Chiyoku says: hey, everyone! I know I took a while to update… but I've been busy. I should also tell you that I have a twitter account, the link is my profile, and… that I started a story for Vampire Diaries in which Elena accidentally poisons Stefan with vervain, it's mostly a story that will show the more brotherly side of Damon, if you watch Vampire Diaries, you might wanna read it, I happen to like it (I know, I wrote it, of course I like it, duh, heh.)
Thanks for all the reviews, guys, I really appreciate it. Most of the questions you guys pose should be answered within the chapter itself (if not this chapter, then in future chapters) but for other stuff, let's see:
-Hedwig spends most of her time with the other owls, gossiping, sleeping, and hunting mice. She's not really a key player in this story, which is why I haven't even bothered to mention her.
-I dunno what Daphne's future will be like in regards to her relationship and possessiveness of Harry… I didn't even notice she was that possessive, actually…huh. XD
-As for Harry's real name, and his identity, you won't have to wait much longer, you'll find out in this chapter. It's not actually what you guys think it will be, I think I managed to give it a good twist that I don't remember seeing much, or at all, in other stories, so I hope you like it, it'll come into play a lot when it comes to Harry's clashes with Dumbles and the law.
-My surgery went well, thank you. I still have pain in the area…. But it comes and goes… I appreciate all the good wishes from all.
One last thing, I know it's in bad form to point out my own mistakes… but only one person has noticed as of yet, so I figured I'd tell the rest of you: Did anyone, aside from one other person, notice that I made Neville a Hufflepuff first, and then he magically became a Gryffindor? …All I can say is… oooops….. Heheheh. I hadn't even notice I did that…. Most people didn't even notice, so I won't change it… it's like, a minor thing, but I do find it pretty funny myself, especially since most people haven't noticed.
Ok, super long author note! I apologize, let's get on with the story…
Enjoy!
Alternation Nation
A fanfiction by Chiyoku Shibata
Recap: Harry wakes up at Malfoy Manor, he speaks with Narcissa, and then with Lucius. They are both nice to him and inform him of several important things, and then Narcissa gives him several books with important stuff that he should learn. The Weasley Twins give a little something to Harry's friends so they can get revenge against Ron. At the Ministry, Fudge, Umbridge, and Bones are all outraged about what's happening to Harry Potter, and they all band together to keep gathering proof against Dumbledore. Lucius shows Harry The Book, and Harry's learns his real name, while Draco and Blaise take a book from the Hogwarts library and send it to Harry.
Chapter 14: Why He Had To Leave
"Ah, Kingsley, so good to see you again." Greeted Dumbledore with a smile, shaking the tall black man's hand, and pointing to a sit on the other side of his desk.
"Good to you see you, too, Albus, it's been a while." Greeted kingsley with a nod and a smile, taking a sit, and getting comfortable.
"Do you want some tea? Lemon drops? I have some delightful lemon cakes that a friend sent me from a muggle bakery…" offered Dumbledore, as he sat down and placed his hands on his desk, still smiling pleasantly.
"I'll have one of those lemon cakes, thanks."
"And some tea?" offered Dumbledore again, but Kingsley shook his head, "no, thanks."
Drat, cursed Dumbledore in his head as he summoned the plate of lemon cakes. He hadn't had the chance to put any potions on the lemons cakes yet, and he hadn't wanted to share them either, but that was only polite. The tea he offered was always ready with a very mild calming potion, and a mild controlling potion. It was legal for a Headmaster to give such potions on certain occasions, but Dumbledore abused the rule by using a loophole; the rule in question was part of a list that every headmaster has to follow, but most of them aren't very specific, so a headmaster has the ability to bend the rules when the need arises.
Still… it shouldn't affect the meeting by much… Kingsley has always been my supporter. He thought to himself as he served a cake to Kingsley.
"So, how have things been at the Ministry?" he asked, serving himself a piece as well, and getting himself some untainted tea, maybe I can still tempt him to have some.
"Same as usual…we finally caught the wizard who had been selling fake magical items… seems he was just a simple swindler looking for an extra galleon…" commented Kingsley.
Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "that's good. It's always good when things are a little boring, no? It means a little rest from worrying about dark wizards."
Kingsley shrugged, "I suppose… it's always good for the community when things are quiet. How have things been around here, Albus?" he asked, and took a bite of the lemon cake.
Now it's time to act, rather than react, thought Dumbledore to himself, "that is why I called you here, actually…apart from wanting to say hello to a good friend, of course." He finished with a smile, looking up at Kingsley with his eyes, leaving his head down as if worried.
"It's not out yet… thankfully… but Harry Potter is not at Hogwarts anymore… Lucius Malfoy took him." Said Dumbledore with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Kingsley was shocked when he heard that. He had been keeping up with what had been going on at school with Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter rivalry, especially this morning's paper, with Harry Potter unconscious. The Auror department had received its good share of mail and howlers demanding that something be done about that Weasley boy, and Kingsley couldn't say he didn't understand them.
"Was he kidnapped?" Kingsley asked, almost in alarm. Dumbledore calmly grabbed his tea cup and took a sip, purposely not speaking to make Kingsley worry.
"Not exactly." He answered, finally, and Kingsley almost sighed in relief, "what do you mean not exactly?" he asked.
"Lucius showed up yesterday with a document stating that he had custody of Harry Potter." He explained, "apparently he managed to sway Cornelius into starting some sort of investigation for some reason which means that while that is going on, Lucius has complete control of Harry Potter."
Kingsley sighed deeply and shook his head, looking down, with trouble in his eyes. "And the first thing the man does, of course, is pull Harry Potter from Hogwarts."
"The investigation will come to nothing, of course, but it is troubling that Harry is away from us in the meantime…. Who knows what things the Malfoy family will teach little Harry." Said Dumbledore, his voice troubled.
"And Cornelius has always feared your power within the ministry, so he used this opportunity to try and take some away by making it so you are under investigation… everyone knows that you were the one who placed Harry in a safe place that time." Said Kingsley, taking another bite of the lemon cake, and rubbing his face in thought.
