptable Mr. Potter or would you like to bring her here to sign her ownership document?"

"No it is alright" Harry answered. He then proceeded to sign a multitude of documents. His hands were cramped from all the signing. He, of course read all the documents before signing. They were kind of standard ownership documents with notice period if he wanted to sell and his cooperation in running the business. In return, he was given certain lineage towards product development and nature of products. There was nothing really restricting of unfair to him in all the documents and so he was quite pleased.

Harry took his leave from the goblin and departed for Hogwarts along with the scroll containing the list of his assets.

XXXX

Harry went through the details of all his assets in detail. The scroll was pretty well explained. There was a short explanation for all assets listed. For example, Grimmauld Place was bought in a distinctly muggle environment of London 200 years ago because the Lord Black of that time was fond of hurting muggles. He considered muggle torture a fun pastime.

The only investment of Potters was Grunnings Drills, where his uncle Vernon worked. They owned a major share in the company, enough to be on their board of directors. It was explained that it was acquired on the behest of Lily Potter to secure a job for one Vernon Dursley. Harry got a wicked idea and sent a letter to the goblin Malspear about it.

In it, he mentioned that he wanted to completely disinvest his share. He did not want to sink the company, just Vernon. He knew Vernon pilfered money from the company. He also knew that the other directors in the board at Grunnings would not like a single person like him to own a major share of the company. So he directed the goblin to make a deal with the board. Harry offered to sell his share of stock to the board discreetly if Vernon if fired and jailed for fraud and embezzlement.

Harry wanted only Vernon to be prosecuted right now because he had planned the revenge on Dursleys to be done part by part. His Grim emotions were making him more vicious and ruthless in revenge. He doubted that Dumbledore or his precious Order would interfere when it was not summer months. By then, it would be too late. Vernon would be arrested by then and he would be free to dole out his revenge of Petunia and Dudley during the summer. It was a few days later that he got a letter from Gringotts giving him a copy of the share ownership of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and the confirmation of the deal from the board of directors from Grunnings forwarded through Gringotts. Vernon would be getting what was coming to him. He was thankful that Dumbledore was not present in school to thoroughly check his mail.

The Blacks' assets also contained a lot of property in Knockturn Alley. It probably covered most of Knockturn Alley. There were a few businesses of the shady kind too. Apart from Grimmauld Place, there was only a small country estate that was no longer in use. It was small by Black standards but it was pretty humongous area wise according to the summary provided. But it was totally non inhabitable as it was in a deplorable condition. It was listed as the main Black family dwelling. Harry had no intention to live in either of the two properties.

The Potters only had their home in Godric's Hollow. It was actually a very old home. There was no real family manor as such to the Potters. Apart from a lot of artifacts and books, there was nothing else in the Potter family vault.

Speaking of family vaults, Harry had not known about family vaults at all. He did not know that Potters or Blacks had a family vault. He also did not know about the ring business to access the Black family vault or that he had to be 17 to try to access it. He was sure this was another deliberate ploy of Dumbledore to keep him ignorant about his family heritage and his inheritance.

Having seen the past withdrawal details, Harry was pleased to know that the records were impeccable. Gringotts did not give interest to the money stored like the goblin had said. There were only minimal vault ownership charges by Gringotts for every vault apart from his withdrawals since his parents' death. Thankfully no one had tried to steal anything from him. He was half afraid that Dumbledore might have stolen from his vaults before then for the Order activities. Then he remembered that Dumbledore was a certified alchemist, a headmaster and held various other titles. He was bound to have more than enough money for funding the Order.

After scrutinizing the scroll, Harry made some important decisions. He was not short on money but he wanted to hurt death eaters financially. Almost all the property he owned ran businesses that catered to death eaters' needs. He did own a part of the businesses as well. But it was the other partners in businesses and the impact to them that got him interested. He surmised that Voldemort could not very well go to any legal shop for his needs. Knockturn Alley was probably the place where Voldemort sent his death eaters for supplies.

Harry threatened to close down the businesses on his property unless they followed his conditions. His conditions were simple, the property and his share of businesses had to be sold to death eater families. He made this offer to the shopkeepers of Knockturn Alley through Gringotts. The Gringotts services cost him a lot but it was worth it. The death eaters needed supplies and they mostly got it from Knockturn Alley as he had seen Draco Malfoy being familiar with the Knockturn Alley. So, if he threatened to close them down, the death eaters would definitely buy the properties and businesses. They would loose a large amount of their ready cash and would fill up his coffer too. The businesses were not really worth enough to tolerate their business with death eaters. He would watch the death eaters; hopefully Malfoys become slowly weak financially from his actions.

