Chapter 36 – It's Great To Be Home

I found Mum at Hogwarts. Although she was all good cheer and 'everything's fine', it was obvious that her ear was still bleeding a bit and hurt a lot. Happily, it was also obvious how happy she was to see me. She gave me as big a hug and almost as many kisses as Harry had. It was quite the counterpoint to Dad's reserved, low key greeting. Dad was still uncomfortable with displays of affection in Shacklebolt's presence.

I had a very long talk with Mum. She didn't offer me sherry, admitting that too much sherry was likely to make her ear bleed. As we talked about my Quest experience, I realised that she had heard and remembered every non-sexy word I had communicated to Harry during all those many evenings. She shared Hermione's mistrust of Odin but saw it as a positive sign that Frijjo would enter Beyond World with us. Unlike Harry and Dad, Mum accepted that I would be travelling to Beyond World. She feared the trip and she wasn't happy that I was going, but she also recognised the necessity and acknowledged that I was the most qualified available being to do what must be done. She had a resolute faith that I would rise to the occasion and rescue the Valkyrie. She even mentioned that I must keep Hermione safe – she wasn't on my level as a fighter and Ron would be devastated if Hermione didn't safely return from the Quest. Yes, she knew that I might die, but she worried more about Hermione.

Mum had been as surprised as me to learn that McGonagall proposed to lead a competing Quest in the name of her surrogate, Narcissa. She knew that McGonagall was very disappointed not to be on my Quest but was astounded that she would take such an extreme step. For Narcissa, Mum had only scorn. "That Witch took the coward's way out in escaping your Quest. Now that she expects a far easier road, she's back into Questing, and not for any noble purpose. That Witch wants personal glory and power, and I suspect she thinks she knows how to make a lot of galleons from the Quest. She has already harassed your father and King Gobbledegook that they must provide bags of diamonds and mountains of silver and crystals for the Quest. I'm not sure what Professor McGonagall's game is, but I'll wager that Narcissa is planning to run off with the riches sometime during the first stop on her Quest."

"You sound even more upset about the other Quest than I am. I was most upset by the nonsense that they were launching their Quest to make mine easier."

"Yes, that is a horrible lie – to blame you for their bad conduct. If you think that I am overly upset, you should talk to Professor Firenze. Having messed up the start of your Quest with his ridiculous rules, it pains him no end to have to pass on far more lenient rules to Narcissa. I can tell he doesn't trust that Witch and would take great pleasure in denying her permission to Quest. He isn't sure that he can deny her. He says that he now has no idea what the Quest rules are or even if there are rules. He's also angry that Narcissa made a big point of sticking to only Witches for her Quest team, with the obnoxious comment that she 'really can't see the propriety of taking either mixed-blood Witches or females of other species on something as solemn and important to our future as this Quest appears to be. Really, that was most irresponsible of Ginny. Could there be a worse choice of Muse than Hermione?' Firenze was rightly disgusted.

"Your father is even angrier than Firenze. Professor McGonagall had the gall to demand entry to his office to present her 'list of requirements for our Quest.' She demanded instant and unfettered, to be translated as unsupervised, access to the Sacred Cavern, the Black Stone and the White Stone. She said she couldn't possibly train her team adequately to ensure their safety, if she were denied this access. She made the same demand to King Gobbledegook. Both your father and the King turned her down. She wrote a furious letter to both the Quibbler and the Prophet, deploring 'the favouritism shown to certain Quest leaders who are related to our Minister'.

"That is terrible. Harry didn't tell me any of this."

"He didn't want to mess up your Quest with upsetting news from home. You took the news of my ear so badly that he felt he would be endangering your life if he didn't edit his comments. He said you needed to focus on the dangers you were facing and that some of his comments were making you to emotional to stay focused. He really worried what he should and shouldn't say to you."