"There has to be something we can do, Albus. The investigation will come to nothing, as you say, but it will give Cornelius the time he needs to try and pull something… maybe even force you out of some of the positions you hold…" he continued.
Dumbledore drank some more tea, and sighed worriedly, "this is what I fear. But what I have been fearing the most is poor little Harry's inevitable transformation into a dark wizard…did I tell you who his friends at Slytherin house are?"
Kingsley shook his head, "no, who?"
Dumbledore sighed again, and spoke carefully, "Malfoy, Parkinson, Nott…and he's also been speaking to others that act very suspicious….but I forget all the names." He said, adding Nott since his father was another known Death Eater who had gotten off by bribing people in power, and using only last names on purpose, since Kingsley would be thinking of the former Death Eaters of the same names rather than innocent children.
"What? Those crooks…" he muttered, "You know they all got away by bribing everyone they could?" commented Kingsley in anger.
"Oh dear…." Said Dumbledore, his voice light, "you think their kids are just as bad?" he asked, his tone innocent.
"Of course! Maybe worse!" said Kingsley in anger. Dumbledore hid a smile, "well, you are the Auror… I'll trust your judgement, since you deal with these people every day."
"I know you always like to believe the better of everyone, Albus," said Kingsley understandingly, "but some people are beyond redemption."
Dumbledore sighed, as if sad, "if you say so…" he said hesitantly, "you are…right, of course… but… it's so sad."
Kingsley shook his head, "in a perfect world, kids can make friends with anyone they please, but these times are hard, Albus. You-know-who might be gone but his servants are still here, waiting for the right opportunity. And it's my job to remember that, and make sure we do something to protect those who deserve it."
"So what should we do about it? Harry is already gone… we can try to get him back, but who knows what that man will put in poor Harry's head in the meantime." Commented Dumbledore.
"Well, no one knows about the custody deal yet, right?" asked Kingsley thoughtfully. Dumbledore shook his head, "no, not yet. But it probably won't be long 'till it does come out."
Kingsley nodded, "well, then, we should make sure it comes out in a way that will be beneficial to us, then. We'll call Rita right now, get her here, and tell her what we want her to know."
"Yes, that would be best, definitely." Agreed Dumbledore,"did you see this morning's headline?" he asked, grabbing the paper neatly folded on his desk.
"Oh, yeah…according to the article, written by Skeeter herself, Ronald Weasley is single handedly redefining what it means to be a light wizard… either that, or you've been secretly teaching the dark arts all along… I didn't read the whole thing, actually, I just skimmed it… but I got the gist of it." Answered Kingsley, shaking his head.
"Good morning, Headmaster, and company." Greeted Skeeter, an hour later, after she had been requested to go into the office. "Wow, I am wanted a lot today, huh." She commented with a light laugh, immediately pulling out a quill and some parchment, and letting it float next to her.
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, "good morning, miss Skeeter, what do you mean wanted?" he asked, conjuring some of his special tea and offering her a cup. She declined and sat down, "well… let's just say I just had a very interesting little talk, with a very interesting someone at the Ministry. But that's neither here nor there…" she trailed off, her eyes knowing as she stared at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sniffed, and contained himself from asking her more, since he knew she wouldn't say anything. "And who's this?" asked Skeeter, recognizing the Auror uniform the black man was wearing.
"I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, Ms Skeeter, it's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted her, offering her a hand to shake in greeting. She returned the gesture with the smile of a predator, "well, I can't wait to see what an Auror, and Albus Dumbledore must have in common." She commented lightly.
"We called you here because we wanted to give you a few statements regarding a recent case that involves Harry Potter." Started Dumbledore.
"Go on." Encouraged Skeeter, watching lightly as her quick quotes quill worked, as the name implies, quickly.
"Today, Lucius Malfoy took Harry Potter into his custody. Harry Potter was still unconscious when Lucius took him, so I am concerned for the poor boy's welfare." He continued.
"Well, why was Mr. Potter unconscious?" asked Skeeter.
"Mr Potter was recently transfered to Gryffindor house for his own safety, and he had a small skirmish with one of his new dorm mates, Ron Weasley. Apparently the boy wasn't informed of little Harry's transfer, and like the loyal housemate he is, he got concerned when he saw Harry in his dorm. Harry, unfortunately brainwashed by his Gryffindor-hating ex-dorm mates, retaliated without informing poor Ron that they could be friends now." Dumbledore explained lightly, as if unconcerned about the whole thing.
"I was informed by reliable sources that Harry shouldn't have been transferred to Gryffindor at all, is that correct?" asked Skeeter, quickly reviewing what her quick quotes quill was writing.
"I'm afraid you've been misinformed, any student can be transferred if their legal guardian requests it." Explained Dumbledore, hiding behind the lie, since he figured there was no way she would know any different.
Skeeter frowned slightly, she was well informed, since she had just come from a meeting with the Minister himself, along with undersecretary Umbridge, and Lucius Malfoy. They had explained to her what was going on and what they wanted from her, and even gone so far as to give her access to a few select pages from certain important documents regarding Harry Potter.
Her complete cooperation with everything they were requesting would grant her one of the biggest stories since the Dark Lord's downfall. Some of the things Dumbledore was explaining to her clearly clashed with what she had learned from her aforementioned meeting. Still, she would play along for now, if anything to be able to use whatever these two say against them.
"I was under the impression that if a student doesn't want to transfer, then even a request to the Headmaster himself is useless." She commented, looking at Dumbledore and then at Shacklebolt, who had yet to provide any input.
"If there is sufficient evidence which proves the transfer is for the student's own good, then they can be transfered regardless of the student's wants or desires." Explained Dumbledore, pulling out even more smoke from his rear end.
"Mmhh….I heard something about an investigation…care to comment?" asked Skeeter lightly, crossing her legs, and smiling slightly.
Dumbledore sighed, as if sad and disappointed, but inwardly he was seething, because Skeeter was way more informed then he had imagined.