He knew that there were some businesses that were not required by death eaters at all that the Blacks owned. They did not get much business and were not that profitable. So he made conditions to get rid of them too. So he made stipulations that such lesser shops had to be bought together with a more prominent business. He also offered the lesser shops at a price slightly less that what they were worth to entice the death eaters to buy it too. This way, they would be more inclined to buy both stipulated shops and he would still make a profit because he quoted the popularly required shops at a slightly higher price.

It would take some time but eventually the death eater families would suffer a great loss of available cash for them to use. Even if they wanted to sell for liquid cash, there would not be anyone rich enough to buy from them on short notice. Knockturn Alley was not really a place known for honest businesses and light sided families did not wish to venture there. So, it was a surefire way to make several death eater families weak financially.

Harry had decided that English magical community was too corrupt and bigoted for him to do any really good business in England. So, by selling most of his property in Knockturn Alley and the businesses there, he would have a relatively larger capital to start business in some other country.

Things were looking up for Harry Potter.

Harry did another relatively long lasting prank on the crass prick, Cormac McLaggen. He used a potion to induce bowel inflictions sporadically. Then he also charmed his skin to itch every time it touched water or any liquid. Since the effects were subtle but very annoying, McLaggen did not feel the need to show himself to Auntie P (as Madam Pomfrey insisted Harry call her). So McLaggen suffered for a week before one of his friends got tired of his behavior and ordered him to Auntie P.

Oh Yes! Things were definitely looking up for Harry Potter.

XXXX

There seemed to be a hormonal overload this year at Hogwarts. There were many couples being formed and they were getting more amorous publicly. There were also quite a few scuffles due to raised tempers. It might be due to escalating war outside the school walls or something else but emotions and hormones were running wild.

Ginny was a good example. She seemed distressed and agitated. When he tried to talk to her regarding that, she evaded his questions. She played it off as stress regarding the end of term tests there were approaching. But Harry knew it had something to do with Dean. He decided to watch Dean closely and if nothing worked, he decided to get both Dean and Seamus drunk after returning from Christmas holidays.

Ron was having his jealous bouts again. He tried to hide it but it was quite plain to see for those who could. Ron was also on a hormonal overdrive with Lavender. They were all over each other at all places. They were sickening.

Hermione was also another major issue. She got frustrated very easily and snapped at others. She was having troubles with nonverbal magic. For the first time, she was well behind the class at something and her frustration was bleeding into everything she did. Luna told him that Hermione was failing at nonverbal magic because her method of learning was repetitive tuition. She memorized magic by repeating everything enough times for it to be engraved in her brain. But the major problem was that she had not read books on nonverbal magic until this year.

All the books until this year said that you need an incantation and a wand movement for a spell. It was drilled into her brain. For her books were like god apart from the authorities that is. So, when another book contradicted her learning, she was at a loss. Luna told him that she was so used to being perfect with wand movements and incantations that Hermione could not let go of some aspects of a spell, like incantation. Luna, being the ever observant witch also told him that Hermione was not really powerful like him or even Ron who was a lot less powerful than him. Hermione had focus and perfection in her spells. That is why spells were a bit more powerful than they really should be. Luna also pointed out that Hermione had little aiming capability. She could do fine for closer targets but father targets were major trouble for her. Luna also mentioned that Hermione is drained rather easily meaning that she had a very small magical core. When Harry asked Luna how she knew all this, she told him that she observed almost everyone during the DA sessions. Harry was amazed by her, again.

Also, Hermione was getting emotionally brittle and unstable. He heard others complaining that Hermione was flaunting her knowledge in front of others and was getting more condensing towards everyone. It seemed like she had regressed a few years and gone back to bossy, condensing know-it-all first year. With him too she was slowly reverting to be the same way. She criticized the smallest of his mistakes and she absolutely refused to let him submit essays until she took a look at them. She was behaving as though he was incapable at anything and treating him like a child. With Ron it was totally different. She was almost in tears one time in front of him and another time, she aggressively attacked him. Later, she went to totally ignoring him. Knowledge was her domain and now suddenly Ron doesn't need her anymore and Harry was usurping her in both Defense and Potions (albeit illegally in her opinion). Harry couldn't really blame her.

It was a conflict for him. On one hand, they were still his best friends, but mostly they were not the same as they were anymore. Each of them still shared moments where they affirmed why they were best friends and known as the Golden Trio by some people in the school. Well, not directly. Hermione and Ron didn't talk to each other but each talked to him. In a way, Harry's relationship with Ron and Hermione separately was growing. There were very few times when there was one to one contact. Both of them were building his friendship separately on a deeper level again even if they had reverted a bit back to how they were at the beginning of their first year.