At least Harry hadn't mentioned the part about my crying because Harry missed an 'I love you, Ginny'. Maybe he did. Mum was too smart to let on, if Harry had told her about that. It seemed to me that Harry had done entirely too much talking to my mother, while I was away. I knew that Harry was very concerned and worried, but it was unfair to drop his worries onto my injured Mum.

Mum informed me that the Quest team had been chosen. The rumoured choice of Irma was wrong. This would be an all-Slytherin team, except for McGonagall. There was Millicent Bulstrode, Hestia Carrow, Pansy Parkinson, Astoria Greenglass, Victoria Malfoy, and Daphne Greenglass. Mum was indignant that Narcissa told Cotto 'you allowed Ginny a sixth Witch assistant, so you must do the same for me, I choose Daphne, that's Daphne Greenglass. I will not be cheated by an Elf.'

I had hoped that Mum would relax me, but instead she really riled me up. I left her apartment truly pissed at both McGonagall and Narcissa. So pissed that I chose the rash course of hunting down McGonagall on my own, not even stopping by the library to collect Hermione.

I found her in her teaching office.

I knocked. She opened the door. I shouted "how dare you launch a competing Quest with that deserter Narcissa? She's not entitled to an easy do-over."

"Apparently she is. Cotto and Firenze have allowed us to move ahead with Quest planning, although your father has been an obstacle, per usual. And, hello to you, too. I'm surprised to see you. I didn't think you'd abandon your Quest this soon. I guess the thought of walking into Beyond World is too scary for you. Don't worry. I'll do the job in your place. Really, you've done quite enough, already. I don't understand why you're angry. The purpose of my Quest was to make your Quest easier and safer. Admittedly, I also wish to restore Narcissa's self-esteem and reputation. Some people close to you said some very unkind things when Narcissa left your Quest. They were very damaging to poor Narcissa."

This was too much. I just turned and walked away from her babbling. I went to the library for a chat with Hermione.

"How could McGonagall possibly know that we plan to world-walk into Beyond World?" Hermione asked me. "You must ask Harry exactly whom he shares your daily reports with. He may have to find out if any of those persons share what is said, although we can assume that there are advisors whom Tony shares almost everything with."

Hermione advised me to simply ignore McGonagall and Narcissa – let them bang their heads against the strong wall which was Dad. "I think the four of us should visit Draco. He might know a lot. First, I think you and I need to make the rounds of Neville, Firenze, and Cotto. I also want to know more about Irma's on-and-off membership on McGonagall's Quest team. Don't you find it strange that Trelawney isn't on the team? Maybe we should talk to her, as well."

I didn't find Trew's absence nearly as strange as Hermione did. Trew was the jilted spouse. McGonagall was back with her original love. Trew was probably angry enough to spill a lot of secrets. Yes, we must speak with Professor Trelawney, preferably over several bottles of port.

A polite inquiry about the progress of her research revealed that Hermione had spent a frustratingly unproductive several hours, finding nothing of value about the swarm or the Beyond World jail or its guards. "In some ways, the Hogwarts library is very limited. It doesn't compare at all to the quality of Odin's library. It's particularly useless on these topics. I don't think Dumbledore or Dippet had any interest in Beyond World and they were the source of most of the books in the restricted library. Also, nothing in the Flamel papers. Yes, I'd love to take a break and chat with people to dig up evidence. Neville is a good first stop. We owe him a check-in, anyway."

Neville joked - at least I hope he was joking - "I knew you were here. I'm the headmaster, I thought I should wait until you finally decided to come visit me. You're both looking very well, despite what I've heard of the privations you've suffered. McGonagall complained to me that you were rude and disrespectful towards her, when you should have realised that she was only trying to help."

"How could I have missed such an obvious fact as that. Yes, we had a lot of privations, but for the last several weeks, we've been living in a very elegant silver palace with a magical rejuvenation oval. You should see Mafalda – another few sessions in the oval and you'll be abandoning Ostara to chase after her."