"I'm afraid that's nothing more than a farce of an investigation in an attempt to sway poor Harry to the side of the Dark. I wish there was something more I could do about it… but I fear Lucius Malfoy has too much influence in the Ministry. If I could, I would take poor, little, loving Harry into custody myself, to try and sway him back to the side that won't disappoint his parents." Said Dumbledore sadly, shaking his head, and looking down at his desk, as if he can't bear the thoughts in his head.
Meanwhile, Harry was staring in shock at the book in his hands. He'd always thought that Harry was his name, but apparently he'd been wrong. According to the book, his real name is Henry James Nathaniel Potter, and Harry felt it fit him better, somehow, than the name he'd always thought was his. Henry he repeated in his head, and a smile broke out, and a short laugh escaped him. It was exciting to have a new name.
"My name is Henry Potter, not Harry Potter." He murmured with a smile. The book also included some of his personal information, like where he goes to school, and who his parents are. "This is an amazing book."
Lucius was quite impressed by now, the reason? James Potter. Rare and shocking, really, seeing as they were on opposing sides of the war, but now he was starting to realize something, James might have been on the opposing side, but he was a pureblood, through and through.
"Why does everyone call me Harry if my name is Henry?" asked Harry, his voice wondering, and confused. Lucius sighed, and thought about how to explain it to Harry, "in our world… names are very important." He started saying, "if someone knows your full name, there are many things they can attempt to do with it….rituals, fake documents….amongst other things. Purebloods such as my family, and the families of your friends, know this, and protect themselves the most. It is also why we stick together so much, and with so many issues." He explained, and Harry nodded slowly, as if slowly understanding.
"As it is," he continued explaining, "Dumbledore seems to have some documents that he claims were given to him by your parents, but I'm sure if we get a look at them, they'll say Harry rather than Henry."
"And that matters?" asked Harry, only slightly confused. "Of course it matters, any document that's honest would have your full true name, rather than Harry on it, which is no more than a nickname. Aside from that, there would be other measures of control of authenticity, however, the name is the most important."
"But how does that work out for other things, like school?" asked Harry, confused. Lucius hummed in thought, "When I was in school, the professor called out Lucius Malfoy, however, my name is longer than that. What name did the professor call out for you and your friends?" he asked, and Harry's eyes widened a bit. "For me it was Harry Potter…for Draco, simply Draco Malfoy….and…actually, Ron was called out as simply Ron Weasley…"
"What does that tell you, Harry?" he asked, waiting for Harry to think it through. "Well…all the names it called out are the names that people use in public, right? So…magic makes it so that we're recognized by our public names?" asked Harry.
"Yes, it is somewhat like that. You can think of yourself as Henry, and even have others call you Henry in private…but any letters from school will arrive to you as Harry Potter. As you must have learned in school, pronunciation of a spell is important for the outcome to be what you want it to be, the same it is with a lot of things in our world."
"Oh…that makes sense….if the wording of things is important for spells and charms….why not for names, as well?" commented Harry.
They were interrupted at that point by Narcissa, who glided into the room with a small stack of books in her hands. "Lucius, dear, you're needed at St. Mungos." She said, "Ms. Granger's awake." She explained, and Lucius nodded, "well, Harry, we'll continue with this later. I must attend to some matters now…" he trailed off, and greeted both Harry and Narcissa before walking off.
Narcissa smiled gently at Harry when they were finally alone, and she walked over to him and sat on the bed. "I brought you some reading material, Harry."
Harry sat up, excited, he had been getting bored from sitting in bed all the time, even if it had only been two days since he had woken up. The potions he had been drinking had done him some good, and Harry about about ready to start fidgeting by now. Of course, there had been several excitements since he had woken up, including learning of his true name, and how important it was.
At times, Harry thought it was almost too much, but then he thought of the Headmaster, trying to force him to fit into his view of the Golden Boy that everyone seemed to want him to be, and he was infinitely grateful that he had become friends with Draco instead of Ron. From the beginning, Ron had somewhat reminded him of Dudley, at least the no manners at all and stuffs his face with food that's not his part.
Draco had, at first, reminded him of a more refined Dudley, the type that would bully you but had actually been taught manners. Now, however, he realized that Draco was not a bully; simply, he had grown up in a certain way, along with all his other friends, and that made them very… well, prejudiced, in a way, but still that wasn't completely true. They were discriminate of everything, from clothes, to food, to people, so he didn't think it was proper to call it prejudiced, but simply, it was the way they had grown up. Only around certain people, and around a certain type of things, so of course, they had very discriminating tastes.
He could even understand where they came from when it came to people like Hermione Granger. It wasn't that muggleborn's were bad, in and of themselves, but it was just that the way they grew up made them automatically classify certain things as bad simply because of the way they grew up. The goal was to teach them not to do that, and Harry thought that the best way would be to have muggleborns start school a whole year earlier than the rest of the students.
He had heard of that practice done in the muggle world, when it came to students who were just starting their first year at a school, although usually the practice involved only them starting about a week earlier than the others, but the same applied here. There were just too many things for them to learn to be able to fit it in just one week.
He was interrupted from his thoughts, however, when Narcissa grabbed one of the books in her pile and presented it to him. He read the cover, "Important Wizarding Events, Volume One, Up To The 1700s"
Narcissa smiled at him, and explained, "I've brought you several books from our library for you to study and catch up with our culture. That first book has another two volumes, they're rather summarized, but they're a good place to start. If there's any event in specific that you want to know more about, there's a reference list at the back of the book."
Harry made a noise of interest, and quickly skimmed through the book, noticing it looked like a typical muggle history book, except for the pictures, they all had what looked like a button drawn on the lower left hand corner. Narcissa quickly explained, "if you press your index finger to it, the picture comes alive, and talks to you about the event in relation to the picture. You have some pictures, like this one, which are of people…. Portraits, if you will, others have battle depictions, and other things, those usually will show you an event, rather than explain anything verbally."
Harry smiled, "that's really wicked." He said, staring at the frozen image of a regal looking man, before closing the book, and looking at the others.