Phew! It was a wonder how Harry was sane among all these crazy people. A few meetings with Blaise and Daphne helped. But it was mainly Luna who kept him sane. Their almost daily lessons cum discussions were great stress busters along with his nightly physical and magical workouts.

XXXX

On one of the nights Harry and Luna were studying in the Chamber, Harry decided to come clean with her regarding Daphne and Zabini.

"Luna" Harry called out "I need your opinion on something."

Luna straightened herself and turned her attention fully on him. "Tell me Harry" she said simply.

Harry took a deep breath and began "You know I have told you most of the things that is relevant to the war situation. You know most of my plans and ideas. Can you tell me one thing that we lack tremendously?"

This was their method of conversation. It was more of an intellectual debate rather than simple talking and information sharing.

Luna thought back to what all she knew about Harry and what was the thing that was missing. It had to be something vital. They were lacking many things but what was very important and can be breached at Hogwarts. She knew Harry had the means to get away from Hogwarts but she thought that it was something in Hogwarts itself. What could Hogwarts offer other than knowledge?

She had a thought and decided to go with it "Manpower?" she asked.

Harry blinked and said "You know I never thought about that. Hmm… that can also be considered in this particular case. What I was thinking of was Intelligence and information. The Order of the Phoenix is mostly incompetent to run the war but they have heavy intelligence on the death eaters. Snape may or may not be loyal to Dumbledore but he gets information, however trivial they may be. The Order also has information from the ministry through Tonks and Kingsley mostly. But I do not have access to that information."

"I do not think that we need all the information regarding death eaters and their attacks. Sure we can learn something from the attacks but those are already in the past. I though of information along a different line entirely. What is the one thing other than money and power that all death eaters care about? Their family. Children of death eaters have been taught to keep quiet and trained but they are still children. They are one source from which we can gain a lot of information. We have access to them and potions. We can go about this in a number of ways."

"I found that I am unable to be a Legilimens. So I cannot extract the information directly from their minds. Neither you nor I can brew Veritaserum efficiently. Even if we had it, we have to kidnap some students, interrogate them and then Obliviate them. I cannot Obliviate anyone because of the same reason. If you learn to Obliviate, I can try to buy Veritaserum from Knockturn Alley or someplace else."

"Now apart from that, I thought of gaining us at least sympathy from someone who can get information to us from the children of death eaters at school. They need not have to join us or anything, but they can give us information that they overhear. I specifically thought a couple of Slytherins might help us out. Being Slytherins, the death eater wannabes might be inclined to share something with them that would never be revealed otherwise. So I approached two Slytherins…"

Luna cut in "Let me guess, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini right?"

"How did you know?" Harry asked shocked.

"I told you Harry. I observe things. You might have approached them in the first month of school. I know you are intelligent enough to not reveal anything right off the hat. Maybe, you went and flirted with Greengrass and probably behaved cordially with Zabini. And you continued meeting them on similar purposes somewhere. Even though Zabini and Greengrass remain in the background, there was a change in their behavior after the first six weeks. I am an empath as you know and I sensed the difference in their emotions. I thought about who could have intrigued them enough to make them loose some composure. Finally I came to the conclusion that it was you" Luna explained.

Harry looked at her in dumbfounded appreciation "Damn, you are good. You were right. I was responsible." Harry grinned sheepishly and said "Umm… I might have gone overboard with them recently."

Luna sighed and said "What did you tell them on Halloween? Did you loose control so much in getting drunk that you told them all that you have told me? Or did you tell them because you got the hots for Daphne and wanted her to be more than just outside informants?"

Harry was once again shocked at her brilliance "Remind to never ever underestimate you again. You are right. I didn't want Daphne to be just an informer. I want to have a chance with her. I knew they were Slytherins to the core. They have to have something to believe that they can put their worth behind me. In some previous meetings, they were appreciative of my intelligence and I played on that on Halloween. I was a bit more drunk than usual and mouth ran off more than I wished. I haven't told them too much about what I want to do in future except in broad terms. They needed to know that I was powerful enough and had the drive to succeed. For Slytherins power was a very important thing and I gave a good show. I was genuinely a bit out of control and they asked deeper questions than I had anticipated. I gave them something to think about but I went too far."

Luna interrupted him "But I am guessing that you took some measure that does not put you in jeopardy?"