"That won't happen. You'll want to talk to Ostara, by the way, she is plugged into a lot more of the chatter going around our community than I am."

Neville told us that the circle of advisors whom Harry regularly updated on my whisper updates was relatively small: Neville himself, Dad, Tony, Cotto, Shacklebolt, Mum, George, Percy, Wood, and Viktor. McGonagall and her cronies were not among those who spoke with Harry. Neville hadn't even told Ostara about what I told Harry. Firenze was moping about, because he thought Harry was excluding him at my insistence. He felt that I had totally lost faith in him and he believed I had reason to shun him. Neville insisted that Firenze must be my next stop. It was the merciful thing to do.

"Professor Firenze complains to me every other day 'why is Cotto trusted and I am not? We both were foolish. It hurts that Cotto will tell me nothing. I suspect that Bane receives news from Cantring and Pegasus but has been asked not to speak to me. Haven't I been punished enough? It's not my fault that I can't stop McGonagall and Narcissa from their vindictive foolishness. Cotto also hasn't stopped them, but Harry still meets with Cotto.' I can tell you that things have gotten frosty around here. I avoid Professor McGonagall and would avoid Trew and her tears, if I felt it were decent for me to stay away from her. The poor Witch needed comforting, and I've been the chosen comforter. Ostara has helped a lot.

"It's a problem being a young headmaster. I have no trouble comforting the students, but comforting an older professor is just very awkward for me. I sense it is awkward for her as well, and she'd much rather talk to Adrienne. She does spend some afternoons in your mother's apartment. Molly avoids Professor McGonagall as much as I do. Professor Sprout seems very torn between wanting to support me and feeling an unpleasant duty to stand by both Professors McGonagall and Trelawney. She absolutely loathes Narcissa and has asked me why I don't prevent her from entering Hogwarts. I wish I could do that. It would be all-out war with McGonagall if I did that."

Our next stop was Firenze. We had to go far into the forest before we found him. He and Bane had been talking, but Bane just said a brief hello to us and trotted away.

"Bane really was being polite," Firenze apologised. "I don't want to start our conversation on a bad note. What Bane and I were discussing was truly not for your ears and I'm sure that Bane worries that I will be shamed if he hears what you have to say to me."

"We're not here to say anything bad to or about you," Hermione promised.

"We've just come from Neville and know your concerns." I told Firenze to relax. "I didn't ask Harry not to talk to you about the Quest. I did ask that he keep the group smaller than it had been, so that nothing leaked back to whomever took control of the Stone. I do still trust you and consider you a friend. I am upset about the messed-up start to my Quest, but don't blame you for that. I am upset about the McGonagall/Narcissa Quest, but I don't blame you for that, either. I am perfectly willing to discuss either or both Quests with you. It is not at all my intention to shut you out. I only ask that you don't over-share with the Stone. We will try to fix the Stone, but until we can pull that off, I won't share everything with it. When I report back to the bigger group through the Stone, I give a very censored report. I do this, even though I'm quite sure Odin can hear everything I whisper to Harry. My new pet is a spy, and not for me. That's why I left Blacky back in Asgard."

"Thank you! Bane has told me little, but he did let slip that you were telling Harry a lot more than you were telling the larger group. I decided that I wasn't trusted and stopped attending the larger group. I'm sorry if my shame cost you potentially useful guidance from me. Let's go somewhere more comfortable for the two of you, where we can talk in private."

We Apparated to Hermione's back yard. It was more private, because my house shielded her yard from direct view of those in the Goblin and Elf sanctuaries. Hermione waved her wand and we had a shaded lawn table, with two chairs, ice water, port, and a tray of snacks. That was a truly remarkable feat for a Witch who hadn't been home in four weeks. We all grabbed a glass of port and then Firenze launched into his disturbing tale.

"Can you wait just a few minutes," I begged Firenze. "We haven't seen our repaired homes yet. Now that I'm so close, I can't bear not to go inside."