Narcissa held up another book, and then passed it over to Harry, "this one is a Treatise On Energy, basically explaining about the energy in everything, what we call magic, which is in us, but it's also all around us. You'll learn a lot from this book when you read it."
Harry noticed this book was mostly words, although it did have some graphs, and a few moving pictures. He put in on the side, on top of the other one, and looked up again. Narcissa gave him another book, "this one is a book about the government, some of the basics on how the government works…. The different departments…. When and why each department was started…" she trailed off and handed him another book, this one was easily triple in size than the other books. "This one contains all the laws. It's self-updating, so it has all the current laws, and it also has all the old laws as well. It's separated into sections, you can read an overview of all the current laws, first, then you can expand it by pressing here," she showed Harry a drawn round button on a lone page, "and read in detail about each of the current laws, when you expand it, you're not getting all the laws, simply sections, which you can also expand depending on what type of law you want to read about: laws that involve marriage….magical creatures…education…magical contracts…even laws that are specific to a certain age group, and laws specific to muggleborns, and wizards living in the muggle world."
Harry nodded in understanding, glad he didn't have to read the whole thing at once, and he could just chose what to read and learn that way. Narcissa continued, "the other sections of the book involve very old laws that are seldom enforced, and laws that have been overturned, and why."
Narcissa took a deep breath, "this book is yours to keep, Harry." She said, and Harry looked up at her quickly, "what?" he asked, confused. Narcissa explained, "this is a very expensive book on laws, Harry. It's also the most complete book of laws of our land. This will be useful to you for years, and years to come, so I'm giving it to you as a gift… I know you might not be used to such gifts, but please, for my sake, accept it, and read it. You can thank me by putting it to good use, and making the laws work for you, rather than for your enemies."
Harry took a deep breath, and nodded, "thank you." He whispered, caressing the cover of the book. Harry didn't know it, but this book would become one his most precious possessions, and not just because, aside from Hedwig, it's one of his first gifts ever.
Afterwards, she gave him several other books on wizarding culture, and other basic thing that she said are good background on things that any proper wizard should know. She didn't say the word pureblood, when she said "things any proper wizard should know", but Harry assumed it was implied.
Meanwhile, Lucius made his way quickly to the right wing on St. Mungos. He had asked to be called as soon as Hermione Granger had woken up, and today he had gotten the call. He was actually surprised she had woken up so soon, since she was supposed to be recovering from a near fatal magical drain from when she had defended herself against the Troll.
Of course, being awake, and being able to use magic were two different things. He hadn't gotten a read on her condition, yet, but he would know soon enough. After he saw her, he would get her parents brought in to see her, and then they would go from there.
Lucius had Granger's parents brought in twice before, so it would be no problem to bring them in once more now, especially given how important it was to his plans to have the girl's support along with that of her parents, even if they are muggles.
A Mediwizard met him at the door to Granger's room, "she's awake, and stable, but her magical levels are still extremely low. She'll recover eventually, but it'll take a while; she's pretty weak right now… fragile, due to the low levels in her magic."
Lucius nodded, "so what needs to be done for her?"
"Well, she needs to be on several potions a day…. She's going to need a dose of nutrient potion every day, since most of the food she eats will go towards repairing and recovering her core. She'll need an enhancer, taken in small doses three times a day… it'll help her healing process, and make her magic recover faster…. She might also get headaches, and tire a lot easier, so I'll prescribe some safe potions that won't interfere with her recovery process. She'll need to be on bed rest for at least a month, so I'll prescribe a weak dose of a potion that'll keep her muscles from weakening too much." Explained the mediwizard, before taking a short breath, and speaking closer to the man, "most importantly, Lord Malfoy, she needs to be in a magical environment constantly. It is imperative for her quick recovery; as it is, it'll take her a few months to recover, since she came very close to death… however, I understand she's muggleborn…. If she goes back to the muggle world for recovery, it could take her up to a year, at least, before she can recover enough to go back to school."
Lucius nodded in understanding, "I suspected as much….I will be speaking with her parents about this myself, and I'll get them to agree to allow her to stay at my home for her recovery."
"That'll be for the best, Lord Malfoy, do you want to see her now?" asked the medi-wizard. Lucius nodded and walked into the room, right behind the other man.
Hermione was staring at an empty wall, her mind running sluggishly, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so weak. She was still feeling confused about what had happened to her, she vaguely remembered that foul boy Ron Weasley insulting her for being too smart and having no friends, then there was this giant beast trying to squash her like a bug. And now she was here… the doctor…. Mediwizard, she reminded herself, had told her she had magical exhaustion. But she was still feeling pretty disoriented, though.
The door opened, and the mediwizard walked in, followed by the handsomest most regal looking man she had ever seen. "Hello, again, Hermione. How are you feeling?" the mediwizard asked her. "…Still very disoriented….and exhausted…"
The mediwizard nodded in understanding, "that's to be expected, actually, and as a matter of fact, this man here with me has offered to help you with that….so if it's alright, I'll just leave you two so you can talk, while I get your parents, alright?"
Hermione nodded, and the mediwizard left, leaving her alone with Lucius Malfoy.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in your waking state, Ms. Granger. My name is Lucius Malfoy, you might know my son? Draco Malfoy?" he said in greeting.
"Uh, yes, I do know him… in passing… pleasure to meet you, as well, sir." She responded, slightly confused as to how this man could help her.
"Let me get to the point, then." He started saying, "The MediWizard has informed me that for your recovery, you need to be in a magical environment such as Hogwarts, or a wizarding home." He explained, and she listened attentively, she was almost sure of what the man was about to say.
"Naturally," he continued, "you cannot go to Hogwarts for a while because of your weakened state, however, I am offering you my home for as long as you should need it."
Hermione's eyes went wide, even though she had suspected what the man was going to say, it was still quite surprising. She remembered Draco Malfoy, of course, always with his small group of friends in Slytherin, one of those friends including the boy-who-lived, the usually tended to ignore her… mostly because she kept out of their way… and besides, her own classmates had always done enough mocking of her without the Slytherins having to add anything.