Harry grinned and said "Yes. After you gave me your Pledge, I read a bit on oaths and bonds. In conjunction with some mind arts I studied, I found a way to keep them from telling anyone else. I pretended to fall asleep and when they were leaving the room, I hit them with spells. This spell, Memoria Sodalis, anchors a specific set of memories to the caster and makes him the keeper of sorts. It is like an unplottable charm. It is there and they can access it, but they can't reveal it. I realized that they might need to consult their parents so I left the memories of my previous conversations with them out of the spell. The talk I had with them on Halloween was the only set of memories that I put under the spell. Now they have relevant information and can make a choice to help us or not. I had rather have them not knowing so much but I was drunk and I will be satisfied that they can't tell anyone."

Thankfully Memoria Sodalis spell didn't require even the slightest bit of Legilimency to dwell into the target's mind on the caster's part. The spell was mentioned in an Occlumency book that the spell, even though dealing with the mind, did not affect Occlumency since it had no component of Legilimency. It anchored the memories around an event that the caster remembered to the caster. In a way it was better than Obliviate since he wanted them to remember what he had told them. He had thought that it would be useful to the Order but when he read the details, he nixed the idea. All the members would have to be spelled at every meeting and any other tiny information will also have to be spelled again. It would be too cumbersome. A contract would be better in such case. For a single event like Harry's, this spell was perfect. Also, he didn't think that anyone knew about this spell. He had uncovered it in the Chamber books and was very old.

"So, what is the problem Harry? You have covered your slipup" Luna asked curiously.

Harry shrugged "Nothing. I had no idea of how to approach this further. As you said previously, they could give us more manpower to us. They are not aligned with either Dumbledore or Voldemort. But I needed your opinion on how far and how fast I could push them."

Luna thought for a few seconds and said "Hmm… What you have done till now is great. Prove yourself more in their eyes if you get a chance but don't approach them for joining you yet. Gain their goodwill and make them believe that they want to join you. Perhaps you can even give them a show or your impressive magical power. But if you do that, don't show them too much. It might scare them away or they might simply join you out of fear. You will want belief in those that follow you, not reverence and fear like Dumbledore and Voldemort. One thing that I definitely advise you to do is send them and their parents gifts for Christmas. That will ensure that even Zabini and Greengrass are reluctant to discuss you with their parents, they will be forced to due to your gifts to them."

Harry beamed at her "Luna, you are a cunning genius. I never thought you knew to manipulate people this well. Should I be scared?" he asked her playfully.

"That is called careful maneuvering, not manipulating" Luna told him archly.

XXXX

Playing a friend to two injured parties was a bitch. Both Ron and Hermione didn't want to admit they liked each other and got shirt when one did go out with a different person.

Harry was actually surprised to learn that even though many people bragged about having sex, very, very few couples actually did have sex at all during their times at Hogwarts. Harry almost felt sorry for making love to Ginny in the summer but he put that thought aside when he remembered that she belonged to him. It was a strange notion to him to think of someone belonging to him but it was exactly how he felt towards Ginny. He simply couldn't explain it in any other terms.

Having muggleborns had not loosened up the sex taboo at Hogwarts. It was only muggleborns and half bloods who were liberal with sex. Since there were very few muggleborns and moderate amount of half bloods who were interested in sex, there were fewer experiences. Still, Harry would have had sex with some reasonable witch like Katie.

Romilda Vane and her obsession with him was getting noticed. Hermione even warned him about love potions circulating in school. That too, Fred and George's love potions. He was their part owner for Merlin's sake. Talk about a good thing turning to bite him in the arse.

Watching Ron and Hermione baiting each other in classes was depressing. They were so intent on squabbling like kids that they didn't notice his discomfort since he could not take anyone's side.

For the sake of going to Slughorn's party, Harry made a public show of asking Luna. He had explained to her the previous day in the Chamber that he did not expect anything extra from her. He just wanted company and too many girls were not even bothering to be subtle to attract his attentions. Luna had laughed heartily at his predicament and finally agreed to go with him.

Interactions with Ginny were easier than before. She had started to treat him like a good friend again. Still, Dean was acting a little furtive about it all. Seamus too if he thought about it. The strange thing was that Neville was too quiet this year. Sure he was quiet the previous years but he had always made it a point to at least wish him every now and then. Actually, Harry never saw Neville these days at all. Granted, he was busy with Chamber and other things but still, it was as though Neville went out of his way to avoid him. Harry had thought that Neville would be more open with him since he had performed so well in the ministry at the end of last year.

Harry was utterly astonished to learn that Hermione was actually going out with Cormac McLaggen. Not just for Slughorn's party but she was actually his girlfriend. What would a intelligent, albeit bossy witch see in a dumb, brash and uncouth McLaggen?