"Of course. I think you will be pleased by what you find. If I may join you... I assure you that my trotters are clean."

The three of us entered my home. The entry and sitting room were as I had left them. The kitchen was... magnificent. It was even brighter than the bright, sunlit kitchen which I had designed for us. My sink, stove, and the counter between them seemed to be open to my back yard. I leaned on the counter for a better look and saw a bubble enclosing a combination herb and kitchen garden.

"You walk through your pantry into the garden," Firenze told me. "The magical barrier extends to the rear of your sink, so that you can have bees and butterflies in your garden, without being bothered by them in the rest of the house. It is a most intricate series of charms. I helped, but it is mainly the work of ancient charms dredged up by Luna and Victoria. But please, just walk through the pantry..."

I did just that. It was bright and sunny, but a very pleasant temperature. I walked along a brick path as I looked at my already started garden. I bent over to pinch and smell my many herbs: rosemary, marjoram, a bay leaf shrub, several different basils, thyme, sage, oregano in a ceramic planter next to a planter of mint, parsley, chives, garlic, scallions, anise, woodruff, several different hops, and a miniature lemon tree. There were a half dozen plants each of tomatoes and peppers, with a variety of different leaves, suggesting each plant was unique. I had onions and a dozen different greens for salads. I was ecstatic.

"This is absolutely wonderful," I told Firenze. "Whom do I have to thank for this gift?"

"Harry and I helped design it, but..." Firenze walked over to a cubical stone table and whisked away the red cloth, which covered it. I saw a bronze medallion imbedded in the stone.

I hurried over to read: "From the grateful Witches of England to our Mother, with an assist from the other magical females."

I just knelt in front of the table and wept, for I don't know how long. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up into Hermione's face. "That's fine Ginny, but I'd like to visit my house now."

I followed Hermione into her house. We went sitting room to kitchen to the bedrooms upstairs. It was all exactly as I remembered it. As we came back downstairs, I spotted an opening where the two solid walls of the sitting room met. I pointed and Hermione led us through the gap. Before I could see anything, Hermione let out a loud gasp: "It's beautiful!"

The long wall that I faced as soon as I entered the arch was floor to almost ceiling shelves of light wood, mounted on mortared brick. The ceiling was two stories high. Just the lower shelves were filled with books. I entered the room and saw that the two narrow side walls each had two narrow, floor-to-almost-ceiling windows, framed in the same light wood. The ceiling... ah the ceiling - it reminded me of Odin's Valaskjalf. It was a magical Hogwarts-style ceiling, but in addition to sky it had tall mountains on three sides. It was not the sky of Hermione's back yard.

The wall through which we had passed also contained tall shelves, but they were deeper and many clearly weren't meant for books. Some of the wooden boxes in this honeycomb were already filled. At the centre-bottom, I saw our returned monolith. I pulled open a drawer and saw several rolled scrolls. I just knew how much Hermione would love all of this. I heard a contented "aah" and turned around to see that Hermione had plopped into one of three very comfy-looking chairs grouped around a wooden table in the centre of the room. Further along the centre of the room were two study desks with chairs, placed together by someone who apparently thought my brother would sit there and read or study manuscripts with Hermione.

"This is marvellous," Hermione declared. "Whom do I have to thank for this."

Firenze pointed to a bronze medallion imbedded in the top of the table. It was inscribed: 'this room donated with our thanks and apologies - the Goblin Kings, Cotto, and the Centaur herd'.

"I think I have done wrong," Firenze told us. "Your husbands wanted to show your homes to you. You were so insistent that I didn't know how to refuse you."

"Not to worry," Hermione reassured him. "We can both look very surprised."

"Well, I'm glad for that, but now we really must talk." Firenze left the library and led us back to the table in Hermione's back yard.