At that moment, the mediwizard came back, with her parents in tow. "Hermione! Oh, honey, you're awake." They exclaimed, walking around Lucius Malfoy, and sitting on the bed to hug Hermione for all she was worth. After a few moments, they released her, and greeted Lucius warmly, after all, the man had been kind to them.
After pleasantries were exchanged, Lucius, with the help of the Mediwizard, explained in detail what the situation with Hermione was. "Before you got here, I was just telling your daughter that I'm offering my home to her, for her recovery, and continued studies, until we feel she's well enough to go back to Hogwarts… possibly in time to start her second year."
"We greatly appreciate the offer, of course, and understand why it's necessary… but…well…" hesitated Mr. Granger, and his wife took over. "What my husband is trying to say is, we don't want to impose, and… well, we don't want her to feel alone, you understand?" she explained.
"Of course, of course…. I should let you know I'm currently housing another Hogwarts student who is also recovering from an attack. Harry Potter? Miss Granger might know him?" said Lucius, his tone persuasive.
"Oh, of course!" exclaimed Hermione, "what happened to him?" she asked, worriedly. Lucius sighed, "well… actually, he was attacked by Ron Weasley… and… from what I understand, he's carries some guilt over what happened to you, as well?" he explained, and asked, looking at Hermione, almost in understanding.
Hermione looked down, almost ashamed, and nodded. "So you see," continued Lucius, "she won't be alone. Mr. Potter is also recovering, and feeling quite weak, as well, so they will be in companionship while staying at my home. Also, my son will be coming back for the holidays, and several friends will be coming to visit, as well, over the holidays. Hermione, of course, can't leave the magical environment, as long as she's recovering, however, you are welcome to come over to my home and stay for Yule, and through boxing day."
The four of them spoke some more, and made arrangements; Hermione and her parents were finally persuaded, and all the details were discussed. By the time Lucius left, everything had been arranged, and Hermione's parents were staying with her some more. The Mediwizard agreed she could be moved as soon as tonight, so Lucius had a house elf move all of the girl's stuff into a guest room right next to Harry's.
Lucius, of course, didn't leave before making them all sign a magically binding document which basically said, in legal form, everything they had already discussed. It was mostly a way to make sure Dumbledore wouldn't be able to complain about Hermione being in Lucius' home.
Once Hermione was finally alone once again, she found herself overwhelmed. First she finds out she's a witch, which she had always suspected, since all kinds of weird things had always seemed to happen to her… then she goes to Hogwarts, expecting to find children more like her, and she figured the reason she had always been teased had been simply because she didn't belong in the normal world; but then, she had found herself disappointed when it turned out that the magical children were just the same as normal children, except with magic.
Worst of all was that Ronald Weasley, he was always the first one to start teasing her, and calling her names. The worst had been when she had tried to help him in class, and despite this he had called her a nightmare! What had she ever done to that boy to deserve such treatment? But then, after right now, finding out that the same boy had also injured the boy-who-lived, Hermione realized the boy was simply foul.
It made her feel better, in a way, because it meant the teasing wasn't personal in the sense that he hated her or anything, she was just an easy target for the foul boy.
Most overwhelming of all, was the fact that now, only about an hour or so from now, she was going to be taken to Malfoy Manor! She had heard all about Malfoy Manor, mostly from Draco Malfoy's boasting, and also from a simple book she had found in the library, a book on Architecture…. Of course, it was about magical architecture…. But still, it had included a few details on old U.K. Magical structures, and the Grand Malfoy Manor had been on it, however briefly, but she was excited, because according to her readings, the manor was a couple of hundred years old.
Of course, the fact was, she was going to be recovering at Malfoy Manor, and she was probably going to be getting private tutors, along with the boy-who-lived! How exciting! Hermione didn't know what she had done to deserve all this, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, one of the objects of Hermione's thoughts and troubles was hurriedly walking to lunch and doing something weird, he was thinking. Ron Weasley was a proud boy, he was proud to be a pureblood, he was proud to be a Weasley, he was even proud to be a poor pureblood…. He felt as if it gave an example of the type of family his was, to show they valued other things than gold… of course, he wouldn't have begrudged a few more galleons in the family vault, but in the meantime, he had no other choice but to be proud of being poor. Ron knew he didn't have a lot of things to be proud of in his life, so whatever he could add to the list, he would, even if he didn't particularly hold much belief in it.
He was definitely proud to be a Gryffindor, though, a member of the house of the brave, and the light. One thing he didn't have right now, though… was courage, another valued thing that was supposed to represent Gryffindor. He was looking around every corner, and trying to avoid everyone, except a few people. He had seen the way the school had been looking at him every since the Prophet had been read that morning, and he didn't like it. How was it his fault that Potter turned out to be a traitorous dark wizard?
Still, he had seen the way the students, the Slytherin's in particular, had been looking at him, and he was jumpy. He knew they would want to avenge Harry-Bloody-Potter, especially since Dumbledore had deemed it all a simple friendly altercation and had only given him two detentions with Hagrid… two hours each, saturday and sunday… it could have been worse. But he knew the Slytherin's wouldn't be satisfied with that, which was why he was jumpy, and when the twins had smirked at him only a few minutes earlier, he had almost pissed his pants.
Ron knew the twins had taken a particular liking to the traitor, Merlin knows why, and it was entirely possible that they would have a few ideas up their sleeves in order to avenge the traitor. The only reason for that would probably be simply because it gave them an excuse to prank him, and any excuse was a good excuse for the twins. Ron also knew that the twins prank everyone, which means that no one in particular is their enemy, not even those who deserve it, like the Slytherins. Ron felt this made the twins hopelessly naive, because who knew what those evil death eaters in training would do when your back was turned.
Now Ron was heading to dinner, though, because he felt he was just that brave. There was no way he would ever miss a meal, regardless of how fearful he was of the slytherins retaliating in favor of Harry-Bloody-Potter. He had even gone to all his classes, too, and he was particularly thankful that he didn't have potions that day. I can't wait for dinner… thought Ronald to himself, as he walked through the halls on his way to dinner, I wonder if they'll have sheppard's pie tonight? Maybe I can mix an omelette with some of the breaded mushrooms and the steak and kidney pudding! Oooh, I wonder if I could ask the elves to make some simnel cake?