Slughorn's party was a blast. And it was mainly due to Luna. It was hard to keep his laughter in hearing her comments about people and her replies to people. Her "Loony" act was way too amusing to see inflected upon others.

It was despicable how the vampire Sanguini was paraded around. The utter gall of the wizards in their treatment of other races was horrid. He dragged Luna away from there noticing her eyes flare angrily for a second before she exploded.

Harry didn't feel sorry at all for Hermione's troubles at the party. She did invite Cormac McLaggen and it was her fault to try and get Ron jealous. Wasn't she his girlfriend?

He was glad that Snape really didn't try anything in front of Slughorn. Before it got out of hand, Luna broke with her typical Loony explanation on why he shouldn't be an auror. The expression on Slughorn's and Snape's face was worth a thousand galleons. He really wished he had a camera.

His day got even better when Malfoy was caught by Filch trying to snoop in. Harry didn't entirely believe Malfoy's reasons but he was glad that he was caught. Malfoy looked a bit ill and was a suck up as usual. Harry neither cared not wanted to know why Malfoy looked ill. All he was interested in was why Malfoy was snooping around all the time this year.

Snape and Malfoy's conversation was enlightening. Harry was actually surprised that Malfoy had the discipline to even stat to learn Occlumency. His claims of innocence were so false that even a first year would see through him. Snape being insistent on helping Malfoy was worrisome. Even more worrying was that he had made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy regarding it. Whatever Snape offered to help Malfoy with was serious if Snape thought that he needed to interfere. Unbreakable Vows were dangerous and the possibility of losing magic or dying over a promise was not a pleasant thought. Snape was never foolish and so Harry wondered why Snape made an Unbreakable Vow. There had to be a really good reason for that.

He also conceded that Snape might be working for Dumbledore and making Malfoy spill his plan. It was a very plausible explanation. But whether Snape was actually helping Malfoy or working to prevent him, the root fact was that Malfoy was up to something.

That night Harry explained to Luna his suspicion about Malfoy. She agreed with him but she asked why he was so worried. Harry had not really given a thought about why he was worried. He had just assumed that if Malfoy was up to something, it did not bode well for him. Luna pointed out that he might not be the target this time. She also explained to him that the Katie incident was not directed at him. Katie knew he was behind her when they were coming back to school and she could have given the cursed necklace to him discreetly anytime. Harry accepted that when she put it like that.

XXXX

The day before leaving for Christmas holidays, Harry met Blaise alone in their room in the dungeons.

Blaise was alone and he was reading a book on Runes. Blaise was making notes on a parchment. Harry looked on the parchment from behind Blaise's shoulder. Harry recognized the work as a Rune sequence. He couldn't quite hide his surprise at what he saw.

"Wow Zabini. What are you working on there? Siz for starting magical energy, Incit for focusing, Eihwaz for protection, Sol for solidifying, El for doubling... why have you put Del rune next to it? It wont reduce the wastage of excess energy if that is what you are after. Del will probably internally diffuse the shield sequence you are working on. You are better off using another focusing rune or a grounding rune like Aschez for reducing wastage of energy. You could also do with a linking rune like Mitrez between Incit and Eihwaz." Harry explained.

The look of surprise on Blaise's face was something Harry would treasure. Blaise remarked "Well, I didn't know you had an affinity for Runes Potter. More so, you are quite well versed in Runes if you could recognize that I am working on a shield sequence."

"Potters have been known to be warders as you know. Runes and Charms are a given if you want to master warding. So I have affinity for both and then some. But really, I am not that good at Runes. I just looked through a good Rune book when I got bored. I am not really interested in mastering Runes" Harry said cordially. He had come to like the quiet Slytherin. He had even taken to call him Blaise in his mind while he was Zabini when they first met this year. Blaise was observant, didn't pick fights and was very intelligent. Their conversations had been fun with verbal banter and good natured insults.

Blaise looked very interested now "I see. What other affinities do you have Potter?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" Harry ventured.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at the implied challenge and replied "You are good in Defense and Offense. That is what you are basically known for even though it is mainly Defense. So I say apart from Runes, Charms and Transfiguration, it has to be Defense."

Harry smirked and said smugly "Not bad Zabini, not bad. But there might be more that you are not aware of that I wont tell you about. After all why should I tell you when you didn't tell me yours?"

"More? You are one lucky wizard Potter. Many wizards would kill to get so many affinities, myself included. As you might have guessed, I have affinity for Runes. I really don't know if I have any other affinity or not since I have not yet discovered any special talent" Blaise remarked.