"You know that I communicate directly with the Stone a lot more than anyone, other than possibly the two of you. Cotto has relatively little to do with the Stone. The Stone knows that you choose not to share a lot of what you know. It doesn't know that you whisper more things to Harry, but it often begs me 'you must convince Ginny and Hermione that we can't help them unless they share everything with us. They are in danger and it is very possible that you and I can help them. It is safer for them if they trust us. Assure them that I am fully in control of myself. The Stranger hasn't invaded my being in over a month. I have defeated it.' That sounds good, but sometimes, only a few days later, the Stone will deny saying any of that. I'm quite sure that I have had at least one conversation with the Stone at a time when the Stranger controlled it. The time I was certain I spoke to the Stranger was only a week ago. Since that time the Stone has seemed normal and has remembered what it and I said to each other. When I was unknowingly speaking to the Stranger, I sensed a great concern that you were in Odin's palace. It was a lot more than just an interest and curiosity about what you were doing there. I sensed fear. Don't worry, I let nothing slip. I hardly could, since I don't know anything."

We gave Firenze a very full accounting of what we had learned during the Quest. Surprisingly, Hermione explained what she had learned during her solo meeting with the one Valkyrie remaining on Asgard. She thought she had told me of this, but she hadn't. I certainly would have remembered.

"Her name is Ardath and I think she is Cissy's ancient priestess memory. She is still an apprentice Valkyrie after all these years. She was left behind when the others travelled to Beyond World, because at least one Valkyrie had to remain to oversee the service provided to the residents of Valhalla. She wasn't told much other than that Sigrun was concerned that someone or something in the Beyond was interfering with her ability to approach close enough to magical battles to choose brave spirits for Valhalla. She and her sisters were kept outside an impenetrable bubble too wide for them to harvest spirits but narrow enough that they could witness the most desirable spirits being just sucked away into the clouds. She did overhear Sigrun tell one of the senior Valkyries 'we must go back to where this problem began. We must find the spirit of Regulus Black.' That's all she could tell me. She begged that we hurry to rescue her sisters. I asked, but she had no idea how Regulus Black could be the beginning of the problem."

I guess better to know this later, rather than never. Firenze thanked us for our trust and candour and said he would do his best to be a useful contributor to our team going forward. He promised to stop McGonagall and Narcissa if he could.

"They are so insistent. I try to say no to McGonagall, but she will not hear it. I cannot cite a rule, one which I know for certain to be correct, as a reason to ban that Quest. The problem is that there is so very little that I know to a certainty. I have communed in the great circle of the Sacred Cavern more than once, but those visions have been no help to us. I have begged for the Stone to give me a reason, any highly plausible reason at all. The Stone is less than no help, as it tells me that Narcissa was ordained to Quest. Where that comes from, I know not. I tell the Stone that Narcissa has already Quested but abandoned that Quest. The Stone gave me the rock-talk equivalent of 'perhaps'. I've spoken to King Gobbledegook. He tells me that a partial vision tells him that Narcissa should have gone on her first Quest, regardless of Voldemort's objections. She could have been gone before he had a chance to stop her. That was her fate. She also was fated to pursue your Quest to its end. He has seen nothing regarding a new third Quest for her, but says it makes sense if she indeed is fated to complete a Quest journey. As you can see, I have found no help anywhere, but the new information you have provided may help. I will think, and I will return to the circle. I am very glad that we talked."

Firenze kissed our foreheads and then there was a loud pop and he was gone.

"I'm really sorry I didn't mention Ardath," Hermione told me. "What should we do next?"

"I think Trew first and then Draco, but I'm hungry. Let's take Trew to Ms. Bones' chocolate shop."

It was back to Neville, who told us that Trew was in a new Hogwarts' apartment. He sent his Patronus to fetch her. She was very willing to test my belief in the curative powers of dark chocolate.

Just the feel and smell of the mug of hot chocolate in my hand, and the sight of the three chipster cookies on my plate, sent a warm glow through my being. I think Trew also was relaxing. I vowed to let the more-reassuring Hermione take the lead and she did.