He hummed as he walked into the dinning hall with other students, and smiled brightly when he saw the tables were already laden with food. He sat down, and a goblet appeared right in front of him, already filled with pumpkin juice, elves are so efficient he thought to himself, as he grabbed it without a thought and drank deeply from it. He dropped it back on the table once it was empty, and started loading his plate with all kinds of food-stuff.
If Ron had paid attention to anyone or anything, other than his food, and his two friends, Dean, and Seamus, he would have noticed the smirks that Draco and the rest kept shooting his way. But, he did not notice, therefore, he missed Blaise as he kept counting down until the potion and spell combination took effect. Daphne was studiously ignoring the Gryffindor table, because no revenge was worth it if she had to becomes nauseated from watching Ron Weasley eat. Draco was eating as quickly as possible, and Blaise was counting while he took bites out of his meal, in an attempt to make sure no one noticed that he was doing a count down, especially because the Headmaster was always very careful to sneak peeks at them at mealtimes, and it'd be easy for him to simply place the blame on them if he noticed them counting right before their revenge activated.
Suddenly, Blaise stopped counting, and after a beat, they all subtly turned to look at Ron, who, right on schedule, scratched him arm. He was eating and talking at the same time, and food kept dropping from his mouth to the plate. It was disgusting, but they were willing to bear it just this once, and Daphne, of course, had stopped eating altogether. Ron scratched his other arm, and frowned, but he didn't stop eating. Seconds later, he dropped his fork, and scratched the back of his neck, before reaching down to scratch his leg. He frowned, annoyed, and pulled his sleeve back to reveal his arm.
Everyone stopped eating, and the Great Hall was deathly quiet, everyone turned to stare at Ron Weasley, who had just screamed his head off, and was in the process of taking off his robe. Ron kept screaming and, as far as everyone was concerned, he started hitting himself. Professor McGonagall jumped from her chair, followed by Madam Pomfrey, and they both hurried over to Ron's side, who was now screaming "spiders! Spiders everywhere!" as he took off his shirt.
The Slytherin side of the hall slowly started chuckling, before they all started laughing loudly. Ron, who was now bare-chested, was trying to push McGonagall and Pomfrey away from him, while attempting to get rid of his pants. The Ravenclaws, who had their table right beside the Gryffindors, at seeing that the spiders Ron kepts screaming about were non existent, started laughing as well, and passed on the word to the Hufflepuffs that Ron was hallucinating. Some 'puffs were worried, but others started laughing lightly at the half naked Ron, and the struggling head of house.
Finally, right when Ron's pants were halfway down his legs, revealing a ratty old underwear, Madam Pomfrey huffed, and cast a spell at Ron, who immediately froze and fell down. Seconds later, Pomfrey, McGonagall, and a frozen and levitated Ron, exited the room, much to the laughter of everyone, who got to see a half-naked, frozen Ron, who still bore a look of horror.
The laughter slowly died down when the Headmaster got up from his throne-like golden chair. He stared at everyone, a frown on his old, wrinkled face, "This," he started saying, "is either an attack against a student, or a prankgone wrong…." He trailed off and looked carefully at the usual suspects. He took particular care to study the Weasley twins, and then turned his face to the Slytherin table. They were all studiously looking away from him, and their faces revealed nothing he could use against them.
"I will ask," he continued, his tone loud, and serious, "that whoever is responsible, get up, now." He finished, and looked around, his words had been laced with a compulsion spell, that gently washed over all the students. No one, however, fell victim to his compulsion spell, and no one got up. Albus figured it was simply because there are just too many students in the Hall, and the ones he feels are responsible, sit too far away from him for the compulsion to reach them.
Dumbledore sighed, "I see you are feeling shame for your actions, and wish to approach me in private." He said, finally, after deciding to try and salvage the situation, "therefore, I will be in my office, after dinner, awaiting for whoever was responsible for this tragic prank gone wrong. If you wish to maintain your anonymity due to your great, and most awful, shame, then so be it, I will respect your desires." He finished slowly, his voice full of understanding and love, then he sighed again, looked down towards the floor, as if sad and disappointed, and then sighed sadly again, before finally sitting back down.
Mealtime continued as a lively affair after only a few seconds of silence, because it seemed everyone was terribly interested, and most amused at what had occurred. There were a lot of suspects being mentioned, since Ron Weasley hadn't been the most favorite person in the school since he had sent Harry Potter into a coma, so for once, no one immediately suspected the Weasley twins or the Slytherins. Although, they were the prime choice for most people.
The next morning, Harry had finally been allowed to get up from bed for breakfast, and he was ecstatic. Harry had been going over all the books that Narcissa had left him, although in less than a day, all he had done was mostly skim over them. The culture and law books had been particular favorites of his, and he was already planning on reading the culture book first, and in great detail. The law book was tied in first place, as far as Harry was concerned, since there was a lot of stuff going on in his life lately that were being affected by law, he wanted to be more educated in that regard. Moreover, he was particularly intrigued with finding any and all laws that have a direct correlation with how Dumbledore was able to mess up so much in his life.
Harry felt his life had definitely taken a turn for the better, finally, and he was almost half tempted to send Ronald a christmas gift, since he wouldn't be at Malfoy manor right now if it wasn't for the jealous git.
Harry had been finally taken to the dinning area that morning, and he was surprised to see Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy having breakfast at a simple wooden table that was only big enough for six people. Narcissa, of course, explained that they always have their meals here, since most of the time it's just Lucius and her at the manor. They have a bigger table in one of the manor's grand halls that is reserved for celebrations, reunions, and holidays. So Harry happily ate an old fashioned full English breakfast, with tea and fresh squeezed orange juice, they ate slowly and made conversation. Harry was surprisingly at ease with the both of them, and he was very content to listen to Lucius and Narcissa talk about the ministry and other adult things. They were interrupted when a house elf brought the mail, which included a short letter attached to a book for Harry, who blushed when he read that the book had been borrowed from the school by Blaise and Draco; how awkward to receive such a thing when right in front of Lucius and Narcissa, who as his guardians, are the closest thing to parents that he has right now.