Suddenly, Blaise looked intently into his eyes and Harry felt a mental invasion. He felt Blaise at the edges of the shadows that covered his mind completely. Harry was fuming at his invasion. How dare he use Legilimency on him? Who taught him Legilimency anyway? Blaise easily cut through his shadows that contained his useless memories and reached the inverted black hole wall. The wall held the clear decisive strikes by Blaise and was not damaged in the least. But Harry had to hand it to Blaise for being a master Legilimens. And such a feat at this age, it was astonishing.

Harry retaliated… hard. Harry literally overwhelmed Blaise when he traced the probe back and overloaded his mind with shadows. Blaise's mind was completely shrouded by Harry's shadows. This was his first test of the only type of Legilimency that Harry could do – counter Legilimency. He could not create probes by himself but he could counter attack if a probe invaded his mind.

Harry's shadows simply passed thought the walls around Blaise's mind as if they were not there and suddenly Harry got a multitude of images and memories. Harry was not efficient as he had never done this before and he had no control over what he saw. But Harry was also ruthless and returned Blaise's attack with increased viciousness. His Grim part agreed whole heartedly at his vehement counter attack.

He knew Blaise's father was once a good businessman who was cheated and killed by his partners. The same night, his mother was raped by the same partners. Their fortune was confiscated and they were left to fend for themselves. The ministry didn't do anything about it and wrote off the murder as a burglary gone wrong. It was the reason why his mother used her wiles to trap the sons and nephews of the partners and then killed them. His father was the only one his mother loved. Blaise respected his mother despite her way of obtaining revenge. Mother and son were very close and cared for each other very deeply.

Then came the memories and images of Daphne. He was almost shocked to find that she was a natural wandless magic user. They were extinct according to the ministry. They were first cousins and best friends since childhood. Daphne's parents were Hector and Helene Greengrass. They were well known curse breakers. They left Daphne with him and his mother when they went out on missions. That was why Daphne and he were so close, almost like brother and sister.

Then came the many miscellaneous memories of school, daily life and other things.

Harry retracted into his own mind and felt the probe collapse abruptly. He saw Blaise slumped heavily in his seat.

Harry remarked coldly "It seems that you neglected to mention that Mind Arts were also another affinity of yours." Harry did not mention about any other memory he had seen. He had slight headache from the overload of information. Not bad for his first attempt but it was far from perfect.

"What was that Potter?" Blaise gasped. He was breathing a bit hard now. No one could simply shrug off such an overwhelming force in their mind.

"You tell me Zabini. I call it offensive Occlumency. If someone is foolish enough to invade my mind, they had better be prepared to handle the consequences" Harry stated intently. He was no longer furious though. His anger had melted away when he saw Blaise's memories of his mother. Blaise was a good guy in the sense that he did not relish hurting others or enjoy lording over them. There had to be a reason why he him attacked then.

He remembered Luna's advice and thought this was a good turn of events for him. He didn't really want to push Blaise too much now and refrained himself from attacking him. He had put on an impressive show of power and Luna's 'maneuvering' as she called it was working.

"I am not going to apologize if that is what you want Potter. I wanted to see if you could protect the information regarding me and Daphne. We do not want some idle Legilimens to pick up your thoughts about us. We want to survive this war and if we are seen associating with you, it will dangerous for us. And yes, I have affinity for Mind Arts. I am actually surprised that you are such an advanced Occlumens. Not even Snape can even detect my probes and he is known to have been trained by Dumbledore himself. Who trained you Potter?" he asked calmly again.

Harry's respect for Blaise grew. He stated valid reasons for his testing and admitted openly. He was surprised to learn that Snape's mind was not as protected as he thought. Snape did not have affinity for the Mind Arts after all. Blaise's ability to pierce his outer shadows with a ridiculous ease affirmed the fact that he had affinity for Mind Arts. It was only his inverted black hole shield that saved him.

Harry smirked again and replied "When you grow up in muggle world, you get a lot of ideas to use magic in different aspects. I trained myself Zabini. Remember this… fiasco and don't repeat it again."

Harry's blazing eyes and extremely aggressive stance asserted this proclamation. Even though he was seated, Harry gave off an air of being lethally dangerous if angered again. There was no overwhelming presence of strong latent magic but the message was clear. "Understood Potter. I wonder what else you have been hiding from us" Blaise commented.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out" Harry said as he stood up to walk out. He needed to sleep off the headache "And Zabini stay away from Ginny. She is mine."