"We hear that you've had a tough time with McGonagall, and we are very sorry."

"It's not at all unexpected, so I'm surprised that the finality of our breakup has hit me as hard as it has. It is next to impossible to compete against a first love which was interrupted in full flower by parental diktat. I've always been aware that thoughts of Narcissa were never far from Minerva's mind. She said that it was only massive feelings of guilt and the need to repair what she had destroyed, but I always knew that it was much more than that. Minerva never stopped loving Narcissa. Narcissa was frozen in her mind as a perfect image of new love at its peak. The peak is always higher with a first love. To have that new relationship be burning so brightly and then be snatched away in an instant – I can well understand why it has stuck with Minerva all these years. Nobody can compete with such a memory.

"I will wait until the fire burns itself out and see if anything is recoverable between Minerva and me. Narcissa has surprised and frightened me. She had spurned Minerva and did so very cruelly. Now suddenly she is back with Minerva and planning a Quest. I fear that my old friend is being used and is far too besotted to recognize this or to care. I don't know why Narcissa believes that she must have Minerva as part of this Quest. I'm not sure why she has allowed Minerva to basically take over all the planning for the Quest. I just know that Narcissa has an ulterior motive, and that she is not undertaking this Quest for the good of our community or for peace among magical creatures. There is still a lot of Slytherin and more than a little Death Eater in that Witch."

The rest of our chocolate break was filled with encouraging chit chat on our part and warnings to be very careful from Trew. Trew said that she had a dream that our Quest would end well, but that she still worried. Then she said something truly chilling: "my dream, almost a vision, ended with the two of you feeling forced to kill Narcissa and Minerva. I awoke screaming 'please, spare Minerva!' I don't know whether that was a prophetic vision or not. I tried to repeat it and failed. I didn't see what led to that moment or how it ended. It chilled me to the bone. I feared for you and Hermione and your brave team, just as I feared for Minerva. It may just be a normal dream manifestation of my sense of loss, when Minerva abandoned me yet again for Narcissa. It could be, but it seemed more real than that."

I decided that we should find Harry and Ron before we tried to tackle Draco. I really needed to eat something with more protein than I had consumed today. I saw our chocolate break as a snack, but we were now past dinnertime. I reached out to Harry and learned that he and Ron were waiting for us at the Ministry. We Apparated there immediately.

The lads were a tad upset that we had spent the day visiting with other people. At least Harry had seen me: this was Ron's first sighting of Hermione. He was complaining about being ignored. She stanched the flow of complaints by tying him up in a super snogging session. While they snogged, Harry told me that we were all invited to Malfoy Manor for dinner and conversation with Draco. "Well, now it will be a late dinner. I warned Draco that we had to find you, so it might take a while."

"You could have whispered me."

"You seemed too busy to talk to me."

"Are you really that upset? There were loose ends that I had to tie up. Mom told me that you've been sparing me the news that you felt would be upsetting to me. If you'd have kept me fully informed, I could have saved hours of talking to other people. But please, I don't want to fight. I'm happy to see you again. Can we do what they're doing."

We had a quick snog, which ended as soon as Hermione pulled away from Ron. Then it was off to Malfoy Manor.

"I wasn't sure if you'd actually be here or not," Draco half complained. "Fortunately, dinner is beef stew and that keeps forever. The wine may have over-breathed, but none of you is a sophisticated enough drinker to even notice. We won't be drinking Witch sherry tonight. This will be more of father's almost extinct cellar."

As we walked into the sitting room, I saw that Luna and George had arrived before us and were sharing some of Draco's inherited wine. From Luna's tipsiness as she rose to greet us, I gathered that they had been waiting for us and drinking for quite some time. Draco basically just gathered up George and Luna and guided us all into the dining room. The table was set with large bowls and spoons. A cauldron of stew sat at the centre of the table. Draco pointed his wand at the cauldron and gave it a warming spell.