"What did you receive, Harry?" asked Narcissa with a loving smile, she had grown fond of the child as if he was Draco himself, it could be because Draco himself spoke often and fondly of Harry in his letters to her, but still, seeing the boy herself she knew just why Draco liked him so much.
Harry hesitated, "…a book… it's… a school thing… uhm Draco and Blaise sent it, I had been looking for something that showed Hogwarts students… and they found it for me…"
"Oh? Were you looking for something that showed your parents, Harry?" asked Narcissa, with a small understanding smile, and Harry's eyes went slightly wide, and he was startled for a second before he nodded hastily. Lucius smirked, "I wasn't aware that one was able to take school books out of the school…" he commented lightly, as he took a bite from his buttered toast, and took a sip of coffee.
Harry looked at him with wide eyes, and then looked down at his place, he hesitated, not knowing what to say, before biting his lips, and playing with his food. Lucius chuckled and Harry looked at him and blushed, "well," Lucius said, "I'm sure you didn't know that, Harry, so once you find what you're looking for, just make sure to send the book back to Draco, alright? No harm done." He finished with an amused smile, and Harry looked relieved, "yes, sir." He answered with a small smile, before he went back to eating.
"Harry," called Lucius, after a few seconds, "do you remember the muggleborn that Weasley insulted?" he asked, and Harry frowned in thought, "Granger, right?" he answered, after only a second, clearly remembering not just that incident, but the fact that he had found her personal journal at Dumbledore's office. "Yes, she awoke yesterday, and she is currently residing here with us."
"Oh," said Harry clearly startled by the news, "how come?" he asked carefully, after all he knew there couldn't be any strategic reason for having a mudblood here with at the Malfoy's. "Well, the Mediwizard at St. Mungos said she needs to be in a magical environment, constantly, for her recovery, so I volunteered my home." He explained lightly, "she'll be here as long as it takes for her to recover enough of her magic, meanwhile, she'll be studying with you."
Harry took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it go in a sigh, and taking a big bite from his breakfast. His mouth was very full, and it served to give Harry a few seconds before he had to say anything, but of course, Lucius and Narcissa both immediately noticed the delay tactic, and exchanged quick glances. And Lucius continued speaking before Harry had a chance to swallow, "…but of course, she's still quite weak right now, so it'll be a while before she's strong enough to even get up from bed… in the meantime, I'll be getting you a tutor, and you'll be studying on your own."
Harry sighed in relief, "oh…so… when do you think I'll… return to Hogwarts?" asked Harry relieved that he wouldn't have to be around the uppity mudblood who lorded her knowledge over everyone all the time.
"I expect that you won't rejoin your classmates until your second year," explained Lucius, "so your tutor will be going over what you would be studying at Hogwarts, among other things…. And you'll take the end-of-year exams in front of a licensed tutor from the ministry… but don't worry, you won't take them until at least the same date when you'd take them at Hogwarts…. Maybe even later than that…" he trailed off, thinking.
Harry took a deep breath, and spoke his thoughts, "you said I'll be studying other things, too…" he started saying, and Lucius nodded, "so," continued Harry, "I was thinking, would it be possible to go over the stuff from Hogwarts faster so I can get it out of the way, and I can take the end-of-year exams earlier, maybe? And… then I could have more time to dedicate to studying the other stuff you mentioned…?"
Narcissa smiled, "I think that's a great idea, Harry, we can get the silly stuff out of the way, and get to the more important stuff, like pureblood traditions. It's possible to change the date of the exams for Harry, isn't it, honey?" asked Narcissa, looking lovingly at Lucius.
"Of course, those weak minded fools at the ministry will be falling all over themselves to help the boy-who-lived." He scoffed, and then he looked calmly at Harry who was looking only a tad uncomfortable, but also pleased. "I know you're not exactly comfortable with everyone recognizing you everywhere, Harry, but you have to learn how to use it in your favor, too."
At the same time that Harry was enjoying his breakfast with the Malfoy's, Ron Weasley was currently in the Hogwarts infirmary twitching on a bed in the middle of the room. "Spiders….spiders….spiders….everywhere!" he kept muttering, and when Madam Pomfrey approached him with a breakfast tray, and some potions, he started yelling and trying to get as far away as possible without getting out of bed. "Get away from! You're a giant spider! You won't fool me!" he yelled at the MediWitch, and Pomfrey sighed before freezing him with a spell and forcing some of the food and potions down his frozen throat.
At that moment, the door to the infirmary opened, and McGonagall came in, along with Dumbledore, and Molly Weasley. Molly ran to Pomfrey's side, and stared at her frozen son in shock, who still had a look of horror on his face. "What's wrong with him! Albus told me someone played a prank on him, why is he like this?" she asked, shocked, and Pomfrey sighed and explained, "your son seems to be terrified of spiders…. And the prank involved making him hallucinate that spiders were all around him… now it seems the potion that was in his system, causing him to hallucinate, is gone now, however, the effects on his mind are longer lasting."
Molly was shocked, "who would play such an awful prank on my baby! Surely it had to be some of those awful, evil, dark wizards from Slytherin, right Albus?" she asked, looking from her little frozen boy, to Albus, who was standing a few feet away. Albus sighed, "unfortunately, it's not that simple, Molly dear." He answered her, and at her questioning look, he sighed again and continued, "ever since the incident between Ronald and Harry, in which Harry ended up unconscious and was promptly removed from the school for specialized care, the majority of the students seem to harbor an intense dislike for Ronald… perchance, they found out he received only 2 detentions for his actions, and they decided it wasn't enough punishment for harming the Savior of the Wizarding World…" he explained and trailed off, thinking to himself maybe I should have told Minerva to give the boy one or two weeks worth of detentions with Severus, instead if the light and almost nonexistent punishment he received…
"Is there anything you can do for my baby?" she asked gently, before walking closer to Albus, and then asking another question, "and what are you going to do to catch whoever is responsible for this, Albus? I expect to see some punishment for this! What my son did to that boy is nothing compared to what my baby is suffering now!" she yelled, and then added, "I expect to see a lot of detentions, and when that boy comes back, I expect you to punish him, too! For causing this to happen!"