Blaise smirked and said "Don't worry Potter. I may find her attractive but I assure you, I have no wish to date her."

"Why Zabini, are you gay?' Harry teased.

"What? Merlin No. I have enough company when I desire it and she is far too fiery for my tastes" Blaise exclaimed.

Harry grinned as he walked out. He was stopped by a comment from Blaise "Oh! And Potter, whatever you spell you put on me and Daphne, it was worthy of Slytherin himself. I didn't know you had it in you. We didn't even know when you managed to spell us."

Harry told him without turning back or slowing down "As I told you before, Slytherin house is not full of bigots and Gryffindor house if not full of dumb idiots."

XXXX

The same night, Harry decided to take care of another loose end. He had put off dealing with Kreacher because he had not wanted the blasted elf to know about the Chamber. He certainly did not need his services.

So Harry made a very important and very hard decision. He had always known that he would have to kill numerous times before the war ended. The problem was that even though he had killed Quirell in his first year, it was an accident. He had already seen enough deaths – Cerdic, Sirius and some in his nightmares. Harry could not afford to delay or feel squeamish when he faced death eaters. He should be able to kill them if it meant them or him. But he couldn't simply make up his mind to kill them.

So, he grudgingly decided to make use of Kreacher one last time and kill Kreacher. He wanted to kill a being first hand. He could order Kreacher to stab himself or drown himself in a volcano but he was Kreacher's master. Even if it was not a human, Kreacher was the perfect candidate for his lesson on killing. Harry could order Kreacher to remain in place if he hesitated too long. He had already decided that he would never use the unforgivables unless it was absolutely necessary. Kreacher definitely deserved death for betraying Sirius but Harry was loath to use an unforgivable even on the pitiful creature. Harry never did have a high opinion of house elves.

Harry's only fear was that he might get addicted to killing. He definitely did not want that. Who knew how far he would fall if that happened.

Harry sat in the bedroom in the Chamber and called out "Kreacher".

There was a pop and a distinctly dirty and insane house elf appeared before him muttering "Filthy half blood. Master thinks to order Kreacher around. Poor Mistress, rotting away without Kreacher. Master orders Kreacher to stay with traitor elf. Mistress will rest happy that scum are gone. Blood traitor mutt is gone, yes he is, unworthy son of mistress."

Harry expression grew thunderous as he heard Kreacher bad mouthing Sirius. The loss of Sirius still brought a pang to his heart. This was the first part of retribution for his death. Bellatrix, Snape, Voldemort and Dumbledore would complete his revenge for Sirius.

"SUT UP KREACHER" Harry shouted. "You will speak only when spoken to and you will not insult anyone. Is that CLEAR?"

"Yes Master" Kreacher said sullenly.

"You will bring me all the books in Grimmauld place. You will not make any noise or make any delay. You will not talk to anyone nor will you bee seen by anyone. You will collect all the books and immediately return here. Do you understand?" Harry ordered. He had already finished all the other books he had brought from the Black library at Grimmauld Place and he wanted to see if there were any other Battle Magic books left. He also did not want to take the chance of someone finding the library. As far as he knew, he was the only one to have found the library until now.

Kreacher vanished with a pop again. Harry waited for quite a few minutes until Kreacher returned. There were several huge stacks of books floating beside Kreacher. He could see the strain on Kreacher's pinched face. "Put down the books and stand still. You are not to defend yourself."

"Yes Master" Kreacher said insincerely.

Harry steeled himself to kill Kreacher. It was not easy as he had thought. His reasoning was sound but it was cold blooded murder. Even though it was for revenge, it was difficult to go through with. He looked at Kreacher and was surprised to see an eager and almost hungry expression. He thought that he would be punished. He would be but not in the way he imagined.

Harry did not want to torture Kreacher as he was not heartless. While the Grim inside him called out for blood, he wanted to just kill him outright. He decided to use a Battle Magic cutting curse, Lacerous. It was an advanced Diffindo spell, specific to the Black family. Only the members of the Black family could use Lacerous.

Harry pointed his wand at Kreacher and focused on the spell and made a small arc in the direction of Kreacher's neck. The spell burst forth from his wand and impacted the neck. The head neatly fell off the body and the body too slumped and fell down. The expression of Kreacher's face was that of bliss, hoping to be mounted on the pike like his ancestors in Grimmauld place. The spell beheaded Kreacher only because he was a house elf. The spell would have only caused a very deep gash, probably to the bone on a human.