"I think we should get right to the food," Draco told us. "It's getting late, we've already drunk quite a lot of wine, and I have a lot that I need to tell you. Little Erin is asleep, but you can probably visit with her later. Let me get bread and some wine for the new arrivals. Just sit wherever you like, except that chair is mine. I don't have a date for tonight, because it would be very awkward, given what I must tell you. I've been out to dinner a few times with Astoria Greenglass and she's been here for dinner twice and an over-night. I'm not sure why I told you that, other than that I don't want you to find out later and get suspicious. I took Astoria to dinner before my mother recruited her to go Questing. I'm not at all pleased by that. Astoria would back out of the Quest if she thought she could. She didn't realise that I would object. I'd better fetch the bread. Luna baked it."

The wine, the stew, and the bread were all excellent and they went very well together. I enjoyed my food, but most of my attention was directed toward Draco and what he wanted to tell me.

"I'm not at all pleased to have my mother back with McGonagall. When she returned to this house, she promised me that she was through with McGonagall forever. That changed about three weeks ago. McGonagall stopped by for a visit, and mother agreed to take a walk in the garden with her. They walked to the farthest corner of the garden and talked intently for close to an hour, like the conspirators I'm very sure they are. After McGonagall left, mother mentioned for the first time that she must lead her own Quest. She told me that while she was aware of the tradition, there really was no upper age limit for a Quest leader or Muse. She must lead her Quest, as she had originally planned to do before Voldemort had rejected her choice of McGonagall as Muse and then forced her to withdraw entirely. She told me that she understood that one can never successfully flee from one's destiny forever.

"I told her that she hadn't thought this prior to McGonagall's visit. She said that was true, but that McGonagall had told her of a vision that both King Gobbledegook and Professor Trelawney had. She insisted that she would confirm for herself everything that McGonagall had told her but that if McGonagall spoke the truth, that she, that's my mother, could no longer shirk her destiny. I told her that this was very odd, since she had already fled Ginny's Quest. She explained that you never wanted her in the first place. Her presence was Firenze's doing. She had a premonition of death if she continued to Azkaban and Durmstrang. Her presence was a danger to all of you and that abandoning that Quest was the only rational course of action. That was not her Quest and Fate knew that. She could not get away with substituting your Quest for her own. She had upset the stability of our world when she allowed Voldemort to force her out of her Quest. That was cowardly. She must make amends."

"Abandoning my Quest and starting her own, while my Quest is still in progress, seems an extraordinarily hostile action," I admitted to Draco.

"It seemed that way to me as well and I challenged mother on that. She insists that her goal is to save you and your team from coming to harm in her place. If she had done what she should have done all those years ago, then you would not be facing the dangers you face today. She said that McGonagall warned her that all of you would view this yet another act of betrayal, but that it wasn't. She asked me to tell you that she wants to explain things to you and needs to do so without McGonagall."

"I don't understand enough to meet with your mother. Can you fill in some of the blanks? Why your new girlfriend and her sister as Quest members? Why Irma and then suddenly no Irma. Why the rather hostile comment that if I can have 6 Witch assistants, so can she, as if I somehow cheated? Why Victoria? I thought she was my ally. Why only Slytherins? Why the snide comment that she's not including representatives from the other magical peoples, as I have done? Why must she Quest before my Quest is finished? If Durmstrang was a mortal danger for her on my Quest, why is it safe today? Why is she allowing McGonagall to direct her Quest? And finally, doesn't it take a tremendous amount of gall to insist that my father pony up more silver and jewels for her unauthorised Quest, while mine is in progress and I may need more help?"