Albus sighed, "I'm afraid that, despite everything, I must disagree with you, Molly." He started saying in answer, and Molly bristled, but before she could go on a tirade, Albus continued, "Harry is still unconscious, Molly. What happened to Ronald, I'm afraid… is fair, and partly my fault. I ordered Minerva to give him only two detentions for his actions when he clearly deserved a lot more. The Ministry hasn't contacted me yet, but I expect someone to drop by soon… there have been a lot of articles in the Prophet about Ronald's actions against other students, and they have tied his actions to adults here in the school…. I'm afraid this goes beyond a simple school rivalry the likes of which can be usually swept under the rug…"
Molly took a sharp deep breath, "those awful meddlers at the Prophet! It can't be legal for them to talk about the actions of an underaged kid at school?"
"Actually… the laws in regards to what they can or can't write about aren't very strict, Molly, so there isn't much we can do…" explained Albus, remembering how it was completely his doing that the Prophet had such free reign in regards to their stories…articles….Albus had figured that it would be in the interest of the Greater Good if the Prophet was allowed such freedoms, because it was in his plans to have them speak ill of Harry Potter, simply to be able to defend the boy afterwards, and have Harry love him even more because of it. Of course, it all came back to bite him where the sun don't shine, unfortunately, since through his own doing, now his opposition was attacking whatever little good reputation him and his allies have.
Madam Pomfrey coughed, and everyone turned to her, "I recommend," she started saying, "that you remove Mr. Weasley from the school, and transfer him to a psychiatric center."
Molly was startled and quite angry at that, "what! Why!" she yelled, her voice a screech, and Pomfrey sighed and spoke in a low tone, the kind that forced angry people to calm down if they wanted to hear what she was saying, "Mr. Weasley is mentally disturbed, Mrs. Weasley. He needs professional help, the kind of which is not provided at a school infirmary." When she finished speaking, she unfroze Ron, who immediately threw up everything Pomfrey had given him, before he started yelling about spiders again.
"Spiders everywhere! Just hiding, hiding! They wanna get me, they wanna get me! Keep them away! Keep them away!" he yelled and looked around the room, his eyes wide and red, his face drawn and pale.
Molly walked closer to him, only for him to start accusing her of being a giant spider in disguise, so Molly burst out crying, and decided Pomfrey was right. "If he can't even recognize his own mommy…." She murmured as the tears and snot coated her face, "then you're right….he needs help…"
Pomfrey walked away from her in disgust, and went to get a pamphlet from her office, "here." She said, handing her a pamphlet quickly and stepping away from the snot covered woman.
"What's this?" she asked, as she used her robe to clean all the tears and snot from her face. "It's the only place I can recommend for you," answered Pomfrey, "it's mostly run by a small fund from the Ministry…. Although you'll still need to pay a very small monthly fee." She explained, knowing that her family wouldn't be able to afford any of the normal places.
"Public Sanitarium for Witches and Wizards?" said Molly as she read the name of the hospital in the pamphlet that Pomfrey had given her. "We, at the PSWW, vow to provide the best care your money can afford to your ailing witch or wizard."
Albus sighed, "it is for the best, Molly." He commented, "we can only hope he'll be well enough to rejoin classes as soon as possible."
Pomfrey nodded in agreement, "I'll contact the Sanitarium and arrange transport with them. They'll come with paperwork for you to fill, and you'll need to give them an extremely small 5 galleon fee to admit Mr. Weasley. It is why I suggested this place, it's extremely affordable, even for those of low income."
Molly froze, a five galleon fee? She thought to herself with dispair, and she thinks that's affordable to us? She thinks five galleons is an extremely small amount to pay? Goodness, we must be poorer than I thought…. I guess I won't be able to buy any food this week… I think we still have enough, though… now that Ron is at school… she thought to herself, and she started crying again, because she realized that Ron wouldn't be at school anymore. Ronniekins always did eat as much as me, Arthur and Ginny all put together… she thought with fondness, and she was almost glad they weren't sending Ron back home, maybe this illness would also teach Ron to not eat so much? Maybe when he got better, they wouldn't have to waste so much money on food anymore.
"Alright" she said, "you make the arrangements… I have to go back home to get some money… I'm afraid I came in a hurry, and I wasn't expecting to need anything…"
Albus took a deep breath, this was a good opportunity to get on everyone's good side, "no need to worry, Molly, I will take care of everything in regards to Ronald, after all he is a valued student at this school, and I take care of students at this school." He said imperiously, and Molly started crying and she hugged Albus gratefully, "oh thank you, Albus, thank you, you're a saint!" she crooned and cried, glad she wouldn't have to spend what little money they had on caring for Ron's illness, especially when he shouldn't have been ill in the first place.
Albus laughed, in a manner similar to Santa Claus, and patted Molly's back with his right hand. Of course, what he neglected to say was that he would be taking money out of the Potter trust fund to pay for it, after all, the boy was indirectly responsible for Ron's plight. Even after all of Lucius' threats and posturing, Albus still had access to all the Potter trust vaults, and all the treasures and gold he had been able to acquire from said vaults were still in his possession. He felt vindicated, because obviously the man didn't have any, or enough, proof that he had done anything wrong. Albus felt like cackling all of a sudden.
End of Chapter ~
Chiyoku says: I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much I enjoyed writing it! Hopefully, even more than I enjoyed writing it… heh.
Remember to review please! It gives me great strength. Plus, I just like to know what you guys think, even if you have anything you didn't particularly like, I still wanna know. Maybe you found a mistake or something? As long as it's worded politely, I welcome all reviews!
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