The Gryffindor Five
Part One
Chapter Eight
By danu40k
Monday, August 23rd 1993:
Harry met up with the Weasley's the next morning. They had received their Hogwarts Letters over the weekend and it was time to go shopping.
He tried to talk Mrs. Weasley out of going, but she would have none of it.
So off to Diagon Alley they went.
First stop was Gringotts for the Weasleys. Hermione was paying Harry back in pounds to save her having to pay the exchange rate. From there they hit Madam Malkin's Robe Shop. This was the first year that the Weasley children got new robes instead of second hand or hand me downs. Mr. Weasley had been given a raise to go with his new position. Making it possible for the family to stretch their money farther.
While they waited for their robes to be finished, they headed to the bookstore. There the Weasleys were able to get new books instead of the used they usually got, while Harry and Hermione raided the store for books that they didn't have in their collections. As well as getting owl order catalogs.
It was then that Mrs. Weasley found out that Harry had bought Ron and Ginny new wands. And not just any new wands. They had gone to Mingua's Wand Shop. She was about to blow a gasket when Harry showed her the Loan they had taken out and the payment plan based on their sales. This only mollified her a little. "How are they to make any spending money when they already own you their every paycheck?" She asked him.
"Actually, Ron and Ginny didn't buy that much at the con. That was the twins with their Manga, and Star Wars books. And even there, I charged them half price since I want to read them as well." Harry told her.
She sighed, she wasn't through with this, but here was not the place.
They headed off to finish their shopping then headed to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch on Mrs. Weasley.
Then Harry took them out to Muggle London. Here he flagged down a cab and they headed off to the mall.
The Weasley's had never been to a mall. But Harry and Hermione had convinced them that Muggle clothes shopping was cheaper and they got a more varied sets of clothing. Harry told them that he would pay for everything, and then they could pay him back in Galleons. That way they wouldn't have to pay the exchange rate. Just like he did with Hermione.
They soon finished at the mall, with Mrs. Weasley and Harry going into the bathrooms. Mrs. Weasley to shrink her purchases and Harry to send his off with Dobby.
Harry had brought his trunk to the Burrow when he had come to pick them up. He would be staying for the few days left of summer vacation. He still had meetings to attend to, but most everything had been done. Now it just a matter of letting things take their course.
After dinner, Mac Taylor showed up at the Burrow, and he and Harry sat down with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "I have Mac here voting my proxies on the Wizengamot and Horatio Cain holding my proxies for the Board of Governors. However, there are still seats that need to be placed with the trials going on from the arrests of the Death Eaters. I can't do anything about the Wizengamot, but I can with the Board. I want you, Mrs. Weasley, to sit on the Board." At her gasp, he continued. We need common sense on the Board. The school is slowly losing its place in the modern world and if we want to bring it back to its glory we have to act now. I have proposals I'm going to be bringing before the Board. But I want your opinion first. Right now we sit at six out of the eleven that are supposed to sit on the Board. With you there will be seven. That leaves us four we need to sit. The Board will need names. I've put forth the Abbot's, the Diggory's, the Grayson's, and the Giger's.
The Weasley's nodded their heads over the names. They were good solid families and not a dark bone in sight. They also weren't blood-purists. She looked over the names on the Board. She gave him a questioning look. He grinned and went "Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Potter, Black, and now I have the Malfoy vote." He smiled. I want to see the board even as possible though that's not going to happen with me holding five votes. I figure my votes will be the only progressive votes on the board. The rest are going to be conservatives like Mrs. Longbottom or centrists, which I hope will be at least a good showing even though I know that you'll be voting conservative for the most part."
She nodded.
"Here are the proposals I am going to be putting forth. I've already talked to Mrs. Longbottom a few times this summer, which allowed me to do things like bring Dobby to Hogwarts to help me with my businesses." She did not look happy with that.
"I promise," He continued, "I'll keep up with my studies. Mac and the others are going to be getting regular updates on what I'm doing and if they see my grades fall then they are going to yell at me."
They acquiesced and soon the meeting turned to the agendas Harry had planned.
~ooOoo~
The last few days had been enjoyable. They had played Quidditch getting everyone used to their new brooms. The twins had called Oliver and the rest of the team over as well. Where they spent the time going over strategy and tactics. Oliver had kissed Harry for the new brooms and uniforms. Followed by Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Oliver had liked the idea of a reserve team and watched as Ron and Ginny played. Seeing potential there. But he wasn't going to put them on just because Harry had gotten the team new equipment, they would have to earn it just like everyone else.
Wednesday, September 1st 1993:
Finally the day had come. Though this day no one was running around trying to find things. Dobby saw to that.
As with the other timeline, they were given a ride to King's Cross Station by the ministry. This time though it wasn't because Harry's life was in danger. It was because of Mr. Weasleys new position.
They arrived with plenty of time to get onboard. Harry and the others enlarged their trunks and put them on the train, then went to look for a compartment. Finally they chose the last compartment on the train. The same one they tried to get every year, knowing that Neville would look for them here.
The twins soon left to find their friend Lee, leaving the friends alone.
"How's the wand working for you Nev?" Harry asked
"Great! I find doing spells so much easier. They're going to wonder what happened at school." Neville said with a grin.
They all laughed feeling much the same way about their wands.
"So, oh fearless leader," Neville turned to Harry. "What are our plans now?"
"Crouch was found dead a few days ago. This means that Jr. is loose and probably looking for his master. Because of this we'll get Riddle back either this year or next. Personally, I'll bet he'll try for this year. The sooner the better for him."
"What do we do?" Hermione asked.
"We finish destroying the Horcruxes. The only one left is the Diadem. And we can get to that easily enough. Whether or not that destroys him entirely I don't know. But I'm planning on not. At least this year we don't have the tournament going on. So that makes things a bit easier. We need to get back into a schedule for work outs and things. I'm thinking around five am to seven am for the work outs, then breakfast. Classes. Homework during study hall. Then our martial arts work out in the evenings. We work it right and we'll still have the weekends free." The others nodded. "Right now it depends on what our schedule looks like. But if we are seen to be doing our homework, people won't wonder as much over just why we are suddenly doing so much better in our classes."
"Don't forget our Quidditch practices Harry. Two times a week plus sometime over the weekend. IF Oliver doesn't go nuts again. If he does that's going to cut into our work out in the mornings." Ron reminded Harry.
Harry shrugged. "Practice will make a good work out anyway. So those days we'll just count them as our work out while Hermione and Neville go and do a normal work out."
Everyone nodded.
End Chapter Eight
End Part One