"I'll answer all of that as best I can. I fear that mother included Astoria to spite me. She doesn't approve of Astoria, or rather she thinks this is too quick a rebound for me and that the Greengrass family are gold-diggers who see me as easy prey. By adding Astoria to the Quest, mother keeps her away from me for months. During the Quest, mother will have plenty of time to convince Astoria that she really doesn't want me. I'll be described as some selfish, snivelling mama's boy. If that doesn't work, Astoria could die on the Quest. Yes, I know what my mother is capable of. From ignoring McGonagall, the rest of her seventh year, to marrying father, to saving Harry from Voldemort, to practically murdering my father, my mother has always been very able to do what she thinks must be done. Now she thinks she must Quest, and I must not marry Astoria.

"I think McGonagall picked Irma. Viktor didn't approve, and mother wanted all Slytherins. Mother is old school – pure-bloods only for something as important as Questing. Irma may even be pure blood, but the Germans don't keep track of such things to mother's satisfaction. On the six Witches – mother knows this won't be easy and wants every advantage she can grasp. You were an easy excuse. One thing mother learned on your Quest is that King Gobbledegook is not to be trusted. She doesn't want his wife on her Quest. She'd prefer an Elf and Unicorn with her but didn't see a way of achieving that without including other non-Witches. She Quests now because she thinks you need her help now. I think she feared Azkaban quite a bit more than she feared Durmstrang. That danger seems past. No, I don't think she knew about Slytherin. She feared the Dementors. She thinks you've cleared a safe path for her to Durmstrang.

"She hasn't allowed McGonagall to plan the Quest. McGonagall was set on including horcrux Jaden on the Quest, saying she was part of the original Quest. Mother would not have it. Jaden wasn't Slytherin. She also was her mother. Mother has decided all the things she felt were important enough to be worthy of her attention and has left the rest to McGonagall. That seemed to amuse her. I don't think your father should pony up silver or jewels for mother's Quest. I'm very pleased that he has refused her request. That's about all that I can tell you. Mother seems to trust Cotto, but not Firenze. She fears that Firenze will somehow block her Quest."

That was all the useful information Draco had for us. We learned that he really did like Astoria, that he felt mostly recovered from Erin's death. He didn't think anyone could properly replace Erin, but Astoria could come as close as any Witch. He was legally earning money from the estate and what was left of his father's business. Baby Erin was growing rapidly and doing very well. She was already past crawling to sort-of walking. He was sorry, but it was beginning to appear that Erin was down for the night. She mostly slept through the night. Luna was still a very great help. He appreciated everything we had done for him and would help us if he could. As we were about to leave, he told us something he found very humorous.

"When mother came here from Edinburgh, she told me that she had absolutely no feelings for McGonagall. She said that McGonagall fell in love with a different Witch than she is today. When she first saw Voldemort and began her training for that first Quest, all the artificial personality and early memories of the daughter Voldemort had placed with the Blacks was wiped away with a flick of Voldemort's wand. It was as if that artificial Narcissa just vanished and the old childhood as Voldemort's prisoner flooded back.

"She said it now seemed strange to her, in a hah-hah kind of way, that the person whom McGonagall had most loved during her whole lifetime was a phony personality crafted by Voldemort. The new leader of the Order had not only loved Voldemort's daughter, but had loved Voldemort's idea of a convincing and socially acceptable personality for that daughter. She said that none of this mattered to McGonagall. She felt that the Hogwarts-educated mind was the true mind. Whatever the parents shipped to Hogwarts was immaterial, it was the final product moulded by the professors that mattered. Voldemort may have created the Narcissa who first caught McGonagall's attention, but McGonagall felt she had infinitely improved that young Narcissa – that she had made her into a person worthy of her own love. We both laughed at that. That's why I was so shocked when she ran off with McGonagall yet again. I thought you'd all laugh at that. Perhaps you must know my mother as well as I do to recognise the full humour of that tale. Well, goodnight, I'm very glad you came and disappointed that I didn't get to show off Little Erin."

I had been on an obsessive quest for knowledge to try to figure out why McGonagall was doing what she was doing. Now I was back home with just Harry and the only thoughts on my mind were 'bed, sex, more sex, maybe I'll even sleep'.