Harry fought down the bile that rose in his throat. He had killed in cold blood. He felt sick but the Grim inside him was howling in triumph. It helped somewhat to deal with his rebellious stomach. The fact that Kreacher was happy to be put to death also brought some measure of peace to him. He was not a guilt prone idiot but he was not a careless murderer either. The thought of what he had done made him nauseous but at the same time, he felt satisfied for having avenged Sirius a little bit.

These thoughts plagued him that night as he went to sleep. He suffered a few nightmares during the next few restless nights.

XXXX

The weather was chilly and Harry's preparations for Christmas were complete. He had completely emptied his secret second compartment in his trunk and stored the belongings in the bedroom of the Chamber. The books, alcohol etc were all removed. He did not want to get caught with them at the Burrow. He kept the alcohol in the Chamber because he did not want to be tempted to get a drink and get caught.

He had to get a few extra presents this year. Auntie P, Luna, Daphne and Blaise and their parents, Katie, Tonks, her parents were the additions. As per Luna's advice, he was sending gifts to Zabini and Greengrass parents. Even if they didn't like the gifts, it would ensure at least discussions about him.

Harry's deal with Grunnings had fallen through. He had received an owl from Gringotts saying that it was done. Thankfully, Gringotts owls were never checked whatever the contents may be. It was a law that was followed due to agreements between the goblin nation and the ministry. He had enough gold to buy whatever he wanted for presents. But he kept many things simple.

To Auntie P, he got a pair of pearl earrings with Indian style design.

For Blaise, he picked a book from the Chamber library. It was a comprehensive book on Runes. It contained not only a dictionary of Runes but also the use of Runes in combat and daily life. That particular branch of magic was called Runic Spellcasting. It was lost centuries ago due to lack of masters in the field. It explained how to cast spells through Runes. Given Blaise's interest in Runes, he would definitely love the present. The book contained no errors like the present day Rune books had and was the singular most detailed book on Runes. It also had Enchanting objects using Runes.

For Daphne, he chose a book on Wandless Magic from the Chamber. He had learnt that she was a natural Wandless magic user from Blaise during their last meeting. Harry had not read that book but it was the only book that was there on the subject. To irritate her, he had wrapped it up in bright red and gold paper.

To indicate that he was romantically interested in her, he also sent her a delicate gold chain adorned with sapphires to match her eyes.

For Luna, he selected a collection of low priced earrings which she could mix and match. Along with that, he gave her the deed of part ownership in Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

For Mrs. Zabini, he had chosen another set of pearl earrings.

Even for Helene Greengrass, he selected a pair of pearl earrings. He did not want to think too much about gifts and women always liked jewelry. Having never really given gifts with meaning to anyone, he did not have a lot of ideas to get people good gifts.

For Hector Greengrass, he chose a set of five ancient books that covered curses, enchantments, wards and disabling magic of all kinds that he found in the chamber. A curse breaker would definitely appreciate those ancient books. Usually curse breakers dealt with old magic and having books regarding old magic would help immensely.

For the Weasley family, he selected simple gifts as they did not appreciate expensive gifts. They were self conscious about money even now. He decided to get Ginny to go out with him again before giving her a meaningful present. So, for now, he simply gave everyone in the family an assortment of sweets along with Hermione.

For Remus, he gave a coupon for 500 galleons at Madam Malkin for new clothes and an assortment of chocolates from Honeydukes. He knew Remus loved Chocolates.

For Tonks, he chose another coupon for 500 galleons at Madam Malkin. She was depressed the last time he had seen her and didn't really know what to get her.

He also decided to get gifts for Andromeda and Ted Tonks since they were part of Black family. For Andromeda Tonks, again he chose a set of pearl earrings. He also wrote her a letter promising her that as soon as he was able to, meaning when he was 17 years of age, he would welcome her back into the Black family.

He didn't really know Ted Tonks apart from the fact that he was a muggleborn and Tonks' father. He chose a few sweets and a coupon at Madam Malkin for 500 galleons.

For Fleur, he selected a delicate silver chain containing a light pink diamond. He hoped that Bill would not be jealous. She was a good friend and a great shag. They had wonderful time this summer and he wanted to show his appreciation.

For Katie, he selected a bunch of muggle comics and a box of Honeydukes finest sweets. He also prepared a get well card for her. She was a half blood like him and he was sure that she would go crazy with boredom if she woke up.

He had bought for the gifts that were not already available to him by sneaking off to Diagon Alley under disguise the previous weekend. He was very much looking forward to a realizing Christmas at the Burrow.

He had arranged for the gifts to be mailed to the proper recipients through the postal service at Hogsmeade. He kept only the gifts for the Weasleys with him. He really hoped for a peaceful holiday this time.

XXXX